Maleeha Lodhi would be replaced by Munir Akram as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, the foreign ministry said Monday in a statement. Maleeha Lodhi shot to the limelight (rather negatively) when she displayed the wrong picture of a pellet victim from Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations.
The development comes merely a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan returned from the United States, where he addressed the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) 74th session — termed successful and historic — and fought Kashmir’s case. The Foreign Office gave no reason for Lodhi’s removal.
It has been an honour to serve the country & am grateful for the opportunity to do so for over four years. Representing Pakistan at the world’s most important multilateral forum was a great privilege. I had planned to move on after UNGA following a successful visit by the PM -1
— Maleeha Lodhi (@LodhiMaleeha) September 30, 2019
Lodhi also tweeted on her personal Twitter account about her plan to ‘move on’ after the United Nations General Assembly session, expressing gratitude over her tenure as the UN envoy from the country. In another Twitter post, she said that she is humbled by the appreciation she received following the PM’s visit, wishing luck to her successor Akram.
I am humbled by the appreciation I have received for the PM’s visit and the support I have also received over the years. I wish my successor Munir Akram the best of luck!-2
— Maleeha Lodhi (@LodhiMaleeha) September 30, 2019
Maleeha Lodhi became ‘infamous’ for showing the wrong picture of a pellet victim from Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations while attacking India.
The photo of a girl – her face bearing multiple bruises – which Lodhi displayed at the UNGA session was taken by award-winning photographer Heidi Levine inside the Gaza strip in 2014. The girl – Rawya Abu Joma, who was then 17 years old – had been injured during an Israeli airstrike, the original caption with the photograph said.
The gaffe by Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN came while she was responding to Indian’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s verbal attack on Pakistan. Lodhi was widely ridiculed by the Indian netizens and even Pakistan media criticized her for her unprofessional work at the highest level.
