• Geo News: http://election2013.geo.tv/ (Live Election Results and Updates)
• Dawn: http://dawn.com/ (Live Election Results and Updates)
• Express Tribune: http://elections.tribune.com.pk/ (Live Election News and Results)
• ECP: http://ecp.gov.pk/ (Accumulated Election Results will be displayed at later time)
• Hamariweb/ Election 2013 Results

Whatever the outcome of this election 2013 maybe but it transformed us into a nation. I wish this mould is jelled in a bond of love and unity, not to be broken by people with personal interests and motives!

Best of luck.

Technorati Tags: election 2013, election 2013 result, election results and updates online, Imran Khan our leader, pakistan election, PMLn results, PTI results

The post Pakistan Election 2013 Results Online appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.

Imran Khan Addresses from ICU at SKMH After Getting Injured

Imran Khan, Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) gave his first message to the nation from the bed of ICU at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital after 2 hours of the accident. A word to word translation of his brief message is as follows:

“My Pakistanis, 17 years of my life, I have fought for Pakistan. Whatever I could do, I have done it. Now, I want that you should shoulder your own responsibility. You want to change your fate then you got to take your own responsibility. The past 5 years that you have gone through, you wont be able to bear the next 5 years. Maybe Imran Khan can bear them, but you will not be able to bear. Thats why I repeat again that whatever I could do I have done it for my country. This, I have not done as a favor to anyone. Allah has given me so much that it became my responsibility to do something for my nation.

Now, I want that all of us should exert with full force to change our own lives. On 11th, consider it your own war, not my war. Its a war for the country where you are going to change your own fate and the fate of your children. You are going to fight for the future of your children. You are going to decide whether you want to continue following like this or you are going to build a NEW PAKISTAN. A country in which you will have respect, you will have rights, where you can live as human beings and where justice is available. You are going to come out on 11th for your own self.

11th May, on 11th May, do remember the verse of Holy Quran ” even Allah Almighty doesn’t change the destiny of people until and unless they themselves try to change their circumstances “. You are going to come out for changing your own destiny and do not look at who is the candidate from Tehrik-e-Insaaf, do not look and just give vote to the ideology and the ticket given by the party. So far Pakistan has been destroyed by the politics of personalities and families etc. Vote for the candidate from Tehrik-e-Insaaf so that we may build a NEW PAKISTAN together.”

With visible sounds of ICU equipments in background, Imran spoke with difficulty due to pain from the wounds, but still he managed his confident tone and posture with complete control. According to doctors, he suffered minor hairline fractures for which he is advised a complete bed rest for 3 weeks.

According to latest update from PTI’s officials, Imran Khan has said that he is going to attend the final public rally to be held on 9th May at D-Chowk, Islamabad.

May he recovers quickly and continues his aggressive campaign of building NEW PAKISTAN. Ameen. See his original video footage here

Technorati Tags: d-chowk, elections 2013, imran khan, imran khan injured, imran khan speaks icu, new pakistan, Pakistan, pakistan tehrik-e-insaaf, pti, skmh

The post Imran Khan Injured and Addresses from ICU at SKMH appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.

ECP Introduces E-Ticket Service

In a move to facilitate voters and encourage them to vote, ECP has introduced an e-ticket system powered by Nadra’s database. By sending the CNIC number (without any dashes) in a simple SMS to 8300, any mobile user can get details of

• Block Code
• Vote Number
• Name and location of Polling Station
• Constituency Number

According to Secretary ECP, Pakistan is the only country in the world offering this facility to its 86.1 million registered voters in the coming elections.

Although the initiative deserves appreciation but at the same time it raises the question that why a voter cannot cast his vote from anywhere in the country or abroad if this type of secure authentication is available with ECP?

Technorati Tags: e-ticket service, ecp, election commission of pakistan, elections 2013, Pakistan

The post E-Ticket Service Introduced by ECP for Voters appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.

Code of conduct: NA candidate among 33 PML-N workers arrested, 25 flee

Looks like Election Commission of Pakistan is finally taking some action in implementation of the code of conduct declared earlier. It was only yesterday night when we witnessed campaign songs played on loud speakers fitted on a suzuki pickup by a candidate from NA-48 and going in each street of sector G-10. Is there a complaint helpline where these incidents could be reported in time?

