PAT asks PM Khan to not consider Model Town incident's accused for provincial role
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) has requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to not appoint Major (retd) Azam Sulaiman the Punjab chief secretary as he is one of the 12 accused by the families of those affected in the infamous Model Town incident of 2014.
PAT Secretary-General Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, in a letter addressed to the PM, drew his attention to the fact that "Sulaiman, who is reportedly a favourite for the Punjab chief secretary position, was the province's home secretary when the Model Town incident took place."
"The list of the 12 accused, for whose summoning the heirs of the Model Town incident's martyrs have approached the Lahore High Court, includes Major (retd) Azam Sulaiman's name," Gandapur writes.
"Major (retd) Sulaiman is directly responsible for the illegal act of the non-issuance of Justice Baqar Najfi Commission's report."
Gandapur also claimed that Major (retd) Sulaiman was present during a Rana Sanaullah-chaired meeting — held on June 16, 2014 — regarding the "illegal" anti-encroachment operation that led to the Model Town incident.
"As the Punjab home secretary, Major (retd) Sulaiman was the right-hand man of former Punjab CM Mian Shahbaz Sharif," Gandapur added.
In the light of the aforementioned, Gandapur asked PM Khan — whose party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has been a longtime ally of PAT — to not give "Major (retd) Sulaiman any government responsibility until he proves his innocence.
"If, God forbid, he is given the important role of Punjab chief secretary, then the accused in the Model Town incident will get security in some shape or form, and the trial will be affected."
Model Town incident
On June 17, 2014, 14 people were killed and 100 others injured after police launched an assault on PAT supporters gathered outside the residence of Qadri in Model Town, Lahore.
A subsequent judicial inquiry had pointed fingers at Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and Punjab police for what had transpired that day.