Model Town incident: Rulers to carry out bigger massacre, if not punished, says Pervaiz Elahi

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Monday said that if the rulers were not punished for the Model Town incident, they would carry out an even bigger massacre.

On the directions of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, the party secretary-general, Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, met the PMLQ leadership at their residence and invited the Chaudhry brothers to the APC, which was accepted.

Talking to media in presence of Gandapur and Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Pervaiz said if the rulers responsible for the Model Town incident were not penalised, they would be encouraged to carry out even bigger mass killings. He said, “From day one, we have raised this crucial issue at every stage and stood by the movement for justice for the 14 martyrs.”

He lauded the judiciary for making the Najfi report public and said the criminal rulers did all they could to keep the truth under wraps.

The APC was being held to provide justice for the victims of Model Town so that a precedent could be set, he said. Talking about Qadri’s name being placed on Exit Control List, he said the PML-Q considered it a positive step as he won’t leave the country and would lead the justice movement once and for all. The former chief minister said the Lahore High Court chief justice too – just like the Chief Justice of Pakistan – should visit national institutions so that the incompetence of the rulers and the plunder of public money could be exposed. He said Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif had never been truthful to anyone and “they are now using this virtue against each other”. This, he said, was karma, as the Sharif brothers in the past lied to the PML-Q and tried to mislead and misguide them. Gandapur said the PML-N was not invited to the APC because PAT considered the current government as unconstitutional. He said Senate Deputy Chairman Ghafoor Haideri called him to get invited to the APC, but he was informed that he could be invited on a condition of demanding resignation of Shahbaz and Rana Sanaullah.