LAHORE
\nFormer interior minister and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed stated Monday even if he faces arrest one more time, he will not be discouraged from contesting next general elections.
\nSheikh Rashid Ahmed, a PTI ally, had been arrested from his Rawalpindi residence by plainclothesmen on Sept 17. He only resurfaced on October 22 in a televised interview maintaining that he had gone on a \u201cchilla\u201d (pilgrimage).
\nInteracting with media in Lahore today, the former interior minister said during the time he had gone missing, he had been treated appropriately and had not been harmed. \u201cThey transformed me into a new Sheikh Rashid,\u201d he said of his captors.
\nRashid said he could not tell the cold place he had been kept in, and maintained that \u201ceven for Tahajud, he had been offered warm water.\u201d The former minister reiterated that \u201cwe have never fought the armed forces\u201d.
\nThe AML chief reiterated that he would contest next elections against the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) even if he faced arrest again. Earlier in the day, the Lahore High Court ordered desealing of Sheikh Rashid\u2019s Lal Haveli (in Rawalpindi).
\nJustice Mirza Waqas Rauf conducted the hearing of the case. Rashid was present in the court along with his counsels Abdul Razzaq and Sardar Shehbaz. The court ordered the authorities to immediately unseal Lal Haveli. The court also declared the decision to revoke the ownership deed of Lal Haveli null and void.
\nThe court, while remanding the decision of the Evacuee Trust Property Board chairman, issued directions to the Board to hear the Lal Haveli case afresh. The court said Rashid and his brother Sheikh Siddique\u2019s pleas should be heard again and the complainants should be given a fair chance to present their stance in the best interest of justice.
\nThe court remarked that in India a law to the effect had been passed and the issue related to trust properties had been settled once and for all. However, in Pakistan, departments were not complying with laws and became active on their own will, he lamented.
\nThe AML head had filed a petition in the LHC Rawalpindi bench, requesting the court to declare the decision of sealing Lal Haveli null and void.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LAHORE Former interior minister and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed stated Monday even if he faces arrest one more time, he will not be discouraged from contesting next general elections. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a PTI ally, had been arrested from his Rawalpindi residence by plainclothesmen on Sept 17. He only resurfaced on October […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[820],"class_list":{"0":"post-365031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-sheikh-rashid"},"yoast_head":"\n