Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s speech in Karachi to mark the Holi festival with the Hindu community was not quite well received by certain sections of the country.
Allama Ashraf Jalali, a leader of Pakistan Ahle Sunnah wal Jamaat and secretary of Sunni Ittehad Council, issued a ‘Kufr fatwa’ against Sharif for ‘blaspheming’ against Islam and demeaning the ‘ideological foundations’ of the Islamic republic during the speech. He also ‘demanded’ an apology from him, saying the PM also violated the oath that he took as Prime Minister.
Recently in private TV channel ARY show aired on Pakistan Day, Retired Air Marshall Shahid Latif also accused him of committing blasphemy, which provoked a huge reaction from the civil society and social media.
Shocking! @AVCShahidLatif @ARYSabirShakir & @arifhameed15 accusing PM Nawaz Sharif of blasphemy for #Holi speech. @AmberRShamsi #PakistanDay pic.twitter.com/kB4OFyi6Bq
— Ziad Zafar (@ziadzafar) March 23, 2017
Latif said that according to his opinion, what PM has said in his Holi speech was very sacrilegious, almost as sacrilegious as the Danish cartoons which were released a couple of years ago and became a huge controversy.
Air Marshall Shahid Latif is a retired Pakistan Air Force three-star air marshal and military strategist. However, after retirement from the PA,F Latif has been appearing on a number of talk shows to give his expert opinion on current affairs.
Nawaz Sharif attended a function in Karachi to commemorate Holi with the Hindu community. During the event he delivered a speech saying ‘no one can force others to adopt a certain religion’.