LAHORE – Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said on Friday that if the rioters are given relief, the incidents like May 9 riots would continue to take place in the country.
“On one hand, you announce pardon, and on the other hand, they go out and use inappropriate language. They still have the same spirit. They are ready to repeat May 9. They should not be given any forgiveness,” said Punjab information minister while reacting to ‘forgiveness’ given to 19 individuals who were sentenced earlier by the military courts.
Azma Bokhari said, “the question is, do they deserve any leniency? In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there is a ceremony held in honor of these rioters at the Chief Minister’s House. They are applauded there and congratulated, being told, “Very good, you have done a great job,”.
She said, “Those who begged for forgiveness and came out should now be encouraged to set the country on fire again. Their actions seem to be aiming at reigniting the fire in the country. Such people should not be granted forgiveness. In the coming days, it seems that the doors for any relief are being shut for them,”.
The provincial minister said that the relief for these rioters came from the Pakistan Army.
“They will have to reconsider. Forgiveness is only given to those who apologize. Imran Khan has never apologized for his actions. The founder of PTI has committed major sins in his life, but he has never shown remorse,” said Azma Bokhari.
She also criticized the PTI members by saying that they lied a lot and they would easily claim that a crow is white. They make accusation, play victims and then become heroes on the social media. Their words should not be taken seriously.
Azma said the founder of PTI eats roasted desi chicken and dry fruits in jail. What is left to present to Imran Khan?
She said Imran Khan politicized everything. His concern is not about jail reforms. Jails are crumbling in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and no one is paying attention there.
While addressing KP CM indirectly, she asked him to fix jails in the KPK instead of getting into Khan’s cell through Adiala jail.
Talking about the performance of the Punjab government, Azma said, “In meetings with the Chief Minister of Punjab, it’s never about ‘arrest this person’ or ‘impose restrictions on that person.’ The first meeting of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was about the inflation situation. During the previous tenure, whenever inflation rose, we were immediately provided with global figures,”.
She further stated that the Punjab government had been in the office for last 10 months now, and no one had heard data about the global prices.
“Today, the international organizations are reporting that inflation has decreased in Pakistan. The inflation rate has dropped to 4% during this tenure, the lowest in the last 81 months. The Prime Minister’s efforts to reduce inflation are commendable,” she added.
The minister also said that the CM’s office has a dashboard that monitors the prices of essential food items.
“People have suffered from electricity prices, but to alleviate the impact of electricity prices, a relief package of 54 billion rupees has been provided. Now, the solar program has been launched,” said the minister.
She also said that a 550-watt solar system would be provided to consumers using up to 100 units of electricity, and an 1100-watt system would be provided to those using up to 200 units. The solar systems would be distributed through a transparent ballot.
The consumers involved in electricity theft or those with multiple meters, she said, would not benefit from this scheme.
Azma was of the view that this solar program is for poor people. The CM, she said, only believed in merit.
She added that the tube wells also run on diesel. To control electricity consumption, 8,000 tube wells will be converted to solar energy.
