KARACHI: Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri has said that his party’s mission is elimination of extremism, corruption and exploitation in all forms along with promotion of peace.

“Our workers are different from those of other parties as their path cannot be blocked by placing containers on roads, police or state-sponsored repression. This courage is the manifestation of their commitment with their mission that they had demonstrated on the eve of Model Town tragedy and revolutionary march. They did not offer sacrifices for money but for revolution,” he added.

The PAT chief was addressing workers’ convention of the PAT and Minhaj-ul-Qura’n on Tariq Road on Monday, reiterated his determination not to rest until the murderers involved in the Model Town tragedy were made accountable.

He also announced formation of three regional chapters of the party in Sindh — Upper Sindh, Lower Sindh and Karachi — to be headed by Makhdoom Nadeem Hashmi, Nadeem Naqshbandi and and Safdar Qureshi, respectively.

Earlier, he congratulated the workers of Minhaj-ul-Qura’n Tehreek for organizing successful Seerat-un-Nabvi (SAW) Meeting and Peace Conference at Nishtar Park.

Dr Qadri said that if Karachi was devastated, Pakistan’s fate would not be different. Terrorism was the outcome of the ideology of extremism, global terrorism and economic terrorism, he said. Some international forces did not want to see stability in Pakistan that was why they were using terrorists as a tool to destabilize Pakistan, he added.

The PAT chief said 180 million Pakistanis were deprived of their rights, as a mafia had taken over all resources of the country. In the given circumstances, he said, injustice and poverty could resulted in growth of terrorism. Al-Qaeda was thrown like a used tissue paper and was being replaced by Daesh, which is a major threat to Pakistan, as its methods were not different from Al-Qaeda, he added.

Terming Pakistan a special gift from Allah, Dr Qadri said it was duty of everyone of us to save this gift. The enemy could not succeed until enemy was provided shelter in this country and backed by the people, he said. Unfortunately, he added, there were some people who supported the forces working against the country. Until the roots of terrorism were eliminated, peace could not be restored, he added.

Dr Qadri said that any ideology that supported slitting neck and unleashing repression could not be called Islam. The only way to get rid of this menace was to follow strictly in the footsteps of Seerat-i-Tayyeba, he added.

On the eve of his visit to Quaid-i-Azam mausoleum, the PAT chief said that the Father of the Nation greatly obliged the Muslims of the subcontinent by giving them the gift of Pakistan but the ruling elite mutilated its shape.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2016