BRISBANE: The news of Pakistan’s most popular YouTuber and pro-PTI journalist Imran Riaz Khan’s Australian visa being canceled has stirred quite the conversation on social media, including a terse exchange between Riaz and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi on Twitter.
Imran Riaz Khan was scheduled to be the guest of honour at a dinner with the Pakistani community at a local restaurant in Brisbane on Saturday.
The event was organized by PTI Australia official Aamir Chaudhry with tickets for the event sold for AUD 90 (or PKR 14,000 rougly).
Following the visa cancellation, the dinner has been cancelled and those who bought the ticket are being refunded.
As this was transpiring, MNA Moonis Elahi tweeted that ‘someone’s’ visa had been cancelled due to links to criminal elements.
People quickly connected the dots and criticised Moonis for mocking Riaz. It warrants mention here that Moonis’s father Pervaiz Elahi is the Punjab chief minister and they belong to the PML-Q faction that has thrown its weight behind PTI chief Imran Khan over the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly.
Riaz was quick to respond to the tweet, telling Moonis to not shy away from taking names.
“Yes, my visa has been canceled and also work up the courage to name those who got it cancelled.”
Moonis responded that the tweet was not meant for him. But he did not clarify who it was meant for. While at it, he used a rather colorful Urdu phrase to describe Riaz’s reaction.
Riaz was quick to equate the situation to that of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif, who was killed in Kenya where he went after his UAE visa was ‘cancelled’.
“Similarly, Arshad Bhai’s Dubai visa was not only canceled but also prevented from issuing him a visa again. The same game, the same players,” Riaz tweeted.
The Twitter spat between Riaz and Moonis began on December 2, after Moonis Elahi in an interview claimed that his party had been advised by the former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa to support PTI in the vote of no confidence that ultimately led to former premier Imran Khan’s ouster.
“This is my point of contention with PTI and anyone who calls him [Gen Bajwa] a traitor,” Moonis had said, adding that he had been seen as perfectly fine when he was going in PTI’s support and “now he is called a turncoat”.
Later Imran Riaz Khan came down hard on Moonis Elahi and accused him of changing his statement by claiming that he was loyal all along.
“And the PTI people kept thinking that Moonis Elahi and Pervaiz Elahi were willing to accept the chief minister post because of their conscience’s voice and love for Imran Khan,” Riaz had said in a tweet.
“Do not worry. Your ticket is also ready and then you can take over [PTI]. And then @PTIofficial, as well as others, will understand,” Moonis said in response to the journalist’s tweet.
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