ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Tuesday asked the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to change the date of the “anti-inflation march” scheduled for 23rd March towards the federal capital.

Addressing a press conference, he said that he wants to ask the PDM chief Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif that this is a national matter, therefore, review this decision regarding staging of march towards Islamabad on March 23.

“March 23 is the day which Pakistan army celebrates, in which the whole nation and overseas Pakistanis participate,” he said. He said that the PDM leader needs to change the date of their march and shift it to April or hold it before March.

Most of the Corps’ headquarters were on the GT Road, therefore, some routes leading to Islamabad be closed for traffic around seven days before Pakistan Day celebrations, he said, adding that if the opposition leaders found the roads blocked on reaching Islamabad, then do not complain that the government has closed the road.

He will further talk about the matter after three months as now four months were still remaining. The minister said that everyone has the right to stage protest and rallies but the date announced by the PDM for long march was not appropriate. Rashid said that the inflation against which the PDM leaders planned to stage long march on March 23 would be brought under control by March.

Rashid further said that the nation has seen the result of NA-133 by-election. The PML-N got only 10 percent votes, he said. To a question, he said both civilian and military leadership were on the same page.

Responding to a question regarding reports of caretaker setup, he said that no caretaker government will be setup and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will complete its five-year term. Condemning lynching of Sri Lankan factory manager Priyantha Kumara in Sialkot, he said that he assured Sri Lankan High Commissioner that strict action would be taken against the culprits in Sialkot incident.

He appealed to media houses to play a role in eradication of extremism and avoid airing statement of people involved in terrorism and extremism. Everyone needs to collectively fight the menace of extremism in the country and raise their voice against extremism and terrorism, he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021