Stop Stereotyping

The definition of a stereotype is any commonly known public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual. Stereotypes are often confused with prejudices, because, like prejudices, a stereotype is based on a prior assumptions.  Stereotypes are often created about people of specific cultures or races. Almost every culture or race has a stereotype

Let me share a personal example of stereotyping. One of our close family friend who lives in England and nowadays on his tour to Pakistan. He came to my house and as usual he was welcomed warmly and after some formal hello, hi the chit chat turned casual.

Now I am coming to the point which forced me to write this article. During our chit chat there comes a topic regarding rich Pakistanis and those who are true assets of Pakistan but he bluntly replied  all of them are big thugs Corrupt and Daku’s. I was bit taken aback and I told him that even their enemies never labeled them as you are labeling them he said tell how one can earn that much money they are having in Pakistan without being corrupt. I said there are thousands of examples. But he in some high tone “No this is impossible all are thugs and corrupt” and then started telling me a pathetic story that in 1975 when he was going to England how a doctor charged him extra 10 rupees.

He personally did nothing for this country and keep on talking non sense about Pakistan and Pakistanis.

Then he told me that I wonder why every Pakistani is using cell phones there is no need of cell phone its all waste and bla bla bla he keep on giving his opinion like an expert. In the mean time I asked him in very low tone that why you are using 2 cell phones he started justifying keeping 2 cell phones in his pocket and again I was silent and this time controlling my anger on his non sense arguments. According to him that we have no right to use cell phone but British people have right to use more than 1 cell phone.

And while going back he told me that you have completed your studies now its good for you that go abroad for job there is nothing in Pakistan and I was silent staring at him. Right after that moment I started thinking that whats wrong with them why they are showing their biased attitude towards us.
We have full right to use technology, We can succeed in our lives with honesty and we are peaceful nation. Stop this stereotyping against us.

One more thing that comes in my mind that we are also responsible for all these things. At some points he was right that we all are corrupt. We are so cruel we are indulged in making counterfeit medicine we are not even providing pure milks to our fellow human beings. We are even not committed with ourselves.

Stereotyping is not only hurtful, it is also wrong. Even if the stereotype is correct in some cases, constantly putting someone down based on your preconceived perceptions will not encourage them to succeed.

I am leaving a serious question for all of you that who is responsible for this?

If your answer is that “We Pakistani” then nothing else to say 

For further details visit  http://about.me/syedaliraza

Beggars can be chooser

From what I learnt during lessons at school, I was pretty certain that “beggars can’t be choosers”. If beggars could choose, this idiom would lose its essence and we would have to come up with a modified version




One day, I was Standing in front of Expo Center lahore with my friend Zain. I was carrying a small amount of cash with me, just enough for the stuff I had to buy. When I was done, I was left with a few coins worth — only about Rs7.
I was there to drop my friend to his house on our way back to universty. And we were having gupshup. An old man came to us. Since this man was quite aged,  I felt bad not responding to his request for help. I wanted to give him something. So I took out my coins from my pocket and handed over all the coins I had.
He looked at the coins and started saying things to me with great disgust.I felt bad and politely tried telling him that it was all I had at the time. But he did not stop and just kept cursing me.


If he really had been in need, even a single coin would have been a blessing for him. But it seemed that he was there for a big business deal – not just to collect a few ‘worthless’ coins
This incident changed my entire perspective on the beggars in our country.

So the Conclusion of the story is that
                                             "Beggar can be chooser"

Punjabi Taliban

IT is difficult to say who is guilty of hurting the Punjabi sensibility and compromising Punjab`s security more. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has warned Interior Minister Rehman Malik against using the term `Punjabi Taliban`. The federal minister initially gave the impression that he was ready to take on Mr Sharif over the issue, going so far as to declare he was not a subordinate of the chief minister. But then he capitulated in the manner his party, the PPP, seems to have perfected. Mr Malik has promised Mr Sharif an explanation; however, others may not share the interior minister`s compulsion and would be more tempted to raise the critical question of what is so irritating about the term `Punjabi Taliban` that has made the chief minister livid. His angry response — time and again — to the `Punjabi` tagging of terrorists betrays a lack of understanding that does not quite suit the head of a provincial government. There is no insinuation that the Taliban enjoy the active support of the entire population of a province. It is only Mr Sharif`s interpretation that appears to give that sinister, all-encompassing meaning to a term a set of terrorists — many of whom have received training in Waziristan — have boasted of in recent times.

