Qadri says Model Town violence victims await justice

LONDON: Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chairman Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri has said that neither he nor any of the victims of the Model Town tragedy took a penny from the government but a defamatory whispering campaign was run against him to discredit his campaign to obtain justice for the victims who were gunned down last year in Model Town Lahore. Dr Qadri, who reached here a week ago, was speaking to his supporters in London and Pakistan from Minhaj-ul-Quran secretariat here on the first anniversary of the Model Town violence which claimed lives of 14 PAT workers and wounded 85.
He was accompanied on the stage by PTI leader Fauzia Kasuri and All Pakistan Muslim League (UK) leader Ifzaal Siddiqui. The UK event was coincided live with anniversary event in Lahore which was attended and addressed by leaders of various political parties who condemned the Model Town killings. They demanded of the government to form a new “impartial Joint Investigation Team (JIT)” to establish facts around the Model Town killings and punish those who are found to be behind the killings of PAT activists. Dr Qadri rejected the JIT report and alleged that “killers were made part of the JIT to ensure that justice is not done”. But he hoped that the justice will be achieved one day and his campaign will continue.
Dr Qadri blamed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, chief minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif for being behind the killings of his workers during confrontation with the Punjab police. Rejecting the joint investigation report of the incident, Dr Qadri said that he had demanded that JIT should be comprised of the officials from any other province but not by the Punjab police or Punjab officials but this demand was not met.
He said that he didn’t join the JIT probe because it was comprised of the very people who were involved in the crime. He said that Shahbaz Sharif was then also the Home and Interior minister of Punjab and Punjab police took orders from him. He said that there is precedent in Pakistan that Scotland Yard investigated the murders taking place in Pakistan and there was no issue with that but his demand for an investigation by the Khyber Pakhunkhawa was turned down and “killers were made prosectors and judges”. He said that violence went on for 12 hours, live bullets were fired, killers didn’t hide their faces and there is video evidence of the massacre but no one has been punished for the killings.
He said that those behind the murder of 14 PAT workers were very powerful and influential but that doesn’t mean that he will stop asking questions. He said that the victims wanted to know who had killed their loved ones a year ago.