PMK founder S. Ramadoss and president Anbumani Ramadoss at the conference in Tiruvannamalai on Saturday.

Farmers in Tamil Nadu should come together to stage a massive demonstration in the city, similar to the ones organised by farmers from Punjab and Haryana in Delhi, to draw the attention of the State government, which failed to fulfil their long pending demands, said Pattali Makkal Katchi president Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday.

Speaking at the Tamil Nadu Uzhavar Periyakkam State conference in Tiruvannamalai, he alleged that the ruling DMK government was working in favour of capitalists. “Farmers should intensify their protests and come together to march towards Chennai. The DMK government is ignorant has no knowledge of the plight of farmers in the State. It had invoked the Goondas Act against farmers who opposed the Cheyyar SIPCOT expansion. The DMK thinks that by giving ₹1,000 to women, people will vote for them.”

He further demanded to know why the State government disbursed just ₹2,000 to the families affected by Cyclone Fengal in Villupuram and Cuddalore districts, when it disbursed ₹6,000 to flood-affected families in Chennai and southern districts last year.

The conference passed 45 resolutions. The demands include the withdrawal of Tamil Nadu Land Consolidation (Special Projects) Act, 2023; increase in the income support for farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi from ₹6,000 to ₹12,000; formation of a committee headed by a Madras High Court judge to examine the problems faced by farmers and recommend solutions to the State government.

Some of the other resolutions press for a subsidy to remove invasive Prosopis juliflora from farm lands, distribution of groundnut and coconut oil through PDS outlets, an act to guarantee procurement price for all agricultural products and disburse ₹10,000 per acre as input subsidy to farmers, constitution of a separate board to rejuvenate waterbodies under encroachment, construction of at least 25 check dams across River Palar, permanent closure of sand quarries in Cauvery and Kollidam Rivers and increasing the extent of protected special agriculture zone in Cauvery delta districts.

Jagmeet Singh. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The future of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership appeared increasingly uncertain after New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh, a key ally, said he would introduce a motion to topple the minority Liberal government.

Also Read | Major reshuffle as Trudeau faces party pressure, Trump attacks

Mr. Singh, whose party has been helping keep Trudeau in office, announced in an open letter posted on social media that he would declare a loss of confidence in the Trudeau-led Liberal government next year, a move that would trigger an early election if other opposition parties support his move.

Canada’s next election must be held on or before October. Mr. Singh is the last of Canada’s three main Opposition parties to turn on Mr. Trudeau.

In his letter, Mr. Singh said the Liberals were undeserving of “another chance.” He wrote, “That’s why the NDP will vote to bring this government down and give Canadians a chance to vote for a government who will work for them,”.

Also Read | Trudeau says Americans are realizing Trump’s tariffs on Canada would make life a lot more expensive

He said the New Democrats plan to use their next Opposition day in the House of Commons — during which opposition priorities are given precedence over government business — to introduce the vote.

The House is currently on its winter break and is set to resume on January 27.

Mr. Singh’s letter came as questions swirled about the future of Mr. Trudeau, with at least 21 Liberal MPs now calling for him to resign, CBC News reported.

Mr. Singh’s announcement is the latest in a series of political setbacks suffered by Mr. Trudeau this week after the resignation of Chrystia Freeland, his Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.

Freeland quit hours before she was set to deliver an economic statement on Monday, citing political disagreements between her and Trudeau on the “best path forward for Canada” in light of tariff threats posed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

“No matter who is leading the Liberal party, this government’s time is up,” Mr. Singh’s letter read.

Singh also said the Liberals have frequently not lived up to their promises and that the time for change is now.

The letter was released just before Mr. Trudeau announced his revamped front Bench on Friday morning.

The New Democrats ended their parliamentary alliance with the Liberals in early September, but have repeatedly declared confidence in the government when the Conservatives have introduced votes to bring the Liberals down.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has repeatedly called for an election as soon as possible.

Had Mr. Singh voted with the Conservatives, “we would be a third of the way into an election campaign right now,” Poilievre told reporters on Friday. 

“But he suddenly had an epiphany and says that he can no longer support the costly chaos that he has enabled as part of the NDP-Liberal coalition.” The Conservative leader said he was writing to Governor General Mary Simon “asking her to urgently reconvene Parliament and require a non-confidence vote” to end Trudeau’s reign.

