Shoe hurled at Nawaz Sharif at Lahore seminary

LAHORE: A man on Sunday hurled  shoe at former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at Jamia Naeemia, Lahore.

According to Geo News, the attacker appeared to be a student of the seminary.

The ousted prime minister left the venue  after a  brief speech at a ceremony. 

Senior journalist Sohail Waraich who was present in the ceremony that was to be  addressed by Sharif, said the two bearded men namely Munawwar and Ghafoor rushed towards the podium and one of them hurled shoe while chanting  "Labbaik, Labbaik".

TV footage showed a shoe hitting Nawaz Sharif on his shoulder as he came to address the  gathering. 

The attacker, who was taken into custody by the police along with two others, was overcome and beaten  by  the crowd that had gathered to listen to the speech of former prime minister.  

The attack came a few hours after an ink attack on Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif at a convention of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz.

A man threw ink on Asif's face as he addressed the party workers. The attacker was thrashed and handed over to police by the PML-N workers.

The minister, however, pardoned the man saying he didn't know the attacker and has no enmity with him.

Last month, a man had hurled a shoe at Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal while he was addressing a workers convention in his hometown Narowal.

Politicians condemn

Senior politicians from major political parties have condemned the incident.

Talking to media upon his arrival in Faislabad, PTI Chief Imran Khan strongly condemned it saying his party is against this immoral attitude. This should not have happened and I’m happy that no PTI member is involved in this, Khan noted.

Bilawal Bhutto too expressed concern on the rising level of intolerance.

Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali said it is incumbent upon leaders to properly train their workers. These incidents reflect growing intolerance in the society.