48 hours or else…

• PAT chief Tahirul Qadri to ‘shout down’ govt after expiry of ‘final ultimatum’
• Sources say Shahbaz willing to get Model Town incident FIR registered but not inclined to step down
• LHC rejects Punjab govt’s report over two-month-old PAT-police clash, directs AG to re-submit report

Asking his supporters to prepare for a “revolution”, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri Monday gave a 48-hour ultimatum to the federal government to resign and dissolve the assemblies.

While addressing the participants of his Inqilab March in the federal capital’s Constitution Avenue, the PAT chief displayed a white shroud saying that he had “resolved to become a martyr for the betterment of 180 million people of Pakistan”.

“Either I will wear this ‘kafan’ or Nawaz Sharif’s government will wear this,” the Canada-based cleric said, declaring that his protest had entered its “last phase”.

Alleging that the government had “wasted time” through dialogue, Qadri threatened Prime Minister Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other ministers to leave the government and step down before his deadline expired.

The development comes as leadership of the PML-N is holding discussions on the matter while the government is stands distraught owing to the ongoing protests in the federal capital and demands by Qadri.

Qadri is adamant over the registration of an FIR against the Sharifs for their alleged involvement in the Model Town incident which claimed the lives of 14 PAT activists and supporters in Lahore on June 17.

The cleric said that “revelations” made by former Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) additional secretary Afzal Khan had made it clear that May 2013 general elections were rigged and there was no justification for current national and provincial assemblies.

Qadri also demanded that an investigative report on the Model Town tragedy should be made public and published in national newspapers.

Applauding the efforts of his supporters for staging a “historic protest”, he said, “The government arrested more than 10,000 of our workers before the start of this march. These people who showed up are the true representatives of the people.”

SHAHBAZ AGREES ON FIR:

Meanwhile, sources said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had agreed for the registration of a first information report (FIR) in the Model Town incident in which at least 14 followers of Tahirul Qadri were killed, however, the Lahore High Court (LHC) has rejected the report submitted by the Punjab government over the incident and ordered the re-submission of a comprehensive report on the matter Tuesday (today).

The provincial government had submitted the report in the court during the hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Zubair Niazi who contended that the government had put the enquiry report in “cold storage” like other judicial enquiries which have been held in the past.

The LHC disagreed with the report, saying it did not address the issue and directed Advocate General Hanif Khatana to obtain a comprehensive report from the provincial government on the case and submit it in court Tuesday.

In the meanwhile, the chief minister, who reached Islamabad earlier Monday, has however refused to resign from his post, sources in the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) said. “I am an elected chief minister and will not resign due to political pressure,” sources quoted Shahbaz as saying.