Mr. Trudeau has not responded publicly to these calls and has reportedly told members of the party that he will take the holidays to reflect and decide what to do.

Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it will also put further strain on Social Security Trust Funds. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The Senate passed legislation early Saturday (December 21, 2024) to boost Social Security payments for millions of people, pushing a longtime priority for former public employees through Congress in one of its last acts for the year.

The bipartisan bill, which next heads to President Joe Biden, will eliminate longtime reductions to Social Security benefits for nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from work in federal, state and local government, or public service jobs like teachers, firefighters and police officers.

Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it will also put further strain on Social Security Trust Funds.

The legislation has been decades in the making but the push to pass it came together in the final weeks — and was completed in the final hours — that lawmakers were in Washington before Congress resets next year. All Senate Democrats except one, as well as 23 Republicans, supported the push to bring it to a final vote in the Senate. The final vote was 76-20.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called it “very important for our retired teachers and firefighters and postal workers and police officers and so many other public servants who deserve their full Social Security benefits.”

The bill repeals two provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that limit Social Security benefits for certain recipients if they receive retirement payments from other sources such as the public retirement program for a state or local government.

Also Read: Tips, overtime, Social Security: A look at Donald Trump’s no-tax pledges and what they might cost

“Social Security is a bedrock of our middle class. It’s retirement security that Americans pay into and earn over a lifetime,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat who has pushed for the proposal for years and will leave Congress after losing reelection.

He added that the current restrictions make “no sense. These workers serve the public. They protect our communities. They teach our kids. They pay into Social Security just like everyone else.”

People who currently have reductions in their Social Security benefits under the exceptions would soon see a boost in their monthly payments. But those increased payments would also add an estimated $195 billion to federal deficits over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Social Security Trust Funds were already estimated to be unable to pay out full benefits beginning in 2035, and the change will hasten the program’s insolvency date by about half a year. A typical dual-income couple retiring in 2033 would see an additional $25,000 lifetime reduction in their benefits, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Many of the bill’s opponents acknowledged that the current reductions are not fair to public service retirees, but said they could not support the bill when the entire program faces challenges.

Also read: Social security in capitalist land

“We caved to the pressure of the moment instead of doing this on a sustainable basis,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who opposed the bill.

The policy changes will also heap more work on the Social Security Administration when the agency is already at its lowest staffing level in 50 years. The agency currently has a staff of about 56,400 — the lowest level since 1972, according to an agency spokesperson — even as it serves more people than ever. The stopgap government funding bill also being considered late Friday did not include increased funding for the agency, which is currently in a hiring freeze.

Still, Republican supporters of the bill said there was a rare opportunity to address what they described as an unfair section of federal law that hurts public service retirees.

“They have earned these benefits. This is an unfair, inequitable penalty,” said Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.

GOP supporters of the bill also said they would return to work on larger fixes to Social Security. President-elect Donald Trump, however, has said he will not touch the benefits, even as his administration looks to make deep budget cuts elsewhere.

Senate Republicans are nonetheless working on ideas that would put the program on better financial footing, but also inevitably require a scale-back in benefits. One fiscal hawk, Sen. Rand Paul, pushed Friday (December 20, 2024) for a proposal to gradually raise the Social Security retirement age to 70, although a vote to add that provision to the bill only received three votes in favor of it.

“There’s so much riding on us getting this right and having the courage to fix Social Security over the next few years,” Mr. Tillis said. “We will rue the day that we failed to do it.”

नई द‍िल्‍ली. पुराना साल 2024, जाते-जाते कुछ कर्मचार‍ियों की नौकरी भी ले जाएगा. गूगल में काम करने वाले 10 फीसदी कर्म‍ियों के ल‍िए मुश्‍क‍िल का दौर आने वाला है. क्‍योंक‍ि कंपनी के सीईओ सुंदर प‍िचाई ने कंपनी में 10 फीसदी वर्कफोर्स के छंटनी की घोषणा कर दी है. यह घोषणा करने के साथ ही प‍िचाई ने ये भी बताया क‍ि कंपनी 10 फीसदी कर्मचार‍ियों की छंटनी क्‍यों कर रही है. उन्‍होंने कहा क‍ि ये फैसला संगठनात्मक पुनर्गठन का हिस्सा है जिसका उद्देश्य परिचालन दक्षता को बढ़ाना है.

