Ex-Pak PM Imran Khan refuses to apologise over May 9 protests

NEW DELHI: After Pakistan Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) ruled out dialogue with Pakistan-Tehreek-Insaaf (PTI) unless the party leadership tendered a public apology over the May 9 protests, the PTI Chief Imran Khan has refused to apologise over the May 9 protests.

Pakistan media reported that when asked whether he would apologise for the May 9 protest, while talking to the media after the court proceedings in the corruption case at Adiala jail, Imran Khan replied in the negative.

“I had already condemned those violent protests. I came to know about the protests when I appeared before the then-Chief Justice of Pakistan. I was under detention at the time and was unaware of those protests,” Dawn newspaper reported.

“I wanted dialogue for the sake of Pakistan, not to strike a deal for personal favours. I have no issue with the army even my close relatives are serving in the armed forces and bureaucracy,” Imran Khan said, as reported by the Pakistani media.

On May 9, 2023, the PTI Chief was arrested from a courtroom in Pakistan following which the people protested across the country leading to damage to several key installations of the country. While the Pakistan army has blamed Imran Khan for the protests in the country, Khan has maintained that it was the army who was behind these attacks to implicate his party and its leadership in false cases.