Rashid rues prevailing fascism, lawlessness in country

Rashid said "I am not the one who will hold a press conference under pressure. I do not fear death"

RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – Awami Muslim League chief and former federal interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has lamented that fascism, lawlessness and barbarism are the order of the day in Pakistan. 

The former minister wrote on his Twitter handle on Monday that after midnight two houses of “my friend Syed Qasim Shah were raided to arrest me. They ransacked the house on failing to find me there, and took his only 11-year-old son Syed Aoun Muhammad along with them.”

آج صبح 2بجے میرے عزیزدوست سید قاسم شاہ کےدونوں گھروں میں میری گرفتاری کے لیےچھاپہ مارا گیا جب میں نہ ملا تو اُن کے گھروں میں بُرے طریقے سےتوڑا پھوڑ کی گئی اور اُن کے اکلوتے 11 سالہ بیٹے سید عون محمد کو اٹھا کےساتھ لے گئےمیرے گھروں میں 5 مرتبہ ریڈ کیا گیا جبکہ 30 سال پہلے میری…

— Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (@ShkhRasheed) July 10, 2023

Rashid said his houses were raided five times and even the house of his mother, who died 30 years ago, was not spared. The personnel took away his three telephones, laptops, watches and cars. His belongings have not been handed him back despite court orders.

The former federal minister said there was law of jungle, tyranny, fascism, brutality and lawlessness in the country. He said he contested elections for one seat, but “my tweets don't ensure me the right to live freely.”

Rashid said his houses were razed to the ground, his employees beaten and their arms broken as a result of which they had left their jobs.

He said no one condemned the May 9 violence as vehemently as he did. “But I am not the one who will hold a press conference under pressure. I belong to a noble ancestry. I will honour my commitments till my last breath.”

Rashid said he did not fear death. “And I repeat my old maxim; death is my beloved, prison is like house of my in-laws and chains are my jewellery. A loser is he who gives up. By the grace of God, we will snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”