Wasif Malik > Blog

Musharraf joins Facebook

// December 1st, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Featured Articles, Pakistan

Whether you love him or  hate him, I am sure that deep down inside you, a part of you still wants Musharraf back (unless you are Nawaz Sharif).  Musharraf recently launched his facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pervezmusharraf) and has attracted 36,166 fans as of now which is not a bad number, considering that there are only one million facebook users in Pakistan. If you ever wanted to ask Musharraf a question, now is your chance to do so. Every now and then, Mr Musharraf will select the most relevant questions and answer them in a YouTube video. He has already answered a few questions already (as mentioned in the “Notes” section of his page). Give them a watch if you want to know Musharraf’s perspective on the issues we are facing these days (whether you agree or not).

The Forum -- PART 1

Q: On Constitution’s Article 6 trial
Q: Action taken by Nawaz Sharif on 12 October 1999
Q: On Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti’s death
Q: Reasons for imposing emergency on November 3, 2007
Q: War on terrorism

The Forum -- PART 2

Q: Foreign actors after Afghan war

The Forum -- PART 3

Q: Criticism by media that resignation on pressure by US
Q: Reasons did not fulfill the promise to resign as chief of Army
Q: War on terrorism, what, when, how it will end
Q: What action should US President Barak Obama take?
Q: Current law and order scenario, and future development of it

The Forum -- PART 4

Q: Current political situation in Pakistan
Q: Army response of Kerry Lugar Bill
Q: Future role of army in the context of democracy in Pakistan
Q: Significance of National security council

The Forum -- PART 5

Q: Army’s popularity
Q: Presidential form in Pakistan
Q: Solving Baluchistan problems
Q: Entering Pakistan politics again
Q: Message to Pakistani nation

Interestingly, all of these videos are being uploaded by TVONE which is a TV channel owned by Interflow Communications (one of the largest advertising agencies in Pakistan). So it seems that Musharraf has hired one of the best advertising companies to help him in carrying out a social media campaign. This is definitely a first, at least in Pakistan.

So for now, I am keeping a close eye on his Facebook page because Mushy might have a trick or two up his sleeve.

Fingers crossed.

The “Grin” Man

// September 2nd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Featured Articles, Pakistan

While the whole nation is busy crying and fighting over who-said-what-and-when-and-why, inflation, security situation, lack of basic necessities etc., one man is sitting in his 7-star accommodation somewhere in Dubai, London or Islamabad, wearing a grin on his face, as if his lifelong dream has finally come true. It sure has. I am talking about the most intelligent and most influential man this nation has ever seen. I am not kidding. He deserves an award. No, not for being the most corrupt man in Pakistan (and arguably in the world). But for taking the most powerful position in Pakistan with such ease and effortlessness. Thanks to the so-called-democracy in our country, the visionary voters, free but irresponsible media and non-existence of law and order; these bastards are all set to rule and rip apart this country, once again.

God bless Pakistan.

GEO TV minivan violating traffic rules

// June 25th, 2009 // 21 Comments » // Featured Articles, Pakistan

What are the odds of a GEO minivan violating traffic rules? And what are the odds of capturing it on camera? Well, whatever the odds are, I (with the help of Moonis) was lucky enough to capture a sequence of pictures showing a GEO minivan violating traffic rules. The place is China Chowk, Blue Area, Islamabad and the time was 10:30PM 24^th June 2009.

While it is exciting to catch this moment on camera, it is equally disappointing too. A TV network that boasts so much of its achievements in highlighting key issues of our country and which talks so much about law and order, is unable to educate its employees about simple traffic rules.

GEO’s vision as mentioned on their website:

“GEO will be the voice of freedom from the Asian subcontinent. It will highlight the issues of concern and the cultural richness of its people through information, discussion and entertainment.“

Since highlighting issues of concern is the vision of GEO, then I would request the GEO team to please highlight this issue on their own channel and before doing that they should pay the fines for violation of traffic rules.

Proud Pakistani

// June 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Pakistan

I have always said that I am a proud Pakistani but I have never felt this proud. We are now World T20 champions. As Younis Khan put it, its “a gift for the nation”. And boy did we need this gift!

This victory is symbolic in so many ways. It has changed everything and suddenly united us again. If  you happened to watch the match in a public place or even if you watched the celebrations that happened across the nation on TV, you would know what I am trying to say. We have gone through so much as a nation recently that good news was like wishful thinking. Hats off to our cricket team for acheiving this important milestone. We will remember this victory for years to come because it gave us something to cheer about in hard times. Pakistan Zindabad!

My Favourite Food

// March 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Pakistan

A list of food places worth visiting if you are in Islamabad. (more…)

Lahore to Rawalpindi on Motorway

// December 28th, 2008 // No Comments » // Pakistan

We left Lahore at 1:40 pm. There is a lot of fog on the motorway but overall visibility is fine.

It is 2:30 pm now and fog is still there. It should take us 5 hours if we maintain good speed which means we should be home by 7 pm inshaAllah.

[4:00 pm] Long line at the CNG station at Bhera. I think we will have to wait 45 minutes for our turn. Petrol is not available (countrywide), otherwise we would not have had to wait in this line.

Rawalpindi to Lahore on GT Road

// December 27th, 2008 // No Comments » // Pakistan

I drove from Rawalpindi to Lahore via GT Road today. Total travel time was 5 hours and total distance covered was 300 KM which means I drove at an average speed of 60 KM per hour. Two tanks of CNG were consumed costing approx Rs. 700 which is very cheap as compared to petrol or deisel.

Car wash

// November 30th, 2008 // No Comments » // Pakistan

Getting the car washed on Sundays is a ritual that most of the car owners follow in Pakistan. Considering the high quantity of dirt and dust on the roads, a car wash at least once a week becomes compulsory.

Some people wash their cars at home while some take their cars to a carwash service at the nearby petrol pump. I rarely take my car to the carwash and today is that rare day. And strangely, I feel light and satisfied as I watch my car getting cleaned by a team of dedicated car-washers. I took a few pictures that I thought I should upload.

Difficult times

// October 19th, 2008 // No Comments » // Pakistan

These are difficult times, for individuals, organizations and governments.
People don’t have easy access to food, jobs and money making opportunities. Due to the recent events in our country, multi national organizations are thinking about closing their operations in Pakistan. Companies that wanted to invest here are not even thinking about it anymore. Our country is moving towards the stone age and we are just sitting by the sidelines and watching some stupid people who are destroying our country. Zardari is our democratically elected President. How he got up there and how he became the most powerful man in Pakistan is still a mystery for me and I am sure or most of the people. One of the most corrupt man in the while world is our President and no one seems to care about it? More disturbing is the fact that there is not even a single influential person in our country who came up and condemned the outcome of this presidential election? I mean how dumb, deaf and blind can a nation be?

Rawalpindi to Lahore and back

// October 12th, 2008 // No Comments » // Pakistan

Daewoo bus service has been the most reliable domestic bus service in Pakistan for years now. I have been using this service since it’s inception which was about 8 years . Though it is really sad that it is the only decent service that can be used to travel from one city to the other within Pakistan. No one has come up with a service that is as good as Daewoo’s. Even though many people complain about the rates and the degraded in-bus service, I think it’s still at par with the international standards. And about the increase in rates, I think it was inevitable keeping in view the inflation rates in the country.

Thumbs up to Daewoo for running and maintaining the best bus service in Pakistan.