Sheikh Rashid stopped from traveling abroad despite LHC’s orders

ISLAMABAD: Former federal minister and Awami Muslim League Pakistan (AMLP) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was stopped at Islamabad International Airport from traveling abroad on Wednesday despite the Lahore High Court’s permission.

According to the details, the veteran politician was stopped from departing for Saudi Arabia for Umrah.

Earlier last month, the LHC’s Rawalpindi Bench removed Sheikh Rashid’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL) after he was included for involvement in the May 9 cases. The court directed the relevant authorities to allow him to travel.

However, in a video message today, Rashid claimed that he was stopped from going to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, although the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court, headed by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan, had permitted me.

He said, “The court had ordered that all the relevant authorities, who were present at the hearing, implement this decision, but I was stopped at the airport.”

Sheikh Rasheed alleged that two officers posted at the airport told him that he could not go and refused to obey the court order.

The politician said that he would file a contempt of court petition against the airport authorities in the court, adding that “in a country where even the order of the High Court has no validity, only God can help there.”

The court’s order dated October 30 said that “the name of the petitioner [Sheikh Rasheed] has been removed from the ECL with the consent of the concerned authorities.”

The court further said that the Anti-Terrorism Court Rawalpindi had issued a general order under Section 28-A of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 to seize the passports of those involved in the cases; however, at present, the concerned authorities have no objection to the petitioner going to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.

It may be recalled that in January 2024, Sheikh Rashid was arrested in the May 9 incidents case after his bail was rejected by the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court.

Earlier in 2023, Rashid was detained by the Punjab Police when violent protests broke out across the country after PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court on May 9.