Definition of Commitment

There is not definite definition quoted in any book that describes what a commitment in a relationship is. This is a subjective matter and is to be defined by the people involved in this process. It appears to a perplexed topic of pragmatic approach, yet explaining it from top to bottom would eventually endure the bond for a long time. What both persons in a couple can do is, enlighten each other by showing how much they mean to each other. Communication helps to reduce misunderstandings. For this purpose, expressing your desires, attitudes, wants, needs and goals is greatly preferred. There are no regular procedures in this discourse. Avoiding repeated mistakes, evading awkward and uncomfortable roles, creating flexibility to dodge fight and performing selfless actions are areas to be highly focused. 

Real commitment in a relationship

Discussing finances

No matter how madly two people are in love or committed to each other, there is a factor called money that powerful enough to cause problems in the smoothest of situations. It is a colossal originator of conflicts and resentments in long term. Assuming that money is to be pooled is the first mistake. Do not always depend on your partner financially because when life strikes hard, even the closest ones leave. It may sound selfish but that is how life goes. For majority couples isolated their own money makes life much smoother. In this way, you don’t whine about the control of person who holds the finances. Financial habits vary from person to person. One person may like to save while the other is extravagant, when utilizing the money. One cannot keep track of how much one has spent and the other has saved. As a consequence issues emerge. Whether you divide the expenses equally or even on some mutually agreed way, learn to discuss money in a professional manner such as in the perspective of business.

Household Responsibilities

Cleanliness, perfection, organizing techniques, perceptive thinking of internal households’ organs tends to drastically differ across persons. They might look small but are usually the cause of a quarrel between couple. Who is going to wash the dishes? Who is going to look after the clothes? What thing is to be put and where? And the list goes on. Variety of tastes may require innovation and novelty and negotiating on the ways to decorate home. This way, both people involved in a relationship, get at ease. Giving a notion to your partner to discuss things before moving in together is a very good step to create strong commitment in a relationship. We agree that you might get hesitated initially in the process, but if you think it through, you would know that this is the optimum way.

Family and Friends

It sometimes happens that amongst the two people in a relationship, one is an extrovert and the other introvert. One can be very close to the family and may have a lot of friends, while the others needs a lot of space and is not close to much people. Prioritize all the relationships on the basis of needs, system and long-term perspective. Come to a mutual consensus and then list down people you want in your life, because there is always a sacrifice in a relationship and it is not to be taken as a compromise but a leverage that develops a strong link.

Emotional Handling

Anger, frustration, sadness and all other emotions outburst differently across people. As every individual incorporates these emotions, they might come up from time to time. If two people in a relationship are skilled at disseminating each other’s anger and are supportive in hard times then the emotional bond automatically becomes resilient. The tendency to react and augment volatility ensures deterioration.

Show Affection

Partners in a relationship should show their love towards each other, in ways they like and not what society inclines them to do. Discussing these affairs and understanding their importance leads to an auspicious commitment that opens the land of strong relationships. Tests yourself on these question and you would know what to do.

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                            Marijuana - the inner peace for youth

Nothing intrigued and fascinated me more than the music and drug culture of 1960’s. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles were nothing less than gods to masses. Spending my teenage listening to these musicians brought the urge to try the drugs as well. Was it LSD and the hallucinogens behind the genius of their music or were they really that gifted was the question that baffled me.

At last I succumbed to this desire of trying Marijuana. A night out with friends was chosen as the ideal time to do it. My friend who had a history of drug abuse boasted that he had scored Afghani marijuana for me and promised it will be an amazing experience. We smoked up and it actually was quite a potent drug, within minutes I felt light headed and really started enjoying myself. Well, I guess at that moment, the tingling voice in my head said " Marijuana is the inner peace for youth ".  Anyways, besides that I found out that getting weed smell out of room was another huge problem that I had to deal with!

But then it started growing on, I could feel that my reflexes were slowing down and my heart beating slower than ever. Things got worse when I got intothe “still phase”, I could hear my friends making jokes and picking on me but Icouldn’t answer them or even move a muscle. Thirst stabbed its pangs in my throat; it felt so parched that even breathing was made difficult. I wanted to scream out to my friends to give me water or jolt me out of this paralyses but thewords just won’t come out. This is when panic overtook me; my mind was numbed by a torrent of thoughts, guilt, fear and anxiety. This grew until I erupted into a fit of nausea and spewed out on the floor. The thing that shook me the most was the attitude of my friends, they hardly made a move to comfort me orhelp me up, and they kept on enjoying their buzz.

The experience left me pondering that is the “high” of drugs worth it when you eventually end up on the floor. 

Rida Fatima - Voice of Pakistani Youth

If you want to quit smoking marijuana or weed,  Click Here!

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U.S President Barack praises Pakistani on Twitter

The United States President, Barack Obama praised the efforts and skills of a Pakistani on his official Twitter account. Faizan Buzdar is an IT entrepreneur who is credited for introducing innovation into the cloud based digital collaboration workspace. He is a founder of www.convo.com which enables businesses and their globally distributed teams to work faster.

Obama's tweet praising a Pakistani Faizan Buzdar

Obama administration is working on passing a bill that would ease the immigration process. The president took the opportunity and shared that video with the world in which Faizan told the people what strenuous problems he had to face to set up www.convo.com. 

Faizan Buzdar while talking to media said that he is happy that he has made the country (Pakistan) proud. Faizan also said that there is a need of immigration reforms in US and more US visas should be granted.

