Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Saturday vowed that action would be initiated within 72 hours against anyone found using derogatory language against the Pakistan Army and state institutions.
Rashid’s said, while speaking to reporters in Rawalpindi, a day after Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the opposition’s movement would no longer be directed only at the government but also against it’s “backers”.
The interior minister said that the PDM has “accepted defeat” because of its decision to contest the upcoming by-elections.
He welcomed the development as “good news”, adding that no “political stage should be left vacant”. Rashid said he was vindicated since he maintained the PDM would contest the elections and now “there are no resignations […] they’re not boycotting the by-elections elections nor are they boycotting the Senate polls”.
Elaborating on the government’s response to the PDM’s long march, he said the government is ready to welcome them. He said the government does not plan to trouble anyone and will respond in kind to the PDM’s actions so “democracy, [the] Constitution and the law” are not besmirched.
Addressing the problems in acquiring visas, the interior minister said that people used to face corruption in acquiring Chinese and Afghan visas. To address the issue, Rashid said the facility of online visas would be introduced.
“Manual visas have been finished and 192 countries have been converted to [the system] of online visas,” said Rashid. He further mentioned that 200,000 online visa applications were registered in a day, adding that overseas Pakistanis can contact the interior ministry for complaints.
He also confirmed that the passport of PML-N supreme Nawaz Sharif would not be extended upon its expiry on Feb 16.
