Sargodha, Khuzdar rallies put off: All set for march, says Fazlur Rehman

ISLAMABAD: The 10-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has cancelled its rallies in Sargodha and Khuzdar in view of the Senate elections and the planned long march.

According to media reports, PDM chief Fazlur Rehman Sunday called PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in which both the leaders decided to cancel the PDM’s rallies in Sargodha on February 23 and in Khuzdar on February 27 to better prepare for the Senate elections and the long march. Fazl also directed all the component parties of the Movement to gear up their preparations for the Senate elections and long march.

Meanwhile, Minister for Interior Shaikh Rashid Ahmed on Sunday said the government will not create any hurdle in the PDM’s long march towards Islamabad. Addressing a function here, the minister said the long march participants would be ‘welcomed’ if they followed the law and the Constitution.

The minister said, “I tell the PDM that there will be no obstacle for them if they march here within the ambit of law. They can come 10 times if they wish,” he said, adding “We along with Imran Khan staged a sit-in in front of Parliament for 126 days that was a difficult job.”

He said the same people who were against the creation of Pakistan were creating chaos and political instability in the country.

Shaikh Rashid said that he had talked about feeding Halwa to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Fazlur Rehman but now the weather had changed, so he will withdraw the offer.

He said the Senate elections were due to be held on March 3 and the PDM leaders were abusing the same assembly for which they were asking for votes. “Whether the Senate election is open or secret, those who are ready to be bought or will sell their votes have no place in the country’s politics,” he said.

“PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and his father Asif Ali Zardari understand my point of view,” he added. He said those who had attained foreign citizenship will also have to lose their jobs. He said the salaries of government employees had been increased by 25%.

He said that Islamabad was not a city of thugs, so 30 out of 33 check posts had been abolished while the remaining three would be removed soon. The police are being made a model force in the coming days, he said, adding that there were 237 gardens in Islamabad and he will improve all of them.

Rashid said the country had overcome to some extent the coronavirus pandemic and gave credit for bringing the situation under control to Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Pakistan Army, who he said had done “jihad against Covid-19”. He said four soldiers were martyred in a terrorist attack on an army check-post in South Waziristan on Thursday night.

“They gave their lives for Pakistan. People who utter bad words against the army should have their tongues pulled out,” he added.

“India knows that if it comes to Pakistan’s borders, 200 million people will defend homeland and it would also be a matter of pride to give their lives.” The minister said the media was completely free in Pakistan adding, “I challenge that the world’s strongest electronic media is not in Britain and the United States but in Pakistan.”