Sheikh Rasheed announces to step down as MNA, advises Imran Khan to follow suit

At PAT-led rally, AML chief says rulers in Jati Umra will not leave on their own and should be forced out of power

In a not-so-surprising development during the high voltage power show of PAT-led opposition parties' rally on Wednesday, Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed announced to step down as National Assembly member.

The parties much-anticipated campaign kicked off in Model Town, Lahore, the place where 14 workers of PAT were killed while protesting against an encroachment operation outside the party's Minhaj-ul-Quran secretariat in June 2014.

PAT chief Tahirul Qadri demanded resignations of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, whom he deemed responsible for the Model Town carnage.



"I hereby announce to resign as a member of the National Assembly," Rasheed told supporters gathered in Model Town.

"While I hope Imran Khan becomes the prime minister of Pakistan, I urge him to resign from NA too, [ask his supporters to] bring batons and eliminate Jati Umra [the resident of the Sharif family].

"These [rulers] are stubborn and shameless and will not step down by just being told to do so," he explained.

He went on to say: "There's one Hasina Wajid in Nawaz Sharif's home too," adding, "Nawaz now sees Sheikh Mujibur Rehman as his leader and hero."

Leaders of other parties, including Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah, Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Mustafa Kamal and PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said they sought justice for the victims of the Model Town tragedy.