Category Archives: Politics and Society

Highly Educated Population = Higher GDP per Capita

Read this article on Yahoo! Finance, Canada The 10 Most Educated Countries in The World. Clearly, the countries which invest heavily on education, are also the countries with the highest GDP per Capita. This list includes a country called Finland. It is a tiny snowy little country in the Northern Europe.

Finland has a very low population around 60 lac people (6 Mn). It has a GDP of $239.232 billion. I researched a little about the economy of Finland and found that the country has low resources. It faces challenges in agriculture and energy sector. Most jobs are created in services sector.

On the other hand we have Pakistan, a country with a population of 18 Crore (180 Mn), it has a GDP of $210.8 billion (29bn less than Finland). Pakistan has a diverse landscape, plenty of natural resources, a powerful military, a diverse population. Pakistan also facing the energy crisis.

Finland’s Education Budget in 2011 was €11.1 billion. Pakistan’s Education Budget in 2011 was $1.5 billion.

I am not going to write anything about the importance of Education. I think anyone who can read this is already aware of that. I am also sure that people in the Pakistani Government are also well aware of the importance of this issue. My concern is that it seems like no one in the country is really worried about this issue. It should be our top national priority, but sadly it is not.

Pakistan ka Epic Drama

I like Roznama Jawani. Some friends of mine think that they are copying “The Onion”, but I think they are not. They are dirtier and funnier. I really don’t have any issues with dirty jokes, I love smart dirty jokes. Like the one about the “Local Man getting Anal Probe by Aliens”, or “The Arrival of Slut excites local youth”.

We have a beautiful culture in our country, a fantastic blend of influences taken from Western+Arab conservationism, our own heritage and the conflicts we are facing every day, on every corner. The collision of East vs West, Islam vs Rest of the World, Rest of The World vs. Pakistani Terror Imports, Our own Lack of Identity and the crazy-crazy desire to have a nationalist-patriotic ideology to stand upon.

These conflicts are often reflected in our discussions, no Pakistanis can talk without facing conflicts or confusions. For example, two friends might agree upon killing Qadiyanis, but they might disagree whether or not the state should do it, or it is the job of the believers. Two liberals may agree upon dangers of the blasphemy law, but they could have two opposite views on whether it should be “totally removed” or “partially improved”.

The so called Pakistani moderates are the most confused among all people. They have no idea what their own views are. They just want to live peacefully and try their best not to have an opinion. If they are forced to choose one they would choose the one that is the most popular among the crowd they are with.

I feel that Roznama Jawani, “Jays Toons”, “Jaago Pakistan”, “Enemies Of Pakistan”, and others, represent this very conflicted nation. The authors behind these pages have very different views, but surprisingly people who like Roznama Jawani and Jay’s Toons also like Jaago Pakistan and Enemies of Pakistan.

If the nations were described as food, I would say that we are the Special Mix Chaat with countless spices. Some find us sour, some find us sweet. We might look excitingly dangerous to some….and for others we are hot enough to burn their intestines.

Help Save Radio Pakistan Karachi

Radio Pakistan Karachi’s historical building is crying for attention. This building is significant in many ways. It is not just another old building in the old town district of Karachi. It is a valuable library containing important historical speeches, performances by the maestros and audio archives covering the history of Pakistan. Concerned citizens are requested to take action, write to the Chairman of Pakistan broadcasting corporation and ask him to take proper measures to preserve this important cultural heritage.

Secret Missions of Black Water

There is so much discussion going on about the presence of Black Water in Pakistan. I never paid attention to all the sensational text messages, emails and news articles appearing every where about Black Water and their not-so-secret missions.

I love Dr. Awab Alvi. I think he has his heart is in the right place. I was really surprised to see that an educated, enlightened person like him would buy all these rumors about black water. I am not a very good writer when it comes to debunking the sensationalism and putting the things in the right prespective.I will try my best to stay focused and clear.

Before talking about Dr. Alvi’s post. I would like to share some simple facts.

1. United States and Pakistan are close allies in the war on terror. This means that the two countries collabrate and co-operate with each other to strike against terrorist organizations. This collabration and cooperation is on many levels and the exact details of it can not be made public by either government due to security concerns.

2. United States provides Pakistani government billions of dollars for development. United States donated the most amount of money and efforts to help during the earthquake in Kashmir and to assist Pakistan with Swat Refugee Crisis.

