ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army said on Monday three officers including a lieutenant general had been fired while “disciplinary action” had been taken against 15 officers for their role in May 9 riots in which military properties were attacked by protesters.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest in a land fraud case last month sparked widespread protests by his supporters who ransacked military facilities. While Khan has since been released on bail, the military and government have said those who attacked army installations, including a top commander’s house, an air base, and the military’s headquarters in Rawalpindi, would be tried by military courts.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Director General ISPR, Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said the May 9 rioters and their instigators and masterminds would “not be forgiven.”
He said two enquiries, headed by an officer of major general rank, had been carried out by the army.
“Three officers, including a lieutenant general, have been fired,” Chaudhry told reporters. “Disciplinary action has been taken against 15 officers, including three major generals and seven brigadiers.”
“No rank or social position has been taken into consideration while doing this process of self-accountability,” the army spokesperson said, without sharing the names of the officers who had been sacked or punished.
“The self-accountability is carried out in the army without any discrimination and the higher the designation, the more responsibility needs to be taken,” he said.
The DG ISPR said the army had gathered “irrefutable evidence” of all those involved in the May 9 violence, which he called ” a condemnable and black chapter in Pakistan history.”
He said the “grave conspiracy” against the country took place under a plan that had been in the making for many months: “As per the plan, people were incited against the army.”
“It was beyond expectation that a political party would attack the army in its own country,” Chaudhry added, without naming Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. “The army defeated the conspiracy as the reaction they wanted was not given.”
He vowed to punish all those involved in the riots, including the masterminds, and set a precedent: “We don’t have any other option but to expose the planners and bring them to justice,” he said.
Since May 9, hundreds of members of Khan’s PTI party have jumped ship while thousands of his supporters, according to Khan, remain in prison. The former prime minister has also openly accused the military and its intelligence agency of trying to destroy his party, repeatedly saying he knows he will be tried by a military court and thrown into jail.
The military says it is not behind a crackdown on political activities or activists but will only punish those who instigated and attacked army properties.
Since being ousted from power last April, Khan has waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the army, which has ruled the nation for nearly half of its 75-year history and continues to wield massive influence.
When Khan came into office in 2018, most understood it was with the backing of the generals. Independent analysts likewise said when he left power it was because he had fallen out of favor with the top brass.
In opposition Khan has made explosive claims about the military’s involvement in politics, including that a top general plotted a November assassination attempt in which he was shot in the leg while he campaigned for fresh polls.
His arrest last month came just hours after he repeated the allegations at a rally.
The DG ISPR rebuffed allegations of human rights violations after May 9, saying fake content was being spread on social media to malign Pakistan.
He added that 102 people were being tried by military courts in connection with the May 9 riots while 17 military courts were already functional.
