A 🧵on Maryam Nawaz’s shamelessly plastering her face literally everywhere…
(1/n) For Muharram processions…
(2/n)

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@TIME‘s article on @ImranKhanPTI reeks of Eurocentrism.
They’ve written a typical commentary that does not beyond the West’s binary, myopic & fallacious view of the Muslim world.
The content of the article itself is flawed, objectionable & contemptuous. From a macro standpoint, the article is a perfect example of pathetic Orientalism. It is loaded with phrases like Islamists, hardliners, Jihad, which is not just contemptuous but also highlights the very narrow & tunnel-vision of Western commentators.

The rule of PDM & its allies is one of the darkest periods in 🇵🇰’s history, that saw abrogation of the Constitution, a mockery of the rule of law, blatant human rights violations & a full blown economic crisis.
This thread will cover the economic fallout in the last one year
🧵 Since the tabling of no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have depleted by 74%

Forex reserves:
• 7 Mar 2022: $ 16.4Bn
• 24 Mar 2023: $ 4.2Bn

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The “State” of 🇵🇰 is declaring its citizens as militants & terror groups, and is rampantly filing terrorism charges.
If anything, it is the State that is committing gross atrocities against its citizens & has shown a disregard for their fundamental rights, lives & dignity. It was the State that abducted Dr. Shahbaz Gil in broad day light, stripped him naked & subjected him to physical & sexual torture.
Dr. Shahbaz Gil is still awaiting justice. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Policy-making can be tricky, and can sometimes yield the opposite of what it intended to achieve.
The PTA tax was introduced as a deterrent to smuggled imported phones & boost mobile phone production in Pak. For the first two years, it yielded remarkable results…
(1/n) In 2020, imported phones made up 65% of the total phones.
As a result of made in Pak policies, imported phones were substituted w/ locally made phones. By 2021, local production increased 88% YoY.
In 2021, imported phones made up only 29% of the total phones.

Imran Khan’s visit to GCU & the subsequent events should bring absolute clarity on where we’re headed:
1. IK was emphatically welcomed by the students who roared behind their captain & showed that they (the country’s future) won’t allow the crooks to plunder the country further 2. The enthusiasm of students and their willingness to participate in the political matters is a very promising sight. A whole generation kept distance from political matters & as a result, we find ourselves where we are; treated as secondary to two families in power

This article could not have been further from the truth.
Let’s start with the claims of mismanaged economy:
In 2018 when @ImranKhanPTI’s govt came into power, the country faced its greatest ever twin deficit, depleted foreign reserves, record high debt servicing & overvalued PKR

https://twitter.com/ForeignAffairs/status/1515890194288988162

Under PMLN, 🇵🇰’s economic policies were fundamentally wrong. Overvalued PKR led to a huge surge in imports, while exports & the local industry suffered. In addition, foreign reserves depleted as then finance minister decided to peg exchange rate, leading to a severe BOP crises.

A 🧵on @Ehsaas_Pk , the government's flagship programme for social protection & poverty alleviation. It is the largest social protection programme in history of 🇵🇰, benefitting half of the country's population. Ehsaas has over 20 branches with Dr @SaniaNishtar as its chairperson. Ehsaas is about the creation of a welfare state. It focuses on human capital formation for poverty eradication, econ growth, sustainable dev. & overcoming financial barriers to access health & higher education. In this 🧵, I will cover all projects being executed under Ehsaas.

In GE-18, one of the core messages of PTI was ‘Do nahin, aik Pakistan’.
While there’s still a long way to go to ensure that there are no disparities in the treatment of the rich & the poor, the following actions of the govt will certainly go a long way towards this cause: (1/n) 1. Introduction of Single National Curriculum (SNC): Historically Pak has had 3-tier educ system. The rich go to private english medium schools while the poor have to opt for public schools (w low SLOs) or Deeni Madaris (where students remained cut-off from mainstream educ) 2/n