Shahbaz Sharif escapes shoe attack in Lahore

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif escaped a shoe attack at the South Asia Labour Conference, a private TV channel reported on Thursday.

The police arrested the attacker who threw a shoe at the chief minister but missed his target. However, Shahbaz showed no reaction to the incident and remained calm on the stage. Later on, he ordered the release of the attacker, named Imdad Ali, working in a private Sindhi television.

Earlier, the security staff had arrested the attacker to investigate if he did it himself or any other power was behind the incident. The chief minister said that he and his government believes in freedom of expression and difference of opinion.

Before throwing the show, the attacker raised slogans against the expected restrictions on a news channel. He told journalists that he was not ashamed of his act. He said that he flushed out his anger by throwing shoe. The journalists also condemned the incident, and said the attacker should have registered his anger in a separate meeting with the chief minister. (DailyTimes)