Finance Minister Ishaq Dar heckled at airport in Washington

Published October 13, 2022
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was heckled at an airport in Washington on Thursday. — screengrab
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was heckled at an airport in Washington on Thursday. — screengrab

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday was heckled by unidentified people at the Dulles International Airport in Washington DC after he landed in the US capital ahead of important meetings with global lending institutions.

Dar is expected to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. He is also expected to hold direct talks with their officials.

Videos widely shared on social media today showed the minister accompanied by Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Masood Khan and other officials jeered near the airport’s arrivals. In the clips, the hecklers can be heard chanting slogans of “chor chor” directed toward Dar.

In one of the videos, a man can be heard shouting: “You’re a liar. You’re a chor”.

In his retort, Dar says: “You’re a liar.”

Mani Butt, the president of PML-N’s Virginia chapter — who accompanied Dar — can be seen exchanging profanities with the hecklers.

This is not the first time federal ministers have been jeered at public places on their trips abroad and even within the country. Last month, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb was heckled at a coffee shop in London. Earlier, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal was harassed by PTI supporters at a restaurant.

In April, a group of Pakistani pilgrims accosted, heckled and chanted slogans against PM Shehbaz and his entourage at the Masjid-i-Nabwi in Madina during their three-day visit to Saudi Arabia.

Politicians and other religious figures had condemned the incident and some had blamed the PTI.


Additional reporting by Anwar Iqbal

Opinion

Editorial

The May war
Updated 06 May, 2026

The May war

Rationality demands that both states come to the table and discuss their grievances, and their solutions in a mature manner.
Looking inwards
06 May, 2026

Looking inwards

REGULAR appraisals by human rights groups and activists should not be treated by the authorities as attempts to ...
Feeling the heat
06 May, 2026

Feeling the heat

ANOTHER heatwave season has begun, and once again, the state is scrambling to respond to conditions it has long been...
Energy shock
Updated 05 May, 2026

Energy shock

The longer the crisis persists, the more profound its consequences will be.
Unchecked HIV
05 May, 2026

Unchecked HIV

PAKISTAN’S HIV surge is no longer a slow-burning public health concern. It is now a system failure unfolding in...
PSL thrills
05 May, 2026

PSL thrills

BY the end of it all, in front of fans who had been absent for almost the entire 11th season of the Pakistan Super...