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This is an archive article published on August 24, 2012

Fans worry after Pak Twitter star suddenly goes offline

His profile picture always features goats because,he said before his disappearance,Pakistani critics might “put up with sarcasm from a goat more than from a real person”.

“Where r u major?? What happened 2 u ?? I hope u r safe from mad dog jihadis — electronic cries of anguish are ringing out across Pakistan’s Twitter community over the abrupt disappearance of the popular satirist @MajorlyProfound,loved for his acid commentary on the powerful and their prejudices. The unexplained closing of his Twitter account and a related blog on August 4 has become the cybermystery of the moment among English-speaking Pakistani liberals.

The determinedly anonymous blogger behind @MajorlyProfound adopted the voice of a pompous,paranoid,honour-obsessed nationalist — Twitter posts typically started with cries of “whoa!” or “OUTRAGE!!” — then took things a step or three further. The result was a searingly funny and often jet-black perspective on Pakistan’s rolling crises that pushed boundaries of what is considered politically acceptable — or personally prudent.

A Pakistani should have been given the honour of lighting the Olympic flame,@MajorlyProfound declared during the recent opening ceremony,in recognition of “expertise at burning things” like NATO supply trucks and Indian luxury hotels.

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Such jagged wit won @MajorlyProfound more than 10,000 followers on Twitter,many of them influential in the Pakistani and Indian news media.

@MajorlyProfound is jealously protective of his anonymity. He only said he is between 25 and 35 years old and comes from a middle-class background.

His profile picture always features goats because,he said before his disappearance,Pakistani critics might “put up with sarcasm from a goat more than from a real person”.

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