LAHORE: Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has criticised the government for registering a case against Dr Tahirul Qadri saying it should resolve the matter politically.

Talking to Dawn here on Wednesday, the former prime minister said there was not a single political prisoner during his tenure.

“The PML-N government should show tolerance and deal with the political issues politically,” he said, adding the action would not go down well with the people and the government would earn condemnation from all quarters.

Mr Gilani said a democratic government should not over-react. “The government is not setting good precedent as it seems that it has learnt no lesson from its past mistakes.”

He said the registration of an FIR against Dr Qadri was untimely as the government had started the politics of 1990s. “This aggressive style of governance will not augur well,” he added.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2014