Pakistan ruling party suspends head for anti-Hindu bill

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Saturday suspended a senior leader for putting up banners with anti-Hindu remarks, local media reported.

Featuring the images of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the nation’s founder, Prime Minister Imran Khan and a local PTI leader Mian Akram Usman, the posters were put up in various parts of the northeastern Lahore city in relation to the Kashmir Solidarity Day on Feb. 5.

Usman, the secretary-general of the party's Lahore chapter, had immediately apologized for the anti-Hindu remarks on the posters but blamed the pressman for "mistaking the word Modi for Hindu."

"I had asked the him (pressman) to print the word Modi, but he mistakenly printed it as Hindu," Usman was quoted as saying by local broadcaster Geo News.

"I apologize to all peaceful Hindus living on both sides of the border," Usman said on Twitter, adding that all the posters carrying such remarks were immediately taken down.

"I am not the one who [is] stuck on mistakes," he added.

Dissatisfied with his excuse, the party suspended his membership, noting that the inflamatory slur targeting a minority community was a "violation of the party's policy."

Last year, Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan, information minister of Punjab province, was sacked by the party chairman and Khan for his insulting remarks about Hindu community. He, however, was reinstated after a few months.