ISLAMABAD: Chief Coordinator of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Siddiq al-Farooq on Sunday said that last week’s incident in Lahore’s Model Town, in which 12 ‘innocent’ persons were killed, was a conspiracy against the elected government.
At least 12 people including Pakistan Awmi Tehreek (PAT) supporters were killed when they clashed with local police on Tuesday.
“PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, who was a Canadian national, wanted to run the affairs of the country and both the Tehreek-i-Minhajul Quran (TMQ) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) have been exposed,” said Farooq.
He claimed that the plot behind the Model Town incident was prepared by Tahirul Qadri and PML-Q leader Pervaiz Ellahi in their London meeting last month.
Siddiq al-Farooq, who was addressing a press conference here at PML-N Secretariat, said the conspiracy was hatched at a time when the Pakistan Army under the command of Gen Raheel Sharif, was engaged in the operation against militants in North Waziristan.
“Some armed people of TMQ and police personnel faithful to Pervaiz Ellahi were behind the firing,” he alleged.
He claimed that due to fear of being exposed, both TMQ and PML-Q had boycotted the judicial commission formed to probe into the incident.
The PML-N leader hoped that the judicial commission would soon complete its investigation and lay bare the facts about the incident before the nation.
The statement came hours before expected arrival of Tahirul Qadri in Pakistan, who earlier had said that if his supporters are harmed upon his arrival, then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would be held responsible and the party would hold protests outside the Prime Minister house.
Farooq, during his press conference today alleged that the PAT chief was pretending to have support of ‘some institutions.’
Recalling the attack on Tahirul Qadri's residence in 1990, Farooq said Qadri himself did not meet the criteria set out in Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution as he was declared a “liar and actor with penchant for fame” by a high court judge in his inquiry report of the incident.
To a question, he said the PAT chief in a twitter message had advised his workers to lay down their lives.
Siddiq al-Farooq said the Tehreek-i-Minhajul Quran was a non-governmental organization (NGO), but it was being used for political purposes, which was illegal.