Sardar Alam Shafqat

CBStian, Lawyer @londonU, Student of Law, Politics and International Relations
🇵🇰

[Sardar Alam Shafqat @sardaralam]

Fifa was so impressed by the Form 47 thing that officially incorporated it and made it Form 47 Fifa World Cup.
#ARGEYG #VAR #Fıfaworldcup #Form47

[FLA Henrique @flahenriquebr]

Fizeram um compilado de 4 minutos mostrando os lances em que a Argentina foi favorecida contra o Egito.

Simplesmente um escândalo mundial. Quanta sujeira envolvida. 🤢

[Nihal | نهال @nihalist___]

they disallowed this goal because it was too humiliating for Argentina

[Vfynn_🥷🏼 𐙚 @Vfynn_]

🚨🗣️New: Mohamed Salah on the controversial officiating decisions in Egypt and Argentina game, Messi and Argentina are being favored:

“People will say Argentina showed the mentality of champions. Fine. But tell me this: when exactly did Egypt get the same protection from the officials?

We scored a second goal. The stadium exploded. The world saw it. Then suddenly VAR became an archaeologist, digging through the ruins of football history to find a foul from another lifetime.

Funny how they could rewind the game Five minutes to cancel our goal, but when I was brought down in the box, everyone suddenly forgot where the replay button was.

That’s what hurts. Not losing. Not Argentina.

The inconsistency.

One decision gets examined under a microscope. Another gets buried under the carpet.

We were told football is decided on the pitch. Tonight it felt like it was decided in a control room.

And let’s talk about those final minutes.

Two penalty appeals. Two moments that could have changed everything. Nothing. No review. No urgency. No explanation.

Then Argentina go down the other end and score the winner.

That isn’t a plot twist. That’s the kind of script that leaves millions of people asking questions.

Egypt fought for every blade of grass. We defended. We believed. We earned our moments.

But every time we climbed the mountain, someone moved the summit.

The disallowed goal.

The ignored penalty shouts.

The cards flying around our bench because people who dedicate their lives to this game couldn’t understand what they were witnessing.

And now we’re expected to smile and say football won?

No.

Football wins when the rules are applied equally.

Football wins when VAR is a shield for fairness, not a sword that appears only when convenient.

Because from where I’m standing, Egypt didn’t just lose 3-2.

Egypt lost a goal, lost two penalty appeals, lost faith in consistency, and eventually lost a place in the quarter-finals.

Maybe Argentina deserved to advance.

Maybe they didn’t.

That’s football.

But what will make people angry isn’t the result.

It’s the feeling that one team was forced to play against eleven men, the clock, and a set of decisions that seemed to change shape whenever the game demanded it.

And that’s why this match will be remembered long after the scoreline is forgotten.”

[FLA Henrique @flahenriquebr]

Fizeram um compilado de 4 minutos mostrando os lances em que a Argentina foi favorecida contra o Egito.

Simplesmente um escândalo mundial. Quanta sujeira envolvida. 🤢

[South Asia Index @SouthAsiaIndex]

Prominent influencer and historian Faisal Warraich has urged Pakistan to adopt "Indus" as alternative name.

Warraich argues that Pakistanis are true descendants of the Indus Valley Civilization and country's name should reflect that civilizational identity.

[Miftah Ismail @MiftahIsmail]

A beautifully written Urdu column (linked below) by the Harvard-educated @Rashidlangrial talks about the harm to our economy and consumers caused by erecting tariff barriers around our industry. This lets our industry become inefficient, expensive to consumers, and unable to compete with the world.

In this article Rashid Langrial talks about the limitation of collective action, the inability of the median voter to effect the outcome to his benefit, rent seeking by industry, and how well-meaning government ministers, advisors and bureaucrats get confused about where public interest lies.

He starts with a quote from Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, then quotes a Persian misra

شفقتِ بے علم، تیغِ ناتراش است

and then an Urdu misra

میرؔ کیا سادے ہیں بیمار ہوئے جس کے سبب

And his argument is on point and says the government is trying to bring custom duties from 10% of import value to about 6% of import value. I read Mir’s misra above and remind him that custom tariffs were 6% of import value in 2013 when PMLN raised it to where it is now.

I also wrote a column in Dawn in Nov 2023 arguing for export promotion as opposed to import substitution. But I have to admit it was much less well written. I have linked that column here too.

https://t.co/fV60rJWNcM

ٹیرف کی دیوار

https://t.co/dmZNazh5K4

[Shashank Mattoo @MattooShashank]

Pakistani Journalist: Where will Pakistan be in 5 years?

Ex-Singapore Ambassador: I will be very blunt. Pakistan took advantage of a diplomatic opportunity in the US-Iran war. But that will not feed your people. Pakistan has been on the brink of failure for a long time.

