There are two sides to every picture: the sentence is simple, declarative and apparently does not seem to have hidden meanings. The problem is that the devil is in the details. An examination of the affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan leads us to two possibilities: either we have started believing that the practice of using religion for personal, financial and political gains is in fact the most sacred religious duty conferred upon us, or we believe that we are the only Islamic state in the world. People living in other Islamic states are just pretending. Though the government of Turkey, our brother Islamic country, seems to follow in our footsteps, it is miles away from being a ‘pure’ Islamic nation, like us.
Since 2012, the government of a nuclear Islamic nation is afraid of a website. Official reasons in Pakistan, we all know, are never the actual reasons. Our previous government told the nation that Youtube hosts blasphemous videos and proudly announced that the site is restricted in our pure country. Indeed, the government thought it was not the video rather Youtube itself that hurt the sacred feelings of pure Muslims. So it kicked the hornet’s nest and the PPP government became certain of its place in the VIP quarters of paradise. Once in opposition, however, it found another way to serve the nation as a humble student of reality. Shazia Marri, PPP parliamentarian, submitted a resolution to lift the ban on Youtube immediately saying that since the people were using the website through proxies there is no point in a ban. Here we see that her demand to remove the ban on Youtube was not based on principle, rather on the absurdity of the ban itself. Proxy websites are not an invention of today and information technology is developing at a faster rate than that of our politicians’ capacity to process the ongoing changes in internet life.
Had the PPP government realised this fact, it would not have banned the video sharing website but would have tried to find another solution to block access to the blasphemous video. Even if a ban was necessary, it should have been temporary, to cool down flared sentiments. The current government indeed could find other solutions to block access to the allegedly ‘blasphemous’ movie, but since taking power it has been operating on punishment mode. To make people believe that the government exists, something needed to be done, so it decided to continue the ban and establish its writ. The Taliban might issue a certificate saying that the PML-N leadership shall get the same VIP treatment in paradise as the PPP. Maybe the Sharif-led government thought that lifting the ban would make religious extremists furious and bring them out on the streets. They may have forgotten that once our pure Muslims brothers are on the roads and streets, they consider it their religious duty to loot shops. Any property that cannot be looted, they set on fire. It should have refused to be blackmailed and talked directly to their mysterious masters.
Banning Youtube in the name of Islam is no different from the practices of the Taliban, who mask their criminal activities with sharia. The ban on Youtube is, in fact, only to deprive people of their constitutional right to access information and express their opinion freely and independently. Mr Sharif has a proven tendency towards civil dictatorship and wishes to keep media and state institutions under his thumb. In his last tenure he unsuccessfully tried to crush a media group and the Supreme Court (SC) was attacked by his party’s hoodlums. After passing the so-called Protection of Pakistan bill in the National Assembly, he once again proves that everything changes except the nature of man. To keep the media on his side, he continues to reward journalists with offices and ambassadorships.
YouTube, on the other hand, is difficult to control but easy to block. Even if we believe just for a moment that the site is restricted due to a specific blasphemous video, if it was not in the interest of the government to chain Youtube, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) could block the video links. Now, assume again that the PTA technicians were not able to block the links and to completely chain the site was the only option. Even in this case, the government should have lifted the ban when Google removed the video under the orders of a US court. Or, at least when Shazia Marri submitted the resolution to lift the ban, the matter should not have been delayed. So we are left with nothing else to believe except that for some unknown reason our democratic governments feel threatened by the exercise of free expression in the country, as it is by the establishment of local government institutions.
The local government system plays a vital role in strengthening democratic norms among people. It allows people to set their agenda and decide how to distribute economic resources. It empowers the masses. However, it also means that in the presence of local government institutions, politicians in Lahore and Islamabad will not receive development funds and new leadership will emerge from these institutions. Hence there are unlimited hurdles in the way of local government.
The internet has given people a new level of freedom and a higher degree of access to information. YouTube is not just a video sharing website, it is a platform. In addition to entertainment, it also offers a great deal of knowledge. If you wish to enhance your computer knowledge, it is there to help. If you wish to listen to Islamic scholars, you can do so. It is not just a website but a multimedia library. It has a great number of videos about computer programming, software development, current affairs, technology and other topics. Therefore, the ban is as illogical as Ishaq Dar’s statement that the mysterious arrival of $ 1.5 billion in the national treasury was a gift with no strings attached.
