LAHORE: Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Friday confirmed a recent meeting between Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulama Fazlur Rehman, but said he would not make public the discussion held between the two.

“It is a fact. Everyone is talking about their meeting [between COAS & the Maulana]. Before going to Beijing, we had discussed this since the COAS and I were together at that moment. He [the army chief] is my college fellow. But I cannot make public the discussion we had [about the meeting],” he said while responding to a question regarding reports about a recent meeting between the two.

Ignoring the prime minister’s reported instructions to ministers not to talk negatively about Nawaz Sharif’s health, Mr Rashid termed the PML-N supremo’s ailment an ‘opening’ to move abroad.

“Whenever his [Mr Sharif’s] health deteriorates, doors for going abroad for him open. I tell you clearly that Asif Zardari’s health condition is more serious than Nawaz Sharif’s. But he is spending [his time in jail] well than Nawaz Sharif,” the minister deplored at his weekly press conference here.

He termed Shahbaz Sharif a ‘bigger thief’ than his elder brother and said he had told Imran Khan to let them [top opposition leaders] go abroad and rule the country without any problem by getting rid of them. “But he [Imran Khan] stuck to his stance of following them. The Sharif family is too miserly, as I know it wouldn’t give a single penny from the money it looted. But Zardari is different as he plunders as well as distributes it [the loot] among all,” he said.

Apparently uneasy over current political developments, Mr Rashid bitterly criticised the Sharifs but prayed for the health of Nawaz Sharif as well. “For the sake of Prophet (peace be upon him), I wholeheartedly pray for Nawaz Sharif’s good health and early recovery,” he added.

Mr Rashid said the JUI-F chief could be allowed to hold ‘Azadi march’ in line with the instructions/directives of the Supreme Court. “But if there is any law and order situation due to this march, the government would enforce the law,” he warned.

Talking about regularisation of temporary workers’ services and recruitment on a large number of vacant positions in Pakistan Railways, he said: “At the moment, the process of recruitment, which included regularisation of temporary workers’ services, has stopped due to the court orders.”

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2019