Maryam Nawaz tweeted out that police allegedly barged into her hotel room and arrested Captain Safdar.
Police broke my room door at the hotel I was staying at in Karachi and arrested Capt. Safdar.
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) October 19, 2020
Few hours after her tweet out of the blue, she held a press conference with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman on Monday.
Maryam claimed that retired Captain Mohammad Safdar was arrested with the aim of dividing the opposition’s anti-government alliance.
With Maryam saying she never thought “for even a moment” that the arrest was carried out at the Sindh government’s behest.
She claimed that when the IGP showed reluctance, he was told that the arrest would be carried out by the Rangers:
“After his signatures were forcibly taken on the arrest orders, he was told police would carry out the arrest.”
Details of Maryam Nawaz’s Press conference
At the press conference, she narrated the order in which the arrest took place.
“We reached home late after the jalsa. We were sleeping when early in the morning I thought I heard someone’s door being knocked on loudly. I woke up my husband and said the loud knocks were on our door.
“Safdar opened the door and police were standing outside who said we are here to arrest you. Safdar told them he’ll change and take his medicine, since he is diabetic, but they broke down the door and came inside.
“Safdar asked them to not enter since I [his wife] was inside but they did and arrested him,” she said.
The government is trying to give the impression that the Sindh government is behind this, said Maryam, “but Bilawal had called me and he was very angry”.
“Sindh chief minister also called me and said that he never expected that something like this would happen with me,” said Maryam.
“I never thought even for a moment that PPP was behind this; they [PTI] thought they can drive a wedge between PDM — we know things like this would happen, we are ready as well.”
Maryam Further jibed at PTI’s Imran Khan
She defended the slogans raised during her visit to Jinnah’s mausoleum on Sunday, saying:
“What is wrong with repeating Quaid-i-Azam’s stance at his mausoleum? What is wrong with Madar-i-Millat (mother of the nation) slogans? No one chanted slogans for Nawaz Sharif or me.”
Referring to a video clip which showed PTI supporters causing a scene at the same place.
She said PTI workers had also resorted to “rowdiness” during a visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the Quaid’s mausoleum but they were never held accountable.
“We all know who hates the vote ko izzat do (honour the vote) slogan. We all know who these namaloom afraad (unidentified persons) are.”
She said Safdar had been receiving threats “from the highest levels” for a long time.
“If someone thinks they can scare Nawaz Sharif with such tactics, they are wrong. Instead of blackmailing me through my relatives, if you have the courage, come and arrest me.”
She said former military ruler retired Gen Pervez Musharraf made “blunder upon blunder” towards the end of his rule and added that the PTI government’s “situation will soon be the same”.
“I am not angry; whatever we do, we will do after giving it proper thought. We are not in a hurry,” Maryam said about her party’s future course of action.
At the end of her press conference, Maryam said she and her husband would depart from Karachi together because Safdar had been granted bail.
Captain Safdar got bail during Press conference of Maryam Nawaz
The Judicial Magistrate East on Monday approved retired Captain Safdar’s bail and ordered him to submit surety bonds worth Rs100,000.
The development comes shortly after PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, addressing a press conference, had said that her husband, Safdar, had been released on bail.
Safdar had been arrested Monday morning from the hotel after he was booked for violating the sanctity of the Mazar-e-Quaid.
He was presented before a judicial magistrate in the afternoon where he was granted bail.
“Mariyum Aurangzeb has just informed me that retired Captain Safdar has been released on bail,” said Nawaz during a news conference.
“Me and Captain Safdar will go from Karachi together,” she said after a lengthy press conference in which she bashed the federal government.
Safdar was earlier kept at the Aziz Bhatti Police Station before he was presented before the magistrate.