Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders on Wednesday criticised Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan for his "inappropriate" remarks regarding foreign cricket players who participated in the final match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Lahore on March 5.
"Imran Khan has this time targeted the soft value [hospitality] of this nation by ridiculing the guest foreign players of PSL final in Lahore. He should have refrained from using such inappropriate remarks against the foreign players," said Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division in a press conference along with State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb.
Chaudhry said that he would leave it on the people of Pakistan to decide about Khan's remarks regarding the foreign players, adding the PSL final was a major event which was thoroughly enjoyed by the people and making fun of the foreign players was contrary to the traditions and values of the country.
In a leaked video, what the PTI described as off the record conversation with reporters, Imran Khan has dubbed the foreign cricket players who played the PSL final in Lahore as "Patheecher", which invited criticism from his critics. A hash tag Patheecher was launched on Twitter which was trending for consecutive two days where most of the social media users were criticising the PTI chief's comments.
Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, however, appreciated PTI senior leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Dr Arif Alvi for tendering apology to the nation on the PTI's chairman's remarks. He also updated the media on the steps being taken in the federal capital with regard to improving the standard of educational institutions, saying several measures have been taken to modernise the institutions under the Prime Minister's Education Reforms Programme.
He said that his ministry is pursuing the PM's agenda to put educational institutions of Islamabad on modern lines, adding infrastructure of 422 educational institutions is being improved in this regard through renovating their classrooms and labs. He said that special attention is also being paid to the transport sector of educational institutions of the capital city and in this regard 70 buses were purchased of which 60 buses have been provided to different schools.
He said that in the next phase, 130 buses would also be provided to other schools in the federal capital. He said key performance indicators have also been established through which performance of teachers is being monitored and teachers were being trained on modern patterns. He said that said IT-based programmes are also being launched for training of students and teachers.
With regard to security arrangements, he said that boundary walls of several educational institutions have been built and repaired while surveillance cameras have been installed in the institutions. He added that security guards have been equipped with metal detecting tolls.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the government is paying much attention to health and education sectors and no politics should be done on these sectors. She also paid tributes to the women of the country especially former Prime Minister late Benazir Bhutto and the widows of the armed forces who rendered sacrifices in the counterterrorism operations on the occasion of International Women's Day which was observed on Wednesday.