In a heated Twitter war, Overseas Pakistanis are receiving backlash from Underseas Pakistanis for their comments on global inflation. Ever since petrol prices increased, Underseas Pakistanis lambasted the PTI government for adding to the miseries of the population.
On this note, Overseas Pakistani took to social media to claim that inflation is not exclusive to Pakistan only. The entire world is facing the brunt of increasing prices. They also gave instances of inflation in the UK, Canada, Australia, France, etc.
Interestingly, PTI’s Twitter account began sharing the videos of Overseas Pakistanis comparing prices of the countries they are living in with Pakistan. They intended to show that things are comparatively better and cheaper in Pakistan.
Pertinent to note, PM Khan himself stated that fuel prices in Pakistan are the cheapest in the region.
Read more: Pakistan’s petrol prices go up to Rs8.14
عالمی منڈی میں تیل کی بڑھتی قیمتوں کااحوال ایک سمندر پار پاکستانی کی زبانی سنئے pic.twitter.com/Qyke0q7v4D
— PTI (@PTIofficial) November 5, 2021
While Overseas Pakistanis supported PM Khan, Underseas Pakistanis heavily criticized them and taunted them. According to them, foreign countries like the US offer a higher per capita income. What one person in the US earns on an hourly basis, or in a day, is more than what an average Pakistani earns in an entire month.
Underseas Pakistanis also stated that since Overseas Pakistanis are unaware of the sufferings of the people then they should not be allowed to vote.
سمندر پار پاکستانیوں کی جو مہنگائی بارے ویڈیوز پی ٹی آئی والے چلا رہے ہیں وہ اس بات کا ثبوت ہے کہ انہیں زمینی حقائق سے آگاہی نہیں لہذا انہیں پاکستانی سیاست میں ملوث نہیں کرنا چاہئیے اگر درد حد سے بڑھے تو پاکستان آ جائیں
— Umar Cheema (@UmarCheema1) November 7, 2021
To clarify, owing to a large number of foreign remittances, the PTI government heavily campaigned for Overseas Pakistanis to vote in the next general elections.
Read more: Is the current i-Voting system for overseas Pakistanis secure?
Twitter campaigns: PTI vs. PML-N
Members of PML-N also lambasted Overseas Pakistani. Among them were PML-N Secretary Information Azma Bokhari, and PML-N General Secretary and former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail.
As PTI shared now-deleted videos of Overseas Pakistanis, Azma Bokhari advised them to not make fun of the sufferings of Pakistanis. On the other hand, Miftah Ismail too compared prices of US and Pakistan.
Petrol price in US is $3.36/gallon or $.89/litre or Rs 150.7/litre. PTI’s youthful overseas supporters are right, petrol is more expensive in US than Pak by 3%. Per capita income in US is 4000% higher than Pak. That’s why overseas desis praise PTI from afar but never come back. https://t.co/COycj6sQLZ
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) November 7, 2021
While PML-N began a Twitter trend against Overseas Pakistanis, PTI immediately came to support them. Supporters of Overseas Pakistanis claimed that Pakistan’s economy is surviving due to the remittances sent. Had it not been for the remittances, the situation would have worsened.
“Overseas Pakistanis send as many dollars as Pakistan earns through exports,” Azhar Mashwani tweeted.
Read more: Remittances above $2bn for 15th consecutive month
“There are some people whose leaders stole money from Pakistan. They like the speeches of these robbers but they do not like the opinion of any overseas Pakistani,” he further added.
آپ کا پورا ملک مل کر جتنی ایکسپورٹس کر کے ڈالر کماتا ہے اتنے ہی اوورسیز پاکستانی بھیجتے ہیں تب جا کر یہ ملک چل پاتا ہے
یہاں کچھ ایسےلوگ ہیں، جن کے لیڈرز پاکستان سے پیسہ چوری کر کے باہر لےگئے، انہیں ان ڈاکوؤں کے بھاشن تو پسند ہیں لیکن کسی اوورسیز پاکستانی کا opinion پسند نہیں آتا
— Azhar Mashwani (@MashwaniAzhar) November 8, 2021
According to journalist Umer Inam, there are trends against Overseas Pakistanis because they support PM Khan.
“The campaign against overseas Pakistanis is being run only because most of them are supporters of Imran Khan,” Umer Inam said. “I wish our journalists would campaign with the same vigor to give the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis.”
اوورسیز پاکستانیوں کے خلاف مہم صرف اس لیے چلائ جا رہی ہے کیونکہ انکی اکثریت عمران خان کی سپورٹر ہے۔ کاش اوورسیز پاکستانیوں کو ووٹ کا حق دینے کے لیے بھی ہمارے صحافیوں کی طرف سے اسی زور و شور سے مہم چلائی جاتی
— Umer Inam (@UmerInamPk) November 7, 2021