बता दें क‍ि इस बार कंपनी ये छंटनी मैनेजमेंट रोल से कर रही है. बुधवार को हुई कंपनी की मीट‍िंग के दौरान सुंदर प‍िचाई ने इस बारे में जानकारी दी और कहा क‍ि प्रोडक्‍ट‍िव‍िटी बढाने के ल‍िए ऐसा कदम उठाया गया है.

इससे पहले गूगल ने जनवरी 2023 में 6 फीसदी यानी 12000 कर्मचार‍ियों की छंटनी की थी. इस बार कंपनी 10 फीसदी की छंटनी कर रही है.

यह पहली बार नहीं है जब Google ने हाल के महीनों में छंटनी का सहारा लिया है. Google पिछले दो वर्षों से दक्षता में सुधार करने पर ध्यान केंद्रित कर रहा है. सितंबर 2022 में, पिचाई ने कंपनी के लिए 20 प्रतिशत अधिक कुशल बनने का लक्ष्य रखा. अगले जनवरी में, इस पहल के कारण छंटनी का एक ऐतिहासिक दौर शुरू हुआ, जिसके परिणामस्वरूप 12,000 नौकरियां खत्‍म हो गईं. जैसे-जैसे Google इन परिवर्तनों को लागू करता है, तकनीकी दिग्गज उत्पादकता में सुधार के लिए स्वचालन और कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्ता में निवेश सहित अपने संचालन को और अधिक अनुकूलित करने के तरीकों की भी खोज कर रहा है.

गूगल का रीस्‍ट्रक्‍चर, दूसरे तकनीकी दिग्गजों को भी प्रेर‍ित करता है. जैसे क‍ि अमेजन ने बीच के मैनेमेंट लेयर्स को कम करने पर ध्यान केंद्रित किया है, जिसमें व्यक्तिगत योगदानकर्ताओं को सशक्त बनाने और निर्णय लेने में तेजी लाने पर जोर दिया गया है. तकनीकी क्षेत्र में व्यापक रूप से अपनाए गए इन तरीकों का उद्देश्य नवाचार को बढ़ावा देना और कंपनियों को तकनीकी प्रगति के लिए अधिक तेजी से अनुकूलित करने में सक्षम बनाना है.

Tags: Business news, Google

This handout photo taken and released on December 16, 2024 by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence shows a U.S.-made M1A2 Abrams battle tank rolling down from a trailer at an army armour training centre in Hsinchu County, Hsinchu.
| Photo Credit: AFP

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday (December 20, 2024) agreed to provide $571.3 million in defence support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the State Department approved the potential sale to the island of $265 million worth of military equipment.

The United States is bound by law to provide Chinese-claimed Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei, to the constant anger of Beijing.

Democratically governed Taiwan rejects China’s claims of sovereignty.

China has stepped up military pressure against Taiwan, including daily military activities near the island and two rounds of war games this year.

Taiwan went on alert last week in response to what it said was China’s largest massing of naval forces in three decades around Taiwan and in the East and South China Seas.

Mr. Biden had delegated to the Secretary of State the authority “to direct the drawdown of up to $571.3 million in defence articles and services of the Department of Defence, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan,” the White House said in a statement without providing details.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry thanked the United States for its “firm security guarantee”, saying in a statement the two sides would continue to work closely on security issues to ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait.

The Pentagon said the State Department had approved the potential sale to Taiwan of about $265 million worth of command, control, communications, and computer modernisation equipment.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said the equipment sale would help upgrade its command-and-control systems.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry also said on Saturday (December 21, 2024) that the U.S. government had approved $30 million of parts for 76 mm autocannon, which it said would boost the island’s capacity to counter China’s “grey-zone” warfare.

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Member Jatothu Hussain Nayak. File.

