ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazlur Rehman will call off his plans to march on Islamabad if he realises the gravity of the situation along the Line of Control, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Monday.

“We should not take the situation lightly by comparing it with the PTI’s 2014 sit-in as no one can predict the next move by India’s war-mongering leader,” the minister said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “God forbid, a nuclear war could break out if India continues its aggressive designs.”

He said comparing the present situation with the situation in 2014 was unrealistic and expressed the confidence that the JUI-F chief would make a “sane decision”.

The firebrand Sheikh Rasheed spoke in an uncharacteristically subdued tone about the opposition and even called them “responsible people who will consider the ground realities before taking a decision”.

“I am positive about the dialogue since they (opposition leaders) are all mature politicians. Both the armies are standing eyeball to eyeball along the LoC. A neo-Nazi leader in India is threatening to block the flow of water to Pakistan and make this country barren,” Sheikh Rasheed said. “I have some expectations from them in these hard times.”

The minister said the government was not afraid of the JUI-F’s Azadi March, but had decided to exercise restraint in dealing with the opposition in view of the delicate situation.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2019