Pakistan’s political temperature rocketed Sunday after two men lobbed shoes at former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, who last year resigned after Court conviction in a corruption scandal but continues to enjoy significant support among voters in the largest Punjab province.
The shoe attack took place during Sharif’s visit to a seminary in eastern city of Lahore before he addressed a gathering, and follows two incidents involving the ruling PML(N) party leaders.
On Saturday, a man splashed ink on Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif in Sialkot, while last week, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, had a shoe thrown at him.
On Sunday, soon after the leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) reached the podium to deliver a speech at an event organised by the Jamia Naeemia, a man hurled his shoe at Nawaz, hitting him between the neck and shoulder.
The shoe thrown by another man missed Sharif.
The shoe-thrower then jumped on the stage and raised slogans in favor of Mumtaz Qadri , the killer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who got death penalty.
However, Nawaz Sharif went ahead with a shortened speech, only thanking the organizers and offering of prayer for the deceased cleric, Mufti Muhammad Hussain Naeemi, the founder of the seminary.
Police have arrested three suspects. The shoe-throwers were also thrashed by the crowd.
On Saturday, a man was taken into police custody after he threw ink at Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif during his speech at the ruling PML-N workers convention in north-eastern city of Sialkot.
After the incident in Sialkot, Khawaja Asif directed the concerned authorities to release the suspect, saying he did not have any personal enmity with him.
The PML (N) which will defend itself at the polls this year’s has termed the incidents as acts of frustration over what it called increase in the popularity of the former prime minister.
Sharif had stepped down on July 28 last after country’s apex court declared him disqualified to hold any public office since he had been convicted in a corruption case.
“The incident shows that the opponents are afraid of their defeat in the upcoming general elections,” Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of former prime minister told a social media workers conference in Rawalpindi.
Although, opposition parties have also condemned the incident, the incidents represent security threats to the ruling PML(N) leaders ahead of what is expected to be an intense political campaign season.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, who has accused the PML(N) of corruption, denounced the incident on Twitter, saying it was regrettable that the PML-N’s policies have turned the people against the party to the extent that they [the nation] have resorted to such antics.
The PML(N) has beening having a rough ride for the past several months, and its leaders allege the courts of being partisan in their verdicts against the party leaders. The party has also had a tense relationship with the military establishment. Some of the PML(N) leaders are facing contempt of court proceedings.
The country’s media are divided with few voices offering fair and balanced views on the political developments.
The incident also highlights the challenge of extremism facing the country, despite a series of effective counterterorism operations.
