On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called slain al Qaeda chief and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden a "shaheed" (martyr) and said that Islamabad faced "embarrassment" by taking part in America's war on terror. He was speaking in the Parliament during the budget session.
"I don't think there's a country which supported the war on terror and had to face embarrassment for it. Pakistan was also openly blamed for US' failure in Afghanistan," Khan said.
"For Pakistanis across the globe, it was an embarrassing moment when the Americans came and killed Osama bin Laden at Abottabad...martyred him. The whole world started abusing us after that. Our ally came inside our country and killed someone without informing us. And, 70,000 Pakistanis died because of US' war on terror," he said.
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Meanwhile, Twitter brutally trolled Imran Khan for this blunder. "For Pakistan, terrorists are considered martyrs and sons of soil. Osama was a martyr, Imran Khan says. While their army men’s martyrdom is not even acknowledged, just like their BFF nation doesn’t," wrote Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi. "Imran Khan calls Osama Bin Laden a “shaheed” in the Assembly. May we know when Dawood, Hafiz, Masood Azhar, Lakhvi will be your “shaheeds”? Kar do na khallas inko," wrote news agency ANI's editor Smita Praskash.
Here are a few Twitter reactions:
Khan's remarks drew criticism from the Opposition as well. "Osama bin Laden was a terrorist and our PM called him a martyr. He was behind massacre of thousands," said Khawaja Asif of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.
(With PTI inputs)
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