The majority of the widely circulated videos on the May 9 violence, according to Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, were “proudly” produced by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which claimed that the people responsible for the disturbances were its own employees and not “angels.”
The minister continued by saying that individuals were being encouraged to join the riots by the video messages that were captured outside the Corps Commander House and General Headquarters in Lahore.
He also stated that the inciters included former Punjab health minister Yasmeen Rashid and other female PTI politicians. “Those who were speaking [on the videos] were not angels or aliens, they were their [PTI] workers,” he claimed.
The defense minister made these remarks during his participation on the “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath” segment on Geo News in response to PTI Information Secretary Raoof Hasan’sreaction to the presser by Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry.
DG ISPR denied that there could be communication with any group implicated in the incident on May 9 at a press conference held in Rawalpindi one day prior.
“With any political figurehead or organization that targets its own armed forces and engages in disinformation against them, no discussions will take place. A dialogue cannot take place with an anarchist group, according to the DG ISPR.
