Birds of a feather flock together over Faisalabad

• PAT accepts invitation of PTI ‘cousins’ to support Faisalabad shutdown, also invites Sunni Tehreek to attend PTI’s protest
• PAT issues white paper over Punjab govt’s ‘poor performance’, govt says white paper contains ‘baseless stories and figures’

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) has announced to support Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s December 8 “shutdown call” for Faisalabad and has also invited Sunni Tehreek to attend PTI’s protest scheduled for today, a private news channel reported Sunday.

PTI Punjab President Ijaz Chaudhry said that the party contacted PAT on the instruction of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and invited Dr Tahirul Qadri’s party to attend the PTI’s protest demonstration in Faisalabad on Monday (today).

In response, PAT leader Khurram Nawaz Gandapur reportedly said that the objectives of “cousins” (PAT and PTI) are the same and they will “rid the nation of the prevalent system”.

PTI’s call to shut down different cities as part of the party’s “Plan C” was announced earlier to get rid of incumbent government which, PTI alleges, has assumed power by rigging elections.

PAT ISSUES WHITE PAPER:

In the meanwhile, PAT issued a white paper against the Punjab government, alleging that the provincial government had performed poorly in year 2013.

According to the white paper, no significant project was started in the year, with most of the ongoing projects remaining incomplete. The paper also stated that the Punjab government had failed to achieve its tax revenue targets.

The white paper also states that the Punjab government borrowed $850 million this year.

A total of 3.6 million crimes, including 1,214 kidnappings, were recorded during 2013, the paper states.

The white paper also mentions the incident of baton charging of blind protestors by police in Lahore.

‘WHITE PAPER IS FACTUALLY INCORRECT’:

Punjab government spokesman Zaeem Qadri has, however, termed the white paper issued by PAT as “ridiculous”, saying it contains “baseless stories and figures”.

Talking to media, the spokesman said that PAT should have verified the facts before issuing the white paper.

“The fact is that the crime ratio in Punjab is far less compared to other provinces and Punjab government is taking comprehensive steps to check crime. Setting up of model police stations is proving helpful in improving the situation of law and order in Punjab,” he said, adding that development programmes in Punjab are “unprecedented” with merit and transparency as the hallmark of the Punjab government.

The Punjab government has also laid a solid foundation for the development of education, health, agriculture, transport and other sectors, he said.

Regarding Saifuddin Khosa, Niaz Hussain Jhakar and Shahabuddin’s decision to join PTI, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said, “Imran Khan cannot regain his lost political status with the support of such untrustworthy people,” adding that the new members would not support PTI’s agenda.

“Those claiming to create nayaPakistan are actually taking turncoats into their party,” adding that changing parties is “a hobby” of Saif Khosa.