Realistically speaking, it is nonsense to ban any website. There are proxy websites that are specially developed for people living in countries where the internet is censored. Smartphones are full of free applications that help unblock sites. Some are specially programmed for YouTube. Our government can learn from the example of Turkey where the government blocked Twitter and by the evening of the same day people found ways to continue tweeting. If a government cannot implement a decision, there is no point issuing the orders and becoming a laughing stock. However, even if our politicians and religious scholars are really concerned about the presence of blasphemous material in cyberspace, banning the sites and chaining the internet is illogical. Instead, with logic and argument, our scholars should talk and convince the global community, representatives of our government should raise the issue at the international forums like the United Nations and work with the world to discourage and control blasphemous material. However, since that requires lots of hard work and does not offer material gain neither our government nor our scholars will do anything in this regard. Let us hope that soon the day will come when the internet will truly be free and YouTube unchained.
( This column is published in Daily Times on April 13, 2014 )
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
List of Websites for Online Urdu Writing.
I love to read and write Urdu. Once, in Paris I could read Urdu newspapers on the internet but I did not have the opportunity to write Urdu online. In simpler terms, I could not write emails to my friends and family in Urdu. At that time, I did not have Inpage, Urdu writing software, so in other words, I could not write articles etc in Urdu and online - as one can do in English.
Then I came to know one site which offered the facility to write Urdu in Unicode and then paste it into any file or email. Then I searched and found a couple of more websites. One can have little problems with the writing on these websites but over the time one can easily overcome on them. Or at least I have done.
Here is a list of websites, those offer you the facility to write Urdu online. If you do not feel okay with one website, then try the other one. I hope, from this list of websites for online Urdu writing, you will find at least one site which will serve your needs very well.
Type Urdu
This is a good and simple site which helps to write Urdu online. On this site, you can type Urdu and then paste it into your email or blog. Surprise your friends and loved ones by your Emails, written in Urdu.
Online Urdu Keyboard
This is also a simple to use and good website. Write, copy and then paste it.
Urdu Pad
Urdupad and Urdu email. This is also a great website which helps you to write Urdu online and at the same it also offers you a possibility to write an email in Urdu while using this website.
Above mentioned list of websites for writing Urdu online will enable to write Urdu online. However, if you like to write Urdu more beautifully, then you can install some fonts on your computer. You can find many websites which offer Urdu fonts for example http://www.urdu.ca/
If you know any other website which offers the facility to write Urdu online, please let us know so that we can add it into the list. Urdu is our national language and it is our duty to promote it.
Blog From Paris; The Paris’s Best English Blog
Then I came to know one site which offered the facility to write Urdu in Unicode and then paste it into any file or email. Then I searched and found a couple of more websites. One can have little problems with the writing on these websites but over the time one can easily overcome on them. Or at least I have done.
Here is a list of websites, those offer you the facility to write Urdu online. If you do not feel okay with one website, then try the other one. I hope, from this list of websites for online Urdu writing, you will find at least one site which will serve your needs very well.
Type Urdu
This is a good and simple site which helps to write Urdu online. On this site, you can type Urdu and then paste it into your email or blog. Surprise your friends and loved ones by your Emails, written in Urdu.
Online Urdu Keyboard
This is also a simple to use and good website. Write, copy and then paste it.
Urdu Pad
Urdupad and Urdu email. This is also a great website which helps you to write Urdu online and at the same it also offers you a possibility to write an email in Urdu while using this website.
Above mentioned list of websites for writing Urdu online will enable to write Urdu online. However, if you like to write Urdu more beautifully, then you can install some fonts on your computer. You can find many websites which offer Urdu fonts for example http://www.urdu.ca/
If you know any other website which offers the facility to write Urdu online, please let us know so that we can add it into the list. Urdu is our national language and it is our duty to promote it.
Blog From Paris; The Paris’s Best English Blog
How I Earned 4,000 Euros, By Writing, In Only Two Weeks.
If you are a writer you will know only too well how difficult it is to earn a decent amount in only two weeks. With the right approach, however, you can earn thousands of bucks in only a few weeks.
I would not have believed that in just 14 days, writing for a very limited time on the internet, it was possible to earn 4,000 euros, and I don't expect you to believe it either, but a cheque for 4,000 euros, bearing my name, is lying in front of me. I expect you would like to know how I did it. Well, it is no great secret, and I would be delighted if my experience can help you bring in some money too. So, here is how it happened.
