Khawaja Asif heckled, threatened with ‘knife attack’ in London
LONDON: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has confirmed he was threatened with a knife attack in the British capital on the Tube near Heathrow airport by a Pakistani man.
Geo News reported exclusively that the defence czar had been threatened with a knife attack while he was travelling with a friend on the London Underground’s Elizabeth Line on Monday afternoon.
He told this reporter: “The report you aired on News is right. I was threatened. The matter will be reported to the police and that process is underway. Some of the faces are recognisable. The video shows the faces.”
A source at the Pakistan High Commission said that the threat would be reported to the police soon.
An unidentified individual, who recorded the video, verbally harassed and threatened the defence minister.
Asif is currently in London on a private visit where he also met PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.
Addressing the party supporters in London along with Asif, Nawaz expressed regret over the incident, saying that such individuals had been “trained and groomed” for chasing the people.
Calling the party’s stalwart fighter, the PML-N chief slammed the individual who hurled abuses at him saying, “This is their fate”.
He further said that Asif had always faced every difficulty with courage.
This is not the first time that Pakistani officials or political leaders have been harassed and heckled in the British capital.
Recently, former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa’s vehicle was attacked by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters in London’s Middle Temple.
Former CJP Isa’s car was stopped and banged upon by a group of PTI protesters last month when he arrived to attend a prestigious event organised by The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple for his elevation as Callee after he relinquished charge as the country’s top judge.
Likewise in August 2023, Judge Humayun Dilawar — who sentenced PTI founder Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case — was chased by PTI supporters as he undertook a judicial training course with other judges at the University of Hull.
In similar incidents, PML-N leaders Marriyum Aurangzeb and Hina Pervaiz Butt were also harassed and heckled by people, associated with PTI, in London.