Elections and Mazahiya Poetry

I love Punjabi & Urdu poetry, especially when recited the poets in their own unique styles. Elections are now just 4 weeks away. Let's relish some funny poetry about elections then. After all, it has got some meaning and message to it. 

I start with my own favorite pieces of Punjabi-Urdu poetry, from very well-known Khalid Masood. There are two parts related to election here. First one is about the infamous "Lotas"


Pehaly Odhroon, Faer Aidhroon, Ab Faer Khara haiy Odhroon
Public Tang haiy Laikin Lota Lota i hota haiy 

Next is a beautiful depiction of dynamics of our electoral process. What kind of people we have managed to select every time.

Luch lafang elect huwa hai annay-wa
Beeba phir reject huwa hai annay-wa
Sooe pay dhaga daalnay waali nokri pay
Anna aik select huwa hai annay-wa 

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 Next I present to you (In the same video, starting at 06:45). the very poet who got known for "Banayain" & "Aj ki Pul", Anwar Masood, depicting the results of elections. 


Theek haiy Jaisa Election h00  gia haiy, Theek haiy 
Haan magar Tasweesh lahiq zara haiy is baab mein
Muj ko lagta haiy yae Khasa ghair Fitri Fasla
Molvi Sarhad mein hain, Lotay magar Punjab mein


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Anwar Masood has got more to say about Elections based on his outstanding ability to make real-life observations and connect things together beautifully.


Shairana aur Zareefana ho gar Zouq e Nazar
Zindagi mein Ja ba-Ja Dil-chasp Tashbeehain bhi hain 
Rail Gari aur Election mein haiy Ek Shay Mushtarak
Log be-ticktay kaee is mein bhi hain, Us mein bhi hain

Muje gar Muntakhab kar lo gae Bhai 
Panap-nay ki nahi koee Burai 
Muje kehna kay naqis haiy Safai 
Gatar say bhi agar Khushboo na aa-iy

Dilchashp kis qadar haiy Chunao ka Marhala
Har Cheez deedni haiy Election kay Baab ki 
Aisa chuna Nishan har umeed-war nae
Pasli parak uthi nigah e intezaar ki 




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Here goes Dr. Inam ul Haq Javed when he has to something to say about promises and their timings.

Tum kehtay ho sab kuch ho ga
Mein kehta hun kab kuch ho ga
Bas is aas pae Umr Guzari
Ab kuch ho ga, ab kuch ho ga

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Finally, there is Punjabi treat, with poet unknown.It's a sequence of hypothetical sequences that are impossible but amazingly interconnected and weaved into a story. I think all the fun will be lost in transliteration. Just enjoy the video. 





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Do you have more links and videos of funny poetry to share?

Article 62, 63 and this Elections: My simplistic view

Let's take it point by point:

1. Are the articles 62 and 63, crystal clear in their form and meaning?

Definitely not.

There are a lot of unclear hints which if taken in literal sense of word and in the extreme capacity (exploited), leave almost no human, eligible for the elections. Many examples can be quoted in this regard. 

2. Can we expect something as a result of this "Cleaning" procedure?

Very little, may be. 

Some people will get their degrees verified.

Other might have started offering regular prayers to be prepared for the interviews. 

May be someone had already started selling guess-books for politicians.

Journos off course will get some more TRPs. 

Ayaz Amir will most probably make it through the appeal process. 

Will any big guns fall into it? A handful, off course. 
Ultimately, "innocent until proven guilty" 

We already had enough FUN out it. Don't we??


3. Will the current practice do some good in the long run?

Yes, there might be a great deal of confusions and issues in implementing 62, 63. 
But, by April 19, "BIG" things can be sorted. 
We will have a model of such cleansing to make amends on, at the very least.
That will prompt next parliament to re-consider it. It will get modified, probably for newer experiments of new amendments.

And we have clearer explanations of the explanations of Nazria e Pakistan, those who claim to stand by it, and those who say  ideology, my foot.

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Your feedback is welcome.

GIN2013: Global Issues Network Conference @ NYUAD

I just returned after attending GIN2013: a conference organized by New York Universirty Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). The conference aims at framing global issues in a local perspectives and encouraging teams of students (earlier only high school students and adding university students from this year on-wards) to put forward a solution to solve an issue locally. 

The 3-day conference program is fully packed with Discussion/Breakout sessions interspersed with keynote talks by global and local leaders. Students work in a team of 5-6 members, lead by a facilitator, to discuss an issue of importance in one of the areas: heath, education, technology, energy and waste management. Their goal is to research key issues in the particular area, find potential solutions to the problems and finally propose a sustainable action plan, with clear objectives, a detailed timeline and an estimate of costs to implement the solution. The students are guided by the mentors, including the keynote speakers in the conference who help students brainstorm deeper into particular implementation issues and make sure the plan is feasible.

I must say such a conference is an ideal platform for students of different backgrounds from all across the globe to meet and work together on issues of global importance. Many a students must have left with new perspectives, ideas and strategies and a better understanding of other cultures. The talks by His Highness Sheikh Abdul Aziz aka Green Sheikh, Jeffery from Microsoft, Natasha from globalthemostat and Scott the entertainer and inspirational speaker from Canada were all amazing and inspirational. 

