Imran stopped from entering Qalandar shrine for being ‘sinful’: Sanaullah

The PTI chief, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and others were denied entry on Sunday

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that the caretakers at the shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar must have barred Imran Khan from entering the sacred place for being ‘impious’.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other party members were denied entry at the shrine when they arrived in the Sindh town for a political rally on Sunday.

Speaking about the incident, Qureshi had said the shrine’s doors had never been shut on anyone except them. “The provincial government has blown away the tradition of Sindh… how can it shut doors of the shrine on us?,” he said.

However, the PTI delegation was later allowed to enter and pray in the shrine.



Speaking to media representatives in Faisalabad on Monday, Sanaullah said the caretakers of the shrine in Sehwan Sharif must have heard the statements of Ayesha Gulalai and thought “this sinner would desecrate the sanctity of the mazar (shrine)” if allowed the entry.

Gulalai had accused the PTI chief and his ‘gang’ of sending lewd text messages to women workers, saying they were constantly harassed within the party.

Responding to a query, the Punjab law minister said the PTI chief has never been denied entry at Data Darbar – the shrine of Hazrat Ali Hajveri Data Ganj Bakhsh in Lahore – by the PML-N administration “so he can decrease his sins through sacredness of the shrine”.