KARACHI, April 12: While holding the Sindh government responsible for Tuesday’s blast at Nishtar Park, laving 46 dead and another 150 injured, the Sunni Tehreek on Wednesday gave a 48-hour ultimatum to Islamabad to identify, arrest and publicly hang the culprits otherwise they would announce their future line of action after the deadline.

Speaking at a crowded press conference on Wednesday, Shahid Ghauri, flanked by Engineer Abdul Rehman and Qari Khalilur Rehman Chisti, representing a hurriedly constituted panel after three main leaders of the party were killed in the blast, said the central cabinet of the ST was the target, and it seemed that the terrorists had succeeded in their plan. “But the ST has emerged even stronger after going this devastating attack,” he said. However, they warned that “we can give any call at any time”.

They said, both the killing of the ST’s chief, Saleem Qadri, and Tuesday’s bombings were interconnected as the same forces were behind both acts, they added, without naming any person or party.

Saying that the provincial government had failed miserably in ensuring peace, and protection to life and property of people in the city, they demanded immediate removal of the Sindh government.

Calling for an independent investigation into Tuesday’s bombing, they demanded that the Sindh government should have no role in the probe and the MI and the ISI should be given the task to carry out the investigations.

To a question, Shahid Ghauri said they would nominate the responsible of the Sindh government in the FIR.

Referring to government claims that it was an act of suicide bombing, Ghauri said it seemed that the government wanted to shift its responsibility by terming it suicide bombing.

Without naming anyone, Ghauri said the government was attempting to give a legal cover to the earlier proscribed jihadi outfits.

Condemning both the federal and provincial governments for their inaction, Ghauri said 18 hours had lapsed since the bombings, but not a single official, either from the Sindh or federal governments, had bothered to call us.

He said during the last one year, scores of ST activists had been either killed in target killings or had been arrested across the city, while ST leaders were constantly receiving threats for which complaints had been lodged with the concerned quarters, “but they have simply ignored our complaints and failed to protect us,” he said.

FUNERALS: Announcing the schedule of the funerals prayers of the top leadership of the Sunni Tehreek, Ghauri said, “We are under immense pressure from the Sindh government, but the funeral prayers of the martyred leaders will be held after evening prayers on Thursday on the M A Jinnah Road near the Jama Cloth Market.”