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Posts tagged with: PTI
Oct 11, 2012    |       6 comments

Imran’s Jehad for Peace

In the battle of Badr there was a boy of fifteen ‘Umayr who stood amongst the ranks of the believers. His heart was full of fear as he stood amongst the taller, broader, stronger and more experienced soldiers. But this fear was not of war nor of death. It was the fear of being asked to turn back to Medina because he was too young to fight.

This was the love and devotion that was deserved by the character of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH).  When the Prophet inspected the ranks he discovered this young man and as expected asked him to turn back. With tears the boy begged until the Prophet resigned to allow him to come. The young community of Muslims were after all outnumbered disproportionately 313 against over a thousand with armed superiority.

The love of the people is one of the qualities that defines a true leader. This is where we can appreciate Heaven’s role because not every one is destined to be a leader; let alone a true leader. This is a quality that in our time Imran Khan is blessed with. He is not a shrewd politician, nor is he cunning but what he has is the will and the heart to deserve the love of his people.

On saturday morning when my father woke me up for us to join Khan for the Waziristan rally my heart was in it but my self-preserving mind was against it. Along with my own back injury and an unrelenting chest congestion; my one year old first born son Isa had been ill all night with high fever and vomiting. At 6 am after not having slept all night I was told by my father that I should stay with Isa and not proceed to Waziristan. At first my mind gave in but in my heart I remembered little ‘Umayr who fought bravely at Badr. I trembled with fear that what if one day that boy was Isa fighting for the independence of our nation that his father had not stood up for. I leapt to my feet kissed my son and wife goodbye and with my mothers prayers set sail for Waziristan with Abu.

Is it not unusual for a young man of 28 with all the luxuries of a rich upper class background to be willing to; with full knowledge of the consequences; be prepared to give his life for a leader he believes in? This is the love that Imran commands. I have no reason or desire to give my life for anything; but I know very well that all my luxuries would be of no satisfaction without the dignity of freedom. I sent an SMS to my elder brother with my will written in it and decided to join the protest against the drones and boycotting our government’s silent licensing of it.
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Oct 5, 2012    |       2 comments

PTI Mails possibly being monitored by the Government of Pakistan

With the political situation heating up in Pakistan it seems every effort is being made by the establishment to monitor and track the Pakistani political Cyber Space – As off today some active PTI Social Media team members were shocked to log into their Insaf.pk / Gmail accounts to be presented with an alarming warning that it might be possible that the Govt of Pakistan / agencies might be monitoring their activities

WARNING: We Believe State-Sponsored Attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer

WARNING: We Believe State-Sponsored Attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer

Google immeditely directs the user to a help file “Your account could be at risk of state-sponsored attacks” which helps explain that that state-sponsored attackers might actually be attempting to compromise the account or computer. They outline detailed steps on how to secure the respective accounts, but what is worrying that all these accounts that were being flagged by Google to be potentially compromised already use Google 2-Step SMS Verification system and take all the necessary precautions to ensure that their accounts are extensively secure

Digging a little further we came across a Google Online Security blog where an entry was posted as latest as June 5th 2012  “Security warnings for suspected state-sponsored attacks” it is when Google has started to warn any of its users where they suspect the system might actually be compromised – the blog entry further explains the reasoning behind this red-warning displayed on top of their google accounts

We are constantly on the lookout for malicious activity on our systems, in particular attempts by third parties to log into users’ accounts unauthorized. When we have specific intelligence—either directly from users or from our own monitoring efforts—we show clear warning signs and put in place extra roadblocks to thwart these bad actors.  We believe may be the target of state-sponsored attacks.

You might ask how we know this activity is state-sponsored. We can’t go into the details without giving away information that would be helpful to these bad actors, but our detailed analysis—as well as victim reports—strongly suggest the involvement of states or groups that are state-sponsored.

What this means?

This actually goes to show that it might be possible that the Govt of Pakistan is slowly and very determinedly edging closer to compromising personal security of all Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf communications. Possibly in an effort to compromise the political process as and when needed.  Exposing this at this time is essential to bring to notice to the general public that such activities are being used.  These warnings come despite the fact that the compromised accounts already have 2-step verification and are forcibly asked to change their passwords repeatedly.

