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GUJRANWALA: Activists of the PML-N, led by an MPA, thrashed supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) for raising the slogan of “Go Nawaz go’ after the prime minister had left the venue of a ceremony in Wazirabad on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif distributed compensation cheques among flood-affected people at the ceremony. After he left the place, a group of people started shouting the slogan. Taufeeq Butt, a member of the Punjab Assembly, got off his car and, joined by PML-N activists, beat them up.
Know more: PML-N threatens ‘go Imran go’ campaign
“We will hit them with shoes if they raise this slogan again,” Butt warned while talking to a private TV channel. He asked the PTI to rein in its supporters. “They can raise slogans in their meetings but they can’t spoil others’ show.”
In her tweet after the incident, Maryam Nawaz Sharif warned PTI supporters “not to mess with the lions”. She said PML-N workers had had enough of the PTI’s vandalism and added that supporters of the party would find no place to hide if the PML-N hit back.
Compensation cheques distributed among flood-affected people
She said her party’s policy of “restraint and civility” should not be misconstrued as its weakness.
PM’S ASSURANCE: Earlier speaking at the ceremony, the prime minister assured flood-affected people that the government would help them in rebuilding their houses and restoring their normal life.
He said Rs25,000 paid to each flood-affected person was the first instalment of compensation for the losses they had suffered. The second instalment would be given to them on Oct 20.
Mr Sharif appealed to the rich to come forward to help the helpless as it was their moral and religious duty. He said floods had affected 600,000 families and damaged crops over two million acres of land.
The premier was told in a briefing that 21 centres had been set up in flood-affected areas of Gujranwala division.
He was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, some ministers and parliamentarians.
Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2014