Read the full report here.

Technorati Tags: code of conduct, election commission of pakistan, elections 2013, express tribune, islamabad, na-48, Pakistan, pakistani politics, pmln, Politics

The post ECP in Action! appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.

The Pakistani media has a responsibility and they have to behave maturely. We do not want our future generations to become singers and dancers only! Anyway I am moving away from the news I wanted to share so we will discuss this in some other post. For lets see how a Muslim Star feels living in India.

The News-January 2013

Mumbai: Bollywood king Shahrukh Khan has exposed so-called secular face of world largest democracy: India, expressing his agony he is facing for being born as a Muslim. SRK wrote an article titled Being a Khan for Outlook Turning Points magazine.

Khan said in the article many politicians asked him to go back to his native homeland: Pakistan, after 9/11 incident.    “I sometimes become the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India”.

“There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighboring nation (Pakistan) rather than my own country – this even though I am an Indian, whose father fought for the freedom of India. Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave and return what they refer to my ‘original’ homeland.”

“I gave my son and daughter names that could pass for generic (pan-India and pan-religious) ones – Aryan and Suhana,”Shahrukh Khan said.

“The Khan has been bequeathed by me so they can’t really escape it.

Khan said that he pronounced names of his children with his epiglottis when asked by Muslims and throw the Aryan as evidence of their race when non-Muslims enquired. “I imagine this will prevent my offspring from receiving unwarranted eviction orders or random fatwas in the future,” said Khan.

Khan said that he was pressed to make the film My Name is Khan to prove a point after being repeatedly detained in US airports because of his last name. He said he was grilled at the airport for hours about his last name when he was going to promote the film in America for the first time.

In an emotive first-person article titled ‘Being Khan’ featured in Outlook Turning Points magazine, the actor said he feels he has been used by political leaders as a “symbol of what is wrong about Muslims in India”.

Read More:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/bollywood/news/a453190/shah-rukh-khan-talks-life-as-a-muslim-post-911.html

Technorati Tags: shahrukh about muslims in India. Shahrukh in outlook, shahrukh khan

The post Shahrukh Khan Talks About Being A Muslim In India appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.

Her journey shows how you can highlight your country on the world map by just being honest and passionate about your work. Her work is awesome and impressive but what really touched me was the underlying pain she felt for her country, Pakistan. She says “….. in Pakistan the educated or wealthy population is also silent and uninvolved due to an inherent insecurity and corruption in the system.” All the best Saman for you future ventures.

Saman Mahmood: An Architect Par Excellence

Saman Mahmood is an architect and graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, 1999). She was a Senior Partner at an architectural practice by the name of ICON–Architects based in Karachi. In 2010, she moved to Los Angeles due to family reasons.

Pakistan Link (PL): How did you get interested in the profession of architecture?

SM: Well, I was actually admitted to a very good medical school in Karachi, but since I had almost a year before the med school semester began I decided to utilize the year in the Foundation Year at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture. The School had just been started by a very dynamic group of architects and artistes who had responded to the need of an art and architecture school in Karachi. As the year progressed, my interest in art history and architecture grew and I continued at the School. I remember being asked at the Indus Valley interview, “What do you think of the Taj Mahal?” I think the interviewers were having some fun. My naïve response was funnier, “The Taj Mahal Hotel on Share Faisal, or the one in India?” They burst out laughing and I was convinced that that was the end of it! But all of the interviewers – the late architect Arshad Abdullah (and later my first employer), textile designer Shehnaz Ismail, sculptor David Alesworth, and sculptor/artiste Shahid Sajjad were all masters of their art. They became my teachers, mentors and later friends.

At graduation from Indus, I was awarded the Distinction Award for consistent presence on the Honor’s List, and the prestigious Salimuzzaman Siddiqui Award for most comprehensive thesis research work. Later, the research was acknowledged with the Mehndi Ali Mirza Award. I guess I should mention the project here. The research was titled “Beyond Three By Six: Architecture for the Dead.” I had lost my father, whom I was very close to, the same year and was obsessively pursuing to understand the concept, ideas related to death. The Indus Valley Architecture Department initially did not accept the proposal saying it would not evolve into a design project, but later allowed me to proceed. As a keen observer, I had realized the urban implication of cemeteries.

