PAT conference: Qadri threatens another sit-in

LAHORE: The government must ensure that justice is done with respect to Model Town killings of June, 2014. Otherwise, we will stage another sit-in in Islamabad, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri said on Sunday.

Addressing a peace conference organised by Mustafwi Students Movement, Qadri said he had always preached peaceful measures to get justice. “Otherwise, by now the culprits of Model Town incident would already have been brought to justice. The Model Town case should be tried in a military court,” he said.

“The FIR of the Model Town incident was registered under pressure from the army chief. Relatives of the deceased have been charged in the same cases. The rulers have turned the Punjab into a police state,” he said.

The PAT chief also said 25 million children in the Punjab did not go to schools. “Several national institutes are being privatised. Billions are being made through front-men. From the election commission to police, every institute and department is under political influence,” he said.

“Why does the Punjab chief minister alone accompany the PM on his official visits?” he asked. He rejected the tax amnesty scheme announced by the federal government.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2016.