Firebrand Qadri tells supporters to move into Red Zone
Qadri announces to move sit-in towards Parliament House
August 19, 2014 - Updated 1845 PKT
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri announced the advance of the “peaceful” protest onto Constitution Avenue and in front of Parliament – right inside the Red Zone. He said the advance would begin as soon as permission was received from authorities.
“Promise no violence…no militancy,” Qadri appealed to his cheering crowd of supporters.
Delivering a speech to an enraptured audience, the PAT Chief justified moving into the Red Zone, narrating how both the PPP and PML-N had held protests in front of Parliament.
The speech was a combination of calls for "discipline" and calls for "vengeance".
Qadri claimed yet another PAT supporter had died in hospital today after being targeted in Gujranwala.
“If we don’t get revenge for their blood, would you like to return?” Qadri asked a highly charged crowd that yelled “No!”.
Qadri then asked the crowd whether they would prefer to protest in front of Parliament house in the Red Zone, to which his supporters yelled, “Yes!”.
“Should the government stay, or go?” asked the PAT chief, which was met with loud cries of “Go Nawaz go!”
The PAT Chief reiterated the standing demand for the arrest of the Sharif brothers for “murder, planning and involvement” in the Model Town tragedy.
Pushing the crowd into a frenzy, Qadri shot out question after question in hypnotic rhythm, slamming the government, the PML-N and the existing setup, as well as outlining the PAT ideological viewpoint.
“You don’t want to go back? Are you sure? You want a national government? You wan’t these rulers to go? Do you want accountability? Do you want to forgive them? Or arrest them? Do you want implementation of the 12 point agenda? Yes or no? Do you want terrorism to end or not? Do you want extremists and terrorists to stay in our country? Yes to terrorism or no to terrorism?”
The PAT chief called on the government to remove all containers, and asked security forces not to create "bloodshed" in Islamabad. Instructing his supporters multiple times to remain peaceful and disciplined, he said any violence that erupts would be the security forces' fault.
He once again held Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif responsible for the ‘killing’ of 14 PAT workers in Lahore’s Model Town.
“Will you go back home, if you didn’t get justice on the killing of 14 colleagues,” he asked and the participants replied ‘No’.
Earlier today, an Anti-Terrorism Court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for PAT chief Tahirul Qadri and his 72 activists for allegedly injuring 53 policemen in Gujranwala.
The protesters answered ‘no’ to the following questions of Tahirul Qadri: “Is the government unconstitutional and illegal; will the Prime Minister go home without tendering his resignation; do you want the assemblies to continue functioning; do you want the rulers to keep on governing?”
He said no one will go even close to the vicinity of the embassies and the Supreme Court of Pakistan located in the Red Zone. “Not a single drop of blood should spill in Islamabad,” he warned his marchers.
Tahirul Qadri assured the government that his protesters will remain peaceful and asked the authorities to remove containers and let the marchers go towards the Parliament House.
Meanwhile, contingents of Pakistan army have taken positions in the Red Zone, as earlier Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar also announced that the government had handed over security of Islamabad’s Red Zone to the military.
