Those who have watched India-Pakistan relations in recent decades and Pakistani politics in general will tend to agree Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has been a mercurial politician. Known for switching sides in Pakistan politics, Ahmad has often made headlines for alarmist statements on India.
It was no different on Wednesday as the Pakistan National Assembly met to discuss the fallout from the Narendra Modi government's decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir. Sheikh Rashid, who is the minister of railways in the Imran Khan government, “predicted” India can also attack “Azad Kashmir” (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).
“I can foresee a war on borders within three to six months,” Sheikh Rashid was quoted by The Daily Times newspaper as saying. Sheikh Rashid claimed the Modi government's action would “spur a new spirit of freedom in Kashmiris,” Radio Pakistan reported. He added “the freedom movement will not remain limited to Kashmir only. Rather, it would expand to UP...”
Sheikh Rashid even alleged India was following Israel's path and claimed the two nations were working to a plan. Sheikh Rashid also brought up the possibility of Chinese involvement in the issue. “I think the Pakistani Army chief will go to China now as there is also unrest in Ladakh, which is linked with China,” Sheikh Rashid was quoted by The Daily Times as saying.
Curiously, Sheikh Rashid claimed “240 million” Muslims in India were looking towards Pakistan. The minister even claimed any India-Pakistan war would not not involve nuclear weapons given the presence of 240 million Muslims in India. It is unclear from where Sheikh Rashid got the figure of 240 million Muslims in India. Given that the 2011 Census listed the number of Muslims in India at 172 million, a figure of 240 million is nearly impossible without an astronomical surge in population growth!
Sheikh Rashid, who had been a minister with Nawaz Sharif's government in the late 1990s, later became a supporter of dictator Pervez Musharraf. During the crisis following the Balakot air strike, Sheikh Rashid had declared an India-Pakistan war would be “the biggest after the Second World War…It will be final war”.
