KARACHI (TIP): In an unprecedented incident on Monday, September 15, a Pakistani politician Rehman Malik who has been Interior Minister of Pakistan, was virtually chased away by airline passengers furious at being forced to wait over two hours for him. PIA’s flight PK 370 was waiting to take off from Karachi. After what seemed to be an interminable wait inside the aircraft for a “technical fault” a passenger was finally able to draw out the truth – the crew was expecting Rehman Malik of the Pakistan People’s Party, a former Interior Minister.

A group of passengers then positioned themselves at the entrance, determined not to allow Mr. Malik in the flight. “Tell him to catch a bus,” sneered one passenger. “Is he god?” said another. “Malik Saab, you should be ashamed of yourself. You should apologize. You kept 250 passengers waiting,” a passenger shouted, rushing forward when the politician approached the plane. “We have taken it for 68 years. No more!” he said. “We don’t care! You are not a minister anymore! Come down to earth!” Malik finally turned around and walked back towards the airport.

A passenger commented, “Close the gates and fly this plane to Islamabad. This should be recorded, Rehman Malik has been offloaded. We threw him out!” The drama was not over, however, as another passenger came sauntering in just after Mr. Malik left. When he admitted that he was a lawmaker of the ruling PML-N, all passengers turned on him and chorused, “Shame! You made us wait. Get out of the plane.” Pakistan’s national carrier has reportedly suspended some of its employees after the row.