Predominantly, in the cultural tradition of Pakistan, the grave is a permanent entity. It is not the prescribed Islamic instruction, and that is debatable. With the standard of 1000 graves per acre and average death rate at 100,000 per year I realized that large pieces of valuable urban land are frozen for perpetuity once they start functioning as cemeteries. The idea of redesigning the grave according to various different beliefs towards the grave came. After taking Fatwas from key different religious authorities, the cemetery was designed as a place to be visited with sculptural grave designs and proper facilities, a garden, where death is seen as a natural transition of life – as beautiful and endearing.

PL: Tell us of your journey as an architect.

SM: My first job was probably one of the projects that I pride the most even today. As the project architect for The Citizens’ Foundation (TCF) schools at Arshad Shahid Abdullah Pvt. Ltd., I had the opportunity of working on the first seven TCF schools in Karachi. It was different learning experience – to work towards education in low income communities, which was inspirational and very fulfilling. I was also extremely fortunate to work with late Architect Arshad Abdullah, whose impeccable professionalism and talent is well acknowledged. He was one of the founders of TCF as well.

In 1997, I left for Cambridge to pursue my Masters’ Degree in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. My years at MIT and Harvard were instrumental in developing my ideas pertaining to architectural language, urban issues and building technology. It was an exciting time at MIT with late Dean Bill Mitchell’s discussions on Computer Aided Design, digital media and cities, the idea of 3D printing shaping up and many famous architects coming for seminars and design studios. At MIT, I was the writing instructor for undergrad architecture research work. My MIT thesis research results and writings have been cited in UN Research Reports. I also started writing regularly on urban and architectural subjects for newspapers and architectural publications. The program at MIT also allowed me to travel to Europe, Eastern Russia and Africa to study specific architectural and urban projects.

I returned to Karachi in 2000, and joined ICON – Architects, and later became Senior Partner at the Firm. It was a joint partnership with my husband architect Hanif Daud. From 2000-2010, we have successfully designed and executed many architectural, interior, urban and preservation design projects in Pakistan, Moscow, New York, Dubai and Dhaka. These include educational projects, residential, commercial, healthcare, corporate, exhibition/museum, historic preservation, interior design (banks, offices, restaurants, retail, airport lounges) and master planning. International clients include Pizza Hut, Nike stores, Novo Nordisk, Tag Heuer, Lufthansa Airline, Barclays, Standard Chartered Banks, Levi’s Denim Lab, Li & Fung Ltd, to name a few.

In 2005, ICON-Architects was appointed consultant for one of the largest business school campus buildings in Karachi – Institute of Business Administration (IBA. I visited Yale and Stanford campuses in 2006 through joint Program at IBA, to study in detail their new business School facilities, especially from a technological standpoint, and incorporate some of those ideas at the new IBA campus buildings. In addition to higher education facilities, I have also worked on school projects similar to K-12 type. The prototype classroom design for the 2005 earthquake-hit regions, sponsored by the Dawn Group of Newspapers, though a pro bono project – was very important to me.

ICON – Architects has won many architectural awards. The most recent is the preservation of a historic colonial residence in Old Karachi, behind the Quaid’s Mausoleum: “Award for Architectural Excellence 2012”, given by the Institute of Architects Pakistan (IAP). I was listed as one of the Generation Next Architects in the magazine Architecture Design & Arts (ADA) in 2009. I am also a Nominator of Architecture & Planning Projects for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

In these years of Practice, I have established and maintained strong professional relationships with many public, private institutions and individual clients; and acquired key marketing skills for business development in the process. Parallel to my architecture career, I have always taught, as a thesis dissertation advisor, design studio instructor and visiting faculty at the University of Engineering & Technology (NED) and the IVSAA. I also constantly involved myself with issues related to cities and governance. In early 2010, I was selected by the Corps Commander Pakistan Army to serve as one of the four Committee Members, of the Evaluation Committee for the Design Concept Review, to review and evaluate design concepts of eight leading American and European Architectural Firms for the Consultancy of Pakistan Army’s Mega City Project: The DHA City, located in suburban Karachi.

