PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz tweeted early Monday morning that her husband retired Captain Mohammad Safdar had been arrested by the police from their hotel in Karachi.
"Police broke my room door at the hotel I was staying at in Karachi and arrested Capt Safdar," Maryam said via tweet.
According to Maryam, she was sleeping when the police allegedly "barged in".
PTI minister Ali Zaidi, however, refuted her claim, saying "Maryam [is] once again lying that the hotel door was broken."
Safdar has been arrested a day after he raised slogans at the Quaid's mausoleum before the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) second power show at Bagh-i-Jinnah.
Police are yet to confirm or comment on the arrest.
The arrest comes after a first information report (FIR) was registered against Maryam, Safdar and 200 others for violating the sanctity of the Quaid's mausoleum. The complainant, Waqas Ahmed, alleged that the PML-N leaders, along with 200 of their followers, reached the Quaid's grave where Safdar jumped over the grill surrounding it.
The complainant 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."
According to the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, a case has been registered on Section 6 (convening of meetings or processions in the mausoleum), Section 8 (entry into mausoleum with weapon) and Section 10 (penalty for contravention of provisions) of The Quaid-i-Azam’s Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance, 1971.
PPP minister Saeed Ghani said that while Captain Safdar's behaviour was inappropriate, the way his arrest was carried out was condemnable.
He alleged this was being done to create a rift among PDM and that Sindh government had no role in the arrest.
PPP MPA Sharmila Farooqi said "sloganeering inside Mazar-e-Quaid is inappropriate, but breaking doors & arresting Captain Safdar in this manner is also unacceptable".
"Sindh government is not a party to this. Clearly a blatant attempt to sabotage the solidarity of PDM and defame Sindh government," she added.
'Action must be taken against hooligans'
Minister for Federal Education Shafqat Mehmood said he was "glad Sindh Police has enforced the law and arrested Capt Safdar".
"He committed a crime at the Mazar-e-Quaid yesterday and law must take its course."
Minster for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said the arrest was in accordance with the law, adding that the Quaid's mausoleum "was not a playground for lowly politicians".
Meanwhile, Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi warned the Sindh chief secretary and Sindh Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Mahar that action must be taken against the "hooligans who created ruckus" at the Quaid's mausoleum.
"If they are allowed to leave Karachi, you will be directly held responsible for letting them escape. You will be considered as aiders and abettors in the crime," he said in a tweet.
In a video shared by PTI, he said that it was "not acceptable", warning the opposition to "behave themselves". "Nobody will tolerate this hooliganism at Jinnah's mausoleum," he said.
In a separate tweet, the party's Karachi chapter said the PTI members of the provincial assembly had managed to get an FIR registered after "10 hours of continuous efforts".
What happened?
A day earlier, Maryam along with the senior leadership and a large number of workers went inside the hallway in Quaid's mausoleum to offer fateha and lay a floral wreath. As per the tradition, a qari recited verses from the Holy Quran and Maryam and a few others offered fateha inside the grilled premises.
As soon as the fateha ended, PML-N workers who were standing outside that iron grill in the same hall, shouted slogans in favour of Maryam. Capt Safdar signalled them, apparently to stop them from raising that particular slogan at the grave of Quaid-i-Azam, and started chanting vote ko izzat do slogan that too was against the protocol of the mausoleum.
While Maryam and other leadership stayed silent, Safdar kept on chanting another slogan, ‘long live mother of the nation’, and the crowd responded in an emotional manner. The scene lasted a couple of minutes and Maryam along with others left the premises.
Many social media users also considered the incident as disrespectful and vented their anger against Safdar, Maryam and the PML-N.
PTI central leader and Federal Minister Ali Zaidi had tweeted a video of Capt Safdar shouting slogans and wrote: “This is just not acceptable. The sanctity of Quaid’s Mazar disrespected by these criminals masquerading as politicians.”
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar also tweeted the video and, in a strongly worded statement, demanded the PML-N to apologise to the nation for “disrespecting the sanctity of the Quaid’s mausoleum”.
Later in the evening, senior PTI leader Haleem Adil Shaikh reached Brigade police station to lodge an FIR against the PML-N leadership for violating the sanctity of the Quaid’s mausoleum.
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