The thief is gone, now it is killer’s turn: Qadri

LAHORE: Expressing satisfaction that Nawaz Sharif has been disqualified at last, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri has warned that now it is Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s turn to be taken to task.

“The thief has gone, and now it is the turn of the killer,” he said while addressing a large gathering of party workers and activists of the allied parties at Nasser Bagh on Tuesday on his return from abroad in the wake of Supreme Court judgment, disqualifying Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Leaks case.

Qadri was brought to the venue by a motorcade of slogan-chanting and flag-waving workers. He was accompanied by two allied leaders, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chaudhry Sarwar, and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, besides some other political leaders. However, the absence of top leadership of another key ally, PML-Q, was also felt by the people concerned.

Holding Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif responsible for the killing of 14 PAT workers in Model Town three years ago, he demanded the Supreme Court constitute a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the Model Town killings, like the one which probed the Panama Leaks.

He reiterated that Justice Baqar Najfi report on the Model Town killings must be made public if the Sharif brothers were confident that they had no hand in the killings. He lamented that his party was being denied justice in the case as victims’ appeal before the Lahore High Court was not heard for the last two years, while none of the 126 accused were punished.

“All the key accused were sent abroad to reward them for the killings,” he said.

He praised the party workers and families of victims for “not selling the blood of their martyrs by refusing huge offers of blood money”.

Qadri warned that his workers were fully prepared to stage the final sit-in outside the Sharif brothers’ residence for seeking justice in the Model Town killings case. He said he would not take rest till justice was done to the families of the victims of Model Town killings.

Qadri called the Sharif brothers economic and political terrorists, accusing them of patronising all the terrorists and banned extremist groups, providing them shelter and contesting elections with their support. He alleged that the Sharifs were born in the lap of military dictator Ziaul Haq, who brought them up and created their faction of Muslim League after ditching Junejo. “That is the reason Sharifs are devoid of democratic values and rule through dictatorship,” he said. He warned that if articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution were removed, it would spell doom for the country.

Referring to deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s protests on his disqualification, Qadri said it was strange that a convict of corruption was asking what was his fault. He said the Sharifs should thank God the Supreme Court actually favoured them in the case, and did not send Nawaz to seven years jail for perjury and making false statements at every stage of the Panama Leaks probe. He said what could be any bigger proof of democracy in the country that the Supreme Court did not dissolve assemblies and the PML-N was still in power in the Centre and Punjab.

He asked Nawaz Sharif to show courage and name those who conspired against his government. He asked Nawaz Sharif to let sanity prevail and cancel his GT Road march.

Qadri asked the workers present at the venue if they were prepared to stage a sit-in for a few days there. He said food, clothing and bedding could be arranged if needed, adding that food could also be had from the nearby Data Darbar where philanthropists distribute it in large amounts among the needy.

He remarked sarcastically that if they stage a sit-in, they could welcome Nawaz Sharif who was scheduled to pass-by there via GT Road. “He (Nawaz) is coming after getting disqualified and deserves a welcome with the presence of 14 dead bodies of PAT workers, killed three years ago. He (Nawaz) is the son of decent (Sharif) parents but obtained a certificate of corruption which brought disgrace to his ancestors and successors.”

Qadri said the Panama Papers verdict against Nawaz Sharif was the revenge for the Model Town massacre.

Referring to his address at a rally in December 2012 at Minar-e-Pakistan, where he had stated that as long as Article 62 of the Constitution was not invoked, corruption could not be eliminated from the country, Qadri said: "Thank God after four years, Article 62 has spoken".

Earlier, addressing the participants, Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid alleged that Nawaz Sharif’s GT Road procession was an attempt by the ousted prime minister to seek a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) from the army.

The procession and rally were being held for one reason only that they should be granted an NRO, he asserted.

The NRO was a controversial ordinance promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf which granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats accused of corruption, embezzlement, money-laundering, murder and terrorism between 1986 and 1999.