PL: What is your approach to architectural design?

SM: I believe that the built environment must fulfill the needs of the people, both spiritually and physically. As such, the domain of culture, climate and context are central to my design philosophy. These are, however, the starting points of the larger design process. The ultimate creation of architecture is a rigorous synthesis of many parts: invention, symbolism, form, texture, movement, relationship to the surroundings, sustainability, services and character. The question of utmost importance is the determination of a buildings effect on its users and onlookers; can it elevate ones sense of well–being and compatibility? A “whole” or completeness in architecture design is achieved when the design has acknowledged, translated and incorporated all these elements.

Equally significant to our Practice was the commitment to our clients. This is evident from the level of personal service ICON assigns to all its projects. Our clients also appreciated us for valuing their resources of cost and time.

PL: What have been your activities in Los Angeles since you moved in the city in 2010?

SM: Well, we all know that things have been slow in the construction industry, due to the recession. Recently, I served as an adjunct faculty at Mount San Antonio College for the Course “Sustainable Building Design”. The Studio is a Design Competition sponsored by Southern California Edison. The Course included lecture series, design studio and visits to sustainable projects. One student team won Second Prize; MTSAC won this competition after many years of participation. I also serve as visiting design critic at Cal PolyPomona for student project reviews.

I was invited to present my architectural work at a Conference organized by the Association for Women in Architecture held at the A+D Museum on 26 July 2012, Los Angeles. I think the audience was pleasantly surprised to see that in a globally male-dominated profession like architecture, a woman architect has contributed so significantly in Pakistan. I have also involved myself with various human development related charities and fund raisers in LA. Recently, as a part of American Muslim Women Empowerment Council (AMWEC), I participated in the Toy Drive with Congresswoman Judy Chu in Baldwin Park, which was a huge success.

I have also used this time since 2010, to take courses to educate myself of California Building Codes (Title 24), Dept. of State Architects (DSA) processes and advanced Building Information Modeling (BIM). It may be worthwhile to mention here that in Asia, building and design codes, and contracts documentation arederived from the AIA contracts and standards. In addition, the American Graphic Standards and International Building Code (IBC) are key documents for architectural design practice in that region. As such, I am aware of architectural practice standards used in California.

PL: What has been your experience with the Pakistani-American community?

SM: Most of the people I have met have been very welcoming. The Pakistani community here is a successful group of people, who are giving back to Pakistan through various charities and human development organizations. However, it ends there. I think there is very little strive for political representation in the US – and therefore – affect on any decision making or policies is negligible. I think the focus on only individual gain, and oblivion to any larger impact is exactly the same attitude as in Pakistan. However, in Pakistan the educated or wealthy population is also silent and uninvolved due to an inherent insecurity and corruption in the system. What is the reason here? There is also often talk of supporting talented new immigrants from Pakistan, especially in the present situation, but it just does not happen. Communities like the Chinese, for example, genuinely support their new or struggling members in this country.

Courtesy: PakistanLink

The post Saman Mahmood: A Pakistani Architect Par Excellence appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.

Bushra Ansa

I enjoyed reading this detailed write-up on Bushra Ansari and still felt a lot could have been written on this multi-talented lady. I am glad that people like Bushra Ansari and Samina Peerzada are around when dramas are being made on such wonderful and thought provoking stories. Good scripts and powerful performances have brought the viewers back to Pakistani dramas. Maham Javaid has highlighted the whole personality of Bushra. Enjoy reading…

The all-rounder

By Maham Javaid

Striking up a conversation with Bushra Ansari is easy — she loves to talk. But she struggled with words when an American couple seated next to her on a recent long haul flight asked her how she spent her time in Pakistan. For a while, she was stumped. After some reflection, she responded: “I am an artist.” “Oh, that’s lovely! What do you like to paint?” pat came the next question. Bushra erupted into her characteristic full-throated laughter, knowing words wouldn’t do the trick this time. She zipped out her Ipad and began showing the Americans video clips featuring her varied talents — as an actor, a comedian, a playwright, a television show host and a mimic.

