Netizens are questioning whether PML-N will make close ally PPP Chairman Asif Zardari apologize for insulting former premier and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif when PPP was in opposition.
To clarify, earlier PML-N leader and federal minister Ahsan Iqbal was heckled by a group of people on Friday night when he was out in public. Viral videos of the incident circulating online showed women and teenagers chanting anti-government slogans and hurling abuses at the minister, loudly calling him “chor”.
Days later, Ahsan Iqbal uploaded a picture on Twitter revealing that the family paid a visit to him to apologize for their actions. Other PML-N leaders welcomed the apology and praised Ahsan Iqbal for his “high morals”.
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“[The family] expressed remorse and embarrassment. I had already announced that I will not take legal action against them. We all are Pakistanis and we don’t have to turn the right to disagree into hate and maintain mutual respect,” Ahsan Iqbal wrote on his official Twitter handle while sharing a picture of the meeting with the family on Sunday.
بھیرہ واقعہ میں ملوث فیملی نے نارووال آ کر ملاقات میں اپنے عمل پر معذرت کی،پچھتاوے اور شرمندگی کا اظہار کیا۔میں پہلے ہی ان کیخلاف قانونی چارہ جوئی نہ کرنے کا اعلان کر چکا تھا۔ہم سب پاکستانی ہیں ایک دوسرے سے اختلاف کے حق کو نفرت میں تبدیل نہیں کرنا اور باہمی احترام قائم رکھنا ہے۔ pic.twitter.com/Ck1z4YNqxs
— Ahsan Iqbal (@betterpakistan) July 10, 2022
Did PML-N use pressure tactics?
Interestingly, the apology by the family was not welcomed by PTI and its supporters. PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan accused PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal of using intelligence agencies to pressure and extract an apology out of the family that had heckled him.
Other PTI leaders also claimed the same meanwhile denying Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s claims that the hecklers were supporters of former ruler Imran Khan. However, many netizens continue to believe that Ahsan Iqbal used pressure tactics, forcing the family to personally apologize.
Moreover, PML-N leader and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s oldest son Suleman Sharif urged his followers to “toss shoes” and “name and shame” the family. He was heavily called out on social media for inciting violence.
جو بد تمیزی کل احسن اقبال کے ساتھ ہوئ، اس کے نتیجے میں میری پاکستان مسلم لیگ ن سے اپیل ہے ایسے لوگوں جوتے مارے- یے گوگی اور گوگے کے پیروکار ہیں-
ان کا علاج صرف جوتے ہیں- وہ بھی سر کے اوپر pic.twitter.com/KcZ2BCynb6— Suleman Sharif (@SulemanSharif82) July 9, 2022
As a result, social media is lashing out at PML-N and mockingly questioning whether Ahsan Iqbal will demand an apology from Asif Zardari as well.
Read more: No alliance with PPP until stance on seeking help from BAP is clarified, PML-N tells Maulana Fazlur…
In this regard, an old video of Asif Zardari is making the rounds on social media where he is demanding accountability for Nawaz Sharif and accusing him of looting the public. Important to note that PPP and PML-N put aside their differences in face of a common rival i.e. PTI.
نواز شریف چور ہے
آصف علی زرداری
احسن اقبال ان سے معافی کب منگوائیں گے ؟
pic.twitter.com/lG8zmEFz1h— Safina Khan (@SafinaKhann) July 11, 2022
On the other hand, the family that harassed Ahsan Iqbal said that there was “no pressure” on them and they apologized to the federal minister “willingly”.