PTI is fully aware of these threats and continues to take necessary precautions, but its important to document this incident which only goes to re-enforce the suspicion where we previously thought it was being done to more sound facts that they are doing it as a matter of fact

Oct 3, 2012    |      1 comment

Why PTI Peace March Matters

Malik Amin Aslam Khan writes an op-ed in The News on 2nd October titled Why PTI Peace March Matters — [EXTRACT] — The ‘peace march’ to Waziristan is intended to bring world focus on the innocent victims of drone terrorism who now consistently live under constant threat from the sky. It aims to speak for the silent but shattered families and scores of voiceless victims of imperialist terror. It endeavours to express grief and solidarity with the brave and unsung sufferers of the drone war in an earnest effort to comfort them that they are not alone, isolated and forgotten by Pakistanis.

Against all warnings, Imran Khan is daring to follow up the politically symbolic political gathering in Quetta by now leading the peace march to Waziristan. By doing so he is courageously going where no political party or political leader of any stature has dared to go before, hoping to redraw the rules of this unjust war. It is time to own up to this travesty of justice within our own country before the war-torn region gets irreparably engulfed with the air of revenge. The PTI peace march will aim to revive hope before it becomes too late for Waziristan – and for Pakistan. READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Sep 30, 2012    |       8 comments

Nawaz Sharif’s Clueless Economic Plan for Pakistan

So utterly clueless is PML’s Economic plan, that it must be embarrassingly exposed. Nawaz Sharif in his interview to Hamid Mir said that he wants to REDUCE TAXES for the existing Tax payers in Pakistan from 35% to a minimum of 10%, with the “hope that it would inspire people” to pay more taxes,

Ironic is such a suggestion specially coming from an experienced politician like Nawaz Sharif whose party has effectively ruled Pakistan for approximately 18 years, is that, it positively shows that he has no clue what he might actually be suggesting, to suggest a reduction of taxes from an elite class of society that already eludes taxes means that the rich continue to get richer and the poor driven further into poverty

His vision would produce a country which would be a very harsh place to live for the poor and the middle classes which are easily around 90% of the country. It will also not work for those who are well off because with the social fabric frayed like it is, the ability of islands of prosperity to survive in a sea of desperation is very low indeed.

Its not just a casual remark about low tax rates, it is a totally different view of the world that leads to a country with a massive fiscal deficit, to easily say good bye to any hopes for rebuilding this nation

So clueless is Nawaz Sharif, that even after his party has intermittently ruled Pakistan for about 18 years, since 1981 when Nawaz Sharif first became the Finance Minister in Zia-ul-Haq era, he has still no idea of how to solve this economic crisis in Pakistan. This is just one example as to how ill prepared PML-N is even to this day.

Its truly your choice to distinguish what is good for Pakistan and what may actually be damaging if people select to vote for a clueless bunch of failed politicians from Raiwind ruin all over again, alternatively Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, to its credit, has presented FOUR visionary policies [Governance, Energy, Economy & Health] which shows the vision and a definite PLAN FOR A BETTER PAKISTAN.

Jul 25, 2012    |       2 comments

Politics of the youth bulge – Dr Maleeha Lodhi

Dr. Maleeha Lodhi’s op-ed in The News is worth reading Politics of the youth bulge. A few excerpts from the article are captrued here

Commenting on the changing electoral lists towards a more youth centric vote bank – Change in the next election therefore hinges crucially on voter turnout. This will likely benefit the PTI more than the two major parties. Indeed if the remarkably stable vote banks of the PPP and the Muslim League are to be eroded – or overwhelmed – it is higher turnout by young voters and other first time voters that can swing this.

Commenting on the Urbanization of Rural constituencies – This changing rural-urban landscape advantages the PML-N more than the PPP. But it also opens the opportunity for new urban voters and especially those from the growing middle class to consider the PTI as a serious alternative especially as it seeks to convince voters that the two major parties represent the past, not the future.

In conclusion she writes – The combined effect of these factors and voter disillusionment with the major parties, which are burdened by incumbency at a time of economic gloom, is to inject new, uncertain dynamics into the election scenario. This could produce greater surprises than generally presumed and offer a party that can convince voters it stands for change an unparalleled chance to make a mark. Read the entire article Politics of the youth bulge

Jul 14, 2012    |       30 comments

PML-N & Nusrat Javed attacking but Failing Miserably – Exposed

An Urdu proverb is often used نقل کےلیے عقل چاہے  “Nakal Kay Liyae Akal Chahye” [you need brains to cheat] for the past month it seems, I have begun to haunt a talk show anchor on AAJ TV called Nusrat Javed. You can start to read the development on the issue starting from #TwitterGate which was followed by a few of his glorifying articles where in one he accused me of running Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Social Media Karkhana [factory] and desperatly pledged to expose us.