For over three decades, Bushra has been a constant fixture in the Pakistani media industry. Throughout her long and varied career, she has firmly held her audience’s interest, no mean feat considering that many of her television co-stars from the 1980s and 1990s have either faded away or no longer receive enough opportunities to act. Uzma Gilani, Ruhi Bano, Khalida Riyasat – three great television actresses who started their careers around the same time as Bushra – now live only in the memories of their ageing fans, while she continues to move from strength to strength.

One possible reason for her longevity at the top of television in the country could be her ability to work in different genres with equal ease. While the older generation remembers Bushra as Jahan Ara Begam, the caustic wife of a retired civil servant in the Pakistan Television (PTV) classic Aangan Terha, or her entertaining parodies of Salma Agha, Tahira Syed and Nur Jahan in Showtime, the younger people identify her as the vivacious Faisalabadi designer Saima Chaudhry in Geo Television Network’s Aayegi Baraat series or the dominating mother-in-law in Hum TV’s Bilqis Kaur and Mera Naseeb. “If you’re not a good storyteller, your acting will not have the required emotions, and if you’re not a good dancer, then you won’t have the poise that the screen requires. This is why successful stars, such as Bushra, try to push their boundaries and explore all their talents,” senior television actor Samina Peerzada says while explaining the eclectic nature of Bushra’s talents.

The other reason could be her ability to maintain a balance between her career and her home. She did not give up one for the other; in fact, she balanced the two in such a manner that she could give time to both without any regrets. At home, she is like any other Pakistani woman, for being a star has not saved her from facing the mundane monotonies of life.

When I catch up with her at her apartment in a swanky Karachi high-rise on a late summer day, the place is aflutter with activity. Her mother and an aunt are visiting from Lahore, the cook is pestering her for ideas about lunch, the maid is trying to make an escape without finishing her work and Bushra is fretting about how she might be required to babysit her grandchildren. Within minutes, she sorts everything out — her guests are plied with tea and biscuits, the cook and the maid are given stern instructions, and a quick telephonic conversation with her daughter concludes that Bushra’s babysitting services will not be needed until later in the day. That such dexterity should have helped her survive for so long in an industry where turnover rates are quite high, if not downright staggering, is hardly surprising.

Seated beside me in black pants and an oversized shirt, Bushra wears furrows of worry on her make-up -free face as marks of a constant struggle to juggle time between family and career. But an aura of grace surrounds her as she begins to talk about her past and present, a grace that could only have been produced through a profound sense of achievement.

Bushra was born in a talented household. Her father, Ahmad Bashir, was a left wing writer and journalist, and his sisters were also involved in creative fields. One of them, Parvin Atif, is a well known short story writer in Urdu. But instead of following in the footsteps of one of her illustrious relatives, Bushra imbibed one thing or another from each of them, mixing it with her own creative talent to become what she is presently known as — an actor par excellence, a comedian endowed with great wit, a writer with flair and a television host with a distinctive style.

This hasn’t been easy since her father – though himself a one-time film director – was apprehensive about what society would think if “his beautiful daughters” started to appear on television. “The very idea of acting in a drama serial was sacrilegious in our household because most storylines had love scenes and our father would never allow his unmarried daughters to be a part of such dramas,” says Sumbul, one of Bushra’s three sisters. At the age of nine, Bushra, along with her mother, had to sneak out of her house without her father’s permission to give and pass an audition for a PTV music show Kalyon Ki Mala.

The change came when she met television director Iqbal Ansari and the two decided to get married. The marriage came along with a tacit agreement that Bushra could act as long as it didn’t interfere with her domestic duties. When she talks about her early years of marriage, it is mostly about how she would do everything expected of a desi housewife, tending to the needs of her two daughters and husband, before being able to make it to the set of a television play. “In the first 10 years of my marriage, I was so busy with my family that I was part of a meagre six plays,” Bushra says, without even a hint of bitterness. Her family, in return, provided her artistic opportunities which others might not have received. She made her first television appearance in a serial called Gharaunde, which was directed by her husband. Her first serial as a scriptwriter, Neeli Dhoop, telecast in the mid-1990s; was directed by her daughter Nariman Ansari.

