Special Assistant to Chief Minister of Punjab, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan made a shocking statement on the Ghotki Incident. She said: “By the grace of Almighty Allah, ever since the government came into power, this is the first train accident that happened in this year 2021″.
30 Innocent people have died & this is what a Minister has to say. Unbelievable pic.twitter.com/yIBJ5g2dqd
— Taimoor Zaman (@taimoorze) June 7, 2021
Firdous faced backlash from the public calling her statement ‘unbelievable’.
A woman reacted to the comments of Firdous, and wrote on Twitter, “What have we done to deserve this ?”
Allah mian, what have we done to deserve this #TrainAccident https://t.co/YOqwRNaQds
— Hina Khan (@cesthinakhan) June 7, 2021
Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan tweeted a clarification regarding her controversial statement. “This is the first major train accident in the last 15 months. One of my statements given in this regard is being taken out of context.”
گذشتہ کئی سالوں میں پے در پے پیش آنے والے ٹرین حادثات کی نسبت رواں برس اس نوعیت کے خوفناک حادثات میں نمایاں کمی آئی ہے۔ گذشتہ 15ماہ میں یہ پہلا بڑا ٹرین حادثہ ہے۔ اس تناظر میں دئیے گئے میرے ایک بیان کو سیاق و سباق سے ہٹ کر توڑ موڑ کر پیش کیا جارہا ہے۔
— Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan (@Dr_FirdousPTI) June 7, 2021
Two express trains collided on Monday in Sindh’s Ghotki and killed over 50 passengers, while more than 100 others have been injured, said police and rescue officials.
In the midst of the tragic incident of Ghotki, Firdous’ statement was thought to be inept and lacked empathy.