Shah Mehmood Qureshi's brother slaps devotee for stopping son at Multan shrine

MULTAN: Mureed Hussain Qureshi, the disputed custodian of the shrine of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya and brother of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, repeatedly slapped a devotee in public on Thursday for stopping his son from entering the shrine.

Thousands of devotees have gathered at the historic shrine to mark the three-day 778th Urs of the Sufi saint in Multan.

Qureshi slapped the middle-aged man, who kept offering submissive apologies with his hands folded. 

The man, later, bowed down towards Qureshi’s feet to get his apologies accepted.

In the video footage of the incident, it is also seen that while the man was being assaulted by the Pir or spiritual leader, not a single person standing around stopped him from raising his hand against the fellow devotee.

Later, while speaking to the media about the incident, Qureshi said, “he is our devotee; actually, he was pushing the people here. You know it happens,” he said half-jokingly.  

'Shah Mehmood a seller of graves'

Earlier, in his speech, Qureshi lambasted his brother.

"I have warned you (Shah Mehmood) many times. But you have sworn to drown the family's name and religion for politics," he said.

He called his brother, 'a seller of graves'.

"We have given you the title of Makhdoom, but you know what people call you, seller of graves," the spiritual leader said. "Only Allah and I know how you got land. You will be accountable in the court of Almighty for usurping the land of the poor."

There has been a bitter dispute between the two brothers over who is the custodian of Hazrat Ghous Bahauddin Zakariya's shrine as both are Sajjada Nashin, direct descendants of the saint.

Despite today's verbal assault on his brother, Mureed was beside his brother when he performed the ghussal [shower] of the mausoleum and laid a floral wreath on the saint's grave.