[farrukh saleem @SaleemFarrukh]

1. Consumers are paying more
2. Oil companies are earning more
3. The government is collecting more
4. Pakistanis are being squeezed
5. Pakistan’s oil companies are minting money
https://t.co/TOKGyTpISj

[farrukh saleem @SaleemFarrukh]

1. The pain is public
2. The profits are private
3. PSO profit up from Rs15B to Rs38B - up 149%
4. Attock Petroleum profit up from Rs7.7B to Rs14.76B - up 92%
5. Pakistan Refinery profit up from Rs293M to Rs25B
6. Consumers are bleeding
7. Oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank
https://t.co/NDnpyDW3Ol

[Ayesha Razzaque @razzaque_ayesha]

Good points, am always drawn to the socio-cultural and economic side of sports, which is exactly why I found this piece so interesting.
@umairjav

https://t.co/tN27cIceKo

[Nabeel Ali @Nabeel1124]

🚨 Great to see my timeline filled with 2026-2031 Auto-policy 🇵🇰 discussions

The initial draft which was withheld from public view is now under complete limelight

Policy makers and some legacy assemblers treat cars as a luxury commodity and want their own bubble to strengthen, where they don’t want new technologies to emerge nor any cheap vehicle to enter Pakistan. There is no such thing as “masses” for them.

Upcoming Auto-policy should have been finalised up till now but lobbying is at its peak, legacy (big 3 guys), Koreans, Chinese and Importers all trying their best. The actual problem, in is this is EDB/MOIP whose job is to find a middle ground but has failed to do so and they had 5 complete years for this. Why are they so afraid of tariff liberalisation? Which to me doesn’t make any sense because since 5 years, you should have introduced incentives for localisation and this all could have off-set the lower barriers on import but instead, so called local manufacturers were given complete protection; by first banning overseas schemes to import and then introducing stringent rules for commercial import (350 million capital and 3s dealerships). Nowhere in the world this kind of one-sidedness happens. Moreover, they all want barriers on new technologies PHEV/EVs which are the future globally but we are adamant on remaining in stone age.

I would like to urge @CMShehbaz @Financegovpk @naveedqamarmna @FaisalVawdaPAK to take strict action on this matter because EDB is bypassing all other SROs and ministries and imposing this mafia auto-policy on the masses.

And huge credit should be given to @KlasraRauf @MianShoaibA @MalickViews @FaisalVawdaPAK @naveedqamarmna @81ShahbazRana @AdeelAfzal06 for exposing the flawed auto-policy and bringing the actual picture to the public and I hope it’s a win-win situation for all stakeholders and specially for the end consumer.

[Faisal Ranjha @ranjha001]

May 28 -- Petrol in international markets 65 dollars/barrel and petrol in Pakistan 265 PKR/litre

June 19 -- Petrol in International markets 75-76 dollars/barrel and petrol in Pak is 299 PKR/Litre

Don't be ridiculous in your criticism that makes you look stupid

[Asad Nasir @asadnasir2000]

🚨 SAVE THIS CLIP FOR THE FUTURE!!!!

[Riaz ul Haq @Riazhaq]

وفاقی کابینہ میں بڑا ردوبدل! محسن نقوی کو وزیر خارجہ اور اسحٰق ڈار کو خزانہ ملنے کا امکان

[Ahmad Hassan Al-Arbi @AhmadHassanArbi]

🚨 There is a lot of propaganda claiming that Pakistan has made all the efforts but the talks have been taking place in Geneva.

What is the reason behind selecting Geneva as the venue? What are the pros and cons, and what is the reality behind Pak hosting the talks in Geneva?

[Naureen Saleem Janjua @NaureenJanjua]

بزنس کلاس کے ٹکٹ سستے کر دیے ہیں اپنے لئے ۔ اگر کوئی بندہ سستی گاڑی لے رہا تھا وہ انہوں نے مہنگی کر دی ہے ۔ یہ اشرافیہ کا بجٹ ہے۔ نور عالم خان کا دلچسپ تبصرہ

[Abdullah 🇵🇰 @LUFC_Abdullah]

world cup starting in less than 3 hours, so time to bring back this all-timer clip 😭😭😭😭😭

[Abdullah Manzoor @iabdullah278]

Habib Bank Limited Cards Offering 15%-35% discount on Qatar Airways flights
#HBL ——Is offering Up-to 35% off on Qatar Airways flights must be purchased with HBL Credit/Debit Cards excluding the final destination to Middle Eastern Countries including Qatar on Economy & Premium Economy Class for tickets being bought between 8th-15th June 2026 & valid for travel period from 10th June 2026 to 31st March 2027

FX—Foreign exchange fees will also be waived off, along with customers will get double “Avios” Points as well

#AviationDiscount #CardOffer

[Fahd Husain @Fahdhusain]

The biggest loss making State Owned Enterprise in Pakistan is National Highway Authority (NHA) @nha_pakistan1 & govt report says it must be reformed. Yet no action. Why? I ask Dr @MiftahIsmail