PAT President Dr Raheeq Ahmad Abbasi has strongly condemned the killing of 20 labourers in Quetta. He said that killings and murder seem to have become order of the day in Balochistan and they do not appear to cease. He asked has the federal and provincial governments handed over Quetta to terrorists? He demanded that the terrorists responsible for this heinous crime should be arrested at the earliest and their trial should be held in the military court. He said that they deserve exemplary punishments.

Dr Raheeq Abbasi expressed these views while talking to various party delegations from Lahore, Kasur and Gujranwala that called on him in his office in Model Town yesterday. He said that the killing of innocent people in Quetta has become a routine affair and no solid action has been taken to secure life and property of the people. He said that Pakistan is burning in the fire of terrorism but the rulers priorities lie elsewhere in motorway, metro bus projects and laptop scheme. He said had the rulers been effectively been working on the National Action Plan against terrorism, the Army Chief and the Corp Commanders would not have needed to issue a warning to accelerate the pace of action against the terrorists hiding in the cities. He said that the armed forces have annihilated the terrorists in the mountainous areas but the provincial governments could not purge the cities of terrorists.

The PAT President said that the State Bank did not vindicate the Prime Minister’s claim of suspending the bank accounts of terrorists to the tune of 10 billion and the rulers should be ashamed of giving fudged and wrong statistical figures regarding National Action Plan. He said that the PAT is concerned on the non-functionality of the military courts in Punjab despite the passage of three months and demanded that the military courts should be made functional in all the four provinces without any further waste of time and the condemned criminals should be hanged forthwith.

Dr Raheeq Abbasi said that spending of public funds on such extravagant schemes such as metro bus, lap top and motorways instead of terrorism is a grave joke. He said that the credit of successful operation against terrorists and criminal elements in Karachi and elsewhere goes to the Pakistan military and Rangers but the rulers are bent on taking its credit.

Dr Raheeq Abbasi said that the PAT is against every form and manifestation of terrorism and it is for this reason that we supported National Action Plan and Operation Zarb-e-Azb but added in the same breath that efforts are being made by the political chambers to frustrate the exemplary anti-terror actions taken by the armed forces. He said that using the national consensus against terrorism for political objectives is condemnable. He further said that the urban areas of Punjab and Lahore in particular have turned into hideouts for terrorists and they are busy in committing robberies openly. He said that police are victimizing the peaceful citizens while citizens continue to be robbed of their hard-earned money.