–Govt leaders apologise to Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, say controversial ad has been taken off air
ISLAMABAD: Member National Assembly (MNA) and Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Ali Wazir on Tuesday protested in the National Assembly against the Punjab government’s public service announcement with racist insinuations against the Pakhtoon community.
Wazir objected to the aforementioned ad campaign after Finance Minister Asad Umar’s budget speech in Parliament House.
Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak held the same opinion as of the PTM leader and issued an apology for the advertisement.
“This advertisement is akin to provoking the people,” Khattak said. “[We have] asked the Punjab government to immediately stop this advertisement.”
Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi also held the same stance adding that “targeting a particular community flares tempers, and we oppose all such measures”.
Mohsin Dawar, another PTM MNA, however, said that “the apology should come from the government of Punjab”.
On September 15, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had claimed that the ad in question was already off air.
“This advertisement was immediately taken off as soon it was brought to our attention,” he said on Twitter. “It was aired hardly a few times before channels were directed not to air such advertisement. I urge people not to circulate this rejected version.”
This advertisement was immediately taken off as soon it was brought to our attn, it was aired hardly a few times before channels were directed not to air such advertisement. I urge people not to circulate this rejected version https://t.co/6wFtgbCsOl
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 15, 2018
