THREAD: In many ways @FarhatullahB SB is right when he says it's a sad moment. It is. It does not serve nation's interest when a pol party falls on its sword. "Oh but PTI didn't fall on its sword," you may exclaim. "Sword was plunged into its rib cage." Well, err, yes & no
1/10 Unlike lamentations of PTI, this is not the first time parties have fallen foul of establishment & paid the price. While one can find numerous commonalities between these parties' losing battles against the establishment, each also has to fight its own individual demons
2/10

It doesn't take long for the hunter to become the hunted. This has become evident in the aftermath of the shocking violence unleashed by leaders & supporters of @PTIofficial & the whataboutery of its top leadership including @ImranKhanPTI. Here are 5 observations
1/6 One: PTI should have paid more attention to Game of Thrones books/series. Had they done so, party leaders may have realised that narrative is not power - power is power. PTI armchair revolutionaries are today paying the price for ignoring harsh realities of power dynamics
2/6

تھریڈ- سیاسی ٹرینڈ
1. آرمی چیف کی تعیناتی معمول کے مطابق ہونے کے بعد تحریک انصاف کی مزاحمتی سیاست ماند پڑ جائے گی۔ خان صاحب کی ٹھنڈی میٹھی تقاریر نے اس کا عندیہ دینا شروع کر دیا ہے۔ مگر خان صاحب کا یہ یو ٹرن پھیکا ہے کیونکہ اس کے عوض ان کو نہ الیکشن ملا نہ سلیکشن
#سیاسی_ٹرینڈ 2۔ حکومت کے اعتماد میں اضافہ ہوا ہے اور اس کے اثرات واضح طور پر نظر آنا شروع ہو گئے ہیں ۔ سات مہینے کی "بحرانی" سیاست اب معمول کی سیاست میں تبدیل ہو گی اور تمام جماعتیں اس حقیقت کو تسلیم کرنے پر مجبور ہوں گی کہ اب مقابلہ الیکشن میں ہو گا جو اپنے وقت پر ہو گے
#سیاسی_ٹرینڈ

THREAD: Let me tell you my personal experience of how alleged journalists, party spokesmen & a news channel peddle lies to stitch together a 'narrative'. The facts I am writing will shock you - should shock you - if you are a believer in the power & sacredness of truth 1/21 For months these people have been crying hoarse over a supposed ' Strategic Media Cell' that they say I run. I'm glad they're feeling the heat of effective communication, but I'm sorry to disappoint them: there is no such media cell. Never has been. None & never. It's a lie 2/21

THREAD: An emotionally drenched environment is not conducive to rationality driven solutions. The unprecedented press conference by DG ISI & @OfficialDGISPR may be the first step in swinging our emotional pendulum back to the centre. It was needed to sift fact from fiction 1/13 But why was it warranted now? In the noise & dust of daily political battles, truth was being pulverised by an ascendant wave of lies. So-called "Cypher Conspiracy" had been called out as a lie as early as the first NSC mtg after @ImranKhanPTI had conjured up the fable 2/13

Try reconcile the following:
1. The #KarachiJalsaPTI was massive
2. After ouster @ImranKhanPTI is drawing huge & charged crowds
3. IK has ignited core base & is riding a wave
4. This despite his disastrous performance as PM
5. Flawed conspiracy mantra still on
#KarachiJalsa 1/7 6. There is no conspiracy. IK entire narrative has no basis
7. Pak state apparatus has debunked conspiracy for good reason: zero evidence.
8. IK new narrative riding on something that does not exist
9. Yet millions believe the falsity because he says so
#KarachiJalsa 2/7

1) The heart-wrenching tragedy of more than 20 citizens freezing to death on the road to Murree is a direct result of criminal incompetence by federal, Punjab & KP govts. Shocking dereliction of duty & coordination. These deaths were avoidable #Murree (1/5) 2) The tweet by PM Imran Khan has added insult to injury. By blaming people and saying govt was caught "unawares" boggles the mind with its sheer insensitivity & callousness. What the govt has done is unpardonable & how it's reacting is equally worse #Murree (2/5)

The #COVIDー19 situation has reached a dangerous level. It could easily spiral out of control. Time to stop treating it as political football & start tackling it for what it really is: a public health emergency. But how? Here are specific suggestions for our leadership...(1/20) 'Lockdown vs No Lockdown' debate has needlessly become a partisan hot potato. It should not be. PTI govt pursued a policy it thought best. No one in the world knew what the right policy was. What PTI govt did was its right. That's done. Let us move on. How? #COVIDー19 (2/20)

WHO letter to all Pakistani govts provides a good opportunity for us to review our strategy on #COVIDー19. As situation worsens, it is imp for us to change course if needed for public health reasons, not political ones. Here's what WHO letter says (from @dawn_com report): (1/7) WHO has said Pakistan has been ranked among the top 10 countries in the world reporting highest number of new cases of Covid-19 & advised the government to enhance daily testing capacity to 50,000 to assess the actual prevalence of coronavirus across the country #COVIDー19 (2/7)

Key point in comparing Covid-19 polices from states & countries: what works & what doesn't. S.Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand etc did something right; USA, Brazil, India, Italy, UK did something wrong. S.Korea did lockdown right, India did lockdown wrong...#COVIDー19 (1/13) Key factor also how soon lockdown was done and how effectively it was managed. Some like NZ did so efficiently while others like India blundered by rushing into it w/out preparation leading to horrendous impact on vulnerable population. #COVIDー19 (2/13)

Dear Pakistanis let us say a big thank you to the following & salute their bravery, courage and patriotism at a time of this gravest of all crises. They are our heroes and deserve the utmost respect of a grateful nation. Read on & feel free to add...
#CoronaVirusPakistan 1/6. Our doctors, nurses, paramedics & all health workers who are frontline warriors in this battle against #CoronaVirusPakistan
They are putting their lives on the line so we do not have to. #respect

We need to take some really big and really difficult decisions about #CoronavirusOutbreak. The pandemic is now a national emergency for us. Time to be complacent is over. National leadership must meet without delay and draw up plans to address the following: (1/8) A) take stock of health facilities across the country. How many patients can we handle? What happens if infected numbers exceed the capacity of our health facilities? Doctors/nurses etc can also handle only so many patients (2/8)

What do you call a government that cannot protect its patients in hospital? (1/5)
#LawyersAttackedPIC What do you call a police that cannot stop a murderous mob? (2/5)
#LawyersAttackedPIC

There's something rotten inside the Punjab police. When Punjab cops tortured #Salahuddin to death, they did not prove the rottenness of their force, they just reminded us of it. As did the discovery of the private torture cell of an SHO (1/10) As did the death of a young man who was savaged in the private torture cell. But this rottenness has percolated down from the top. We can smell the stench of rottenness in the reactions of the superiors of Punjab police and the crocodile tears of their political bosses...(2/10)

(1/7) Indian media is facing it's greatest test - and failing. The situation is similar to the state of US media immediately after 9/11. I know. I was there studying and working as a journalist in New York. I saw first hand how US media was willingly blinded by hysteria & rage... (2/7) I recall one senior American journalist in our newsroom turning to me and saying: "one day we will regret how we are behaving as journalists". Soon US media was trumpeting propaganda about Saddam and his nuclear weapons and even respected Colin Powell argued lies at UNSC...