After Maryam Nawaz Sharif's Anti-Government Speech, Husband Safdar Awan Arrested

A senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s husband (Safdar Awan ) was arrested by Karachi Police on Monday, October 19, 2020. Sharif took to Twitter to disclose the news adding that he was arrested from a hotel in Karachi where the couple was staying. The police action is reportedly aftermath of Nawaz’s fiery speech at a protest rally slamming the current government led by Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan.

“Police broke my room door at the hotel I was staying at in Karachi and arrested Capt. Safdar,” tweeted Sharif, who is also the daughter of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif. The arrest happened hours after Sarif participated in an anti-government protest rally of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Pakistan People’s Party in Karachi on Sunday.

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

As per a report by ANI, citing the reason behind the arrest, the police told Sharif that Awan is charged for violating the sanctity of the mausoleum. Not only him, but around 200 people have been booked for the same charges including Sharif herself.

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It is also being said that the current ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) representatives have lodged an FIR at Brigade police station against Sharif, Awan and 200 other people who joined the rally. They have been accused of violating the "sanctity of Quaid's Mazar (mausoleum) Under Quaid-e-Azam's Mazar Protection and Maintenance ordinance 1971".

What Happened At The Rally?

The rally was held in a garden near the mausoleum. Sharif, Awan and other PML-N party supporters first gathered at the mausoleum to offer prayers. Later, Awan began chanting slogans of “vote ko izzat do” (honour the vote) which the ruling party considered as a disrespect to the mausoleum.

Sharif’s speech which seems to have fanned the agitation of the ruling party further slammed PM Imran Khan for many aspects of his governance. She accused him of blaming and tarnishing the image of the army to hide the government's failure. She said, “When you are pressed for answers, you hide behind the armed forces. You coward! You bring the army into disrepute. You use them to hide your own failures. Who gave you this right?” Furthermore, Sharif accused Imran of threatening the opposition party.

She also called him out for the failure of his party’s 126-day-sit-in and praised Nawaz Sharif’s governance for its efficiency. She said, “If you don’t know how to show grace and have no one to teach you, you should've learned from Nawaz Sharif.,” Sharif has reportedly pledged to bring her father Nawaz Sharif’s government back into power and also to send Khan to jail.

“Yesterday, you must have seen on your TV screens a man screaming his defeat. You tell people ‘ghabrana nai hai’, there has only been one jalsa yet and you are worrying already. Your fear was apparent from every word, every action of yours, and people want to see this fear on your face,” she said.

Apart from Sharif, other people who spoke at the anti-government rally are Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chairman Mehmood Achakzai among others.

Picture Credit: Daily Times.

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