Qadri, Imran persevere in their demands

PAT chief denies his supporters were responsible for PTV vandalism.

ISLAMABAD:

A day after the government, its allies and opposition parties reaffirmed their support for democracy, PTI chairman Imran Khan and PAT leader Dr Tahirul Qadri preserved in their demand for the prime minister to step down or else their dharnas would continue.

Speaking to his supporters from his custom-built shipping container, Qadri said that PAT workers had not stormed the PTV headquarters. “The government staged the attack and it was their trained Gullu Butts who stormed the building,” he claimed.

The populist cleric also categorically denied that his workers had attacked the Parliament House. “People took refuge on the parliament lawns after they were teargased by riot police on August 30. They did not touch the building, or even its parking lot.”



To substantiate his stance, Qadri showed three pictures of Nawaz Sharif and his supporters, some of whom are now cabinet ministers, ‘attacking’ the Supreme Court, Parliament House and the Presidency in 1997. “This is the real face of Nawaz Sharif,” Qadri said.

The PAT chief also heaped scorn on Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah for criticizing his party in the Parliament. “Shah is speaking against PAT because he is as corrupt as the Sharif brothers,” Qadri said but hastened to add that his criticism wasn’t directed at the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

“Shah Sahib, stop speaking [against us] or else this would have far-reaching effects,” Qadri warned, as he asked PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari to ‘handle’ Shah. “Don’t you dare call our party undemocratic,” the PAT chief said referring to Shah’s comments during the joint session of the Parliament on Wednesday.

Qadri also censured Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party head Mehmood Khan Achakzai for speaking against him in the Parliament, saying that Achakzai he had been speaking against Pakistan in the past. “Even in the recent past when the Ziarat Residency was burnt down by terrorists you said that an icon of imperialism has been destroyed,” Qadri said addressing Achakzai.

The PAT leader demanded the government remove all shipping containers which have been blocking roads in the federal capital. “I will end my protest sit-in, if I fail to gather hundreds of thousands of people within in three days [after the removal of these hurdles],” he challenged the government.

Qadri also demanded the report of the judicial commission on the Model Town tragedy be presented before the Parliament and all parliamentary leaders in the joint session. “The report holds Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif responsible for the bloodbath on June 17,” he added.

Speaking to his supporters, PTI chairman Imran Khan said he was witnessing a realignment of forces at the national level as well as within his party in the wake of the current crisis. “I’ve been observing my party members since August 14 and have noted down who is ideological worker and who has joined us for personal interest,” he said.

“Hard times separate the real from the fake,” he said, adding that a new PTI would emerge from this crisis. “We see the split between real PTI supporters and those who joined us to benefit from the tsunami,” he added.

Talking with reference to the upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Imran assured that his party would welcome him and would not create any obstacles during his visit.

Lambasting the ruling party, the PTI chief alleged that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was trying to malign the country’s armed forces to prolong his rule.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2014.