Lahore: The manager of the historic 17th century Wazir Khan mosque in Lahore has been suspended over the shooting of a music video on the shrine’s premises, it was reported on Monday.
“The mosque is the holiest place and no one can be allowed to trample upon its sanctity. Whosoever is found responsible will not be spared,” Dawn news quoted an official statement from the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s office as saying on Sunday.
Pledging that he would not let the sanctity of the mosque be violated under any circumstances, Chief Minister Buzdar ordered that a comprehensive investigation be undertaken and those responsible for the incident identified.
Following a barrage of criticisms, Pakistani actress Saba Qamar, who features in the video, tweeted on Sunday: “Only one sequence was shot in the mosque which was a prologue to the music video featuring a Nikah scene.
“It was neither shot with any sort of playback music nor has it been edited to the music track.”
According to a news report, the shooting took place in the main chambers of the mosque.
A Punjab Auqaf official said that due to the history of the mosque, people do go there for Nikah ceremonies.
“That is why permission was granted for a Nikah shoot,” he said.
The mosque was commissioned during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The construction of the mosque which began in 1634, was completed seven years later.
