By Ali Moeen Nawazish for The News International

It was 23rd March 2007, a bright and sunny day. I was sitting along with a fellow distinction holder in the waiting room at the studios of state-run TV. We both had this smirk about ourselves as if we had conquered some unachievable mountain and that we were “special”. After all we were going to be on TV. While we were waiting for our turn to get our few minutes in the limelight, walked in this little girl hardly 12 years old. “Hi, how are you? What have you done at such a young age?” asked my counterpart.

“I am the world’s youngest Microsoft certified professional,” she replied putting both of us to shame. That was the first time I met Arfa Karim. First impressions? Amazingly talented girl, capable of doing big things and absolutely confident and sure about herself. In the first two minutes you meet her, she will wow you with her charm and intellect.

I communicated with Arfa after that through email and Facebook in 2008 and 2009, and while we all know of her extraordinary abilities, how she could fly a plane and when she met Bill Gates, I wanted to share something that few people know about her. Throughout our conversations one theme was always recurring, she wanted to do good and help others. She talked endlessly about how she wanted to build a computer lab back in her village, how it was her dream to impart IT education to those who didn’t have access to it in Pakistan. She was well aware of the challenges that lay ahead of her and the country. I feel that somehow she understood the expectations that people had from her, but at the same time was taking it in a stride. She tried hard to ensure that the expectations don’t affect her own self-direction in life. She was also very kind hearted and a generous spirit too, whenever someone would ask her for help or anyone would refer someone to her, she would make sure she helped that person to the best of her abilities.

It is one thing to acknowledge one’s blessings and thank people for the love and affection that they show, but it is completely another to decide to dedicate a part of your life to give something back to the community and country that made you who you are. One thing she often spoke of is how some wouldn’t take her ideas seriously because she was a little girl. People would judge her ideas and plans by her age and not by their merit alone. About an idea for rural education, she wrote: “I myself have been working, or trying to work, for this objective. The problem here is that if I come up with plans, no one takes them seriously because I am a “14-year old kid”. My grandfather was a villager and we are still an agricultural family. I still retain ties with my rural background and so would be proud to be part of something like this.” A phenomenon perhaps often too common in our society. Yet, she always had the resolve to deal with it and find solutions around these problems, as any good software developer would. Arfa was a girl who was never going to let anyone stand in her way, no matter what it took.

By any measure of the word she was truly a gifted girl with her own little quirks that made her who she was. She wanted to get done with her O Levels long before the actual time she had to give them, because quite frankly she didn’t need more time. To one of our conversations in which I was encouraging her to take more time, she wrote: “To have more time was the reason I delayed it a little. Otherwise, I would have been finished with my O levels in this session. I was thinking that if I stretch it out too long, I might get bored with it in the end.” Perhaps the only person I knew in the world that would give exams early because she would get bored with the content.

It is somewhat ironic that I last met her this 14th August 2011 at another PTV recording. She had grown up, but only a little, had matured by miles. Yet, what was astounding and amazing about her was that her spirit was the same of that 9-year old girl who dared to dream big and think different. Her spirit was the same of that 9-year old girl who had made it a point to not let herself be captured by the notion of what is possible and what isn’t. As ambitious as ever and talented even more, Arfa was ready to take on the world in her stride. It is unfortunate that she was taken from us well before our time, but as with all great people God calls them early to Him.

Arfa, you will truly be missed and the youth of Pakistan has suffered a great loss today. May Allah bless you and your family. You were a good friend and a great inspiration. Your spirit and memory will live on in our hearts for as long as we live. The youth lost one of its best today, but you have inspired so many and we promise to not let you down.

Arfa Karim Zindabad! Pakistan Zindabad!

(The writer is Youth Ambassador of Geo and Jang Group. Email: am.nawazish@jang.group.com.pk Facebook: facebook.com/ali.moeen.nawazish

Filed under: Pakistan, Pakistanis Tagged: Ali Moeen Nawazish, Arfa Karim, Arfa Karim Randhawa, Bill Gates, MCP, Microsoft, Microsoft Certified Professional, Pakistan, Pakistani Youth, World’s Youngest MCP

