Marching orders for Sanaullah not enough, says Qadri

• PAT chief says sacking of Punjab law minister a ‘face saving’ tactic of CM Shahbaz Sharif
• Says Shahbaz and his entire team should step down over Model Town incident
• Demands formation of JIT comprising representatives of |ISI, MI and IB and a three-member judicial commission of SC judges
• Joint resolution by various political parties including PPP, PTI, MQM and Sunni Tehreek endorses PAT chief’s demands 

Rejecting the “face-saving” sacking of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Friday said the minister’s termination was “too inadequate and ridiculous” and rather Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his entire team should tender their resignations.

“Giving marching ordering to just Sanaullah, who is a mere pawn in the hands of the all-powerful Sharif brothers, is absolutely not enough,” Qadri said, adding that Sanaullah had not been sacked but rather sent on a “honeymoon to take a break and he will be back in the game as soon as his vacation ends”.

“On moral grounds, the whole chain of command from chief executive, who issued the orders, to the policemen, who executed them, should step down over an incident as grave as the Model Town tragedy,” said Qadri.

The PAT chief said that Shahbaz Sharif’s resorting to “these damage-controlling tactics” had endorsed his stance.

JOINT PROBE BY ISI, MI, IB:

Earlier addressing a press conference through video link from Canada, Dr Qadri has said they would accept an enquiry by a joint investigation team which should comprise representatives from Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence, and Intelligence Bureau, and a judicial commission comprising three impartial judges of the Supreme Court (SC).

Qadri said that a joint investigation and a three-member investigation tribunal comprising SC judges was formed to investigate the attack on TV anchor Hamid Mir. He questioned why it was not possible for the Model Town incident in which more than a dozen people were gunned down and scores others injured.

He said he did not have confidence in the one-man tribunal formed by the Punjab government, which he deemed as responsible for the incident. He alleged that the police were implicit in the killing of his activists, and questioned how they would be able to carry out an impartial investigation.

Qadri said this was his last press conference from Canada, adding that he would leave for Pakistan after it ended. He said he arrive on June 23 at Islamabad airport.

He had addressed the media and a participants of a joint meeting of representatives of different parties including Chaudhry Ijaz of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Jahangir Badar and Manzoor Wattoo of Pakistan People’s Party, Chaudhry Zaheer of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, Rasheed Godail of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, and Sahibada Hasan Raza of Sunni Ittehad Council at the Secretariat of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

The representatives of these parties held the meeting to show solidarity with the PAT activists and condemn the police operation.

Member and representative of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Hassan Moiuddin lashed out at Shahbaz Sharif, going as far as referring to him as “Qatil-e-Aala”.

The representatives of these parties after having a joint session issued a joint communiqué making various demands to the government. They made demands for a joint investigation team, and a three-member SC bench for investigation into the incident, as well as a release of all arrested activists of PAT.

They also demanded that the missing PAT workers that were arrested by the police and transferred to an undisclosed location be produced.

The participants further demanded that the government ensure the registration of an FIR on application filed by PAT workers against Shahbaz Sharif, his ministers and police officers and officials.