Pakistan PM says May 9 rioters should be punished like US Capitol Hill attackers

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to bring the perpetrators responsible for May 9 violence to justice, saying the rioters would be punished in the sameway the United States did to its citizens who stormed Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of a water supply project, Sharif said no one should object if the government punished rioters under the law.

"Today, in the city of Quaid, we all are ashamed of what happened on May 9 in Lahore. Justice requires punishing the perpetrators like the rioters of the Capitol building on January 6, 2021," said Sharif.

“If that [American] punishment is legal, then no one should object if we do so under our law for the desecration of [the memorials of] our martyrs,” he added.

Sharif, referring to former PM Imran Khan e-Insaaf (PTI) chief and his party workers said politics of chaos started by the group culminated on May 9 in the form of the desecration of the nation’s martyrs and security installations.

“Strings of the May 9 riots are being pulled abroad and the desecration of martyrs’ memorials and installations at the instigation of Imran Khan is the darkest chapter in the nation’s history.”

Government mulls ban on Khan's party

The statement by Sharif comes days afterDefence Minister Khawaja Asif in a televisedaddress said the government was mulling a ban on PTI.

"It is under consideration to ban PTI," said Asif, adding, "The PTI has attacked the very basis of the state, that never happened before. It can't be tolerated."

Talking about the violence that erupted in the aftermath of Imran's arrest earlier this month, Asif said,“Whatever happened on May 9 wasn’t spontaneous. It was pre-planned, so in this background there are chances we consider theban.”

While attacks mount on Imran, his party appears to be fragmented. A day afterPTI Vice ChairmanShah Mahmood Qureshi was rearrested by Punjab Police,Imran's close aide and former human rights ministerShireen Mazari resigned from the party.

Speaking at a press conference, she criticised the violence that broke out after Khan was arrested on May 9

"Not only the May 9-10 violence, but I’ve always condemned every kind of violence especially against state institutions and symbols like the General Headquarters, Supreme Court and Parliament,” she stated.

(With inputs from agencies)

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