Maryam, Jemima in war of words over Imran Khan’s jibe

New Delhi: Islamabad: Jemima Goldsmith, the former wife of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, and PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz were locked in a bitter battle of words on Twitter following Imran Khan’s taunts about Maryam’s son and the Sharif family’s alleged corruption.

It all started when during an election rally in Pakistan Kashmir Imran Khan took a jibe at Maryam Nawaz’s son Junaid Safdar for playing polo in the UK, which he described as a ‘kings’ sport’.

Referring to pictures of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif attending his grandson’s polo match in London, Imran Khan had said: “The poor go to jail and the powerful [Nawaz Sharif] get NRO [deal] to go abroad and watch his grandson’s polo match. The common man cannot play polo — a kings’ sport. You need a lot of money to keep a horse and play polo. So tell us where this dear grandson got this money from. It’s the people’s money.”

In response, Maryam Nawaz, the PML-N Vice President, attacked Jemima and her children, in remarks that have been criticized for being anti-Semitic. “My son [Junaid] is the polo team captain [for Cambridge University] and is bringing honour to Pakistan. He is Nawaz Sharif’s grandson, not Goldsmith’s and he is not being raised in the lap of Jews,” Maryam said in a speech.
She said she didn’t want to bring children into the slanging match, but Imran Khan’s remarks deserved a “befitting reply”.

Jemima, sharing a screenshot of a news report about Maryam’s comments, tweeted on Tuesday: “My kids are ‘being raised in the lap of the Jews’, announced @MaryamNSharif today. I left Pakistan in 2004 after a decade of antisemitic attacks by the media & politicians (& weekly death threats & protests outside my house). But still it continues.”

In response, Maryam Nawaz tweeted, saying: “I have absolutely no interest in you, your sons or your personal lives because I have better things to do and say but if your ex [Imran Khan] drags in families of others out of spite, others will have nastier things to say. You have only your ex to blame.”

Following the Twitter spat, supporters of the ruling PTI and the opposition PML-N took on each other’s leadership, Pakistani media reported.

Rights activist Ammar Ali Jan said in reply to Jemima’s tweet: “Maryam Nawaz’ attacks against you [Jemima] and your kids were extremely disgraceful. People of Pakistan have nothing but respect for your family. Hope this pushback will be a lesson to those who continue to use bigotry against political opponents.”

Teacher and journalist Dr Awais Saleem tweeted: “Whether Imran Khan attacks Maryam Nawaz’s son or Maryam attacks IK’s kids, both cases are disgraceful & unacceptable. If you are only condemning one & not the other, your selective outrage only aggravates the problem. Morality, ethics, principles don’t depend on likes & dislikes.”

According to the Dawn, Imran Khan had reportedly been been embittered about the Sharifs since their government had booked his then wife Jemima for allegedly smuggling antiques in 1998. Ms Goldsmith was reportedly sending 397 tiles to her mother in London in December that year when the package was seized by the Pakistani customs authorities. The archaeological department had declared the tiles “antiques”.

When Sharif was deposed as PM by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case in 2017, Jemima had tweeted: “Good riddance to the man who tried to get me jailed when I was pregnant with my 2nd child on trumped up (non-bailable) charges of smuggling.”

When asked why PM Khan had chosen to target Maryam’s son in the Kashmir election campaign, a PTI leader said: “Imran Khan had targeted Maryam and Sharifs only because the latter was continuously using offensive language about the premier. He had to say something; in politics such things are not uncommon.”

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb told Dawn: “Dragging Maryam’s son in the controversy only shows Imran Khan’s frustration, who is not happy to see people’s response to his party’s public meetings in AJK, and reflected his mentality.”IANS