RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Awami League chief Shaikh Rashid Ahmad said on Saturday that people are not looking towards Pak army for justice of Model Town incident rather they want the government to make Justice Baqir Najfi report public.

Addressing a public gathering here at Aabpara Chowk, he said the PML-N government was planning to bring amendments in the Pakistan Penal Code to save their skin in the Model Town incident wherein 14 innocents were killed on June 17, 2014.

A large number of protesters including women and children gathered on call of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri to participate in Tehreek-e-Qisas. They were carrying banners and posters inscribed with slogans against the government.

Shaikh Rashid said that August is a crucial month both for the government and the opposition parties who have launched a movement against the ruling party. He urged the people to come on the streets to protest against brutalities of the government. Rashid said the workers of PAT have been struggling for the last two years to get justice for the martyrs of Model Town, but in vain.

He also criticized the government’s move of filing reference against PTI chairman Imran Khan with Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. He said the government was using blackmailing tactics to ease the pressure, but this will not work.

Rashid said the protest movement against the government will get momentum by the end of this month and the August 30 sit-in in Islamabad would be crucial to throw out the government.

Raja Basharat, a leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Q, said that his party will stand by the protesters and families of victims till they get justice. He said that almost all opposition parties were supporting the PAT protest movement against the government and this would remain fruitful.

A large contingent of police and other law enforcement agencies were also present on the protest site to deal with any untoward incident.

Leader and workers of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Noorani) also participated in the protest gathering and vowed to stay with Dr Tahirul Qadri till justice is given to the families of victims of Model Town incident.

PAT leader Dr Raheeq Ahmad Abbasi said that people of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have made it clear to the rulers by taking part in the demonstration held to protest the lack of justice in Model Town case that they do not need bridges, metro buses and roads.

He said that people actually want dignified life and socio-economic justice for themselves and their children. He said that people are asking as to when the killers of innocent people in Model Town will be in the dock and held answerable for their crimes.

He said that the rulers are wrong to think that they will be able to sweep the Model Town case beneath the carpet, adding that people’s eyes are fixed on the case as they await justice for the innocents who were killed by the police for no reason.

He said that the present rulers, who are principal accused in the case, are a major hurdle in the dispensation of justice. He said that the blood of martyrs will not go in vain and those who shed blood of innocent and peaceful citizens will be held answerable for their crimes against humanity.