Govt seeks action after Pak ministers heckled in Madinah
The government has decided to request the authorities in Saudi Arabia to initiate action against those people who raised slogans at Masjid-e-nabvi, Madinah, and misbehaved with Pakistani ministers during Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s visit.
Addressing a joint news conference with Adviser to PM on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the government will request Saudi Arabia to take action against those who raised slogans at Masjid-e-nabvi.
Sanullah said the interior ministry has sought advice from the law ministry about taking legal action against the culprits.
“My ministry is going to make a humble request to the Saudi government to take appropriate action in this regard so that such behaviour is controlled. We will also apprise them that the whole nation passed through a stressful period when they came to know what happened at the holy mosque.”
He added that the government will also request the kingdom to identify the culprits through CCTV footage and share details with
Interior minister says govt has decided to request Saudi authorities to initiate action against the culprits; Pakistani pilgrims arrested for raising slogans at Masjid-e-nabwi, says report
the government so that action is taken against them. “They should be sent back, they should not be allowed to stay there in Madina, they don’t deserve to be at holy places as it could spark religious disharmony,” said Sanaullah.
Several Pakistani pilgrims heckled federal ministers Marriyum Aurangzeb and Shahzain Bugti in Madina.
In a viral video, a group of men who encircled the federal ministers, while they were being escorted inside the mosque, also used profanities against them.
Talking about the unprecedented incident, Aurangzeb said that the PML-N has instructed not to engage with the group, adding that she was praying for the guidance of the group.
She has condemned the incident of passing derogatory remarks against Shahbaz Sharif, who is in Saudi Arabia, and his delegation by the group at Roza-e-rasool adding that holy lands should not be used for political gains.
Terming such incidents as “destruction for society,” she said PML-N supporters were also there but they were instructed not to adopt such an atitude. The information minister regreted that there was a group which is maintaining such hateful traditions.
Talking about Shahbaz’s visit to Saudi Arabia, she said it will help strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries which will begin a new era of cooperation and strategic partnership between Islamabad and Riyadh.
Some pilgrims who hounded and chanted slogans against Shahbaz Sharif and his delegation in Madina have been arrested by Saudi authorities, the media director of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Islamabad confirmed on Friday, local media reported.
The official said that the protesters have been taken into custody for “violating the regulations” and “disrespecting” the sanctity of the holy mosque.
Separately, former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri has approached police, seeking action against a group of unidentified men who he said atacked him and his companions while they were having Sehri at an eatery in Islamabad’s Kohsar market early on Friday morning.
Videos that have surfaced on social media show that Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) Senator Ejaz Chaudhry was present at the restaurant at the time of the incident. In one of the videos, he is seen siting beside Suri and rising from his chair as soon as the men raising slogans of “PTI murdabad” entered the eatery. The unidentified men are then seen atacking Suri and Senator Chaudhry.
Suri has writen an application to the Kohsar station house officer, detailing the incident and asking for justice.
In the hand-written application, Suri told police that he was visiting an eatery for Sehri in Kohsar market, where “Adeel Mirza and Khalid Bhatti were sitting at one of the tables with me, and Dr Arif and ladies were sitting at another table.”
He said a group of 15 to 20 men arrived at the spot around 12:50am and began shouting slogans against the PTI. Suri alleged the men atacked him and his companions with rods, claiming that they meant to kill them.