ISLAMABAD: While senior cabinet members have repeatedly asserted that former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-ISI chief Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid were behind the May 9, 2023 violence, the military’s media wing has not made such an explicit claim.
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Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar have publicly mentioned an alleged Imran-Faiz nexus, but government officials have not clarified whether this assertion is based on formal probe findings or circumstantial evidence.
When asked, the information minister referred queries to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), pointing to its press releases as “clear.” However, a review of the ISPR statement announcing Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid’s conviction does not mention Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or the May 9 violence directly.
The ISPR press release, issued following the Field General Court Martial, detailed that Gen (retd) Faiz was tried on charges including engaging in political activities, violating the Official Secrets Act, misuse of authority, and causing wrongful loss to individuals.
He was sentenced to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment on December 11, 2025, after a 15-month legal process in which he retained full legal rights and the ability to appeal.
Speculation arose from a concluding line in the ISPR statement: the “involvement of the convict in fomenting vested political agitation and instability in cahoots with political elements…is separately being dealt with.” Political leaders and commentators have widely interpreted this as a reference to May 9 events. However, the statement stops short of explicitly naming Imran Khan or directly linking Gen (retd) Faiz to the riots.
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The discrepancy between the government’s political narrative and the precise wording of ISPR releases has raised questions about whether the claimed Imran-Faiz nexus is based on documented investigation findings or remains an inference drawn from broader allegations of political destabilisation.
