ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday criticized India and Israel for running a disinformation campaign to falsely link suspects in a deadly shooting incident on Sydney’s Bondi Beach to Pakistan, saying the allegations were baseless and aimed at maligning the country.
Tarar’s briefing came after a mass shooting on Dec. 14 in which two gunmen opened fire on a crowd, killing 15 people and injuring dozens, in what Australian officials described as a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community. Soon after, media reports claimed the attack was carried out by a father and son named Sajid and Naveed Akram.
Subsequently, Indian news channels and social media accounts started circulating unverified claims the suspects were Pakistanis, amplifying images of a Sydney resident with the same name — Naveed Akram — wearing a Pakistan cricket team shirt, a claim later denied by the man in a video in which he said he feared for his life after receiving threats.
“This campaign was launched from hostile countries trying to malign Pakistan,” Tarar said while briefing foreign journalists in Islamabad. “In Israel, in India, this campaign was proliferated and posted on social media platforms as well as electronic media platforms, which is very, very sad because Pakistan has been a front line state in the war against terrorism.”
