— Sanaullah vows to arrest former prime minister for ‘planning’ sloganeering
— Rasheed’s nephew arrested at airport, shifted to an undisclosed location
ISLAMABAD: Hours after Hamza Shehbaz took over as chief minister of Punjab on Saturday, the police booked Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, party’s senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry and Awami Muslim League (AML) president Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, among 150 people, on blasphemy charges over sloganeering against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation in Medina.
The first information report (FIR), lodged after midnight in Medina Town police station in Faisalabad, the home town of Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Khan, nominated some “100 to 150” for purportedly violating the sanctity of Masjid al-Nabawi, hurting the sentiments of Muslims around the globe, insulting Islamic and violating its code of conduct at one of the holiest places in the religion, and hurling abuses and chanting slogans of thieves and traitors.
بریکنگ نیوز :سابق وزیر اعظم اورچئیرمین پاکستان تحریک انصاف عمران خان @ImranKhanPTI
فواد چودھری @fawadchaudhry ، شیخ رشید ، شہباز گل @SHABAZGIL سمیت 150سے زائد افراد کے خلاف
Blasphemyکے الزامات کےتحت فیصل آباد میں مقدمہ درج کرلیا گیا ہے #EXCLUSIVE #BreakingNews #Blasphemy pic.twitter.com/1Qu6t3seav— Asad Kharal (@AsadKharal) April 30, 2022
Following the filing of the complaint, Sanaullah vowed to arrest Khan in the case.
Calling the former prime minister a fitna (mischief), Sanaullah, in a statement, said those who “planned” the sloganeering “will be taken to task”.
“Imran Khan will definitely be arrested,” he added.
The complaint comes days after hundreds of protesters loudly chanted slogans against Sharif and members of his delegation in the courtyard of the mosque.
Demonstrations are illegal in Saudi Arabia but videos emerging on social media platforms showed the crowd around the delegation, shouting “chor, chor (thief)” on Thursday.
In a separate video, Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb blamed the former prime minister, who has since distanced himself from the episode, for the protest. “I will not name this person on this holy land because I do not want to use this land for politics. But they have destroyed the (Pakistani) society,” the minister had claimed.
Following the incident, police in Medina arrested at least five Pakistan nationals for “abusing and insulting” Aurangzeb and Minister for Narcotics Control Shahzain Bugti.
The director of information at the Saudia Arabia embassy in Islamabad, who confirmed the arrests, said the individuals were arrested after they “violated” the rules of the mosque.
The FIR sparked nationwide condemnation, with rights activists, journalists and politicians from across the aisle lamenting the charges as “absurd” and “deplorable”.
The “FIR […] is beyond ridiculous”, tweeted Reema Omer, a lawyer and rights activist. “295-A is an oppressive law. Pakistan’s context makes its use even more problematic,” Omer said, referring to the clause of the constitution that mandates the death penalty for any “imputation, insinuation or innuendo” against Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.).
FIR against PTI leadership for hurting religious sentiment following the Masjid-e-Nabwi incident is beyond ridiculous
295-A is an oppressive law. Pakistan’s context makes its use even more problematic
PTI clearly has no red lines, but the Govt must not stoop to its level
— Reema Omer (@reema_omer) April 30, 2022
“Rana Sanaullah in action. He’s playing with the FIR. He will pay the price very soon,” warned Hassaan Niazi, another activist.
Blasphemy FIRs being registered in Faisalabad. Rana Sanaullah in action. He’s playing with the FIR. He will pay the price very soon. @MubashirMaken7 is the CPO faisalabad. Nation should know who is behind these dirty games #MarchAgainstImportedGovt
— Hassaan Niazi (@HniaziISF) April 30, 2022
Anchor Moeed Pirzada recalled Khan “is the first leader of the whole Muslim world that has raised the voice for “Namoos-e-Risalat” on the global stage [and] has successfully persuaded United Nations to declare March 15, Day to combat Islamophobia.”
“Who are the idiots who have registered this stupid FIR?”
Imran Khan is the first leader of the whole Muslim world that has raised the voice for “Namoos-e-Risalat” on the global stage & has successfully persuaded United Nations to declare March 15, Day to combat Islamophobia – who are the idiots who have registered this stupid FIR? https://t.co/dl5xMIyM50
— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) April 30, 2022
Former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari said she wasn’t surprised. “Clearly Crime Minister [and] his cabal of crooks [sic] brought in by US regime change conspiracy getting desperate [because] they have no legitimacy amongst [the] nation,” she said.
