Zaeem Hussain Qadri, a spokesman for the provincial government, on Saturday accused Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan of trying to cash in on Friday’s stampede in Multan in which seven people were killed.
“Imran Khan is using the Qasim Bagh tragedy for political gains,” Qadri told a press conference.
He said instead of staying with party workers Imran Khan had flown to Islamabad on a private jet. “Khan sahib should stop levelling baseless allegations.”
He said the PTI was misleading people by blaming the tragedy on the district administration.
“Holding the district administration responsible for the incident is unjustified. This is not the first time mismanagement has been seen in a PTI public meeting,” the spokesman said.
He said Imran Khan had been injured in a fall from a stage during a public meeting before the May 2013 elections.
Qadri said PTI leader Imran Ismail had admitted that arrangements for the public meeting at Qasim Bagh were not satisfactory.
The spokesman said the impression that the PTI had selected the venue for the rally on the Multan district coordination officer’s suggestion was wrong.
He said PTI Multan president Ijaz Hussain Janjua had written to the administration seeking permission for the public meeting at Qasim Bagh. He said Janjua had given an undertaking that security at the stadium would be the PTI’s responsibility.
Qadri said 2,200 police jawans had been deployed around the stadium. He said five out of six gates were opened.
He said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had constituted a three-member committee to investigate the incident. Environment Protection Secretary Iqbal Muhammad Chauhan will head the committee. Deputy Inspector General Ali Amir Malik and Home Department Special Secretary Shoaib Akbar are its other members.
Qadri said that Imran Khan should stop dreaming about ruling the country. He said that the performance of the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been disappointing.
He said the PTI leadership had done little for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims. He said instead of spending huge amounts on holding sit-ins and public meetings the PTI should provide assistance to those affected by recent floods.
He said PTI leader Shah Mehmood’s slogan-chanting against the Metro Bus Service would not undermine the utility of the project. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak is launching a similar project in his province, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 12th, 2014.
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It was all bound to end in disaster, the Meeting in other places was IK trying to crawl away from Islamabad with his tail between his legs, it is a shame that people have died because of his megalomania.
This man and his boss have lost their ability of reading....hope their hearing ability is intact...someone has to read the the writhing the wall for them which say ...enough is enough.....game is over....get ready to face the music......although his body language does tell that he is scarred....