4 years ago
Pakistan’s opposition leader Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, tweeted on Monday morning, saying police in Karachi have arrested her husband, Safdar Awan, from the hotel they were staying in.
The arrest came hours after Maryam, vice-president of the opposition PML-N Party, had taken part in a protest rally of the newly-formed joint opposition front Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in Karachi on Sunday, targeting the administration of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“Police broke my room door at the hotel I was staying at in Karachi and arrested Capt. Safdar,” Maryam tweeted. So far, no announcement has been made regarding Safdar’s arrest.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had hosted Sunday’s protest rally in Karachi.
It has emerged that police reportedly told Maryam that Safdar was being charged with “violating the sanctity of the mausoleum” of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi. It was also reported that police have reportedly booked over 200 persons, including Maryam, on the same charge.
The police action reportedly came after Khurram Sherzaman, a member of Imran Khan’s ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Party, had lodged complaints against Maryam and Safdar at a local police station in Karachi.
PTI leaders were reportedly angered by “slogans raised at the mausoleum” targeting Khan’s administration. Video clips circulating on social media apparently showed Safdar and several others chanting slogans from the inner circle of the mausoleum.
Political activities are banned inside the mausoleum and its immediate surroundings.
Earlier on Sunday, Maryum, her husband and PML-N supporters had visited the mausoleum to offer prayers ahead of the PDM’s rally that was held in Karachi’s Jinnah ground, located near the mausoleum.
