I left my house at around 2:30 pm. On reaching the street where my polling station was located, I noticed that there were no camps of Pakistan Peoples Party or MMA. Only the MQM camps were there and only their volunteers were present and in big numbers. I reched my polling station and surprisingly there were no polling agents of any other party but MQM. A huge number of MQM’s supporters were present inside the polling station. Since my all my relatives had always been devoted MQM supporters. Every one there thought that I am definitely going to vote MQM. They laughed when I showed my Identity card. They even asked me if I would like to cast another vote. I saw a 30 plus guy showing a pink slip of paper to presiding officer and getting a ballot paper without showing any identity card.
MQM’s volunteers were not only disturbing the polling process they were even spying on the polling booths. When I went inside to stamp on the ballot paper, a twenty plus guy was watching my ballot paper. I asked him to look away and when he disappeared I stamped my ballot papers. Dropped ballot papers in ballot boxes. I sat there with other MQM volunteers (they were all guys from my neighbourhood, some were relatives, cousins, etc.) no one asked me to leave the polling station and I saw many people coming showing identity cards of their dead relatives and casting votes. Many people came showing pink papers and casting votes, many people were accompanied by councillors, naib nazims, and MQM supporters.
When I was leaving the polling station I saw a forgein election observer accompanied by a Pakistani man and a woman. I thought for a while that may be I should talk to her, but then decided that it will be such a waste of time, she must have known whats going on by now.
Its quite clear now that Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig has lost to Khushbakh Shujaat of MQM. What I don’t understand is that why MQM bothered to stage bogus votes when it was already quite clear that they would win easily?
I left my house at around 2:30 pm. On reaching the street where my polling station was located, I noticed that there were no camps of Pakistan Peoples Party or MMA. Only the MQM camps were there and only their volunteers were present and in big numbers. I reched my polling station and surprisingly there […]
The world was already worried about Pakistan’s madrassas and tribal areas being used as base camps for Taleban insurgents. But now they are panicked because it seems like the militants has started showing off their power in the capital of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the only muslim country with Nuclear weapons. The controversy revolves around a mosque known as Red Mosque and a madrassa run by the mosque,Jamia Hafsa, an Institute of Islamic studies. Recently the students of this madrassa attacked a house in Islamabad, kidnapped three women who lived in that house and demanded that Adultry cases must be filed against these women or else Jamia would arrange an Islamic court and punish the women itself.
Their Business is Jihad
The Guardian’s Declan Walsh visits Islamabad’s Red Mosque a hotbed of Islamic militancy at the heart of Pakistan’s capital.
Trouble brews at Islamabad’s jihad-preaching mosqueBut their arrest and the seizure of the officers and an alleged manager of a local brothel during a morality dispute is a sideshow to more sinister activity inside the giant complex with 11,000 students.
The hostage-taking by women students from Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad of the residents of a house that they allege is a brothel is not just another act of vigilantism and a breakdown of governance; it is also a manifestation of a nation divided against itself.
Below is a video showing Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, the head of madrassah and the mosque administration, telling about the Mosque, the Madrassa and the ideology that he and the madrassa students believe in.
The world was already worried about Pakistan’s madrassas and tribal areas being used as base camps for Taleban insurgents. But now they are panicked because it seems like the militants has started showing off their power in the capital of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the only muslim country with Nuclear weapons. The controversy revolves […]
City District Government of Karachi has banned Plastic shopping bags. During last few days the CDGK took strict action against the manufacturers of these Plastic bags, resellers and distributors. CDGK’s action has resulted into an acute shortage of paper bags, rubber bands and other packing materials that are widely used by local grocery stores and shop keepers. The shop keepers are facing difficulty to come up with some quick alternate to plastic bags.
There is no doubt that these plastic bags are dangerous for the environment and managing them with the garbage is real trouble for CDGK. Since there is no proper system of handling and disposing garbage, these plastic bags cause damage to city’s infrastructure such as electric and water supply and sewerage system.
