ISLAMABAD -  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Thursday announced to join the anti-PML-N movement of Pakistan Awami Tehreek to force chief minister Punjab and provincial law minister to resign over the Model Town tragedy.

Addressing a press conference, PTI Chairman condemned the gruesome murder of seven-year-old Zainab in Kasur and said that PTI with full force will join PAT on January 18. "I will say the tigers of my party to be prepared for January 18."

PAT Chief Dr Tahirul Qadri had announced to start anti-PML-N movement from January 17 after the deadline given by a multi-party conference demanding resignations of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah over the Model Town carnage expired.

Imran Khan said that he would join Dr Qadri along with his supporters on January18. A senior PTI leader said that a committee comprising the Punjab's leadership of PTI was being formed that will decide the modus operandi of the protest on January 18. The committee will decide that whether PTI will be part of the protest only for a day or throughout the protest movement announced by Dr Qadri, he added.

The PTI chief also demanded of the Chief Justice to take a suo motu notice of the Model Town tragedy.

 He further said that the CJ should also take notice of the security expenditures being incurred on the personal residence of Sharif family in Jati Umra from the national exchequer.

He questioned which country could spend amounting to Rs7 billion on the security of a ruling family for the last four years. He said that 2,500 policemen had been deputed at Jati Umra and questioned why did the Sharif family does not arrange its personal security instead of relying on the national exchequer.

Imran Khan condemning the abduction and subsequent killing of Zainab in Kasur said that the state would have to form a mechanism to avoid such incidents in future.

 He also criticised the Punjab government and the Punjab police for their failure to trace out the culprits. He also claimed that the performance of KP police was far better as compared to Punjab police because the latter had been politicised. He said that this was the twelfth incident of abduction and killing of minor girls in Kasur and why no one took notice on it. He further said that someone should have taken notice on the Kasur’s child abuse video scandal.

Chairman PTI said that the whole nation had shown unity after Zainab murder case like it was shown after APS tragedy.

He said that father of the girl and the people showed same reaction after the incident as they said that they had only confidence in CJ and army chief who could provide them justice while the people showed no-confidence in the Punjab government and the police.

He while quoting the report of former Punjab police chief said that this was because PML-N that was ruling the Punjab since 19 years had made appointments in Punjab police while violating merit. He said that culprits were recruited in police. "That is why the Punjab police are corrupt," he alleged. 

He said that DPO Kasur who was responsible for the killing of two innocent persons the other day was the one who had ordered the police in Faisalabad to fire bullets at a PTI activist in 2014. He also criticised Shahbaz Sharif for visiting Kasur in the wee hours of Thursday morning and questioned why did the CM go in the darkness of night.

Commenting on the remarks of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif about Bangladesh's leader Sheikh Mujeeb ur Rehman, Imran Khan said that perhaps the former PM was giving some messages to India. He alleged that Sharif wanted to damage the whole system only to save his skin from conviction in corruption references against him.

IMRAN MUKHTAR