A lively #Hindu#Holi festival celebration at Quaid-e-Azam University, the largest university in #Pakistan's federal capital #Islamabad. Felicitations to Pakistanis celebrating #Holi2023 and to friends worldwide. /1
#Multan, one of #Pakistan's oldest cities, is known as the birthplace of the legendary #Holi festival of the #Hindu faith, celebrated by more than a billion people in the region and worldwide. #Holi2023 /5
#UN Human Rights Chief @volker_turk alerts #HRC52 on "the worrying human rights situation in #Kashmir" and says he has discussed it "with both #India and #Pakistan," and that his office is seeking "meaningful access" to the region.
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🎞️@sultan1913@UN_HRC
#UN Human Rights Chief @volker_turk's update on the situation in #Kashmir is significant, comes three years since the last update.
In 2018 & 2019, @UNHumanRights released two UN reports calling for international inquiry by @UN_HRC into multiple violations, mostly by #India.
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DC lobbyists working for ousted ex-PM #ImranKhan in action. No Pakistani politician had such meets out of govt. Until recently, Khan accused Pakistanis meeting 🇺🇸 officials of "slavery" & championed one of the biggest campaigns of anti-Americanism #Pakistan has seen in decades./1
/3 #ImranKhan and #PTI probably caused the single biggest damage to historic #Pakistan-#US ties, moving anti-Americanism from extremist and militant circles to middle class Pakistani drawing rooms.
Ousted ex-PM #ImranKhan admits he illegally diverted $3 million that Pakistanis gave him for a hospital into a real estate project, confirming reports that swirled for 30 yrs of charity funds abuse & strengthening probe into his fundraisers in #UK+#UK. /1
In July 2022, while investigating his link to Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Group, the Financial Times @FT unearthed a case of a fundraiser in #UK for a hospital in #Pakistan whose funds were illegally diverted to support #ImranKhan's election campaign.
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Ousted ex-PM #ImranKhan has been investigated for charity fundraising fraud outside #Pakistan, and was once stopped at an airport and questioned for possible financial irregularities. /3
#Pakistan Instability Update | A country mired in economic uncertainty & bereft of political direction has just added to its woes today. This happens just as the world steps up to signal it won't let the state collapse economically under a climate disaster and bad governance. /1
Local parliament of #Pakistan's most consequential province (in terms of federal seats) has been dissolved. Hardly a win for democracy. It marks a success for one man's destructive 9-month campaign to return to power by any means possible, or else destabilize the country. /2
Ousted ex-PM #ImranKhan succeeds in forcing the dissolution of the local parliament of #Punjab Province, in hopes of paving the way for his return to power. But citizens of #Pakistan are net losers in a country unable to focus on rebuilding economy and international relations. /3
#Pakistan's ousted ex-PM #ImranKhan convinced #Saudi Crown Prince to discard plans to attack #Iran, claim social media accounts close to Khan and his #PTI party. But don't take it seriously just yet: This claim could be an attempt to disrupt PM @CMShehbaz Govt ties with #KSA./1
The claim that #ImranKhan stopped #Saudi Crown Prince from pursuing plans to attack #Iran circulated on Pakistani social media, timed with a crucial visit by #Pakistan PM+Army chief to Riyadh. A columnist sympathetic to Khan published it on 13 Jan. The paper removed it later. /2
Jang, #Pakistan's largest #Urdu daily, moved quickly to remove a column by a journalist sympathetic to ousted ex-PM #ImranKhan that appeared to be an attempt to disrupt ties with #SaudiArabia just when Riyadh is considering major financial package for Govt of Pakistan. /3
Pakistan started #NewYear2023 under the fog of intense rumors that the Establishment can bring in a govt of technocrats to take unpopular economic decisions to stave off default and to help parties in ruling coalition avoid losing popularity. /1
#Pakistan's boldest experiment in technocratic govt was probably Establishment-backed #ImranKhan's 2019-2022 tenure, where every economic theory and bizarre foreign policy notion popular among Pakistanis were tested, with spectacular failure. /2
Instead of hiding behind a possible technocratic setup, the political leaders, parties, and Establishment can consider the inevitable: Taking on the unpopular decisions, in economy+governance+foreign policy.
Own it instead of brushing it under a technocratic govt. /3