LAHORE - Leaders of different political parties on Sunday condemned the shoe hurling at former prime minister Nawaz Sharif during a ceremony at Jamia Naeemia.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal has condemned the incident of shoe-hurling at PML-N Patron Nawaz Sharif that took place at Jamia Naeemia on Sunday.
In a statement, the speaker said that such elements should be discouraged by awarding them punishment as per law. He said it was highly condemnable that a national leader had been hit with a shoe at a religious place.
Also, Punjab Minister for HR&MA Khalil Tahir Sandhu has condemned the incident, saying it was extremely shameful and against the ethics. He said that opponents of Nawaz Sharif were afraid of him due to his growing popularity among the masses.
The provincial minister also condemned the incident of ink-throwing at Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and said that if such incidents are allowed to continue then any leader could be a victim of these.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said such attacks were made with some evil design. "Political or non-political opponents could be involved in these attacks," he added.
PPP Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira said the culture of intolerance should not be promoted. He said it was a very unethical act and no one should be allowed to express his feelings in this way.
PPP leader Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmad said that tolerance should be taught to political workers and added that such things could happen to any political leader if this trend is not checked.
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq denounced the incident and said it was unacceptable as Pakistani culture did not allow such intolerance. Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said in a statement that throwing shoe at the former prime minister was another attack by those who were afraid of growing popularity of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He said attacks on Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif and now on the PML-N supreme leader were part of the opponents' design. He asked the political opponents to let the country move forward and do not give an opportunity to the enemy to harm it.
In Faisalabad, a man was held and handed over to police for allegedly trying to hurl a shoe at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan. The accused, Ramzan, reciting the 'Kalma', admitted that Rana Shahyeer, son-in-law of provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, had asked him to do so. Ramzan was shifted by officials of Civil Lines Police Station to an undisclosed location for further investigation. Commenting on the unpleasant incident, PTI leader Farrukh Habib termed the incident an attempt to take revenge for Jamia Naeemia incident where Nawaz Sharif was attacked with a shoe.