LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri says he will call off his long march if anyone proves that his party or workers have piled up arms in the party’s secretariat or other places.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, Mr Qadri said he was ready to open his offices, hostels of the Minhaj University and other institutions to representatives of political parties and international institutions to see if there were any arms other than the few licensed ones being carried by the security guards. He said if any weapon was recovered he would withdraw the call for the long march and even ban his own party.

But if no weapons were found, the government should remove the containers from around Model Town and other areas of Lahore and other cities, Qadri said.

He denied that any PAT worker ever fired even a single shot, adding his party did not believe in lawlessness rather it was facing torture and violence from the law-enforcers.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2014