May 9 riots were Pakistan's ‘9/11 attack' on its national interests: Iqbal

Says enemies of Pakistan were celebrating subversive activities of PTI

ISLAMABAD:

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday said that May 9 riots in Pakistan were "9/11 type" attacks on the country's national interests. 

Following Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's arrest on May 9 in connection with a corruption case, the country saw violent protests targeting sensitive state and military installations.

In an exclusive interview with APP, Iqbal said it was regrettable that a "political party’s workers on May 9 stormed and destroyed many symbols of Pakistan’s pride that include Jinnah House, Yadgare Shuhada, fighter jets of the famous 1965 war and Chagai mountain model".

He maintained that such a reaction to Imran's arrest over corruption charges was "unprecedentedly irrational, unacceptable and not less than the 9/11 attacks carried out in the US in 2001".

“The May 9 incident for Pakistan’s Armed Forces was equivalent to the September 11 of America. The violent workers of a political party attacked Pakistan’s heritage and the pride of the security departments. The Jinnah House was not only the residence of a Corps Commander rather a heritage of the founder of the country,” he observed.

Read PTI to approach courts for activists’ release

He also regretted that party workers broke the statue of Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed, adding, “If they have broken the fighter jets of 1965 war, [it means] they have attacked the pride of Pakistan Air Force attained by defeating the enemy in the air war.”

The minister further said the model of Chagai Mountain, which reminded the nation of nuclear tests carried out by its scientists that made the country’s defence invulnerable, was also set on fire.

“There seems to be a scheme/method behind this madness as all such symbols were targeted selectively which had a link either with national heritage or were the pride of the Armed Forces.”

“So, these people too do not deserve any mercy as they have attacked the national heritage and pride of the Armed Forces,” he said, adding that evidence-based legal proceedings will be initiated against those involved in the subversive activities.

“Those who caused destruction in civil areas will be prosecuted under the civil law, while those who attacked military installations, will be tried under the Army Act,” the added.

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He claimed the enemies of Pakistan were celebrating the subversive activities of the PTI, “Thus we made our enemies happy and brought tears to the eyes of our nation.”

'PTI expected Sri Lanka-like situation'

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader said when the coalition government came into power last year; "the national kitty was empty and the finance ministry was unable to release development funds for the last quarter of the fiscal year 2021-2, which happened for the first time in the country’s history due to failed economic policies of the past regime of PTI."

He said the PTI leadership was expecting that there would be a Sri Lanka-like situation within a few days, but the incumbent government under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took bold steps, faced the crisis, and streamlined the affairs to a great extent. “The tough decision taken by the government has started yielding good results," he added.

Last year, he said Pakistan faced devastating floods in the majority of districts of the country that caused around $30 billion loss to the national exchequer, but despite all the financial constraints, the government initiated reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the affected areas.

Commenting on the issue of inflation, Iqbal said it was "all because of the four-year rule of the PTI which damaged the investment pouring into the country under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects".

He said the former ruling party laid the foundation of inflation by devaluating the rupee against the dollar and allowing the $80 billion imports in its last year to show artificial growth and benefit friends by issuing import licenses.

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In damage-repair efforts, he said the current government resumed the stalled programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and restored ties with friendly countries that had been affected during the PTI rule.

Iqbal also said the CPEC was a game-changer project not only for Pakistan but also for the entire region.

During the PML-N government’s last tenure, he said around $29 billion in investment from China poured into Pakistan’s various sectors including energy, infrastructure, Gwadar development, Thar and Hydel projects in a short period of time.

"As soon as the PTI government came into power in 2018, CPEC was targeted by putting all projects on the back-burner under negative propaganda," he furthered, adding that "Pakistan was expecting $30-50 billion investment during the next five-seven years in diverse fields if the CPEC projects would have continued at the pace of 2017-18."

He, however, informed that the incumbent government was now focusing on the revival of CPEC; and a few days back PM Shehbaz and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi jointly inaugurated a border market and a 100-megawatt transmission line for Gwadar which would be beneficial for increasing the trade activities in the deep seaport city.

“This project was started in 2018 but the previous incompetent government also sabotaged it,” he said, adding that the current government also completed various projects including water and electricity in Gwadar.

Govt focusing on Gwadar development

Iqbal claimed that the Imran-led government showed criminal negligence by not carrying out the Gwadar port’s annual dredging, adding that now a Rs 4.5 billion dredging contract had been awarded so that big cargo vessels could be berthed there.

He further said that the government has launched an Rs800 million project under which the latest boats will be given to fishermen enabling them to earn their livelihood and contribute to the national progress.

The minister also emphasised the need to develop industries on modern lines so that the economy could be steered in the right direction to create a prosperous society.

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To steer the country out of the financial crisis and turn around Pakistan to a stable platform, he said the incumbent government was making concerted efforts to develop a framework based on five Es (Exports, E-Pakistan, Equity, Energy and Environment) which needed to be pursued vigorously.

He said the biggest challenge for the current government was to meet the development budget in the prevailing economic situation.

In the next fiscal plan, he hinted the government will focus on the projects that were near completion and highlighted the importance of making the seaports secure and strong, improving the communication infrastructure, promoting the higher education and information technology sector, besides uplifting the agriculture sector, once considered backbone of the national economy under the Green Revolution-2.