Hamza Ali Abbasi, Osman Khalid Butt express disappointment over Atif Mian’s removal

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Pakistani celebrities including Hamza Ali Abbasi and Osman Khalid Butt among others have expressed their disbelief and disappointment over the government’s decision to remove Atif Mian from the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) due to his faith.

Hamza Ali Abbasi, who is strong PTI supporter, in a Tweet said that Atif Mian was wronged. However, that tweet of his was deleted following which he posted a series of tweets expressing his thoughts.

Sharing a screenshots of his deleted tweet, Abbasi, in his first tweet wrote, “I couldn’t log into my Twitter account for the past hour and I retrieved it using my phone number, logged in and found this tweet deleted. Whoever did this: 1st: good job for some A-Grade hacking, 2nd seriously? You can’t change opinions or silence people by hacking accounts and deleting tweets!”

He continued, “I’m one of those who condemns this discrimination. I also want to add that this is not a purely “injustice to minorities” issue. For majority of Pakistanis, they consider Ahmedis “Imposters in Islam” and not a religious minority like Christians/Hindus hence the severe reaction!”

“Hence you never see a reaction in Pakistan when non-Muslims like Ruth Pfau are celebrated as heroes, Mr Bhagwandas is made Chief Justice, non-Muslims are elected to Parliament, become ministers. The Ahmedi/Qadiyani issue is not just a minority injustice issue, its way more complicated,” he wrote further.

Meanwhile, Osman Khalid Butt, who is very vocal about his thoughts, wrote, “Well, this was – I would say comically, but incredibly hard to find the humor – shortlived.”

Butt had previously applauded Information Minister Fawad Chaudry for supporting Atif Mian’s inclusion in the EAC.

Adnan Malik also had a similar stance and called out the government for succumbing to “extremist pressure.”

“Pardon my French but that U-turn was a huge KLPD. Kaptaan spoke about how he loved playing under pressure and at the first instance his team succumbed to extremist pressure on an incredibly progressive decision. What does religion have to with qualification? This is shame,” he wrote.

Like Butt, Malik had also previously applauded Fawad Chaudry for being “positive and proactive.”

Junoon guitarist, Salman Ahmed, who is also a strong supporter of Imran Khan and PTI quoted a verse from the Holy Quran which read, “There is no compulsion in religion.”

He then said, “If Pakistan can invite, appoint and hire people from all over the world to work in their areas of expertise, why is one economist so threatening?”

Replying to a Twitter user who said that the Ahmedi faith is dangerous, Salman said, “Kya aik economist deen ko khatray mei laa sakta hai? Itna kamzor nahin mera Imaan.”

Armeena Khan tweeted a quote by Mohammad Ali Jinnah which highlighted that people in Pakistan are free to practise any religion they want to.

Singer Haroon Shahid, known for his role in the Mahira Khan starrer Verna wrote, “I think there should be a declaration demanded by foreign countries to ask Pakistani visa applicants to declare they support and respect minority rights. Phir dekhtay kiss ko Atif Mian bura lagay ga!”

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