Military says May 9 culprits need to be brought to justice for country’s good

RAWALPINDI: The top brass of Pakistan Army Thursday maintained that planners, perpetrators, abettors and facilitators of 9th May should be brought to justice for collective good of the country to establish the rule of law and stability in the country.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir presided over the 83rd Formation Commanders Conference at the GHQ, attended by corps commanders, Principal Staff Officers, and all formation commanders of the Pakistan Army.

The forum noted that planners, perpetrators, abettors and facilitators of 9th May need to be brought to justice for the collective good of the country, and that without swift and transparent dispensation of justice to the culprits and establishing the rule of law, stability in the country will ever remain hostage to the machinations of such elements, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement after the Formation Commanders Conference.

The forum offered Fateha and paid tribute to the supreme sacrifices of Shuhada, including officers and men of the Armed Forces, Law Enforcement Agencies and citizens of Pakistan, who laid their lives for the country’s safety, security and sovereignty.

The forum underscored that politically motivated and vested digital terrorism, unleashed by conspirators duly abetted by their foreign cohorts, against State institutions is clearly meant to try to induce despondency in the Pakistani nation, to sow discord among national institutions, especially the Armed Forces and the people of Pakistan by peddling blatant lies, fake news and propaganda.

However, the military leadership noted that the nation is fully cognisant of their ugly and ulterior motives and surely the designs of these nefarious forces will be comprehensively defeated, InshaAllah.

Reviewing the prevailing situation on the eastern border and the latest round of extrajudicial murders in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), the forum expressed complete solidarity with the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for the inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in UNSC Resolutions.

The forum showed concern over the treatment of minorities, especially Muslims, in India and noted the growing fascism being perpetrated to achieve vested political ends. The forum also expressed complete solidarity with the people of Palestine and condemned serious human rights violations and war crimes being perpetrated in Gaza, supporting the International Court of Justice decision to stop the Rafah Operation and all other operations within the Gaza Strip.

The conference resolved to continue to fully support the government’s initiatives in various domains for sustainable economic growth and curbing illegal activities, including smuggling, hoarding, electricity theft, implementation of One Document Regime, dignified repatriation of illegal foreigners and safeguarding of the national database, etc.

The forum was briefed on the dynamics of geo-strategic environment, emerging challenges to national security, and the Army’s strategy to counter multi-domain threats. The participants were also briefed on technological innovations to modernise the army and optimise logistic support to field formations, in line with fast-evolving operational environment.

The forum expressed serious concerns over continued cross-border violations from Afghanistan and terrorism being orchestrated using Afghan soil, noting that Pakistan’s adversaries were using Afghanistan to target security forces and innocent civilians inside Pakistan.

The forum acknowledged the priceless sacrifices of the people of Newly Merged Districts (NMDs) in the war against terrorism and underscored the importance of uplifting the NMDs to decisively defeat terrorism.

The Formation Commanders Conference also underlined the need for socio-economic development in Balochistan to counter externally propagated narratives of exclusion, exploited by foreign-sponsored proxies to lead Balochistan’s youth away from peace and progress.

The COAS appreciated the high standard of training displayed by formations during various exercises and the excellent performance of officers and troops in counter-terrorism operations. General Asim commended the formations for their high morale and round-the-clock operational readiness.

The participants expressed their complete satisfaction with the steps being taken at the army level for the training, administration and welfare of serving and retired officers and troops.

The forum noted the significant milestone achieved by Pakistan on Youm-e-Takbir and its stabilising impact on the region. The conference concluded by affirming the resolve to neutralise all threats to the security and stability of the country with the full backing of the proud nation.