Germany's Ambassador to Pakistan, Alfred Grannas, received a rude shock on Saturday when his speech on civil rights at a rights conference in Lahore was interrupted by protesters who pointed out his government's heavy-handed treatment of pro-Palestine protesters and for implementing a draconian regime that critics say has all but stifled speech.
As Grannas addressed a panel on "People's Mandate: Safeguarding Civil Rights in South Asia" at the fifth Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore on Saturday, a participant rose up from the crowd and interjected, "Excuse me, Mr Ambassador. I am shocked by the audacity that you are here to talk about civil rights while your country is brutally abusing the people speaking for the rights of the Palestinians."
After taking a moment to realise what had happened, Grannas responded angrily: "If you want to shout, go out, there you can shout because shouting is not discussion."
Some people cheered the protester who was promptly swamped by organisers and hall security as they attempted to usher him out. However, he was soon joined by a few other protesters who raised pro-Palestine slogans including "Free Palestine".
The livestream of the event was promptly muted, cutting off the choice words that Grannas used, including what appeared to be mouthed as "shame on you". The livestream was then paused for a few minutes before resuming with the remainder of Grannas' speech about the inviobility of human dignity and the role of judiciary.
The conference included ambassadors from several western and eastern countries.
After his speech, the organisers of the conference apologised for the "disorder". The organisers said that the conference talks about having political, uncomfortable discussions.and that there is a panel discussion dedicated to Gaza and that they have a guest from the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank.
This declaration drew applause from several members of the panel and the crowd, however, the German Ambassador remained visibly unmoved by this announcement among many others.