LAHORE: A day after a multi-party conference (MPC) was held on Model Town killings, the Punjab government on Sunday said it was ready to extend cooperation to Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri in his quest for justice, according to a report by a private media outlet.
The provincial administration also asked Sargodha-based cleric Pir Hameeduddin Sialvi to shun his demand for resignation of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah over the issue of his controversial statement about a minority community and offered to sit with him to redress his grievances.
“The Punjab government is willing to talk to Dr Qadri and extend full cooperation in securing justice for the victim families of Model Town killings. But if the purpose of MPC and Dr Qadri is to build up pressure for getting resignations (of Shahbaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah) then let me make it very clear that this is not going to happen,” Punjab government spokesman Malik Mohammad Ahmad told the private media outlet.
The Punjab government is optimistic that this time around the Qadri-led sit-in in Lahore or elsewhere will also meet the same fate as the 2014 sit-in failed to achieve its purpose.
The 13-party gathering at the PAT headquarters of Dr Qadri had the representation of Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pak Sarzameen Party, Jamaat-i-Islami and Awami Muslim League of Sheikh Rashid. It extended a deadline for the resignation of Shehbaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah to January 7th, on not meeting its main demand, a protest will be the ultimate choice left for Dr Qadri and company.
Malik Ahmad further said that the government was ready to address concerns of Pir Sialvi as he remained a member of the PML-N. “Nothing can be achieved through agitation,” he added.
