ISLAMABAD: The arrest of DJ Butt, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s sound wizard, came as a major blow to the morale of the party.

Sources within the police said that the government expected the arrest to come as a major blow to the party’s public appeal ahead of Saturday’s celebrations to mark the one-month anniversary of the protests on Constitution Avenue.

Know more: DJ Butt arrested in Islamabad

But as evening fell and Imran Khan took the stage, it seemed that the show would go on without the Lahore-based sound man.

Indeed, the party’s signature formula of interspersing leaders’ speeches with musical interludes seemed intact as PTI leaders took to the stage on Friday night.

Social media was awash with outrage over the DJ’s arrest and the hashtag #FreeDJButt was trending on the micro-blogging site Twitter for most of the day.

Even PTI chief Imran Khan referred to the arrest in his speech from atop his container on Friday night, asking, “Why did police arrest DJ Butt, who is paid to play music from the PTI stage.”

Police, meanwhile, maintained that his arrest was kosher. Inspector General Tahir Alam Khan told Dawn, “(DJ Butt) was arrested for violation of Section 144 (entitled: ‘Power to issue order absolute at once in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger’),” in connection with a case registered at the Secretariat police station under section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), entitled ‘Disobedience to order, duly promulgated by public servant’.

“His arrest has nothing to do with other cases, registered at different police stations, over clashes with police and attacks on government buildings,” he said.

Police said they had informed DJ Butt, the nom de plume of Asif Butt, in writing that he was in violation of a capital administration ban on the use of loudspeakers.

The inspector general said DJ Butt had been asked to keep the volume down so that sound does not carry to nearby sectors.

However, DJ Butt’s sound system could be heard as far as sector F-6 and F-7.

Sources in the police said that he was taken into custody from a guest house near Melody Market along with 40 other people during a raid there in the wee hours. Shortly after the arrest he was shifted to Golra Police Station where he was put behind bars.

Ali Awan, one of the organisers at the PTI sit-in, told Dawn that DJ Butt was among nearly 150 party workers who had been picked up by police on Friday.

“Police arrested the men as they left the sit-in on Thursday night. DJ Butt, who usually arrives at around 10am and stays until late at night, had gone to his guest house near Melody Market to freshen up when he was picked up,” he said.

“He has been shifted to Golra Police Station. We have been trying to secure his release, but his team is still with us at the sit-in and they are controlling the sound system in his absence,” Mr Awan said. DJ Butt is widely considered the PTI’s secret weapon and his role is central to the party’s ability to retain crowds at the extended sit-in.

He has been with the party since their ‘mega event’ in Peshawar in 2011. Come rain or shine, DJ Butt’s dramatic accentuation of leaders’ speeches with excerpts from blood-warming anthems; such as Junoon’s Azadi, Jazba Junoon and Allah Hu, as well as tracks from the party’s own repertoire has been an invaluable part of this sit-in, as well PTI events in the past.

“He has made the protests unforgettable,” said PTI supporter Mehr Gillani, who has been at D-Chowk most nights since August 14.

Another PTI supporter, Irum Munir, argued that DJ Butt was one of the main reasons why people go to the sit-in at night. “We hear what Imran Khan says in his speeches and DJ Butt helps all those words sink in,” she said.

Even though DJ Butt will be missed, PTI MNA Asad Umar said that the show must go on and explained that the party had people who would man the sound system until DJ Butt was free to reclaim his place in front of the sound mixer next to the PTI’s container.

Meanwhile, party supporters remained defiant. “We will sing ourselves, louder than DJ Butt’s speakers if we have to, to rattle the bricks of parliament,” said Moiz Ahmad another die-hard PTI fan.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014