KARACHI: Hours after Karachi Police arrested Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Captain (r) Safdar Awan for slogan-mongering inside the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah a day earlier, Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Ali Zaidi refuted reports suggesting the abduction of Sindh police chief to coerce the police into nabbing Awan.
Captain Safdar arrested in Avari Hotel Karachi. Police van arrives in hotel drive way while Capt Safdar again chants “ووٹ کو عزت دو” pic.twitter.com/v9Fi3RqWyI
— Mansoor Ali Khan (@_Mansoor_Ali) October 19, 2020
In a tweet, the minister said: “[Maryam’s spokesperson] M. Zubair selling [the] nonsense narrative that CM Sindh told him IG was kidnapped & forced to register FIR. If this is true then CM Sindh must fire IG Sindh or resign himself as his orders were followed.”
The police arrested Awan early in the morning for breaking the protocol at the mausoleum which — according to Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance, 1971, governing the premises — is punishable by “imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or a fine, or both”.
The arrest was first made public by Safdar’s wife and PML-N Vice President Maryam who tweeted: “Police broke my room door at the hotel I was staying at in Karachi and arrested Capt. Safdar.”
Police broke my room door at the hotel I was staying at in Karachi and arrested Capt. Safdar.
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) October 19, 2020
However, Zaidi, who also hails from Karachi, immediately refuted the claim, saying the PML-N leader was “once again lying”.
“Video shows otherwise. Do [you] see any handcuffs? Does it look like he was arrested by force?” he tweeted.
Appreciate the quick action taken by IG Sindh against the the hooligans who disrespected Mazar-e-Quaid.
Law must take its course.
Maryum once again lying that the hotel door was broken. Video shows otherwise. Do u see any handcuffs? Does it look like he was arrested by force? pic.twitter.com/7DLHTiw2kA— Ali Haider Zaidi (@AliHZaidiPTI) October 19, 2020
Later in the day, journalist Hamid Mir claimed Sindh Rangers “kidnapped” Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar to “force” police to arrest Safdar. A short while after, another journalist, Murtaza Ali Shah, shared an audio clip, in which Zubair is purportedly heard confirming Mahar’s “kidnapping” by the Rangers.
Unfortunate incident.Sindh Govt informed PML-N leader Muhammad Zubair that IG Sindh was kidnapped by Rangers at 4 in the morning he was brought in sector commander’s office where addnl IG was already present and were forced to issue the orders for the arrest of Cpt Rtd Safdar
— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) October 19, 2020
“They arrested Mahar at 4:00 am in the morning […] this is what the chief minister has told me […] the word kidnap,” he said. “I asked him again. […] He [Shah] said yes, he was picked up and taken to the sector commander’s office where additional IG was also brought in and they were forced to issue orders [for Safdar’s arrest].”
Audio message carrying claim of @Real_MZubair confirms exactly what @HamidMirPAK tweeted about the arrest of #CaptainSafdar by Sindh Police #PDM pic.twitter.com/HNtZuEkTmr
— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) October 19, 2020
“They [Rangers] also accompanied the police [contingent] to the site of the arrest [the hotel] and told them [the police] to go inside [the hotel to arrest the suspect],” he added in the clip being attributed to him.
Zaidi, while terming the alleged claim as “nonsense narrative”, said the PPP government was trying to distance itself from the FIR and the subsequent arrest.
Safdar had arrived in Karachi yesterday as part of the PML-N caravan to participate in the second public gathering of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the 11-party anti-government alliance of major opposition parties including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
In another tweet, Maryam said she was asleep when the police arrived.
I was in the room, sleeping, when they barged in. https://t.co/1gMEHHUnPx
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) October 19, 2020
Safdar was shifted to Aziz Bhatti police station in the metropolis’ Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighbourhood.
The arrest comes after police booked Maryam, Awan and 200 others for violating the sanctity of the mausoleum. The complainant, Waqas Ahmed, alleged that the PML-N leaders, along with 200 of their followers, reached Jinnah’s grave where Awan jumped over the grill surrounding it.
He said that he tried to stop him from doing so but Safdar “got out of control” and started threatening him and his fellows that he would kill them. He added that Safdar later damaged government property before leaving the site with his followers.
“My complaint is that Safdar and his cohort violated the sanctity of the Quaid’s mausoleum and his grave. A case [should be] registered against him for raising political slogans inside the mausoleum complex, death threats against me, and for damaging government property.”
For God’s sake people come here to pay respect to the founding father. اللہ ہمارے حال پر رحم فرمائے pic.twitter.com/LJStWLFIs5
— Khawar Ghumman (@Ghummans) October 18, 2020
According to the FIR, a case has been registered on Section 6 (a convening of meetings or processions in the mausoleum), Section 8 (entry into the mausoleum with a weapon) and Section 10 (the penalty for contravention of provisions) of The Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance, 1971.
Responding to the move, PPP minister Saeed Ghani said that while Safdar’s behaviour at the mausoleum was inappropriate, the way his arrest was carried out was “condemnable”.
مزار قائد پر کیپٹن صفدر نے جو کچھ کیا وہ نامناسب تھا لیکن جس انداز میں کراچی پولیس نے گرفتاری کی ہے وہ قابل مذمت ہے۔کیپٹن صفدر کی گرفتاری سندھ حکومت کی ہدایات پر نہیں ہوئی ۔ پولیس کا یہ اقدام PDM کی جماعتوں میں خلیج پیدا کرنے کی سازش کا حصہ ہے جسے ہم ناکام بنائیں گے۔ https://t.co/jfaIBH10Eq
— Senator Saeed Ghani (@SaeedGhani1) October 19, 2020
He alleged this was being done to create a rift among PDM and claimed the provincial government had no role in the arrest.
Muhammad Zubair, Maryam’s spokesperson, while speaking to reporters in Karachi, claimed the arrest was a “sting operation by the state” and was carried out to damage the PDM alliance.
He said he had talked to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Ghani and would reveal the facts in front of the public soon.
“The easiest way for Imran Khan is to arrest [Safdar] so the entire blame will fall on Sindh government and police,” he said.
