LAHORE: Mysterious banners and flexes, paying tribute to TV anchors of a particular channel, have appeared in different areas of the NA-120 constituency where a tough competition is expected between Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Kulsoom Nawaz and PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Dr Yasmin Rashid in by-polls on Sunday.
The banners and flexes can be seen on NA-120’s area of Mall Road, Temple Road, Hall Road and link roads. The flexes showing pictures of anchors, belonging to a private TV channel, Arif Hammed Bhatti, Kashif Abbasi and Arshad Sharif were also seen inside the campaign office of PTI located on Temple Road. The flexes carry a special message for Arshad Sharif which read, “Qauam ka bahadur sapoot”, which translates to, “The brave son of the nation” from Rashid Karam and Rana Liaqat.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Rana Liaqat, a resident of Sanat Nagar said that the purpose of placing flexes of TV anchors on roads was not political. “The only purpose is to pay respect to these TV anchors, who were doing a great job for the country and the nation by brining good news. We are morally bound to show respect for them,” he said.
He claimed, “We have placed flexes irrespective of political parties on entire Mall Road and other places. My friend Rashid Karam and I, who is a goldsmith by profession in Anarkali, bore the expenditure of these flexes for the sake of Pakistan.”
According to Liaqat, he himself was a staunch supporter of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for 30 years, but he had stopped supporting the party after deaths of Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and was not going to support any party in the by-polls. “I have no personal greed at all. I will always pay tribute to any person who is loyal to the country,” Liaqat concluded.
On the other hand, flexes of TV anchors, allegedly supporting PTI candidate, have gone viral on social media and people began questioning the anchors for supporting a political campaign, which is against journalist ethics. Facebook user Muhammad Arshad wrote. “Qaum k bahadur sapoot, supporters of PTI in NA-120.” Another Facebook user, Asad Baig, wrote, “I don’t know what to make of this, but the shady ‘jaanay ke baatain jaanay do’ style of these banners is very curious. Does anyone have more info?”
In November 2016, mysterious banners put up by a little-known political party of Punjab in 13 cities across the country urged the then Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif to impose martial law and form a government of technocrats. The banners were put up in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Hyderabad, etc, by the Move on Pakistan party which read, “Janay ki baatain hui puraani, Khuda k liye ab ajao (Talks of leaving are now old; for God’s sake come now).”
