Educationist & Entrepreneur. Running a nature resort in Hunza, The 2 Magpies. winner of Gender Climate Award 2024
Aliabad, Hunza and Islamabad
Joined August 2014
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Umbreen Arif retweeted
Today, I want to introduce many of you to Umbreen and Arif Amin, the couple behind The 2 Magpies in Hunza.
Both spent decades working in the development sector, particularly in education and public policy. Then, at some point in their lives, they decided to follow their passion and established a beautiful place to stay in Hunza.
But The 2 Magpies is not just another hotel. It is an experience. From its woodwork, much of which Arif has done himself, to the smallest details of its interiors, food and hospitality, where Umbreen brings her own sense of aesthetics and care. You can see how much they enjoy doing things with their own hands.
They continue to support local communities, employ and train local people, and contribute to discussions on sustainable tourism and education in Gilgit Baltistan. Arif is also a passionate birdwatcher and nature photographer who has documented the birds and natural beauty of Pakistan.
What fascinates me most is how they have brought together their passions, their work and their way of life. Their love for nature, birds, people and each other is visible in almost everything they do. They take pride in hard work, whether it is a small piece of woodwork, preparing a menu or personally looking after a guest.
I have also mentioned The 2 Magpies in my novel Hold On, so visiting them again was special.
We spend so much of our lives chasing goals, managing stress and thinking about what comes next. Very few people seem to discover how to enjoy the work they do and the life they have built around it.
I think Umbreen and Arif have discovered something about that.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Demands the Release of Imran Khan! 🚨
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has raised his voice in support of the immediate release of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Key Points from Boris Johnson:
No charges of corruption or wrongdoing have been proven against Imran Khan, yet he continues to be kept in prison.
The sole reason for keeping Imran Khan behind bars is the fear of his immense public popularity and a democratic victory.
Keeping an elderly and ailing leader imprisoned like this is pure injustice.
He has appealed to the international community and the public to join the campaign for Imran Khan’s release.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Cricket legend Imran Khan is rotting to death in a tiny jail cell in Pakistan. It's time Britain used its influence to help free him
mol.im/a/16142731
Umbreen Arif retweeted
IMRAN KHAN’S LIFE IS NOW CLEARLY IN DANGER!
Imran Khan has repeatedly warned: “They will kill me as they killed Morsi in Egypt.”
Imran Khan was fit and healthy before being placed in complete isolation in October 2025. By the end of December, he began losing sight in one eye. Despite repeatedly informing the jail superintendent he cannot see, he was denied medical attention for nearly two weeks. When a doctor was finally allowed to examine him, Imran Khan was told that the delay had caused permanent damage to his eye. There are at least a dozen CCTV cameras around his cell. The agencies monitoring him knew he could not see in one eye. The treatment was delayed with criminal intention.
Since then, while almost no genuine information is allowed out of Adiala Jail, medical reports and supposed “inside information” about his health have intentionally leaked. By the end of July, social media was suddenly flooded with claims that his health was deteriorating, his hands and lips were trembling, his blood pressure was unstable, and that prolonged isolation was affecting him mentally. These reports were accompanied by fake and AI-generated images portraying him in wheelchairs and hospital beds.
Why is this narrative being created?
Because his captors believed he would not be able to withstand the extremely harsh conditions he was being kept in. They believed he would break, that eventually he would give up on the people of Pakistan and try to save himself.
He did not.
When he refused to give in they subjected him to extreme torture through complete isolation from human contact. Except for irregular weekly visits with his wife who is also in the same jail.
Yet he still stands defiant and because they could not break him, they have now begun creating a fake narrative and fake optics around Imran Khan’s physical and mental health.
On 18 August 2026, the Supreme Court ordered that Imran Khan be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for an independent medical examination and treatment, in the presence of Dr. Uzma Khan and his personal doctor, Dr. Faisal Sultan. The order carried a two-day deadline. He should have been shifted by 20 August. The order has still not been implemented.
What is the government hiding that it is willing to defy the Supreme Court rather than allow an independent medical examination?
We are left with no option but to come out on the streets peacefully with two clear demands:
1. Immediately shift Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital for a complete independent medical examination and treatment, in compliance with the Supreme Court orders of August 18, 2026.
2. Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar who has failed to take up Bushra Bibi and Imran Khan’s bail applications for over 22 months in the Al-Qadir case and 9 months in the Toshakhana case should either dispense justice or step aside.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Prime Minister @andyburnham and Foreign Secretary @Ed_Miliband : how much longer will Britain remain silent?
For three years the father of my two sons, and Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been brutally penalised by his political opponents, in a personal vendetta by Army Chief, Asim Munir, which according to the UN, amounts to torture and which is now taking a potentially fatal toll on his physical and mental health.
He has endured 3 years of solitary confinement. For nearly ten months now his family has been denied contact with him. He has been deprived of the most basic human contact, denied access to books, lawyers and doctors.
The international human-rights standards are unequivocal. Under the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules, solitary confinement lasting more than 15 consecutive days is prohibited and amounts to torture.
