Pak: May 9 riots conspiracy against security institutions, says Caretaker Interior Minister

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 31 (ANI): Sarfraz Bugti, the caretaker Interior Minister, described the May 9 riots, which saw attacks on military facilities including General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi, as “a conspiracy against security institutions,” ARY News reported. The caretaker minister claimed in an interview with ARY News on Wednesday that the May 9 riots were a “deep conspiracy” against the security institutions. However, Sarfraz Bugti said, now the law enforcement agencies were fully vigilant to cease any type of violence and hate speech against them.

He said that they had a strict policy prohibiting hate speech directed at public institutions. He added that no one would be permitted to incite violence anywhere in the nation, as reported by ARY News. After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and former prime minister Imran Khan was taken into custody on May 9 at the Islamabad High Court (IHC), violent confrontations broke out throughout Pakistan.

 Due to the party workers’ agitation over the detention of their chairman, rallies were held in both remote and populous towns, and Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad called in the armed forces to maintain peace and order.

During a demonstration by PTI activists, army installations and the house of the corps commander in Lahore came under attack. In response to a question regarding the cypher issue, Bugti stated that investigations were ongoing and that certain people had been detained by law enforcement authorities in order to further investigate the situation. To another question on polls, the caretaker interior minister said that it was decided in the meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) that the general elections would be held after accomplishing the task of census and delimitation, according to ARY News.

“The delimitation process would take some three to four months”, he said, adding that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would announce the date for the next general elections. He promised that the caretaker administration would give the ECP the assistance required to hold free and impartial elections. In response to a query regarding the ineffective operation against the criminals in the Kacha area, he stated that the police force needed to be freed of politics in order to carry out its assigned duties.

The acting minister also committed to eradicating terrorism and drug trafficking from Pakistan with the help of the entire country. Sarfraz Bugti stated that the caretaker government was entirely committed to stopping the smuggling of money and any type of food into the nation. He said that smuggling of money and necessities was illegal and must be stopped at all costs, ARY News reported.