Islamabad: Days after Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain recommended Prime Minister Imran Khan’s name for Nobel Peace Prize for his “contribution towards peace”, Khan on Monday said that he was not “worthy of the prize” and it should be given to the one ” who solves the Kashmir issue”. Hussain had submitted a resolution in the National Assembly of Pakistan demanding Khan be awarded Nobel as he played a key role in “de-escalating tensions between Pakistan and India” in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14.
The demand for honour for Khan has resonated throughout the Pakistani media, especially after Khan announced in the National Assembly that Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was captured by their forces, would be released as a “peace gesture.”
Tensions between the two nuclear powers reached an all the time high after the IAF carried out air strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) as a “non-military pre-emptive strike” on Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM’s) training camp deep inside the Pakistani territory. A day after the air strikes, Pakistani jet had also tried to violate the Indian airspace but were chased back by the IAF’s fighter jets, in which Wing Commander Abhinandan’s MiG-21 Bison crash-landed in the Pakistani territory. Before crash-landing, Abhinandan shot down an F-16 fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force.
Abhinandan returned to India on Friday last week after spending almost 60 hours in Pakistan’s captivity. Though he was not physically tortured, Abhinandan was mentally harassed. Initial photos, released by the Pakistani forces, showed Abhinandan blindfolded and having injuries on his face. Later, Pakistan had released a video of him sipping tea and saying that he was treated well by the Pakistan forces.
