'Black day' in Pakistan: How events of May 9 last year shook the Pak army

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has refused to apologise for the events of May 9

With the Pakistani government deciding to mark May 9 as "black day" today, marking the first anniversary of the riots and unprecedented violence against military installations that gripped Pakistan following former prime minister Imran Khan's arrest last year, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that there "can be no absolution for those who orchestrated, supported, and assisted the attempt to damage the foundations of our nation". 

"Let not the shadows of lies hide the light of truth," the prime minister posted on social media platform X. Sharif added that a year ago on May 9, not only were the symbols of Pakistan's "national pride and honour" attacked, but the "sanctity of our sacred homeland was also assaulted". 

"There can absolutely be no soft-pedalling of what happened on May 9 and there can be no absolution for those who orchestrated, supported, and assisted the attempt to damage the foundations of our nation," Sharif said.

Meanwhile, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said that May 9 would always be remembered as a dark day in Pakistan's history. Zardari condemned the violence, adding that the incidents of May 9 had severely tarnished Pakistan's image, which only served the interests of its enemies. "Those responsible for the May 9 violence should be held accountable according to law," Zardari said in his statement.

   

Why is Pakistan observing a 'black day' today? 

Last year on May 9, after Imran Khan's arrest, protesters stormed the gates of the Pakistani Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, attacked and burnt the Lahore Corps Commander's house, and set security posts and police vehicles on fire at several places across the country. 

The Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi was also attacked, along with protestors targeting an army convoy in Lahore. 

Protesters also blocked roads in Pakistan's major cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Multan, Quetta, and Faisalabad.

In an unprecedented display of anger, which caught the Pakistani armed forces by surprise, monuments of its martyrs were also attacked, vandalised, or desecrated. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers set fire to police vans and security check posts in Karachi on May 9 last year, with the police responding with tear gas and baton charges. 

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, protestors set fire to a replica of the Chaghi Mountain, the mountain under which Pakistan had tested its nuclear bomb in 1998. 

Pakistani police and PTI workers also clashed in Quetta and Gilgit-Baltistan. 

Thousands of arrests 

Pakistani authorities arrested over 4,000 people in the wake of the May 9 riot and protests, including senior leaders of Imran Khan's political party, the PTI, according to Human Rights Watch.  

However, according to the PTI, over 10,000 party members were arrested post-May 9, with the party saying they were illegally detained under what it called fake cases. 

Following the May 9 violence, Pakistani authorities also rounded-up and arrested key PTI leaders and workers, along with others, who had posted live videos of the attacks on social media. Criminal cases were subsequently registered against them. 

However, according to a report by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (PILDAT), the country's law enforcement agencies stopped pursuing those PTI leaders who subsequently resigned from their party posts, while expressing their respect for the Pakistani Army and condemning the incidents of May 9.

   

Citing the PILDAT report, Pakistani media said that none of the accused had been convicted in relation to the May 9 violence till January 2024.   

However, an April 2024 report by Pakistan's Attorney General to the country's supreme court reportedly said that 20 people, who had been sentenced to one year of imprisonment by a military court in relation to May 9, had been released. Meanwhile, the report said the Pakistani Army still had 103 accused, including 33 army personnel, in custody. 

According to information shared by PTI with Pakistani media, a total of 52 party leaders and workers, including 19 women, are still incarcerated. 

Imran refuses to apologise for May 9 

Speaking to the media on Wednesday after court proceedings in a corruption case, former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan refused to apologise for the May 9 riots. 

When asked whether he would apologise for the incidents of May 9, Khan said no, adding that he had been under detention at the time and unaware of those protests.

However, he added that he had already condemned the violent protests of May 9. 

On Tuesday, the Pakistani Army ruled out any dialogue with the PTI unless the party's leadership tendered a public apology for May 9. 

For his part, Khan said that if Pakistan's establishment was not interested in a dialogue, then PTI would not pursue one either.