ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf has criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for its reported nexus with extremist groups in the country and sought an explanation.

Commenting on a reported statement by Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat that the PML-N had approached him for seat-adjustment arrangement in the coming elections, a PTI spokesman alleged that the PML-N had been associated with extremist groups for a long time.

He said Maulana Ludhianvi’s statement nullified repeated denials by PML-N leaders that they had no interaction with extremist elements.

“People still remember a public statement made by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif after successive terror attacks in Lahore, requesting the Taliban not to target his government because the PML-N and Taliban had the same ideology,” the PTI spokesman said, adding that PML-N’s policy had endangered lives of innocent people.

He said people remembered how the Punjab law minister had accompanied leaders of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and attended its rallies.

He also cited reports alleging that the family of an SSP leader, who had been sentenced to death, had been given stipend from the state exchequer.