- London Police detain Imran Khan’s nephew, other supporters for throwing bottles at stage, causing ruckus during PPP chairman’s speech
- Bilawal House says young PPP leader stood his ground and completed the speech
London Metropolitan Police took into custody Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s nephew and some other party supporters for disrupting the speech of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the Kashmiris’ “million-man” march in London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday.
Per reports, Bilawal was forced to cut his speech short when rowdy PTI protesters led by Khan’s nephew Hasan Niazi reportedly started throwing water bottles at him. They also shouted “Go Nawaz Go” and “Go Bilawal Go” slogans.
The “million march” was held to demand a just and peaceful resolution of longstanding Kashmir issue and saw thousands of people rally through central London in protest against India’s human rights violations in Kashmir.
However, it seems politicking was not welcome at the rally as some participants objected to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s presence at the stage.
Niazi says he was briefly detained by the UK police after the incident, according to a tweet from his official account.
“I was detained for little while but then released- nothing serious. I protested bcz #babychicken misused the stage #KashmiriMillionMarch,” Niazi tweeted.
Following the incident, Bilawal’s sister Aseefa Bhutto Zardari tweeted that her brother is safe and alleged that Indian agents tried to stop him from speaking but they did not succeed.
“Indian agents tried 2 stop my brother from speaking but Alhamdulillah they did NOT succeed. He completed his speech & Alhamdulillah he is safe,” Aseefa tweeted.
According to details, some people started throwing stuff at the PPP chairman, including bottles, tomatoes and eggs when he came on stage to address the participants of the ‘Million March’, forcing him to leave.
According to a statement from Bilawal House in Karachi, “some unidentified people tried to disrupt the party chief’s speech at the Kashmir rally but he faced the unruly mob with bravery and completed his address to the participants”.
Commenting on the incident, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz lashed out at the PTI in a tweet, saying that several people belonging to a certain family were involved in hooliganism against rival parties. She also confirmed that Hasan Niazi was involved in the incident in London.
Meanwhile, some unconfirmed reports said that some “Indians” had attempted to sabotage Bilawal’s speech. The information could not be independently verified.
Bilawal had recently created quite a stir in the Indian media when he lashed out at the Indian occupation of Kashmir, saying Kashmir is and would always be Pakistan’s part.
“Lavangey lavangey poora Kashmir lavangey. Humara nara sab se bhari, Rai shumari Rai shumari,” Bilawal said in a tweet before his address.