It takes almost 500 to 1000 years for a plastic bag to decompose. It is possible to recycle plastic bags but it is an expansive solution for a city like Karachi. These plastic bags are so cheap that once used, there is no incentive for people to reuse them again. Every shop keeper, store and retailer offers a free bag with almost every thing. From Large electrical appliances to ice cream vendors, every one offers shopping bag for no extra cost. When mixed with other garbage these plastic bags create a huge mess of pollution. Even the developed nations are facing difficulty combating the disposal and recycling of plastic shopping bags.
The advantages of banning the plastic bags are unlimited. However, there are still some concerns over such an immediate action. This is a huge industry the ban would affect thousands of people involved in manufacturing, distribution and resell of these bags. Mass usage of Paper bags is itself not an environment friendly idea but these bags are easy to recycle and they get easily decomposed naturally.
City District Government of Karachi has banned Plastic shopping bags. During last few days the CDGK took strict action against the manufacturers of these Plastic bags, resellers and distributors. CDGK’s action has resulted into an acute shortage of paper bags, rubber bands and other packing materials that are widely used by local grocery stores and […]
Pakistan Cricket Team’s coach Bob Woolmer has passed away. To me, an average Pakistani, this is one of the many sad news that the nation is getting from everywhere.
The Cheif Justice Case
Police agression against lawyers protesting on the situation.
Police attack on the private television network’s premises in Islamabad.
Pakistani cricket team’s shameful performance against the Ireland in the cricket world cup.
And now Bob Woolmer’s death.
Bob Woolmer was a great Pakistani. He died while working for Pakistan. The nation is sad on this sudden loss.
Pakistan Cricket Team’s coach Bob Woolmer has passed away. To me, an average Pakistani, this is one of the many sad news that the nation is getting from everywhere.
The Cheif Justice Case
Police agression against lawyers protesting on the situation.
Police attack on the private television network’s premises in Islamabad.
Pakistani cricket team’s shameful performance against the […]
The Google Zeitgeist now shows popular queries from Pakistan. In January 2007, the most popular query made by Pakistanis is Pakistan itself. Yes, the country we live in is just as mysterious and unknown to us as it is for any European or African.
We don’t really have any stars and celebrities of our own in Pakistan. The only Pakistani who made it to top 15 search queries, is Atif Aslam defeated by Sania Mirza the Indian tennis star.
Karina Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Aishwarya Rai, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and bollywood itself is one of the most popular queries made by Pakistanis. No matter how much Pakistanis love Bollywood and Indian Stardust, the search term Urdu is the eighth most popular query.
Karachi is the eleventh most popular search term, warid at 12 and Jang got the 13th position.
The Google Zeitgeist now shows popular queries from Pakistan. In January 2007, the most popular query made by Pakistanis is Pakistan itself. Yes, the country we live in is just as mysterious and unknown to us as it is for any European or African.
We don’t really have any stars and celebrities of our own […]
When Lahore is celebrating Basant, there is a man, Shaukat who entered the city with the dead bodies of his five children, injured and exhausted wife, and his now only child a baby girl.
The Supereme Court of Pakistan ordered a ban over kite flying in Punjab to combat the side effects of Basant. Government of Punjab, removed the ban for two days to celebrate Basant in Lahore. Strict measures are taken to protect innocent lives and infrastructure, and to maintain law and order during Basant. But how could you expect the wild masses to abide the law when the wild government itself has teared it up into pieces.
This, the country of contrasts is full of conflicting stories. In another city, Peshawar, schools were threatened to be attacked by suicide bombers if they do not end up their co eduction school system.
A woman mourning over the dead body of her relative who died during the terrorist attack on Samjhota Express.
Women in Lahore wearing smiles and buying kites to celebrate Basant.
School girls in Islamabad running during the inter school competitions.
