LAHORE: Prime Minister’s Assistant Malik Ahmad Khan has ‘justified’ police action against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers on May 25, saying the state foiled the conspiracy to dislodge the constitutional government.

“The state rejected the mob rule on May 25. The state resisted the fascist dictatorship on that day. We have no sense of sin. Any individual, who doesn’t give respect to the constitution and the law, is not loyal to the country,” Malik Ahmad said in a series of tweets on Tuesday.

He said the police officials who resisted the anarchist elements on May 25, the police officials who restrained the mob rule, need to be given the medals. Those police officials were national heroes, he said.

The PML-Q-PTI coalition government in Punjab has initiated action against all those - PML-N leaders (who were part of the Hamza Shehbaz government then), police officials and bureaucrats - involved in torture of PTI activists during the party’s Azadi March on Islamabad (on May 25).

PM’s Assistant Atta Tarar has already secured a protective bail to evade Punjab government action against him in the May 25 cases.

“We don’t fear the frivolous cases of the Punjab government. We don’t fear the Punjab government jails. Both honour and dishonour are in the hands of Allah Almighty. I can die for the survival of the state,” the PML-N leader said.

“Chief Minister Parvez Elahi said if I didn’t settle the score of 25 May, I would remain restless. There is no reason for vengeance to establish the rule of law,” Malik Ahmad said.

The PM’s assistant further said if the constitution reigned supreme, there was no reason for tribal animosities. “Elahi’s statement doesn’t seem to be the statement of the CM of the civilised province, but it seems to be the statement of the tribal chief.”

He also talked about war of narratives between the two mainstream parties at the moment. “No doubt, there is war of the narratives. This is war between the ideas of the constitutional democracy and the fascist dictatorship. We would shed the last drop of our blood, but we will never surrender the principles of the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of the law. These are the ideals of which one can die for. These ideals are integral part of our political belief system,” Malik Ahmad concluded.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2022