Former President and Co-Chairman Pakistan Peoples' Party Asif Ali Zardari has condemned the targeted assassination of Malik Muhammad Aslam Channa, PPP candidate for the chairmanship of Union Council and membership of district council in Dibalpur Tehsil of Okara, and two other Party workers.
He said that cold blooded, targeted and pre-meditated murder of the PPP candidate and workers on the eve of bye-elections, and as local bodies' polls draw near, had raised legitimate questions. "The Party demands a transparent and thorough probe into the murders and also to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice at the earliest," he said.
Asif Zardari said Malik Muhammad Aslam Channa was a die-hard Party activist, known for fearlessness and personal integrity and commitment and enjoyed popularity in his area across the board, adding that as party president of the provincial constituency-188, Malik Aslam had rendered great services to mobilise the workers and also exposed the corruption and wrong doing of the government in power."
Zardari also prayed for eternal rest to the souls of Malik Aslam Channa and the Party workers and patience to members of the bereaved family. He also directed the Punjab provincial President Mian Manzoor Wattoo to visit the bereaved families on his behalf and to keep him posted about the progress in investigations in the case and arrest of the culprits. In the meantime, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has also strongly condemned the killing of PPP candidate in Okara at the hands of terrorists and demanded their immediate arrest without any delay.
"It appears that same tactics and strategy are being used against PPP in local government elections in Punjab which were used against the Party during general elections 2013," he stated and stressed that use of terroristic tools to keep away the PPP from campaigning should also come under the PPO provisions. He said space for PPP was being squeezed in Punjab through use of terrorist activities under a planned strategy.