'Shame on you': Pakistan's Asim Munir heckled outside Washington hotel during US visit
File photo: Asim Munir
Pakistan's powerful army chief General
Asim Munir
faced a fierce and public backlash during his visit to Washington DC this weekend, with a protester loudly heckling him outside the capital's upscale Four Seasons Hotel. The heckler, believed to be a Pakistani-origin activist and supporter of former Prime Minister
Imran Khan
, accused Munir of human rights abuses and dictatorship, in a tirade that was captured on video and circulated widely online.
'This is Washington's Four Seasons Hotel. A digital board says 'Asim Munir: Mass Murderer' and 'Democracy dies when guns speak!'' the protester shouted, pacing outside the hotel entrance.
'Shame on you! Shame free Pakistan! Civilian supremacy in Pakistan!' he repeated, raising his voice as security stood nearby. 'You're a dictator! I'm on public property, I have freedom, you're hiding inside!'
— eOrganiser (@eOrganiser)
The protest came amid growing anger among the Pakistani diaspora over Munir's crackdown on the opposition, especially the jailing of Imran Khan and widespread arrests of PTI supporters.
The US chapter of Khan's party has called for a nationwide mobilisation, accusing Munir of turning Pakistan into a 'military dictatorship cloaked in civilian rule'.
Munir, who was recently promoted to the ceremonial but symbolically powerful title of Field Marshal, was in Washington reportedly at the invitation of US Centcom commander Gen Michael Kurilla, despite the White House later denying any official military invitation,
TOI had earlier reported
.
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BJP MP Nishikant Dubey also weighed in on the matter, accusing opposition Congress of spreading 'Pakistani propaganda' and confirming that 'no foreign military leaders were invited' to Trump's military parade.
Critics argue that Munir's elevation to Field Marshal is more about shielding him from legal scrutiny than celebrating military achievement, especially after the India-Pakistan clashes that exposed weaknesses in Pakistan's defence.
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