Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has unfollowed veteran journalist and analyst Hamid Mir on Twitter, a development that Mir says is no less than an “honour”.

The episode that follows Mir’s anti-government tirade ever since his interview of arrested former president Asif Ali Zardari was taken off the air, has left the micro-blogging website divided as people argue if it proves the premier’s “inability to take criticism”.

Being a media person he can do criticism
You have to answer his questions if he is right
When @ImranKhanPTI was in opposition he was saying that @HamidMirPAK is presenting true media but now when he got his seat he can't bear criticism
This is unfair#hamidmir #ڈیزل_شیطان_الوقت pic.twitter.com/sN8hEpSWyr

— Tariq Nawaz (@beingtariqnawaz) July 29, 2019

It surfaced on social media on Monday evening through an account called Siasat Bot that keeps track of the Twitter handles of major politicians and political parties.

Account Imrankhanpti appears to unfollow HamidMirPAK

— SiasatBot (@SiasatBot) July 29, 2019

Earlier, Mir’s video had also gone viral on social media wherein he demanded his arrest which was termed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters as propaganda against the government under the guise of freedom of media.

What was the most asked question to @ImranKhanPTI in US?It was about censorship on media our PM spoke very well on many issues but failed to give satisfactory answers on questions about media he is helping his enemies by fighting with media

— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) July 23, 2019

Following this, supporters of the ruling PTI had been carrying out a campaign against the journalist who has now been unfollowed by the premier on Twitter.

PM Imran reportedly had 19 followers before clicking the “unfollow” button on Mir. The 18 accounts that he still follows include those of organisations that he himself heads, such as the PTI, Shaukat Khanum Hospital and Namal University.

The other accounts he follows include that belonging to his party’s senior leaders.

Mir himself took to Twitter to indirectly address the development. Retweeting an old post, he shared how “he had become unfavorable to PTI after he started criticising them”.

جب سپریم کورٹ نے 2015 میں انتخابات میں دھاندلی کی انکوائری شروع کی تو تحریک انصاف نے مجھے سپریم کورٹ میں گواہی کے لئے بلایا اور میں نے کورٹ میں دھاندلی کے ثبوت پیش کئے اسوقت میں تحریک انصاف کیلئے بہت اچھا تھا اب اگر تنقید کرتا ہوں تو برا نہ منائیں https://t.co/uDohRjxSof

— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) July 26, 2019

Speaking to a private news website, Mir said that he was “honoured” to be unfollowed by the chief executive of the country.