The news has been taken positively in all the media circles in Pakistan and a lot of Pakistanis have expressed their delight on Obama's appraisal of a Pakistani. Obama's tweet praising a Pakistani got viral on the internet and has made headlines all over the world.

You May Also Like to Read:

Flaws of Education System in Pakistan

Role of Youth in Pakistani Politics

Talented Youth of Pakistan

Vani: Child Marriages in Pakistan

Real face of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto exposed

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Girl Commits suicide due to Police harassment

Saba Akram, an 18 year old girl which was arrested for kidnapping charges of a friend committed suicide after police harassed her. She could not bear the extremist treatment from the police and committed suicide.

It is an extremely disturbing event and we are surprised to see that the civil society and the government officials have kept quite over the issue. We request you to spread this news so Saba Akram is served justice and the policemen involved in this heinous crime get severe punishment.

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Youth in Pakistan

Pakistan is a developing country and youth in Pakistan makes up about 35% of it's total population. In the midst of crunching times, when Pakistan is facing severe issues such as terrorism, economic crisis, target killings, disunity and disunity, the burden to take the country out of the whirlpool is upon it's young people.

Pakistani Youth’s Role in Development

The Pakistani Youth has stepped on a train named as destiny that takes its passengers on the path towards development. Since the establishment of Pakistan, youth had always been crushed and oppressed by teachers, leaders and parents. Moreover the role of youth in politics has always been limited due to corrupt and inept political system. They failed to get exposed to the world that could lead to a new era of modernization. As the clock ticked and time flew, things started to change their discourse. The new century brought about much advancement along with the change in trends of Pakistani youth.

Problems of Youth in Pakistan:

Alongside the changing trends in 21st century, problems of Pakistani youth have started to dwindle.The world is a continuous process of change and so it brings with it distinctive features in which modernization in youth plays huge importance. As globalization took place, it became harder for teachers, leaders and parents to further hold back youth in homes. These students found their way to their demands. The supply had always been short but this time these young Pakistanis created their own demand and became their own suppliers. They have started to negate the old irrational conventions that have been down streaming their lives. Through the use of media, internet and self right realization; these rising humans instilled with great zeal and zest have found a common point where they could lead their lives with cultural and contemporary trends.

Talented Pakistani Youth

Talented Pakistani youth has started to bring in more innovation and novel ideas than a matured one. The science has lead older people to understand that after living a life of forty years and above, the brain is less able to produce something new and revolutionary. Now we see the youth working in across Pakistan in almost all the fields currently working. From education to films to arts to medicine to engineering to politics; you would not find a place where these young talented people are not functioning. Every day they bring in new ideas such as Street Art Competitions, Sports events, Debates, magazines, public relations and the list goes on.

Power to Speak

A new trend has started to emerge in Pakistani youth i.e. the power to speak. About a decade ago, young people were not allowed to raise their voices against elders. Even if the elders were completely irrational about a certain situation or subject, youth was not allowed to interfere in it. An orthodox behavior was being followed by the elders that was “Old people have a lot of experience and so they speak keeping in mind everything they have learnt from it but young people are careless and innocent. They do not understand the realities of life”. But now these people have started to realize that not all their experiences are applicable in the contemporary world of fast choices. These people realize that they are not the one’s getting exposed to new knowledge everyday; it is the youth who is thirsty for knowledge and who can actually understand the world with a different dimension.

Optimism of Youth in Pakistan:

Optimism is an intriguing step that the youth in Pakistan has recently adopted. They have seen their families and relatives living lives in depression and so dying a painful death. They have seen people regretting what they did and sticking to the negative side of the situation and eventually falling into a dig of wasted wishes. Pakistani youth has now chosen a path of positivism. This way they can mould, innovate and produce whatever they think is best. They are currently striving for the betterment and progress of country. They are not self centered rather they have adapted ways which would make the people of Pakistan unite and bring about change as a whole.

Voice of Youth

I have been sitting here for a while listening to all those voices of youth. To feel what you have, you need to forget what you had. Concepts are intellectual. No one is born to be so. People sit on a porch to learn and throw. Nothing is confusing, you are. Life compels you to form images. What you speak is not your tongue but your society. You creep, you crawl, and you walk and run. Is there anything else to do in this family of indifferent relations? If not, then there is yet to begin another stance of local characters (Pakistani Youth) to trigger the features bound to relish the last sip of tea.

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"Everything is Possible"?

After witnessing turmoil instigated by subtle gestures, one would conclude everything is possible. The concept of start and end has been instilled in the human mind for ages. It is now difficult to imagine a situation or happening without a beginning and finish point. Regardless of what constitutes our life, language limits our imagination to worldly characters and ideas.

What aspects should be discussed?

            This idea “Everything is possible” is quite old but at the same click novel. It is just who is exposed to it and who is not. For example, if you talk about this concept to an intellectual person, it may seem to be something coming down for ages. But if the same notion is brought to an illiterate person, the consequences would differ drastically. I am not going to tease you with the old, conventional examples by every other individual and which could be easily refuted. These actions only play their role due to lack of education. This time the idea is going to be applied in every phase and every aspect of world.

