Awami Muslim League (AML) president Sheikh Rashid said on Monday that he was “treated properly and no harm was inflicted” upon him during the period he was AWOL, and he vowed to run in the upcoming elections even if he was “arrested again.”
Rashid, a PTI ally, was allegedly taken into custody on September 17 from his Rawalpindi home by “plainclothes” men. After a month, he made a comeback in an interview with Samaa TV.
The AML chief said in the interview that he was on a “40-day pilgrimage (chilla)” during which he thoroughly read and reflected on the Holy Quran.
“They turned me into a new Sheikh Rashid,” Rashid stated in a statement to the media in Lahore today. They would give me warm water even for Tahajud.
“I went on a trip that turned me into a new Sheikh Rashid from September 17 to October 22. I have no idea where I was kept so chilly,” he continued.
“We have never fought the army,” the former minister continued.
“You picked up Imran, Shakir, Qamar, Bilal, and my cook, Haneef. They are all workers making Rs 30,000 a year,” he remarked.
The AML chairman reiterated that he would run against the Pakistan Democratic Movement in the polls even if he was detained once more and said that he needed God’s assistance.
Rashid’s Lal Haveli home has to be opened, according to an order issued earlier today by the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Rashid’s public secretariat and political office is called Lal Haveli. Dhan Raj Sehgal constructed it more than a century ago for Budhan Bai, a Muslim “dancing girl” from Sialkot. But when Rashid entered legislative politics in 1980, it was transformed into a political centre.
On September 21, Lal Haveli was sealed by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) following the cancellation of the building’s registration by the board chairman.
The ownership dispute arose last year when the ETPB asserted that the ownership records of one of the seven apartments in Lal Haveli were “fake.” According to the report, Rashid only possessed five marlas in the upper part of Lal Haveli, which has a total area of more than sixteen marlas.
After the ETPB action, Sheikh Sadique, the brother of the AML chief, filed a second plea with the Rawalpindi bench of the LHC, asking that Lal Haveli be de-sealed and that the ETPB be prohibited from taking possession of the property or interfering with it in any way until the petition’s final resolution.
Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf stated during today’s hearing that the applicant ought to have ample time to explain his case. Rashid and his sibling Sadique had asked the court to reconsider considering the motion.
The judge declared, “In India, a law has been passed which resolves the issue of evicting properties forever.” “Our departments operate outside of the law here.”
The ETPB was then instructed by the court to reopen the case and to de-seal Lal Haveli.
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