LAHORE: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated Sunday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) social media team was behind the accounts insulting the Pakistan Army and the servicemen who were killed in North Waziristan the day before, warning of repercussions.
At least seven Pakistan Army personnel, including a lieutenant colonel and a captain, embraced death after fighting militants who stormed a security post in North Waziristan.
Tarar, commenting on the terror attack, stated that the Pakistan Army, police, and citizens had made sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.
“I condemn the insulting social media campaign launched by a political party against the martyrs and their sacrifices,” the information minister stated during a press conference in Lahore on Sunday.
Tarar claimed that the PTI’s social media team was behind these accounts, saying that such behavior was unacceptable and that the people behind the campaign had been identified.
Tarar urged the nation to unite for national unity and security, stating that some “red lines should not be crossed” and emphasizing that those who launch such campaigns will be found and prosecuted through legal means.
He went on to say that many of the social media profiles were run outside of Pakistan, but their followers were also based in Pakistan.
“Those who insult martyrs’ sacrifices deserve no concessions. Criticize politics a hundred times, but don’t do it to martyrs,” he encouraged. “Insulting and mocking the martyrs is not acceptable under any circumstances.”
The information minister stated that the government honors the sacrifices made by the martyrs in the Waziristan event.
Speaking about the country’s economic position, the minister stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif holds an economy-related meeting every day.
Tarar stated that the country’s economic crisis requires immediate action and that the government will not allow the country to fail because it is their responsibility to make people’s lives simpler.