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- Shayan came to prominence after he had a heated argument with Abid Sher Ali at a London restaurant.
- 16-year-old teen blames former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and PML-N for Pakistan’s woes.
- Shayan announces he will “shut down UK borders” for those who loot Pakistan’s money”.
LONDON: A teenager has launched his platform “Insaaf Ki Umeed” to end corruption in Pakistan and to return the “looted wealth” to Pakistan from Britain after he was involved in a heated verbal exchange with former federal minister and PML-N leader Abid Sher Ali at a Turkish restaurant in the UK.
The teen, Shayan Ali, came to prominence after a video went viral showing him and his parents having a heated argument with Ali at a North London restaurant, with both sides abusing each other.
Following that, Shayan had issued several videos narrating his version and condemning Ali.
Three weeks after the viral incident, Shayan organised a protest at 10 Downing Street to announce the launch of what he called the “movement” that he will lead with the single objective of ending corruption in Pakistan because it “has been robbed for years and Insaaf Ki Umeed will work towards ending the menace of corruption”.
Accompanied by his parents, Shayan announced that he will “shut down the UK borders” for those who loot Pakistan’s money and then bring it to the UK.
‘We will not spare anyone’
The 16-year-old singled out former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N government for being behind Pakistan’s current woes but added that his movement will hold cross-party accountability and “will not spare anyone, including Imran Khan if he usurps our money. We will not spare anyone who plunders our money”.
He said that Nawaz was elected Pakistan’s prime minister three times but now “he’s staying in London with [the help of] our money”.
The teenager said his movement will not rest till Nawaz is sent back to Pakistan and the “looted money” is returned to the country.
He questioned why the UK government was being lenient and not taking any action — suggesting that the UK government was itself involved in corruption.
“Pakistan is in this shape because of these looters. They have destroyed Pakistan’s image. Pakistan was not like this when it was created.”
After Shayan’s parents’ videos with Ali went viral, pictures had emerged showing the teenager’s father Shahid Khan sharing the stage with PML-N Lahore leaders and Shayan wearing a PTI flag, but the teenager stressed that he was not a worker of the PTI.
‘I am not from PTI’
“I am not from PTI. My campaign is against corruption and I invited people from all parties to support me in this endeavour.”
Around 40 people attended the launch protest outside 10 Downing Street. Shayan, his parents, and a handful of people who came with them were new but the rest of the protestors have held several protests outside Avenfield flats and elsewhere.
The Turkish restaurant tussle had started over an allegation that Ali and his family members had jumped the queue but the restaurant confirmed that Ali didn’t jump the queue and had pre-booked tables for his family. The video — showing Abid Sher Ali and Shahid Khan abusing each other — went viral and was discussed on Pakistani media for several days.
PTI UK’s President Rana Abdul Sattar told this correspondent that PTI has its own agenda and it runs campaigns according to the directions issued by the central party leadership.
“Our members are under strict instructions to follow party guidelines and don’t get involved in fights and campaigns that are not approved by the party.”
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