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Pakistan fired tear gas on protesters to 'test' it, Interior Minister Ahmad claims

WION
New Delhi, IndiaEdited By: Gravitas deskUpdated: Feb 17, 2021, 08:20 AM IST
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Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad (file photo). Photograph:(AFP)

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Pakistan recently ''tested" tear gas on its citizens because it had remained unused for a long time. Most governments don't fire tear gas on their citizens simply because it hadn't been used for a long time, but Pakistan remains an exception

Pakistan recently ''tested" tear gas on its citizens because it had remained unused for a long time. Most governments don't fire tear gas on their citizens simply because it hadn't been used for a long time, but Pakistan remains an exception.

During protests in Islamabad, federal government employees in Pakistan had hit the streets. They wanted a 40 per cent hike in their salaries. But the Pakistan government responded with several cubic metres of tear gas.

Many believed that the shelling was done to disperse the protesters. Turns out, it was just for fun.

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, the Interior Minister of Pakistan, and Chaudhary Fawad Hussain's main rival claimed that Islamabad police fired a little tear gas on the protesters because the canisters had been unused for a long time, and that they were just trying to test the tear gas.

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"Now people have understood, that maybe, we have recently increased salaries by 25 per cent and fired a little tear gas because that's necessary too. Because we had to test the tear gas since it had been lying idle. So we tested it a little, not much, the rest is safe with us", Ahmad was heard saying.

In any other country, a statement like this would cause outrage, and the minister in question would be forced to apologise or resign, but not in Pakistan.

In other news, the passport of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expired. Sharif is currently in exile in London where he has been living there since November 2019.

He faces charges of corruption in Pakistan, and won't be issued a new passport or get a renewal on the existing one which means his options are now limited. He will have to stay in the UK if he plans on remaining in exile. And in case London and Islamabad strike a deal and Nawaz Sharif's visa is revoked, he will have no choice but to return to Pakistan. But as of now, Pakistan has no extradition treaty with Britain.