PM Khan blames Muree victims, triggers massive outcry

Islamabad: Holding the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) government responsible for the deaths of tourists in Murree, the opposition accused Prime Minister Imran Khan and his aides of victim blaming and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. Among those demanding a judicial probe was one of the main allies of the government both in the Centre and Punjab — the PML-Q — to fix responsibility for the deaths of tourists. At least 22 people died in their cars on Saturday while being stranded in snow in Murree amid a tourist influx into the hill station.

Prime Minister Imran Khan caused an outcry on Twitter after he linked the deaths with the “rush of people proceeding [to Murree] without checking weather conditions”. “Shocked and upset at tragic deaths of tourists on road to Murree,” the premier tweeted. “Unprecedented snowfall and rush of people proceeding without checking weather conditions caught district administration unprepared.” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in a statement that record snowfall in the tourist resort caused the deaths and urged people to avoid travelling to Murree and beyond due to the extraordinary rush of people there. “Imran Khan has made victim-blaming the governing philosophy of his otherwise directionless government,” Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said in a tweet. He said the PTI used to blame someone or the other whenever something went wrong. “There is always someone ‘responsible’ for whatever goes wrong. A country of 220 million people is being run by those whose default response is to shirk responsibility for their actions,” he tweeted, expressing grief over the loss of so many precious lives. “The death of dozens of tourists in Murree is a mass murder by incompetence, not just an unfortunate incident.” —(Agencies)