Ahsan Iqbal supports call for judicial inquiry into May 9 riots

PML-N leader says commission should also inquire into other incidents including attacks on PTV and Parliament House

PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday added his voice to the chorus demanding a judicial inquiry into the May 9 riots as long as other similar incidents involving the PTI were also probed.

In a post on X, he said that along with the probe into the events last year, the commission should also inquire into several other incidents including the 2014 dharna, attacks on PTV and the Parliament House, and attacks on police outside Zaman Park.

I support demand of formation of Judicial Commission for inquiry of 9th May. However, the same Commission should also inquire into the following:
• Dharna of 2014 and its nefarious design.
• ⁠Attack on Parliament.
• ⁠Attack on PTV.
• ⁠Vandalism and arson of Police Stations…

— Ahsan Iqbal (@betterpakistan) March 5, 2024

“A so-called political party which has a consistent policy and history of employing violence as a political tool, used it again on 9th May as an instrument of its politics,” Iqbal added.

On Monday, members sitting on the opposition and treasury benches had called for the formation of judicial commissions on a number of thorny issues, including alleged rigging in the Feb 8 elections, the incidents of May 9 and the cipher controversy.

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PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had endorsed the demand of PTI-backed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to hold a judicial inquiry into the May 9 incidents.

The PPP chairman had said that his party endorsed the demand of the KP chief minister to form a judicial commission to investigate the May 9 incidents on the condition that the “decision will be acceptable to all.

The PPP, he said, appealed to the prime minister to approach Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa to head the judicial commission on May 9 so that the perpetrators are punished and the innocents were released.