‘Fault in our taars’ to Imran’s ‘dark mode’ — how Pakistan hilariously lit up its blackout

As Pakistan plunged into long hours of darkness after massive breakdown in national power grid Saturday, the blackout led to hilarious tweets.

File photo | Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan | Facebook/ImranKhanOfficial

New Delhi: Pakistan plunged into long hours of darkness after a massive breakdown in the national power grid late Saturday. The country’s energy ministry said the outage had been caused due to a fault in the power transmission system.

The outage affected cities like Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, Multan, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sukkur and Bahawalpur. However, the blackout led to hilarious tweets from Pakistanis wondering about the cause of the outage. 

THE FAULT IN OUR TAARS https://t.co/9AWQex0iWt

— Aleeha Tasneem (@xaleehax) January 9, 2021

Hilarity ensues on Twitter as national grid breakdown plunges #Pakistan into darkness. Funny Twitter wins again. A thread of memes on the #PakistanBlackout pic.twitter.com/83hbPfTHxH

— Mehreen Zahra-Malik (@mehreenzahra) January 9, 2021

Some mocked that the outage was the “revenge” of the former special assistant to the prime minister on power, Tabish Gohar. He had recently resigned from his position because he was “fed up with interference in his workings”.

Revenge of the fallen SAPM.

— Ammar Khan (@rogueonomist) January 9, 2021

Others poked fun at Prime Minister Imran Khan, asking if this was his version of the “dark mode”.

In last 72 year's @ImranKhanPTI is the first Prime Minister of Pak who introduce Dark Mode in the whole country Wow Ye hota hai leader, ye hota hai vision ❤️ #BlackOutPakistan pic.twitter.com/juKt0dTT5p

— Raja Nawaz Khan (@nazkhan6666) January 9, 2021

No one can beat Pakistanis on this!!!??#Blackout #BlackOutPakistan pic.twitter.com/O5OBPeSiJq

— الف (@arbax_) January 10, 2021

Lahore among world’s ‘dream destinations to love’ in 2021

The walled city of Lahore has been included in a list of top 52 dream destinations for tourists to visit in 2021, compiled by The New York Times.

The NYT made the compilation after taking over 2,000 suggestions from readers, who were asked about spots in the world that comforted them in 2020.

Haneen Iqbal, one of NYT’s readers, said: “Especially in winter, this city nourishes you. It opens its arms to you, then feeds you and wraps you in a hug.” 

Other spots in the list included Siwa Oasis in Egypt, Llanos of Colombia and Kaliya Dhrow in India.

UAE royals arrive in Balochistan to hunt houbara bustards

Eleven members of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates arrived in Panjgur district in Balochistan Saturday to hunt houbara bustards, an internationally protected bird species.

The royal family members arrived aboard a special plane and were taken to their palace in Piry Jhalak by road. According to a Dawn report, the members of the royal family were equipped with hunting gear and falcons.

The Pakistan foreign ministry issued special permits to the royal family to hunt the bird in a controversial decision last month. 

The population of Asian houbara bustards extends from northeast Asia, across central Asia, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. According to the International Fund for Houbara Conservation, there has been a decline in the population of the bird due to poaching, unregulated hunting and the degradation of its habitat.

The hunting of these birds is officially banned in Pakistan. However, the government issues 25 to 35 permits to wealthy sheikhs to hunt the bird, providing the Pakistani politicians a chance to engage in “soft diplomacy”.

Ban on jeans for female students, and action over dancing 

The Hazara University in Mansehra has issued a notice to its students, faculty and administration staff, stating that women will wear abaya, scarf and shalwar kameez instead of skinny jeans, tights and t-shirts.

The order also forbade women from carrying make-up, jewellery, large handbags, etc. 

Meanwhile, a viral video of students dancing in an open air musical festival in Swat’s Malam Jabba area resulted in action from the authorities, which arrested the hotel owner where the event was organised. The police reportedly claimed that not just “vulgarity” was on display, but the students also disrupted SOPs against coronavirus.