Published 09:21 IST, October 21st 2020
Imran's cops clueless on who arrested Maryam Nawaz's husband; Army boss Bajwa orders probe
Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the events involving the arrest and release of Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar Awan
Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the events involving the arrest and release of deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law and PML-N leader Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar Awan from his hotel room in Karachi.
Pakistan army chief orders probe into arrest of Sardar Awan
Citing the statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan's Dawn reported that Bajwa on Tuesday has directed the Karachi Corps Commander to "immediately inquire into the circumstances to determine the facts and report back as soon as possible". The statement came minutes after Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari asked General Bajwa and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to probe into the circumstances that led to the incident.
Safdar, a retired Pakistan Army officer, and his wife, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, were in the city to attend a rally of the opposition's Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) when he was arrested from their hotel for allegedly disrespecting the mausoleum of the country's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He was subsequently released on bail. Police allegedly forcibly entered their room in the hotel after breaking the latch of the door.
"Police broke my room door at the hotel I was staying at in Karachi and arrested Capt. Safdar," Maryam tweeted early Monday. The incident left the provincial government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) red-faced as the couple was their guest in Karachi where the PPP chief and Maryam had jointly addressed a political gathering against the government on Sunday night.
Sindh Police protests over Safdar Awan's arrest
Dawn quoted Bilawal as saying at a press conference in Karachi, all top officers of Sindh Police were wondering "who were the people who surrounded" the Sindh police chief's house in the early hours of Monday and took him to an unspecified location before Safdar was arrested. Condemning the arrest, the PPP leader said that the manner of arrest of Safdar was "wrong" and could scar the Army's "institutional integrity".
Meanwhile, at least 13 top-ranking officers of the Sindh Police decided to go on leave to protest the manner in which the force had been "ridiculed" in the incident involving the arrest of Safdar. The senior officers have said they want to go on earned leave "to come out of the shock of the unfortunate incident."
"The recent episode of registration of FIR against Capt (R) Safdar in which police high command has not only been ridiculed and mishandled but all ranks of Sindh police have been demoralised and shocked. "In such stressful situations it is quite difficult for me to discharge my duty in a professional manner," the letters by the officers read.
However, IG Sindh decided to defer his own leave and ordered his officers to set aside their leave applications for ten days in the "larger national interest", pending the conclusion of the inquiry.
Maryam also tweeted saying, "It's 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."
Pakistani media reported PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif as saying that the events that unfolded in Karachi were "clear proof of our narrative that there is 'a state above the state'". "You made a mockery of the elected provincial government's powers...brought a bad name to the Pakistan Army", he said while not naming anyone.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government appears to be panicked as it has been registering a number of cases against the PML-N workers since the PDM launched its movement to oust the Imran Khan government.
(With agency inputs)
Updated 09:21 IST, October 21st 2020