Cynthia Dawn Ritchie, is an American blogger, filmmaker and "social media enthusiast", who has lived in Pakistan for the last decade. Ritchie is known for having a keen interest in Pakistani affairs. Her opponents say she acted as a brand ambassador for the Pakistani deep state and campaigned through social media to uplift the overall image of Pakistan, portraying it as a safe country for women; a claim contested by Pakistani feminists. Subsequently, in June 2020, Ritchie herself made contested #MeToo allegations of sexual misconduct against politicians, one of previous political dispensation in Government.
Personal background
Ritchie has been described as a global citizen: and has written on a variety of topics including interfaith harmony, women and children's rights, tourism, and advocates for strong US-Pakistan relations: Ritchie has a social media following in the hundreds of thousands. Her Facebook page states that she has studied at Louisiana State University and had additional training at the University of Houston School of Law, Pepperdine University, and George Washington University in the faculties of mass communications, criminal justice, conflict resolution, clinical and behavioral psychology and strategic public relations. 2006 - 2009 she worked for The City of Houston as a community liaison, as a Guardian Ad Litem and court-appointed mediator. In 2017, Ritchie also acted in the docu-drama, Angels Within, directed by Noor Naghmi.
In Pakistan
In 2020 July, interior ministry of Pakistan officially admitted before Islamabad High court that Cynthia D. Ritchie is working in collaboration with Pakistan military's Inter-Services Public Relations and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. Ritchie's first known visit to Pakistan happened in 2010 after getting a visit visa from Pakistan's Houston consulate through familial connections of Pakistani businessman having substantial business interests in Houston USA, Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Azam Khan Swati. Swatis and other Houston based Pakistani expats including that of Association of 'Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America' reportedly helped Ritchie via socializing with Pakistan's elite Political contacts. According to Baqir Sajjad Syed Pakistani news portal Ritchie worked in Pakistan for namely Omair-Sana Foundation and Humanity Hope, the two institutions owned or managed by U.S.A. based Pakistani doctors. Ritchie also worked to improve communications in Pakistan's health sector. In 2013, Ritchie was described by Michael Kugelman, of the Woodrow Wilson Institute in Washington, DC, as one of "Ten Americans doing great things for Pakistan." From about 2015 onwards, during her media and social media engagements, Ritchie began to more actively promote tourism and people to people relations. Around 2016-2020, Ritchie began to research and analyse the Afghan-Pakistan Tribal region, Fifth-generation warfare, Kashmir conflicts, Pakistan-India relations. In June 2020, through social media platform she claimed sexual misconduct against top leadership of Pakistan People's Party, while in power in 2011. The claim was contested by respective political dispensation and leaders. When Ritchie was asked why she had not reported the rape incident earlier, she replied that several days after the event she did report the rape and theft of her laptop to a US Embassy official who worked in the political section. Months later, Ritchie also reported the theft of her identity to Federal Authorities in Washington, DC in 2012, but the " Embassy's response and the USG's response was inadequate" and "besides, who in the PPP administration would help me?". She stated she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and, as a consequence, knew too much about US-Pak relations, especially surrounding events leading to May 1, 2011, and became a political liability - hence the lack of adequate assistance for an American in distress.
Twitter controversies
Ritchie made contested #MeToo allegations of sexual misconduct against politicians, namely former Interior Minister, Rehman Malik: entangling one ex-President, two ex-prime ministers, including one female former Prime Minister and two ex-cabinet ministers. But many questioned why more women's liberal rights activists weren't supportive of an impartial investigation, due to some rights activists remaining silent or actively engaging in "victim blaming"- reflecting what was described, by many, as hypocrisy for Pakistani #MeToo movement activists. Some Aurat marchers even accused Ritchie of "white privilege": The Pakistan People's Party, which came under scrutiny, lodged complaints of false charges against Ritchie, whereas she came back with more accusations one after another through her Twitter handle. A social media war broke out and PPP accused Ritchie of online defamation of a deceased Prime Minister. Both the Pakistan Telecom Authority and Federal Investigative Agency, cybercrime division, said Ritchie committed no criminal offence and would, therefore, not pursue any case against her. The Pakistan People's Party then launched a series of First Information Reports against Ritchie and even approached the Islamabad High Court to have her deported due to her making political statements on twitter. The High Court stated there was no Pakistani law forbidding foreigners to make political statements and ordered the Ministry of Interior to let the law take its course and for the MoI to handle the matter.
Media interactions
In her media interactions, Ritchie claimed that she did not choose Pakistan as an interest but Pakistanis chose her for their interests to reshape perceptions about Pakistan among the international community and has been called "The American Batting For Pakistan".
