Amidst the ongoing economic crisis in Pakistan, a video has surfaced online wherein a Pakistani man onboard a plane can be seen urging his fellow passengers to ‘donate’ money. While pleading with his fellow passengers to give him money, the Pakistani man, however, reminds them that he is not a beggar and that he needs the funds to build a Madarsa in Pakistan.
Twitter handle The Inside Story first shared the video on Twitter on July 14 with the hashtag #FailedStatePakistan. Although it is unclear from the video when and on which aeroplane the footage was filmed the man wearing a white kurta-pyjama with a blue jacket is seen going up and down the aircraft aisle as he tries to convince his co-passengers to ‘donate’ money.
Speaking in Punjabi, also the native language of the Punjab region of Pakistan, the man tells the passengers that he is not a beggar. He says he is asking for money to build a Madarsa in Pakistan.
Viral video whereby a Pakistani can be seen begging in a flight; Says I am not a beggar but need money to make a madrasas in Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/hUB3ZzVJGn
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) July 13, 2023
Netizens left amused
The timing of the video, which coincides with the ongoing financial crisis the cash-strapped Pakistan is facing at the time being, prompted Netizens to rush to the social networking platform with memes and comments shortly after it went viral.
— The Sarcastic Bharatiya🇮🇳🚩 (@RWsarcasm) July 13, 2023
Afsos 🥲 pic.twitter.com/rMHhyhjGPN
— Tee 🇮🇳 (@tee2799) July 13, 2023
Twitter user Raj Singh tweeted a picture of people lined up on an airstair with no aeroplane in sight and insinuated that seeing the beggar on board many more have been queuing up for the flight.
यह सब देखने के बाद अन्य भिखारियों का गैंग फ्लाइट के लिऐ लाइन लगाता हुआ। pic.twitter.com/VyMvVuEPqV
— RAJ SINGH🇮🇳 (@Rajsingh534) July 14, 2023
Some other Twitter users also mocked the economic condition of Pakistan. “Begging is the national sport of Pakistan,” tweeted @iArijitRoy.
Begging is the national sport of Pakistan.
— Arijit Roy🇮🇳 (@iArijitRoy) July 13, 2023
Twitter user @aryankol tweeted, “Begging is now become a symbolic occupation of a country.”
Begging is now become a symbolic occupation of a country 🤣
— Aryan 🇪🇦 🇮🇳 (@aryankol) July 13, 2023
Interestingly, in February 2023, a video of a woman in Lahore being married to a ‘rich’ family of professional beggars had gone viral on social media. The said video was first posted on the official YouTube channel of one Syed Basit Ali on February 20 this year. The woman, identified as Shazia, is an MBBS doctor by profession.
She recounted how her family was being misled by the professional beggars, who claimed to have made their fortunes through import-export business.
Deteriorating economic condition of Pakistan
The development comes at a time when Pakistan is experiencing its worst economic crisis, besides food shortages, flash floods, and poverty. Over 7 million workers in its textile industry have been laid off.
Other than this, Pakistan, which was declared South Asia’s weakest economy by a report is also hit by a severe food crisis. The situation in several cities of Pakistan is so grave that flour is being rationed and guarded by armed guards. Prices of flour and wheat have witnessed a dramatic surge.
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan are among the worst sufferers as tens of thousands spend hours daily to get the subsidized bags of flour that are already short in supply in the market.
Incidents of clashes and stampedes have been reported in markets in many areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan. The situation is so dire that flour-loaded mini trucks and vans are escorted by armed guards to avoid clashes.
As these vehicles reach the markets, people gather around these vehicles. Recently, the people of Pakistan took to Twitter to voice their woes as a nationwide power outage left almost all regions without electricity on January 24, 2023.
As such, the government has now surrendered itself to Almighty Allah. Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar said that the government was praying, that Allah would bring prosperity back to Pakistan.
