Pakistan Tehreek i Insaaf MNA, televangelist, religious scholar and game show host Amir Liaquat Hussain has been indicted by a two member bench of the Supreme Court for contempt, adding to the roller coaster ride that has been 2018. Here is a timeline of what the good doctor has been up to this year.
19/03/18: After a game of cat and mouse, Amir Liaquat Hussain finally joins the PTI. Hussain actually attends the presser arranged by Imran Ismail, where he appears next to Chairman Imran Khan, after simply failing to show up at a similar presser held back in October 2017.
22/03/18: Amir Liaquat quits Channel 24 after joining PTI citing conflict of interests.
25/04/18: Amir Liaquat is rescued by Karachi police after being roughed up by an angry mob. Liaquat claims conspiracy in widely circulated video on social media in which he can be seen disheveled and in torn clothes. Police says it was a simple case of rowdiness.
9/05/18: Ahead of Ramzan, Justice Shaukat Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court warns television hosts to maintain decorum during Ramzan. Amir Liaquat is one of those named by the IHC.
25/05/18: Amir Liaquat hosts a controversial Ramzan show on Bol TV in which he seems to instigate a sectarian conflict between the Ulema of different sects present. The show gains serious attention.
26/05/18: Amir Liaquat is banned by PEMRA for 30 days in relation to the show.
29/05/18: Facebook deletes Amir Liaquat’s facebook page, seemingly without explanation.
30/05/18: IHC allows Amir Liaquat to appear on TV, but upholds ban on his Ramazan show. The good doctor begins appearing on the Bol TV Ramzan transmission as a guest and continues to control the show, just not from the host’s chair.
03/06/18: After not being given a party ticket for the 2018 elections, Amir Liaquat threatens to take ‘extreme steps.’ Claims he came to PTI thinking of it ‘as his own home’ and is now being made a stranger by the party’s Sindh chapter.
04/06/18: PTI Chairman Imran Khan reportedly asks Amir Liaquat to talk to him before taking any decisions about his political future.
05/06/18: Amir Liaquat files nomination papers for Karachi’s NA 245 constituency on the PTI ticket, his rift with the party being solved by the deliverance of the ticket.
06/06/18: Second marriage to TV presenter Tooba Anwar comes to light in Liaquat’s nomination papers. The good doctor had earlier denied having contracted a second marriage.
25/07/18: After nearly two months of campaigning, Amir Liaquat is elected MNA from Karachi’s NA 245 constituency. Many PTI supporters express reservations at having to vote for him, but bring him to the assembly anyhow.
02/08/18: Fresh batch of controversy as Amir Liaquat tweets a picture of PPP leader Sherry Rehman and MMA spokesperson Owais Noorani with a sleazy caption. Later forced to delete the tweet by backlash.
08/08/18: Supreme Court slaps a Rs20,000 fine on Aamir Liaquat for failing to appear before court. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar asks Liaquat’s counsel why an arrest warrant should not be issued for his client for failing to appear before the court.
10/08/18: Supreme Court issues contempt notice to MNA-elect Aamir Liaquat Hussain for using abusive and derogatory language against the media and others. Chief Justice Saqib Nisar gives him a dressing down in court and slaps a fine for not appearing in person.
13/08/18: Is sworn in once again as an MNA. Becomes the first member of the current assembly to sit in the Prime Minister’s Chair, which had been left empty out of respect until the PM’s election, when he plops down on it next to Imran Khan to have a word with him.
29/08/18: Once again at loggerheads with the party in Karachi, Amir Liaquat claims that Karachi is being neglected by the PTI. ‘Leaves’ PTI WhatsApp group in protest.
30/08/18: PTI lawmaker Faisal Vawda bashes Aamir Liaquat for the latter’s comments against the Prime Minister Imran Khan. No response to date from Hussain.
11/09/18: Supreme Court decides to indict Aamir Liaquat Hussain in a contempt case, despite his unconditional apology. He had apologised even though he initially plead not guilty.
07/11/18: Amir Liaquat Hussain is indicted by the Supreme Court on Wednesday for contempt of court. Apex court maintains that the politician had violated the code of conduct, completely and finally rejecting his unconditional apology. Amir Liaquat follows this by a series of tweets asking that his apology be accepted.