LAHORE: The corrupt forces in the country have joined hands and are now working against the very existence of Pakistan, said Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Tahirul Qadri while addressing a ‘Qisas’ rally and sit-in held in Dera Ghazi Khan on Thursday, via video link from Lahore.

Qadri said if the evidence (against MQM head) given to the British government was credible, why had the Pakistani government not registered a treason case as yet?

The PAT chief repeated his allegation that the prime minister, Punjab chief minister and his cabinet were responsible for the Model Town killings and PAT would not rest until Qisas was paid in the case.

He said the person (Dr Tauqeer) who was bringing and delivering messages between the two Sharifs, had been awarded and made Pakistan’s envoy to Geneva.

He said the person (SP Salman) who ordered firing, had been sent abroad, DIG Abdul Jabbar, who oversaw the entire operation, was granted two-year leave and sent abroad, while third ‘culprit’ SP Umar Riaz Cheema was also given two-year leave. “The rest are all set to either go abroad or disappear.”

The PAT chief said the Punjab government had been neglecting the issues of south Punjab for several years. “DG Khan is given 1.3 per cent of the budget while Lahore gets 58pc and this is simple discrimination with the people of the area.”

He said: “The support price of wheat is Rs1,300 per 40 kilo but the people of south Punjab are given Rs1,100 and each year floods take away the belongings of people but the provincial government cannot see anything beyond Lahore, Orange Train and Metro projects.”

In the end, Dr. Tahirul Qadri advised the police to mend their ways as the “rule of the Sharifs is nearing its logical end.”

He announced Qisas movement and national solidarity sit-ins and rallies in Multan on Aug 27 and in Rawalpindi on 28th.

The rally started from the Faisal Masjid and concluded at the Traffic Chowk.

Sheikh Rashid, Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, Khwaja Aamir Fareed Koreja, Fayyaz Warraich, Dost Mohammed Khosa, Sardar Saifuddin Khosa, Sardar Shakir Mazari, Sardar Saifullah Sadozai, Sardar Riaz Khan Leghari and Malik Akhtar Mallana also addressed the rally.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2016