LAHORE: Although an influential lobby in the ruling PML-N is favouring use of strong-arm tactics against Dr Tahirul Qadri, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has explored the option of engaging the Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief through the Punjab governor.
Mr Sharif discussed the possibility with Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar at the airport before his departure to Islamabad here on Tuesday.
He was in the Punjab capital since Sunday to directly monitor the situation after the landing of Dr Qadri on Monday.
The governor apprised the prime minister of the demands Dr Qadri had made during negotiations with him in the ‘plane meeting’.
A senior official said that Mr Sharif had agreed to release PAT activists who had been arrested under Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order as a ‘confidence-building measure’.
The activists would be released from courts as the government would not oppose their bail pleas, he added. The release of PAT activists from various police lock-ups has begun.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has already accepted Dr Qadri’s demand for re-erecting security barriers around his Model Town residence.
Police have been directed to make security arrangements for the Minhajul Quran headquarters in consultation with and to the satisfaction of its administration.
Governor Sarwar visited Dr Qadri in the evening to apprise him of the steps the government was taking in response to his demands.
According to a PML-N leader, Ittefaq mosque Khateeb Riaz Husain Shah had also been kept standby for further improving relationship with Dr Qadri.
But the PAT leader, he said, was not showing flexibility on his stance about the Sharifs and was consistent seeking resignation of the chief minister. INTERNEWS
