Dr Tahirul Qadri, the “container cleric” who wishes to bring about a revolution in the country from the plane’s business class section, has no policies and only wants to see himself on television.
“He sits there in his comfortable business seat, surrounded by flunkies and talks a lot of hot air about revolution,” leading British daily, The Telegraph quoted a passenger of the plane which was diverted to Lahore.
Qadri whose flight was diverted on Monday from Islamabad to Lahore, had refused to leave the plane for five hours.
The passenger of the same flight who was forced to drive to Islamabad leaving behind her luggage which was routed back to Dubai said, “All he [Qadri] really wants is to see himself on television. He has no policies.”
The Telegraph mentions that Qadri, 63, who lives in Canada has a large following in Pakistan thanks to his network of mosques and religious centres.
“Last year he ‘threw the capital into crisis’ for days when thousands of his supporters congregated in the centre of the city demanding electoral reform,” it said.
They went home after government ministers climbed a small wooden-step ladder into his bullet-proof box and “agreed a deal”, the newspaper recalls.
Qadri at first demanded a military escort before exiting the Emirates plane but finally agreed to leave with Punjab Governor Muhammad Sarwar and opposition politician, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.