Shehbaz Sharif pays rich tributes to martyrs n Says we tolerated all allegations by Imran but will not allow disrespect to our martyrs
n PTI leader, his followers inflicted huge damage to country.

 

ISLAMABAD    -    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressing his resolve to bring the elements behind May 9 arson and vandalism attacks to justice, reiterated that the entire nation would not let such ‘barbar­ic incidents’ happen in future. 

The prime minister assured that as chief executive of the country, it was his onus to en­sure legal proceedings under the law and constitution, against all those rioters and miscreants who had planned, abetted and executed attacks on different ci­vilian and military installations across the country. 

The prime minister was ad­dressing “Azmat-e-Shuhada Con­vention” held here to pay tribute to the country’s martyrs. 

The convention was attended by a large number of families of shuhada, governors, members of Parliament, ministers, pro­vincial ministers, ambassadors, legislators, civil society mem­bers, ulema and senior officials. The prime minister said that in­ cidents of May 9 were intoler­able and unpardonable as the monuments and statues of Shu­hada of armed forces and law enforcing agencies were van­dalised. 

“We will not let it happen again and will keep the nation­al flag high. We will not allow anyone to malign our armed forces,” he said, adding that they would bring all the per­petrators of May 9 incidents to face the law. As the prime min­ister, he assured that the law would take its course, stress­ing that people behind the in­cidents would not be given any concession and would not be pardoned as ‘they had crossed the red line’. 

He said those elements also hurt sentiments of the families of shuhada. A heart wrench­ing spectacle was never wit­nessed in the past. However, the prime minister reiterated that no innocent would be framed in these criminal cases. 

Referring to the unfortunate incidents on that day, he said if Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Niazi had instigated his followers to create such a may­hem. He said country’s histo­ry was replete with different cases of politicians. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Shaeed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif faced arrests and trials upon baseless allega­tions, but their followers nev­er went violent and damaged the country. 

“During the previous ten­ure of PTI, the entire opposi­tion was pushed to the wall, but they faced all the ordeals with fortitude and never thought to mount any attack on any civil­ian or military installations,” he maintained. 

Terming May 9 incidents as ‘highly lamentable’ in the coun­try’s history, he said on the oth­er hand, the PTI’s chief was ar­rested in a corruption case, but prior to it, he was inciting his followers to spread violence by attacking different civilian and military installations in case of his arrest. 

The prime minister said the whole nation wanted an answer from the PTI’s leadership as to why Quaid’s House, Radio Paki­stan and other buildings were ransacked and torched to ashes. 

He further said even India could not achieve its nefarious designs after waging 1965 war, but the leadership of PTI and its followers inflicted huge damage to the country, adding “The na­tion will not forgive it.” 

The prime minister said Quaid’s Pakistan existed due to the sacrifices of shuhada, they had left behind their or­phan children but saved the coming generations. He said we tolerated all allegations levelled by Imran Khan on government, institutions and political leadership but at­tacking, burning and disre­specting memorials of Shu­hada and Ghaziz will not be tolerated at any level. 

Paying tribute to martyrs, he said the martyrs of the nation, even did not care for their lives thus securing peace for the na­tion. It was all due to their pre­cious blood they shed for the nation and its future. Business of life went on due to their sac­rifices, he added. 

The prime minister said that these shuhada did not belong to one party or group, they were respected by the nation and it should be borne in mind that by holding of shuhada convention, they reaffirmed their resolve that such esteem and affection for the shuhada would be main­tained forever. 

The prime minister said if there was any trouble inside the country or at the country’s bor­ders including threats of terror­ism, the officers and personnel of the armed forces, law enforc­ing agencies and police force faced them with valour.

The prime minister also stressed upon inculcating the young generations with the ide­als of the founder of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah including the democratic norms, patience and tolerance. 

The prime minister also went to the different members of families of shuhada and inter­acted with them. 

Minister for Planning, Devel­opment and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal, in his address, condemned the May 9 attacks on state buildings and military installations in sever­al cities. 

Paying tributes to the coun­try’s martyrs, he reiterated firm commitment not to tolerate such illegal and unconstitution­al acts in future.