Pakistan's Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari on Tuesday allegedly criticised US President Donald Trump indirectly, joining in the furore regarding his latest Twitter outburst -- only to delete the tweet later.
"When racism and bigotry become acceptable political norms in democracies," Mazari tweeted, according to Pakistani news media outlet, The Global Village Space. She shared a story titled "A Racist in the White House," published in The New Yorker on July 15 with the tweet.
While the Pakistani publication lauded Mazari on her move, Husain Haqqani, the Director (South & Central Asia) Hudson Institute claimed that Mazari had discreetly deleted the tweet.
He mused that the upcoming meeting between Trump and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan may be the reason behind the step taken by Mazari.
"#Pakistan's anti-American Human Rights Minister @ShireenMazari1 tweeted this but deleted it, possibly in view of the forthcoming meeting of PM Imran Khan with @realDonaldTrump," Haqqani tweeted.
Trump has recently received flak for his Twitter outburst which reportedly targetted four Democratic, People of Colour (POC) congresswomen, namely Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley. Democratic leaders have severely condemned his tweets, labelling them as "racist" as he asks them to go back to the "broken, crime-infested" countries they "came" from.
Mazari has previously raised eyebrows, calling the US Ambassador to Afghanistan, John Bass, a "little pygmy" during a spat on Twitter in March.