New Delhi: Days after a Pakistani official’s throat-slitting gesture directed at Indian protestors went viral, the London Metropolitan Police is now investigating the case. The incident has left many Pakistanis embarrassed.
“Asim Munir and his cronies are at the core of our global embarrassment,” a parody account of Jinnah wrote on X.
Others joined in agreement.
“These duffers are a source of continuous humiliation for the country of 250 million ppl,” Pakistani X user Javid said.
According to The Telegraph, Scotland Yard has launched a probe into the incident and is coordinating with government departments over possible action. The UK Foreign Office, meanwhile, has “encouraged” both India and Pakistan to dial down the rhetoric.
The report, almost sarcastically noted that escalations in such instances would present the “police and politicians in Britain with their own diplomatic headache” — a replay of the Leicester unrest three years ago, when a cricket match between India and Pakistan spiraled into three weeks of street clashes.
“Indian newspapers wrote headlines about ‘communal clashes in the UK’ – a phrase more normally associated with strife on the subcontinent,” the report read.
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Case of embarrassment
The incident with Pakistani officials occurred last week in London’s upscale Lowndes Square, where at least 300 British-Indian protestors had gathered outside the Pakistan High Commission to denounce the Pahalgam terror attack. The attack, which claimed 26 lives, has been blamed on Pakistani-backed terrorists. A counter-demonstration by pro-Pakistan supporters escalated tensions, but it was the appearance of Colonel Taimur Rahat on the High Commission’s balcony that drew the most outrage.
Colonel Taimur Rahat is an Army and Air Adviser at the Pakistan High Commission in London, according to the website.
In viral video clips posted by Indian protest groups, Rahat is seen holding a mocking poster featuring Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was in Pakistan’s custody after the Balakot airstrikes in 2019. The poster read “Chai is Fantastic,” referencing the pilot’s viral comment while in Pakistani custody. The Colonel then appeared to allegedly make a throat-slitting gesture, a move many labelled undiplomatic.
Pakistanis don’t know what is worse—their government officials or regular countrymen who embarrass them globally.
Many are calling for laws to banish such people so that the Pakistanis living abroad can be spared the embarrassment.
“If only Pakistan also had a rule of law like the UK. These people are like Pharaoh in Pakistan,” another user, Humaira Wajahat, said.