Ahsan lets off hecklers with FIR ‘in the court of people’

ISLAMABAD:

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday said he was entitled to pursue legal action against people who heckled him last night at a McDonald's branch restaurant but would refrain from it, stressing that he “will file an FIR (first information report) in the people’s court”.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, the minister said he would not seek criminal charges against PTI supporters who railed at him and hurled abuses at him, jeering him as “chor” (thief).

“I had two options: I could either take action under code of criminal procedure but would not do so because there were women and children as well,” he said, adding he will file an FIR in the people's court to discourage such attitudes.

"I want to register a complaint against the leadership of the party that encourages this behaviour," he said, referring to the former ruling party.

However, Ahsan lamented the "culture of hatred" that he said was fostered by former prime minister Imran Khan and warned that a civil war could erupt in the country if such attitudes were allowed to be perpetuated.

A video of the incident, which took place at Bhera Interchange near Sargodha, went viral over social media on Friday night. The hecklers assailed the minister unabated even as he tried to talk to them.

In a tweet later, Iqbal said: "Today, a family — who apparently considered themselves elites and supported PTI — clashed with me. Instead of holding a dialogue with me they started chanting slogans,” he wrote, adding that as a counter-attack, other people present at the restaurant also started chanting slogans against the PTI."

‘Disease of polarisation’

He criticised former prime minister Imran Khan for "instilling a culture of hatred" among the people, adding that "just like their ignorant and lunatic leader, his supporters are following suit".

At a press conference on Saturday, the minister said the incident has not put a dent in his popularity, rather it has highlighted the kind of culture PTI chief Imran Khan was instilling in his followers.

“The disease of polarisation and hatred" in society was hollowing out Pakistan like cancer. I say this with disappointment that we expected Imran Niazi, who was a sportsman, to teach his supporters sportsmanship in the country's politics.”

Iqbal went on to raise alarms that Imran’s politics injected the society with the poison of hatred and warned that the society will be steps away from anarchy and civil war similar to the one in Libya, if this was not deterred.

Read Suleman Sharif lambasted for calls to incite violence

Lashing out at PTI leadership, Iqbal went on to urge supporters of the PTI to reconsider whether their leader was as sincere to them as they were to him. "Imran Niazi has a track record of using people and throwing them away like tissue paper," he claimed.

The minister also thanked the people who condemned the incident and reached out to him with consolation messages. "I am a stern believer of freedom and democracy. The people of this country are very well-aware of my services for Pakistan and I don't need a PTI certificate to prove it," he added.

PTI denies 'ordinary angry citizens' were supporters

Meanwhile, PTI leaders denied Iqbal's claims that the hecklers were supporters of Imran Khan.

Hitting back at the PML-N leader, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry suggested that Iqbal should "wear a burqa" and go out in public.

He said that PML-N leaders were unaware of the ground realities. "People are against you because you came to power by stealing their political mandate. Social stability is possible only with political stability in the country.”

Senior PTI leader Shireen Mazari, responding to a tweet by a journalist condemning the incident, claimed that ordinary citizens were fed up and angry, questioning why was it being assumed without any proof that these people supported PTI.

On the other hand, at a press conference later, PTI's Shahbaz Gill said that protesting and raising their voice against something wrong was every citizen's right. "The law doesn't give you the permission to physically attack someone but there is nothing wrong in expressing your views. That is your right as per the law."

"If you don't like the word, suggest a better word for chor, we would call you that."