Principle of Girl’s school in Mardan, a city in Pakistani province NWFP. Wearing Burqa and telling media about the threat letters she has recieved from Taleban to follow the strict Islamic burqa guidelines.
When Lahore is celebrating Basant, there is a man, Shaukat who entered the city with the dead bodies of his five children, injured and exhausted wife, and his now only child a baby girl.
The Supereme Court of Pakistan ordered a ban over kite flying in Punjab to combat the side effects of Basant. […]
Pakistan is entering into a new era of prosperity. The country has internet access in almost all cities. There are computer labs in schools and colleges, every other day you would see some government officer inaugrating a new computer lab in some school or college. Musharraf’s government is proud that they have made so many TV channels available to Pakistanis. All medium to large size companies, institutions and organizations have some www address printed on their business cards, posters and advertisements.
But I feel that we as a nation are absolutely clueless about what information is and how important role it plays in the development of nations. We know that our organizations, businesses or institutes need a www.myorganization.com.pk website. But we have no idea how to use the world wide web. We have fruits in our hands but we don’t know that in order to enjoy their juices we need to bite them. In 2006 Pakistanis can not download your utility bills. Even after yeas of hard work to bring these small but significant changes to lives of Pakistanis, we failed.
Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), is a Pakistani company with a www.kesc.com.pk domain name. KESC supplies electricity to more than 14 Million residents, businesses and industries in the Megapolis and surrounding areas. This giant corporation’s website has only three links on their main page. Rest of the page is an screenshot of a website and is displayed in Gif image format. I remember KESC had a functional website sometime ago and I have downloaded my electricity bill from their website. I remember they had detailed information available. Now every thing is gone.
The Website has a picture telling visitors that KESC has 92 customer services centers, but no addresses, telephone numbers or email addresses available. A picture titled “Latest News” tells you about Federal Minister Mr. Liaquat Jatoi’s visit to KESC headquarters on 29 September 2006, nothing more on that is available.
I don’t know how many Bills KESC issues each month, but this URL is printed on the back of each KESC bill. I don’t know how many people make an attempt to look at the KESC website each day or month. But I find it quite suprising that they are so careless about all this.
The website (a poster actually) doesn’t disclose any contact information so I was unable to contact people who are responsible for this job at KESC. It has a link at the bottom telling that the website designed and maintained by e-Creatorz. I filled out the contact form on the e-creatorz website on January 19 and asked them about the situation. They didn’t disclose or clarify anything, simple told me to wait till the website is relaunched hopefully in a few days. Now after a month, www.KESC.com.pk still displays the flyer that you can get created by the graphic designers at Burns Road for RS.100. I don’t blame e-Creatorz for getting more money than they deserved. I blame KESC for being so cruel, barbaric and ignorant.
KESC and all Pakistanis who can not understand the importance of information, the broken websites, useless and contentless macromedia flashy websites, and the 30 minutes per week per student computer labs. These are the signs that Pakistan is not entering into any new era of prosperity. We are actually going back in the reverse gear. Yes we are making progress and working hard but in the wrong and totally opposite direction than the one that leads to knowledge, power and freedom.
Pakistan is entering into a new era of prosperity. The country has internet access in almost all cities. There are computer labs in schools and colleges, every other day you would see some government officer inaugrating a new computer lab in some school or college. Musharraf’s government is proud that they have made so many […]
Did you know that PIA flew its first service with the Super Constellation on 07 June 1954 on the route linking Karachi and Dacca (now Dhaka), which were the main cities of the country’s western and eastern halves? History of PIA is a website dedicated to the history of Pakistan International Airline. It has some great photos of early days PIA and interesting facts about the history of national flag carrier airline.
Adda-Fication is doing a series on the events of 1971, fall of Dhaka and creation of Bangladesh. In the first post of this series, the author was asked:
My new friend went to ask if I picked the Bengali side or the Muslim side in that fight.
Jahan-e-Rumi has a post about public sculptures of Lahore. Rumi’s post is based on a post by Sheraz, but I can not find a link to the original post.