Bushra first won critical acclaim in Aangan Terha, a social satire on Pakistan in the 1980s. While her portrayal of a sardonic housewife, constrained by economic difficulties, was outstanding, people also lapped up the play for its subtle critique of the army and the martial law regime of Ziaul Haq. She recalls those old days with mixed emotions — nostalgic about PTV’s glory days and proud of having worked with such legendary directors as Muhammad Nisar Husain aka MNH, Mohsin Ali and Shahzad Khalil, she also remembers how she would constantly run between her home and the set to ensure that both her family and her directors would receive her best.

And they surely have. Even at the ripe age of 56, she is acting, writing scripts and hosting a cookery show besides ensuring that her husband receives fresh meals everyday and that her daughters receive her active help and advice in coping with pregnancies and rearing children. For Bushra, all this has been taxing, just as it would be for any other individual. “Because of all the stress, there is always this sense of urgency in my mind. Sometimes, I go to sleep at night and wake up feeling even more tired, because all night my brain has been buzzing with creative ideas,” she says. “However, the show must go on.”

Scriptwriting is a relatively less known aspect of Bushra’s life, perhaps because it is a later addition to a career that started eons ago. Her first script, Neeli Dhoop, focuses on a middle-aged widow who devotes her life to her daughter, but does not in return receive the same kind of attention. Its overarching theme is the status of widows in Pakistan and the double standards people adopt towards women. Since Neeli Dhoop, despite their different storylines, all her scripts have one common factor — she has consistently highlighted social evils casting a shadow over so many lives. Her latest script Mere Dard Ko Jo Zuban Mile is centred on the dilemma of a young girl who marries a deaf and dumb person, but a few years down the line, is given the option to leave the marriage.

It is striking, however, that her scripts are so divergent from her happy-go-lucky persona. She appears untouched by pain, always laughing and joking and never giving the smallest indication that there has ever been sadness in her life. Yet all she writes are gut-wrenching plays seeped in anguish and misery. Bushra says she certainly does not write from personal experience, but that there is so much trouble in society at large that it becomes difficult to ignore. “There is so much that I want to write about. I just need to find the time to pen down all the ideas floating around in my head,” she says with a smile. But why has she focused so much on the tragic in her writing? “As a nation we are obsessed with pathos. Subcontinental culture allows artists to romanticise pain,” she explains, without really clarifying whether she is cashing in on this romanticisation of pain for commercial success, or employing it as a tool to highlight social problems.

Then there is her passion for singing, something she says she has never found enough time for. As she talks about this passion, her face softens and the pitch of her voice falls a few notches. As a teenager, when her father disallowed her from appearing on television, she tried to compensate by singing classical songs on the radio. Every now and then, she would plead with her father for permission to receive professional singing lessons, but he remained unwilling.

As with her acting career, marriage also gave Bushra the liberty to pursue her music. Soon after her daughters were born, she began training with composer Ibrahim Hussain. But it did not take her long to realise that singing required a discipline and a commitment that she could not afford. “That discipline and time was devoted entirely to my daughters and I knew that there was no way I could commit to anything as regular and demanding as classical singing,” she says.

Frustration over her own inability to pursue music as a career apart, this failure hardly takes anything away from her multidimensional talents which unsurprisingly frustrate those who want to box her in as a comedian, for instance. When her comic roles in shows like Fifty Fifty and Show Sha became hits, her husband told her to focus exclusively on comedy as he regarded that to be her forte. Bushra’s reaction to his advice was to detach herself from all comic roles for the next few years and focus solely on serious plays. In 1986, she proved her mettle in that genre by winning several national awards in the best actress category for her serious role in PTV serial Raat Gaye.

Over the years, she has perfected both kinds of roles — this was quite evident when this year her two most watched dramas were Bilqis Kaur and Annie Ki Aayegi Baraat. Both serials required her to play the part of an overbearing Punjabi woman, though with vastly different characteristics. In the former drama, Billo’s character was that of a stern and humourless matriarch, living along with family in New York, a woman whose traditional beliefs clash with the modern values of her children, while the infamous character of Saima Chaudhry in the latter play was that of a flirtatious woman whose idiosyncrasies brought nothing but mirth and laughter to her family and the audience. Both characters lie at opposite ends of the spectrum but Bushra proves that she has the ability to make her fans cry in anguish or laugh with pleasure.

