Captain Safdar Released on Bail as the Opposition Continues to Protest.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PMLN) leader and Maryam Nawaz’s husband Captain Muhammad Safdar has been released by police on bail after being kept for hours in custody post-anti-government protest. 

Muhammad Safdar was arrested from a hotel in Karachi he was staying at by authorities on Monday morning after the police barged into his room when he was sleeping as narrated by Maryam Nawaz. 

Safdar was arrested on charges in relation to a speech that he had made prior to the massive anti-government protest by the opposition on Sunday. 

Maryam Nawaz, in a news conference later on Monday, said that Captain Safdar had been released on bail. 

On Sunday, Safdar had raised political slogans while visiting Pakistan’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s mausoleum on Sunday. Upon which the local MPAs of Tehreek-e-Insaf had filed a case against Captain retired Safdar, Maryam Nawaz, and other PML-N leaders which resulted in him being arrested afterward. 

Whereas Shibli Faraz, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting said that Captain Safdar was arrested not for political reasons but because he insulted Pakistan and its people. 

He said the judiciary is playing its role positively and no one is allowed to disobey it.

On the other side, Fawad Chaudhry, Minister for Science and Technology, said that Captain Safdar was arrested to maintain the dignity of law and order so that no one else ever feels free to violate the sacredness of the founder’s tomb.

The incident took place hours before another anti-government protest by the Pakistan Democratic Movement in Karachi. 

The PDM is comprised of eleven political parties of the opposition, with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) being the leading parties. 

The PDM is holding rallies across the country which are in connection with the alliance movement to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan from the power. The PDM accuses the establishment of manipulating the 2018 election and forcefully bringing PTI to the power. 

However, both the military and Imran Khan have denied the allegations consistently. While counterattacking, Imran Khan has alleged the opposition of trying to hinder the government’s anti-corruption campaign since it has sent some of the prominent figures of opposition to jail and is investigating them over their unregistered assets worth millions of dollars. 

Meanwhile, the excessive interference of the military in the government’s affairs under Imran Khan’s rule is visible with the retired military officers holding up important positions in the administration; such as in the areas of economic affairs, health, telecommunications, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). 

The PDM has held two major rallies so far; one in Gujranwala on October 16 and the other in Karachi on October 18.