KARACHI – Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and some of his cabinet members were made to wait a few minutes outside Quaid’s mausoleum on Saturday, as the change-of-guard ceremony by the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, was underway at the time.
Officials said the ceremony was due to finish at around 9am and the chief minister and his cabinet ministers were to reach there after the completion of the ceremony. However, some cabinet members, including Agha Siraj Durrani and Manzoor Wasan, arrived at the mausoleum at around 8:45am, and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah arrived shortly after.
South-Zone DIG Iqbal Mehmood said the Pakistan Army was looking after security affairs during the change-of-guards ceremony at the mausoleum. “Unfortunately, some of the cabinet ministers had not registered their names in the guests’ list and that resulted in confusion, but they were later allowed entry after verification,” he added.
When reporters asked the chief minister about the incident at a press conference at the Chief Minister’s House later, Qaim Ali Shah said he had directed the Karachi capital city police officer to submit a report on the matter at the earliest.