A picture of President Arif Alvi resting on waiting chairs of Islamabad airport became viral on social media a few days ago. The shared picture caught mixed reactions and became a political source of discussion.
Some people admired the president traveling like an ordinary citizen without any protocol while others called it a “publicity stunt”. A barrage of memes flooded the social media with a photoshopped version of the picture.
The President was, however, vindicated by his own son Awab Alvi who shared the original tweet of his father with the picture. The picture was taken at Lahore airport on 2nd January 2018. President (an MNA at that time) was traveling from Lahore to Karachi and the flight was delayed due to fog.
Awab Alvi tweeted:
An old tweet making rounds – he was an MNA then
But that's how he is causal and relaxed https://t.co/nGMoaLUTL6
— Awab Alvi (@DrAwab) March 30, 2019
During his visit to Turkey last year, President Alvi was seen checking in by himself without protocol and standing in queue to board a commercial flight.
Here are some of the photoshopped images people shared:
https://twitter.com/ShoaibBinAdam/status/1112368238623637504
Memorable pic of Arif Alvi and
Anushka"😂 pic.twitter.com/lBtNQwsc2z— Musaib Lakhyr muse😉🇵🇰 (@MusaibMuse) April 1, 2019
Hats off to whoever did this! @ArifAlvi @PTIofficial pic.twitter.com/Y8xVebC3Qv
— Fraz (@NthngMtrs) March 30, 2019
PTI Government Ne Sabit Kar Diya President Ko Leta K Pakistan SAFEST Country hai.
Try to read the article 1st.