The PAT chairman should also repose trust in the state’s institutions
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Awami Tehrik Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri has taken yet another political somersault by announcing that he would raise the case of the Model Town incident at international forums to seek justice for the victims. As a first step, he is visiting the United Kingdom to discuss it with the European Union Human Rights Commission for filing it in a relevant court of justice at the international level.
Seeking justice for the victims of the state’s excesses is an undeniable right of a citizen but raising the Model Town incident at this particular time at an international forum has some serious repercussions for Pakistan. First, the seasonal appearance of Dr Tahirul Qadri in Pakistani politics is certainly not helping his case. After being absent for a considerable amount of time from the political stage, he jumps into the fray whenever the PTI starts an agitation movement against the government.
Secondly, the government has already decided to send its delegations to foreign capitals to make them aware of the Indian atrocities in Kashmir. Dr Tahirul Qadri’s move of raising the Model Town incident at the international level can be a blow to Pakistan’s Kashmir case; world powers will hardly swallow the Pakistani point of view on Kashmir in the face of the pending inquiry on Model Town once they become aware of it. Thirdly, there is little chance that Qadri will get justice at the world level, other than bringing a bad name to the country.
The government and the PAT chief must settle the Model Town issue within the borders of the country. The government must immediately appoint a high-level inquiry team and bring the perpetrators to justice, besides compensating the victims. The PAT chairman should also repose trust in the state’s institutions and avail all avenues of seeking justice before deciding to internationalise the Model Town incident.
M Sayyad Alam Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2016.
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