RAWALPINDI: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Saturday said opposition parties’ days were numbered in politics as people had been fed up with their loot and plunder as a result of which the country was facing inflation.

He was addressing a public meeting at Lal Haveli in connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day.

Commenting on the long march of PPP on February 27 and PDM on March 23, Sheikh Rashid said they (opposition parties) should come together to Islamabad and the government would demolish their politics in one blow. “We are not leaders of cowards,” he said.

He said protest rallies or a long march were the right of the opposition and the government would not create any hurdle in their way unless they remained peaceful.

Talking about Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, the minister said Pakistan’s development was linked to the stability in Afghanistan. He said Taliban got independence after 40 years of war and Pakistan had friendly relations with the government in Afghanistan.

In a reference to recent terrorists attacks, he said incidents that had taken place over the past week could further increase.

“I do not want to comment on the talks here. The Taliban have intervened but the incidents that occurred in the past week could increase. They could rise further,” he said.

The minister said Pakistan’s defence was in safe hands. “We have not made bombs to use them on Diwali or Shab-i-Baraat,” he warned India and said any move to destabilise Pakistan would be dealt with iron hands.

The minister said Pakistan was incomplete without Kashmir. “Pakistani nation is united on the Kashmir issue and would not abandon our brethren in the Indian occupied region,” he said.

He said elections were being held in Uttar Pradesh on Feb 10 but Bharatiya Janata Party had not given a single ticket to a Muslim candidate for elections.

Sheikh Rashid said that feudal lords and industrialists were responsible for the unfair distribution of resources.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had started a war against the corrupt and money launderers and he would send them behind bars.

More functions arranged

Peace and Culture Organisation chairperson and wife of Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik, Mushaal Hussein Mulick said lasting peace, security and development in the region are linked to peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

She was addressing the inaugural function of tableau, speech, Kashmiri song competitions and a photo exhibition on Indian atrocities among schoolchildren at the Punjab Arts Council.

She said that after the illegal and unilateral measures taken by India on Aug 5, 2019, the human rights situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir had been deteriorating.

Hundreds of Kashmiri people have been martyred as a result of inhuman military siege which has been going on for almost two and half years now.

Meanwhile, Rawalpindi Arts Council held a central function of Rawalpindi division on Kashmir Solidarity Day in which Commissioner Rawalpindi Noorul Amin Mengal, Member National Assembly and Parliamentary Secretary for Narcotics Control Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, Members Provincial Assembly Farah Agha and Abida Raja, Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq, Director Rawalpindi Arts Council Waqar Ahmed, local political leadership and divisional and district officers participated.

A minute of silence was observed to show solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris and the flags of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir were hoisted.

Speaking on the occasion, Commissioner Noorul Amin Mengal said that the Muslim Ummah and the United Nations should play their role in resolving the Kashmir issue and there should be no further delay in this regard.

MNA Rashid Shafiq said that along with Islamophobia, Prime Minister Imran Khan had brought the Kashmir issue to the forefront at the international level and now the Kashmir issue has become a challenge for the whole world. He said 220 million people of the country stand with the brave forces of Pakistan and pay homage to their sacrifices.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2022