Terming democracy in the country as 'Gullucracy', Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Friday blamed the prevailing judicial system of not giving punishment to criminals like "Gullu Butt" who was involved in criminal activities in the Model Town incident.
Congratulating his supporters for the on-going sit-in that made a world record for staging protest for 44 consecutive days, Qadri lashed out at the government for granting release to 'notorious' character of the Model Town incident in which more than a dozen of his supporters were killed in clash with police in Lahore.
"The release of Gullu Butt has proved that there exists no democracy in Pakistan but it is 'Gullucracy', which is the real face of your (Sharifs) government...this is the face of the democracy and the parliament in the country," he said. He said the Oxford Dictionary has approved the term "Gullu" to be included in the dictionary and the term was being referred "for the disruptive behaviour by someone enjoying the backing of the ruling class".
Qadri also rejected the assertions by some PML-N ministers that the ongoing sit-in protest was causing damage to the country's economy, saying that the economy is already suffering heavily due to the energy crisis, foreign and domestic loans, and above all lawlessness, due to which no foreign investor is ready to come to Pakistan. "Do you think it's because of the sit-in protest that you miserably failed in overcoming the power loadshedding and addressing the issue of terrorism and extremism... whether it is because of the protests that you are borrowing more and more loans for your own luxuries," he asked.
Referring to the 'Qarz Utaro, Mulk Sanwaro' (pay off loan so the country can prosper) scheme launched by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his government in 90s, Qadri said the overseas Pakistanis generously contributed to the scheme but all their money went to fill the coffers of Sharifs. He promised his supporters that all the present foreign and domestic loans could be returned in six months to one year if his party, PAT was given the government as a result of the "revolution" sit-in.
Qadri also rejected the two joint investigations teams (JITs) - one constituted to probe the Model Town incident and the second to investigate the cases against PAT leadership. He suggested that a team comprising two officials each from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Military Intelligence (MI) and police other than the Punjab province be constituted to probe the Model Town incident.