The mammoth public meeting on December 23 in Lahore and historic Long March in Islamabad has increased people’s awareness about the need to bring about improvement in the electoral system. The whole nation has come to know that Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri is representing their aspirations and highlighting their issues. The political opponents could not find fault with his agenda of political, legal and constitutional reforms. They are now employing all tricks in their books to sling mud on Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri by launching baseless character assassination campaign against him. This is reflection of pressure and heat they are feeling after outburst of people’s emotions in the public meeting and Long March of MQI.

Dr Raheeq Abbasi, Secretary General of MQI, made these remarks today while conducting the media men during visit of container used by Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri in the Long March. He said that not even a single glass broke down during the Long March and the event projected the soft image of the people of Pakistan. He said that when the forces of status quo could not find anything to object to, they somehow tried to create the impression that the marchers of the Long March consisted of teachers and students of schools and colleges of MQI.

Rejecting all such objections, Dr Raheeq Abbasi placed attendance registers of teachers and students of 630 schools, colleges and a University before media men. Showing the registers, he told media men that all educational institutions being run under the banner of MQI were open during the days of Long March, which refuted the impression that perhaps they the teachers and students were part of the March. He said that people belonging to all walks of life attended the Long March and huge public meeting of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri.

Dr Abbasi said that it was propagated during the Long March that the container used by Dr Qadri was imported from abroad and that millions of rupees were spent in its making. Conducting the media men to container, he told that such containers were locally manufactured and available everywhere. He said that container having these facilities was purchased with an amount of Rs. 4 lacs. Iron walls were welded around the body of container and bullet-proof glasses used in it were also locally prepared and easily available in the market.

Dr Abbasi told media men that it was a commonplace container, which was likened to 5-star and 7-star hotels. He said that the executive of MQI decided that Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri would travel in the container in view of the Federal Interior Minister’s assertion that there would surely be an attack on Dr Qadri. He asked those objecting to measures used for the security of MQI’s head as to why they failed to take notice of bullet proof cars and huge caravans of convoys of the top political office holders of the country, which are maintained with public money.