Everything is possible and the concept of GOD

            I was having a discussion on this topic with my friends a couple of weeks ago. The idea was to be discussed in every dimension i.e. from psychology to physiology to philosophy. One question lead the whole discussion, “If everything is possible, then is it possible that the God may not exist and it is also possible He may exist”. It is very easy to put forth an argument but extremely difficult to apply it to your own self. This statement started to question every one’s beliefs. The religious as well as non religious people could get offended. The thought of it made every one act like fools. Two statements that cross question this question were “If everything is possible then it is also possible that everything is not possible” and “For any impossible thing to happen it must be possible”. The examples continued but on the basis of these three statements. Like if everything is possible then it is quite possible that we are just an imagination or an illusion of an entity sitting somewhere else in the world. The questions were so vast and manipulative in their own sense that they lead to unconventional dimensions of thoughts.

Bounded Rationality

            We had to find a common point. It was created by bounded rationality. As humans we should accept that it is beyond our reach to entail everything. As the human mind is capable of absorbing immense quantities of information, the hard drive of this system is not infinite. Once this was cleared, we started to understand the concept of limitation. We limited the application of concept to certain things and phenomena. Because if there was no limit to it, just the thought of this idea cause chaos in eco system. All the beliefs were set a part relating to personal self.

The Last question pertaining “Everything is Possible”

           We were about to get up and go back home when one of friends asked another question. He said, “If everything is possible, is it possible to go back in time or visit our future?” Now the question was not out of the box because the rule of limitation could not be applied here. We were so held back by even the sense of very scheme, that every one experienced silence for some time. From there initiated another question, “Is time only associated with this world or it rules everywhere?” The answer to this question would prove decisive in finding a solution to previous statement. Guess what, two of were in favor of time being a constant entity while on the other two were commencing on it is an ongoing process.

            After a while, I felt a tinge on my shoulder and woke up by the sound of fresh laughter that gagged the realm of my dreams. As an orthodox behavior, I should have hanged those who played a role in deteriorating my only secluded imagination. When I started to compile all evaded sources of these remarkable measures; only one strikes in the set path of sleep. To understand this massacre of long lasting night and day journey, you must entitle yourself as an audience of seldom zone. When you start to hear the sound of clock, kindly open your seat belts and scuttle in lilting mode to set the precedence for the antecedents of your own life. These were the words I could hear from my brain. It was a remarkable experience. It found a solution to the answer of my dream character i.e. “Anything and everything is possible only if one considers it to be” It is our marvelous mind that presents the upcoming illusions in a way that make us believe we were right.

Everything is possible

Everything is denied

You do not exist

You are justified

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Role of Youth in Pakistani Politics

Overview of role of Pakistani youth in Politics

If we look at the history of Pakistani politics it has always been dominated by few families and dictators. Common man has suffered at the hands of aristocrats, and among those common men live the young men and women, who are spoken highly of! The history tells us that political parties have always used the the youth to achieve their political targets but looking at the bigger picture, the role of youth in Pakistani politics has always been limited. Never has the true democracy be at the helm thanks to corrupt and substandard political infra-structure. Men with money, or shall we say, the big players have always dominated the political playground.

Amid all the hypocrisy, the youth has always been used as political horses. The “Kings” have used the horses to well effect but never have they empowered the resilient armed men! Like pawns in a chess game, the kings have used the youth to its benefit but never let it express itself. Sighs!

In recent times, a hope arose in the shape of Youth Parliament. It created optimism, a fresh wave of breath. Young intellectuals were given importance, and it seemed finally Pakistan was on the verge of revolution. An in-house revolution, that would change the face of Pakistan on the political front. But the house never realized its potential. It was suppressed under the might of the wealthy parliamentarians.

Quaid-e-Azam's vision of Pakistan

Quaid-e-Azam saw youth as a major asset for the newly created state i.e. Pakistan and repeatedly emphasized the role of youth in Pakistani politics. He believed, youth was vital ingredient to take the country forward. His sayings reflect that he saw the young men and women as the leaders of the future.

“Pakistan is proud of her youth, particularly the students who have always been in the forefront in the hour of trial and need. You are the nation’s leaders of tomorrow and you must fully equip yourself by discipline, education and training for the arduous task lying ahead of you. You should realise the magnitude of your responsibility and be ready to bear it.” – Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

In the light of his saying, it is a fair assessment that he had a different vision of Pakistan in comparison with what the country has become. He clearly suggested that youth of Pakistan were to be regarded as a major asset. Our current political system is not only sabotaged by the so called “54 families”, but there is not much hope that the current situation would change in the near future. An allocation of 1.6% of total GDP is a testimony of that! We highlighted the major flaws in the education system of Pakistan, which need immediate addressing! It is critical that the aristocrats of the nation understand the critical need to improve the current political and education situation at federal, provincial, and local levels. It is perhaps the only escape route available to move away from the current economic, socio-cultural, and political crisis. 

Despite the troublesome situation,  there has emerged another ray of hope, the ember had never died. The elections are not far away and every party has started their election campaign. While the only pleasant change in their campaigns this time around is that all the political parties have realized the importance of youth.  The political power-houses are targeting them on a very serious note. Imran Khan has been back-rolling his election campaign on the base of youth favored policy and he has to be credited for his policies and thinking differently. Now is the time for youth to take the responsibility and play their role to change the conventional political system in Pakistan. So if we want to bring true revolution in Pakistan then our youth needs to participate and try hard to change this system. We hope that it's a start of a new era! A better era!

Youth Experia – Voice of Pakistani Youth

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HE is mobbed wherever he goes. People want to touch him, school children happily line up to give him their pocket money, women throw their jewellery at him, small traders and businessmen have raised billions of rupees for his cause. His rallies get bigger and more inspiring day the day. Stimulating slogans proclaim him as the next prime minister of Pakistan. He is Imran Khan, a former captain of Pakistan's cricket team, who shot to glory after Pakistan won cricket's World Cup in 1992.

Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi was born in a traditional landed family of Pakistan. His father Ikram Ullah khan Niazi Shermankhel was a civil engineer in Lahore. A quiet and shy boy in his youth, Khan grew up in a middle-class Niazi Pathan family with four sisters. Imran's Mother Shaukat Khanam family includes successful hockey players and cricketers such as Javed Burki and Majid Khan. Imran Khan was educated locally, at Aitchison College, before coming to England to study at Worcester Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford, where he excelled at cricket. In 1972, he enrolled to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Keble College, Oxford, where he graduated with a second-class degree in Politics and a third in Economics.

On 16 May 1995, Imran Khan married to an English socialite Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of the multimillionaire businessman Sir James Goldsmith. Who converted to Islam in a two-minute Islamic ceremony in Paris. Both had two sons Sulaiman Isa (born 18 November 1996) and Kasim (born 10 April 1999). On June 22nd 2004, shocking news went on air regarding Imran Khan that he has divorced his wife and the reason told was that it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan".

Imran Khan started his first class career at the age of 16 from his home city, Lahore. By the start of the 1970s, he played from various teams of Lahore city like Lahore A, Lahore B, Lahore greens and eventually Lahore. In 1971, Khan made his Test cricket debut against England at Birmingham and three years later he made his one day international debut once again playing against England at Nottingham for the Prudential Trophy. His identification as one of the fastest bowlers of the world established when he finished third at 139.7 km/h in a fast bowling contest at Perth in 1978 behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding. Imran Khan achieved his first landmark i.e. the all-rounder's triple (securing 3000 runs and 300 wickets) in only 75 Tests of his career, the second fastest record behind Ian Botham's 72.

Imran Khan was named the captain of Pakistan cricket team in 1982 when he was at his peak of his career. As a captain, Khan played 48 Test matches, out of which 14 were won by Pakistan, 8 lost and the rest of 26 were drawn. He also played 139 ODIs, winning 77, losing 57 and ending one in a tie. In 1987, Khan led Pakistan to its first Test series win in India, which was followed by Pakistan's first series victory in England the same year. After losing in the semi final of the 1987 cricket world cup under his captaincy, he decided to retire from the International cricket. But later in 1988, he was asked to return to team as a captain by the president General Zia-ul-Haq. So on 18 January, he announced his decision to rejoin the team. Soon after returning, he led to a memorable series win against West Indies and he was also named as man of the series for his magnificent bowling performance throughout the series. “I wanted to be an outstanding player, that was my ambition.”

Then came the turning point of Imran’s life and it was the ICC cricket world cup 1992 which was hosted by one of the pioneers of cricket, Australia. Pakistan team left for England under the captaincy of Imran Khan with full hopes and courage and with full support from millions of people in Pakistan. Playing with a brittle batting lineup, Khan promoted himself as a batsman to play in the top order along with Javed Miandad, but his contribution as a bowler was not too good, still he had best bowlers in his team like Wasim Akram. At the age of 39, Khan scored the highest runs of all the Pakistani batsmen and took the winning last wicket himself. Pakistan was bowled out for under 80 runs in a match against England in a league match and hardly managed to move to the next round of the world cup. But now luck was on the Pakistan side and green shirts kept on winning the match one after the other defeating all the top teams including the former world champions Australia as well and reached to the final of the world cup. On 25th May 1992 in final at Melbourne, Pakistan again faced England to overcome the mistakes of the league match and to grab the world title. Due to the great batting performance from the captain himself, Javed Miandad and Inzamam ul Haq, Pakistan was able to give a tough total to England. The magic of Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmad worked and Pakistan defeated England by 22 runs to be a world champion.

In his final speech on the presentation ceremony in the world cup, Imran khan said that it will help a lot in fulfilling his wish to build a cancer hospital. Recalling his initial discomfort with this new role, he later said, "When I became the cricket captain, I couldn’t speak to the team directly I was so shy. I had to tell the manager, I said listen can you talk to them, this is what I want to convey to the team. I mean early team meetings I use to be so shy and embarrassed I couldn’t talk to the team." He ended his career with 88 Test matches, 126 innings and scored 3807 runs at an average of 37.69, including six centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score was 136 runs. As a bowler, he took 362 wickets in Test cricket, which made him the first Pakistani and world's fourth bowler to do so. In ODIs, he played 175 matches and scored 3709 runs at an average of 33.41. His highest score remains 102 not out. His best ODI bowling is documented at 6 wickets for 14 runs. “During my 21 years of playing cricket, I have never been approached by anyone or offered a bribe.”

Imran Khan started his social work even before the retirement from cricket, when in 1991 he founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charity organization bearing the name of his mother. Imran Khan established Pakistan's first and only cancer hospital, constructed using donations and funds exceeding $25 million, rose by Khan himself from all over the world. He is now the chairman of this hospital and still raises funds for his hospital and giving the best services to people from all the social classes in Pakistan. On 27 April 2008, a technical college in the Mianwali District called Namal College, was inaugurated. Namal College was built by the Mianwali Development Trust (MDT), as chaired by Khan, and was made an associate college of the University of Bradford (of which Khan is Chancellor) in December 2005.

