All posts tagged: politics

The Dead of Nobody

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Cross Post from Pak Tea House By Ghazala Akbar: Hundreds of lives lost, homes destroyed and we are not even in the first quarter of the year. In other countries this would constitute a national emergency. Heads would roll, governments might fall but in Pakistan, it’s just another bad day at the office. We are as they say a very resilient people. Very. There is no other option. When you are down, the only way is up. That’s what an optimist like the late Parveen Rahman might have said. Parveen who? Exactly. In the recent tsunami of violence, it’s easy to forget. Coming hard on the heels of back to back bombings of Shia neighbourhoods in Karachi and Quetta plus the burning of homes belonging to Christian families in Lahore, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep count or remember names.

NA 55 Elections

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By Awaam There are a lot of things happening in Pakistan at the moment. However, every one’s attention seems to be directed towards the highly anticipated elections of NA 55. Today, on 24th of February, 2010 people of Rawalpindi will finally cast their votes and decide not only the fate of the candidates but of themselves as well. In the past few days Streets of Rawalpindi had been crammed by the fervor of the vigorous campaigning of some hopeful and many not-so-hopeful candidates representing several political parties. The 22 candidates belonging to PML, PTI, AML, JI, ANP etc and several independent candidates have tried their best to convince the people in these past few days. Now it is for people of Rawalpindi to decide who they want to chose as their next leader (for some time). NA 55 is politically considered a crucial seat. There are 334,269 registered voters in NA-55, including 183,507 men and 150,762 women. 250 polling stations have been setup containing 597 polling booths. Therefore, we at V21 decided to conduct our …

NRO Order, CJ or 18th Amendment

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Barrister Amjad Malik 16 December 2010 Supreme Court order on NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) has shattered the ruling govt which was standing on the 4 pillars of this barter orchestrated by military & Pentagon , USA &UK and (PPP) Pak people party leadership which is clutching and hanging on to a straw now. Instead of whole heartedly, understanding the tenacity of situation and implementing the order by realigning politically based on reality, the leadership went for hit and run ditto of their predecessor General Musharraf who sacked the chief justice who was considering a petition on his Presidential election in military uniform.

The GlObal KaleidOscOpe- 15th Feb

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Vision21 In an attempt to take a different approach from our previous article of GK, this time we have tried to develop a Pakistani context out of international events that followed last week. We, Pakistanis are very emotional; not only as individuals but even as a nation. It’s not that we do not take pride in it. Our history, literature, movements, political decisions and patterns of social organizations all prove that we hold our emotions above everything else. On top of that we learn from our very early years both, the beauty and necessity of sharing. We find our strengths from creating these shared experiences of joy, grief, disappointments and fulfillment. They bring us together. So it should not come as a surprise if we, Pakistanis are going through this collective experience of having a “national panic attack”. We have good reasons for it. Panic always stems from a threat to survival. With a growing food and energy crisis, dried out rivers, no employment opportunities and a disappointing government at our hands, can we really …

The GlObal KaleidOscOpe…DunyaNama

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The world is constantly changing at pace that often leaves us bewildered. There are astonishing breakthroughs in science, new discoveries in technology and innovative advancements in our ways of communication every day. However, where does Pakistan stand amidst all these new discoveries and developments? Are we following the world as it advances or have we lagged behind? The purpose of our new weekly section “Global kaleidoscope … DunyaNama” posted on our website is to know and analyse this. We want to bring our readers’ attention to the ways of our global world. Hence, by reflecting on the global discourses propagated in form of news, articles, blogs and researches we will attempt to create a holistic picture of worldly affairs in a given week and the possible implications for our own development. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8th Feb 2010 In today’s modern times we have a large plethora of information available to us, thanks to the worldwide web. Still, there were some articles that stood out. Some that forced us to think about where we’re headed. We plan to …

For Every Decent Human Being

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By Bilal Qureshi Isn’t it time? For every decent human being, it is sickening to see people being butchered the way human beings are slaughtered in Pakistan these days. Human life has no respect or value for barbaric animals responsible for these bombings and suicide attacks. And if the news of bombings and killing was not enough, I was horrified to learn that Lahore’s commissioner (incorrectly) blames India for these attacks while Punjab’s law minister (correctly) believes that the thugs being smoked out from Swat and Wazirstan are actually behind these attacks to force the government to back down. Isn’t it time for Pakistan to get united? Isn’t it time stop obsessing about India? Isn’t it time to be realistic?

