New Delhi: Pakistanis are having their moment in the sun. Their country just brokered a peace deal between two warring countries. It is on a diplomatic high and Pakistanis are not missing any chance to extoll the greatness of their nation. They are now showing off their Pakistani passports with flair.
There is even a set meme template: “Just landed at an airport. Handed over my Pakistani passport for immigration and the officer smiled warmly, looked at me and said Pakistan made us proud”. The creativity is in the different iterations of this template.
Pakistani X user Haroon wrote, “Just landed at an airport in Mexico. Handed over my Pakistani passport for immigration and the officer smiled warmly, looked at me and said, ‘You’re from Imran Khan’s country. I wish we too had a hero like him’ (based on true events)”.
Another added: “Just landed at Heathrow Airport. Handed over my Pakistani passport for immigration and the officer smiled warmly, looked at me and said, ‘You’re a global peacemaker. We’re proud of you.’ He then asked me to marry his daughter because he would like his grandchildren to have Pakistani peacemaking blood in them. It truly made my day.”
The Pakistani diaspora also joined in, making reels showing off their passports in offices, in malls, while at work, while getting coffee.
Also read: Shehbaz Sharif’s ‘draft’ gaffe in US-Iran peace deal sparks buzz—‘peak dad behaviour’
Memes and conspiracy theories
Then there was a flood of “made my day at the airport” memes. Soon, others took it a notch up. Now the narrative has shifted. Not only are they proud of their nation and are ‘showing off their passports’, but are also actively speculating about how the meeting in Islamabad would go.
One meme shows an oversized JD Vance dancing on the streets with the caption, “JD Vance after that Saturday halwa puri and cholay”.
Another Pakistan person, Jasir Shahbaz, added: “Shukar hai they moved the capital to Islamabad. Imagine JD Vance losing his phone on first day in Pakistan”
Even actors have joined in. Actress Mahira Khan tweeted, “Peace over destruction! Proud of Pakistan. Thank you @CMShehbaz”.
Former cricketer Shahid Afridi too praised his country. “Islam is ‘peace’; hence Pakistan is the peacemaker,” he wrote on X. His son-in-law, pacer Shaheen Afridi, added, “Proud to see Pakistan leading the way for the greater good of world peace. Truly encouraging to see our PM Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir pushing for dialogue and stability.”
Meanwhile, former information minister Murtaza Solangi took a dig at India and said, “You keep the World Cups. We are keeping the World. #Pakistan”
Then there were also some conspiracy theories. A Pakistani human rights activist mocked the PM in a post on X: “Have a reason to believe that @CMShehbaz‘s decades of experience in managing multiple spouses has a huge role to play in this ceasefire. I ain’t. promoting poly(gamy/andry) by any means, just stating the facts.”
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)