Not surprised to find dirty tricks shameless criminal Rana Sana get registered fake FIR for blasphemy against Imran Khan & others! Clearly CrimeMinister & his cabal of crooks brought in by US regime change conspiracy getting desperate bec they have no legitimacy amongst nation.
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) May 1, 2022
President of PTI Sindh chapter Ali Zaidi said the incident “clearly [showed] signs of frustration & nervousness”.
Shameful act of logging a fake FIR on @ImranKhanPTI & other leaders of @PTIofficial by an illegitimate, foreign funded, selected, corrupt govt!
Clearly showing signs of frustration & nervousness!#MarchAgainstImportedGovt #CrimeMinisterShahbazSharif #امپورٹڈ_حکومت_نامنظور pic.twitter.com/s70tMM9812— Ali Haider Zaidi (@AliHZaidiPTI) April 30, 2022
“Don’t sacrifice religion to hateful domestic politics. Whatever happened in Medina was wrong and the cases registered against PTI today are also wrong,” said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.
بلاشبہ روزہ رسول (ص) پر اہل وطن کو حرمتِ روزہ کو ملحوظِ خاطر رکھنا چاہئے تھا۔ روزہ رسول (ص) پر حاضری کے آداب ہیں جن کو پامال کیا گیا۔
خدارا دین کو نفرت انگیز داخلی سیاست کی بھینٹ نہ چڑھائیں۔ جو مدینہ شریف میں ہوا غلط تھا اور جو آج پی ٹی آئ پر مقدمات درج ہوے ، وہ بھی غلط ہیں۔
— Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar (@Mustafa_PPP) April 30, 2022
AHMAD’S NEPHEW ARRESTED
Meanwhile, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Sheikh Rashid Shafique, PTI MP and Ahmed’s nephew, from the Islamabad International Airport on his arrival from Saudi Arabia in the wee hours of Sunday.
Apparently, the arrest was made in connection with the incident.
People familiar with the episode said that Shafique travelled to Islamabad through a private airline.
Ahmed, who condemned the arrest, confirmed his nephew’s detention, saying that he had just landed in Pakistan after performing the pilgrimage when he was arrested.
“None of us were in Saudi Arabia, but cases are being registered [against us]. Residences are being raided after the registration of the cases,” Ahmad said.
It has been reported that Shafique has been shifted to an FIA cell.
Meanwhile, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and former federal minister Moonis Elahi on Sunday strongly condemned the filing of an FIR against deposed prime minister Imran Khan and termed the move by the “fascist” incumbent government obnoxious.
Earlier today, an FIR was lodged in Faisalabad against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman and other top leaders of the party after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and federal ministers were heckled and ridiculed at Masjid-e-Nabwi by some Pakistani pilgrims.
Elahi and his son Moonis, who both are leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), said Sharif brothers had not learned any lesson from history to refrain from their actions.
Commenting on the incident that took place in Medina, Elahi asked about what Imran Khan had to do with the desecration?
“The whole nation knows that on the night of the unfortunate incident, Imran Khan and his workers were engaged in Shab-e-Dua (night of prayers).”
The party’s leaders termed the registration of cases against Imran and his associates under the “guise of this incident” by the imported government as reprehensible.
Elahi maintained that the whole Muslim world paid homage to the resolution passed by the former premier against Islamophobia in the United Nations.
Al-Jazeera, he claimed, the most reputable channel in the Arab world, had named Imran as the most beloved person in the Muslim world for his services for the protection of sanctity of the Prophet (PBUH).
Speaking on the occasion, Moonis also accused the Sharif brothers of resorting to politics of revenge as a way of their life. He quoted the former PM as saying he could not even imagine giving instructions contrary to the sanctity of the mosque.
“Trying to implicate Imran Khan in the incident is proof of the insanity of Shehbaz Sharif and his imported government,” he added.
He added that the former premier had emerged as a global voice for the finality of the Prophethood (PBUH).
“For the first time, a Muslim ruler demanded from Western governments that the perpetrators of blasphemy should be punished,” he concluded.