HumorWise

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  from FreePakistan Newsletter published by Alternate Solutions Institute STRANGE AILMENTS [Dr Irfan Zafar, Islamabad] The western world seems to be wasting all its energies and resources to find cure for so many diseases without realizing that there is an easy way to cure these ailments in a very short period of time. Our leaders are a living proof of this miracle whereas when under detention, a long list of ailments surface which enable them to spend their days in captivity in the comfortable VVIP wards of the Hospitals. However, the moment they come in power, all these ailments simply vanish as if they never existed. When will the western world learn from us to save millions of dollars spent on medical research. [Pakistan Observer] ADVANCING CLOCKS [Dr Irfan Zafar, Islamabad] The government has announced that clocks will be set back by one hour on Nov 1. I request the government to advance clocks to the date when the present assemblies are expected to complete their five-year tenure. For a change let’s do something productive …

PAKISTAN BEWARE – India’s thirst is making us all wet

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Published in NewScientist 03 October 2009 New Scientist discusses how Water is being sucked up in North India at astronomical rates. This is having considerable negative impact on the height of water tables in the area. Considering there exists a serious water dispute between Pakistan and India, and that how India has used its ‘water muscle’ in the past in an attempt to choke Pakistan, this reading is alarming for Pakistan. ONE nation’s thirst for groundwater is having an impact on global sea levels. Satellite measurements show that northern India is sucking some 54 trillion litres of water out of the ground every year. This is threatening a major water crisis and adding to global sea level rise.

The real issues in Pakistan

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Dawn Editorial, 18 Sep, 2009 PEOPLE are dying queuing for grain in Pakistan. This is a country where food inflation is forcing parents to pull their children out of school – they can eat sparsely or be educated, not both. Lives are being lost to ailments that are easily curable. Street crime is rampant across a country where human life is worth less than a cellphone. Yet our political leaders appear oblivious to the misery that is everywhere. They seem to have no perspective, no grip on reality. Does a man who can’t feed his children really care whether or not Pervez Musharraf is tried for treason? Is a mother whose child has died of gastroenteritis likely to give much thought to America’s military presence in the region? Will a jobless person be impressed by the president’s much-touted ‘achievements’ during his first year in office? Our leaders have clearly lost sight of the core issues. This is a country where religious minorities are targeted by Muslim mobs while the law-enforcers look on. Deadly attacks against …

Update Swabi Camp

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With every passing day the situation of the IDPs living in the camps is getting worse. The weather is getting warmer day by day  making it more and more miserable and affecting the health of the people  badly. The most vulnerable group are children and women (specifically the women who are pregnant). They are suffering the most and need urgent attention. The average number of people visiting the medical camps has increased significantly, according to the medical assistant, Salma, working in the population welfare department.  She has told us that nearly fifty patients visit their camp daily, out of which 10 are women who are pregnant. She told us that due to insufficient nutrition they are weak and developing complications According to Salma there is no doctor available in the Population welfare department’s camp to see the patients. When we asked her that how do they treat the serious patients she answered that they refer them to the other medical camps serving in the colony.  Unfortunately these camps are hardly any better.  The other depressing …

Changing the way we have been By Ayaz Amir

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( Comment by Awaam :  So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly arise and make them miserable—-Aldous Huxley ) The stakes couldn’t be higher nor the opportunity hidden in this hour of seeming distress more promising. Provided we don’t prove exceptionally unlucky once more — or exceptionally stupid — the crisis in which we find ourselves is an opportunity to change the face of Pakistan, change our direction and our established modes of thinking and make up for all the lost years — years lost to mediocre leadership, both civil and military. It is not us who have created this moment of opportunity. Indeed it lay not in our power to do so. It has come our way through a combination of factors: America’s presence in Afghanistan; the growing Taliban threat within Pakistan; and Barack Obama as US president. It is Obama’s approach to Afghanistan which has enhanced Pakistan’s importance — whether Pakistan’s inept leadership understands this or not. Crucial to any American success in Afghanistan — anything that …

Vision 21

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Vision 21 is Pakistan based non-profit, non- partisan Socio-Political organisation. We work through research and advocacy. Our Focus is on Poverty and Misery Alleviation, Rights Awareness, Human Dignity, Women empowerment and Justice as a right and obligation. We act and work side by side with the deprived and have-nots. We invite you to join us in this mission. We welcome your help. We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you are interested in writing on Awaam, please contact us at: awaam@thevision21.org ↑ Grab this Headline Animator