Sheikh Rasheed condemns May 9 riots, calls PTI chief ‘stubborn’

ISLAMABAD: Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Friday resurfaced after a month-long disappearance and condemned the May 9 riots while calling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan a ‘stubborn’, ARY News reported.

Talking to a private news channel, the former interior minister said that he had been on a ‘Chilla’ (apparently spending time underground) for the last 40 days.

Sheikh Rasheed – an ally of PTI chief Imran Khan – said that he had the opportunity to reflect on many things during the chilla in this age. “No one caused any harm during this period”, he added.

The AML president further said that he always stood by Pakistan Army, noting that he had also suggested PTI chief that “one should keep good terms with the army”. “I am proud to call myself the spokesperson of Pakistan Army”, Rasheed insisted.

He further said that no politician should take the names of any Pakistan army officer, adding that all the three people who were holding talks with the army for the PTI chief had made their own party.

The former federal minister said that he requested Imran Khan to include him in the committee – which was holding talks with army – but the latter refused, adding that the politicians and the institutions should work together.

Talking about the May 9 riots, Rasheed said that he was outside the country during the incidents of violence that followed Imran Khan’s arrest. He added that he had suggested to the PTI that they should not engage in a dispute with the establishment.

Calling PTI Chief Imran Khan “a stubborn politician”, Sheikh Rasheed said that messing with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir was their mistake.

Rasheed added that he had already condemned the May 9 riots, saying that the incidents of violence should be condemned in every Friday sermons.

He said that followers of the PTI chairman believe that they have supporters inside the army. “I had told Imran Khan that they would betray us and we should mind our own business,” he added.

“No doubt the events of May 9, including the attack on Corps Commander House Lahore, were planned”, Sheikh Rasheed said. However, he sought ‘forgiveness’ for the people ‘who committed this mistake”.

Responding to a question, Sheikh Rasheed said that Twitter drowned him, adding that he was shown the Tweets. He added that he didn’t run the account on the microblogging site but all of the statements were his own.

Rasheed resurfaced a day after the Lahore High Court (LHC) gave the police a deadline till October 26 to recover the senior politician.

He was arrested from Rawalpindi on September 17, his counsel Sardar Abdul Razaq revealed on the same day.