Just after few years of retitrment, Imran’s patriotism and his love for nation took him into the field of politics. On 25 April 1996, Khan founded his own political party known as Movement for Justice in Pakistan (Urdu: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf) with an anticipated slogan of "Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem”. Imran Khan said “I don't need to use politics as a way of making money.” In 1999 Imran Khan supported General Pervez Musharraf's military takeover but later in 2002 condemned his presidency. He became a Member of Parliament for Mianwali in the October 2002 elections. He was part of the Standing Committees on Kashmir and Public Accounts, and expressed legislative interest in Foreign Affairs, Education and Justice. His party boycotted the national elections on 18 February 2008 and hence, no member of PTI has served in Parliament since Khan's resignation in 2007. “One is actually the democracy here, you know, people are, people assume that this election means that there is democracy in Pakistan. There is no democracy.”

Khan has credited his decision to enter politics with a spiritual awakening, influenced by his conversations with a mystic from the Sufi wing of Islam that began in the last years of his cricket career. Khan told Britain's Daily Telegraph, "I want Pakistan to be a welfare state and a genuine democracy with a rule of law and an independent judiciary." He also proposed an idea that all students after their graduation should spend atleast an year on the countryside to teach them. "We need decentralisation, empowering people at the grass roots."

The Guardian newspaper in England described Khan as a "miserable politician," observing that, "Khan's ideas and affiliations since entering politics in 1996 have swerved and skidded like a rickshaw in a rainshower... He preaches democracy one day but gives a vote to reactionary mullahs the next."

There are number of national and international rewards and recognitions Imran Khan was blessed with

Ø Khan is featured in the University of Oxford's Hall of Fame

Ø He has been an honorary fellow of Oxford's Keble College

Ø n 1976 as well as 1980, Khan was awarded The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for being the leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket

Ø He was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1983

Ø He had received the President’s Pride of Performance Award in 1983

Ø Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year in 1985

Ø Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year in 1990.

Ø In 1992, Khan was given Pakistan's civil award, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz.

Ø On 8 July 2004, Khan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Asian Jewel Awards in London for acting as a figurehead for many international charities and working passionately and extensively in fund-raising activities.

Ø On 7 December 2005, Khan was appointed the fifth Chancellor of the University of Bradford

Ø On 13 December 2007, Khan received the Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur for his efforts in setting up the first cancer hospital in Pakistan

Ø In 2009, at International Cricket Council's centennial year celebration, Khan was one of fifty-five cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

Ø He is also Currently placed at Number 8 on the all-time list of the ESPN Legends of Cricket

Recently, Imran Khan has gained a lot of popularity and support from renowned anchors and columnists in Pakistan like Kashif Abbasi, Haroon ur Rasheed, etc. Imran Khan is a person, an honest politician, a true Pakistani who is now the most famous leader among the youth of Pakistan. He is the only recognized politician which is free from any external pressure including America which is even confessed by America and many other politicians from Pakistan as well.

Is Imran Khan the man, nation is waiting for, who is free from every pressure and can solve all the major issues and problems of Pakistan in every aspect? Only time can answer this question.

