Imran, Qadri could be tried under Article 6: minister

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehrik chief Dr Tahirul Qadri may be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution, if the parliament runs out of patience and does not exercise restraint anymore. Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said this on Wednesday while addressing a joint session of parliament.
"The people camped outside the parliament are not exercising their democratic right to protest against the government," he said, adding that "the sit-ins tantamount to attack on democracy and constitution." He said that both the leaders, Imran and Qadri, were inciting their supporters to violence and aggression against leaders sitting in the parliament. "They [Imran and Qadri] have been spreading hatred against us for the last two months. They have also been using cheap language against the respectable politicians," he said.
The minister said the hate campaign being run by Imran and Qadri would cost the country heavily. "We are patient and trying to resolve the issue politically, but Imran and Qadri are hell bent on stopping the progress of the country," he said. While referring to Imran Khan, Rafique said that a media trial of the parliamentarians is also being carried out "by a man who has done a total of 48-hour hunger strike and has spent 2.5 days in jail during the lawyers' movement."
"I fail to understand the language an Oxford-educated Imran has been using against all the political leaders who have rendered numerous sacrifices for the country," he said. Criticising the PTI chairman, he said Imran should understand that the landscape of politics has changed in Pakistan and all the institutions have evolved and learned from the history.
The minister said that Imran has been publicly inviting the police and the army to join his sit-in. "Under what law did he invite police and army personnel to his sit-in?" he asked, adding that "it's the parliament which is exercising restraint; otherwise both Imran and Qadri can be held accountable for their actions under Article 6." He also urged the parliamentarians to suggest some solutions and ways to deal with the protestors and their leaders before the joint session of the parliament is prorogued sine die.