Zainab murder: Analysts, politicians slam CM Punjab's applause at news conference

ISLAMABAD: Politicians and analysts have criticised Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif’s round of applause and praises for concerned officials during a news conference in which he announced the arrest of seven-year-old Zainab’s suspected murderer.

A controversy has erupted since Tuesday, when Shehbaz, sitting next to the victim's father, applauded officials and government functionaries at the press conference in Lahore. Many critics have said that the chief minister should not have done so given the sensitivity of the matter.

Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Report Card’, analysts reacted to the way the provincial government conducted the press conference. Out of six, four guests on the programme opposed the way things turned out during the event, while two spoke in favour.

'Applause shameful’: Shah slams Shehbaz's presser on Kasur

'If the world's second-biggest lab is in Lahore, why were the other suspects not apprehended?'

Hasan Nisar said that the conference was in bad taste. He said that recently, there seems to be a new trend in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders who use disturbing tactics to receive praise. Nisar called the act deprived of morals.

He said that the way the press conference was held seemed saddening and disappointing.

Meanwhile, Hafeezullah Niazi said that the clapping wasn’t over the death of Zainab, in fact, it was for the great achievement of catching the killer. “All is well that ends well,” he said, adding that the government was under intense pressure due to the incident.

Babar Sattar said that the press conference should have been held by the officials investigating the case instead of CM Shehbaz, as is the norm around the world.

He said that it is unfortunate that there is a trend of jargon in the speeches of our leaders.

Sattar said that the issue was unnecessarily politicised, adding that due to 2018 being the election year such a scenario was created.

Arshad Bhatti was in favour of the way the press conference was conducted, saying that criticism should not be done for the sake of criticism. He said that the catching of the culprit was a huge step and the way the credit was given was not correct.

Zainab murder case: Confessional video of accused emerges

Imran said that he tricked Zainab by telling her that he would take her to meet her parents

However, Bhatti said that if the Kasur child abuse scandal from 2015 had been properly handled, then there were chances of saving Zainab.

Analyst Imtiaz Alam said that it was a serious issue and every 'performer' surfaced through the incident, especially those who did politics. He lamented the lack of etiquettes during the press conference.

"If my body is lying in front of you, will you clap and smile that the killer has been caught?" he said.

Mazhar Abbas expressed deep indignation over the way the press conference was conducted, saying that there is no need of applause for something which falls under one's core responsibility.

He reiterated that the press conference was in bad taste, adding that the chief minister should have been ashamed that such cases were taking place under his rule.

Applause inappropriate, shameful: politicians

Earlier, Pakistan People's Party lawmaker Naveed Qamar said it was inappropriate of the chief minister to applaud the officials and government functionaries at the news conference.

Speaking on Geo News' show Capital Talk, Qamar said it was up to Shehbaz to decide whether he would apologise for clapping or not. The Punjab chief minister could appreciate the efforts of police officials at another instance, the PPP leader added.

‘Shehbaz shouldn’t have applauded officials during Zainab case news conference’

Some PML-N MNAs said no one should have clapped at the news conference, but it was done so as a sign of relief hence should not be criticised

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MNA Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh was also of the view that no one at the news conference should have given an ovation. But, he added, the applause should not be criticised as the ones who clapped did so as a sign of relief.

Qaiser Ahmed said the arrest of serial rapist and killer Mohammad Imran was a matter of great relief for the authorities concerned.

The same was reiterated by another MNA of PML-N, Chaudhry Asad-ur-rehman, who said the chief minister applauded the officials as he was under tension when the accused was at large.

However, PML-N MNA Raza Hayat Hiraj was of the opinion that Shehbaz should have appreciated the police officials at any other event and not the one related to the killing of seven-year-old Zainab.

Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah also slammed the Punjab government officials for clapping while announcing the arrest of Zainab’s rapist and murderer.

Shah criticised the applause, saying sixty cases of child sexual abuse were reported in Kasur in 2016 and thousands of similar incidents happened across Punjab. Dozens of suspects were arrested but not one was punished, he said.

The opposition leader added these incidents happen all over the world, but no one applauds and claps while announcing the apprehension of the criminals.

"You should be ashamed of clapping after apprehending the culprit," he said.