Self Talk

Next general elections are no more out of sight in Pakistan. One and the only clean politician and famous philanthropist in our country, Imran Khan, needs to move the masses. This is high time for him to appear on national scene as a true alternative. Thanks to his naïve ways of politics, he seems far away from sweeping the national election this time. But that can be made possible if he listens to some advice. 1. The impact of internet, especially social networks like Facebook and Twitter has shown its potential in last US presidential election as well as recent Middle East uprisings of Tunisia, Egypt and others. Imran Khan must come in close touch with the youth through Twitter and Facebook where he can convey his message in real time and gather feedback. 2. A talent hunt for candidates should be started now. Or if he has already chosen few people, they should be announced now. They should be asked to appear on their respective constituency’s skyline and should try to convey Imran...

In the age of twitter and facebook, witnessing a regime change in Egypt looked quite awesome. In fact I was quite lost into its final hours, stuck to live transmissions of BBC and Aljazeera, following people tweeting live from Tahrir Square and reading Cyril Almeida’s nice analysis in Dawn on regular basis. The history unfolded before my wide open eyes. It was unbelievable. Although I expected bloodshed many times in the last week, I kept my hopes high and wished the people a win.  More so because it was a led by Egyptian youth, using the social network forums to organize protest against the sitting president. Although Hosni Mubarak had been a favorite of Europe and US, he could no longer keep his hold on the government and had to surrender to the will of masses. Internet has started bringing meanings to people’s lives and now we can expect almost anything happening anywhere in the world. So is the potential of this technology. For a true democracy in Egypt, there is a long way to...

The killing of three people by an American citizen in capital city of Punjab, Pakistan is indeed a shocking incident. The man in question alleged that he acted in self defense and the guys were decoits who wanted to rob him of the freshly withdrawn money from an ATM.  However, the postmortem examination report belies his saying by stating that the killed were fired upon from behind. Revelations of the use of forbidden bullets and an allegedly weapon without a valid license has further complicated the situation.  Equally shocking is the demand by American embassy for his immediate release, saying that he enjoys the diplomatic immunity. According to the newspapers, however, he is on a business visa and was not there on a diplomatic duty neither did he had a diplomatic escort with him. So, what was he doing there? Complicated, isn’t it? How far will it go? Pakistan has so far shrugged off any request (read: pressure) for his immediate release. And it would be quite unwise even i...

Keeping a balance between ideals, hopes and ground realities, a beautiful 2011 can be like this. Peace and Democracy in Tunisia and rest of Middle East Advances in Palestine Israel peace process Good performance of Pakistan in ICC world cup 2011 Resumption of International Cricket in Pakistan Start of withdrawal of western forces from Afghanistan End to extrajudicial killings by American drone attacks in Pakistan Break in the recent wave of terrorism inside Pakistan Break in ongoing inflation in Pakistan Successful rehabilitation of flood affectees in Pakistan No more events of killings of civillians all around the world Resumption of HEC Foreign Scholarships Resumption of peace process between Pakistan and India International honors for my researcher friends Publishing results of my first experiment :)          and last but not the least My family's visit of France this summer :) Addition in the form of comments will be app...

Theoretically speaking, a generation spans over 30 years. So if we take the moment of the making of Pakistan as middle of the then generation, the first generation lasted till 1962, overshadowed by the opportunist element taking over the state. Second generation (1962-1992) is highlighted by 1964 and 1971 wars with India, fall of Dhaka, Bhutto’s judicial murder and General Zia’s version of Islam and Jihad. Summary of the third generation can be attaining a nuclear state status, 9/11, Musharraf’s enlightened moderation and lately the fallout of US led war on terror against Taliban. They are the ones who led Pakistan into new century. Like third generation of antibiotics, present Pakistanis are different from their predecessors in many respects. They are numerous, poorer, divided, intolerant, superstitious, frustrated, pretentious and isolated in comparison to the previous generations. I might have missed the achievements of this generation here but there is a reason for that t...

Khalid Farooq We have all resources to condemn and agitate against US for punishing a lady who has obvious links with bad-groups, but we don't have a word to offer to those innocent women who are raped, punished and jailed in our very own PAK society.... Do I remember how many religious parties spoke in favour of Mukhtaran Mai when she was raped and tortured? Shahid Totally agree,yahaan molviyoon ko US ka naam milna chahiye,bloody hippocrates......... Shahbaz I think media focus plays important role to project certain issues, Allah says in quran" u r the best people, u enjoin what is best, and forbid what is bad, so u and me, molvi or non molvi, as long as muslims, are equally responsible for wh...atever is happening in the society, if u think molvi are forgetting that aspect of society, u and me can compensate or atleast can remind our fellows, we should not divide ourselves if we think we are one, "Momin is mirror of other momin, so what ever is wrong c...