Okay this Valentine Day offer from Islamabad is pretty interesting:
Zefra announces
“Love Bites” Valentine’s nyt live Bar B Q, open Bar 14 Feb, 10 pm onwards its tym to shake ur body wid DJ Fawax Feel d powful beats kk in… Strkly couples @ Rs. 4000/couple, 1500/girl 0333 88888143
Interesting thing in above is (which I am thinking of confirming in morning) that they are actually offering a girl for Rs 1500? Because it doesn’t make sense of why there is mention of per girl rate if this is “a strictly couples only” event! (mobile)
Naseer & Shahab - Za Pukhtoon Yam
I am not very fond of “ethnic nationalism” but this is first of all very catchy, secondly it has a point which is dear to my heart as it breaks the stereotypes against Pakhtun (esp given war in Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan), and finally it has beautiful lyrics!
The enemy brands it as a language of hell,
To heaven I will go with Pashto. (Ameer Hamza Shinwari)
Photojournalism: Spirituality in death
On 14th January I covered 968th death anniversary of Sufi Saint Abul Hassan Ali Hajvery also known as Data Gunj Baksh in Lahore, Pakistan. Here are some pictures from the day. You can check the complete set on my Flickr here.
I also shot some clips there which I am using in a music video for an extremely talented musician from Islamabad. Will be sharing that with public by end of this week!
Racial, Verbal abuse on Central Line London Train 23.01.12
A Pakistani tells you how to deal with Racial abuse, you sing! This one comes with translated subtitles.
Just went through an Asian Development Bank report on Rapid Transport System for Lahore and came to know some very disturbing facts.
- There are over 300 katchi abadis (slums or basic unplanned brick-mortar housing areas) which hold 50% of all Urban Lahore population.
- 35-50% of people in Lahore are classified as poor.
- Majority of those Katchi Abadi dwellers are below poverty line.
That is some serious irregular distribution of wealth!
To compare Lahore in GDP with a city you might be living in, you can check these stats here and for area wise stats click here.
I’m beating myself up for just seeing this, but regardless I’m fuming at two things.
A. the US cover choice (obviously)
The US edition of TIME always has a bad rep for picking its covers. Regardless, this is just the worst for me. I mean let’s just not share (for once!!!) non-degrading news on a nation that we’re always ready to mudsling at. Come on, man! Sure we’ll bring Pakistan up in the news when we’re discussing our issues with giving them aid, sure we’ll bring them up when they’re “the newest Taliban” hub, and sure we’ll bring up Pakistan when we decide to start spreading the blame on those NATO attacks (don’t even get me started). BUT when one of the nation’s biggest cities is on its way to becoming the target killing version of Juárez, we’ll politely decline. I could go on and on, but this is basically pretty self explanatory.
B. the TIME article
I have issues with the article because third world shaming is always me in full on hate mode, but there’s a really great response that I’m going to reblog after this. My actual issue is the date of this article. This is the January 16, 2011 issue. The target killings were at a peak during July/August 2011 (and actually accounted to more than 344 deaths). Granted, Karachi’s violence is still at an all time high and the city is in a general upheaval. So my biggest irk, maybe even greater than the infamous US cover change, is the timing of this article. Why wasn’t this covered when people were actually legitimately afraid of even walking outside of their homes for an entire month? I just feel like this story at that time would have done so much in terms of people actually knowing what the current state was, as opposed to hearing about the returning tide.
My add: Had to reblog! And here is another interesting share on the same story on Tumblr: An Australian’s REBUTTAL to TIME Magazine’s story on Karachi.
Disturbing development at Twitter: countries will silence tweets
(via reuters)
My add: Good job, twitter! Remind me how I am supposed to not think that your “high morals” are only for Iran, Egypt and Syria!?
(via soupsoup)
TedTalks: Moral psychology and the its matrix.
(via zushan)
From video: Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we’re left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most.
My add: This is what I am going to refer anyone who asks me again, what I really believe in or why I am (kind of) a Centrist?
