How land was obtained, brother asks Qureshi

MULTAN: Murid Hussain Qureshi on Thursday blasted his elder brother PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi and labelled him as the ‘seller of graves’.

“Only Allah and I know how you got land. You will be accountable in the court of Almighty for usurping the land of the poorer,” Murid said addressing the International Zakariya Conference on eve of 778 Urs of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya.

"I have warned you (Shah Mehmood) many times to stop exploiting the family title for politics,” said Murid. He asked the PTI leader to choose between his faith and party chairman Imran Khan. “The faith, not Imran, would accompany you (Shah Mehmood) into the grave.”

"We have given you the title of Makhdoom, but you know what people call you, seller of graves," he added. Blaming his brother for making political gains and ignoring his religious duties, he warned that he would make the PTI leader accountable for all his “wrongdoings”.

He said his brother was not made custodian of the shrine for propelling his political agenda, adding Shah Mehmood was not asked to sell Jamaat-e-Ghausia wherever he wants to. On the other hand, Shah Mehmood, talking to media, said it wasn’t an appropriate occasion for replying to and commenting on the criticism.

Earlier, Murid, in a regrettable incident, repeatedly slapped a devotee for not giving him protocol like his elder brother. The two Qureshis – Murid and Shah Mehmood – have a dispute over the custodianship of the shrine.

Shah Mehmood was passing through the shrine courtyard to attend the conference after performing the annual bath (Ghusal) of the shrine. He was followed by all the devotees. Meanwhile, Murid also entered the premises but the crowd of devotees did not pay attention to him and kept walking behind Shah Mehmood.

Murid got angry and started slapping a middle-aged devotee for not giving passage to his son. The disciple begged for mercy but Murid continued slapping him. Speaking in a very harsh tone, he said, “I know you and your family. You created hurdle in my way. You are pushing the people.”