KARACHI: Naeemul Haque, a senior Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader, slapped federal Privatisation Minister Daniyal Aziz during the recording of a TV talk show on Tuesday.

A 36-second clip posted on Geo News website showed Mr Haque and Mr Aziz mudslinging each other’s party in the Aapas Ki Baat programme. Then all of a sudden Mr Aziz, in his typical aggressive tone, addressed Mr Haque and said: “Am I afraid of you... afraid of thieves like you [may koi aap se darta hoon... aap jaisay choron se]”.

An infuriated Naeemul Haque repeated the word ‘thieves’ and then slapped Mr Aziz, who sat beside him in the TV studio.

While the channel muted some of his remarks, Mr Haque was heard saying: “Am I a thief”?

“You are a thief yourself. You call me a chor [thief].”

A visibly stunned Mr Aziz asked Mr Haque: “How dare you hit me like that?” Mr Haque hit back: “How dare you call me a chor?”

The talk show host, however, tried to pacify them as the two leaders traded insults.

A few years ago, Mr Haque, who is a trusted aide to PTI chairman Imran Khan, engaged in a similar fight with Pakistan Peoples Party’s Jamil Soomro during a talk show.

Mr Soomro used inappropriate words about Mr Haque and in return the PTI leader threw a glass on him. He then left the show abruptly.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2018