arooj aurangzeb calls
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Arooj Aurangzeb calls out support for Indian Gen Z

ByJustpaste.in

Arooj Aurangzeb is a name that carries real weight in Pakistan’s student activism circles. In 2019, she went viral after a video of her reciting a powerful poem during the student solidarity march spread rapidly across social media. She was protesting alongside thousands of other students who were demanding the restoration of student unions and proper political representation for young people within the country’s institutions. The videos from that movement were electric, emotional and widely shared, including hers.
Seven years later, she is back in the public conversation, but this time it is not because of a protest. It is because of a contradiction she says she can no longer stay quiet about.
When Indian students began protesting over the NEET paper leak at Jantar Mantar, demanding justice and systemic reform in the country’s examination system, Pakistani social media users responded with visible enthusiasm. Support poured in from across the border, with many Pakistanis praising the Indian Gen Z for their courage, awareness and refusal to be silent.
Arooj Aurangzeb watched that wave of support and felt something shift inside her. She took to social media to point out what she saw as a glaring and painful inconsistency. While Pakistanis were celebrating the Indian protesters and calling their movement inspiring, many of those same people had ridiculed, trolled and dismissed her and her fellow students when they took to the streets in 2019 for exactly the same kind of systemic change.
She did not hold back. She highlighted the irony directly, asking how the same people who mocked Pakistani students fighting for their rights could turn around and feel so moved by Indian Gen Z doing the same thing. Her post was not framed as anti-India. It was framed as a question about selective empathy and the way Pakistanis sometimes extend more admiration to voices from abroad than to those speaking up at home.
The internet did not respond with silence. Reactions were divided and sharp. Some users sided with her immediately. “We never stand by our own heroes,” one person wrote, capturing the frustration that Arooj was articulating. Others pushed back, with one commenter arguing that the dynamics of Indian and Pakistani Gen Z are completely different and that direct comparisons were unfair. Another raised a pointed question of their own, asking why so many Pakistani revolutionaries eventually leave the country on foreign visas, a remark that suggested the critique went both ways.
Arooj Aurangzeb’s voice in 2019 was a reminder that young Pakistanis were willing to stand up and demand something better. Her voice in 2026 is a reminder that those same young people are still watching, still paying attention, and still asking why the recognition they deserved then continues to be denied while admiration flows so freely elsewhere.

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    UN Security Council begins informal voting to choose next secretary general

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    PSX drops over 1,000 points

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    Pakistani hostages make desperate appeal after 100…

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The government also collected approximately Rs101 billion more than its petroleum levy target, while federal development spending remained Rs82 billion below the initially approved allocation. The fiscal improvement also contributed to a moderation in the growth of public debt. Public debt increased by around 7% during the year, bringing some relief after several years of double-digit debt expansion. Provinces narrowly miss IMF cash surplus target The four provincial governments collectively generated a cash surplus of around Rs1.45 trillion during the fiscal year. Although the amount fell marginally short of the IMF’s combined requirement, the shortfall was only around Rs14 billion. Punjab contributed the largest share, recording a cash surplus of approximately Rs914 billion. Sindh posted a surplus of around Rs350 billion, followed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with Rs165 billion and Balochistan with approximately Rs21 billion. Provincial governments, meanwhile, performed slightly better on revenue collection. Their combined tax receipts exceeded the IMF condition by around Rs18 billion, with collections crossing Rs1.2 trillion. FBR misses tax target Despite the overall improvement in the fiscal position, tax collection remained a major area of concern. The Federal Board of Revenue collected approximately Rs13 trillion during FY2025-26, falling nearly Rs1 trillion short of the IMF’s revised target. FBR tax receipts increased by about 11% compared with the previous year. However, this increase was broadly in line with nominal GDP growth, indicating that the tax-to-GDP ratio remained largely unchanged at around 10.3%. The figures suggest that additional revenue expected from new taxation and enforcement measures did not fully materialise. The government had anticipated around Rs700 billion in additional revenue from such measures. Non-tax revenue also remained below expectations by approximately Rs63 billion. Total non-tax receipts stood close to Rs5.1 trillion, including around Rs2.4 trillion in profits transferred by the central bank. Petroleum levy becomes key revenue source A major contributor to the stronger fiscal outcome was the petroleum levy. Collections under the petroleum levy climbed to around Rs1.567 trillion, representing an increase of approximately 28% over the previous year. The amount was also Rs101 billion above the target agreed with the IMF. The additional collection effectively represented roughly 25 days of petroleum price relief at a levy rate of Rs80 per litre on petrol and high-speed diesel. For the current financial year, the government has committed to collecting approximately Rs1.7 trillion through the petroleum levy. Meeting this objective is expected to require maintaining the levy at around Rs80 per litre, subject to the applicable petroleum pricing mechanism and market conditions. Development spending remains restrained The government’s fiscal consolidation strategy also affected development expenditure. Federal development spending was recorded at around Rs918 billion, approximately Rs82 billion below the originally approved budget allocation. However, the amount was still around Rs100 billion higher than the subsequently revised allocation. The figures reflect the government’s efforts to contain expenditure and prioritise fiscal targets amid pressure from debt servicing and revenue mobilisation. Debt servicing costs fall Lower-than-expected debt servicing provided another significant boost to the government’s fiscal position. The Ministry of Finance reported that debt servicing remained around Rs6.95 trillion during the year, compared with the budgeted amount of approximately Rs8.2 trillion. The government attributed the savings to tight fiscal management, improved cash handling and the early retirement of around Rs1.9 trillion in domestic debt. 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Punjab accounted for around Rs266 billion, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Rs95 billion, Balochistan Rs72 billion and Sindh around Rs28 billion. The ministry said movements in commercial bank deposits were among the principal factors behind the provincial differences. IMF review ahead The improved fiscal performance is expected to strengthen Pakistan’s position ahead of the next IMF assessment. An IMF mission is expected to visit Islamabad in the third week of September to review Pakistan’s economic performance during the previous fiscal year. The mission is also expected to

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    Former Mexican governor formally charged over 2014 disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa students

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