Rather than taking it as an attack meant to be countered forcefully, the mention of the Punjabi Taliban should lead to a bit of searching of the soul and territory at Mr Sharif`s command. There have been far too many allegations for him to continue to ignore the issue. The pamphlet left at the site of Minister Shahbaz Bhatti`s murder in Islamabad recently had the Taliban from Punjab claiming responsibility for the dastardly act.

If this is not the right time and the right sign for Punjab to act, there never will be. A lack of action on the part of the provincial government will only add to the impression that it, or some of its members, had a soft corner for terrorists on a killing spree. Their victims include people from all ethnic groups and a number of politicians and political activists belonging mainly to the PPP and the Awami National Party. During his attacks on Mr Malik, the chief minister has once again, and rightly so, pointed out that it was irrelevant as to which ethnic group a terrorist belonged to. He would be doing Punjab, and coincidentally Pakistan, a great service if he could move beyond simply cleaning up the Pathan areas in Lahore in his attempt to pre-empt terror strikes. He must look deeper and must not discriminate.

New cabinet ministers take oath

Pakistan announced a new, slimline cabinet on Friday, cutting its number from 54 to 22 but retaining many members of the previous lineup with the notable exception of the foreign minister.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani assembled the smaller cabinet to reduce government expenditure and meet opposition demands, part of a 10-point economic agenda.

President Asif Ali Zardari swore in the 22 federal ministers and one state minister into office at the Presidency in Islamabad.

The former cabinet, one of the largest in the world, was seen as a major hurdle in cutting state spending and carrying out economic reforms at a time when Pakistan is struggling to pay its bills and is dependent on an International Monetary Fund loan to run its economy.

Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh retained his post, providing continuity in Pakistan’s dealings with international donors. Interior Minister Rehman Malik also kept his place.

Gilani named five new ministers to his team. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was not included in the lineup, announced a day after India and Pakistan said they were resuming peace talks, broken off after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

But his removal was not believed to be connected to the peace process and no change in foreign policy is expected. Analysts say the move is aimed at garnering support for the economic reforms.

Others absent included Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira and Water and Power Minister Pervaiz Ashraf.

List of portfolios announced:

• Ahmed Mukhtar – Defence Minister
• Arbab Alamgir – Communication Minister
• Babar Awan – Law Minister
• Firdous Ashiq Awan – Minister for Information
• Ghulam Ahmad Bilour – Railways Minister
• Hafeez Sheikh – Finance Minister
• Hina Rabbani Khar – State Minister for Foreign Affairs
• Khurshid Shah Minister – of Religious Affairs
• Makhdoom Amin Fahim – Minister for Commerce & Trade
• Makhdoom Shahabud Din – Textile Minister
• Manzoor Wattoo – Minister for Kashmir Affairs
• Mir Changez Jamali – Minister for Science & Technology
• Naveed Qamar – Minister for Privatisation
• Raza Rabbani – Minister for Inter-Provincial Co-Ordination
• Samina Khalid Ghurki – Environment Minister
• Shahbaz Bhatti – Minister for Minority Affair

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president 

Egyptian president stands down and hands over power to the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces.

Aljazeera, February 10, 2011

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.

Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Suleiman's short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well by pro-democracy campaigners who attended protests across the country on Friday.

The crowd in Tahrir chanted "We have brought down the regime", while many were seen crying, cheering and embracing one another.

Mohamed ElBaradei, an opposition leader, hailed the moment as being the "greatest day of my life", in comments to the Associated Press news agency.

"The country has been liberated after decades of repression,'' he said.

"Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation ... today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world," our correspondent at Tahrir Square reported, following the announcement.

"The sense of euphoria is simply indescribable," our correspondent at Mubarak's Heliopolis presidential palace, where at least ten thousand pro-democracy activists had gathered, said.