Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif demanded on Friday that Altaf Hussain be brought to Pakistan and be given exemplary punishment.

Talking to a private TV channel about the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) London-based chief, Shahbaz said, “We have very good relations with the British government and will request to send Altaf to Pakistan.” He asserted anyone who talks against Pakistan will be punished. The British government is helping Pakistan in Altaf’s case, the chief minister said, adding that action will be taken against him under articles 16 and 17. Answering a question about Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, he said, “We do not fear Imran’s march from Islamabad to Lahore. He just wastes the time of people.”

The CM said Imran’s movement cannot harm Pakistan and the government, “as it enjoys support of the masses”. He said that if people believed Imran’s allegations were true they would have come out on roads. Shahbaz said the people of Jhelum and Bhuraywala and people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir rejected the politics of Imran Khan in by-polls. The chief minister said people of Pakistan want to see Gwadar Port becoming functional and completion of projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) so that hundreds and thousands of Pakistani youth could get jobs. Shahbaz said if anyone tried to do the politics of sit-ins the masses would reject them again. In a reference to the PTI chief, he said, “Those who talk about accountability should not allow those who have got loans written off on his container.” He said the next sit-in of PTI will fail. “Pakistanis want to maintain the speed of progress and prosperity and do not want negative politics,” the CM said.