Afridi says ‘will not accept any do more demands’

Pakistan has already done a lot: state minister

ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: A day after US President Donald Trump fired off a fresh tirade at Pakistan, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi said this is the new Pakistan and “we will not accept any do more demands”.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump said, "They [Pakistan] don't do a damn thing for us" even though Washington has given Islamabad billions of dollars in aid.

“Pakistan has already done a lot and we have told the world that we shall operate on the basis of equality in the new Pakistan,” said the state minister while addressing a ceremony held in honour of the newly-elected office-bearers of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Westridge in Rawalpindi on Monday.

“For 71 years, questions have been raised over the security of Pakistan,” said Afridi, adding that problems from Karachi to Khyber had piled up, but there was no need to worry as the government and institutions were on the same page and would take the people into confidence before making any move.

He said according to the 100-day plan, one had to work day and night on the 35 points of governance. “Our Prime Minister Imran Khan has not taken a single holiday [after becoming the prime minister],” he added.

He said the former prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) used to promote his brothers and sons, but “now this will not happen”.



“When people in power give importance to personal interests, tremendous difficulties are created in the lives of the public,” he said. “We cannot allow anyone to create a state within a state in the name of religion as the state is responsible for safeguarding the life and property of every Pakistani.”

On Superintendent of Police Tahir Dawar’s abduction from Islamabad and subsequent murder in Afghanistan, the minister vowed to arrest the culprits.

Over security issues, Afridi advised all of the businessmen to remain in constant contact with the Ministry of Interior, saying, “We will provide protection”.

He said that he wanted to tell all the forces on the battlefields that the state stands with them.

He said, “Crime is committed everywhere in the world, but no one reports it because they want their country to be respected.”

He thanked the overseas Pakistanis for improving the image of Pakistan.