Interior minister skips India-Pakistan match, returns to Pakistan from UAE
ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed returned to Pakistan on Saturday morning after he was called back by the Prime Minister Imran Khan, to deal with the ongoing security situation in the country.
The opposition parties and a banned religious organisation have staged separate protests in multiple cities of the country, resulting in Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi being partially shut down.
The interior minister had gone to the UAE to watch the blockbuster Pakistan-India T20 World Cup match on Sunday. Speaking to reporters a few days earlier, Sheikh Rashid had said PM Imran Khan had approved his request for a two-day holiday to watch the game live in the UAE.
However, the prime minister urged the interior minister to return to the country to tackle the law and order situation in Pakistan. The minister arrived in Islamabad via the Airblue flight PA-213 from Sharjah on Saturday.
Meanwhile a day earlier, Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Ahmed Khan Buzdar had announced that the provincial government had decided to form a committee to negotiate with the proscribed organisation as the outfit staged protests to demand the release of their leader Saad Rizvi.
Usman Buzdar had made the announcement regarding the government’s decision to hold talks with the banned outfit on Twitter. “We have formed a committee, consisting of senior members of the Punjab Cabinet Raja Basharat and Chaudhry Zaheeruddin to negotiate with the banned organisation.” Buzdar had written. “According to the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PUBH), we all need to work together for peace and harmony in the country,” he had said.