No power for Fazl even if all other aspirants perish: Sh Rashid.

LAHORE -- JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will not come to power even if all other aspirants perish, said Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed here yesterday. The minister made the prediction at a news conference at the railways headquarters, at a time when efforts are being made for a dialogue between the government and the opposition.

A day before the JUI-F chief had met PML-N leader Mian Shehbaz Sharif and others in Lahore. The government has also set up a committee of senior leaders to hold talks with the opposition which is bent upon ousting the PTI-led government as a result of a protest campaign scheduled to begin on Oct 27. The Maulana says talks are not possible unless the prime minister resigns, a precondition rejected by the ruling party.

The railways minister said the very elements the JUI-F chief was working for were likely to vanish. He recalled that whenever Ulema launched a movement, it led to the imposition of martial law. Sheikh Rashid said the situation was hazy at present. 'Maybe, some way out of the situation is found,' he said.

'The JUI-F's 'sit-in is still in the grey list,' he said while commenting on the preparations being made by the Maulana. The Maulana will start his long march on October 27 from Sukkur. Protesters from various parts of the country will converge on Islamabad on Oct 31, the day the leaders will make public their future plan. The railways minister was of the view that the JUI-F chief could be given a face-saver. 'Maulana Sahib has always asked Americans to bring him to power and promised them to make things better in Waziristan. He thinks that the power is given by the US.'

He warned that the government could arrest 400 to 600 people if the protest turns violent. Sheikh Rashid vehemently criticised the JUI-F chief for roping in the seminary students in anti-government protest. The move will send a very negative signal to the world that seminaries in the country are preparing terrorists. 'Even India is now giving coverage to Maulana Fazlur Rehman instead of occupied Jammu and Kashmir,' he said.

Ruling out the possibility of any threat to the democratic system, he said PM Khan and the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa were two wheels of the same vehicle.

About opposition's demand for the prime minister's resignation, the minister said it was out of question. 'These leaders,' he said, 'are actually seeking NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance] from Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is not ready...