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Punjab Govt Has Become Party of Sahiwal Incident: Asif

ISLAMABAD: PML-N leader Khawaja Asif on Monday strongly criticised the law enforcement agencies over their alleged criminal negligence and inhumane behaviour in the Sahiwal tragedy that had claimed lives of four persons including a husband and wife and their teenage daughter and held the Punjab government part of the incident.

“Those responsible for eliminating terrorism have themselves become terrorists,” Asif said while speaking on the matter at the floor of National Assembly.

The former defence minister criticised the incumbent government and accused it of adopting double standards over the issue. “The government of Punjab has become a party in the [Sahiwal ‘encounter’] matter,” he said and demanded of the government to constitute a powerful parliamentary committee to probe the incident.

“Similar [terrorism] cases should be registered against them [the CTD personnel involved], and they should be treated in the way terrorists are treated,” the PML-N leader said.

“I have said this before as well, that if Rao Anwar had been held accountable for the blood he shed, perhaps today the police officers would be fearful [of the consequences],” Asif said.Responding to the criticism, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari reminded the opposition of the Model Town Tragedy which had claimed 14 lives during the tenure of PML-N in Punjab.

She told the opposition they had every right to criticise the government’s performance but urged them to refrain from issuing false statements. She recalled that the PML-N was in power when the issue of Rao Anwar had surfaced.

“Asif was the defence minister back then [during PML-N’s last tenure], why didn’t those responsible for the Model Town tragedy get punished?” she asked.

“We should avoid doing politics on the blood of innocent civilians,” Mazari said.

Holding PML-N responsible for the rogue behaviour of the law enforcement personnel, she said the incumbent government had inherited the wrongdoings of the previous regimes.

“There is a dire need to restructure the police in Sindh and Punjab. Till reforms don’t come, the issue will not be resolved,” Mazari said.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif had called for the suspension of the regular proceedings of the lower house to hold a debate on the Sahiwal tragedy.

He warned that till the government doesn’t reveal the reality before the nation, the opposition parties will not let them proceed with the regular business of the National Assembly.

“The worst brutality has taken place in Sahiwal. A house committee should be made to review the JIT report on the incident,” he suggested.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of PPP said killing of an innocent family by the law enforcing agencies is an inhuman act. He demanded to form a parliamentary committee on Sahiwal incident.

He said that prime minister has only written a tweet and considered he has paid his responsibility, while the government was trying to shelves the issue by forming JIT.