Daily Times

A group of protesters, allegedly from the PTI, violated the sanctity of Madinah’s Masjid-e-Nabawi on Thursday by chanting anti-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation slogans as they entered the mosque to pay their respects at the Roza-e-Rasool (PBUH).

PM Shehbaz and his delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Shahzain Bugti, Mohsin Dawar, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi, Chaudhry Salik, and four members of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s staff will accompany the prime minister on his visit.

When PM Shehbaz and his delegation arrived at the mosque, protesters began chanting “chor, chor (thieves)” and harassed and raised objectionable slogans against Marriyum Aurangzeb.

Social media videos of the unfortunate incident have since gone viral.

Meanwhile, protesters taunted and pulled the hair of JWP leader and Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Shahzain Bugti. Protesters continued to film the entire incident on their cellphones.

“I respect Mecca and Medina a lot,” Bugti said of the incident. “No one can speak in a loud voice there.” Those who made derogatory remarks about Marriyum Aurangzeb are still alive, so the news of their arrest is false.”

In response to the unfortunate incident, Aurangzeb said, without naming Imran Khan but clearly referring to him, “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.”

“However, it will take time for us to repair the damage that these people have done to our society, and we can only do so by maintaining a positive attitude.” She went on to say that the PML-leadership N’s had instructed its employees to control their emotions.

Following the incident, political and religious leaders, as well as members of various social groups, expressed their outrage and strongly condemned the chanting of political slogans at Masjid-e-Nabwi.