Across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha, temple management executive officers are working carelessly, many don’t even implement the reservation rosters, and there is partiality against SC and ST employees in service matters, promotions, said National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Member Jatothu Hussain Nayak, who took charge in March this year and began working extensively in States south of the Vindhyas just after the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

In an exclusive interaction over the phone with The Hindu this week, Mr. Nayak, a BJP politician from Telangana, spoke of the significance of having a Member of the Commission from a southern State, his experience of reviewing temple management boards during official visits, and a focus on raising awareness about the Commission’s work, which he said had led to increased complaints now being filed with the NCST.

Mr. Nayak said he had conducted reviews of two States, about 26 PSUs, and 48 districts across the country in his time with the Commission so far. “In States I have visited such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala, the most common complaint poor people from ST communities have had is with regard to forest pattas and land issues, followed by service matters,” Mr. Nayak said.  

But in his visits, Mr. Nayak has given special attention to checking whether temple managements across these States are following mandated rules on reservation and addressing complaints of ST employees working at various posts within the management structure. He has already led reviews of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), Sree Seetha Ramachandra Swamy Devasthanam in Bhadrachalam, Srisaila Devasthanam, and the Puri Jagannath Temple.

“In so many temples, they are not using rosters at all. Bhadrachalam predominantly has ST population and it is located in the jungles. They have no regard for reservation. In Srisailam too, this is the case. This is also in the jungle area. There should be more right for STs of the area for their development. In Tirupati, the situation is very bad,” Mr. Nayak said.

Referring to the situation at TTD, Mr. Nayak said that the NCST was informed about a host of issues relating to the welfare of SCs and STs there during a review in August this year. Among the list of complaints were demands to allow SCs and STs to be considered for religious posts in the temples, adequately inform SCs and STs about stipend scheme of the TTD for those studying the Vedas, lack of reservation in shop and hawker license allotments, and a near absence of a grievance redressal mechanism for SC/ST staffers.  

“When we took stock of the issues and called the EO to explain what is happening, they kept evading and then went to the High Court to get a stay order. We will fight it tooth and nail in the court. How can the court stay proceedings of a Commission, which is itself exercising its Constitutional powers as a Civil court?” Mr. Nayak said, adding, all temples he has reviewed have had similar issues.

“In Puri Jagannath temple’s case also, officials are not responding to our summons, many don’t have relevant records that we are calling for on reservations, schemes for welfare of SC and ST employees,” Mr. Nayak said.

Mr. Nayak told The Hindu that he has been able to use his position at the NCST to take the Commission’s services to more and more people in the southern States.  

“There have been many more Commission members appointed from the North, so some work has been done there. But in the south, awareness about the NCST and what it can do for the people is relatively low,” he said, adding that he had been able to significantly raise the number of complaints coming from people in States like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.  

“In Telangana, when I took charge, only 30-37 complaints were there. Now, we have received over 800 complaints. In Andhra Pradesh too, the number of complaints has gone up to 600 from about 70 when I started off,” Mr. Nayak said.

Protesters attend a rally against South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, who declared martial law, which was reversed hours later, in Seoul, South Korea on December 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Demonstrators supporting and opposing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held rival protests several hundred metres apart in Seoul on Saturday (December 21, 2024), a week after he was impeached over his short-lived declaration of martial law.

Mr. Yoon’s presidential powers are suspended but he remains in office. He has not complied with various summonses by authorities investigating whether martial law, which he declared late on Dec. 3 and rescinded hours later, constituted insurrection.

He has also not responded to attempts to contact him by the Constitutional Court, which decides whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential powers. The court plans to hold its first preparatory hearing on Friday (December 20, 2024).

Saturday’s (December 21, 2024) pro- and anti-Yoon protests were held in Gwanghwamun in the heart of the capital. There were no clashes as of 4 p.m. (0700 GMT)

Tens of thousands of anti-Yoon protesters, dominated by people in their 20s and 30s, gathered around 3 p.m., waving K-Pop light sticks and signs with sayings such as “Arrest! Imprison! Insurrection chief Mr. Yoon Suk Yeol” to catchy K-pop tunes.

“I wanted to ask Mr. Yoon how he could do this to a democracy in the 21st century, and I think if he really has a conscience, he should step down,” said 27-year-old Cho Sung-hyo.

Several thousand pro-Yoon protesters, chiefly older and more conservative people opposing Mr. Yoon’s removal and supporting the a restoration of his powers, had gathered since around midday.

