LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has warned that the May 9 incidents will be repeated if their culprits are pardoned. “Those who are released from jail are now preparing to repeat May 9-like incidents. They should not be pardoned under any circumstances. Rioters are roaming around, and they should not be given any leniency,” she told a press conference here on Friday. The Punjab minister’s statement came a day after the Pakistan Army announced that 19 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) activists convicted by Field General Court Martial (FGCM) for involvement in the May 9 riots had been granted remission in their sentences, while cases of 48 others are under appeal in military courts. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said the decision followed mercy petitions submitted by 67 of the 85 convicted individuals. It said that 48 petitions had been processed to the courts of appeal while petitions of 19 convicts had been accepted “purely on humanitarian grounds, in accordance with the law”. It added, “Mercy petitions of the remaining will be decided in due course of time, following the legal process” Azma Bokhari also expressed sympathy for the children who became a part of the chaos and ruined their lives. “The PTI members are experts at lying. Their only way to go viral is through lies. While sitting in jail Imran Khan is spreading rumours. Jails in KP are breaking down, and no one is willing to go there,” she said. The Punjab information minister said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was providing solar systems to 100,000 people with an investment of Rs10bn. “Consumers whose meters are faulty or who are involved in electricity theft are not eligible for this scheme. Defaulters are also excluded from this scheme. Inflation has now dropped to 4 per cent,” she said. Azma Bokhari claimed that there was excellent progress in shrimp farming. “In Muzaffargarh, a 100-acre farm has been established, and it is capable of producing shrimp twice a year. They have already produced 120 metric tonnes of shrimp and exported it to various countries,” she said.