PAT chief says his personal security guards and a member of dialogue committee also arrested by police

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Friday suspended talks with the government after hundreds of PAT workers were arrested in Islamabad and Punjab.

“We have suspended all the talks with the government as it has arrested hundreds of our leaders and workers during an overnight crackdown,” Qadri said while addressing his supporters on Constitution Avenue.

“The irony is that even a member from our designated committee for dialogue has been arrested, not to mention that my personal security guards are put behind the bars. I ask the leaders how do they talk of democracy at the floor of the assembly,” Dr Qadri inquired.

The PAT chief alleged that the Punjab government launched crackdown against his supporters. “If these innocent people stood up, there will be no room left for them to escape their wrath,” he warned the rulers.

Qadri said Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) leader Asad Abbas Naqvi has not been released so far, adding that Naqvi was part of the PAT negotiating team.

Qadri deplored that on one side the government was negotiating, while on the other it was using strong-arm tactics by arresting the workers. He said that all the personnel of the Punjab Police had been deployed in Islamabad and the crimes were on the rise in the flood-hit areas.

Source: www.dailytimes.com.pk