Terrorists do not have any religion, regional identity, says Punjab CM

Terms Pakhtuns living in Punjab brothers; committee

formed to address their grievances

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said terrorists have neither religion nor geographical identity; they are only terrorists. He said: “as a chief minister of the province, I assure that search and combing operations being conducted are not against any nation rather their target would be terrorists and their facilitators.”

The chief minister said Pakistan is all of us and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab are its units. He said that the imagination of Pakistan is impossible without all the four provinces and Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

He said that citizens living in KP and other provinces are our brothers. He said Pakhtuns living in Punjab are our brothers and sisters and their security is as dearer to us as our own. He said no one can be allowed to fan sectarianism for the sake of politics and anything aimed at harming Pakistan should be strictly reprimanded. Elimination of terrorists is mission of the people of the KP, Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab, he added. He said those indulging in baseless propaganda were doing no service to Pakistan rather committing enmity to the country. He said that enmity to the country through baseless propaganda should be avoided.

Talking to a delegation of KP led by Adviser to Prime Minister, Engineer Ameer Muqam, which called on him, here Tuesday, Shahbaz Sharif said Pakistan is our home and we are very close to each other. People residing in the four provinces are great Pakistanis who always pray for solidarity, progress and prosperity of the nation and the country. He said beautiful amalgamation of KP, Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan is the foundation of a beautiful Pakistan and hearts of its people beat together.

 He said a new history of sacrifices had been written by the people of Pakistan in the war against terrorism which should not be differentiated as it was tantamount to enmity of the country. He said the same terrorist group involved in Gulshan-e-Iqbal episode was perpetrator of Mall Road carnage which had cost the lives of brave police officers and officials.

He said all provinces of Pakistan, including Punjab, KP, Balochistan and Sindh had rendered unprecedented sacrifices against menace of terrorism and the suicide attacker of Mall Road bloodshed belonged to Afghanistan whereas his facilitator was from Bajaur Agency.

Shahbaz Sharif emphasised on the fact that the terrorists don’t belong to any religion or any geographical entity rather their identity is just terrorists and the Pakistani people are determined to stand again with more passion to curb the scourge of terrorism and extremism with coordinated efforts as such coward acts can’t shatter our determination. He said "we have to fight together to nip this evil of corruption in the bud with brotherhood and devotion avoiding every kind of extremism, ethnicity and racial discrimination."

He assured that operation would be carried out against terrorists only without any racial discrimination. He assured that the operations being conducted were only against terrorists and their facilitators without discrimination of colour, caste and creed and added that sanctity of Chadar and Chardewari would be cared during such operations.

He said the government had called Rangers in Punjab so that terrorists and their facilitators could be eliminated. He said that it is our collective responsibility to inform police about any suspicious person as we will have to cope with the enemies through strong relations of love, brotherhood and affection.  

The chief minister announced constituting a joint committee for redressing genuine complaints of the KP brethren. He said that despite recent incidents of terrorism, the Punjab government after consultation decided to hold PSL Final in Lahore. He said the cooperation of the entire nation was needed for making this match successful so that nefarious designs of brutal enemies could be foiled.

Speaking on the occasion, Adviser to the Prime Minister Engineer Amir Muqam said terrorists were enemies of the entire nation and the other provinces would support the Punjab government and fight the terrorists bravely.