Iqbal asks Qadri not to be other parties’ scapegoat

PAT chief demands justice for his 14 workers who were killed during a police crackdown in Model Town

LAHORE: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has advised Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri not to become a scapegoat for the other political parties.

The PAT chief, who demands justice for his 14 workers who were killed during a police crackdown at his Model Town residence in June 2014, has given Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah until Dec 31 to resign in view of the recently unveiled report on the incident.

Some major opposition parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have assured the PAT of their support.



About the PAT’s ultimatum, the interior minister said some political parties are instigating Qadri to stage another sit-in while they are busy themselves in preparing for the general elections to be held in June 2018.

“They are trying to make Tahirul Qadri scapegoat to hide their impending defeat in the polls,” Ahsan said while speaking at the Quad-e-Azam day event in Narowal district of Punjab.

He said nations were not built through long marches and sit-ins. “Qadri Sahib, if you want to call an APC [all parties conference], organise it for uniting the nation against terrorism, for seeking progress of the country and to answer the allegations of the US,” he added.