Ever since tension between India and Pakistan spiked following the Pulwama suicide bombing, some ministers of the Imran Khan government in Islamabad have taken on the role of being rabble-rousers.
Officials like Railway Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and Science and Technology Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain have made provocative statements with aplomb. On Tuesday, Fawad Hussain lowered the bar on crassness by tweeting that the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi “reminds us (of) the importance of contraceptives”.
Not surprisingly, the crass jibe evoked criticism from Indians and even Pakistanis. Comedian Atul Khatri was one of the numerous Indians who lashed out at Hussain. Khatri took a dig at Hussain's name on Twitter by saying, “Now we know what the 'Ch' before your name stands for”.
Several other Twitter users such as Nida Kirmani attacked Hussain for misplaced priorities. Kirmani, a professor of sociology at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, tweeted, “Today also reminds us of what an embarrassment this government is—throwing insults at our neighbours like schoolchildren instead of actually doing their jobs properly.”
Kirmani's grouse doesn't appear to be unjustified. Judging by Hussain's activity at Twitter, trolling and abuse of anything related to India seems to a key focus area for the minister. On September 10, Hussain alleged some Sri Lankan players had pulled out of an upcoming tour of Pakistan following threats from India of them being “ousted from the IPL”.
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Before that, Hussain had earned the ire of Indians by mocking the failure of the Vikram moon lander. Back then, even Pakistani Twitter users had criticised Hussain by referring to Pakistan's own lack of progress in space ventures.
In March, soon after the Balakot air strike and Pakistan's reaction to it, Hussain had criticised Bollywood actor Preity Zinta for praising the Indian Air Force for claiming to have shot down a Pakistani F-16. Hussain referred to her and other actors as “Bollywoodwala jokers”, of whom “majority had not finished school”.