March 8th, 2010
On 20th February 2010, We arranged a seminar in Lahore on the subject of “Examining development assistance”. It is a crucial question and with all the associated propagandas, it becomes even more crucial to address this subject and convey the facts to the general public. At the same time, the debate addressed the core issue of self- accountability for the involved parties. Government of Pakistan (GoP) spends around 2.5% of its budget on health and education. The need for more spending is there but it cannot be adjusted due to the limited resources. The difference or the gap is therefore met by the development aid. A vital issue discussed at the same platform was the transparency of this development assistance received. It was stressed that transparency should be ensured at all levels and the general public must have access to the information about how much aid was received. How and where was it spent? A citizen monitoring approach was also highlighted. For the optimal usage of the aid received, it was stressed that all projects should be based on a thorough, comprehensive and exhaustive research. Participants also agreed on the fact that effective and better governance is needed for effective management of the development assistance that Pakistan receives. There is a need for more coordination and enhanced engagement of all stakeholders. The participants also stressed on the need to stop the ‘blame game’ and take responsibility for our mistakes.
The seminar was attended by a large number of people from various walks of life including the academia, media, youth, researchers and members of other civil society organizations. The seminar looked at various aspects of development assistance. Since 2007, Pakistan has become the 6th largest recipient of Official Development Assistance (ODA) receiving US $ 2.2 billion. The participants of the seminar emphasized that this assistance should be effectively utilized for the interests of the citizens.
Posted in liberal politics | 1 Comment »
March 5th, 2010
People from the small village of Ghulam Muhammad Jamali in Baluchistan would have never thought that one day one peasant woman will be knocking on their doors asking them to vote for her. The ‘knock’ is not only limited to the door of the house, it is a ‘knock’ on the door of the ideology of the men in that area. Ironically, Mai Jori is contesting from the same area where a few women were buried alive in 2008 which was termed as ‘Honor Killing’ and the issue was very prominently highlighted on news channels. Two years after the unfortunate incident, one woman is marching the streets, from village to village what she calls “Haqooq March (Rights March)” for her gender’s honor.
Mai Jori is illiterate and works on a farm with her husband. She has nine children and each morning she travels 2 km to get water for her family. As evident she has no funds to carry out her electoral campaign. This has been managed by the local communities who have gathered the funds on their own. She has also been now given a ticket from ANP (Awami national Party). This is a big step in moving towards a vibrant and dynamic democracy. One woman has decided to take up the challenge and fight the cruel doctrines which exist in that society.
Whether she wins or loses the contest is not important. She has made a statement already by announcing she will contest the elections. We strongly encourage our readers to celebrate the spirit of this woman and extend their unconditional support to her. Mai Jori Jamali is an inspiration for all the women who oppressed and feel that they cannot break the shackles.
Posted in Balochistan, Ideas /products that empower | 6 Comments »
March 1st, 2010
It started from Karachi. Went to Lahore, made its way to Faisalabad, raised eye-brows in Islamabad and is now heading may be to Multan or some other city, I am not sure. The whole saga is popularly known as a movement to wake-up Pakistan. But the million dollar question is: How do you wake up a nation by inflicting fear in their hearts? You bombard them with the so called theories of how a master-plan of our extermination is in place. How the whole of the world is conspiring against us else we would have been the first nation to walk on the moon. Leave aside the fact that much of us don’t even know about Michael Jackson’s moon-walk item. You constantly tell them the lost glories of your fore-fathers and tell them to pick up a Kalashnikov and go in search of that dream. Sounds insane, isn’t it? You captivate the youth with your version of “Ghazwa-e-Hind – The Holy War in the subcontinent” in which you exaggerate to the lengths that after capturing India the same army will head to Israel and free the world from its atrocities. Labeling half of this nation as people bought by foreign agencies and the rest half got their applications denied.
Psy-ops, rumor mill, half-truths, half-lies, tell-a-tale; one can find so many adjectives for the messages conveyed through this “wake up Pakistan” campaign. The intention is good; it’s the implementation which does not hold true to our values. Would not it be better if the focus of this campaign would have been on waking up this nation more on civic grounds? How to be a law abiding citizen? What are your responsibilities as a student, as a worker, as a neighbor, as a citizen? How you can help Pakistan get through these tough times? How to co-exist with people belonging from different faiths and promote a society which shows tolerance towards all faiths?
It is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We are a nation facing a menace of terrorism and our government and armed forces are in a constant struggle to safe guard our homeland. The most we can do is just to acknowledge their efforts and just give them the feeling that their sacrifices won’t go in vain.
