Ahsan Iqbal calls for ending politics of hate, violence

Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Prof Ahsan Iqbal said the recent attack on Imran Khan was a wake-up call while comparing the same kind of attack on him by a young man who was also religiously motivated and from a similar socio-economic background.
He was speaking in a Twitter Space titled, ‘How to end politics of hate and violence in the country’, organized by a web-based media platform. People from different walks of life participated in the Twitter Space and later questions and answers session was also held.
The minister, while commenting on the topic, highlighted the attacks on former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, Khawaja Asif, and several other leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) through a proper campaign initiated by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Expressing his regret over Imran Khan’s response to these attacks, Ahsan Iqbal said, at that time, the PTI chief, instead of condemning the incidents, declared them an expression of public anger against the PML-N.
Moreover, he added, during the election campaign in general elections of 2018, PTI tried to gain political advantage by imposing fabricated allegations against his faith.
At that time, the ministers said, he had highlighted the growing extremist mindset in the society to the then National Security Committee and urged the then government to take strict action against such extremist elements.
He further said when Imran Khan was attacked, the nation as a whole condemned the act but Imran Khan played politics over the incident. “Consequently, Imran Khan bore the brunt of that spark of extremism in society,” remarked the minister, while emphasizing to eliminate the polarization from the society which had been destroying the society and the country. Ahsan Iqbal further added that extremism in a society was a common threat to all and no one would be able to bear it.