*Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader says politics of containers, articles, sections cannot save rulers
*PTI MNA Shafqat Mahmood says by imposing Article 245, Sec 144 govt admits people do not support it
The National Defense Conference called by the prime minister and the government’s meetings with different political leaders is a media stunt, said Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Mian Mahmoodur Rashid and National Assembly Member (MNA) Shafqat Mehmood at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Workers Convention at Iqbal Town on Friday.
The two leaders were of the view that if the ruling party was serious for talks than it would never had flouted the PTI demands for one year and would have done something about them. They said that today the leaders who are meeting Nawaz Sharif have been stung by him several times in the past and Nawaz Sharif wants to continue plundering the national exchequer for another four years which the PTI will never allow. They said the more they stay in power, in the name of democracy, the further backwards Pakistan will be pushed.
Addressing the workers, the two leaders said that the imposition of Article 245 and Section 144 and the placing containers to block Model Town are proof that the people of the country are against the present rulers. They said that the politics of containers, articles and sections cannot save the ruling elite from being thrown out of power this time. They said that the masses are sick of the corrupt rulers and will pack them in the same containers and send them to jail.
Opposition Leader Mian Mahmoodur Rashid was of the view that once again the government is planning to repeat the debacle of Model Town and warned the rulers to beware not to test the patience of the people and not take any such step that the public will be forced to take things in their own hands and in the end they will not be able to return to their own homes.
He said the Punjab chief minister wants to turn the police force into a ‘Hitler force’ and the only job at its hand is to torture the opponents of the PML-N. He said in one year inflation has surged by 70 per cent, cost of electricity by 67 pc, crime 110 pc, foreign loans 50 pc, load shedding 30 pc, suicides 100 pc and fake police encounters by 200 pc. He said the people of the country cannot live for another day under these circumstances and want the ouster of the rulers without and delay.
He said that Sharif brothers have come in the grip of the Almighty Allah for snatching the food from the masses, for the murder of innocent people and even for not providing drinking water to the people. It is their own wrongdoings that have bought them to this stage and now they will have to answer for all the crimes they have committed against humanity and the people of Pakistan, they said, adding that they not find and relief or respite anywhere now.
The PTI leaders called upon all the lawyers organisations, all local and international human rights organisations, political parties and the people of all the provinces of the country to take notice of the crimes of the Punjab government and not give a blind-eye to their wrongdoings and must get their protest lodged.
They said that the Punjab government has blocked all the main roads of Lahore by placing containers and have restricted the movement of the public and are using the might of the gun to stop the masses from lodging their protest against the crimes of the government. He said the police killed 14 innocent people and injured over 90 people and by doing so they have proven that they are worse than what is happening with Muslims in Gaza and West Bank.
He said the right of lodging a First Information Report has also been snatched away from the people and the law of the jungle prevails in Punjab.
Mahmoodur Rashid said that all over the province the PTI workers are being arrested, camps are being uprooted and through known criminals threats are being given to our leaders and workers. He said these steps are open violation of human rights. He questioned when will suo moto actions come into action?