He has endured this treatment not for 15 days, but for three years.
Pakistan’s own Supreme Court has now intervened: ordering comprehensive medical treatment, access to his personal doctor, regular family visits and twice-weekly calls with his sons.
Yet those orders are being defied.
This is no longer simply a Pakistani political matter. It is a human-rights emergency.
He has deep and lifelong ties to Britain. He studied at Oxford University, captained Oxford University cricket and spent years playing county cricket in England. His relationship with this country stretches back more than half a century. His charitable activities were internationally recognised, and include building the only free cancer hospital in Pakistan as well as a university.
His sons, my two boys, Sulaiman and Kasim, are British citizens. They have been forced to watch their father’s health decline from thousands of miles away, prevented from visiting him, denied visas, publicly threatened by government officials with arrest themselves, and even denied court-mandated regular phone calls.
I have repeatedly appealed to the UK government to intervene. Purported attempts at back channelling have evidently failed. The previous Foreign Secretary @DavidLammy informed me in writing that Britain would not intervene if my sons, British citizens, are arrested when they travel to Pakistan to visit their father.
@FCDOGovUK: Britain must now speak out publicly and unequivocally. Demand that Pakistan comply with its own Supreme Court; restore Imran Khan’s medical access, his right to see his family, end his prolonged isolation and uphold his fundamental human rights.
Pakistan is a Commonwealth country. Britain has a long and proud tradition of standing against arbitrary detention, inhumane treatment and the denial of fundamental rights. Those principles mean very little if we invoke them only selectively and neglect them when inconvenient.
This an appeal to the new Burnham government to please now do the right thing.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Imran Khan's medical reports are alarming. I have gone through them with several specialists, and I am writing this in plain language so every Pakistani can understand exactly what is happening.
In order of priority, this is what worries me most: his anxiety and stress levels, his palpitations, and his high blood pressure. Sleeplessness is not mentioned in the report, but looking at the medications, it is almost certainly there too.
I have known Imran Khan for more than 35 years. Stress was never his weakness. That it is now at peak levels tells you everything about what three years of imprisonment and total isolation have done to him.
The causes are not hard to understand: the state of the country, his colleagues in jail, those sentenced, the killed, and their grieving families. His own isolation, no newspapers, no books, no knowledge of what is happening outside. And yes, his anxiety over Bushra Bibi, his sisters, his workers and his party.
Look at the medications, as there is no diagnosis. He is on Citanil and Lexotanil, three times a day. That is not sleeplessness being treated. That is daytime anxiety being treated. Read that twice.
His heart rate is 54 bpm. Doctors will call that "normal." It is not normal for him. His resting heart rate has been in the low 40s his whole adult life, the mark of a lifelong elite athlete. A jump to 54 is a real shift.
He has reported heart palpitations. That is not something to note and move on from. It needs a 24-hour Holter monitor immediately, to catch the frequency and get him on the right medication. Even an Apple Watch linked to an Apple ID outside Pakistan (as that function is disabled in Pakistan) can flag Atrial Fibrillation and palpitations in real time.
He is on three separate BP medications now. That requires proper daily AM/PM monitoring to titrate correctly, not once-a-week guesswork. He is also on a cholesterol-lowering drug. Raised cholesterol at his age is both genetic and stress-driven, and needs diet, exercise, and medication working together, as does his blood pressure. Less salt. More movement. Real monitoring.
And the following tests that must happen now, without further delay:
1) A Stress Test
2) An Echocardiogram
3) Cardiac MRI
4) Cardiac Artery Calcium (CAC) scan, because of raised cholesterol to check for calcified deposits that block arteries and lead directly to heart attacks or the need for stents.
5) Cardiac CT Angiogram and other tests if indicated.
I am deeply worried. Isolation is taking a physical toll on his body. If this is not addressed immediately, the damage may become irreversible with more complications to follow.
@ImranKhanPTI definitely needs to be moved to a hospital environment now, under an independent panel of doctors. Neither his family nor the people of Pakistan trust government-appointed doctors alone. We have already seen reports manipulated before, numbers exaggerated or suppressed, platelets among them.
The next three months will decide whether his condition is reversed or becomes permanent.
We all are alarmed.
The country needs him more than ever before. May Allah keep him healthy. Ameen. 🤲
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Another bombshell: "The system has failed."
No. The system hasn't failed. The people who hijacked it have failed the system. Have destroyed it.
A parliamentary democracy stands on one foundation: the people's mandate. That's why we hold elections. When elections are rigged and the mandate is stolen, those without public legitimacy inevitably drive the country down the abyss.
Imprisoning @ImranKhanPTI, the leader millions trust and replacing the people's choice with a corrupt, fascist, elite rule is not a failure of the system. It is the subversion of the system.
Pakistan's parliamentary system has not failed. It has been repeatedly undermined by the establishment since 1977, denying the people the right to let their chosen representatives govern.
People of Pakistan: Don't be distracted by this debate. It is political chaff, designed to divert attention from the real issues: the destruction of the economy, the erosion of constitutional rule, political repression, killings and the imprisonment of thousands whose only "crime" was demanding that their vote be respected.
