Pakistan has brokered a peace deal between the US and Iran, bringing the escalating conflict in the West Asian region to a two-week halt. Pakistanis are both overjoyed and confused over the development—their PM made a gaffe while making the announcement. The general consensus, however, is sorted: Shehbaz Sharif for the Nobel and that it was peak dad behaviour by the PM.
While most have chosen to ignore the ‘unintentional social blunder’, others are curious—was it a ‘copy-paste’ message or not?
Pakistan had been making announcements of a potential peace deal between the warring countries over the past few weeks. Reports also indicated that the final developments would take place in Islamabad and would be called the ‘Islamabad Accord’.
Meanwhile, hours after US President Donald Trump fired his threats of ‘wiping off an entire civilisation’, Sharif announced a ceasefire, even before Trump could. However, he first posted it with the draft word intact. Then edited it.
His initial message said, “Draft: Pakistan PM’s message on X”—this was later changed. American journalist Ryan Grim was the first to point it out and wrote on X, “Oh, this is unbelievable. The edit history on this tweet shows that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif originally copied and pasted everything he was sent, including: ‘*Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X*’ Now, obviously, Sharif’s own staff don’t call him ‘Pakistan’s PM,’ they would just call him prime minister. The U.S. and Israel, of course, would call him ‘Pakistan’s PM’”, he wrote.
Also read: Dawn columnist Abbas Nasir’s farewell op-ed divides Pakistan: Govt pressure or self-interest?
‘Peak dad behaviour’
Pakistanis were quick to defend their PM. “This was an incredibly pointless & irresponsible stunt aimed at undermining the credibility of a last ditch attempt to avert global catastrophe Ryan”, political activist Ammar Rashid wrote on X. Journalist Mehr Tarar agreed and added, “Let your theories rest for a day, Ryan. Celebrate the ceasefire.”
Others, however, were sceptical. “Having an (illegitimate) prime minister in Pakistan is certainly helping Trump save face. By the way…. It was Trump who sent the message to Showbaaz Sharif who then obediently posted it from his account…..It’s a total farce”, Pakistani X user Amer Mirza wrote.
Another Pakistani, Omar, added: ‘So much noise about this great broker called Pakistan, that much propaganda, all down the drain due to a copy/paste mistake. Pakistan’s sole role in this “deal”, the social media account and a very incompetent official pasting the message.
Confusion and criticism aside, Pakistanis also brought out their humour to play. This was a moment ripe for memes, and Pakistani X users refused to neglect the matter. Pakistani X user Haider Abbasi shared a video of Sharif singing and captioned it on X, saying, “Grammy award + Nobel Peace Prize”. Former journalist Maria Amir agreed: “Yes, we won’t accept anything less than a double trophy.”
Abbasi then added: “Trump ko nominate karte karte Chachu ne khud Nobel Peace Prize le leea”
Another user named N shared a clip from the Bollywood film, Dhurandhar, where Akshaye Khanna (who plays Pakistani mafia turned politician Rehman Dakait) and captioned it: “Shehbaz Sharif arriving to stop World War 3”.
A user named @impromptunomad summed it up: “peak desi dad behaviour by pakistan: fascist at home, peace broker outside.”
Another user, Fatima, posted on X, “And in the end, PM Shahbaz Sharif, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Ishaq Dar become the powerpuff girls that saved the world!”
Another AI-generated video, which is doing the rounds on X, shows Trump forwarding a message to the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, Asim Munir, who is forwarding the same to Sharif.
As of now, Pakistan’s biggest contributions to the world are ‘banger memes, coke studio and global peace.’
(Edited by Saptak Datta)
Hmm