3. The two countries have a long history of working together and it had always been mutually beneficial for both of them.

4. When our government have such strong ties with the United States, it is no wonder that we allow certain liberties to US agencies to work on our grounds. For example we have allowed them to attack militants in tribal regions using unmanned bomber planes. We have allowed them to build significant intelligence infrastructure and this we did long ago when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

I believe that it is not such a big deal that we allow US security agencies a certain freedom to work towards our common goals like exterminating the Pakistani soil of Taleban. Our agencies must keep a check on the activities of US agencies in Pakistan to make sure that they do not harm our national interests. We will have to cooperate because we are allies in a war and our economy is dependent on that war.

Now lets talk about Dr. Alvi’s post which is based on several rumors in media.

1. The video at the end of the post: shows no proof of any kind (video clips, photographs, documents) showing black water doing all these things such as harassing Pakistanis or blocking roads. There are many roads blocked by security agencies in Islamabad. You can just show an image of a blocked road and claim that it is blocked by Black Water security personels.

2. The presenter in the video is a woman wearing Hijab and she ends her monologue with the line that “Pakistanis should realize that the United States is their real enemy”. Its more like an extremist propganda speech instead of an analysis by a professional defense expert.

3. In this video the analyst blames that the Black Water is on a mission to assasinate Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. Do you people really believe that killing Dr. Khan has become so difficult for CIA that it had to hire a notorious organization to do the job? Do you really believe that such secret operations are carried out by renting houses openly?

3. Dr. Alvi requested people to help map black water in Pakistan. Perhaps Dr. Alvi forgot to watch the video he shared. The woman in the video told that Black Water has an office in Khayaban e Rahat which is not far away from where Dr. Alvi lives. So if Black Water are such bullies I think Dr. Alvi would have no trouble finding their offices and may be he will even get some shocking pictures as well. like Black Water munching french fries at McDonalds?

4. Dr. Sahab asks patriotic Pakistanis to help map and expose Black Water. How he is going to verify that the video or pictures or incidents reported to pakvoices are genuine?

I am not saying that there is no Black Water in Pakistan. I am simply saying that there is so much sensational rumors based journalism going on about things that are not important. We the patriotic Pakistanis should be more concerned about the crisis in Baluchistan, food mafia, water and power resources. These issues are the real security threats to Pakistan.

I strongly urge the Pakistani blogging community to please be responsible. There is very little difference between fact and fiction. Do not sensationalize things on your own. Get some documented proof or make sure that the sources you are referring to are showing some credible documented proof of the claims they are making.

Clear Your Mind With Lipton Tea

Did you know that Isaac Newton was drinking a cup of tea when he discovered the universal law of gravity. I didn’t know until Lipton’s clear your mind website told me. I found this website from a pamphlet that came with tea packet. It had riddles and some interesting quizzes. Who doesn’t love riddles? Particularly smart people like myself who love answering questions like “which of these giant elephants is small?”

I loved Lipton’s new ad campaign. It is such a simple and fantastic idea to spread the message, to get noticed and to be loved by consumers by just asking them questions and telling them how smart they are, they should drink Lipton tea more often. The idea behind the campaign is based on the simple communication technique which is to ask intriguing and interesting questions. People love to be asked questions and they love to answer riddles so that they could look smart.

Lipton has given people a chance to feel smart by posting riddles all over the town on billboards, newspapers and posters. They have also launched the campaign on television and FM radio. Riddles are a great conversational tool, it is a wonderful way to get noticed and loved by people. People read Lipton ads carefully, then they answer riddles which makes them feel good about themselves and then they ask these questions to their friends and family.

So here is one for you:

The man who invented it doesn’t want it. The man who bought it doesn’t need it. The man who needs it doesn’t know it. What is it?

Try answering without googling, when you are done guessing then select the text above and google for it.

Protests Against Taliban Flogging Girl in Swat

A few days ago local media issued a video of a Girl getting flogged by Taliban in Swat. The brutality in the video has shocked the country. The news of the video spread across the country and people from all walks of the lives has condemned it.

This never happened in Pakistan. For the first time, people in Pakistan are thinking seriously about the Talibanization of their country. This video has shown them the true face of the Taliban. People all over the country are scared and worried that if government talks to Taliban and allows them to impose their Sharia Rule in the Swat region then they will impose such brutal laws on poor people of the region.

