Pakistan embassy in Serbia criticises Imran Khan over inflation, demands salary; govt says account hacked

File image of Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan. AP

The Imran Khan government in Pakistan was at the centre of a controversy on Friday after a video text message ridiculing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf over record-breaking inflation was posted on social media by a verified Twitter handle of the country’s embassy in Serbia.

Criticising Khan’s policies, the tweet also alleged that officials of the embassy did not receive their salaries for past three months.

“With inflation breaking all previous records, how long do you expect @ImranKhanPTI that we government official will remain silent & keep working for you without been paid for past 3 months & our children been forced out of school due to non payment of fees Is this #NayaPakistan?,” the tweet said.

The tweet by the verified account of the embassy mentioned Khan, asking how long does he expect the government officials to remain silent in the face of hyperinflation. “Is this Naya Pakistan,” the post read.

Other than the tweet, the post also featured a parody song mocking Khan’s usual phrase, ‘Aap ne ghabrana nahi’. The lyrics of the song claimed that even as the country faced poverty and hunger in the day-to-day life, the government has been asking its people to simply not worry.

“If soap becomes costlier, don’t use. If wheat becomes dearer, please don’t eat,” the lyrics read with Khan’s ‘Aapne ghabrana nahi’ video inserted in between. The music video is by Saad Alvi, which was released on 8 March.

In a second tweet, the person who posted the video also makes an apology but says he was left with no choice. “I am sorry @ImranKhanPTI, am not left with another option,” the person said.

Both the tweets were later deleted and the government claimed that the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts of the country’s mission in Belgrade were “hacked”.

The Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts of the Embassy of Pakistan in Serbia have been hacked.

Messages being posted on these accounts are not from the Embassy of Pakistan in Serbia.

— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) December 3, 2021

Responding to the tweet by the embassy, PM’s digital media aide, Dr Arslan Khalid said, “Messages being posted on these accounts are not from the Embassy of Pakistan in Serbia.” He cited the Foreign Office as his source for the news.

An inquiry is being conducted by the Foreign Office, the focal person added.

The Twitter account of Pakistan’s embassy in Serbia is hacked as per information from foreign office and @ForeignOfficePk is conducting an enquiry into it.

— Dr Arslan Khalid (@arslankhalid_m) December 3, 2021

Record-high inflation

Earlier this week, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed inflation skyrocketed to 11.5 percent in November 2021 from 9.2 percent – the highest increase in 21 months – due to the government’s administrative decisions coupled with steep currency depreciation, which was making food, electricity, and transport unaffordable.

Last week, the central bank increased interest rate by 1.5 percentage point to 8.75 percent amid expectations that the rate would go up further in the next monetary policy meeting that the State Bank of Pakistan has convened on 14 December.

With inputs from agencies

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