All civil servants should refuse to follow ‘illegal orders’: Bilawal's spokesperson

Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar quotes Quaid-i-Azam’s advice given in his address to civil servants in April 1948

Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has suggested that all civil servants should refuse to follow "illegal orders" and practise the example set by the Sindh Police after its IGP and other top officers decided to go on a “protest” leave for being forced to order the arrest of PML-N leader Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar and then deferred their decision following the army chief's order of an inquiry into the matter.

"All civil servants from now on should refuse to follow illegal orders and follow the example set by #SindhPolice and adhere to Jinnah’s advice given in his address to civil servants in Peshawar in April, 1948," wrote Khokhar, the spokesman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, on his official Twitter handle on Tuesday.

“If you want to raise the prestige and greatness of Pakistan you must not fall victim to any pressure but do your duty as servants of the people and the state, fearlessly and honestly,” he quoted Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in another tweet.

Karachi incident

On Monday, the Sindh Police had arrested former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s son-in-law Captain Safdar from his hotel room in Karachi.

The arrest came in response to a case filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf local MPAs against Maryam Nawaz, Capt Safdar and other PML-N leaders for violating the sanctity of the Quaid's mausoleum.

However, he was released hours after a local court in the metropolis approved his bail.

Sindh former governor Muhammad Zubair – who is also the spokesperson of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz – appeared on some TV channels to claim that Sindh police chief Mushtaq Mahar was coerced into arresting Safdar.

Referring to his conversation with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Zubair had said: “Inspector General Police (IGP) Sindh Mushtaq Mahar was kidnapped by Rangers at 4 in the morning and brought to the sector commander office where he was forced to issue the orders for the arrest.”

Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Bilawal had claimed that top officials of Sindh police had decided to go on leave after they felt humiliated for being pressurised by “other side” to register a case against the PML-N leader.

He also lamented that the manner in which Capt Safdar was arrested was “so shameful and condemnable”, saying “he was unable to show his face for what happened with his guests in his province”.

Later, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa directed Karachi Corps Commander to probe into the circumstances which led to the arrest of Safdar.

General Qamar also telephoned Bilawal and discussed the Karachi incident, a statement issued by the PPP spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“The Chairman PPP expressed his appreciation to the COAS for taking prompt notice of the Karachi incident and his assurance of conducting a transparent inquiry on the incident,” the PPP Media Cell tweeted.

After the COAS took notice of the incident, IG Mushtaq Mahar deferred his own leave and ordered his officers to set aside their leave applications for 10 days, pending the conclusion of the inquiry into the arrest.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Sindh police thanked army chief Gen Qamar for “realising the sense of hurt that prevailed within a uniformed force, and for promptly ordering an inquiry into the matter, which he has also assured will be impartial in order to restore the prestige of the Sindh police”.