WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday was heckled by unidentified people at the Dulles International Airport in Washington DC after he landed in the US capital ahead of important meetings with global lending institutions.
Dar is expected to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. He is also expected to hold direct talks with their officials.
Videos widely shared on social media today showed the minister accompanied by Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Masood Khan and other officials jeered near the airport’s arrivals. In the clips, the hecklers can be heard chanting slogans of “chor chor” directed toward Dar.
In one of the videos, a man can be heard shouting: “You’re a liar. You’re a chor”.
In his retort, Dar says: “You’re a liar.”
Mani Butt, the president of PML-N’s Virginia chapter — who accompanied Dar — can be seen exchanging profanities with the hecklers.
This is not the first time federal ministers have been jeered at public places on their trips abroad and even within the country. Last month, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb was heckled at a coffee shop in London. Earlier, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal was harassed by PTI supporters at a restaurant.
In April, a group of Pakistani pilgrims accosted, heckled and chanted slogans against PM Shehbaz and his entourage at the Masjid-i-Nabwi in Madina during their three-day visit to Saudi Arabia. Politicians and other religious figures had condemned the incident and some had blamed the PTI.
