Islamabad (Web Desk): A group of Pakistani pilgrims on Thursday chanted slogans at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet members at the Masjid-e-Nabwi in Madina as soon as they entered the mosque to pay their respects at the Roza-e-Rasool (PBUH).
PM Shehbaz along with his delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He is accompanied by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Miftah Ismail, Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Khawaja Asif, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Mohsin Dawar and Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, among others.
When PM Shehbaz and his delegation arrived in the mosque, the protesters started chanting slogans of "chor, chor (thieves)" when they saw the premier and harassed and raised objectionable slogans against Marriyum Aurangzeb.
Videos of the unfortunate incident have since gone viral on social media.
Meanwhile, the protesters also misbehaved with Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief and Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Shahzain Bugti and pulled his hair.
The protesters continued to film the entire episode with their mobile phones.
Reacting to the unfortunate incident, Marriyum Aurangzeb in a video message said that this act was perpetrated by a "select group", while most Pakistanis respected the sanctity of the holy mosque.
"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," the minister said.
"However, it will take time for us to fix the ways in which these people have damaged our society and we can only do that through a positive attitude."
Marriyum added that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership has instructed its workers to control their emotions.
Following the incident, political and religious leaders and people belonging to different sections of society also expressed their outrage at the incident and strictly condemned the chanting of political slogans at Masjid-e-Nabwi.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman condemned the incident and said Haram-e-Medina is a place of respect for the entire Muslim Ummah.
Prominent religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel also regretted the protest that took place at the Prophet's mosque and said that disrespect to the Haram Sharif is not acceptable in Islam.
PML-N leader and Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal also denounced the incident.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari condemned the incident and termed it a shameful act.
“The intolerance and divisiveness being incited by the PTI to sate [Imran Khan's] inflated ego is leading Pakistan down a very dark path,” she tweeted.
Former federal minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Muhammad Khan also condemned the incident and called it "against the sanctity of the holy place".
Former national cricket team captain Mohammad Yousaf also condemned the unfortunate incident.
Later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accompanied by his delegation again paid respect at Roza-e-Rasool (SAWW) at Masjid-e-Nabawi in Madinah.
The premier offered Nawafils at Riaz ul Jannah and prayed for the security, progress and socio economic development of the country.