Ride-hailing service Careem Pakistan has incurred the wrath of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) following a controversial post on the social media platform X on Wednesday.
Careem tweeted, “program warr gaya,” (the game is over) a ‘derogatory and politically motivated comment’ mainly associated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and now Vice-President Sher Afzal Khan Marwat.
The original tweet was deleted, but snapshots of it are circulating on social media.
PMLN took to Twitter, condemning the tweet by Careem and stated, “This isn’t the first time they have done this. @CareemPAK is showing its true colors again. More interested in pushing political agendas. Shameful.”
The political party urged the people to boycott the online ride service using a hashtag #BoycottCareem.
Careem’s tweet appears to be a marketing stunt, but the company finds itself in an already highly charged political environment. Later, the company posted a video that says, “ab har program ko paka karao, ride ko advance main book karao!”
Twitter users are also unhappy with the politically motivated slogans used by a ride-hailing service. A Twitter handle @Ridwanjt wrote, “Dear Careem,,,Be apolitical…You don’t know when the Mood of the Nation Changes….!!”
However, in response to the aforementioned post and public comments, Careem Pakistan stated that the post under discussion on social media was not connected to the country’s political scenario in any way. This post was purely to promote the ‘later booking’ feature available in our application. “We would like to reiterate that Careem does not carry a political stance towards any political parties.” Careem Pakistan further clarified.
