A bloody end: ‘It was a routine drive against encroachments’

Officer says citizens wanted action against Minhaj barriers.

LAHORE:

The city government said on Tuesday the operation in which eight people were killed and at least 80 injured was part of a “routine” drive against encroachments.

Model Town Assistant Commissioner Tariq Chandio said the city government had launched the operation after receiving several complaints about barriers placed around the Minhajul Quran Secretariat in Model Town.

“Residents of Model Town have been complaining about the barriers for long,” Chandio told The Express Tribune.

Giving details of the operation, he said a municipal team of Gulberg Town along with around 30 policemen had gone to the secretariat on Monday night.

“We asked the secretariat management to remove barriers from near the building and the residence of Minhajul Quran patron Tahirul Qadri’s in M-Block, Model Town.” Chandio said the management refused.

“We then asked them to give us an undertaking in writing that they would remove the barriers within 24 hours. They refused to do that either,” he said.

Chandio said Minhajul Quran workers were of the view that they had spiritual attachments with the secretariat and that they would not let the government remove the barriers.

He said Minhajul Quran Secretariat Chief Security Officer Altaf Sheikh was also asked to seek the Home Department’s permission if they wanted to keep the barriers.

Deadlock

Chandio said the situation went out of control after hours of argument with the secretariat’s management. “We had gone there at 11:30pm on Monday. We kept on talking with them until 11:30am on Tuesday when the talks failed,” he said.

Chandio said the secretariat workers turned violent and clashed with the government staff. “We were not ready for the hostility. We had only 30 policemen with us.”

He said Minhajul Quran activists broke into the warehouse of Gulberg Town Administration and damaged five trucks. He said eight people, including two women, were killed in the clashes.

Asked why they had launched the drive at night, Chandio said they did so to avoid creating a traffic mess in the area.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2014.