Islamabad – Our PTI Correspondent: In a much publicised photo-op, PTI chairman Imran Khan released Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan back into the wild, in the presence of officials of many wildlife NGOs.
Illegally smuggled into PTI from the Jamat-e-Islami, Chohan was ill-suited for captivity and had gone feral, posing a risk to those around him.
“It is unreasonable to expect a wild animal to conform to certain standards of decorum,” said WWF Pakistan chief Sandra McLane. “Let us not blame this hirsute beast for this.”
“True, expecting actual wild beasts to act like Care Bears is unjustified” said Fayaz Bhatti, a PTI office-holder. “But Chohan’s wildness seemed to imply rabidity.”
Other wildlife NGOs had other concerns. “We have to look at his safety,” said Sara Haider of WildFile, an NGO. “He might not be able to survive the environment he has been released to, given the relative comfort he had been accorded in captivity.”
“For instance, in the environment of the TV talk shows, where he squared off against politicians, who are generally thicker-skinned than the general public when it comes to insults, he was safe,” she said. “In the wild, he is going to be shot dead by the first guy he has an argument with over parking space.”