File Photo. Asif Hassan—AFP
At least five Pakistani nationals have been arrested in Saudi Arabia for “abusing and insulting” Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb and Minister for Narcotics Control Shahzain Bugti when they were entering the Masjid-e-Nabwi in Madinah on Thursday.
According to a report published in the state-run Saudi Gazette, a spokesperson of the Madinah Police said the suspects had been “referred to the competent authorities after legal procedures were completed against them.” They said the actions of the accused violated the sanctity of the holy site and impacted the “safety of visitors and worshippers.”
On Thursday, videos of some protesters, suspected to be supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, went viral on social media. In the clips, the protesters can be seen violating the sanctity of the Masjid-e-Nabwi in Madinah by chanting slogans against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation, who are currently on a three-day tour of the Gulf kingdom. The worst of the abuse was directed toward Aurangzeb. When Bugti attempted to protect her, some of the protesters directed their ire at him, with one even pulling his hair.
In a statement to media, the Director of information at the Saudia Arabia Embassy in Islamabad confirmed that “some” Pakistani nationals had been arrested for violating the sanctity of the Masjid-e-Nabwi and an investigation has been launched into the matter. He said that the individuals had been taken into police custody because they had violated the rules of the mosque.
The incident has provoked outrage in Pakistan, with political leaders, religious scholars and the general public condemning the politicization of a holy site and demanding the PTI dissuade its supporters from targeting political opponents in sacred spaces.
“I don’t want to name the person responsible for this incident because I don’t want to use this holy land for political purposes,” said Aurangzeb in a video statement issued after the incident, stressing that only a “select” group of people were involved and the new coalition government would work to fix the “damage” done to society.
In a press conference from Islamabad, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Adviser to the P.M. on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira also condemned the incident. The interior minister said Pakistan would request Saudi Arabia to take action against those involved and warned the PTI of “serious consequences” if the party did not “stay within their limits.”
He said his ministry had also sought advice from the law department 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 behavior 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 said.
Alleging that the protest had been pre-planned at the behest of ousted prime minister Imran Khan and former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, he said both of them had been making efforts to provoke public sentiments against their rivals. He urged Khan to refrain from spreading anarchy and hatred in the country as such things were not useful for parliamentary system.
Kaira, meanwhile, alleged that the PTI chief wanted to create rifts within the nation and institutions for his personal benefits. He accused the PTI chairman of trying to spread hate among the youth and trying to sow seeds of a civil war.