Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri asks Punjab government to stop arrests of PAT workers

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) leader Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has said that sit-ins have created new awareness among the masses and generated hatred against the corrupt system. He said that people were now increasingly aware of their rights and determined at the same time to snatch them. He said that the role played by media in raising people’s awareness and exposing corruption of rulers had not been acceptable to the ruling elite. He said that the way present rulers gagged Jang Group in 1998, they now wanted to mete out the same treatment to other media outlets by taking a leaf from their old book. He termed the ban on ARY as an attempt to muzzle media.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri expressed these views while talking to journalists at his residence in Lahore after coming back from D-chowk Islamabad. Dr Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, Dr Raheeq Abbasi, Farid-ud-Din Koreja, Qazi Faiz-ul-Islam, Iftikhar Shah Bokhari, and others were also present on the occasion.

Dr Qadri said that Pemra was a handmaiden of the rulers which they were using to suppress media freedom in the country. He said that a number of PAT workers had been arrested from different cities including Lahore president Irshad Tahir, and Haji Tariq Mahmood Aajiz from Khankah Dogran. He asked the Punjab government to clarify its position in this regard. He also asked Punjab Chief Minister to state his position as well. He said that he did not want to create any trouble, adding that if the government did not stop arrests, PAT would be compelled to review its strategy.

He said that PAT workers were not tired. He said that sit-ins had given a new vitality and courage to the people and workers. He said that revolution was our ultimate destination and we would continue to strive for establishment of a national government. He said that elections should be held after reforms and strict accountability, adding that if at all they were imposed without any reforms, PAT would still take part in elections and not leave the political space open.