New Delhi: Shehbaz Sharif was to address a rally in Gujranwala on Sunday but instead he delivered a few punches in the air at the ‘city of Wrestlers’. Now Pakistanis can’t stop interpreting its meaning, with some even calling him “Gareebo ka Rocky Balboa”.
“Pakistanio ki izzat ka janaza, live!” (The funeral of Pakistan’s dignity), one user wrote.
Sharif spoke to the people at jalsa (rally) highlighting that Pakistan was progressing economically under his brother Nawaz Sharif’s leadership. Then he was ousted and the PM chair was formally given to the caretaker government. He went on to say that now only Pakistan’s youth could rescue the nation by bringing his brother to the prime ministership. Shehbaz Sharif has served as the CM of Punjab for three terms.
Ahead of the elections, Sharif is touring Lahore, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala. But all social media users could focus on was his ‘moves’ where he, as an X user described, was “fighting ghosts.”
“Man’s got dementia,” added the user.
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Fodder for memes
Sharif’s imaginative wrestling poses were fortunately against no opponent given that former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in jail and his party is running with no electoral symbol.
Another user said ‘Dono hathon sy mulk lutenge agar iqtedar me agaye’, suggesting the former PM and his party PML(N) will loot the country with both hands once he comes to power.
Another Pakistani took a cue from the Rahat Fateh Ali Khan controversy. “Lagta hai iss nai bhi dum waala paani piya hua hai (seems he too has had ‘dum wala paani)”. Over the weekend, a video of the singer berating his student Naveed Husnain went viral where he is seen allegedly asking for a “bottle” of “dam wala paani”.
Another conjecture was: “He (Shehbaz) must be wearing that new Apple VR thing”.
While some called him ‘jaali baba’ or ‘fake godmen’, others found his fist action similar to one’s ‘struggles with mosquitoes’, or even flies: “Makhian pakar rha hai, shehbaz speed,” they wrote.
Shehbaz Sharif is not new to being a meme material.
During his presentations, his hand movements have been known to knock microphones off their stands.
His performances in the videos made him a subject of memes in both Pakistan and India.
On multiple occasions, older videos depict an animated Shehbaz Sharif waving his hands and causing microphones to fly during his speeches.