New Delhi: The heckling of Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on a London train has thrilled Pakistanis, who have called it a “tit for tat” in reference to the alleged treatment of political opponents, students and journalists by the current regime back home.
Asif was recognised on the train by a commuter, who threatened and yelled expletives at the minister before Asif got off the train.
A user on Instagram commented on a post of the video saying “I am not justifying these actions but honestly what do we expect from the people when their government is terrorising people in the country. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually get attacked someday”.
Another said, “What about the security of people abandoned in Pakistan cos of the grease of their dirty politics and corruption and their terror.”
Politicians from the Pakistan Muslim League N (PMLN)‚the ruling party in Pakistan—took to social media to condemn the incident.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on X said “I strongly condemn this physical threat to our senior and respectable member of the Cabinet, Khawaja Asif. Such brutish behaviour is unbecoming of any civilised society. Openly threatening a politically motivated knife attack reflects criminal intent and must be condemned by all and the whoever (sic) is responsible must be caught and punished by the local authorities.”
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar also took to X to condemn the threat. “This is not freedom of speech, this is a direct threat which warrants serious legal action. Period! Leaving politics aside, nobody has the right to threaten anybody else like this no matter who he/she may be.”
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‘Where were you for 30 months?’
Pakistani citizens were quick to point out the hypocrisy in their statements.
A user on X, replying to Sharif’s post, said “And when you are going to condemn murders, enforced disappearances, abductions, political victimization, private property destruction and physical torture that you and your government with the help of establishment are doing to innocent Pakistani people since last 30 months?”
Another user added on X “This is the time to step back and surrender yourself along with illegitimate cabinet as you have done so many (sic) brutality on Pakistani people from last 2 years. Otherwise ready to face such type of consequences. People have no tolerance to confront you more.”
Some Pakistanis asked for accountability in a country where the threat to politicians is part of the fabric of society. Military coups, jailing of political opponents and murder of politicians are events the Pakistani people have experienced firsthand. A user on X questioned Tarar under his post “How has Pakistan Govt dealt with this threat given openly to our Defence Minister?”
Asif was allegedly threatened with physical violence as well. In the video, the heckler can be heard using the word “churi (knife)” though no evidence of any weapon can be seen. A debate on whether this was an actual physical threat led a Pakistani user on Instagram to clear the confusion with some humour. “It’s true, I was the knife.”
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)