Anti-government protest leader and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri on Monday returned to Pakistan from Canada after about eight months and vowed to seek justice for 14 of his supporters killed in a police raid last year.
“I call upon the responsible officers of Rangers, those commanding them and security institutions of the country to begin an operation against those who mercilessly killed 14 people during Model Town clashes in lahore,” he said, addressing his workers outside his residence in Model Town here. About 4,000 workers of Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) thronged the lahore airport to greet him upon arrival. In addition to the 150-strong PAT youth force, heavy contingent of the Punjab police was deployed to provide security to Qadri.
Qadri, a Canadian national, had staged a two-month-long sit-in in Islamabad in August last year along with Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan in a bid to oust Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and bring down his Government.
Imran’s sit-in, however, lasted for four months as he was demanding Sharif’s resignation over rigging allegations in May 2013 General Elections while Qadri sought justice for the killing of his supporters and the Premier and his brother Shahbaz Sharif responsible for it.