There is also question about the legal status of the agreement between the North Western Frontier Province and local fundamentalists. An agreement that establishes a parallel Islamic Sharia judicial system in the Swat district. It is clear that such an agreement is not supported by the constitution of Pakistan. Which gurantees equal rights for all citizens of Pakistan. This agreement hasn’t been presented in the parliament and it has not been signed by President of Pakistan. I am surprised that our national hero Justice Choudhry takes a suo moto action against the flogging of the poor girl in the video but totally ignores NWFP’s government’s illegal negotiations with terrorists and allowing terrorists to run their own brand of judicial system in a district of Pakistan.

Yesterday several human rights organizations protested in all major cities of Pakistan(Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad). People chanted slogans against Taliban, against terrorism, against the so called parallel judicial system, against the criminals who flogged the girl and demanded that Pakistan Army must continue the operation against Taliban.

Today there is an even bigger demonstration in Karachi called by MQM. Last night MQM’s volunteers distributed black flags and palmphlets all over the city requesting people to join the demonstration and raise their voice against Talibanization of Pakistan.

Absence of Security

Yesterday, I was listening to Jameel Yousuf founder of Citizens Police Liason Comittee talking on Geo news during the terror attack at the Police training center in Lahore. He pointed out immensely huge flaws in our country’s anti-terror security practices. First of all he pointed out that the building of this current terror attack had no security at all. He also pointed out that in our country security means ill-equipped policemen guarding installations or VVIPs. We do not have lack of technology to fight terrorism in fact we have total absence of technology in all our security measures.

He bitterly described how foreign aid to train Pakistani police is wasted due to corruption. How government has always failed to control arms trade from tribal regions. How government failed to fight against kidnappings for ransom in all major cities of Pakistan. According to him these kidnappings for ransom are a major source of funding for local terrorist organisations. According to Mr. Yousuf, implementing the police order 2002 (Police Order 2002 PDF) is a good starting point to improve law and order situation.

Meanwhile US government has claimed that elements inside Pakistani intelligence agencies are helping terrorists. Apart from US concern, we must think ourselves that how we can fight terrorism in these conditions? The world has taken immense security measures to fight terrorism. Now these terrorists have very limited chances of attacking United States or allies, or India, or Zionists. So this leaves us the only easily accessible target to terrorists all over the world. Whether it is Al-Qaeda, or Baitullah Mehsud or any other so called Jihadi organization. They all have their base camps in Pakistan and they can easily target people of Pakistan whenever they want.

The picture Jameel Yousuf draw during this talk on television is so horrible but it described things very clearly that how come Pakistan is so easily targetted nearly twice a month by these terrorist organizations. The government must implement police reforms, improve co-ordination among law enforcing agencies and take strict actions to block funding for terrorists.

People Who Eat Cats and Dogs

I was sitting in the waiting room of a clinic at OMI hospital. The waiting rooms are all the same every where in the world. You can imagine the scene. There are not-so-comfortable sofas with a coffee table in the center and some magazines lying on it, a few elderly ladies accompanied by their daughters or sons, an elderly man looking at me preparing to start a conversation, doctor’s secretary on her desk wearing lots of make up and consistently chatting with her boyfriend on the phone. And me, checking the magazines that I would normally never read. My eyes dropped on an Urdu newspaper, it had the photo of a man with a stupid smile. I recognized him, He is Javed Chodhry a famous Urdu columnist who is popular for his emotional columns. He used to write for the Daily Jang the most popular Urdu newspaper but then he left Jang and joined the second most popular Urduy Daily, The Express.

I picked it up and started reading it. At first he talked about Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto that how he understood the US policies and realized that US is not a reliable friend. Then Mr. Chodhry tells us that Russia is giving the money and weapons to Taleban in Afghanistan and since Pakistan was a US ally in both Afghan wars, Russia is also supporting the Talebans in Pakistan. He builds his argument beautifully involves India and Iran in it too and it all makes sense until he writes which I translate below:

Our army has arrested people from tribal areas who are uncirumcised, eat meat of dogs and cats and drink alcohol.

I didn’t know that Russians ate dogs and cats. And how Pakistan army found out that these people eat cats and dogs? Were they having a party when Pakistan Army arrested them? Or these people later requested Pakistani forces to provide them fresh meat of dogs and cats? I don’t think that Hindus, Russians or Afghans eat cats or dogs. Why would they? and why would Javed Chodhry write such a foolish thing?