“These rigged (parliamentary) elections eat away at this country, and at the core are socialist communist powers, so about 10 of us came together and said the same thing – we absolutely oppose impeachment,” said Lee Young-su, a 62-year-old businessman.

Mr. Yoon had cited claims of election hacking and “anti-state” pro-North Korean sympathisers as justification for imposing the martial law, which the National Election Commission has denied.

Emergency personnel work at a Christmas market after a car drove into a group of people, according to local media, in Magdeburg, Germany, on Saturday (December 21, 2024).
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Germans began Saturday (December 21, 2024) mourning another violent attack and their shaken sense of security after a Saudi doctor drove a black BMW into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers on Friday (December 20, 2024) evening, killing at least two people, including a small child, and injuring at least 60 others in what authorities called a deliberate attack.

Authorities identified the suspect as a 50-year-old who has been living in Germany for nearly two decades and practicing medicine there. He was arrested Friday (December 20, 2024) evening at the site of the attack as medical officials tended to the injured, and was taken into custody for questioning.

But on Saturday (December 21, 2024) there were still no answers as to what caused the man to drive into a crowd in the eastern Germany city of Magdeburg.

The violence shocked the country and the city, bringing its mayor to the verge of tears and marring a festive event that’s part of a centuries-old German tradition. It prompted several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser were due to travel to Magdeburg on Saturday (December 21, 2024), and a memorial service is to take place in the city cathedral in the evening.

“My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives,” Mr. Scholz wrote on X. “We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg.”

Magdeburg is a city of about 240,000 people, west of Berlin, that serves as Saxony-Anhalt’s capital. Friday’s (December 20, 2024) attack came eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

The two people confirmed dead were an adult and a toddler, but officials said additional deaths couldn’t be ruled out because 15 people had been seriously injured.

Christmas markets are a German holiday tradition cherished since the Middle Ages, now successfully exported to much of the Western world.

Hours after Friday’s (December 20, 2024) tragedy, the wail of sirens clashed with the market’s festive ornaments, stars and leafy garlands.

Two decades after a catastrophic tsunami destroyed her village, Tria Asnani still cries when she recalls how she lost her mother while trying to escape the giant waves.

Ms. Asnani, now a school teacher, was only 17 at the time. Her father, who was a fisherman, never returned home from sea. She doesn’t know how she survived. “I cannot swim. I could only rely on dhikr (Islamic prayer).”

On Dec 26, 2004, a powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries, reaching as far as East Africa.

But Indonesia’s Aceh province, located closest to the earthquake’s epicentre and with 18 of 23 districts and cities located in the coastal line in the Northern side of Sumatra, bore the brunt of the disaster with more than half of the total death toll reported.

The worst-hit areas were in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh, according to the Aceh Disaster Management Agency.

Ms. Asnani’s Lampuuk village lies in a fishermen’s community in Aceh Besar, known for its white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. However, on that day, it was among the hardest hit, with waves more than 30 meters (98 feet) high which changed the coastline in Aceh and led to land subsidence after the earthquake.

Buildings by the coast were flattened to the ground except for Rahmatullah Mosque, 500 meters (1,600 feet) from the shore, and about one km (0.6 miles) from Ms. Asnani’s house. The photo of the place of worship, left pretty much unscathed, later became iconic.

After the disastrous event, thousands, including Ms. Asnani, had to relocate to start afresh. She moved with her uncle to another region in Aceh to continue her studies. After she got married, she returned in 2007 to her parents’ house which was rebuilt with assistance from the Turkish government and lived there for 10 years.

Many international donors and organizations poured in money to help rebuild the affected areas that lost schools, hospitals and basic infrastructure, made stronger than before the tsunami hit.

Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center at Syiah Kuala University in Aceh recorded more than 1,400 wrecked schools and about 150,000 students had their education process disrupted by the destructive waves in a report published in 2019.

Three “escape buildings” were also constructed in a relatively safer area to accommodate thousands of people if an earthquake and tsunami strike.

Across the province, memories of the tsunami can be felt almost everywhere.

The Aceh Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh houses photos of the aftermath and vehicle debris, serving as a constant reminder of what was lost that day. Local authorities have also turned a former floating diesel-powered power plant barge that washed about 6 km (about 4 miles) inland by the tsunami into another memorial place.