Our demands are clear:
• Restore the Constitution.
• Repeal the 26th and 27th Constitutional Amendments.
• #ReleaseImranKhan
• Hold Free and fair elections now, with EVMs, we trust neither you, the ECP nor a manual ballot.
Usurpers, looters, killers, stop blaming the system. Accept that you have destroyed it.
Forget our dignified people, even the "cockroaches" are coming for you now.
Fess up and scoot.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
My weekly column. Killing the Constitution - Newspaper - DAWN.COM dawn.com/news/1954621
Umbreen Arif retweeted
There is so much wrong with the 27th amendment that a thread is necessary before the government's spin doctor's begin trying to fool people.
This proposal marks the gravest attack on judicial independence and civil supremacy since Pakistan's return to democracy. 🧵
WHY CDA WHY? Why do we have to have ugly structures in urban spaces? A casa nodusa tree or even Amaltaas would have been such a sustainable option. would not have cost so much. Why are our public funds wasted on such monstrosities 😡🫣
@dcislamabad @CDAthecapital @MargallaHNP
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Co-hosted by #UNDPinPakistan, the Gender Climate Awards 2025 🏆 celebrated women leading climate solutions across Pakistan — bringing visibility to local innovations and connecting them to new platforms for growth. 🌿🌍
From clean energy and sustainable agriculture to climate advocacy and storytelling, awardees are redefining leadership at the frontlines of #ClimateAction.
UNDP 🇵🇰 is proud to support this platform — and to position women’s leadership as a driving force in Pakistan’s climate transformation.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Any government that murders its own innocent citizens is illegitimate, and the November killings by Pakistani forces is no exception. No regime should silence its people through violence. I stand with my Pakistani brothers and sisters in calling for justice and freedom.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Imran Khan’s sister is politely requesting everyone “not to speculate. Since any information being given out must be coming from the establishment itself…”
Can everyone kindly do so. It’s distracting and can planted deliberately to distract from the 26th November killings.
There is no news on Imran Khan. They have cancelled his case hearings in jail court this week. And the next court case is scheduled for 2nd and 3rd December.
So day after tomorrow is when lawyers and the family will be able to meet Imran Khan.
Until that time, it is advisable not to speculate. Since any information being given out must be coming from the establishment itself.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Alarming scenes from #Islamabad_Massacre I have tears in my eyes as I see pictures of the dead their children crying & scenes of their burial.
Please watch and share the following, and thousands of other videos emerging every minute for the world to see.
1- Continuous sounds of Automatic weapons firing on unarmed innocent people in the dark of night.
2- People running, trying to save their lives.
3- Destruction of vehicles of the protestors by who else but the regime.
In the morning roads were washed to remove all evidence of blood, thousands of bullet casings and bullets removed. Then to complete their colossal crime, hospital records were taken away, mortuaries were sealed and dead bodies hidden.
Does not President Zardari remember Benazir’s assassination? To wipe out all evidence, roads were washed within hours. All international and local investigating agencies including the UN clearly stated that it was criminal and was done to hide evidence.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Non-chaotic means of engagements for PTI:
1. Elections. But the Establishment provided no freedom of assembly or association to PTI to campaign and on top of that stole and rigged the elections.
2. Parliament. But even post rigging, the Establishment ensured PTI is not recognized as a party nor given reserve seats. On top of it legislation is done through abducting and intimidating parliamentarians.
3. Judiciary. But as soon as the Establishment saw that Judges with opposing views might lead the Supreme Court and act independent of any pressure, it fractured judicial autonomy and cherry picked judges to get predetermined outcomes.
4. Legacy and Social Media. But the Establishment made sure that through censorship, intimidation, restrictions and bans only that is aired/published/shared what is allowed and if somone till manages to speak their minds then persecute and prosecute them.
PTI has had a history of protests, seeking confrontation and having a my way or the highway approach. But today it is the Establishment itself that has pushed PTI towards protest and the country towards chaos by not allowing any breathing space and not even trying to build any illusion of democracy. This arrogance of the Establishment is not rooted in any popularity and acceptance amongst the masses but on its ability to control and terrorise the masses. This is not sustainable and change is inevitable. Whether change comes through chaos or peaceful transition is in the hands of Establishment. We must not be confused where the actual blame lies.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
Imran Khan is one of the greatest cricket players of all time. It is very strange to see security guards stopping fans at Australian cricket grounds displaying his image. Why would an image of Khan holding the 1992 World Cup trophy be banned at Australian grounds?
Umbreen Arif retweeted
12 brave soldiers martyred in janikhel. Terrorists had the time to scour the base and make extensive videos that I won't upload here. And this is just the latest in a series of attacks. Take a break from conquering the constitution and banning VPNS and focus on the real threats.
Umbreen Arif retweeted
I’m proud to sign this letter calling for an end to human rights abuses in Pakistan and for the release of all political prisoners—including Imran Khan. We must stand up for democracy and human rights in Pakistan.
