‘Another Pakistan about to emerge in UK’: Scottish leader Anas Sarwar exhorts Pakistanis to ‘take power’ | Watch

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is facing a huge backlash after a video emerged showing him urging Pakistanis to seize control in local councils and parliaments, political parties, and countries and become more politically influential, a statement critics have condemned as deeply inappropriate, undemocratic, and advocating sectarianism.

In the video that has now gone viral, Sarwar is seen standing in front of a Pakistani flag and saying, “We will only truly get real power if we have more Pakistanis sitting in the council chambers and parliaments, but actually more Pakistanis and South Asians sitting in the corridors of power and making the decisions. The change is coming, and the days where our South Asian community is viewed as a vote bank or curry bank are well and truly gone.”

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Most viewers quickly noticed the absence of any mention of Britain, Scotland, or the broader British public in his appeal, and the omission triggered netizens to accuse Sarwar of promoting sectarianism rather than integration.
“Multiculturalism has failed,” many commented, expressing concerns that Sarwar’s rhetoric signals a shift from assimilation to segregation.

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One user on X said, “The old Pakistan is going to be destroyed. But a new Pakistan is going to rise in the United Kingdom.”
Another wrote, “Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar speaks of putting more Pakistanis into power. Notice he doesn’t mention Scots, because they don’t identify as Scots. They’re not concealing the Great Replacement anymore.”

Others cautioned that “the days when South Asian communities get to lead countries is upon us,” reminding all that South Asia is comprised of Afghanistan and Pakistan as well.

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The castigation grew shriller as soon videos resurfaced featuring Sarwar’s father, Mohammad Sarwar, a former Labour MP and current Pakistani politician. In one video, Mohammad Sarwar reportedly called for worldwide blasphemy laws to protect Islam, saying, “A time will come that there will be a law in place all over the world that there can be no disrespect to our prophet.”

Videos also showed Mohammad Sarwar delivering provocative speeches in George Square, Glasgow, where he called for bans on Quran burning and criticism of Islam.

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Another commenter noted that Mohammad Sarwar, a Labour MP, came “awfully close to implying Muslims would respond violently to disrespect of Muhammad.”