May 9 was staged to target Imran Khan: Omar Ayub

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub, has once again rejected allegations that his party was involved in the May 9 riots, claiming that the incidents were staged to target PTI founder Imran Khan, here on Monday.

Addressing during the National Assembly session, Omar Ayub said that his party is demanding a judicial commission to probe the May 9 incidents, which saw the arrest of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan. After that, there were attacks on military installations.

He pointed out that after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the country suffered enormous losses. He added that “the violence that broke out in the country after the assassination of Benazir resulted in a loss of $2 billion.”.

Ayub added that trains, locomotives, and railway stations were also damaged in the violent protests. He further said that only Karachi suffered a loss of 80 to 90 billion rupees in three to four days.

“I want to ask this Parliament and you are how many people were arrested and how many inquiries were ordered. How many people have been put behind bars, and how many people have been punished?” asked the opposition leader.

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Despite losses of billions of rupees, the PTI leader said no action was taken against those involved in the violence in 2007. “May 9 was an excuse, and Imran Khan was the target,” he said.

He condemned the government’s stance on May 9 as “victim-blaming” and said that all evidence related to the May 9 violence, including CCTV footage, had disappeared to obstruct justice. was give

Meanwhile, Omar Ayub also read out Article 19, which deals with freedom of speech, and rejected the ban on X and media censorship, saying “this speech cannot even be broadcast.”