LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Tehreek Secretary General Khurram Nawaz Gandapur has said that Rana Sanaullah misled the National Assembly about the Model Town case because the FIR for killing of 14 innocent civilians had been registered on court orders.

Responding to PML-N MNA and former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah’s claim in the National Assembly, the PAT leader said here on Tuesday that Rana Sana as well as then prime minister Nawaz Sharif and then chief minister Shahbaz Sharif were nominated accused in the Model Town massacre and the FIR registered with the Faisal Town police hasn’t yet been quashed by any competent authority.

Mr Gandapur alleged that the Shahbaz government that continued ruling Punjab for four years after the tragedy, did not allow any neutral inquiry into the incident though a 72-day sit-in was staged in Islamabad for the purpose.

He questioned if Rana Sana and his leaders were innocent in the case then why they disallowed an impartial investigation into it notwithstanding numerous protests and demands by the heirs of those martyred or injured in the incident.

The PAT secretary general asked Rana Sana that before taking oath on his innocence he should first answer the questions that who killed 14 people in Model Town during the Shahbaz government, and that if it was not the responsibility of the then law minister and other office-holders to expose the killers.

He said: “The PAT leadership is also ready to swear an oath that the Model Town tragedy was plotted by Nawaz, Shahbaz and Sana to be implemented by then Punjab IG Mushtaq Sukhera as the earlier inspector-general of police and Lahore DCO had been transferred overnight to execute the plan.”

He said the PML-N had been and is using the platform of the National Assembly to mislead the nation and recalled that Nawaz Sharif had used the same floor to give money trail of his family’s assets only to retract the same in a court of law.

Mr Gandapur lamented that the so-called investigation team never summoned the accused for recording their statements while report of the judicial commission on the issue was also sabotaged and an impartial inquiry held on the orders of the Supreme Court was scuttled at the last stage.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2020