KARACHI: Admitting Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “failure” to bring the corrupt elite, hoarders and money launderers to justice despite all the promises he made before the 2018 general elections, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has blamed the “deep-rooted and strong mafia” for the current situation, but said the government led by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) “is going nowhere”.

During a brief press conference here on Sunday, the federal minister shared sketchy details of issues ranging from probable impact of local bodies elections in different provinces to emerging national political scenario amid talk of possible return to the country of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

What came as a direct, blunt and strong-worded comment from him was his act of expressing “concerns” about the government’s performance in a few crucial areas and his admission of helplessness against the “powerful mafia” on behalf of the prime minister.

“The people voted for us and Imran Khan to catch sugar thieves, flour thieves, corrupt elite, those who have built palaces in London [through ill-gotten money],” he said in response to a question about the government’s performance that was put to him after he had condemned the opposition parties.

Terms success of JUI-F in KP polls a fallout of Taliban takeover of Kabul; rules out possibility of talks with MQM founder

“The people wanted us to catch and bring them to the court of law for true and quick justice in line with the defined law. But I agree with you, we have failed in this.”

In response to a similar question put by another reporter, Mr Ahmed came up with a kind of justification for the current state of affairs by giving an impression that the institutions were rather “helpless” before the “much stronger and deep-rooted mafias”.

“Imran Khan badly wanted to catch those who stole sugar,” he said. “He badly wanted to bring those to court who had eaten up the subsidy. He wanted them in the clutches of law. But you know, the law has its own formalities. And the mafias here are so deep-rooted and powerful, that it couldn’t happen.”

However, despite publicly admitting the “failures” of the government, the minister was of the opinion that Mr Khan had “nothing to lose” despite reports of “Mr Sharif’s possible return to the country”.

“If Nawaz Sharif wants to return, I offer him a ticket from my own pocket,” he said. “He’s healthy and fine because he was never ill. How much drama you [Mr Sharif] created to leave the country and if you want to return now, you are more than welcome.

“While sitting in London, you had no other job but to attack Pakistan’s judiciary and armed forces. So you better come back. It doesn’t make any difference. Imran Khan is standing firm and not going anywhere.”

Criticising a recent statement of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, Mr Ahmad alleged that the former prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) and former president (Asif Ali Zardari) “are the most corrupt leaders of the country”.

He termed the recent success of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in the local bodies elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a “fallout of fresh Taliban takeover of Afghanistan”, which had helped the rightwing party to grab the highest number of seats for mayors and chairmen in 39 tehsils of the province.

“PTI has not secured votes in the recent KP elections, I admit,” he said. “But this is a democracy. It doesn’t reflect anything. But JUI-F has not won due to its growing popularity but it’s a reflection on the Taliban government in Afghanistan. The people on both sides of the border love their religion [Islam]... So these results in fact should be seen this way.”

The interior minister was quick to rule out any possibility of talks with the London-based founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Altaf Hussain, calling him “the cause of [much] bloodshed and violence in the country”.

“This is a difficult question,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “But let me tell you frankly that any dialogue with Altaf Hussain is not possible. The reason is that he had been a key cause of violence and bloodshed in the country. Other leaders of the MQM are like my brothers. I respect them all.”

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2021