Staring at a huge public backlash for reportedly launching a vitriolic attack against the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday made a face-saving attempt claiming that the statements being attributed to him are entirely fabricated and misleading.
At a time when Pakistan's capital Islamabad was turned into a fortress to prevent the entry of protesting supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Naqvi made comments about the people of PoK which haven't gone down well with the people of the region who already feel alienated and have raised their voice against the Pakistani establishment for quite a long time.
Mainstream Pakistani journalists, including Imran Riaz Khan, accused the Interior Minister of threatening the people of PoK, warning them not to join the anti-government rally marching towards Islamabad as they are not constitutionally citizens of the country and will be considered "terrorists" if they come to Islamabad in support of Imran Khan.
Ironically, Naqvi had been trying to assure full cooperation to the local administration in PoK in order to maintain peace by pledging them full security support in the past.
After receiving severe criticism for his alleged comments, Pakistan’s interior ministry backtracked on Naqvi’s statement on Monday, saying that the statement attributed to the Federal Minister regarding the citizens of PoK on social media is “completely fabricated and misleading”.
"The statement attributed to the Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is clearly malicious and a clear violation of journalistic principles," said the Interior Ministry spokesperson.
Legal action will be taken against those elements who spread baseless and negative propaganda against Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. The Ministry of Interior has issued orders to the relevant institutions to identify the social media accounts that have issued offensive statements. The nefarious motives behind this heinous act of the miscreants are highly condemnable," the spokesperson added.
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