اصل مضمون

پنتیس سال سے جنگ کے کالم کا قاری ہوں۔
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حامد میر ایک عبقری شخصیت وارث میر کے فرزند ہیں۔لیکن جیو ٹیلی ویژن ااور کالموں میں قوم میں انتشار وفساد پھیلانے کا سبب بن رہے ہیں۔
سلیمان تاثیر پر جو پروگرام کئے آپ ذرا دوبارہ ریکارڈ میں الفاظ کو ملاحظہ فرمائے لوگوں کو قتل پراکسایا گیاہے۔
حامدمیر نے صوبہ سرحد کا نام تبدیل کرنے کے موقع پر جیو اور اخبار میں خوب مہم چلائی کہ پختون قوم اپنی شناخت سے محروم ہیں صوبہ کانام پختون خواہ ہونا ہونا چاہیے۔
صوبہ کا نام نسلی بنیاد پر رکھ دیاگیا نام رکھتے ہی صوبہ میں فساد پھیل گیا ہزارہ والوں نے ایجی ٹیشن شروع کردی کہ صوبہ ہزارہ الگ ہوناچاہیے۔
یہ فساد پنجاب پہنچا جنوبی پنجاب سے آوازیں آنا شروع ہو گئیں سرائیکی صوبہ بنایا جائے
اب پتا نہیں پاکستان میں پھیلا یا ہوا فساد تھمنے پائے گا؟۔
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جنگ گروپ میں دوسری نادر شخصیت نجم سیٹھی ہیں۔
چند روز قبل جیو پر قائداعظیم پر تنقید کرتے ہوئے کہا”قائد اعظیم کا گورنر جنرل بنے اور اردو کو قومی زبان قراردینے پر قائد اعظیم کوڈکٹیٹرکہا مزید کہا کہ حماقت کی ”
کسی بڑی شخصیت سے نقطہ نظر سے اختلاف ہونے پر کہا جاتاہے۔کہ ایسے نہیں ہونا چاہیے تھا۔خود نجم سیٹھی کے بارے میں عوام الناس میں مشہور سی ای اے کے ایجنٹ ہیں۔
حیرت ہے جنگ گروپ نے نجم سیٹھی کو اتنا بڑا مقام کیو ں دے رکھا ہے؟
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جنگ گروپ کی تیسری نایاب شخصیت ثناء بچہ
پروگرام” لیکن” پر تبصرہ کروں تو بات طویل ہو جائے گی۔
ثناء نے اپنے ایک کالم میں لکھا کہ قراداد پاکستان کی ڈرافٹنگ سر ظفراللہ (احمدی فرقہ) نے کی تھی ۔
جنگ گروپ نوجوان کو گمرا ہ کرکے کہاں لے جانا چاہتاہے؟
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جیو پر خبروں کے آخر میں انڈین یا کسی دوسرے ملک کی اداکاراؤں کو رقص کرتے برہنہ جسم کے منا ظر دکھائے جاتے ہیں۔
میرا یہ سوال ہے۔کیا جنگ گروپ کے ذمہ داران و مالکان اپنی بیٹیوں کو اس حالت میں دیکھنا پسند کریں گے؟

By Beena Sarwar

From Indian actor Nandita Das in Mumbai, to peace groups and individuals all over India and Pakistan, and in countries as far away as Korea, Australia, Canada and America, thousands are supporting Pray for Peace Between India and Pakistan Day on Sunday, Dec 18, 2011.

Inspired by the idea of the power of collective prayer or meditation, Toronto-based Swati Sharan randomly picked the date several months ago. “These prayers can be done from anywhere on the globe by any one, of any nationality… the more people pray for something at a given time, the greater the difference it can make,” she wrote in an initial article in May explaining the idea, published by Aman ki Asha, an ongoing peace campaign launched by the two largest media groups of India and Pakistan, the Times of India and the Jang Group of Pakistan on Jan 1, 2010. “India and Pakistan could be like Canada and the US, which share the Niagara Falls as a common border,” she wrote in a follow-up piece.

The articles provided her email address. Among those who responded was Athar Aamir, a volunteer with the Youth Parliament of Pakistan. Together, they created a facebook page and event.

“All we are asking people to do, where ever they are in the world, is to take out thirty seconds of their time that day to Pray for Peace Between India and Pakistan,” says Sharan.

Susan Marie, a journalist and human rights advocate in Buffalo, New York with a special interest in Pakistan (one of her blogs is Pakistan: A 3DPerspective) has volunteered her time and media contacts to project the cause. She has sent the event information to media outlets and peace groups around the world.

“It is important for the world to understand both sides, from Pakistan and India,” she says. “The only ethical way to do that from America is to learn directly from and through those living in and through such experiences.”

Nandita Das: Advocates hopeful and constructive action. Photo by Marjolein

Prominent Indian actor Nandita Das also fully supports the initiative. “Too many lives and resources and too much time has been lost in the mindless perception of animosity between India and Pakistan,” she wrote in an email message from Mumbai. “We the people of both countries want peace and calm. For our own well being we need to actively participate in a positive action that is both hopeful and constructive.”

The initiative received support from within India and Pakistan even before the facebook page was activated. In India, the Pentecostal Church in Bihar and Jharkhand, with a membership of 20-30,000 people pledged to participate, as did Youth for People, an NGO against corruption. In Pakistan the prestigious Lahore School of Economics is providing a free space for its students and their friends to gather and pray for peace day. Pakistan Youth Alliance and Khudi Pakistan, headed by Ali Abbas Zaidi, have fully endorsed the initiative, as have peace groups in Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Jhang, Gojra and Toba Tek Singh, spearheaded by the peace activist and educationist Ashfaq Fateh.

