A Pakistani female student of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) had been declared the global prizewinner for scoring the highest marks in the Financial Reporting exam held in December 2020.
The government of Pakistan confirmed the news by dedicating a post to the prodigy. “A very proud moment for Pakistan as Zara Naeem has been declared the global prizewinner for scoring the highest marks in ACCA exams”.
Although, the news of Zara’s accomplishment did not travel or valued nearly as fast and effervescently as a social media influencer Dananeer Mobeen’s ‘pawry’ video, which went viral and now, the comparison between the two has raised several questions on different social media websites.
We will try to elaborate on the facts by parsing who deserved praise and why the comparison between the two has raised several questions?
Zara Naeem
Pakistani students continue to make the country proud by impressing the world with their excellent exam performance in the global professional accountancy exams conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
Zara Naeem from Lahore was declared the global prizewinner for scoring the highest marks in the Financial Reporting exam conducted in December 2020.
In fact, the year 2020 was a difficult academic year during which many students faced educational problems due to coronavirus lockdown which disrupted the educational process across the globe and caused negative trends. Despite the issues, Zara Naeem topped by surpassing millions of students from 179 countries in ACCA exams held In December 2020.
Problems cannot become a barrier to success
Zara has proven that issues and problems cannot become a barrier to success if one is courageous enough to pursue one’s dreams. She advised all parents to encourage their daughters to pursue higher education and urged girls to fulfill their dreams and smash all artificial barriers.
Busting the myth that finance and accountancy is a male-dominated profession, she shared, “This is no longer the case. With bodies like ACCA opening access, you will be surprised to learn that ACCA now has a female student base of 58%, with more women than ever looking to become professional accountants. So yes, get ready to see cracks in the glass ceiling.” She said.
Indeed, her grit and single-minded devotion have much to teach the people who have opportunities but wallow in self-pity. She can be a symbol of self-reliance to anyone who believes in the dignity and is willing to do hard work.
‘Pawri’ girl
Contrary to Dar, Mobeen is a 19-year-old social media influencer hailing from Peshawar who creates content on a range of topics from the latest fashion trends to mental health issues. She shot to fame after a video of her quirky representation of ‘burgers upon visiting the Northern areas of Pakistan’ took social media by storm.
In the video, Mobeen can be heard saying, “Yeh hamari car hai, aur yeh hum hein, aur yeh hamari pawri horae hei (This is our car, this is us, and this is our party).” The footage has since been recreated hundreds of times with the hashtag #PawriHoriHai recurring on various social media platforms after trending on Twitter.
The clip also transcended borders and to everyone’s amusement turned into a song, courtesy of Indian content creator Yashraj Mukhate. Following this, Mobeen’s remix of the video garnered 10 million views in two days on YouTube.
Where the priorities of most Pakistanis lie?
Now, people are drawing analogizing between her and Zara Naseem, to understand where the priorities of most Pakistanis lie. A girl who made a random video a couple of days ago and almost every Pakistani knows about her today. On the other hand, a girl who topped in ACCA exams globally hardly any of us knows about it while the international media talked about her achievement.
Our priorities are clear; we just want to talk about #PawriHoriHai, while a girl who scored the highest in the ACCA exam globally doesn’t get enough acknowledgment. Sadly these kinds of attitudes show a great decline in our society.
Give Pakistani girls an equal chance and they can take on and beat the best in the world. Proud of Zara Naeem and wish her the best in her future goals. Imagine a Pakistani girl competing among 180 countries of the world and securing 100 percent marks making Pakistan proud of her genius.
A proper platform and encouragement from the parents and nation are the basics to achieve the goals as Zara did. We are hoping more heroes and deserving personalities are also celebrated and made popular in the same way as Dananeer Mobeen.
