Zardari stands tall amidst disaster-struck Pakistan
With the intellect of a potato, the Punjab leadership recently banned sugar in all government offices. The cosmetic step left many offices with tasteless tea and coffee, and achieved absolutely nothing.
The politician-owners of many sugar mills, in the sitting government, continue to print money with high prices while harping about their nonsensical policy to save sugar in government offices.
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To ‘civilised’ Pakistanis: Learn to stand in line
A four-way road-crossing magically functions in many Western cities, without a traffic policeman or a traffic signal. They call it the four-way ‘Stop’ sign; every car stops before the crossing, waits for other cars before it moves and then moves on its turn. Such discipline is a rare, if not impossible, sight when you live in a developing country. This unsupervised display of morally and socially correct actions speaks volumes about the citizens of any country.
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Agha Hasan Abedi: the man who dared to dream big
Agha Hasan Abedi was one of the finest minds this country has ever produced. He was an exemplary patriot and a legendary banker.
In the mess that exists today, the youth of Pakistan desperately needs inspiring personalities to look up to.
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Pakistan’s ticking media bomb
It is rather disturbing to see television show anchors pretending to be political analysts. Their so-called analysis is usually hype-creating propaganda. Somehow, they have developed the notion that they are superior to politicians and their naive, idealistic ideas are the solution to Pakistan’s problems.
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10 things Pakistani blog readers should know
Blogs can be casual, formal or anything in between. So while writing, the blogger can interrupt the readers with an “akhhh thoo” if he wants to, without having to suffer tons of meaningless comments. It’s a blog, not a featured article in Foreign Policy magazine.
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An open letter to Pervez Musharraf
Dear Mr Musharraf,
I am writing to you in good faith. Recently, your political activities have increased. Every Pakistani should have the right to take part in the democratic process and bring change to this country. However, it is essential that you publicly apologize to the Pakistani nation for the various blunders you made during your forced rule.
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A building for Bhutto: A monumental mistake
Is our leadership foolish or do they simply enjoy poking the nation every now and then? A monument for Benazir would have been a good idea, had there been no floods!
As the millions affected by the flood await help and support, our leaders have been going around gathering funds from around the globe. While the initial aid received will help the government support the affected people on an emergency basis, billions of dollars are required to get Pakistan up and running.
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A headless revolution
Pakistan will not experience a revolution any time soon. While the idea may seem fascinating, moving in that direction will plunder the wealth of the country like never before.
Revolutions seen by the world to date were inspired by a thought or an idea. Thinkers, philosophers and visionaries were responsible for highlighting the need for a better social setup and gave alternative ideologies.
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Looking for General Patriot
Did I hear someone support the next martial law to be imposed by “any patriotic general” who is willing to clean Pakistan’s political mess?
Pure genius! Why didn’t we think of this? Can patriotic general sahib also please fix the economy and increase the living standards of the people?
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Shoe throwing and the need for maturity
It was a matter of shame when a shoe was allegedly thrown at the President of Pakistan in Britain. Yet, in some twisted way, many people felt proud of what happened. No, I do not support President Zardari, but I respect the position of the President of Pakistan. Before jumping to conclusions, please read on.
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Would you buy Pakistan?
Marketing cannot be limited to individuals or enterprises. Pakistan is in dire need of a new image and nation branding can help build it.
When Pakistan was conveniently paired with Afghanistan to form the so-called ‘Af-Pak’ region, world over people were made to think that both countries stand in the same line when it comes to infrastructure and economy. Richard Holbrooke was named as a common ambassador for the two countries by the United States and common policies began to take shape.
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YPP: Hands on political education
In Pakistan, politics is often closely associated with corruption and fraud. Philosophy claims that politics is the ideal social organisation, but Pakistan stands nowhere near that definition. Over the years, we have failed to develop the maturity needed to push the country on the right track. Hence, the need to develop a proper political culture gave birth to the Youth Parliament of Pakistan (YPP).
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Exchanging perspectives
The concept of student exchange between countries is not a new one. It is common phenomena in many European countries and the United States of America. In fact, most of the leading universities have made student exchange programmes an integral part of their system. This programme is based on the philosophy that a group of students coming from various parts of the world to a certain university for a year or even a few months can bring about a positive change in the university.
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Articles by Samir Anwar Butt
Samir Anwar Butt 