The NYUAD team led by Benjamin and Michaell et al. really put up a great show overall clearly reflecting their excellent management skills at such an early stages in student life.  I hope this idea continues and expands and people from more universities and high schools are included in management roles as well.

I will like to end by saying "Thanks guys, it was a wonderful to be with you, Keep in touch. It's a small world after all" to my team members: C.Wang, Noura, Alistiar, Zoe, DJ, and some of other friends and organizers (off course not a comprehensive list and in no particular order): Ben, Michael, Jaime, Musa A. Bajwa, Amal, Iryna, 'Evaan Smith', Clara, Satchi, Saad, Farah+Paula, the big list of South-East Asians, and  finally Sana,Humair, Lindzy.  

Jinnah's Take on Potential Problems to be faced by Pakistan

Today, I revisited Jinnah's historic speech on 11th August 1947 to the first constituent assembly of Pakistan. 

Here I list the things, in Jinnah's own words,  that held top priority in Jinnah's vision of Pakistan and the challenges he thought Pakistan would have to cope with . 

The original text of speech can be accessed from a host of sources like, Pak Tea House or Left Side of the Right Brain, where it was posted today. 


1. First Duty of a Government 
"You will no doubt agree with me that the first duty of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the State."

2. Bribery and Corruption

"That really is a poison. We must put that down with an iron hand and I hope that you will take adequate measures as soon as it is possible for this Assembly to do so"

3. Black-Marketing
"A citizen who does black-marketing commits, I think, a greater crime than the biggest and most grievous of crimes. These black-marketeers are really knowing, intelligent and ordinarily responsible people, and when they indulge in black-marketing, I think they ought to be very severely punished, because the entire system of control and regulation of foodstuffs and essential commodities, and cause wholesale starvation and want and even death."


4. Nepotism and Jobbery
"I want to make it quite clear that I shall never tolerate any kind of jobbery, nepotism or any any influence directly of indirectly brought to bear upon me. Whenever I will find that such a practice is in vogue or is continuing anywhere, low or high, I shall certainly not countenance it."


5. Religious Freedom
"You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State."



If we compare Jinnah's vision of a state as guardian of its subjects and free from the vices mentioned above with the current state of affairs, we are, no doubt, still at ground-zero. We have to re-visit our own mistakes, re-think our strategies and boot up again. 

PMLN Fake Twitter Accounts - Part II

VentureBeat posted an article with some stats on fake followers on twitter, few hours back. 

Study shows 15% of Mitt Romney’s Twitter followers are fake

The article mentions about growing trend in such paid services and how it goes against the  terms of service of twitter. 

After reading the article, I had another look at the PMLN fake twitter accounts, I mentioned in the last blog. 

It was fun to figure out the survival strategy of the paid services. Maintain a certain amount of unique content with  each profile to save it from the rash of twitter against spammers. 

Identical tweets continue

If one takes a cursory look at the following twitter accounts: 

1. MudassarSultan1
2. IffatRehanKazmi
3. MadihaAliChohan

It is clearly visible that the first four identical tweets are the about PMLN, IK, CJ and PPP. Fifth tweet, at the time, I am looking the accounts, is a quototation. The quotation is different across different accounts. A nice way to keep the overall profile content unique. 

Just as sometimes, as students,  we would copy the whole assignment but modify / delete / add few sentences to try to establish that somehow our work is different from the rest of class/group. 

The quotation is second last tweet in the picture below. 

One of the quotes from an accounts reads, "Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." 

Indeed we don't trust a few. However, dear paid services, you seem to do with 'do wrong to none' part what non-practicing followers of a religion do.  

Source accounts for tweets and pictures

The first profile in the eariler list, MudassarSultan1, describes himself/herself/itself as "a creative designer, intellectual, social worker who loves to read , write, paint... and gets high on music :) or love whatever comes first :))"

Well, to acknowledge the creativity of this account, it's enough to state that this account is the first source of this tweet and the picture which was re-sent, I dare not say re-tweet here, by all other accounts which seem to be part of the fake PMLN twitter 'gang'.

Another account, which is evidently, part of this gang,  synchronously re-tweeting quotes, is  RidaShahJaffery. However, we find some sanity here and little engagement in twitter conversations hints at the profile to be real. The accounts's total tweets, 120+,  are on higher end of the account average of the 'gang'. The comic by Tamoor about SKMH funds r'e-tweeted' PMLN 'gang' originated from this account. 

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All in all, the respected Khadim e Ala who matched Lahore to Paris continues to be  promoted through use of paid software services that regularly generate fake accounts and data. 

Is this the way PMLN is committed to it's 3 E's: Energy, Education and Economy ?? 

P.S: Moeez Pirzada had a good discussion in his program Sochta Paksitan on National Health Policy in Pakistan and why all political parties are silent about this issue of real importance.  The sane reader might wanna have a look at it.