LAHORE: Calling the Model Town incident a case of worst form of state terrorism, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Friday said his party will launch the final protest round if the culprits are not arrested and Justice Najfi report not made public.

Addressing a gathering demanding the report be made public, Qadri said his party was waiting for institutions to act and punish the culprits. If they did not, the PAT would launch the final round of protests.

Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Fatima Atif of the All Pakistan Muslim League, Amjad Ali Chishti of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan-Noorani and Syed Hassan Kazmi of Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen also addressed the gathering.

The provincial chief of the PTI claimed that the Model Town incident was the worst terrorism not only in Pakistan, but in the world where the state killed its own citizens. He asked if the rulers were not involved in the tragedy, as they claim, why they did not make Justice Najfi’s report public.

Qadri questioned that if police had come to remove barriers only, why was his house, even the bedroom, sprayed with bullets? Invasion of the house told a story different from official claims of police. A deputy inspector general, seven superintendents of police (SPs) and 17 station house officers (SHOs) had come to remove barriers only. Why they were not being investigated, he questioned, adding that only an SP and a SHO had been booked.

He claimed the first report of the joint investigation team had also termed the first information report incorrect.

It maintained that neither the “important accused” turned up for investigation nor was it allowed to inspect weapons used in the operation.

Qadri said all these factors showed mala fide on the part of police and the rulers, adding: “It is better for the rulers to let institutions work and reach an independent conclusion and decision. Otherwise, the party will be constrained to lodge a final and decisive round for justice.”

Published in Dawn January 28th, 2017