|
|
| Taseer accuses PML-N of being soft on banned groups |
|
| Tahir Khan
ISLAMABAD: Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer Wednesday accused the PML-N-led government in Punjab of being soft on banned groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashker-e-Jhangvi, whose activities have increased significantly.
Taseer criticised Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, for his recent plea to the Taliban to “spare” Punjab because the PML-N and the militants have both opposed former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and “dictation” by foreign forces.
“If the Chief Minister is bending on his knees before (the militants), it is not a happy situation. His comments triggered revulsion across the country. We can’t allow the terrorists any space or show them any weakness,” Taseer said during an interaction with media.
Taseer, considered a close confidant of President Asif Ali Zardari and a member of the Pakistan People’s Party that is in power at the centre, said Shahbaz Sharif’s comments were the latest in a series of events that showed up the PML-N’s sift approach to banned and extremist groups.
“The Punjab Law Minister is running around with leaders of the Sipah-e-Sahaba, which is an extreme right wing, anti-Shia group, along with a police escort and armed militants,” he said, referring to provincial minister Rana Sanaullah’s meetings with leaders of the banned group during recent by-polls in Jhang district.
The Punjab government, Taseer said, has a strategy to counter extremism and terrorism but its implementation is not “strong enough”. He added: “These people (militants) cannot be let off as they are ruthless.”
Asked what options were not available to him as Governor to tackle the situation in Punjab, Taseer said he “did not want to discuss these options”. He said he was creating pressure on the PML-N so that they “did not get away” with what they were doing.
“We don’t want a situation of Governor’s Rule in Punjab. We want security and we want the democratic process to continue. We don’t want to go to a stage where there is federal rule in the province,” he said. |
|
|