ISLAMABAD: After a Twitter account purportedly belonging to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s oldest son — Suleman Sharif, urged his followers to “toss shoes” and “name and shame” a family that heckled Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal in a viral video on Friday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters heavily trolled the businessman’s post and called for the account to be blocked for trying to incite violence.
Another account by Suleman Shehbaz, which has been frequently tagged by several journalists working closely with the Sharif family, posted a similar tweet.
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
Iqbal was targeted by PTI supporters as he stood in a queue waiting to place his order in a fast food joint at Bhera Interchange near Punjab’s Sargodha. Viral footage showed a family roaring slogans of ‘thief’ at the PML-N leader.
Shortly after the video gained notoriety on Twitter, the minister took to the popular social media platform to criticise the family and the mentality of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) followers, going as far as to call them “most ignorant and fascist.” Iqbal insinuated a comparison between PTI leader Imran Khan and World War II dictator Adolf Hitler.
“These self-taught people are in fact the most ignorant and fascist, as were the followers of Hitler. We are not going to be intimidated by these ignorant people. This is a moving advertisement of his mental bankruptcy. Imran is polarizing the society at the behest of illicit funders.”
Responding to his tweet, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry penned that he should ‘wear a burqa next time.’
An account purportedly belonging to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s oldest son, Suleman Sharif urged followers to toss shoes at the family in the video when they see them,. He added tht they should also toss shoes at ‘gang leader’ Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.
Saving no time, PTI supporters made Suleman Sharif the target of their jokes and critique. Many bashed the prime minister’s oldest son for urging his supporters to incite violence on cvillians. A social media user also tagged the UK metrolpolitan police, requesting that they take action against him.
Twitter user Inam Khan stated that inciting violence towards civilians and calling for a cvil war is ‘tantamount to treason’ and local institutions should look into it.
Political analyst Raheeq Abbasi criticised Suleman Sharif in a tweet laced with sarcasm at how ‘the fugitive prince of the royal family of moral speakers is teaching his lions morality.’
Moscow-based American political analyst Andrew Korybko lambasted Suleman for his callous remarks, placing emphasis that he is the ‘scion of a genuinely fascist family.’
A PTI supporter questioned Suleman’s decision to tweet in Urdu as opposed to tweeting in English, claiming that he is afraid of the backlash he may face and further asking him to improve his Urdu if he wishes to use it as his medium of communication online.
Many accounts urged their followers to report this tweet as it urges and promotes violence on innocent people.