Posted in Mullahs of all shapes and sizes | 7 Comments »
February 22nd, 2010
“The world we know is fabricated from our memories in an almost statisticalway.” Karl Pribram.
We become what we think. What takes place is not as important as the way we understand it or perceive it. Our response to a certain incident is actually a test of our mental-strength; a test of our character. For a farmer whose fields are plowed, dark rain clouds mean happiness but for a bride’s mother having a garden wedding for her daughter, this could mean differently. One group of clouds but two opposite interpretations.
Applying the same theory on Pakistan, the recent times have been tough times. Submerged in sadism which erupted from extremism, we have fought our way back to life. The struggle hasn’t finished yet. But during these times of hopelessness, the choice for a better tomorrow for the generation to come lies in the decisions we make today. Through positive thinking and collaboration, through a collective effort, we all can make it through these dark times.
The monthly talk session of ours is an initiative in the same direction. “Positive perceptions – celebrating positivity” as it is called, is a opportunity for people to share and learn from their experiences. It’s a triumph of liberalism over extremism. Despite all the efforts from the militants and extremists, many individuals from the liberal school of thought are still working wonders in their fields. This is a forum not only to celebrate their success but to acknowledge and learn from it.
For the month of February 2010, Samar Minallah will be the guest positive speaker. She brings with her plenty of experience in the social sector. Her experience of utilizing media to bring forward socio-cultural issues at a time when extremist ideology was trying to set its foot in Pakistan is worth mentioning. She will be sharing her mosaic of videos and documentaries with the listeners and last but not the least her experience of using video for social change.
The event will take place on Feb 23rd 2010 from 1600 hours to 1800 hours. We can only house a limited audience physically but through this space we would like to share the interaction with all of you. Watch this space for the video recording of the event. Please feel free to tell us about such positive people who we can invite and get inspired from.
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January 29th, 2010
Check out the video of our “+ perceptions ” on Active Citizenship on You tube. Feedback will be most welcome
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January 22nd, 2010
The video tells the story of a confused young man seeking answers about lifes important questions and shows how an individual lures this young man by tell him that he has the answer to lifes ultimate question, how to find heaven. We see the young mans journey and the events that lead to the conclusion he comes to.
Posted in liberal politics | 2 Comments »
January 18th, 2010
Happy to share that the first talk titled “Active citizenship” under + perceptions was a reasonable success. For Aqil ,the three major political movements during Pakistan’s history is a sign that Pakistanis have displayed active citizenship but in leaps and bounds. What are the three major movements that Aqil seeks inspiration from ? Watch this space for the video recording of the talk and find out for yourself.
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January 15th, 2010
It will be an understatement to state that Pakistan is in the eye of the storm. Social, political, economic and even religious turmoil is being experienced by the country. Cynancim, negativity and depression seems to be the mood. However, there are still people who with their positive outlooks and perceptions are giving hope. These people can best be described as positive people. However, they are invisible. They trudge away quietly away from media and the so called “civil society” eye. These people, in our opinion, need to be celebrated yes but more importantly their stories need to be told….. their views heard to rid ourselves of this collective depression.
In an informal meet and greet kind of format, every month under the title of + perceptions we are going to host one such speaker . This month… today Aqil Sajjad is going to be speaking on “ Being an active citizen” We can only accomodate a limited audience phsycially but through this space we would like to share the interaction with all of you. Watch this space for the video recording of the event .
Also feel free to tell us about such positive people who we can invite and get inspired from.
Tags: + perceptions
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October 10th, 2009
So far , October has been quite bloody. From the October 5th attack on the World Food Program’s Islamabad Office to the Indian Embassy in Kabul to Peshawar’s October 9th bombing and today’s attack on the General Head Quarters Rawalpindi. All this amdist rumours of things being hostile between the American agencies aka DyCorp/ Inter-Risk agency and the ISI not to mention threats of attacks on Quetta . All this while the nation is fooled to believe that the greater threat to us is the Kerry -Lugar bill. When and where will the spiral end ?
Posted in liberal politics | 2 Comments »
June 12th, 2009
The Internally Displaced People of Swat have actually become Internally Disputed People . Who is going to play host to them is the question that is hotly disputed with all the provinces saying “its not our problem.” Punjab has raised a special border police to stop them while paying lipservice to their cause, in Sindh there is a rare alliance of MQM and the JSQM against the IDPs while the Pathans run from pillar to post. Baluchistan ofcourse is excluded from the debate as it has problems of its own.
From our perspective , the Sindhi nationalists are right. The Punjabis are not wrong either. Read to find out more.
Posted in North West Frontier Province | 3 Comments »