New Delhi: That Pakistan is a “nonserious country”, according to its own people, was proved once again when its Ministry of IT & Telecom’s social media account showed the world ‘how not to do PR’. On platform X, it posted a picture of newspaper clippings neatly pasted on A4 sheets to persuade Pakistanis to pat the government’s back.
Now, Pakistanis who were supposed to be impressed are embarrassed that their IT ministry doesn’t even know “how to take screenshots”. That these clippings pertained to reports praising the ministry’s initiatives was all the more fodder for Pakistanis who termed this Luddite approach an “embarrassment”. So much for a government department that seeks to “digitise systems and processes”.
One user went so far as to say this was evidence, as clear as any, that Pakistan is a “nonserious (sic) country”. “IT ministry relying on physical work which can easily be done digitally in this day n age,” the user wrote.
Hussain Dada, a journalist with The Express Tribune, was among the first to point out how the exercise exhibited redundancy.
Another wondered if “no one” in the IT ministry knew “how to take screenshots”, while a third suggested that this was the “norm in government ministries”. The breakout response though was from one user who cited the now-deleted post to bestow the moniker: “Hi-Tea Ministry”.
There were also those in Pakistan who were able to see the silver lining, concealed behind a thick cloud of embarrassment. “Any graphics designers here – do some improvements and reach out to him directly to show him. You might get a job,” wrote one Reddit user, reacting to a thread.
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Minister in the line of fire
Some of the criticism was directed at Umar Saif, federal minister of IT & Telecom in the caretaker government led by Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar.
“Sums up Umer Saif and his shenanigans perfectly,” wrote a user on X, while another on Reddit added: “Jinka minister umar saif ho woh already embarrassed karchuke globally (the country with Umar Saif as a minister has already faced global embarrassment).”
On the day he took over as minister, Saif had laid out his vision in no uncertain terms. “IT holds the key to turn around the economy of Pakistan, digitise systems and processes, minimise corruption and facilitate citizens,” he wrote in a post on X, which doesn’t seem to have aged well.
However, it seems like the now-deleted post was not the only one of its kind. On 16 November, the ministry had shared a similar post showing newspaper clippings from the previous day neatly pasted on A4 sheets to laud the “boost in broadband fibre connectivity”.
The post also quoted Saif as saying that the boost in broadband fibre connectivity is “vital for economic growth as for every 10 percent increase in mobile broadband adoption results in 0.5-0.8 percent increase in GDP”.
As it turns out, the computer engineer-turned-entrepreneur might have anticipated criticism of his handling of the ministry in advance.
In a post on X on 26 November, Saif wrote: “Your haters are your biggest fans. They want to be like you and want your attention, but can’t contain their desperation from bringing out the worst in them. Ignore and soldier on. Some of them will grow up and come around. Others will get what they deserve.”
(Edited by Prashant)