Interior Minister of Tallal Chaudhry on Saturday strongly condemned the recent incidents throughout the country to destroy international fast food departures and promised that the government would strictly deal with the attackers.
Chaudhry’s statement is produced after a series of recent attacks on the outputs of international fast food chains in Sindh and Punjab, as a form of protest and boycott against Israeli atrocities in Gaza, with an incident in Sheikhupura that claims the life of a worker.
Going to a press conference in Faisalabad, Chaudhry said: “The State has the responsibility of protecting lives and properties, whether they are Pakistanis or foreigners who invest here.”
He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi gave “clear instructions” to the provinces that it was their responsibility to protect the lives and properties of citizens.
“And any individual who would attack [such outlets] It would be strictly treated, ”said Chaudhry.
“The recent attacks against KFC (Kentucky Fried Chickn); around 20 incidents took place in several places in Pakistan,” said the official.
Detail incidents further, he said that 145 people were arrested and that the first 12 information (FIR) reports were recorded on Punjab attacks. In the Federal Capital, two of these incidents took place, with 15 people arrested, he added.
The State Minister also welcomed that “all political parties, especially political religious parties, were distanced from this incident.”
“The workers of some parties could have been present in their personal capacity, but no political party connected with this. In fact, religious parties and others have distanced themselves,” he added.
Chaudhry praised the positions of the parties as the “correct representation of Islam.”
“After being arrested […] They only sought forgiveness and were ashamed of their act, ”said Chaudhry, emphasizing that the attackers had admitted their crimes and expressed their regret in video statements.
Answering a question, he said: “These [attackers] They were interrogated after the arrests, and I am saying this with full responsibility that no political or religious party of Pakistan was behind this in a coordinated way.
“No political or religious party announced any event of this type,” Chaudhry added, thanking these parties for distancing vandalism.
A total of at least 21 tehreek–labbaik activists Pakistan (TLP) had been arrested for alleged participation in attacks in Karachi and Lahore.
Chaudhry clarified: “The owner of the franchise is Pakistani and Muslim. All the management of this [food chain] It is from Pakistan. Regardless of the items they use, they buy them to sellers, merchants and Pakistani markets. […] All your gain also remains inside Pakistan.
“What excuse is that you carry out attacks?” asked.
When calling the “crown” of Pakistan investors, Chaudhry reiterated that his protection was the responsibility of the government and was fulfilling it.
“The implementation of this is continuous. No concessions of any kind are being given,” he said. “After yesterday’s prime minister’s notice, that incident in all Pakistan did not take place,” he said.
The Minister of State stressed: “This food chain invested more than $ 100 million in Pakistan and such international food chains pay 100 percent taxes. I say that our other [local] restaurants and food chains evade taxes, but these [chains] No.”
He also said that the livelihoods of more than 25,000 families, directly or indirectly, were connected to the target food chain.
“Such statements and accusations are made about the Muslim world that are not related to truth or Islam,” Chaudhry said, agreeing to attackers to adhere to their religion or the country’s constitution.
By stating that such attacks were “intolerable”, Chaudhry said they would be treated in the “same way as a terrorist attack.”
He recalled the incident in Sheikhupura, where a worker “lost his life due to the torture inflicted by those Muslim brothers.”
The State Minister stressed that several renowned clergymen had issued decrees stating that “attacking and boycotting companies without any reason or spreading hatred against them is non -Islamic.”
Separately, a session and district court of Islamabad granted bail to six suspects involved in destroying a restaurant in the E-11 sector of the capital, while nine suspects were sent to judicial request.
The case, heard by Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah, was recorded at the Shalimar Police Station after the protesters entered an exit of a fast food chain and forced the staff to close.
Attacks at the outputs
At least three restaurants in Karachi were attacked between April 7 and April 9, and another frustrated April 10. Police said they had reserved and arrested 10 TLP activists for one of the incidents.
Other parts of Sindh were also witnesses of attacks such as criminals burned a restaurant in Mirpurkhas and Peled Stones at a KFC departure in Larkana the next day.
In Lahore, 11 TLP activists were arrested to throw stones and damage a fast food chain in the city’s defense housing authority.
After a April 14 attack in a restaurant in Rawalpindi, the police said that the vandals involved had been tracked through closed circuit television cameras (CCTV). The next day, Islamabad police said they had arrested five people who were involved in destroying a restaurant in the E-11 sector of the capital.
However, an incident in Punjab Sheikhupura became deadly when an employee present at the exit was killed when armed men opened fire on April 14, the same day that the FTA had requested an anti-Israel protest.
