Go Nawaz Go is a political slogan in Pakistan, popularised during the Azadi March and Inqilab March protests against the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehrik respectively. The movements aimed for the resignation of Sharif, over claims of governmental manipulations in the 2013 general election. Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad, the leader of Awami Muslim League initially introduced the anti-government chant after Nawaz Sharif refused to step down as Prime Minister in September 2014. The slogan was later popularised by Imran Khan, the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf who ran a protest movement simultaneously. This chant was also used by Tahir-ul-Qadri, the leader of Pakistan Awami Tehreek. The slogan became vastly popular, receiving circulation in a short span of time, and its use has been extended into protests, public demonstrations, while also gaining popularity in non-political situations. Over time, the chant "Go Nawaz Go" became hugely popular and had been used many times at different events. On some occasions, the controversial slogan was chanted where members, and ministers of the PML were present which caused the members and ministers as well relatives of Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif to hurriedly leave the area to avoid the embarrassing situation. One of the other notable incidents where the chant caused chaos was during a graduation ceremony in University of Peshawar, when a student refused to receive the graduation certificate from the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and chanted "Go Nawaz Go" causing a major embarrassment, while Karachi University also cancelled a ceremony in which laptops were to have been distributed amongst students, amid fears of slogan. Gullu Butt also chanted "Go Nawaz Go" when he was sentenced to 11 years in jail but later got out by order of court. Upon Nawaz's visit to US in order to attend 69th session of United Nations General Assembly, a large number of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf protestorsgathered outside the UN office and chanted "Go Nawaz Go". After Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made some international tours to China, Germany and United Kingdom, Imran Khan said that Nawaz Sharif has misunderstood the meaning of "Go Nawaz Go", clarifying that, "Go Nawaz Go" does not mean going on international tours. Imran also announced to mark a day as "Go Nawaz Go Day". The slogan has also been used by spectators during sports events and matches, such as cricket.
Reaction
The Government became aware of this slogan and raised a challenged in the Lahore High Court. The Government also started a crackdown against those chanting the anti-Nawaz slogan and made numerous arrests. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority also instructed mobile phone operators to stop and curb the SMS's which included "Go Nawaz Go" characters.
Cultural influence
Inspired by the slogan, a game named Go Nawaz Go was released on the Google Play Store featuring a bat-wielding Imran Khan chasing a Nawaz Sharif. Many songs have been written dedicating the slogan which are regularly played in rallies. One such official song of Go Nawaz Go which is sung by break the record of most viewed song for the Go Nawaz Go Campaign. The official website of Indian Prime Minister Modi was hacked by Pakistani hackers and put "Go Nawaz Go" slogan on the main page to protest while in another major website hack of Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, Nawaz Sharif was shown as Shrek and balled as "Go Ganja Go", "Go Tind Go" and "Go Kadu Go". The slogan also became one of the most used hashtags of the year on social media in Pakistan. "Go Nawaz Go" campaign on currency bills was launched as well. Minister of Finance, Ishaq Dar and State Bank of Pakistan condemned the campaign of writing the political slogan on currency notes.
