Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Wednesday said the opposition would face defeat and humiliation by launching a march on Islamabad on March 23. However, the minister assured the opposition that the government would not create any hurdles for them if they adhered to the law. Despite persistent persuasion by the government, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Tuesday decided to continue with the long march against the rising inflation on March 23. Addressing a gathering in Rawalpindi, Sheikh said due to security measures on the Pakistan Day and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers Council’s presence in the capital, mobile phone services might be suspended as well, says a news report. “If you want to annoy the Muslim leaders for the sake of your personal politics, then the PDM should come on March 23. Come on March 23 and you will face a political defeat and be humiliated.
We will create no problem for you if you don’t create any problem for the law,” Sheikh said. “What is your agenda? Why are you marching towards Islamabad?” the interior minister asked the opposition, as he reiterated that they would face no resistance from the government.
The interior minister said the opposition had already faced defeat in Parliament, and now it will also face “political defeat on the roads”. He said the opposition had not been able to make any headway in its bid to oust the government in the last three-and-a-half years, and it could not do anything in future as well.
“The only thing they have done is give irresponsible statements against Imran Khan. The public did not come out on the streets in the last 3.5 years, and they will not come out now,” he said. Rashid said PM Imran Khan was “an honest man”, who had a good relationship with the “establishment”.
He warned the opposition that the prime minister would indeed be “very dangerous” if he were to take to the streets against it. “I say this with authority: Imran Khan has street power.” Rashid said March 23 was very “sensitive” and roads – and possibly cellular services as well – will be closed due to the arrival of foreign dignitaries for the OIC meeting.
