Pakistan: Imran Khan’s minister makes fun of Hindus and their Gods live in Parliament, it shows suppression of minorities

Aamir Liaquat Husain, the MP of Imran Khan’s party, has once again landed himself in controversy after he used the image of a Hindu deity to mock PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz.

According to the reports, Aamir Liaquat Hussain, a member of the National Assembly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, stoked a controversy after his stunning display of bigotry. He tweeted an image of a Hindu deity to target Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

All the minorities, including the Hindu community, expressed their anger at his disrespectful act of using the image of a Hindu deity to mock Maryam Nawaz, the opposition leader in Pakistan.

Hussain, who is also a popular TV host and became famous as an evangelist and religious scholar, faced flak from the Hindu community, civil society and other politicians for the tweet.

Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, the PTI’s representative from Tharparkar in Sindh province, criticised Hussain’s tweet as a “shameful act”.

“Strongly condemned this shameful act by someone who claims to be a religious scholar also but doesn’t know the respect for other religions,” Vankwani, who is also the chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, tweeted.

“Delete this tweet immediately otherwise we reserve the right to demand strict action under the Blasphemy Act and protest across the country,” he wrote.

Lal Malhi, another party leader from the Hindu community in Umerkot in Sindh, also criticised Hussain and asked Prime Minister Khan to take notice of his illogical act.

“Strongly condemn the blasphemous act of @AamirLiaquat and appeal @ImranKhanPTI to take notice of this immoral act. No religion including Islam permits him to do such illogical acts,” he said.

According to a report from Pakistan’s Dawn, PTI MNA and Hindu leader Jai Parkash criticised the fellow lawmaker and asked him to apologise for his shameful act.

PPP MPA from Tharparkar Surendar Valasai alleged that PTI lawmakers like Husain had “lost their mental balance” and were using insulting language against “weaker” communities. He demanded an unconditional apology and warned of protests if Husain failed to apologise.

“We the lawmakers must try to respect the sentiments of people before tweeting or issuing statements as far as the religiosity of the people is concerned,” he stated.

Hindu Rights activist Kapil Dev also attacked Husain on Twitter and requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to act against PTI lawmaker. “Hindus are abused and their religious sentiments are hurt even by those sitting in the parliaments,” he said.

Following the backlash, PTI leader Hussain later deleted his tweet and tweeted an apology to the Hindu community.

“I know the sentiments of the Hindu community were hurt. I respect all faiths, this is what my religion has taught me,” he added.

Writer, historian, and activist Dharam Sikarwar is a very active author The Youth. He writes on national and international issues, environment, politics. He is an avid book reader as well.