Did you know that PIA flew its first service with the Super Constellation on 07 June 1954 on the route linking Karachi and Dacca (now Dhaka), which were the main cities of the country’s western and eastern halves? History of PIA is a website dedicated to the history of Pakistan International Airline. It has some […]
Barbers get threat in Pakistan, Suspected Islamic radicals have issued a warning to barbers in a Pakistani border town not to shave off or cut their customers’ beards, saying it offends Islam.
Pakistani newspaper, The Daily times has more on this issue.
Residents of Khar said that local barbers decided not to shave their customers following threats by militants that the practice was un-Islamic and violators would be punished.
Some 80 percent of customers visit barber shops to shave their beard and the militants’ threat will hurt the barbers economically.
The political administration has confirmed that the barbers were threatened, but it appears “helpless” in providing security to the barbers.
Security analysts, asking not to be named, said that militants would use Bajaur as a base to expand their “brand of Islam” to the northern districts of the NWFP after the southern districts “are increasingly influenced by the spread of Talibanisation”.
Meanwhile, US keeps pressurizing Pakistan to curb down on Taliban hideouts in Pakistan. A senior US Army General Karl W. Eikenberry testified before the House Armed Services Committee:
Al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership presence inside of Pakistan remains a very significant problem, He told the Committee.
A steady, direct attack against the command and control in Pakistan in sanctuary areas is essential for us to achieve success,
The Taliban resurgence has been supported by a strengthened command-and-control structure that moved across the border into Pakistan after U.S. forces toppled the Taliban government in 2001. Today, Eikenberry said, senior Taliban leaders from the ousted regime are collaborating with al-Qaeda leaders, as well as with other groups led by the warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Haqqani clan of an ethnically Pashtun tribe.
Barbers get threat in Pakistan, Suspected Islamic radicals have issued a warning to barbers in a Pakistani border town not to shave off or cut their customers’ beards, saying it offends Islam.
Pakistani newspaper, The Daily times has more on this issue.
Residents of Khar said that local barbers decided not to shave their customers following […]
I went to cast my vote in the by-poll election of National Assembly’s NA-250 seat. Army’s B team, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal boycotted the election blaming government of pre-poll rigging. Pakistan People’s Party’s Nafees Siddiqui had support from various parties in ARD (Alliance for Restoration of Democracy) but MMA prefered not to support him and boycott the election.
There is no doubt that MQM’s candidate Ikhlaq Hussain is going to win this selection. There were MQM workers every where in and outside polling stations they ran a huge campaign and used government resources for their campaigning. They have great media relations, they spend huge amounts on advertisements. Still, MMA’s compromise with PPP had the potential to change the entire scenario. At least in this constituency where Jamat-e-Islami always had a strong vote bank.
Pictures, please click to enlarge:
My polling station was Government college for Women, Shahra-e-liaquat. I loved the campus, I didn’t know it is so big and beautiful. The boundary wall of the college is so high that it hides not only the girls but also the beauty of the campus.
Men’s polling booth
Election comission had the list of candidates on display at every polling booth. Some dil-jala PPP worker had used a pen on this list to write “Has Already Won” with the name of MQM’s candidate Captain Ikhlaq Hussain.
The same list again
There were MQM workers every where in and outside polling stations. They were providing free shuttle services to voters. I didn’t see any PPP workers around, those who were sitting at the camps lacked the enthusiasm and energy.
This Pakistan People’s Party’s polling camp. The workers were enjoying free Biryani and there were no young people around.
MMA’s election office locked down.
I went to cast my vote in the by-poll election of National Assembly’s NA-250 seat. Army’s B team, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal boycotted the election blaming government of pre-poll rigging. Pakistan People’s Party’s Nafees Siddiqui had support from various parties in ARD (Alliance for Restoration of Democracy) but MMA prefered not to support him and boycott the […]
City District Government of Karachi has 
