Qadri spurns patch-up moves, sticks to demand of Qisas

LAHORE: Chairman Pakistan Awami Tehreek Dr Tahirul Qadri on Saturday reiterated the demand for Qisas for the Model Town killings.

He was addressing protest rallies in over 82 cities in different parts of the country through video link from Lahore.

The PAT chief urged Nawaz not to send any more delegations to woo the Pakistani Awami Tehreek whose only demand was Qisas over the killing of the 17 people who were massacred in June 2014.

Qadri said that they would not compromise on anything other than retribution (Qisas). He said that his workers made history by showing up in large numbers. He said that their protest was for the country’s security and they would not take the law in their hands, because it would give Nawaz an excuse to run away. He said that they were not allowed to file the First Information Report (FIR) nor they were given an impartial Joint Investigation Team (JIT). He added that families of the martyrs were not given justice.

He claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was a real security threat for Pakistan and it was India who brought Nawaz to power.

The PAT chief stated that Nawaz came to power in Pakistan as a result of lobbying of global nations before the 2013 general elections.

The PAT chief on the occasion threw open a challenge to the security forces and the Sharif brothers to prove his allegations wrong. He also stated that Punjab was the ‘ideological capital’ and went to say that terrorists’ network in Waziristan was broken by the armed forces and a similar operation was needed in the largest province of the country.

Qadri stated that PAT could avenge the killing of Model Town victims within seven days but, he added, he had always urged the workers to adopt the path of peace. He also warned that if elections were held in 2018, the entire country would become a ‘Sharif Kindgom’ and the armed forces of the country would be treated and used as the Punjab Police.

Continuing his tirade against the Sharif government, Qadri stated he knew what connection existed between terrorists and the rulers. He stated that whenever Nawaz government faced any danger, the country started witnessing terrorist strikes only because the Sharifs’ enjoyed complete backing of terrorists.

Qadri said that PAT was forced to take to the streets, its workers were not given the right to lodge an FIR over the Model Town killings and they were not consulted during the formation of the Joint Investigation Team. He said to root out the menace of corruption, terrorism, extremism, loadshedding, unemployment from the country a mere face change will not help in raising the fortunes of the country but now is the time for the people of the country to come out on the streets to change the corrupt system under which this corrupt and cruel government came into being. He said the ruling party is the personal fiefdom of a particular family, which has lost its credibility in the eyes of the people of the country. He said if the masses do not reform now, then they will be dumped in graveyards of history.

He said today Pakistan is facing serious economic crisis, rising debt, grave internal and external security threats, tense civil-military relations, unabated terrorism linked with rising extremist ideas, unemployment, hours of loadshedding coupled with serious energy crisis, lack of healthcare, dropping education standards and increasing pressure on the federation. He said corruption is eating at the vitals of our economy and this pilferage of state resources is increasing our foreign and domestic debt beyond comprehension.

Qadri called upon Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to eradicate terrorism from Punjab, adding the province is ideological centre of terrorism. He also warned that the results of Zarb-e-Azb will be undone if the operation is not extended into the Punjab against the terrorists holed up here.

PAT will be holding more rallies and sit-ins on the 21st, 25th and 27th of this month in over 140 cities across the country. The second round of the protest movement will begin on August 28, if the current round does not end with the requisite result of an end to this government.

Qadri addressed protest rallies and sit-ins that were held in 82 different cities of the country including Lahore, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Okara, Sargodha, Bahawalnagar, Bhakkar, Hyderabad, Sukkar, Larkana, Badin, Jacobabad, Peshawar, Kohat, Dera Ghazi Khan, Mansera, Dera Murad Jamali, Gilgit, Dera Allahyar, Sanghar, Haroonabad, Shorkot, Khanpur, Pakpattan and many other cities.

The rallies were also attended by leaders of Jamat-e-Islami, PML-Q, PTI, PPP, Sunni Tehreek, Pakistan Masehi Party, Sunni Ittehad Council and Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen. Qadri thanked the participants of the rally and stated he would announce the ‘next round’ of this movement on August 28.

OKARA: Activists of the Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) on Saturday staged sit-ins at three different sites in the district. Dozens of male and female members of the PAT staged a sit-in outside the Minhajul Quran office on the GT Road. PAT provincial vice-president Qari Mazhar Fareed Sial, advocate, Hafeez Qadri, Mirza Khalid and others addressed the sit-in participants. The second sit-in of the PAT was staged at Renala Khurd in which PAT tehsil president Amir Qadri addressed. In Hujra Shah Muqeem, Malik Yasin Awan, PAT Tehsil Depalpur president addressed the protesters.

PAKPATTAN: Workers and activists of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek and Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran (district Pakpattan chapter) took out a rally demanding arrest of culprits involved in the Lahore Model Town tragedy. The rally was organized under Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran district Ameer Syed Abu Dawood Shah Bukhari. The participants were carrying banners and placards. The participants took the rally from Nagina Chowk to Alhamra Chowk and raised slogans against the rulers.