Qadri wraps up D-Chowk sit-in

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Tuesday announced to wrap up his party's sit-in at D-Chowk of the federal capital, vowing that two-day long sit-in would be staged in every city of the country. The announcement brought some relief for the PML-N government that has been under siege for the last 70 days due to the sit-ins. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), however, vowed to continue its sit-in until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation.
Addressing the participants of the sit-in, Dr Qadri strongly refuted the rumours that he had struck any deal with the ruling party to end his 70-day long dharna. "We neither backed off from our standpoint nor will do so. We opted for dialogue on the basis of principles, but the government refused to accept any of our demands," he said.
Moving scenes were witnessed at sit-in venue when Dr Qadri announced to wrap up the dharna. The participants broke into tears. "I neither decided to start a long march against the government nor am I deciding to wrap up the sit-in. I am just following the decision of my leader," an elderly man told Business Recorder with tears rolling down on his cheeks. Dr Qadri congratulated his workers for their valour and steadfastness, assuring them that he would not sell the blood of Model Town martyrs. "We cannot sell off blood the martyrs' blood. The martyrs' blood will be avenged not through lawlessness but through law and justice in accordance with Quran and Sunnah," he said.
"Our demand was to appoint neutral officials in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which was formed to probe Model Town carnage, but the government refused to do so," he said. Dr Qadri demanded that a national government should be constituted to clean the political dirt, ensure accountability of corrupts and introduce cogent election reforms to bring true democracy in the country. At the end of his address, Tahirul Qadri asked participants of the sit-in to disperse peacefully from the D-Chowk in an organised manner. He said this sit-in will now be staged in all the cities of the country for a period of two days. The revolution sit-in will take place in Bakhar on November 23, Sargodha on December 5, Sialkot on December 14 and Mazar-e-Quaid Karachi on December 25, he announced.