‘Hostile countries’ launched campaign to malign Pakistan after Bondi shooting: Tarar

• Bondi Beach shooting very sad, highly condemnable incident: Tarar.
• Pakistan expresses solidarity with people, govt of Australia: minister.
• “Sad to see reports maligning Pakistan despite being terror victim.”

Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar has strongly condemned the false media campaign surrounding the identity of the suspects in the Bondi Beach shooting in Australia to malign Pakistan.

“A false and deliberate misinformation campaign was launched from hostile countries to malign Pakistan,” said Tarar while briefing the foreign media on Wednesday.

The minister called the Bondi Beach attack on December 14 “a very sad and highly condemnable incident”.

Alleged gunmen, father and son, had opened fire during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach. The attack killed 15 people, including a rabbi who was a father of five, a Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old girl, Matilda Britvan, while two police officers remained in critical but stable condition, according to New South Wales police.

Tarar said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari and the government of Pakistan had categorically condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with the government and people of Australia. He added that Pakistan, having remained a victim of terrorism for many years, could fully relate to the pain of the Australian people.

Tarar also paid tribute to a Syrian-origin Australian citizen who subdued one of the attackers, saving the lives of several people.

Calling out the fake media campaign to frame Pakistan, the minister said certain international media outlets were quick to falsely claim that one of the attackers involved in the Bondi Beach incident was from Lahore, despite there being no evidence, documentation or verification to support the allegation. 

He said the campaign proliferated in Israel and India across social media platforms as well as electronic media.

“Pakistan had been a frontline state in the global war against terrorism and continued to combat terrorist threats,” Tarar said, adding that a maligning campaign was launched against the country on the day it was commemorating the most tragic incident of terrorism in its history.

Referring to the attack on Army Public School, Peshawar, on December 16, 2014, the minister said that it was deeply unfortunate that a false campaign against Pakistan was launched at a time when the country was remembering the sacrifice of innocent children killed in terrorism.

He said every segment of Pakistani society, from children to soldiers, officers, professionals, security personnel and police, had paid a heavy price over more than a decade in the fight against terrorism.

The information minister said there was not even a shred of evidence or any reliable source to back the claim that one of the attackers was from Pakistan, describing it as a deliberate misinformation campaign. He expressed regret that well-reputed international media outlets fell prey to the narrative despite having editorial boards, verification systems and established journalistic hierarchies.

He said the false claim was refuted after Indian police issued a press release stating that one of the attackers was from Hyderabad, India, and subsequent confirmation that the individual’s passport had been issued by the Indian embassy in Sydney. He added that authorities in the Philippines also confirmed the attacker had travelled there on the same passport.

The information minister listed several international and Indian media organisations that carried the unverified claim, saying the campaign appeared organised and spread rapidly, with no editorial scrutiny.

“Pakistan had always condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and had acted responsibly by first verifying information rather than reacting instantly,” Tarar said. 

He questioned how Indian authorities had initially failed to identify one of the attackers, noting that countries maintain national databases and facial verification systems.

Tarar praised Australian authorities for conducting the investigation professionally and refraining from casting aspersions despite the international media campaign, saying they waited for facts to be verified.

He questioned who would compensate Pakistan for the reputational damage caused by the false reports and whether request for apologies or legal action should follow, or if the episode would simply become part of history as a baseless campaign aimed at maligning the country.

Referring to the assassination of Canadian Sikh and Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and other incidents of transnational terrorism, Tarar said Pakistan had presented evidence of Indian funding and backing of terrorist incidents in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well, calling the evidence irrefutable.

“India had not only funded terrorism in Pakistan but had also been involved in planning attacks in Balochistan and KP,” the minister added.