Pakistani minister wants Nobel Peace Prize for Imran Khan
What's the story
On Saturday, Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry moved a motion in National Assembly, calling for a Nobel Peace Prize for the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan for the efforts he took to "deescalate tensions" with India. Chaudhry said Indian leadership "created war hysteria" and Khan "diverted the situation towards peace". Both the nuclear-armed nations have been brewing with tensions since February 14.
Tension
From Pulwama to Balakot: Know what happened till now
After a Jaish-e-Mohammed orchestrated attack on CRPF convoy ended with the martyrdom of 40 soldiers, India came down strongly on Pakistan for letting terror outfits to grow. Following the "standard" rules, Pakistan claimed its soil wasn't used for the attack. Khan asked India to furnish proofs to "enable investigation". Subsequently, on February 26, IAF launched a pre-dawn attack destroying JeM's biggest camp in Balakot.
Combat
An air combat followed IAF's operation
IAF's attack rattled Pakistan which saw it as an "act of aggression". Pakistan then attempted to violate Indian airspace on Wednesday. The 24 PAF jets were forced to return by IAF. However, IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman went over the wrong side of LoC after shooting down an F-16 jet. Facing global pressure, Khan announced Abhinandan's release and the Wing Commander entered India on Friday.
Release
Chaudhary feels Khan took steps to "deescalate tensions"
Announcing Abhinandan's release, Khan said it was a "peace gesture". He quite understandably forgot the fact that Pakistan violated Geneva Convention in this case. The pilot was paraded, roughed up, his video was shot and released by the Pakistani Army. But Chaudhary, being a cabinet minister, saw Khan's "greatness" in an action the country was compelled to agree to. Hence, he moved the motion.
Petition
Someone started a petition on Change.org as well
As it turns out, others share Chaudhary's thoughts. A person named Rameez Asif started an online petition at Change.org with the same demand. "His (Imran's) contributions deserve the international recognition with the award of Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, his aims of ensuring lasting peace in the region and discouraging revival of militarism should be recognized and greatly appreciated," the petition read.
Video
Khan's "peace" gesture fell flat after Abhinandan's video was shot
It's important to note that Khan's bluff of "peace" was called out after the Pakistani Army decided to shoot a video of Abhinandan before handing him over to India. The brave pilot "thanked" Pakistani military, "called" them professionals, and "slammed" Indian media in the heavily edited video. The clip was shared by the Pakistani government, but on receiving outrage they pulled it down.