Prime Minister Imran Khan, while talking to foreign journalists on Wednesday, to explain the unrest in the region, referred to the Pashtuns as ‘xenophobic’.
“We have a larger Pashtun population here in Pakistan than in Afghanistan and they’re probably the most ‘xenophobic’ people on earth,” said PM Khan.
“They fight each other normally but when it’s an outside [force], they all get together,” said the prime minister.
Twitterati reacted to PM Khan calling the Pashtuns ‘xenophobic’. As per the Oxford dictionary, ‘xenophobia’ means literally, fear of foreigners or strangers, though the term is often used to refer to attitudes of hatred or contempt rather than pure fear.
The word ‘xenophobic’ means having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.
National Assembly member Mohsin Dawar tweeted, “Shocking to see that in 2021 a PM would label an entire ethnicity as xenophobic.”
Journalist Khurram Husain tweeted, “When you think in stereotypes, the results often look like this.”
A Twitter user wrote, “Imran Khan should apologise to all Pashtuns. We are not xenophobic we are peaceful people who just want to live in peace.”
Another Twitter user requested, “I think time has come that IK should only be giving written speeches/media talks with editing/homework on each question. No more live talks. Restrict him now.”
Journalist Murtaza Solangi questioned, “Is he [Imran Khan] a social scientist or social anthropologist?”
