2014 Lahore clash
The Model Town operation, more commonly known as the Model Town tragedy or the Lahore massacre (Urdu: سانحہ ماڈل ٹاؤن), or simply Lahore incident, was a violent clash that ensued between the Punjab Police and Pakistan Awami Tehreek activists on 17 June 2014 resulting in several protesters being killed by the police gunfire. Five police officers remain under arrest. The standoff lasted for almost 11 hours when the police's anti-encroachment squad launched an operation to remove the barriers from the road leading to the offices of Minhaj-ul-Quran and the residence of PAT founder Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri in Model Town, Lahore, even though police officials were given a court order by PAT leaders, stating "due to terrorism issue place security barriers in front of Minhaj-ul-Quran and the residence of PAT founder Dr.Qadri."
| 2014 Lahore clash | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 17 June 2014 | ||
| Location | Model Town, Lahore, Pakistan 31°29′0″N 74°18′32.5″E | ||
| Caused by | Police-led anti-encroachment operation | ||
| Methods | Protest against operation | ||
| Resulted in | Deaths of protesters , 5 policemen arrested | ||
| Parties | |||
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| Lead figures | |||
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| Number | |||
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| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) | 14 | ||
| Injuries | 100+ | ||
| Arrested | 53+ | ||
The incident was broadcast live on various local news channels and there were conflicting accounts of how the standoff began. Police claimed that they were attacked by people inside the PAT secretariat, a claim that is denied by party chief Qadri. In the live footage broadcast on television, the policemen were shown firing assault rifles and lobbing tear gas canisters at the protesting masses while the protesters threw stones at the police.
Qadri strongly condemned the attack and called it the worst form of state terrorism. Qadri vowed to avenge the deaths of his political workers by bringing about a revolution that would hasten the end of the rule of prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif.
Following the incident, Qadri′s importance grew in Pakistani politics where he had "otherwise been regarded by most observers as posing little threat to the government". Where some analysts considered Qadri a "political non-entity" before the incident, others expressed concern that the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) government reacted "disproportionately and aggressively" in this matter, "shooting itself in the foot" and feeling "'insecure' with the attention that Qadri [had] managed to attract".