No need for 'Karachi incident' inquiry, event clear as day: Maryam

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Saturday said that there is no need for an inquiry into the 'Karachi incident' and what happened was "clear as day".

However, she added that the Sindh government has the right to inquire about Capt (retd) Safdar's arrest. 

In a high drama, Safdar – the son-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif -- was arrested from the hotel room of his wife Maryam Nawaz in Karachi on Monday morning for allegedly disrespecting the mausoleum of the Founder of the Nation, only to be released by a court hours later.

Safdar, who was in Karachi along with his wife Maryam Nawaz to attend the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) rally, had allegedly chanted slogans at the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah when he paid a visit to the place on Sunday along with other party leaders ahead of the rally.

The PDM leaders had termed it an attempt by the federal government and its agencies, which “kidnapped the provincial police chief and forced him into signing the arrest order”.

Soon after the arrest, former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair – who is also the spokesperson of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz – appeared on some TV channels to claim that Sindh Inspector General Police (IGP) Mushtaq Mahar was coerced into arresting Safdar.

Addressing the media in Lahore before leaving for Quetta – where the third PDM rally is scheduled for Sunday – the daughter of the convicted former premier said: "Imran Khan is sitting in the PM House. You should care about your respect. After kidnapping the Sindh IG, you have been humiliated. You want to hide your mistakes, but it will not happen."

She further stated that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has spread across the country. "Imran Khan needs a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), not us."

Criticising the prime minister further, Maryam said: "a person of smaller stature has to take names of bigger people to increase his stature".

Maryam also said that while the government focuses on the opposition, inflation is rising in the country and basic food items such as sugar and flour are in short supply in the market. 

A day earlier, the PML-N leader said she never thought for a moment that Captain (retd) Safdar's arrest was carried out on the behest of the Sindh government.

The PML-N leader maintained that the police "did not have a warrant to raid a woman's room," adding that if it can happen to her, it can happen to any woman in the country. "According to Islam, even during a war, it is unacceptable to treat any woman like this."

The PML-N leader said she believes the PTI government is panicking and may leave before January.

The panic of the opponents has made it clear that the government is scared of Nawaz even though he is not in the country, Maryam had said.