ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has asked Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan to apologise to the prime minister’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, for wrongly blaming her for an incident in Lahore in which police misbehaved with one of Mr Khan’s sisters.

Read: Imran Khan's sister harassed in Lahore by police, says family

In a statement issued on Saturday, Mr Dar said that after coming to know about the facts of the incident Mr Khan should apologise to Maryam Nawaz, in line with the moral values expected of a national leader.

The minister claimed the PTI chief was in the habit of reacting to “hearsay and rumours without verifying facts” of the cases involved.

“Being the head of a political party, Imran Khan should adopt responsible behaviour,” said Mr Dar, who has been looking after affairs of the government in the absence of the prime minister.

In an apparent reference to Faryal Talpur, the sister of former president Asif Ali Zardari, the finance minister wondered whether the PTI chairman would have considered parting ways with his new ally, the PPP, had Ms Talpur’s vehicle been involved in the incident.

See: Road incident involving Imran’s sister triggers live guessing game

“Would he [Mr Khan] have announced the launch of a campaign against the PPP, just as he has announced the launch of one against the PML-N government?”

For his part, a PTI spokesman responded to Mr Dar’s comments about the incident by declaring that Mr Khan would never apologise to the premier’s daughter.

Naeemul Haq said the real issue at hand was not Maryam Nawaz but the attitude of police towards common people.

Instead of seeking an apology from Mr Khan, he said, the members of the Sharif family should apologise to the nation for “hiding the truth about their assets and wealth”.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2016