LAHORE: Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar says PML-N President Nawaz Sharif is not willing for any dialogue with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf because he sees his party’s survival in severing any attempt of dialogue with his party.

Speaking to Dawn on Saturday, Mr Bhachar said, “the dialogue between the PTI and ‘Form-47 government’ will take place only on the consent of the establishment” and added the establishment was showing signs for a dialogue after the Nov 26 D-Chowk ‘massacre’.

The opposition leader asserted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was directly responsible for the D-Chowk ‘massacre’. “This is the first incident in the sub-continent, after Jallianwala Bagh, that an elected government opened fire on the unarmed peaceful protesters,” he lamented and added that there were several other options to disperse the peaceful protesters even if they had reached the D-Chowk. “The D-Chowk is not out of Pakistan,” he observed.

Asserting that the PTI would not let the PML-N and ‘Form-47 government’ to forget the Nov 26 D-Chowk ‘massacre’, he said an application had already been moved against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He said the party workers, who were missing since Nov 26, had started appearing and added that the two missing workers, having fingers’ nails pulled out, were produced in a court.

Mr Bhachar also said the members of the party’s committee, constituted to hold dialogues, were not being given access to incarcerated party founder Imran Khan. “Only those persons are being given access to meet Mr Khan, who are relevant in current circumstances,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2024