Day of mourning: Preconditions for talks not acceptable, says PTI

Party activists stage rallies in major cities to mourn the death of worker in Faisalabad.


Qamar Zaman December 09, 2014

ISLAMABAD:


As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) observed a nationwide day of mourning for its worker killed in Faisalabad on Monday, the party rejected the government’s preconditions for negotiations and demanded the stalled talks be resumed ‘unconditionally’.


“The resumption of talks should be unconditional,” PTI Secretary Information Dr Shireen Mazari told journalists after the party’s core committee meeting on Tuesday. “The government should understand that we will not accept any preconditions,” she added. “The nation is with us.”

Responding to a question, Dr Mazari said that the government has so far not made even an ‘informal’ contact with the PTI leadership for resumption of talks. “The PTI will not budge an inch on the already reached agreements and that the government will have to resume talks from where they were left,” she added.

According to the PTI, the government had agreed in earlier rounds of talks to constitute a judicial commission and a joint investigation team, comprising members of ISI, MI and IB, to probe into alleged rigging in the May 2013 elections.

Earlier the core committee meeting, chaired by PTI chairman Imran Khan, passed a resolution expressing grief over the killing of party worker Haq Nawaz in Faisalabad and vowed that no effort would be spared to prosecute the killer and instigators behind the murder.

Haq Nawaz died on Monday during clashes between PTI and PML-N workers in Faisalabad. However, the core committee said it was not a spontaneous killing. “There are credible reports that in a meeting – presided by Hamza Shahbaz and attended by all MNAs and MPAs of the PML-N from Faisalabad a week earlier – a conspiracy was hatched to use the PML-N goons to attack peaceful PTI protestors,” said a statement issued after the meeting.

Meanwhile, PTI workers observed a countrywide day of mourning on Tuesday for Haq Nawaz. Protest rallies and demonstrations were staged in all major towns and cities to express anguish over the killing.

In Faisalabad, hundreds of PTI workers attended the funeral prayers for Haq Nawaz, who was subsequently laid to rest at the city’s Siddiqia Qabristan.

In Lahore, hundreds of PTI activists staged a demo on The Mall, snarling up traffic on the key road. They offered Ghaibana Namaz-e-Janaza for their fallen colleague and then burnt tyres on the road to vent their anger at the government. Similar protests were also staged in other cities of Punjab, including Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur. In the twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad, PTI workers blocked main roads to protest the killing.

The day of mourning was also observed in different cities of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI is in power. Protest rallies were also staged in Mardan, Charsadda, Swat, Hangu, Kohat and Kohistan where PTI workers shouted ‘Go Nawaz, Go’ slogans.

In Karachi, scores of PTI activists gathered at Regal Chowk to demonstrate against what they called ‘state terrorism’. In the evening, they held a vigil at Teen Talwar for their slain party colleague. Protests were also held in other urban centres and rural areas of Sindh including Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Ghotki, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Shikarpur, Khairpur and Larkana.

PTI activists also observed a day of mourning in different cities of Balochistan. In Quetta, dozens of party activists staged a demonstration outside the local press club and shouted slogans against the government.


Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2014.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