From Abid Usman
LAHORE: Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid on Saturday said clearly said that there exists no minus one formula but warned that there would be “minus three” in case of any minus one.
Addressing a press conference here, Sheikh Rashid said the opposition was incompetent and could not harm Prime Minister Imran Khan, adding that the people should pay attention to his earlier repeated assertion that Shehbaz Sharif and he had the same party. He said the PML-Q would never join the hands with the PML-N but asked the ruling party members should not wash their dirty linen on TV [in public]. “I can only request them, I have no power to force them,” remarked the federal minister. “It’s our responsibility to deliver,” said Sheikh Rashid while responding to various questions posed by journalists about the current political situation and the future prospects. He also announced that there would be no increase in Pakistan Railways fares and added that the Farooqabad accident was a result of the coaster driver’s negligence.
The level crossing was closed at that time, he added.
At least 20 people were killed and 10 injured when a coaster carrying Sikh pilgrims collided with a train in Sheikhupura on Friday. The ill-fated vehicle was going to Peshawar from Nankana Sahib to Peshawar when it collided with Shah Alam Express on Jaatri Road near Farooqabad.
Later, a PML-N lawmaker called for registering a case against Sheikh Rashid for the deadly Farooqabad accident as she submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly, Hina Pervaiz Butt also demanded Sheikh Rashid’s immediate resignation, saying the Pakistan Railways officials and he were responsible for the tragedy. Butt said the minister had turned Railways into a political stage as she also asked the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the incident.
Meanwhile, Hina isn’t alone in expressing her anger, as JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said train accidents had become a routine because of the incompetent govt and its incompetent ministers. Similarly, Maulana Asad Mehmood JUI-F’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly said someone must remind the PTI govt and the ministers that they used to say before the elections that the sitting govt was responsible for any accident.
