- PAT chief says his remark on killing anyone who betrayed or abandoned ‘revolution’ was a ‘joke’
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Monday “clarified” a statement he made in his address on Youm-e-Shuhada on Sunday in which he had asked his followers to kill “anyone who betrayed or abandoned the revolution”.
Addressing a press conference, Qadri said that his statement in Sunday’s speech pertained to him and Imran Khan, not his party supporters.
“I said this jokingly,” the preacher-politician said, adding that he had made these remarks in a “light mood while holding the hand of PTI leader Mahmoodur Rasheed”.
Notwithstanding the impact of his “joke” on the nation, the PAT chief went on to accuse the Punjab government of creating a negative image of his ‘revolution’.
Sticking to his vague demands for a “revolution”, Qadri said that his party would go ahead with its plans to change the “rotten” system.
He, however, elaborated that his Inqilab march was different from Azadi marches but there was some common ground in their objectives.
“Imran Khan announced his Azadi March on June 27 while PAT had taken the decision to take out Inqilab March in May,” he claimed, adding that the two marches would become a joint struggle on August 14.
