Social media schools Shehbaz Sharif after 'Karanchi' fiasco

Political leaders and residents of port city condemn insensitive remarks by PML-N leader


News Desk June 27, 2018
Shehbaz Sharif. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz chief Shehbaz Sharif created yet another controversy with his derogatory remarks regarding the residents of Karachi that went viral on social media.

Speaking during an election event in the port city, the former Punjab chief minister seemingly appeared to be mocking locals by correlating their Urdu accent with the habit of eating pan.

"I will turn the pan-eating Karanchi into Lahore," he was reported as saying by the media.

The remarks earned Sharif a swift rebuke from prominent politicians, social media activists and notables from the city of lights.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Ismail said that the PML-N leader had hurt the sentiments of the residents of Karachi with the wrong choice of words.



"Pan is part of the cultural heritage of our people," Ismail told Shehbaz Sharif in a video message posted on social media.

Ali Zaidi of PTI also schooled Sharif, and went all the way to a local pan shop to demonstrate his disapproval of the former chief minister.

"Pan is the identity of the people of Karachi," he was quoted as saying by a private television channel.

Other leaders, like Aitzaz Ahsan of Pakistan Peoples Party and Farooq Sattar of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, as well as social media activists, also condemned the PML-N leader for his insensitivity.

Here is what a few social media users had to say about the comments by Sharif.









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