LAHORE: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid says the army is showing patience in the ongoing political situation in the country and there is no chance of imposition of martial law in case the law and order deteriorates.

“I think army has great patience. But it doesn’t mean that it is aloof from the current situation, as its eyes and ears are open,” he said when asked what would army do in case the situation deteriorates.

“Army adopts [some] strategy according to the situation. Sometimes its strategy is as per the doctrine of necessity. And sometimes it is different,” he added while responding to the [same] question at a press conference on Thursday.

He claimed that the army would not impose martial law and the political leadership would handle such issues.

He said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government was least bothered about resignations from the opposition lawmakers.

“The digit of 13 is always considered bad in Europe and US. And similarly this digit would be a bad omen for the opposition at Minar-i-Pakistan where Imran Khan and PDM would go up and down, respectively. There would be good news for Imran Khan from Dec 13 to 16,” the minister said.

Rashid questioned the PDM to whom it wanted to hold a dialogue except Imran Khan. “If you don’t want to talk to Imran, who is inviting you to talk in the parliament on all issues (except NRO), then to whom you would talk? So if you talk to someone else, would it not be a negation of Nawaz Sharif’s narrative?”

Speaking about Maulana Fazlur Rehman, he said: “If all political bigwigs die, Maulana wouldn’t be able to get anything.”

He alleged that some people were investing to create chaos in the country.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2020