Government had no intention of arresting Sheikh Rasheed

Minister of State for Water and Power, Abid Sher Ali said on Saturday that the government had no intention of arresting Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed.

Referring to Sheikh Rasheed’s address to workers on Friday at Committee Chowk, Abid Sher Ali said “the police were right there, if they wanted to they would have arrested him.”

“Sheikh Rasheed was running like a phooljari (sparkler) himself,” Abid Sher Ali told reporters. The state minister alleged that Rasheed himself wanted to be arrested.

On Friday, the AML chief failed to reach Lal Haveli his residence in Rawalpindi which had been blocked by containers. Sheikh Rasheed was scheduled to hold a rally there.

The AML chief did manage to reach Committee Chowk were clashes had taken place between protestors and police. Addressing the crowd there, Sheikh Rasheed dared the government to arrest him.

Abid Sher Ali referring to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s planned Islamabad shutdown, said the government and country would continue to operate normally. “November 2 will pass, November 4 will pass, in fact the entire month of November will pass and the country and government will continue to operate.”