Turbat massacre: 15 bodies shifted to Lahore in military aircraft

LAHORE/MALAKWAL: Edhi ambulances shifted the 15 bodies received from Turbat to their respective hometowns on Thursday. A C-130 aircraft first brought the bodies to the Lahore airport after which the Edhi ambulances shifted them to Sialkot, Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced provision of Rs1 million to the family of each victim as financial assistance. Shahbaz, in a statement, said the elements responsible for the gruesome killings didn’t deserve any leniency and vowed to take those involved in human trafficking to task. He said the Punjab Police would eliminate such fake travel agents in partnership with the FIA as both the Punjab and federal governments were going to curb the menace through collective efforts.

Meanwhile, three victims of the Turbat firing incident were laid to rest in Malakwal, Parhana Lok and Charranwala of Mandi Bahauddin district on Thursday. They were Zulfiqar Ali of Malakwal, Azhar Waqas of Parhana Lok and Khurram Shahzad of Charranwala. They wanted to go to Europe through a Phalia-based human trafficker, Muhammad Khan. They went to Turbat six days ago but were killed by unidentified people.

Separately, Shahbaz on Thursday stressed the need for promoting interfaith harmony and tolerance at the grassroots level, saying there was no room for fanaticism and terrorism in Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan.

“Promotion of a societal order based on tolerance and tranquility is our mission and we all shall work collectively to make Pakistan a hub of peace and tolerance,” said Shahbaz. He expressed these views He expressed these views as Minister of State for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Pir Amin-ul-Hasnat called on him to discuss different matters of mutual interest.

“Islam is a religion of tolerance, peace and tranquillity. The Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) has given a message of tolerance, tranquillity and harmony through His immaculate character and the heart of every Muslim is filled with the purest love of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH),” he added.

Separately, the chief minister directed the officials concerned to constitute a committee – to be chaired by the Planning and Development Department chairman – to finalise the details of setting up of a state-of-the-art hospital and medical college in Lahore Knowledge Park by the British investors and submit recommendations within seven days.

Addressing a meeting, Shahbaz vowed to bring improvements in healthcare facilities and said as access to quality facilities was a right of the people. He expressed satisfaction over the pace of progress on health projects and the reforms programme and said central pathology labs would be set up in Lahore and Multan with satellite facilities in hospitals. New hospitals in the province would be established under the public-private partnership model, he added.

The chief minister said hepatitis filter clinics would be upgraded in the teaching hospitals and work should be started where there was a need to establish new ones. The meeting also reviewed the service delivery programme of private hospitals for providing healthcare services.

Shahbaz was also presented an inquiry report into the death of 40-year-old Muhammad Yasin in THQ Hospital Tandlianwala, which revealed that the patient had died due to a skin disease, not expired medicine. On the other hand, Shahbaz said corruption, loot and nepotism in development projects had become a story of the past.

Talking to MNAs Chaudhry Riaz-ul-Haq and Aslam Bodla, he said the criticism on development projects was, in fact, enmity with the people who would be provided best travelling facilities whether it was Metro or Speedo bus service. Meanwhile, Shahbaz said provision of quality educational facilities was a fundamental right of students as no human being could attain socioeconomic progress without it.

In his message on the International Students’ Day, the chief minister said, “We should also reiterate our commitment to utilise full resources for training and improving the intellectual ken of the students.” On the other hand, the chief minister took notice of the torture on special children in a school bus in the Sambrial area of Sialkot and sought a report from the DPO. The police have already arrested the bus conductor, Mazhar Hussain, who is responsible for torturing the children, while a spokesman said a special team headed by SP (Investigation) was investigating the matter.