Islamabad: Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) has decided to take to the streets again to protest the killing of its workers by police in Lahore’s Model Town in 2014 – but when will be decided after the Independence Day.
In the meantime, the party will observe ‘Independence Week’ beginning August 7, announced a PAT official after the first meeting of the core committee of the party held here on Wednesday.
Formed by the party chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri on his return from Canada last month, the committee demanded that the government release the report of the judicial inquiry into the June 2014 incident, according to the official, Dr Hassan Mohiuddin.
“Even after one year the families of our 14 slain workers are waiting to get justice. This is tantamount to terrorism,” he said, adding that the core committee observed that the police injustice will not be forgiven.
“Culprits in the government should be held accountable for their crime,” he quoted a resolution by the core committee as saying.
A PAT spokesman separately told Dawn that the party’s “basic demand” in the planned street protests would be to send the Model Town case to a military court.
A resolution adopted by the core committee also demanded that corruption cases be tried in the military courts.
“This is because we believe that terrorism has strong links with economic terrorism as the corrupt bleed the country financially,” spokesman PAT added.
Last year, the PAT launched a ‘Inqlab March’ from Lahore to Islamabad on August 14, which lasted for 67 days.
