Public hanging befits killers: Hamza

LAHORE: Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz Sunday demanded public execution of those responsible for the Sahiwal incident so that none would dare commit such crimes in future.

Talking to the media here, he criticised the government for the cool-blooded murder of a family by the Counter Terror Department (CTD) officials and said there seemed to be no government in the country.

He said the PML-N would take this issue up in the provincial and national assemblies. “Societies don’t survive when protectors become killers. The government should take this as a test case and set an example,” he said.

“Neither the government nor the opposition should indulge in political point-scoring,” Hamza said, adding that the unfortunate incident in which the children saw their parents getting brutally killed had caused unrest among the masses at large. He said the PTI government was unserious, as facts were yet to be ascertained, while on the other hand two IGs were abruptly transferred in the past.

He said there were conflicting statements about the CTD operation. He regretted that the slain persons were being called kidnappers and terrorists. He said the opposition was being scolded and threatened with arrest for questioning the government.

He said the country’s economy was already on the ventilator and no foreign or even local investment was coming during the Niazi government. He said the opposition did not want to topple the PTI government, as it was causing huge damage to itself through its policies.

However, he said they were ready to cooperate with the government for legislation. The PML-N leader further said cracks had started appearing in the government alliance. To a question, he said the PML-N would decide on military courts in the larger interest of the nation but a final decision was yet to be taken in this regard.

Meanwhile, JI ameer Senator Sirajul Haq Sunday said the nation wanted to know who had given the licence to CTD and police to kill innocent citizens. Talking to the media at Lahore after visiting the family of the slain people, he said the incident happened in broad daylight and the government ministers changed their stance seven times.

He said the whole nation was grieved and had no faith in the JIT set up by the government. He urged the judiciary to take notice of the matter and bring the culprits to the book. “It seems the CM wants to pay a few rupees to the aggrieved family for the blood of victims. This is a humanitarian issue and not a political one, as parents have been shot dead before the eyes of their children,” he said.

Later, addressing a workshop organised by the National Association for Education (NAFE) for teachers at Mansoora, Siraj said Pakistan was an ideological state and a fortress for the Muslim Ummah. He said the rulers had caused dismemberment of the country and were now shaking the country’s foundations.