Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami on Thursday said that the Kasur incident involving rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab has dispelled any uncertainty regarding Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s joining hands with Tahirul Qadri-led Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).
“If there was any uncertainty about PTI’s joining hands with the PAT, this incident has removed that, and the two parties will now launch a protest movement against the government together,” the veteran journalist said in his talk show on Channel 92.
Nizami said that the Punjab government was not only directly responsible for the bloodshed in Model Town, but was also responsible for the murder of eight-year-old Zainab.
Regarding Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Kasur, Nizami said that the chief minister picked the time of early morning—around 4:30am—to go to Kasur in order to avoid any unpleasant or “ugly” situation. “But it is not enough,” he said, adding, “If they have caught the culprit, they should reveal it instead of keeping it under the wraps.”
Nizami also mentioned that there were conflicting reports about the arrest of Zainab’s murderer(s), adding that certain sources were saying that the rapist-cum-murderer was being interrogated by different intelligence agencies of the country in the custody of Punjab Police and that the issue was awaiting DNA tests, while other sources were saying that no person had so far been arrested.