Summary Imran Khan urges PML-N government to fulfill its election promise of stopping drone attacks.
ISLAMABAD (Online) - Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan on Wednesday condemned the drone attack in Miranshah, North Waziristan Agency, killing 18 people.
He called upon the government to live up to its commitment to stop drone attacks, and expressed disappointment that so far there has been no progress in this regard despite electoral promises and commitments made by the Prime Minister in the National Assembly.
“Because drone attacks were a foreign and defence policy issue, the onus for stopping drones rested entirely with the federal government,” Imran said; PTI would support the government in its efforts to end the murder of innocent Pakistanis by drones.
Imran stated it was simply not enough to keep issuing speeches and demarches as the time had come to move beyond to some practical steps – beginning with the diplomatic-political level.
He also demanded that all the innocent victims of drones be identified and their names made public just as is done in the case of victims of other terror attacks.
He reminded the government that this was another commitment made by one of their ministers in response to a PTI demand in the National Assembly during the budget session.
Chairman Khan also drew the government’s attention to the recent report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, Ben Emmerson who came out strongly against the drone attacks and called on the international community “to heed the concerns of Pakistan” in this connection.
In conclusion, and most pertinent, Imran reminded the Government of Pakistan of its obligations on the drones issue in view of the judgment of the Peshawar High Court of April 2013.
In view of all the above, Imran Khan demanded of the government to move immediately to stop the drones killing innocent citizens of Pakistan – over 3000 so far – and inform the people of what concrete steps have been and are being taken. “We will not accept anymore duplicity on this issue”, Imran concluded.
