LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Dr Tahirul Qadri has said adviser to prime minister on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz’s statement that the PML-N government does not want to take action against those militants who are not targeting it, is tantamount to vitiating Operation Zarb-i-Azb.

“Aziz’s statement has come at a time when the army chief is in the United States seeking support for the operation,” Qadri told a press conference here on Saturday.

He said the government did not have the capability to formulate foreign policy and the statement of Aziz was reflective of its ineptness.

“Such an irresponsible statement has damaged the reputation of Pakistan. Our army is fighting a war for the country’s survival while the rulers are doing their best to damage its reputation,” he said.

Dr Qadri asked Sartaj Aziz to name those terrorists who were “not a danger to the very existence of Pakistan.”

He said formation of the Joint Investigation Team to probe the Model Town tragedy was a fraud. He said a few days ago the PAT president of Balochistan was killed along with his wife and children and the bodies lay for two days and no one came to see what had happened.

The Balochistan chief minister and the governor did not even condole with the bereaved family. He said their alleged murderers had been involved in over 100 killings and the Balochistan government had not taken any action against them.

Dr Qadri said many persons including children had died in Thar, Sargodha and Vehari due to lack of food and non-provision of medical facilities but the federal and Sindh governments remained oblivious to this.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2014