And his questionable intentions
The controversial cleric and chief of PAT (Pakistan Awami Tehreek) Dr.Tahir Ul Qadri is yet again gearing up to hold a sit-in, this time in Lahore. After initially disregarding a Lahore High Court order to move his sit-in from the Mall Road, Qadri has agreed to hold it in the designated protest area of Nasir Bagh.
The cleric has previously been successful in getting the Zardari administration to agree to a 90 day caretaker government prior to the 2013 elections. The agreement came after he paralysed the capital for three days.
The agenda for the latest sit-in is to get justice for the brutal broad daylight murder of 14 PAT workers in Model Town Lahore in 2014 that were gunned down at the hands of the Punjab police. Since the incident there have been no significant arrests and the JIT (Joint Investigation Team) report that followed absolved the Punjab Government from any wrongdoing.
Three years on, Rana Sanaullah – after being briefly removed – is still the Law Minister and the Chief Minister’s principal secretary at the time, Dr Tauqeer Shah was promoted as Ambassador of Pakistan in WTO (World Trade Organisation). This gross injustice has to be addressed properly rather than be swept under the carpet.
Tahir Ul Qadri’s motives have often been seen with suspicion as he is considered to be a man of the ubiquitous establishment. That notion becomes even more believable considering Qadri’s seasonal visits to Pakistan are usually during times of possible regime changes and elections not to mention his ability to add fuel to general political instability.
This time is no different, Nawaz Sharif has been ousted, elections are around the corner and a very crucial by election is to be held in a few weeks. If the cleric truly wanted to play an active part in politics and get justice for his worker he would stay put in Pakistan and fight for it longer than a few months at a time. That for now seems highly unlikely considering his questionable intentions.
Instead of discussing Dr. Qadri’s intentions — which are best known to him and are a matter of guesswork for the rest of us — why don’t we spend time supporting his very reasonable demand for justice in the case of the Model Town murders?
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