Cheers &Tears of 2022

Ishtiaq Ahmed

The year 2022 has been a most tumultuous year of cheers and tears:

Tears: February 2022 saw the invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russia on 24th February, triggering worldwide economic and political uncertainties.

Tears: April 2022, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan was deposed by a no-confidence vote in parliament plunging the already politically and economically beleaguered country in further crisis.

Tears: June to October 2022, Pakistan suffered the most devastating flooding that killed 1,739 people, and caused ₨ 3.2 trillion of damage and ₨ 3.3 trillion of economic losses.

Cheers: Jun 2022 — Boris Johnson survives the vote of the confidence.

Tears: July 2022, Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigns statement in Downing Street: 7 July 2022

Cheers: July 2022, England won their first Women’s Euro in 2022.

Cheers: July-August 2022, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022.

Cheers: Sept 2022, Liz Truss becomes the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Tears: September 2022, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch died.

Cheers: September 2022, Prince Charles  was officially proclaimed as the King Charles III as the successor to the Queen Elizabeth II.

Tears: Oct 2022 — Liz Truss resigns as the prime minister of U.K, 44 days after taking over from Boris Johnson. She will be the shortest-serving PM in British history.

Cheers: Oct 2022, Rishi Sunak becomes Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister..

Tears: Oct 2022 Giorgia Meloni becomes Italy’s first female prime minister at the head of a right-wing government.

Cheers: October-November 2022, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup that was won by England but Pakistan can be equally proud of reaching the final.

Cheers: November-December 2022, the World Cup in Qatar making it the first World Cup held in the Arab world and Muslim. The World Cup was won by Argentina in a classic final against France.

Tears: December 2022, Netanyahu heads the most right wing coalition Israeli government committed to the displacement of Palestinians.

As we move forward to 2023, the impact of the events in 2022 will be felt for many decades maybe adding to the tears of many but more certainly for the people of Palestine, Kashmir, Ukraine and Beleaguered Pakistan.