Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) supremo Tahirul Qadri. PHOTO: ONLINE
Dr Qadri was addressing a public gathering outside Lal Haveli following an invitation by Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed for negotiations on crafting an anti-government plan.
Blaming the rulers for all ills in the country, the PAT chief said: “Nawaz Sharif and his family have become a threat to Pakistan’s solidarity. They have become the ‘epitome’ of corruption.”
Citing the Punjab government’s budget documents, Qadri said that the provincial government had been recruiting ‘terrorists’ in the provincial police force. He also accused the provincial government of sending these terrorists to India for training. He pointed out that in the budget documents, the Punjab government listed the names of many policemen who had been sent to India for ‘medical treatment’.
Accusing PML-N leaders of being involved in anti-state activities, the PAT chief claimed that a case under Article 6 of the Constitution needed to be instituted against the Sharif family.
Referring to the killing of 14 PAT workers by police in Lahore on June 17, 2014, Qadri said that rulers should be held accountable. He said that families of the deceased party workers had turned down an offer by the government to get millions for pardoning the killers.
Qadri said that the current political system in the country favored the status quo and the ruling elite, adding that it could not provide justice to the families of the deceased.
He exhorted the people to take to the streets if they wanted to start a revolution and get rid of the rulers.
Qadri thanked Sheik Rasheed for inviting him to his Rawalpindi residence.
Subsequently, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said that all opposition political parties needed to join hands to get rid of corrupt rulers.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2016.
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