There are times when we all have something pleasant waiting for us in the inbox. Around 13 days ago, when I signed in to collect my email, one of my many messages seemed quite interesting. Although I have not disabled my blogsite comment box, my friends prefer to send their feedback into my inbox. It was, however, not that sort of feedback. A Mr. James Parkman, from UK, had written that he liked my blogs, columns and articles on my various websites. The gentleman was quite impressed by my writing style and interested in hiring my services, writing content for his website.
Mr. Parkman appeared very kind in his email and since I am a professional writer, I did not have any reason to say no, other than my busy schedule. I immediately looked at my forthcoming committments and found that I could manage it, providing this assignment was not urgent. So, I thanked him for his kind words, but advised that if his requirements were urgent, I was not the best option at present. Luckily he could wait, so I agreed to undertake the work.
In following emails, Mr. Parkman came up with the necessary information about the content, and we discussed rates and deadlines. Once everything was finalized, I reminded him that I required part-payment in advance. He asked if I accepted cheques. Since some of my clients in Paris do pay by cheque, I agreed, and he promised to send it as soon as possible. I trusted him.
On October 27th 2010 I received the promised cheque by post, but was confused to find it was made out for the sum of 4,000 euros. Had he decided to pay for the whole assignment? At that moment I felt I must be a really great writer!
As expected, some hours later I received another email from this man, giving further instructions that were completely unrelated to writing web content. On the contrary, he asked me to deduct my fee, and to send a cheque for the rest of the amount to a lady in the United States, whose details he enclosed. As soon as I read this message I could not contain my laughter.
I am not sure if it is due to my journalistic background that I save valueless objects, but I do, so I quickly searched for the saved envelope which had carried the bank draft, and checked its postmark. It was from Africa, not U.K.
When I analyzed the situation, I smiled, and placed the bank draft on my desk, where it lies still, to remind me. At least this adventure has taught one thing ...... you can earn a bank draft worth 4,000 euros in just two weeks. Unfortunately though, you cannot cash it! Therefore, if you are in online business, be careful, for some cheques and bank drafts with your name on are destined to go directly into the bin !
I would not have believed that in just 14 days, writing for a very limited time on the internet, it was possible to earn 4,000 euros, and I don't expect you to believe it either, but a cheque for 4,000 euros, bearing my name, is lying in front of me. I expect you would like to know how I did it. Well, it is no great secret, and I would be delighted if my experience can help you bring in some money too. So, here is how it happened.
There are times when we all have something pleasant waiting for us in the inbox. Around 13 days ago, when I signed in to collect my email, one of my many messages seemed quite interesting. Although I have not disabled my blogsite comment box, my friends prefer to send their feedback into my inbox. It was, however, not that sort of feedback. A Mr. James Parkman, from UK, had written that he liked my blogs, columns and articles on my various websites. The gentleman was quite impressed by my writing style and interested in hiring my services, writing content for his website.
Mr. Parkman appeared very kind in his email and since I am a professional writer, I did not have any reason to say no, other than my busy schedule. I immediately looked at my forthcoming committments and found that I could manage it, providing this assignment was not urgent. So, I thanked him for his kind words, but advised that if his requirements were urgent, I was not the best option at present. Luckily he could wait, so I agreed to undertake the work.
In following emails, Mr. Parkman came up with the necessary information about the content, and we discussed rates and deadlines. Once everything was finalized, I reminded him that I required part-payment in advance. He asked if I accepted cheques. Since some of my clients in Paris do pay by cheque, I agreed, and he promised to send it as soon as possible. I trusted him.
On October 27th 2010 I received the promised cheque by post, but was confused to find it was made out for the sum of 4,000 euros. Had he decided to pay for the whole assignment? At that moment I felt I must be a really great writer!
As expected, some hours later I received another email from this man, giving further instructions that were completely unrelated to writing web content. On the contrary, he asked me to deduct my fee, and to send a cheque for the rest of the amount to a lady in the United States, whose details he enclosed. As soon as I read this message I could not contain my laughter.
I am not sure if it is due to my journalistic background that I save valueless objects, but I do, so I quickly searched for the saved envelope which had carried the bank draft, and checked its postmark. It was from Africa, not U.K.
When I analyzed the situation, I smiled, and placed the bank draft on my desk, where it lies still, to remind me. At least this adventure has taught one thing ...... you can earn a bank draft worth 4,000 euros in just two weeks. Unfortunately though, you cannot cash it! Therefore, if you are in online business, be careful, for some cheques and bank drafts with your name on are destined to go directly into the bin !
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