LAHORE: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar slammed ‘elements’ running negative propaganda against the state following a police crackdown on Baloch families protesting in Islamabad against extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances.
The prime minister was referring to criticism by a section of media during a press conference in Lahore on Monday.
PM Kakar clarified that the state won’t tolerate those elements involved in backing terrorists and armed militants under the guise of supporting Baloch protesters.
The premier said the issue of Baloch protesters was painted wrongly and in sharp contrast to realities as the Baloch people stood with the state.
He added that militias were involved in the killings of thousands of Balochistan people. He said that the Indian spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) had been funding terrorists in Balochistan to disturb peace.
The premier reassured that terrorists could neither be given license to kill innocent people nor their facilitators to spread their narratives.
The premier said that there was no restriction on freedom of expression and every citizen has the right to protest within constitutional limits. “The families have the right to protest for their beloved ones but others are just launching baseless criticism.”
He, however, the state won’t allow elements backing and spreading the narrative of militants and terrorists. The prime minister added that it was not his mandate to respond to those criticising him on social media.
“Those who want to support them [armed militants] should join the camp of the militant outfits who termed terrorism as a movement,” he added.
The caretaker prime minister said that about 90,000 people had been killed in the fight against terrorism but hardly any nine accused had been convicted so far.
The prime minister opined that the criminal justice system in the country required improvement.
Answering a question, PM Kakar said that the firing incident in Dera Ismail Khan over vehicles of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman was alarming.
He added that the government was responding to security threats in the southern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with all the available resources.
He vowed that all the resources and security apparatus would be utilised to ensure the holding of general elections peacefully.
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