Back in Pakistan: Qadri hints at ‘final dharna’ against ‘corrupt rulers’

PAT chief seeks Panama JIT-led probe into Model Town killings

LAHORE: Amid rising political temperature in the country, a firebrand populist cleric returned on Tuesday to ramp up pressure on the government following the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court in the Panamagate case.

Dr Tahirul Qadri, the chief of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), appealed to the top court to assign a probe into the 2014 massacre of his supporters in Lahore to the same Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted in the Panamagate case.

Fourteen PAT supporters were killed and dozens wounded when the police mounted an operation to remove barriers from a road leading to the PAT offices and Qadri’s residence in Lahore’s Model Town on June 17, 2014,



Accusing Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah of masterminding the massacre, Qadri and his supports had staged a marathon sit-in the federal capital to seek justice for the victims.

“Shehbaz Sharif now it’s your turn and you have to account for the massacre of 14 innocent people in Model Town,” Qadri said while addressing workers at Lahore’s Nasir Bagh on Tuesday. “Shehbaz Sharif and his aides will be sent to the gallows as Qisas for the Model Town victims.”

The PAT chief also demanded that the government make public the report of Justice Baqir Najafi Commission into the Model Town massacre.



“Victims’ families have been running from pillar to post to seek justice,” he said. “When the PAT took out rallies and staged sit-ins in 2013, everyone knew who we were agitating against.”

Hinting a three-step campaign, Qadri said he would soon announce a ‘final’ sit-in to topple the corrupt rulers.

“Are you ready to sit here on GT Road with [symbolic] 14 bodies of the Model Town carnage victims to remind the rulers of their oppression when they take out their rally on August 9,” he asked his supporters.

However, moments later the PAT chief told them that he just wanted to test their patience, adding: “I will soon give you the next line of action for the sit-in and that will be the final show to send these corrupt leaders home.”

He also called upon his followers to remain steadfast against the ‘injustice’ suffered by his movement.



Qadri said he had never seen a shameless man like Nawaz Sharif, who was planning to lead a public rally even after his disqualification by the Supreme Court. “Sharif is a liar and a dishonest person who preferred his illegal wealth to national interests,” he alleged.

The PAT chief said Sharif and his party leaders should cancel the GT Road rally to protect themselves from more trouble. “You should thank God that the Supreme Court didn’t throw you in jail, and just disqualified you,” said Qadri, adding that the name Sharif had become synonymous with dishonesty, corruption and lie.

He said even though the PML-N had been ruling at the Centre and in Punjab, it found democracy in danger. “This is their problem. They think if they are not in power, there is no democracy in the country.”

Qadri said when opposition parties staged protest rallies, the government claimed that it was a conspiracy against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “Now the rulers are planning to stage a public rally on GT Road... will this not harm CPEC?” he said.

PTI’s senior leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, Awami Muslim League Chief Sheikh Rashid and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s senior leader Chaudhry Zaheeruddin also addressed the gathering.