Having won so much acclaim for everything she has done, Bushra seems to have left no peak unscaled. For many, this would be the time to say goodbye and pack up. Not for her, though. “I’m not going to give up. I love challenges and I love the sense of achievement you feel when you successfully gain something,” she vows, adding that she does not do anything for money or glamour or for any social or political reason. “I do all the work I do firstly because I can, and secondly because it gives me a sense of accomplishment.”

Rumours abound about what she may be up to next. Some say she is going to campaign for Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf in the next elections; she denies that, saying she doesn’t have the emotional strength for it. Others, such as senior actor Javed Sheikh, speculate that she may come up with a music album; though flattered by the speculation, she dismisses it as baseless.

But then, Bushra has always been full of surprises. She surprised her father when she succeeded in her first television audition. She surprised her husband with her accomplished performances in serious roles. She surprised herself when critics lauded her for the script of Neeli Dhoop. Who she will surprise next and how she will do it is difficult to predict, but what is easy to predict is that she will continue to explore and experiment. And she knows that she is not going to go away from the national television scene any time soon, unlike so many others of her generation who have done so. When I first called her for an interview, she was wrapped up in shoots and asked me if I could wait a few weeks. Upon hearing the dejection in my voice, she cheerfully added: “Don’t worry, jan. I will still be famous next month. What’s the rush?”

Courtesy – Dawn.com

The post Bushra Ansari- The All-rounder appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.

Our Prophet the Most Honorable Man Ever

Youtube Banned in Pakistan

A new plan to hurt and irritate the Muslims has emerged. No logical reasoning and and number of protests will impress the enemies of Islam as they will continue to stand by the offender. We have seen this happen in the past when those insulting cartoons were printed. The government of Pakistan took the right step and blocked YouTube and other media sites until they will remove the controversial clip which has led to protests all around the globe.

ISLAMABAD (17th September 2012): Pakistan’s Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has ordered immediate shutdown of video-sharing website YouTube in the aftermath of protests against anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims,” which is still available on the website, Dawn News reported on Monday.

In a directive issued to the Ministry of Information Technology, the PM stated that the decision was taken after YouTube decided against removing the film and the shutdown will remain effective until the website removes all content from the sacrilegious film.

In a statement released last week, YouTube said it would not remove the film as it does not violate its terms of use, despite pressure from the White House to review its decision.
At the filing of this report (2045PST) the website still remained accessible in Pakistan.
Protests against the film have broken out all across the Muslim world and have spread over Pakistan in the last few days, with one person being killed in violent protests on Monday.
While YouTube has not removed the controversial clip, it has blocked access to it in countries where violent protests have remained unabated. These include Libya, Egypt and most recently, India and Indonesia. YouTube cited “the very sensitive situations” in those two countries.
In its Friday statement, YouTube said that outside of Libya, Egypt, India and Indonesia, the video will remain on its website.
“We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions,” the YouTube statement said.
“This can be a challenge because what’s OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere. This video – which is widely available on the web – is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube. However, we’ve restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia as well as in Libya and Egypt, given the very sensitive situations in these two countries. This approach is entirely consistent with principles we first laid out in 2007.” Dawn News.

Earlier in the morning today Chief Justice of Pakistan had ordered PTA to make all copies of blasphemous videos unavailable to Pakistani internet users. However, due to fast replication of video on YouTube, the anti-Islam video was still available on the website.

A statement issued by PTA in the evening said that Authority has been vigorously monitoring and blocking the Anti-Islamic video placed on worldwide web.

According to a statement issued by the PTA, 750-800 links of the anti-Islam film had already been blocked after several complaints were received.

Technorati Tags: We love our prophet, youtube banned, youtube blocked in Pakistan

The post Youtube Banned in Pakistan appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.

Naveen Waqar marries Azfar Ali

Real life is always different from dramas but the personal lives of celebs effect people exactly the way dramas or films do. We feel their happiness and sorrows and at times get carried away and comment on details we should not be concerned about!

