LAHORE - Pakistan Awami Tehreek has announced to hold rallies all across the country from January 17 in protest against injustice and non-formation of a judicial commission to probe the Model Town incident. This was decided in a meeting held at the PAT secretariat here on Tuesday.
“Rallies will start a signature campaign against posting of Dr Taqueer Shah, main culprit of the Model Town incident and former principle secretary of Punjab Chief Minister, in the World Trade Organisation. This signature campaign will officially begin at the PAT secretariat on Wednesday,” said the PAT spokesperson.
The spokesperson added that a written complaint would be sent to WTO giving them a brief view about the role Taqueer Shah in killing innocent PAT workers. The complaint would be a document which would bear the signatures of all the families of the deceased and all the injured persons in the Model Town incident, he added. PAT president Dr Raheeq Abbasi said that the PAT had postponed its protest rallies following the Peshawar tragedy. These rallies were planned on the completion of six months of the Model Town incident, he said and added that the government was not making public the report of the judicial commission formed on the incident.
“While PML-N is in power, PAT cannot get justice. This was our stance back then and even today we remain loyal to our stance and demand the resignation of the Punjab Chief Minister before any enquiry commission starts its investigations,” Abbasi maintained.     Addressing the new batch of MPhil scholars at the university’s Shams Auditorium on Tuesday, the vice chancellor suggested that students should explore new ideas that might seem eminently illogical but would be intuitive and emotionally compelling at the same time.
“Scientific backwardness has never rooted from religious beliefs. It is the socio-economical and political mishmash which has been controlling the independent thought,” Prof Aslam said. “One should learn like a child who has been drawn to explore beyond the familiar streets of the neighbourhood,” he said while stressing urge to learn.
Despite all odds, interest of students in basic medical sciences had been increasing as this year 550 candidates applied for just over 100 slots of MPhil programme, he said, adding that the total number of applicants was 451 last year.