Declaring the statement issued upon conclusion of the special Corps Commanders Conference immensely important, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said May 9 events were an attempt to pit the PTI and Pakistan Army against each other under the guise of chaos and riots.
The party sought an all-around investigation to identify the elements behind the extraordinary episode
Earlier, the military's top brass vowed that protesters and their abettors would be tried under relevant laws, including the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act, after the PTI workers and supporters attacked military installations on May 9, which the army dubbed as ‘Black Day’.
The party alleged there was evidence that armed anarchists infiltrated the ranks of peaceful protesters as part of a deliberate plan and incited 'burn and besiege'.
"However, a plethora of irrefutable evidence is available to establish that armed miscreants entered into the peaceful gatherings and indulged in arson and fired live bullets on the peaceful protestors leaving dozens killed and hundreds injured."
“As a result of firing by anarchists, dozens of innocent civilians were martyred and hundreds were injured,” PTI stated.
“We hereby declare that we have sufficient evidence to present in any independent investigation/inquiry,” the statement revealed, highlighting how it was a plan to spread chaos and blame it on the PTI.
The PTI in a statement, said it acknowledged importance of statement issued upon conclusion of SCCC held at GHQ on May 15 and considered the impression of a well-thought-out plan of promoting violence and mayhem engulfing several government buildings, military structures and hundreds of unarmed and peaceful citizens.
The corps commanders expressed [a] firm resolve that those involved in these heinous crimes against the military installations and personal/ equipment would be brought to justice through trials under relevant laws of Pakistan including Pakistan Army Act and Official Secret Act.
The PTI said some government buildings, military properties and hundreds of innocent and peaceful citizens came under this chaos. The statement also highlighted that the Constitution was the guarantor of the people’s basic democratic right of peaceful protest.
The party said PTI had an unwavering commitment to the constitution and democracy, and it believed that the constitution was a beacon of light for all of them at the individual as well as collective levels and solutions to the most intricate problems lied within the ambit of constitution and bounds of laws.
The party, however, clarified its stance on the violent protests as a political reflex action to the party chairman's arrest.
The party statement added that peaceful protest after Chairman PTI’s illegal abduction through paramilitary troops of Rangers from within the premises of Islamabad High Court on May 9, was a natural and foreseeable reaction guaranteed by the constitution as a basic right to peaceful protest to the public.