LAHORE: Demanding justice for the ‘martyrs’ of Model Town incident, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri on Saturday raised a slogan of “Blood for blood”, saying his party will not accept anything less than ‘Qisas’ (compensation).
“We want blood for blood, life for life and head for head,” Qadri said in a video link address to his followers holding Qisas March rallies in around 80 cities across Pakistan.
He said that they could take revenge for the martyrs within seven days, but did not want to disrupt peace.
He said the protest was for the country’s security and they would not take law in their hand because it would give Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif an excuse to run away.
He said that they were not allowed to file the first information report (FIR) of the Model Town incident, nor were they given an impartial joint investigation team (JIT). He said that the families of the deceased were not given justice, but vowed that the blood of martyrs would not go waste. “We demand nothing more than justice. Police officers are held responsible through the fake JIT for the Model Town incident,” he said.
He reminded that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif had helped in getting the FIR filed and also promised that justice would be served.
Calling Punjab an ideological centre of terrorism, he said that nurseries of terrorists were flourishing in the province. He called upon the COAS to eradicate terrorism from Punjab, like the army had eradicated the same from Waziristan.
He warned that the results of Zarb-e-Azb Operation would be undone if the operation was not extended to Punjab to “eliminate terrorists holed up here”.
Saying that the Nawaz rule was a threat to the solidarity of the country, he questioned why India was protecting Nawaz Sharif’s government. He also asked why bomb blasts took place only when the incumbent government was in danger, and why the PM was quiet when Indian secret agents were caught in Pakistan.
Qadri said that the government had made efforts to make sure that the National Action Plan (NAP) failed, and asked how many meetings were called since its inception. He also alleged that special courts were not allowed to run and their funding was stopped.
He said that kidnappers go to Faisalabad after their activities, adding that Punjab topped the list of provinces in abductions and sale of fake medicines and haram meat. He said that Rs 30 billion were wasted in the Sasti Roti (cheap bread) scheme, but the people in the assembly were quiet.
The PAT chief said that Punjab was under a debt of Rs 1,000 billion, but nobody was asking questions. He said that if elections were held in 2018, Pakistan would become the ‘Sharif Kingdom’. “All the institutions will be finished and the Pakistan Army will turn into the Punjab Police. People will commit suicides.”
He said that the premier’s steel mill in Dubai was sold in 1981, while the mill in Jeddah was bought in 2001.
“If money reached Jeddah 19 years later, why was it not mentioned in assets. The PM could be disqualified because of that speech,” he said, adding why all institutions were quiet despite 150 corruption cases against the Sharifs.
The PAT chief said the second round of the protest movement would begin on August 28, “if the current round does not end with the requisite result of end to this government”.
He said the PAT workers had displayed matchless enthusiasm and vigour for seeking justice.
“Our peaceful protest is voice of the weak sections of society. The participation of the masses in today’s rallies has woken up the nation,” he said.
