LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Tehreek leader Dr Tahirul Qadri demanded Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah to step down from their positions by December 31, in light of the Model Town judicial commission report.
The judicial commission report also known as Justice Baqir Najfi commission inquiry report was constituted on the killings of at least 14 people in police action against PAT workers during an ‘anti-encroachment operation’ on June 17, 2014.
According to the report, police tried to cover up the facts regarding who gave orders to open fire on protesters. “It is shocking to note that everyone has deliberately but unsuccessfully tried to cover each other from possible adverse legal effects.” The commission observed in its report: “The level of cooperation in digging out the truth is that no police official from top to bottom, whether actively participated in the operation or not, did utter a single word about the person under whose command the police resorted to firing upon the PAT workers.”
Qadri, in his press conference, demanded former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, CM Shehbaz and law minister Rana Sanaullah to surrender themselves before law enforcement authorities.
The PAT leader said that in case his demands are not met he will announce his next course of action.
In the joint press conference with Qadri, Pakistan Peoples’ Party leader Asif Ali Zardari has also demanded the resignation of CM Shehbaz.
“Enough is enough! Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shehbaz must resign. After this report, he stands condemned, and a condemned man cannot remain the chief minister of the largest province of Pakistan,” Zardari told reporters at a press conference alongside Qadri in Lahore.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has also demanded the resignation of Shehbaz.
In a tweet, he said that after the release of the Justice Ali Najafi commission report, Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah should “immediately resign for [the] killing of Pakistani citizens.”