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I was in Islamabad when I first heard the news of UK based Pakistani students being arrested by the British police on charges of terrorism. As the details came out, it was nine of them arrested in anti-terror raids from different parts of England and as the Prime Minister Brown termed were guilty of hatching a very big plot against the UK. Being myself a Pakistani studying in England, my first reaction was that of disbelief and shock to say the least. I was completely aware of the academic, financial and logistical struggle it involves to become a student in Britain. But then more than that the Pakistanis are an extra ordinary community in the Britain, have been so for decades now. Out of a sixty million population in UK, there are two million Muslims and about 900,000 of them are of Pakistani origin. Not just the British but the whole world can never become oblivious to their proud achievements and rich contributions in the fields of economics, law, medicine, sciences, history, culture, arts and research. But for these caught Pakistani students, they were not only kept in the illegal custody of the British authorities for thirteen days but were also physically and mentally tortured. They were not allowed to contact their families back home who quite understandably faced an immensely difficult period. And on one fine morning after thirteen days of interrogation and intelligence checks, these students were released by the embarrassed authorities as no charge could be proven against them.
It disturbed me, deeply. It disturbed me as a Muslim, as a Pakistani and as the educated youth of Pakistan. I knew from day one that this was not us; it could not be us, any one of us. Though in the last few years some unfortunate incidents have made Pakistanis vulnerable to terrorist suspicions but as someone who was born and brought up in Pakistan, I have complete faith in the fundamental building blocks for the state and nation of Pakistan. Our country was born on the highest pedestals of human excellence. It promised complete tolerance, peaceful co-existence of multiple religious/ethnic/sectarian beliefs, a pluralistic social order, freedom of thought and expression, egalitarianism and a democratic form of governance. We as a nation are completely and deadly against all forms of violence be it political, social or economic. We are an extremely peace loving nation which does not approve of the minutes acts of extremism.. We are a victim of this menace. We are a victim because we have lost thousands of our innocent citizens including men and women, children, youngsters and elders in cruel and insane suicide bombings in our markets, schools, mosques, parks and other public places. We are a victim because we have lost hundreds of our brave soldiers, the sons of our soil in attacks on military consignments, their offices and official residences. We hate blood and dead bodies, the brutality un-nerves us and the loss of our loved ones infuriates us. We cannot relate ourselves in any which way to terrorism, we cannot imagine the killings of innocent people in our wildest thoughts for this is not what are made up of. We neither represent nor can stand this inhumanity under any circumstances. We as a nation and as the educated youth of Pakistan do not scum and subscribe to the narrowly, pathetically, untruly, unfairly and fallaciously interpreted version of our extremely beautiful and most serene religion of Islam, which has an extraordinary tradition of humanity, tolerance, brotherhood and love. As a Muslim, it is a most painful experience we as a civilization have been subjected to. It saddens and shocks us to witness such shameless interpretations of Islam to suit interests of gaining political mileage and power. Pakistan has been enriched by some of the biggest Sufi Saints of the century who have spent their entire lives spreading the love and light of a universal love for humanity regardless of class, caste, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, age, social status or economic background. Millions of Pakistanis today find solace in their teachings and have followed their paths for achieving human excellence, positive thinking, real emancipation and enlightenment. We do not connect with terrorism, at all.
The seeds of extremism were slowed by a host of parasitic powers to suit the then geo-political and strategic interests of the sole super power. The evil forces of terrorism and religious intolerance were fuelled by a destructive alliance of the west with the then military dictatorship in Pakistan. The effects of their power hungry agendas still effect us, all of us and everywhere, in Swat and in the UK. My heart goes out to the millions of Pakistani who have lost their loved ones, their schools and their homes to this harsh, deadly war which has been convened due to reasons completely alien to them. I feel guilty to see those faces of young girls and boys who have been displaced from the beautiful Swat valley which was once and ironically enough not long ago know as the tourists’ paradise. Their eyes have pinching questions and their gaze has pain, cold pain. Pain which reflects war and the deaths and destruction it brings. I look at the men and women and something inside me freezes, I literally hear screams which are too loud to be heard. They get merged with the images of dead bodies and blood in the Marriott hotel bombing and the picture gets blurred. Reluctantly, I try to look away, putting both my hands on my ears because I think they have heard enough of painful screams over the last two years and they cannot take any more. But I cannot look away; I cannot become indifferent to the pain of my fellow Pakistanis, to my sisters and to my brothers. I cannot be insensitive to the cost they have and are still paying for the sins they have never committed. I include me, it includes you, it includes all of us who belong to the same soil, who were born and brought up in the territory of Pakistan and who are lucky and privileged to proudly claim it as their country. It is sad truth that the pain brought by terrorism unites all of us in a strong way because each one of us is at a loss, of one kind or the other.
As for the arrested Pakistani students, I want those students to know that Pakistan has not lost faith in you, it never will. We, the Pakistani nation and particularly it’s youth are proud of you. But please do not let this incident effect you in a way that you undermine even in the slightest way our collective principles and moral ideals as Muslims, as Pakistanis and as the educated youth of Pakistan. It should only strengthen our resolve to defeat extremism by helping our fellow Pakistanis who are not effects but survivors of this war against terror and by letting the world see that we are one; we always were and will remain so forever. I have complete faith that the collective realization of this massive responsibility on us through the might of our pen and strength of resolve will let us once again reach the heights of our long lost glory. In solidarity with each other…

Arooj Mazhar

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'THE ONLY HOPE' 

 Martin Luther King said, "I have a Dream" and the dream came largely true. The problem with our society has always been that we never had any vision or for this matter even time to dream. Many imperialists all over the world eye Pakistani youth as one of the most intellectual manpower.

Times have started to change for the young generation of Pakistan. However, recently we have come across a paradigm shift in the like they call ‘josh’ and ‘jazba’ of our Youth. The fervor has been relit.
Lately, not many are seen sitting at home and staring at the television set for straight 10 hours. They have started to realize a great conscientiousness that had to be looked upon a longer while ago. They are now conscious of the fact that their country’s potential and their own future depends on them majorly.

They know that they are the back bone to the nation and that they can change the future of the society with their well being and valor. They are finally looking at which they have not been willing to look at in decades when this country fell to pieces.

On an individual as well as widespread scale they have started to show their presence of mind and actions in various aspects of the community. Youth activism has become an important and essential part and has brought a refreshing change to not only the community of Pakistan but globally as well.
From political support to supporting social issues to the business minded young entrepreneurs or to simply spreading awareness on a particular issue that maybe affecting the individual on a personal level or affecting the country as a whole. The youth of today in Pakistan has the knowledge to have an opinion and the creativity and confidence to convey their opinion to the masses. The youth is not only engaged in striving for their personal interests, but have started to realize the responsibility of strengthening and developing the country relies on their shoulders.
Every individual, in some way or the other is playing his or her part in developing the country at different levels.

The best examples could be the increased percentage, interest and enthusiasm of youngsters in political matters in the recent few months. Their strapping presence at political rallies has shown how serious and gritty the Pakistani youth is in selecting a leader for their country, someone they can look forward to.  Pakistani youth has a say, a say that gives their opinion a strong base and structure. This is the reason why political parties have aimed the youth at a larger level as they pretty well know what the level of importance the youth of Pakistan holds for the country. The future of the country relies majorly within the hands of the youth.
Even the recent making of the biggest painting for World record’s that took place in Lahore shows us how fervent and avid our youth happens to be.

Health and social issue programs have taken place more widely and with a lot of effort put into the, so that not only the words gets around but people start to act on it. Such events and programs have led a large number of students and young workers to work for and support these issues.

