Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri Thursday claimed that he was nearing success and that the sit-in protesters would be home for Eid-ul-Azha after ousting the government by September end. Talking to a select group of journalists inside his shipping container where he has been living for the last 29 days, he questioned why confrontation with armed forces of Pakistan starts whenever Nawaz Sharif comes into power.
He said that he is struggling for real democracy and electoral reforms in the country, adding the movement will be advanced like French and Russian revolutions. Later, addressing his sit-in protesters, he said PAT only took part in the electoral process a couple of times, adding they are now struggling for the real democracy and electoral reforms.
Qadri has said that the incumbent parliament has deviated from the teachings of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the entire system of the country is in contradiction with the constitution of Pakistan. The cleric said that people were forced to participate in the revolution march as the elected representatives ignored the very essence a welfare state envisioned by the founder of the nation.
He continued that none of the political parties sitting in the parliament care about the will of the people and heads of the political parties give tickets to the people who donate millions of rupees to party's funds. He questioned the credibility of people who managed to make their way into power corridors in the name of serving the masses, saying not a single one of them were chosen by the people rather they were handpicked by their respective party heads.
He said a common man can not even think of getting a ticket for contesting elections as you need a lot of money to bribe the party head and in return steal the taxpayers' money in the name of serving the masses, which is the norm of the politics being practiced in the country since creation of Pakistan.
We reject the entire system as it is in contradiction with the constitution of Pakistan, he said, adding the people will no longer tolerate the current system which in no way benefits the downtrodden. He said that Islam preaches equality and urges every human to lead a dignified life in the society, but here the rulers have snatched away the basic rights of living from the people. Qadri asked the parliamentarians that the people they see at the sit-in are not nomads, they are the actual Pakistanis. He elaborated that a Pakistan comprising a few families, is residing there in splendid palaces and the other is encamped here at the D-Chowk.