ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office, the nerve centre of diplomatic activities, was in the spotlight on the web on Wednesday when a TikTok user’s video posing in one of its boardrooms went viral.

TikTok app user Hareem Shah can be seen in the video clip sitting at the head of the table in the boardroom located on the ground floor of the “high security building”.

TikTok is a fast growing short-form video app and has more than 500 million users across 150 countries as of November last year.

Shah, who claims to be associated with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), had gained fame on social media after posting pictures and videos with party leaders.

Her video at the Foreign Office drew a strong reaction over social media with many questioning how she got access to the building that has restricted entry. Most of those criticising the video seemed, from their social media account description, to be affiliated with PTI. It was, therefore, implied by some that the criticism was motivated by intra-party rivalry.

A senior foreign ministry official disclosed that an investigation had been ordered into the episode. Security, he contended, was not breached because she shot her videos on the ground floor, while the secure part of the building is on the upper floors. “Nevertheless, it should not have happened,” he added.

Speaking on a TV channel, Shah said that nobody had helped her enter the building. She said that she had been visiting parliament and other government buildings, but no one stops her or questions her.

The speculation in the corridors of FO was that she came along with visitors of a high office holder and then went around making pictures and shooting videos.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2019