'We've been busy': Imran Khan’s PTI government being trolled for 100 days ad

Dubai: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has been quite active on social media and his tweets usually garner a lot of attention, both positive and negative. However, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is being trolled on social media today over an advertisement that was published in major newspapers in the country, in both Urdu and English, to mark PTI’s 100 days in power.

The ad reads “Hum masroof thay” or “We’ve been busy”. On turning the page, the ad continues with a detailed message, which reads, “The new government of Pakistan has been working tirelessly to fulfill its promises to the people. You don’t have to take our words for it; we’re letting the headlines speak for themselves.”

This was followed by a collage of newspaper clippings, which showed headlines from stories that highlighted the things the PTI government has done for the country thus far.

However, the ad was not received well by many tweeps in the country and they immediately started mocking it and created memes, which were shared across social media platforms overnight with a hashtag in Urdu, #HumMasroofThay (we’ve been busy).

Tweep @shahryar_saleem posted: “Professor: “Son, why didn’t you study before coming to class?” Me: “#HumMasroofThay”

@hmza_shafiq tweeted: “Dollar trading at Rs142 while PTI government is busy elsewhere. #HumMasroofThay”

@iam_hamas tweeted in Urdu: “Tax payers money is being spent on asking people to turn the page. This insensitive change is what is being seen in Naya Pakistan. #HumMasroofThay”

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was one of the tweeps posting memes. He tweeted an edited version of the advertisement in Urdu, which read: “We’ve been busy, in taking U-turns.”

The opposition has branded Khan as ‘U-turn Khan’ since he took power. But, Khan had, in a recent interview, stood up for his decisions and declared the so-called U-turns to be a “hallmark of great leadership”.

Some tweeps even questioned the decision to spend money on such an advertisement.

Tweep @newriverunited wrote: “What kind of an ad is this from @PTIofficial? This money could have done better, maybe they could have given it to the dam fund.”

@Fouzia281 tweeted: “This ad is absolute nonsense. A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Tweep @capisces added: “No need for that kind of a #teaser #advertisement for government campaign as it costs #TaxPayers money and should be a direct message rather than a teaser. #Bad is bad whether by #PMLN or #PTI.”

There were, however, those tweeps as well who still stood in support of the PTI government.

@Jarrie_just tweeted: “How many people are on Twitter in Pakistan and actually active? There are generations who are in their 40s, 50s and 60s who prefer newspaper and the PTI government is not publishing these kind of ads every day. So, just calm down and think about others, too.”