Pakistani politicians, journalists and civil society members resoundingly lambasted the manner of former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s re-arrest from outside Adiala Jail on Wednesday in a case yet to be disclosed.
Footage shared by the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) on Instagram showed Qureshi, clad in a cardigan and a shalwar kameez, attempting to speak to police personnel gathered outside the jail while he remained inside its premises. However, an official wearing the Punjab police uniform refused to listen and proceeded to shove Qureshi out the gate and toward an armoured police vehicle.
“Look at this. What is this?” Qureshi said as he was pushed the entire way to the van while the crowd yelled at officials to be careful. Qureshi said that police were making a mockery of the Supreme Court’s orders. “They are arresting me again in a false case,” he said. “I represented the nation, I am innocent and I am being targeted for political revenge without any reason,” he said.
Qureshi was released from jail on bail after the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner withdrew an order for detaining the ex-former foreign minister for 15 days under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
Meanwhile, in a post on X the PTI strongly condemned the manner in which Qureshi was arrested. “The disgraceful arrest of Shah Mahmood Qureshi after the Supreme Court granted him bail is a slap on the face of the judiciary and justice system,” the party said.
President Arif Alvi denounced the incident, saying that the treatment meted out to a former foreign minister “in an undignified manner must draw the attention of the authorities”.
He said Pakistan should not become a state where human rights and dignity are “trampled upon with impunity”, adding that “Pakistan must change, and if we as a nation agree, there is no better time than starting now.”
Qureshi’s daughter Gauhar Bano questioned how a “man in solitary confinement be a threat to the nation?”
PTI Senior Vice President Sher Afzal Khan Marwat called for active resistance and advocacy. “Use your voting power to support policies and leaders committed to ending cruelty,” he said
Kasim Gillani, son of former PM Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, also condemned the incident. He said that having suffered the consequences of state violence himself, he would never support such actions. “Such attitude of the administration is never acceptable,” he said in a post on his X account.
Lawyer and human rights activist Jibran Nasir said the Supreme Court should take cognisance that such actions were not merely against the individual but had also violated the apex court’s order.
Senior journalist Mubashir Zaidi termed the incident “fascism at its peak.”
Journalist Absa Komal said it was “sad to see how a two-time foreign minister is being treated.”
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