Daily Times

LAHORE: The opposition was united on Wednesday in demanding immediate resignations of Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah to ensure justice for the heirs of Model Town, Islamabad and Kasur martyrs.

The historic event took place in front of the Punjab Assembly building in the city where heads of all opposition political parties gathered to pool in their efforts for the dislodging of the Nawaz regime. It was the first time in the history of the country when leaders belonging to different political ideologies synchronised one tune —“go Shahbaz go”.

At the end of the public meeting, it was announced from the stage by Dr Tahirul Qadri of PAT that the next strategy of the protest from joint opposition would be finalised in a meeting in a couple of days.

More than dozen mainstream opposition parties including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Niazi (JUP-N), Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslameen (MWM), and All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) participated in the protest with visible presence of their workers.

PAT patron Dr Tahirul Qadri as main organiser and host of this public meeting welcomed all the party leaders, especially Zardari and Imran.

The protest gathering was divided into two sessions. PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari was the key speaker of the first one, who reached there with his party stalwarts Rehman Malik and Mehreen Anwar Raja.

Soon after his speech, Tahirul Qadri addressed the gathering and said that he thanked Zardari for joining the protest for justice and said Nawaz Sharif had become a Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman of the new era in Pakistan.

Imran Khan while addressing the second session congratulated Tahirul Qadri for uniting the opposition and assured him of his full cooperation saying that he was ready to go to any level wherever he (Qadri) wanted to.

Published in Daily Times, January 18^th 2018.