Usman Dar, a leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has unveiled startling details of the May 9 incident, revealing that the planning for the events on that day took place at PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s residence in Lahore’s Zaman Park. Khan himself directed strategies, including the targeting of sensitive installations, in case of his arrest.
Dar asserted that the primary objective of the May 9 attacks was to exert pressure on the military to remove Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir from his position.
In his first interview with a private TV channel on Wednesday, Dar, who had gone into hiding following the tragic events of May 9, disclosed that the October 2022 long march was also organized by his party to prevent the appointment of General Asim Munir as the army chief.
He revealed that Khan used PTI workers as human shields to evade arrest and manipulated them into avoiding law enforcement. Dar emphasized that subsequent incidents at the Judicial Complex in Islamabad and Zaman Park were direct consequences of this mindset.
Furthermore, Dar disclosed that in the event of Imran Khan’s arrest, instructions were issued to attack sensitive installations within the country, and astonishingly, it was Khan himself who provided these directives. Dar claimed that PTI workers from all over the country were gathered outside Zaman Park to brainstorm and strategize for this purpose.
He also accused PTI Chairman Imran Khan of supporting an anti-state narrative and added that Khan bears personal responsibility for the current situation within the PTI.
Following Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023, in the Al-Qadir Trust case, a wave of protests erupted and continued for three consecutive days.
PTI workers, under the direction of PTI leadership, attacked various locations, including the Jinnah House, GHQ building, Core Headquarters, ISI offices, airbases, state installations, monuments of the martyred, Askari Tower, Military Library, residences of armed forces officers, army selection center, petrol pumps, and set public properties on fire. They also attacked several other sensitive places associated with the armed forces.
A joint investigation team (JIT), formed to investigate the May 9 incidents and supervised by DIG Investigation Imran Kishwar, presented its findings to an anti-terrorism court last week. The JIT declared Imran Khan and the top PTI leadership guilty of inciting the May 9 incidents through fake narratives.
The JIT report revealed, “Imran Khan, with the cooperation of central, provincial, and local leadership, devised this plan to push Pakistan towards civil war, and the public was incited through fake and self-created stories.”
The PTI allegedly exploited public power for its own interests in an attempt to force the then top military officers, federal, and provincial governments to resign.
Leave a Comment