Changing Pakistan: Tardy MPs thrown off jet

ISLAMABAD: Angry Pakistani passengers have forced two lawmakers off a plane for delaying its departure by almost two hours. A video covering the drama was posted online. Irate passengers decided to take matters into their own hands this time — aiming a string of invective toward the country’s former Interior Minister Rehman Malik and later toward Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a Hindu member of the ruling PML-N party. In one of the videos, the passengers can be seen waiting at the door of the plane for Malik. As he walks down the jetway, a man shouts: “Malik saheb (Sir) you should go back. You should apologize to these passengers. You should be ashamed of yourself! 150 passengers have been put out because of you.” Another man can be heard saying: “We’ve taken it for 68 years. Are we going to take it another 68?” referring to the country’s age. The embarrassed politician later turned back. Vankwani left the flight after passengers threatened to beat him with shoes. Many Pakistanis on Twitter hailed the event as a rare example of ordinary people standing up to the powerful. AFP