Model Town unrest: Case sought against PM, CM and 17 others

Petitioner says the bloodshed could have been averted had the chief minister acted on time.

LAHORE:

Additional District and Sessions Judge Safdar Ali Bhatti on Friday sought comments from Faisal Town police on a petition seeking a case against 19 people, including the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister, for their alleged involvement in the killing of 14 Pakistan Awami Tehreek workers during a police operation in Model Town on June 17.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Safdar Ali Bhatti ordered the Faisal Town station house officer to submit his reply by July 8 on a petition filed by Muhammad Jawad Hamid, the Minhajul Quran International Secretariat administration director.

The petitioner said that police were reluctant to register a case against the accused, who include Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, National Assembly Member Hamza Shahbaz, former law minister Rana Sanaullah, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, State Minister for Power and Water Aid Sher Ali, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Rana Abdul Jabbar, Model Town Superintendent Tariq Aziz, Superintendent (Headquarters) Maroof Safdar Wahla, Civil Lines Superintendent Umar Cheema, the security superintendent, the Model Town assistant commissioner, a town municipal officer, Kahna Station House Officer Inspector Ishtiaq and Nishtar Town Station House Officer Ahmad Majeed Usman.

Hamid, in the petition, said that a large number of police personnel gathered in front of Minhajul Quran Secretariat on the night of July 16. He said they brought bulldozers and cranes to demolish the barriers set up in near the secretariat.

He said the DIG told the secretariat management that they had been directed to remove barriers from the area.

He said as the bulldozers started razing the barriers, the DIG also ordered policemen to resort to shelling if faced with resistance. He said the DIG had been receiving instructions from top authorities.

The petitioner said that several women at the Minhajul Quran International Secretariat had tried to resist the police operation by refusing to let them enter the secretariat but the policemen started shooting at them.

He said that Tanzeela Amjad and Shazia Murtaza received severe injuries and died as a result of the indiscriminate police shooting. He said that policemen also snatched valuables such as purses and cell phones from the women.

The petitioner said that a man, later identified as Gullu Butt, smashed the windows and windscreens of several vehicles in the area. He said people in the area protested the vandalism but the police did nothing to stop him.

Hamid said several days had passed since the police operation but the police had not registered a single case against the accused.

The petitioner also spoke to media representatives after filing the petition in the court.

Hamid said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership and the police were responsible for the killings during the police operation on June 17.

He said that the bloodshed could have averted had Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif acted on time.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2014.