PTI distances itself from Madina incident

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said on Friday none of its workers were involved in the rowdy scenes witness at Masjid-e-Nabavi (PBUH), but stressed that the reaction the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s entourage faced there was actually the public anger towards the present government.

Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry and former interior minister Sheikh Rashid said that the current rulers would face the ire of the Pakistani community anywhere they would go because they were imported, selected and thieves.

“The response to the ‘crime minister’ in Masjid Nabavi (PBUH) should not have come at such holy places,” Fawad Chaudhry, a senior PTI leader told a press conference in the federal capital. “No PTI worker was involved in the incident,” he added.

Read more: Police action sought against Rashid for ‘inciting hooliganism’ in Madina

Chaudhry said that former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan never alighted from the plane, wearing shoes, while arriving in the holy city of Madina, adding that Imran Khan's leadership role in the Muslim Ummah is in front of everyone.

He warned the current government, saying that wherever would they go, people would show hatred towards them, calling the prime minister as “crime minister” he added that Shehbaz Sharif and his minister would face the same reaction from the Pakistani community even in London and Paris.

“What happened at Roza-e-Rasool (PBUH) yesterday were the sentiments of the Pakistani Muslims. These were all Umrah pilgrims who had gone there,” said Sheikh Rashid in a separate statement. “They were not hundreds but in thousands,” he added.

“Wherever the current prime minister goes, he will face the hatred of the Pakistanis, because to the Pakistanis, the present rulers are not only imported, selected and thieves but have also become a symbol of hate for the Pakistanis,” Rashid added.

Also read: Pakistani protesters arrested for ‘raising slogans’ at Masjid-e-Nabwi

Chaudhry stressed that religion should not be used in politics, and asked the people to refrain from reacting at such places. Referring to an attack on former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri, he said that the attacked pre-planned and courts should take notice of this matter.

‘CEC’s conduct’

Chaudhry said that because of the [anti-PTI] conduct of the Chief Election Commission SIkandar Sultan Raja, PTI Chairman Imran Khan mocked him by saying that he should take a post in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

“Our MNAs were convicted and jailed over the attack on the Sindh House but the Ansar-ul-Islam [the staunch supporters of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) attacked the Parliament lodges, the went without any punishment.

“Such decisions will increase division in the country. Instead of creating division, the society should be united. At present, the solution to end the division in Pakistan's society is the resignation of the chief election commissioner,” he demanded.

“The new chief election commissioner should be appointed and immediate elections should be held,” the former minister said. He also urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to club the cases of all the political parties.

About Imran Khan’s announcement of a march on the federal capital, Chaudhry said that 2 million people would converge on Islamabad. “How many people will the government arrest? This scared government cannot last long,” he added.