I tried to stop myself but could not because we all got involved in ‘Humsafar’ and developed a soft corner for Sara. Her wedding news made us curious and everyone on facebook and internet wanted to see the man she was getting married to. I ended up being a little sad over this union although I wish them all the best but…

Naveen Waqar, Sara of Humsafar, got married recently to Azfar Ali who divorced his former wife, Salma. We saw this couple in numerous Tv shows over the years. He and Salma had two children during 9 years of their married life. Azfar was a son of a single mom and gave the same gift to his children!

Azfar Ali’s past picture

Nothing is permanent in this world and what seems like a happy ending can change after a few years. ‘And they lived happily ever after’ seems more like fiction now. Some couples look blissfully happy together and after parting ways you can actually feel the emptiness and sorrow! Like IK and Jemima

May Allah bless all the married couples with barakah in their relationships….

Imran and Jemima in Happy days

Technorati Tags: azfar ali wedding, humsafar, naveen waqar, naveen wedding picture, naveen weds afzar, salma azfar, sara

The post ‘Naveen Waqar’ Lost Asher in Humsafar but got Married to ‘Azfar’ appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.

Ramadan Shows

Religion has become a commercial commodity which everyone is trying to sell. Media in Pakistan has seen new lows this Ramadan where Geo tv bought back Amir Liaqat just before Ramadan and some channels have drama actors as anchors of religious iftar shows to maximize viewership and commercials. One unknown tv channel even hired Veena Malik for their iftar programme! Now everyone knows ‘Hero tv’ and their advertising plan worked BUT at what cost???

Everyone from politicians to media owners are enjoying the helplessness of the people of Pakistan. When the former betray our country for personal gains these media gurus are the first to accuse them and claim to represent the people of Pakistan but when they get a chance they leap on it and play with the emotions of the people in their own ways.

It was disgusting to hear that Veena Malik will be hosting a show called ‘Astaghfar’ on Hero tv. I am not being judgmental here but if and when a person seeks forgiveness from Allah then it should be done in solitude. These artificial tears in front of the camera and that too for huge amount of money cannot be called Astaghfar. I did not see any episode because I did not want to be one of those who added to the popularity of her show. I have not forgotten and will never forgive her for what she has been doing in recent past in India (being a Muslim woman). We deserve more pious people hosting ramadan shows who understand the religion and are not crowd pullers. For God sake this is not a ‘tamasha’ it needs serious understanding and knowledge of the Islam. No one hires a tenth grader to take a class of physics in a University but when it comes to Islam everyone is a scholar!!!

Coming to the ‘must awaited’ show by Amir Liaqat Hussain on Geo tv! I did not get the chance to see tv at iftar in the first seventeen days of  Ramdan because that is the busiest time for the ladies in the kitchen and the most precious time for all who are fasting. This is the time when Allah listens to all the duas made by people fasting. Today I caught few last minutes of Amir’s show and saw him running around on the stage, cracking cheap jokes, playing with the hair of a participant, throwing away gifts and felt sorry, not for him or for the channel but for the people watching. It took me a few minutes to explain this to my children that what this man was trying to do at an iftar show! It seemed like a market place and not a decent Islamic show. The way this whole program is carried out is in bad taste !

These two channels have gone too far to cash the sentiments of people. In doing so hey forgot the whole essence on this month. All they remember is that Ramadan i s the month of maximizing profits by exploiting the sentiments of people. That can be done asking class one Islamiat questions and throwing ‘pillows’ in the form at the poor participants or by inviting the most  notorious lady ( who does not deserve to be called a Pakistani/Muslim anymore) to do a religious program on local tv. Our help people do not have any way of stopping this offence against their sentiments and those having authority (PEMRA) are silent spectators as always. Waiting for for a suo moto (LOL)

The best selling faces in Pakistan are Shahid Afridi and Fawad Afzal Khan then why didn’t any channel think of inviting them to host a Ramadan show because no religious qualification is required! Only criteria is that “it should sell”

With due apology to the other channels…. I did not get a chance to see any other Iftar shows or you may say this was enough for me.

Best of luck for the last ten days of Ramadan, stay away from the idiot box!

Technorati Tags: amir liaqat show, fawad khan, iftar shows 2012, ramadan 2012, Shahid afridi

The post Amir Liaqat’s Iftar Drama appeared first on A Housewife's Weblog.