Unfortunately though, still today we find some youth which happen to be in a phase of denial. They still happen to be more interested in things and places which are not really useful for them. They prefer to spend their days doing drugs, playing video games because it’s their belief to ‘live in the moment’. I being a young guy myself, 21, who also loves to do all this, couldn’t agree more with spending every moment like it’s our last. I’ve always believed in living eternity in one moment. But we do need to realize that with the way things are going, these moments won’t ever return. More and more young men are sitting at home in front of their televisions playing games all day instead of bettering themselves or going to work. Excuse is, Job markets down, Electricity’s out, Global warming whatever excuse they can find. The question is, what are they doing about it? They have no vision and if they do have dreams they do not have the drive to make any attempt at achieving them. Let’s just pray they don’t keep their eyes closed for too long because what they are going to lose, God forbid, is just about the most precious thing they’ve ever had whether they realize it or not.
“That's where the future lies, in the youth of today.”
Willie Stargell

                                                                       Talha Khalid
                                                                         Section F
                                                                       ID: 10u0114

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Every person in the world considers youth as the best age. It is the period between childhood and adult age. All those experience youth carries the best memories of its entire life with them. Youth is an excellent age. Whenever we fail during our youth, there is always a hope of trying again and overcoming the failures experienced by us. Mary Qurant says “Being youth is greatly over estimated…any failure seems total. Later on, you realize that you can have another go.
“Hope never fades and success lies before us every time during our youth.”
We often hear from our elders that the youth is the best age in our lives. That’s right because these years of life the rest of our live depends. According to Robert Southey, “Live as long as you may, the first twenty years is the longest half of our life.” The memories that we carry during this age are ever lasting and a person remembers them ever during his last years of life.
Youth is a beautiful age. Our job is to develop good habits right from our youth so that they help us in being successful in our lives. Because if we do not use it, we will never succeed.
So, we should use this age before it passes by, and be sure, it won’t even wave passing by.

Zunaira Manzoor
(10u0476)

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As we have crossed the twentieth century, many people have lost hope in the future. The reason for this loss of hope is that there seems to be no alternative to the capitalist system. Communism and socialism have failed. The idea of fundamental change, the idea of revolution, has been defeated by the reality of it. Without an alternative to the system, fundamental change seems out of the question. We seem doomed to live in the grip of a system which defines human life in terms of profit and loss, competition and inequality. 

Without an alternative to capitalism, the deepest human values and most important human relationships will be forever under attack by the demands of the economy and the dictates of the elite.  

Hope in the future and belief in the possibility of revolution are inextricably linked. Belief in the possibility of revolutionary change is the key to the belief that human beings have the capacity to create a human world. 

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan feels there needs to be a “revolution” in the country’s cricket to rid it of corruption, favoritism and nepotism. 

Is there really a need for revolution in Pakistan? 

FAHD SABUR 

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The future of Pakistan and the people who would take Pakistan further ahead in the development and progress in all field is none other than our “Youth”.

The challenges our Youth is facing is higher cost of studies, joblessness, no career counselling, no guidance from elders to how to survive as their elders are busy in making money to ensure bright future of their kids. The prevailing situation of un-certainity and disrespect for the people who are not considered as the members of Semi rich or elite class has pushed alot of youngsters to flee from country in search of jobs and further education with long term plans to get settled abroad where they get more respect despite their status of a third rate citizen. And above all, the justice system is far better than what we have got here.

Being a young energetic man or a women, every one has certain goals in life which he or she pursues in life. The hopelessness and frustration builds up when equal opportunities in education and then in the job hunt are not being offered to them. This results in loosing able men and women who could have been the key to our success as a nation in the long run.
We have made education a profitable business, those who could afford to study from IBA, LUMS, GIK, AGHA KHAN UNIVERSITY, QAU etc are more likely to end up having good jobs always up their sleeves. On the other hand more talented and promising people which have studied from slightly lower rating institute struggle to get a good start.
Our government has lost focus on the development and prosperity of our youth and thus giving the Nation a major set back by creating a major short fall of talented people. Now the irony of the situation is that even we have quite a few talented people in the field, a new tend has started which is to hire foreign consultants to come and do our job at a much higher cost and equally good local talent is ignored. There are very few job consultation agencies in Pakistan who could keep a track of the best people in the field and get them organised and offer them the best available possibilities. The ones already working charge very high services fees which can go up to one complete salary and or at times even more than that. Good jobs are always given at references and through by passing the normal hiring procedure which again deprives of the real talent on laying their hands on a a reasonable job. If we carefully analyze the situation, we would find a lot of mis-fits and non professional people sitting at key positions in various governmental organizations and NGOs and thus giving a slower growth rate to such organizations.
Its a dilemma and point of concern for all of us that our youth not all of them but majority of it is looking for short cuts in life as they have seen people making their life style turning in to a high class living in the matter of months through earning by un fair means. Have a look at the government expenditure on Education sector and their own spending on visits abroad and maintaining hifi protocol. A person’s worth is no more in his Character, education and family back ground, its all about having enough money in the bank whether earned with honesty or by hook or crook.

I see a lot of young boys and girls with little or no hope in their eyes and are frustrated cause of Nepotism and limited opportunities for them. Advertisements for jobs are given in newspapers for a formality, people are hired even before giving out the advertisements, hiring are politically motivated and ethnically biased. A lot of talent is being wasted of the youth and they seek refuge in the activities which does not suit them at all, this starts from drugs, illegal businesses and wastage of precious years of life in other useless activities.
Its about time that we go for a collaborative effort to channelise and focus the energies of our youth by providing them equal opportunities in all fields. Government will play its role and we will play ours by taking a pledge that will not get our own family members recommended for a job for which they are under qualified or not capable enough. A culture and a system has to be created in which a major screening is being done at Universities and colleges of talented young men and women after which they are given an opportunity to land at good jobs after passing through a strict selection criteria in the forms of written exams and their performance in academics and also their natural in-built abilities. We have divided education system based on class culture, the big shots kids study in expensive schools and Universities and even go abroad for studies where as the middle class and lower middle class families could only send their kids to government schools and universities or to less expensive private schools and universities. Further discrimination is seen when Job advertisements suggest that only graduates of a certain educational institute can apply for the said jobs.

