Imran Ismail: Social media response to Sindh Governor's statement on the occasion of Liaquat Ali Khan's death anniversary
Politicians in Pakistan often mispronounce a phrase or a poem in 'Josh Khatabat' and sometimes misrepresent a historical reference. And it doesn't go unnoticed for long. Something similar happened today when Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, addressing a function in Karachi, not only called the country's first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan a 'son of Karachi' but also described his 'place of martyrdom' as Karachi.
Speaking at a function on Saturday, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on the occasion of the anniversary of the first Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan said that "Liaquat Ali Khan's son was martyred in Karachi and Karachi today."
It should be noted that Liaquat Ali Khan was born in 1895 in the city of Muzaffarnagar in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He was shot dead on October 16, 1951 during a rally in Rawalpindi (Company Bagh). He was the first Prime Minister of Pakistan and was buried in the compound of Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi.
Be it Imran Ismail or anyone else, this is not the first time that politicians in Pakistan have made a wrong reference when talking about a historical, geographical or international issue.Earlier, the Sindh Governor's statement had also become a topic of discussion when he had mentioned the widow of Rashid Minhas, a Pakistan Air Force flight officer who received the high military award 'Nishan Haider', as married.
On such statements, social media users and critics sometimes call these political figures 'ignorant' and sometimes 'slippery tongue'.
Reaction on social media
Sindh Governor Imran's statement about Liaquat Ali Khan was to come to light that the historian and critic inside the social media users in Pakistan immediately woke up and started a series of critical comments and memes on the Sindh Governor's statement.
Journalist and analyst Zarar Khorro satirized the Sindh governor's statement in his tweet, saying, "The fact is that Liaquat Ali Khan was martyred on the German-Japanese border when he was hit by a truck moving at the speed of light." It had 35 punctures in its tires.
He was referring to various terms used in Pakistani politics in the message.
Journalist Hamid Mir also tweeted the video of Governor Sindh's statement and commented that if Governor Sahib did not celebrate, you should have told that the first Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan was martyred not in Karachi but in Rawalpindi. Company Bagh is Rawalpindi which was later renamed as Liaquat Bagh. Another Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was also martyred outside Liaquat Bagh.
Senior journalist Abbas Nasir also tweeted on Governor Sindh's statement saying that PTI is very proud that it is writing history anew, even if what is being written and being said is not a lie. ۔ "