Pakistan’s top leadership had no time to personally condole the death of three young British-born Pakistanis Haroon Jehan, Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir, who were called heroes by Prince William for sacrificing their lives to protect local Asian businesses from looters during the riots in Birmingham.
Opposition leaders including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif also did not talk to families of the victims. President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Nawaz Sharif’s son Hasan Nawaz, running a family business in Britain, also stayed silent on the killings. In contrast, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton visited the bereaved families and shared their grief.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner in the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan told Pakistan Today that he had conveyed condolence messages on behalf of Zardari and Gilani to the victims’ families, adding that he had visited families of the dead twice and had also attended their funeral in Birmingham. The British have been touched by the sobre attitude of the victims’ families who despite losing their loved ones called for peace. Around 20,000 people attended the funereal of the young British-born Pakistanis but no one from the top Pakistani leadership was among the attendants.
Addressing members of the community at the funeral, Tariq Jehan, father of Haroon Jehan, spoke eloquently and called for calmness and unity. “This is not a race issue. We have received sympathetic messages from all parts of the society,” he said. He also urged people to “respect memories of his sons” by ending violence. “As Muslims, we have proven to be more loyal to this country than even the natives,” he said. A journalist Amir Khan told Pakistan Today that UK residents used to prefer the Africans over South Asians but after the recent riots they had realised that South Asians were peace loving people and were against violence.
So Sad…:(
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