Imran flays parliament for allowing 'criminal' to become party chief

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday lambasted the parliament for allowing a 'criminal' to be elected as a party president. 

"I send lanath (curse) the parliament that made a criminal the president of a party," he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz's (PML-N) decision to elect ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif as its president.

Imran was addressing a joint opposition protest rally to seek justice for the Model Town tragedy in Lahore.

“The two [Sharif] brothers are responsible for the Model Town incident,” said Imran. “I can say without beyond a shadow of a doubt that it [Model Town incident] was done on orders received by the police.”

He accused the Sharif brothers of being ‘fascists’ and claimed that they are not even ‘remotely democratic.’

“I know them since the past forty years,” he said. “They get people roughed up.” 

PTI threatens to resign from National Assembly

Imran expressed 'complete agreement' with Sheikh Rashid's decision to resign from the lower house of the parliament. The latter had also urged the PTI chief to join him and resign from the National Assembly.

"I will consult my party over it, and it is very likely that we may join you [Sheikh Rashid]," he said, adding that resignations of his party were not accepted when they were submitted for the first time. 

'Pakistani citizens, not PAT workers murdered in Model Town' 

Imran stressed that the entire country witnessed the Model Town incident on their television sets, when the police opened fire on unarmed citizens.

“Don’t say they that they were Pakisan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers, they were Pakistanis,” he said. “The question here is, did people get justice?”

The PTI chief accused the Punjab police for deliberately opening fire on unarmed citizens. 

“Nowhere in the world does the police open fire on citizens. The police force only fires on terrorists, never on citizens.”

Imran assured PAT chief Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri of his allegiance. 

"We stand with you Tahir-ul-Qadri sahib. All of us witnessed how ruthlessly people were murdered in the [Model Town incident]. We are all gathered here to get justice," he said. 

'Want end to sultanate of Sharifs'

Addressing the Pakistan Awami Tehreek(PAT)-led protest, its chief Dr Tahirul Qadri had said that they do not want to take a step against Pakistan's constitution and democracy, and only want an end of the "sultanate of Sharifs."

Qadri had thanked leaders and workers from all political parties for attending the show of strength in Lahore. He had said that they all had gathered to get justice for the victims of Model Town tragedy.

“Entire political leadership is here to honour humanity, to empower the weak, to give voice to the voiceless,” the PAT chief had said.

“We have gathered here to save the country from Sheikh Mujeeb of a new era.”

He had lamented that the rights of the people were being usurped and the national treasury plundered in the country.

Qadri had maintained that the protestors do not want to sabotage peace in the country. “We only want to put an end to your cruelty. If we had to take the law into our own hands, then we would not have tolerated tragedies.”

He had stressed that the protest was aimed at getting justice for the oppressed.

"The purpose of this gathering is to get rid of the enemy. We want to end the sultanate of Sharifs," he had said.

'Only threat to Pakistan is from Jati Umra'

Addressing the protest earlier today, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari said the only danger to the country is from Jati Umra — the residence of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari addressing a joint opposition protest rally in Lahore on January 17, 2018. Photo: Geo News

“They do not care about Pakistan, they only care about Jati Umra," Zardari said, as he claimed that only his party cares about Pakistan, its soil, and its people.

"They [Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz leaders] know that they can be disqualified anytime I wish to do so, but I just think for [the betterment] of Pakistan,” he said.

The PPP co-chairman thanked the attendees for showing solidarity with the Model Town incident victims and promised to get justice for the families of the deceased.