If the youth turns to do own business, over all economic situation will not help their cause. Secondly for an ordinary man its difficult to get even a loan from a bank to get much needed initial financial support to run a small business. Again the loans are given to people in Pakistan who dont really need those as they are already well to do. The scholarship ships for students are very rare, the ones that exist, hardly provide it to the needy and deserving people.

The special struggle has been observed in the middle class educated females, who had to rely on their parents and other relatives for job references and despite having excellent educational track record, they end up doing ordinary low package jobs. The presence of females in the corporate job sector and middle management category has seen an upward trend but its still low as compared to the number of qualified women. The scope for jobs is limited for them in banking, customer care and sales in Telecom, Health sector, Education and textiles. A alot has been said and promised by our leaders but nothing substantial has been done to over come the problem of not having appropriate jobs for them.
Either males or females the fact remains that our youth has been neglected thoroughly by us and by our leaders and now its payback time. We could only pay them back by making a system for them in which their talents can be utilized and not mis-used. Other wise we would end up having a totally frustrated youth who dont even see a bright future in USA and Europe cause of clear cut biases against Muslims 9/11 so called War on terror after which Pakistani students and other Pakistan citizens or even people having nationality abroad doing jobs are thoroughly harassed on the name of National security. We have seen a lot of students de-ported from foreign countries on security grounds and this resulted in majority of the students to suffer who were only there to study hard and get back to Pakistan to pursue their bright careers.

Media has to play its vital role our core issues these days are education, health, joblessness, poverty and National security, we are least concerned whether actress Meera is married or not, whether Musharaf  is hanged or left alone, whether President stays in power or not, what are the new trends in high street fashion market, what are the new innovations in technology and so on. We as a Pakistani Nation want our basic rights and right of having equal opportunities is one of the important issues.

Ameer Ismail Jamil

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Pakistan’s Youth – sign of a brighter future
It is high time for a change in Pakistan now. How long can we continue like this? We have been suffering with poverty, energy crises, unemployment, terrorism and many other hurdles which never seem to end.
Change does not only mean to bring in a new political set up or a military takeover. Pakistan has seen plenty of this in the past, but this has never helped the country progress. In fact, we are continuously headed towards a worse situation than ever before, but we do have the ability to come out of this troublesome time.
So the question arises, what needs to be changed? The answer to this is quite simple: every individual in the country needs to realize their role towards the betterment of Pakistan and bring in a revolution within them.
An interesting fact about Pakistan is that its youth is 35 percent of the total population. This percentage reflects young generation aged 25 and below.
This is the highest percentage in the world and the country has the potential to become world leaders in the coming future.
If Pakistan’s youth steps up and take responsibility of this country, no one can stop it from progressing.
                                    


Our country can be compared with a company which is struggling for its survival. In time of crisis, only one thing can save the company and that is its people.
Similar is the case with Pakistan. If the people in the country, especially the youth changes itself, things will start improving ultimately.
Change starts from individual level. Each person will have to be aware of their responsibilities towards the society.
Apart from criticizing the political personnel in the country, people need to elect the right leaders during the elections.
At the moment, we are responsible for the current state of the country and only we can change the chaotic situation. No matter what others say about us, I am confident that our future will be in safe hands and InshAllah this country will rule the rest of the world one day.

Awais Mussawar

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Youth is supposed to be the most carefree and fun loving age in a person’s life. But the fact is, during this span, a person goes through several phases, one of which is hypersensitivity and pressure handling. For last many years of this modern age, youth is going excessive academic pressure and de-motivation.
We have mostly seen, especially in under-developed countries, kids and youngsters don’t get enough space to decide their own choice of career. We commonly have a trend of imposing parents will on their kids, in terms of dressing, career and even marriages regardless of what individuals have in their mind, what their aptitude is?
Youth is getting stacked more and more with every new day by our family pressures. We have been imposed with undesirable responsibilities of proving our best for the pride of our parents in front of society. In this race, we are over burdened with our academic pressure.  We don’t even get enough time for ourselves as undesired career building never let us get out of the marked lines.
Parents somehow unknowingly suffocate their children with emotional blackmailing, reminding them time and again about their exams, best grades, top line professionals expectations etc. these types of emotional pressures basically poison their children with hypertension , nervous system issue etc. not only this, today’s tragedy is that youth generation is going towards suicide quite fast. According to annual studies, suicide rate is rapidly increasing in youth. Coordinator of Los Angeles Public Schools, Mr.Richard Liebermen also quoted, “there’s a lot of pressure in and around middle school kids.” According to him, it may be the biggest cause in the increase of suicide rate every year.
In the end of this discussion I just want to add that having expectations with the kids and dreaming for their success , prosperity and fame is the right of parents but the way of imposing their wishes on their kids is required to be amended.

Firstly, parents should understand that today’s youth believes in thinking and planning out of the box. They believe in their abilities and so is their unsaid demand from  their parents. DR. Keil Lubell of Atlanta led a study and said, “ Parents and other caring adults should look after the changes in youth such as talking about taking one’s life, feeling sad or hopeless about the future. ‘’ this will help in their personality building and career development in a positive manner.

Today’s youth develops future nation and thus resulting into successful country.

RABBIA SHAHID

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