New Delhi: Nawaz Sharif supporters attending a rally Tuesday brought his party’s symbol alive when they arrived at the gathering with a tiger. And there was a lion too — supporters’ tribute to their leader. Sharif is called the ‘Lion of Punjab’ by his followers.
Videos that have emerged on social media show a caged tiger being carried on a carriage even as a passerby pets the animal. The edited video also shows a lion being carried similarly amid busy traffic with vehicle horns blaring. The animals were brought to the National Assembly 130 – Lahore-XIV (NA-130 Lahore-XIV) constituency – the seat Sharif is running from for the 2024 elections.
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader and secretary of information for the party, Marriyum Aurangzeb clarified that Sharif ordered the lion to be sent back immediately and instructed his followers that no real animal should be brought to his rallies across Pakistan.
Animals and PML(N) rallies
“The religion of Islam and laws related to animals have enjoined us to respect the rights of animals,” Aurangzeb added in her post.
Pakistani social media users seized the opportunity to mock the PML(N), with one user stating that human rights in Pakistan had become “worse than animals” during the 18-month term of the PML(N) government, which concluded before the caretaker government assumed control for the electoral process in August of last year.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s supporters have used the moment to call Sharif a “paper lion” among other things on social media. One X user even said that those who brought the animals to the rally should be “jailed” immediately.
This is not the first time that animals have been brought to the rallies of the PML(N). In fact, in 2021, a party supporter was seen holding a lion cub and celebrating with it during a party rally in Wazirabad. Maryam Nawaz – Sharif’s daughter – had also addressed the supporters.
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Death of the mascot
During the 2013 election season, the PML(N) had a real white tiger during its rallies in the run-up to the polls. Maryam Nawaz is reported to have enjoyed showcasing the tiger during her rallies, due to the attention it received, according to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.
While the tiger was showcased through the campaign, it eventually died on the morning of 8 May 2013, according to Dawn. It was brought unconscious the previous evening.
Dawn reported that according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), these tigers are sensitive to heat and noise – both of which were amply available during the election season in 2013.
Sharif perhaps believes that the death of his mascot was a sign of his premiership, which ended four years later due to being disqualified by the courts of Pakistan, and is looking to hopefully prevent such a situation from arising again if his party wins the elections in February.