Qadri’s APC discusses Model Town incident, Nawaz Sharif disqualification

PAT chief lauds parties, including PTI and PPP, for participating in the conference on his invitation

LAHORE: An all parties conference (APC) hosted by the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) on Saturday extended by a week a deadline earlier given by it for resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah over their alleged involvement in the killing of 14 workers of the party in a clash with police in June 2014.



The APC formed a steering committee and empowered it to convene a meeting on January 8 to formulate a course of action if Sharif and Sanaullah do not resign by January 7.

A resolution adopted by the participants condemned the Model Town incident and an alleged attempt to amend the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat law.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) leader Qamar Zaman Kaira read out the resolution during a news conference after the APC held at the PAT secretariat.



The resolutions states that the Model Town massacre was the worst example of state terrorism, in which the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership – including deposed premier Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz and Sanaullah – bureaucrats and police officers were involved. At least 14 people died and nearly 100 suffered bullet wounds during the police action carried out to remove barriers from a road near the PAT headquarters.

PAT chief Tahirul Qadri said all participants had agreed on the resolution prepared by representatives of the PPP, PTI, Awami Muslim League, Pakistan Muslim League, Jamaat-e-Islami, Pak Sarzameen Party, Muslim Conference, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami and other parties.

The resolution states that it is the responsibility of all participating parties to seek justice for the families of those killed in Model Town. It adds that the bereaved families got the inquiry report of the Justice Ali Baqir Najafi Commission after a long struggle of three and a half years, and that justice and a fair trial is impossible in the presence, at the helms, of those responsible for the incident.



According to the resolution, all participants of the APC would table resolutions in the assemblies and Senate, demanding resignation of those responsible for the massacre.

The APC resolution appeals to the chief justice of Pakistan to constitute a joint investigation team (JIT) under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge to investigate the incident as two JITs formed earlier had failed to ensure justice.

It says the Najafi commission had fixed the responsibility of the massacre on Shehbaz, Sanaullah and their associates, and they should resign before January 7.

The resolution also demands exemplary punishment for those who allegedly attempted to change the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat law.

It also says that the nation is not ready to accept any extra-constitutional favour offered to the Sharif family under a deal like the National Reconciliation Ordinance introduced during Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s rule.

Qadri clarified that the December 31 deadline had been given by the PAT, but now all political parties had teamed up to ensure justice for the families of the Model Town victims. The deadline was extended to give time to all parties to make arrangements for a movement if those responsible for the massacre would not surrender before the law, he said.

He said all the parties had taken ownership of the struggle for justice and the APC’s next course of action could be anything allowed under the law, including agitation, a nationwide protest movement or a sit-in.