Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri welcomes the constitution of new JIT

PAT Chairman Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has welcomed the establishment of a new JIT to probe the Model Town tragedy afresh. He said that our legal struggle of last four and a half years finally bore fruit and the first step was taken towards justice. He said that if it were anyone else, the case would have been buried a long time ago and even the traces of the graves would have been obliterated. He said that he has heard that A.D. Khawaja is a professional police officer who will fulfill the demands of law and justice at every step of the probe into the killing of the innocent people. He said that he always raised this demand that the head of the JIT should not belong to the Punjab police.

Talking to the senior leaders in a hurriedly called meeting following the issuance of the notification of the JIT, Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri said that we are an accredited political party that has its presence in every nook and corner of the country. He said that our organizational network is strong throughout Pakistan and despite this, we made our utmost efforts for justice, adding that it is after the sustained struggle of four and a half years that we have only succeeded in getting the new JIT formed for a neutral and unbiased investigation into the Model Town tragedy. ‘What the poor and less privileged sections of society go through under this system can be gauged from this one single incident,’ he added.

Dr Qadri said that investigation is the first step which, it is hoped, will lead to justice. He said that it is a matter of the precious human lives lost on June 17, 2014. He said that Justice Baqir Najafi Commission report has clearly and unambiguously identified the ‘cue’ leading to the planners and executers of the tragedy. He said that now the faces will be identified and the answers to the questions that have not been given so far will be forthcoming as a result of the JIT investigation.

It is pertinent to mention here that Bisma Amjad, the daughter of Shaheed Tanzila Amjad, had submitted an application to the Chief Justice of Pakistan with a request to order the constitution of a new JIT on compassionate grounds. Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri pleaded the case in the apex court himself and presented detailed arguments to support the demand. Justice Saqib Nsiar, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, constituted a 5-member larger bench at Islamabad that heard the petition. After the written assurance by the Punjab government that it would form a new JIT, the SC had settled the petition.