Pakistan’s ticking media bomb
It is rather disturbing to see television show anchors pretending to be political analysts. Their so-called analysis is usually hype-creating propaganda. Somehow, they have developed the notion that they are superior to politicians and their naive, idealistic ideas are the solution to Pakistan’s problems. They demean politicians to the extent that self-respecting political leaders have stopped appearing on guest panels. This in turn leads to the anchor of one television channel appearing as analysts on another channel as guests. Without any political background or knowledge, they go on harping about the future of Pakistan, not realising the consequences of ...
Read Full Post10 things Pakistani blog readers should know
Blogs can be casual, formal or anything in between. So while writing, the blogger can interrupt the readers with an “akhhh thoo” if he wants to, without having to suffer tons of meaningless comments. It’s a blog, not a featured article in Foreign Policy magazine. Blogs are opinion-oriented. They may or may not be backed by hard facts. A blog or ‘web log’ does not necessarily have in-depth analysis that will ...
Read Full PostAn open letter to Pervez Musharraf
Dear Mr Musharraf, I am writing to you in good faith. Recently, your political activities have increased. Every Pakistani should have the right to take part in the democratic process and bring change to this country. However, it is essential that you publicly apologize to the Pakistani nation for the various blunders you made during your forced rule. Only then should you be welcomed into the political arena. You may claim to be extremely patriotic, but in my opinion, you always gave your throne more importance than Pakistan. Firstly, there is absolutely no excuse for playing around with the constitution. You did ...
Read Full PostA building for Bhutto: A monumental mistake
Is our leadership foolish or do they simply enjoy poking the nation every now and then? A monument for Benazir would have been a good idea, had there been no floods! As the millions affected by the flood await help and support, our leaders have been going around gathering funds from around the globe. While the initial aid received will help the government support the affected people on an emergency basis, billions of dollars are required to get Pakistan up and running. While we receive international money and continue to ask for more, there was an urgent need to pay our ...
Read Full PostA headless revolution
Pakistan will not experience a revolution any time soon. While the idea may seem fascinating, moving in that direction will plunder the wealth of the country like never before. Revolutions seen by the world to date were inspired by a thought or an idea. Thinkers, philosophers and visionaries were responsible for highlighting the need for a better social setup and gave alternative ideologies. A radical social and political change in the organisational structure can only bear fruits if it is ideology-driven. Presently, Pakistan doesn’t have that. Without an alternative ideology, there can be no revolution, just anarchy. The much quoted French ...
Read Full PostLooking for General Patriot
Did I hear someone support the next martial law to be imposed by “any patriotic general” who is willing to clean Pakistan’s political mess? Pure genius! Why didn’t we think of this? Can patriotic general sahib also please fix the economy and increase the living standards of the people? While you’re at it, we would like to request you to uproot feudalism and fix democracy for us too. Oh oh… can we also have Kashmir? Once you clean the mess, you can hold elections and the politicians will take it from there. By the way, since we are talking about ...
Read Full PostShoe throwing and the need for maturity
It was a matter of shame when a shoe was allegedly thrown at the President of Pakistan in Britain. Yet, in some twisted way, many people felt proud of what happened. No, I do not support President Zardari, but I respect the position of the President of Pakistan. Before jumping to conclusions, please read on. A recent wave of negative propaganda against President Zardari is rather disturbing from a national perspective. Institutions form the government structure, not individuals. Asif Zardari, Yousaf Gilani, and Iftikhar Chaudhry are temporary, but the structure they represent will last. People in power have always ...
Read Full PostWould you buy Pakistan?
Marketing cannot be limited to individuals or enterprises. Pakistan is in dire need of a new image and nation branding can help build it. When Pakistan was conveniently paired with Afghanistan to form the so-called ‘Af-Pak’ region, world over people were made to think that both countries stand in the same line when it comes to infrastructure and economy. Richard Holbrooke was named as a common ambassador for the two countries by the United States and common policies began to take shape. Afghanistan is a drug-based economy that has no transport, communications or government structure. It has no signs of technology ...
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