A plea filed by the Quaid-e-Azam Mazar Management Board to register a case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice President leader Maryam Nawaz, her husband Capt Safdar Awan, and party workers over the alleged violation of the sanctity of Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum was rejected by a Karachi court on Tuesday
The decision was announced by judicial magistrate South in a hearing held in Karachi.
Back in March, a judicial magistrate in Karachi directed the Senior Superintendent of Police (Investigations) to investigate Maryam and her husband Safdar over the alleged violation of the sanctity of Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum last year.
The case, filed by the Quaid-e-Azam Mazar Management Board, states that Capt Safdar and his accomplices physically harmed the mausoleum.
Karachi court quashes FIR against PML-N’s Captain Safdar
In November last year, a judicial magistrate had quashed a different FIR filed against Safdar Awan after categorising the case as “C class”.
The police complaint had accused Awan, husband of PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law of former premier Nawaz Sharif, and a cohort of PML-N supporters to have violated the sanctity of Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum by chanting political slogans and intimidating people.
Safdar was arrested in October from the hotel after he was booked for violating the sanctity of the Mazar-e-Quaid. He was presented before a judicial magistrate in the afternoon where he was granted bail.
At the time, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, while addressing a news conference flanked by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, she said, “Mariyum Aurangzeb has just informed me that retired Captain Safdar has been released on bail.”
“Me and Captain Safdar will go from Karachi together,” she said after a lengthy press conference in which she bashed the federal government.
Speaking on the incident, Maryam said, “Safdar opened the door and police were standing outside who said we are here to arrest you. Safdar told them he’ll change and take his medicine, since he is diabetic, but they broke down the door and came inside.”
“Safdar asked them to not enter since I [his wife] was inside but they did and arrested him,” she added.
Safdar was earlier kept at the Aziz Bhatti Police Station before he was presented before the magistrate. Maryam had taken to Twitter after Safdar was arrested and tweeted that police had “broken” the door of the hotel room they were staying in to arrest her husband.
“Police broke my room door at the hotel I was staying at in Karachi and arrested Capt Safdar,” Maryam said via tweet.
The PML-N leader had been taken into custody after a case of violating of the sanctity of the Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazar. A day earlier he had chanted the slogan “vote ko izzat do (honour the vote)” and urged people to join him.
The case had been registered on Section 6, Section 8 and Section 10 of the Mazar’s protection and maintenance ordinance. Maryam defended her husband’s actions earlier.
“What is wrong with repeating Quaid-e-Azam’s stance at his mausoleum?” she asked, “What is wrong with Madar-i-Millat (mother of the nation) slogans? No one chanted slogans for Nawaz Sharif or me.”
While reacting to the development, Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar said on Twitter, “Mohtarma, Sindh police is under the complete and direct control of [Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari] (Your ally these days). Either the arrest of your husband was staged by you [and] your new ally as a publicity stunt or you’re working against each other STILL! Which one is it?”
In the aftermath of the arrest, Sindh Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Mahar, along with other police officials, had submitted a formal request for leave after the “stressful situation”, but a few days after the submission for leave, the police chief has deferred his leave and has asked his officers to do the same.
The police chief’s decision to defer his leave until the conclusion of the inquiry into Safdar’s arrest was taken “in the larger national interest”, and he has asked his officers to follow suit and hold off on their leaves for another 10 days, pending the conclusion of the inquiry.
Earlier, the IGP, at least two additional inspectors general, seven deputy inspectors general and six senior superintendents of Sindh police applied for leave in order to “come out of […] shock” caused by the “episode of registration of FIR against Capt (R) Safdar”.
“In such a stressful situation, it is quite difficult for me to discharge my duty in a professional manner,” the applications — all of which were identical — read.
They said that the handling of the First Information Report (FIR) had lead to the police force in Sindh being “humiliated and manhandled”. Furthermore, they mentioned that the ranks of the police force have been demoralised after this incident.
In a series of tweets, the Sindh Police said, “The unfortunate incident that occurred on the night of 18/19 October caused great heartache and resentment within all ranks of Sindh Police.”
“As a result, IG Sindh decided to proceed on leave and subsequently all ranks decided that they would also apply for leave to protest the humiliation meted out to Sindh police. This was a spontaneous and heartfelt reaction and made on an individual rather than a collective basis,” it said.
“because every single member of the department felt an acute sense of disrespect. Sindh police is immensely grateful to the Army Chief for realising the sense of hurt that prevailed within a uniformed force, and for promptly ordering an inquiry into the matter,” it added.
“which he has also assured will be impartial in order to restore the prestige of Sindh police. Sindh Police is also grateful to the chairman of the PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the honourable CM Sindh for coming to the IG House and showing solidarity with the police leadership,” it further said.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz commended the move. “I salute the Sindh Police!” she said in a tweet.
She also said that it was “heartening to see civilians breaking shackles of fear, standing up for supremacy of constitution & reclaiming their long lost rights. The conspiracy & conspirators stand badly exposed”.
The PML-N VP also attached a quote of the Quaid to encourage them to not “fall victim to any pressure”.
