On the first anniversary of the May 9 riots, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described the event as a “mutiny” against the Pakistan Army and its Chief, General Asim Munir. At a special cabinet meeting in Islamabad about last year’s riots, PM Shehbaz labelled the incident an attempted insurrection against the state and the armed forces.
“This revolt was quelled,” stated the Prime Minister during the session, attended by leaders from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), including Sherry Rehman and Naveed Qamar, and allies from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He linked the riots to the arrest of Imran Khan, founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on corruption charges, which sparked widespread vandalism of military installations across the country.
Protesters targeted significant civil and military sites, such as the corps commander’s house in Lahore and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. PM Shehbaz argued that the unrest could have been avoided if the PTI government had not been constitutionally ousted and if the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government had ignored various corruption scandals and foreign funding issues.
He stressed that the riots aimed to derail the PDM government’s efforts to repair damaged international relations. He lamented the delayed legal proceedings against the accused rioters, questioning why they had not faced justice according to law, even after a year.
The Prime Minister accused some groups of denying their role in the riots and trying to mislead the public with falsehoods. At the same meeting, PPP’s Naveed Qamar called for moving beyond mere condemnation of the May 9 events, advocating for the exposure and legal prosecution of the instigators.