His investigative reporting is so skewed that he has no idea that PTI does not hire anyone for social media and there is no office that we go to, we the official PTI volunteers a numbered not more then two dozen and are scattered all around the world and our office is our own computers volunteering our time for the casue of a better and brighter Pakistan under the leadership of Imran Khan

A few days after Nusrat Javed attacked we were delighted to scoop exposing the PML-N Social Media Team where some members were hired by the Punjab Govt, appointed within the Punjab IT Department using PUBLIC TAX MONEY, but were specially deputed by Nawaz Sharif to organize a counter offensive for PML-N’s Social Media against the rising PTI force on the social media. I have no idea who made the video, took the screen captures or created the blog, but Pakistan must indeed applaud the whistleblower to have shown the courage to expose the inherently corrupt PML where they have yet again proven their habits of expoliting public money for their own gains and for their own party, as if the Sharifs had not made enough money in their 17 years of ruling that they could not hire a social media team to do their dirty work, had if this been coming from volunteers or employees hired by their own money then it was understandable but when it comes at the expense of govt funding, then the public and we have the right to question

If you are interested to watch the expose the video is here or read the expose here

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Jun 6, 2012    |       5 comments

PML-N’s – ‘Like’ my Facebook page News Item [DELETED]

Its hilarious at how PML-N is running confused on so many fronts, politically confused as to which side of the government does it want to be, sometimes it screams of protests from the side of Opposition, but the very next day it flips over and goes soft, in the online arena the abundant social media employed to counter the PTI Tsunami online also behaves like a headless behemoth, full of daily propaganda with no soul.

Today (6th June, 2012) Express Tribune printed a story on Page 2 – ‘Like’ my Facebook page, Shahbaz tells officials [404-DEAD LINK] which narrated a story as to how the Chief Minister has been asking Punjab govt employees to like his page & “remove PTI-related material from their Facebook accounts and not ‘like’ any PTI page”

PTI supporters started making funny jabs at how the Chief Minister was trying to rally Patwaris in the Punjab Govt to build “likes” for Shahbaz Sharif’s “political” page. In a very surprising development a few hours later Express Tribune deleted the article from their website. No explanation given, just a simple delete, was it under political pressure? Was the story misreported? We can only wonder what happened?

There is absolutely no crime in promoting your facebook page, social media experts world over do it all the time, so why a sudden embarrassed push to delete the story, so whatever the reason something did definitely bother PML-N and its supporters to force Express Tribune to pull the entire article from the website

So for whatever it is worth, I think its important to retain the contents for digital posterity, occasionally to rub the embarrassed PML-N noses to a shine for this gaff or for preserve this to question Express Tribune’s political bias for succumbing to political pressure and
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Jun 4, 2012    |       7 comments

Cheema’s Keyword Antics from Benami to Charge

Today The News published an article by Umar Cheema titled PTI changes constitution to open gates for those accused of corruption where he argues that a portion of the PTI constitution was modified to give immunity to some favored individuals.

The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has revised its constitution, introducing a radical change that would grant immunity to the office-bearers facing corruption charges, a major amendment that could open PTI gates for anyone tainted with corruption charges, even those powerful people who are in the government.

The clause governing the qualification criteria for the PTI office-bearers in the previous constitution had stated: “…who has not been convicted or charged with an offence of moral turpitude.” In the constitution revised after October 30 mammoth gathering in Lahore, the word ‘charged’ has been removed and now it only says: “…who has not been convicted with an offence of moral turpitude.”

It is quite easy for a writer to play with words and use them out of context for framing his own argument, I believe this is the second time where Umar Cheema has written an op-ed and has chosen to confuse the public merely based on the confusing play of a word.

If we were to merely analyse Umar Cheemas argument – He alleges that the word “charged” had been removed in a attempt to give immunity to various office bearers, lets take a closer look to see the implications of such a modification.

Charge, is defined as “to make a claim of wrongdoing against; accuse or blame” which can easily be baseless allegation on upon someone and can remain unsubstantiated, akin to being condemned “guilty until proven innocent“. With such a myriad of potential mudslinging accusations I believe PTI deliberated hard to avoid getting sucked into a spiraling endless debate on their potential candidates being held hostage to unsubstantiated accusations or charges, they instead choose to focus on a more robust word which did in fact remain in PTI’s constitution even after the revision “Convicted” which means a verdict of guilty given by a court of law.