Both places have become the most popular tourist destinations in the area.

But development never stops and 20 years after the tsunami the Aceh coast is brimming with residential housing, cafes and restaurants, as well as tourism support facilities, while the hills in some areas from which people are currently being mined for sand and stone.

Fazli, the head of Preparedness in Aceh Disaster Management Agency, said that the government initially stipulated that there should be no activity up to one km (0.6 miles) from the coast. Over time, many displaced fishermen returned to their original coastal homes, drawn by their livelihoods and ties to the sea, despite having received housing elsewhere.

He also said the agency has “provided the Acehnese people with information” to deal with a potential tsunami. “People already know what to do,” said Fazli, who, like other Indonesians, uses a single name.

Siti Ikramatoun, a sociologist in Banda Aceh, said that despite years of recovery and rebuilding, the people of Aceh must stay vigilant.

“If people experienced (the tsunami), they may have an instinct to anticipate it. But those who do not have the experience, they won’t get what to do,” Ikramatoun said.

Various communities in Aceh commemorate the tsunami yearly along with the government and local authorities.

In Banda Aceh, art communities in early December spread disaster awareness through theatrical or musical performances that can be easier for people to follow and target all groups, including those born after the tsunami.

Muslina, 43, a civil servant, took her youngest son to the Aceh Tsunami Museum to watch one of the shows. She lost relatives and loved ones 20 years ago and she wants to make sure she always remembers them.

“Earlier my son asked me if there might be another tsunami when he grows up,” she said. “I told him I do not know. Only God knows, but if there is a strong earthquake and the seawater recedes, we run, run, run to find higher ground.”

Pakistani Rangers guard the area with a shipping container in the background with “Imran Khan’s soldiers have arrived” written on it in Urdu, after security forces launched a raid on supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who had stormed the capital demanding his release on Tuesday, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on November 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Pakistan’s military courts sentenced 25 civilians to prison terms ranging from two to 10 years for attacking military installations during riots which erupted following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in May last year, the Army announced on Saturday (December 21, 2024).

On May 9, 2023, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters allegedly attacked several military installations, including the Army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad, to vent their anger against the arrest of their party founder in a corruption case.

Hundreds of suspects were arrested in the countrywide swoop and at least 103 were handed over to the military authorities for trial due to their involvement in attacks on military installations.

In a detailed statement, the military said that the nation on May 9 witnessed tragic incidents of “politically provoked violence and arson at multiple places, marking a dark chapter in the history of Pakistan” when building on a sustained narrative of hate and lies, politically orchestrated attacks were carried out on the Army installations and monuments of Shuhada (martyrs).

“These blatant acts of violence not only shocked the nation but also underscored the necessity of checking this unacceptable attempt of political terrorism to impose own perverted will through violence and coercion,” it stated.

According to the statement, Field General Court Martial sentenced 25 individuals in the first phase, following a thorough review of evidence and the completion of proper legal procedures.

It said that the convicts were awarded prison terms ranging from two to 10 years for attacking the military facilities.

Fourteen individuals received 10-year sentences of rigorous imprisonment, while the others were given shorter terms.

The Army said that promulgation of the sentences of the remaining accused is also being done and will be announced shortly as and when the due process is complete.

The Army termed the development “an important milestone in the dispensation of justice to the nation” and a stark reminder to all those who are exploited by the vested interests and fall prey to their political propaganda and intoxicating lies, to never take law in their own hands ever in the future.

It also said that many accused are also being tried in various Anti-Terrorist Courts and their cases are being pursued as per the law.

Showing its intent to punish the “mastermind”, it stated that “justice would truly be fully served once the mastermind and planners of 9th May Tragedy are punished as per the Constitution and laws of the land.”

It said that Pakistan will vigorously pursue dispensation of justice to ensure the establishment of its writ to uproot this evil of violence-driven disruptive and destructive politics based on hate, divisiveness and baseless propaganda.

All convicts punished by the army retain the right to appeal and other legal resources, as guaranteed by the law and the Constitution.

The convictions, announced following the Supreme Court’s directive conditionally allowing them, primarily relate to attacks on several key military sites including the Jinnah House, General Headquarters (GHQ), and Pakistan Air Force Base Mianwali.