New Delhi: The Maryam Nawaz–led Punjab government crossed a red line in Pakistan—renaming the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology as Maryam Nawaz Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases. Some Pakistanis saw this move as “disrespectful” and a “betrayal”. Some also asked, “Will Pakistan be renamed Sharif-stan?” However, soon after the backlash on social media, the Punjab govt backtracked on its decision.
Punjab Health Minister Khwaja Salman Rafique on Monday said that the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology in Lahore will be renamed to Maryam Nawaz Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases. The renaming “reflects the hospital’s new identity as a separate, independent entity, no longer functioning as an expansion project of the Jinnah Hospital Lahore,” the minister was quoted as saying in a Dawn report.
A day later on Tuesday, Punjab minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, in a post on X, said that the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology is not being renamed after Mariyam Nawaz and that “no changes are under consideration”.
But, the damage had already been done.
Most across social media seemed angry. Jinnah is a red line for them.
“No politician is worthy of replacing the founding father’s name with their own. It’s disrespectful and a betrayal to our hero,” wrote Faisal Rana on Instagram.
Others chose to be more scathing and sarcastic. “Why build something new when you can just rename something old,” Faisal Aleem commented, while another joked, “Soon the Jinnah Tomb in Karachi will be renamed as the Maryam Nawaz Tomb”.
Across X, the criticism snowballed into memes. Pakistani political commentator Fasi Zaka shared a picture with different landmarks in Pakistan renamed as ‘Shahbaz Sharif pillar’, ‘Maryam Nawaz pillar’.
Another X user shared a picture of a currency note with Jinnah’s picture replaced with that of Maryam Nawaz.
Soon, others joined in.
“Resolution for Punjab to be renamed to Maryam Nawaz,” comedian and host of the podcast The Pakistan Experience Shehzad Ghias Shaikh quipped.
“The Maryam Nawaz Institute of Confusiology,” added journalist Talat Hussain.
“The Constitution should be renamed Qanoon-e-Sharif,” an X handle named Awaam Se added.
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‘Nothing new’
Meanwhile, the Insaf Student Federation, the youth wing of PTI, said in a video on Facebook, “Maryam Nawaz should not loot anything related to Quaid-e-Azam. She is a billionaire himself. If she is so keen, then build something with his own money and then put a board with his name on it.”
For many, this is not new. Just a different variant.
“It appears we now have a Punjabi variant of the Bhutto family,” an X user noted.
Others accused Maryam Nawaz of “megalomania”, while some said this latest move reflects the very authoritarianism she once criticized in opponents like Imran Khan.
“She’s proving to be an even bigger narcissist than Imran,” Hassan wrote on X. “When you have the military’s backing, there’s no fear of the people or the vote. Do whatever you want,” he added in Urdu.
Pakistani lawyer Anaya Khan shared a picture of Jinnah with his family and in a sarcastic caption wrote: “Maryam Nawaz looking extremely happy with her sister and daughter in Bombay, India”.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)