Also on board is Sally Fisher in New York, who co-produced Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues. Fisher, who blogs at Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something posted on the facebook event: “It is my privilege to pray with others around the world, our world which is so in need of peace.”

Since the facebook event was created, many other expressions of support have poured in from around the world.

“Hope two neighbours find ultimate peace and love each other… Fight leaves nothing but a tragedy and unforgettable painful memories for longer than two generations. Believe me… I know what I am talking about,” wrote Tony Lee from Korea.

“Will be praying for peace between India and Pakistan. Much love from Australia,” posted Diane Taylor.

“Peace between India and Pakistan would mean more attention towards the real problems of the region, like poverty, ill health, illiteracy, ignorance, and women issues. There is no other way to prosperity,” says Ilmana Fasih, an Indian-born doctor married to a Pakistani.

For thousands of cross-border families and couples like Dr Fasih and her husband, who find it difficult to visit relatives in each other’s countries due to the difficulties obtaining visas, better relations between India and Pakistan would literally mean their prayers being answered.

This would be hilarious if it weren’t so sad. Remember people, these are the guardian angels in chagre of our security. Do you feel safe now?

Let’s start from the beginning. Earlier today, Cafe Pyala picked up on something strange: The News had put a report on its front page, its headline blaring “Enough evidence of Indian involvement in Balochistan, Waziristan” [enough for what?]. The report claimed that Wikileaks cables from New Delhi revealed not just Indian involement in fermenting violence in Pakistan, but also nuggets like “Indian Army Chief Deepak Kapoor is an incompetent leader and rather a geek”.

As you know, Pakistani nationalists refuse to believe that there is such a thing as Muslim terrorists, and thus believe that any and all violence that takes place in Pakistan against Pakistani citizens is a direct result of Indian action. So this was clearly quite a coup from the Jang Group.

Only one problem: the source of this report – which both The News and Jang led with, and was featured in a couple of other media outlets — was the Daily Mail News, a fake newspaper that exists only in the mind of our “agencies”. You will be aware, if you read Cafe Pyala recently, that the DMN is part of an online media conglomerate, run by one particularly well-known and notorious conspiracy theorist with links to the security establishment, that publishes the same old right-wing, conspiratorial and bigoted tripe we have all come to know and love.

After the Pyalas picked up on the very strange roots of the reports The News was leading with, Declan Walsh of the Guardian published a report on the entire mess. The Guardian headline basically said it all: “Pakistani media publish fake Wikileaks cables attacking India”. Even the Onion couldn’t make this stuff up. Just genius. Anyway, here are some choice excerpts from Walsh’s report:

According to the reports, US diplomats described senior Indian generals as vain, egotistical and genocidal; they said India’s government is secretly allied with Hindu fundamentalists; and they claimed Indian spies are covertly supporting Islamist militants in Pakistan‘s tribal belt and Balochistan.

“Enough evidence of Indian involvement in Waziristan, Balochistan,” read the front-page story in the News; an almost identical story appeared in the Urdu-language Jang, Pakistan’s bestselling daily.

If accurate, the disclosures would confirm the worst fears of Pakistani nationalist hawks and threaten relations between Washington and New Delhi. But they are not accurate.

An extensive search of the WikiLeaks database by the Guardian by date, name and keyword failed to locate any of the incendiary allegations. It suggests this is the first case of WikiLeaks being exploited for propaganda purposes.

Hahaha. What a bunch of jokers.

Here’s what gets my goat: this was very, very stupid of our “agencies”. How dumb do you have to be to think they would get away with this? What did they think would happen? As a general rule, when you want to lie about something, you lie about something that is not falsifiable. For instance, “India is involved in Balochistan” is a non-falsifiable statement — there’s really no way to comprehensively disprove the allegation. On the other hand, “Wikileaks cables say India is involved in Balochistan” is a falsifable statement. All you have to do is go through the Wikileaks cables and see if it says anything of the sort. Which is exactly what Walsh did (“An extensive search of the WikiLeaks database by the Guardian by date, name and keyword failed to locate any of the incendiary allegations”).

So here’s our recap: our “agencies” got one of their acolytes to publish falsifiable untruths in a fake online newspaper. Said falsifiable untruths were picked up by our real newspapers, who ran with it. Said falsifiable untruths were then easily and comprehensively uncovered as untrue. And now I’m alternating between pointing and laughing at these idiots, and holding my head in my hands. Again, remember that these are the geniuses in charge of protecting us and our families. That’s their real job.

Unreal. Just unreal.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post had the “Daily Mail Post” as the original source of the report, when in fact it was the “Daily Mail News”. The distinction doesn’t matter that much, since it’s (presumably) run by the same people and features the same report. Here’s the DMN one and here’s the DMP one. Thanks to reader Shahid for pointing this out.

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