After her father began raping her, Mariam felt scared, ashamed and vulnerable.
The Pakistani teenager, who was around 13 or 14 when the attacks began, couldn’t have known her case would lift the veil on an explosive issue long-shrouded in stigma and bereft of justice in her country – incest.
In 2009, the year the attacks began, a trio of human rights organisations took up her case: international group Equality Now, as well as Pakistani women’s rights organisations War Against Rape, Lahore and Nasreen Welfare Trust Legal Aid Services (NWT). Mariam* served as the inspiration for their report “A Struggle for Justice: Incest Victims in Pakistan,” issued on Jan. 24.
Incest isn’t even listed in the Pakistan Penal Code. It’s rarely discussed and even more rarely reported, according to the report. There are no statistics on incest and, often, little or no punishment for those who perpetrate it. Families typically cover it up and discourage victims from reporting it out of fear that the family honour will be tarnished. (Originally blogged via msandrogynous, complete article at Trust.org)
Pakistan Votes: Kuch samajh mey aaya? (trans. Understood anything?)
From the video: Pakistan Votes is an apolitical campaign asking Pakistanis to either cast one’s vote or to void one’s vote. The underlying philosophy of the campaign generates from the fact that the 2008 electoral list hosted 40 million ghost voters (multiple entries, voters registered without authentic identification). Bogus votes get casted under the pretext of unverified voters and also under the names of those who fail to show up.
In 2008, roughly 35 million votes were casted. The voter population of Pakistan is ~ 80 million. Some quick math, if we remove the 40 million bogus voters from the 2008 electoral list, we’re left with 40 million ‘genuine’ voters. Now out of those 40 million, 35 million casted their votes. A 90% voter turnout? Really? Here’s the real question, how many rigged votes were casted using ghost votes or even under our names because we were no-shows? 10 million? 20 million? 30 million?
Do you like being taken advantage of? Haven’t you had enough? Come election time, if there’s no candidate you’d like to vote for, then go to the polling booth regardless and make your vote void (how do you void a vote — simple — select multiple candidates on your ballot! Did you seriously need to be told how it’s done?). Pakistan Votes is not in for the “video hits/likes” — all the campaign seeks is that you act responsibly by protecting your vote. And this isn’t a one time effort, Pakistanis have to vote every time there are elections, every single time. We must stop rigging, we must stop our votes from being misused. The system has to be detoxed, there’s no quick fix, let’s begin cleaning our mess.
The initiative is not backed by any sponsorships, or any political agenda. It is purely youth driven. A grand total of PKR 5,000 was utilised on this effort.
—-
My add: Though audio could’ve been better, this is a message which needs to be amplified. If nothing else, reblog it for the Aunty at 1:13!
The superior man comprehended righteousness; the small man comprehends gain.
Analects of Confucius, 4:16
- January 22
- , 2012
BBC: Swiss ‘contract children’ speak out
A dark chapter of Swiss history is getting increased attention, with the release of a feature film about “Verdingkinder” or “contract children” and an exhibition about them which is touring the country. (complete article / video report)
Photo credits: Verdingkinder, Historisches Museum, ab 4. Dezember Foto: Paul Senn
What is it like to be asexual?
Twenty-one-year-old Jenni Goodchild does not experience sexual attraction, but in an increasingly sexualised society what is it like to be asexual?
“For me it basically just means that I don’t look at people and think ‘hmm yeah I’d have sex with you,’ that just doesn’t happen,” says Jenni.
A student in Oxford, Jenni is one of the estimated 1% of people in the UK who identify themselves as asexual. Asexuality is described as an orientation, unlike celibacy which is a choice. (complete article)
Shit Muslims Say
Sheikh Zubair is a Muslim, ISRAEL! and of course are Shia’ts even Human!?!
You people clothe non-living things while in Balochistan a common man lives without proper clothing!
Vasu from Shahzad Roy’s new song (complete interview)
- January 15
- , 2012
