LAHORE: Addressing a massive rally on the lawns of Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore on Sunday, 19 October,
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri announced a 10-point public welfare agenda- including provision of essential commodities to the poor at half the price, free healthcare and education up to the matric level, economic empowerment of women, removing disparity among salaries of different pay scales, purging the country of sectarianism, distribution of government land among landless farmers, electricity supply to small towns, shelter for the homeless, reducing by half the utility bills of people earning less than Rs 15,000 per month and doing away with tax on utility bills of the poor.
Asking the people to vote PAT to power so that it could implement its agenda he warned that the country would be ruined if the current Nawaz Sharif government was not removed. Reiterating his demand for accountability and reforms before midterm elections under a national government within the constitutional framework, Mr Qadri said his party would not leave the field open for rivals if elections were imposed without reforms and PAT would field candidates in every constituency.
Calling on the citizens of Pakistan to become revolutionaries and knock down the current dispensation which he said brought them nothing but misery, Dr. Qadri said he would spread his revolutionary movement to every nook and corner of the country.
As part of his reform agenda, Dr. Qadri said, new federating units would be created at the divisional level.
The cleric said, different political philosophies and isms had been tried in Pakistan and failed, and now Quaid-i-Azamism would be introduced.
Commenting on the strategic location of Pakistan, Dr Qadri said, the country could serve as a transit route for trade among different economic zones.
Dawn reports that Dr. Qadri refused to accept blood money for the victims of the Model Town incident, saying he would only agree to retribution through courts.
PAT is said to be ready to call off its Islamabad sit-in, if Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif goes on leave till completion of investigation into the Model Town tragedy.
Dr. Qadri alleged that by outsourcing different contracts to foreign firms the government was running the country on the lines of the East India Company and said that if not removed, it would outsource the entire country.
According to Dawn, PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was conspicuous by his absence from the rally, spurring on the rumour that the Chuadhrys of Gujrat were unhappy with Dr Qadri for reportedly holding secret talks with the government.
However, Dr Qadri spoke to Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on phone and persuaded him to participate in the rally. The latter denied any differences with the PAT chief.
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