Google on Wednesday announced its annual Year End Zeitgeist, revealing 2016’s top searches and people.
Pakistan’s searches revealed that the maximum number of overall searches were focused on sports. The top people search indicated that Pakistanis follow a variety of local and international personalities. The list was quite diverse, and included top newsmakers, as well as those who we believe left the world too soon.
Here is the list of the most searched people in Pakistan in 2016.
1. Qandeel Baloch
Qandeel Baloch, who was strangled to death by her brother in Multan earlier this year, rose to fame over her Facebook videos, in which she danced, proposed to politicians and brought a lewd maulvi to shame.
2. Amjad Sabri
Acclaimed Sufi singer and qawwali maestro Amjad Sabri was shot dead by motorcycle-borne gunmen in a central Karachi neighbourhood on June 22.
3. Abdul Sattar Edhi
Leading humanitarian and the most endearing person in the country Abdul Sattar Edhi passed away at the age of 88 on July 8.
4. Donald Trump
US president-elect Donald Trump attracted controversy for all the things he said about Pakistan and Muslims in, and outside the United States.
5. Momina Mustehsan
Momina Mustehsan, the latest Coke Studio sensation, took the country by a storm after her song Afreen Afreen became a hit. The song also became the most viewed music video, according to the list revealed by Youtube Pakistan.
6. Mumtaz Qadri
Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed killer convicted of killing former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, was executed at the Adiala Jail earlier this year.
7. Prayusha Banerjee
Indian TV actor Pratyusha Banerjee was found dead inside her Mumbai residence in a suspected suicide case in April this year.
8. Hillary Clinton
Democrat Hillary Clinton conceded the 2016 US White House race to Republican Donald Trump on November 8.
9. Melania Trump
Months before Donald Trump became president of the United States, the New York Post ran a front-page picture of first lady Melania Trump naked, prompting criticism on social media and charges of misogyny. Melania Trump also came under fire for plagiarising Michelle Obama’s speech.
10. DJ Bravo
After ruling the cricket ground, Dwayne Bravo became an overnight singing sensation with his hit number Champion.
The most searched for trend in Pakistan was cricket score which was followed by PSL schedule 2016, PTV Sports Live and Euro 2016. While sports dominated the trends in the country, Apple’s newly-launched iPhone 7, Indian show Bigg Boss 9 and Salman Khan starrer Sultan also made it to the list.