LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Dr Tahirul Qadri alleges the rulers have connections with terrorist groups and seem non-serious about eliminating terrorism in the country.

He has also warned the government to accept all PAT’s demands within one month, failing which the protest sit-ins will expand across the country after starting off from Islamabad, Model Town and Raiwind.

“Since the rulers have links with banned and terrorist outfits, they can never be serious to eliminate them. At present, various quarters/groups have become active as they do not want the military courts to start functioning. But the Pakistan Army and PAT are the only two forces that will foil such bids to end terrorism and extremism in the country,” he said while speaking to a gathering of party workers through a video-link from abroad, outside Lahore Press Club here on Saturday.

He said the government’s seriousness to curb terrorism could be judged from the Punjab Assembly session that continued for a month but its members didn’t even discuss the most important issue. And finally it issued a crippled and useless ordinance on it, he deplored.

He said Parliament had not even owned the war as its own. He said the PAT would never accept the Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) formed without its consensus. He said electricity, gas and now petrol had become scarce and it was right time to come out and snub the corrupt rulers.

The PAT chief said how he and Imran Khan could bring a revolution when the masses stayed in their houses. He said the rulers were making a mockery of the mandate given by the masses. He said killing of 12 people in France forced its premier to lead a protest rally there. But the rulers here had nothing to do but to just condemn the terrorist attacks claiming lives of innocent people daily.

PAT President Dr Raheeq Abbasi sought CM’s resignation, formation of a JIT according to the desire of the families of victims and making the Model Town tragedy’s judicial commission report public. He also demanded arrest of Dr Taqueer Shah and others nominated accused of Model Town tragedy.

Published in Dawn January 18th , 2015

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