Model Town inquiry report made public; law minister rejects it as ‘full of errors’
Model Town inquiry report made public; law minister rejects it as ‘full of errors’
News Desk
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The Punjab government has made public the inquiry report into the deadly police crackdown at the headquarters of Idara Mihajul Quran (IMQ), in Lahore’s Model Town three years back.

The Punjab government has made public the inquiry report into the deadly police crackdown at the headquarters of Idara Mihajul Quran (IMQ), in Lahore’s Model Town three years back.

Fourteen supporters of Allama Tahirul Qadri, chief of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), were killed and several wounded when a police operation to clear roadblocks around the IMQ went awry and led to clashes on June 17, 2014.

Subsequently, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed one-judge judicial commission, headed by Justice Baqir Najfi of the Lahore High Court, to investigate the tragedy. The provincial government, however, refused to make the report public.

Addressing a news conference in Lahore on Tuesday, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the decision of making the report public was made on the directive of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Express News reported.

Terming the report full of errors and ineffective, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) provincial minister said that no one was being blamed in the report, adding that there was not a single word written in the report that could link CM Shehbaz Sharif to the deadly incident.

The report was uploaded on official website of director general of public relations Punjab.

Sanaullah also said no police officials, present at the incident’s venue, were being framed in the report. He said the PAT did not present any evidence and the report was based on “false evidences”. “Therefore, I advised the chief minister against making the report public due to concerns of creating complications,” he added.

The minister said different intelligence agencies reported that both parties were involved in the fire exchange. However, these reports from the agencies were not included in the Model Town report, he added.

The report is ineffective as it cannot be presented as evidence in the court of law, said the law minister, adding that the decision of making the report public will not impact the trial.

Tahirul Qadri threatens another sit-in 

Earlier in the day, Dr Qadri said his party would stage another sit-in if the report on the Model Town incident was not made public as ordered by the court.

Talking to reporters in Lahore, Qadri said 14 PAT members were killed and 90 others injured when police opened fire on them on the orders of the Punjab government.

He said following the court’s decision, he will go along with his followers to the Civil Secretariat Punjab to get the Model Town Incident Report.

“The Supreme Court did not take notice of the incident nor did they register cases against those responsible,” Qadri said.

“We had demanded the resignation of ministers, creation of a joint investigation team (JIT), and requested the apex court to form a tribunal. But none of those demands were accepted.”