Govt defends May 9 convictions in NA

As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) faces an intensifying wave of disqualifications and arrests, party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Wednesday came down hard on the federal government, accusing it of deepening political repression and bending the rules of democracy.

Addressing the National Assembly, Gohar said the government's conduct was "deteriorating with each passing day", citing the disqualification of PTI leaders, including Opposition Leader Omar Ayub, and the arrest of 80-year-old Rehana Dar as the latest in a series of politically motivated actions.

"The injustice done to us has drawn widespread public condemnation," he said, pointing out that PTI lawmakers had chosen to stay in Parliament and not boycott its proceedings. "One by one, our lawmakers were disqualified," he added, calling the sequence of events a "systematic targeting" of opposition voices.

Raising concern over the case of Sheikh Waqas Akram, Gohar said the move to disqualify him had emerged from within Parliament itself. "It is your responsibility to run this House in accordance with the Constitution and rules," he asserted.

On the May 9 riots, Gohar reiterated, "We all condemned the incident. We requested the Chief Justice for a fair trial, those involved should be punished".

However, he argued that PTI parliamentarians had only been charged, not proven guilty, and were subjected to trials that violated constitutional norms. "The judiciary treated PTI like a stepchild."

In response, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar defended the legal framework under which PTI leaders had been convicted in the May 9 cases. He stressed that the judicial process had run its course and that the government had no hand in the verdicts.

"Once a case reached the trial stage, it was the court's domain to conduct proceedings and deliver judgments," the minister said. "This is a lawful process; objections can be raised, but the forum to do so is also the court."

Meanwhile, PTI MNA Iqbal Afridi sounded the alarm over ongoing military operations in tribal regions, particularly in Tirah, Bajaur and Waziristan, accusing the state of orchestrating what he called a "genocide" of tribal people.

"There was direct firing on civilians in Tirah, killing six people," he claimed. "Shelling was also carried out in Bajaur, resulting in more deaths. This violence continues in Waziristan as well."

Afridi further alleged that K-P Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had not supported the proposed military operation during the recent Apex Committee meeting, implying that the federal government was acting unilaterally. "This entire drama is about access to minerals," he said, claiming that attention to the tribal areas was only revived after PTI's founder blocked a minerals bill.

"We are homeless, we are suffering, and now we are being painted as criminals," said Afridi. "You are hell-bent on dividing us, and then you speak of Kashmir?"

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry rejected Afridi's claims, saying that no operation was being conducted against any specific group or region. "These are unfounded and damaging to national unity," he said.