In both statements original & revised, the term “Moral Turpitude” did not change, for those searching for its definition can simply understand it as “the candidates reputation in society” but it can be precisely defined as “a concept which refers to conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals”

So in full context the PTI constitution will now select candidates who do not have an outstanding court verdict and were of good reputation within society, moving away from basing their rejection upon unsubstantiated allegations

Had if, this been the only clause in the selection of a candidate, then one might have to seriously wonder about the selection criteria of PTI candidates, but it is not, Umar Cheema conveniently forgot to mention or take into consideration the other SEVEN clauses. I reproduce here the relevant portion of the PTI constitution that is important to the discussion and can confidently challenge the readers to see if such an elaborate constitutional section can pave the way to grant immunity to any favored individuals – I let you be the judge.
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May 31, 2012    |      Comments Off on Columnists vs burger babies: And the winner is…

Columnists vs burger babies: And the winner is…

AbuBakar Agha smacks around a few Express Tribune columnists like Mosharraf Zaidi, George Fulton, Fasi Zaka, Feisal Naqvi & Saroop Ijaz for being so naive about the PTI revolution – in his blog on Express Tribune

“What people fail to realise is that in their sweeping, over generalised judgments, they had closed their eyes. When the PTI woke the youth of the elite class up & politicised it, it wasn’t the party’s only step; it was the party’s last step.

Imran Khan, through his life, teaches us to be idealists and that is why he is who he is today; that is why so many years of supporting the PTI are bearing fruit. I got to spend 30 minutes at the, August 13, 2011 PTI rally in Islamabad, and during those few moments, I was convinced for good that change was inevitable. This rally was not aired prominently on television.

Maybe if it was, the columnists would not have been so shocked on October 30. The burger babies certainly were not.”

May 28, 2012    |       2 comments

Imran stands out – Adiah Afraz

An article in The News “Imran stands out” by Adiah Afraz this particular section is worth appreciating

I’m afraid, from a junior Bhutto to a senior Sharif we wouldn’t be left with a lot of choices if this is how we chose our leaders.

And speaking of leaders, I support Imran Khan because the leaders that my votes have put in power don’t inspire me. My life is difficult as it is, and I don’t have patience for a detached world where corrupt billionaires play victims and democracy serves the purpose of revenge. I have had enough.

Imran Khan speaks of my realities. His aspirations for my country are similar to mine. So what should I do? Should I stubbornly tell myself that no, good things can never happen to me, and painstakingly find arguments that feed my scepticism? Or should I get up and say: Ok, it seems very difficult, I don’t know how this man is going to do it, but then look at his track record. He is not an angel from the heavens, but he is credible. Credible, but human nevertheless, who like all humans is bound to make mistakes.

So let’s not attack him before he has even starts. Let’s help him out. He probably needs it.

May 26, 2012    |      1 comment

Dues ex machina Pakistan by Zain Umar

Zain Umar pens another masterpiece Deus ex machina of Pakistan, the entire article is worth a read – but these three paragraphs hold me captivated.

Dues ex Machina is Latin for “god out of the machine” whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object

If Jinnah was the leader of the nation of lion hearts, the Quaid e Azam, Imran Khan has earned the title of the leader of the nation of cornered gladiators.Quaid e Azam saw a dream and converted it into reality; Imran Khan endeavors to save the same dream from going sour.

The stage is the same, the place is the same, the challenge is the same, the circumstances are the same, the patriotic fervor and charisma of the leader are the same, what is left to be done is the same gushing of emotions, venting of passions and expression of will which set our forefathers on the road to freedom 65 years ago.

Time to relive the tale, recreate history and reinvent Pakistan. Time to herald a new era of peace, prosperity and beatitude. Time to show the world that we are a nation of 180 million lion hearts, a nation of cornered tigers, led so admirably and heroically by destiny’s child, the fabled savior of our times, Imran Khan!

Bravo Bravo

May 25, 2012    |      Comments Off on The Imran that we know – Shafqat Mahmood

The Imran that we know – Shafqat Mahmood

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Information Secretary Shafqat Mahmood pens his thoughts on PTI’s ongoing effort to hold intra-party elections published in The News (25th May) The Imran that we know – Shafqat Mahmood

Imran has decided to take the more difficult, some say impossible, route. He wants real elections at all levels in the party. The wizened political pros are not happy, the cynics are predicting party collapse, and our media friends are shaking their head, telling us to stop even at this late stage. Real genuine party elections are not easy.

The modalities themselves to say the least are daunting. We are hoping to enrol between five to ten million members. Getting all of them to the polls with limited party resources to directly elect district level party leaders is going to be some task.

But, then, this is what Imran is. Always going for the seemingly impossible. His vision is that the party can never become an institution until it establishes a culture of real elections at all levels. They may be messy and not everything will work out exactly as planned but it is a journey in the right direction.

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