PAT Chairman Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has said that during the rule and political life of the corrupt elite, the constitution has been rendered worthless, the institutions have been undermined and the law has been made ineffective. He said that no one get one’s rights unless one takes to streets. He said that weakening of the institutions has resulted into the establishment of a norm that the people now come out on roads to get their rights. He said that the current system has completely failed, adding that without any big revolutionary change, the state cannot be put back on the track of law and the constitution. He said that the elite has destroyed all institutions and Model Town tragedy is an illustration of the decay that has seeped far and wide. He said that if drastic changes were not made in the system of accountability and elections, the constitution and the institutions will continue to remain powerless and the people will remain beleaguered.

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri made these remarks while presiding over a meeting held to discuss arrangements for lawyers’ convention. The meeting was attended by senior party leaders and the senior lawyers. He said that the tales of destruction and ravages committed by the elite are long. The people are not fully aware of them yet. He said that it is only when their rule ends that the extent of damage done to polity and society will be known. He said that Pakistan did not incur as much debt during last 66 years as it accumulated during the past four years of the present government. Not only have the economic foundations of the country been weakened but a sacred institution such as Parliament was used for personal gain to attack the basis of our faith.

The PAT Chairman said that a profit making public enterprise such as Steels Mill was paralyzed during the first tenure so that personal business could thrive at the expense of the national asset; Pakistan Railways was bankrupted during the second tenure and in the third term, a conspiracy was hatched to downgrade Pakistan army to the level of Punjab police and judiciary to the level of a village council.

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri said that we are of the considered view that they think that the institutions are a hurdle in the way of expansion of their political and business empire. He said that the people are now convinced that the elite is the biggest ever security threat for the country. He said that the amount of hurt caused to the people’s sentiments, and humiliation of Parliament and other institutions that has taken place during the tenure of the current political elite never happened before. He said that had the institutions been working effectively, different segments of society such as traders, teachers, lady health workers, farmers, young doctors, clerks and even the blind would not have had to take to streets to press for their demands.

Dr Qadri said that what is most horrible is that despite shooting 100 people and martyring 14 of them, the corrupt elite did not let the FIR be registered and when the only neutral judicial inquiry clearly held them responsible for the massacre, they are mocking the oppressed and aggrieved instead of tendering resignation. He said that their days in power have been numbered and they will soon find themselves behind the iron bars of law. He further stated that the elite uses power and resources to establish its dominance on the institutions.