Local YouTube in Pakistan?

India Times, Pakistan govt in talks with Google to localise Youtube: Minister, 11 Dec 2013 "Pakistan government is in talks with Google to localise YouTube, a move which could pave the way for the popular video sharing website to be unblocked in the Islamic country."

'Hit 'delete' and move on' (op-ed)

Irfan Husain, Dawn, Hit 'Delete' and Move On, 15 Sep 2010 "Given how easy it is for somebody to post an offensive image or message on the Internet, are Muslims going to get worked up each time this kind of thing happens? The thing to realise is that there are many nuts out there in cyberspace. I should know as I get my share of hate mail and threats, but I find that pressing the ‘delete’ button on my laptop is a better option than getting annoyed or frightened. So collectively, why can’t we all just hit the ‘delete’ button instead of taking to the streets every time some nut posts something Muslims find sacrilegious?"

'Taliban flogging video'

Alex Rodriguez, LA Times, 'Taliban flogging video may show different girl, but message is the same: The Taliban did beat Chand Bibi publicly, and whether or not her ordeal was the one shown in a notorious video, the footage awakened Pakistan to the extent of the militant group’s reach', 29 Apr 2010.

"That video, made famous in the age of YouTube and cellphone downloads, stunned the country and gave the world a disturbing view of the plight of Pakistanis trapped in Taliban-controlled regions such as the Swat Valley.

"Did the video show another flogging, or was it even staged? And if so, does it matter?"

Tanzeem-e-Islami

The Nation, Renowned Islamic scholar Dr Israr Ahmed is dead, 14 Apr 2010 "Dr. Israr was the head and founder of Tanzeem-e-Islami. He had a huge following in Pakistan, India and Gulf countries, especially in Saudi Arabia."

Tanzeem-e-Islami has an extensive and regularly updated website, including Dr Ahmed's speeches and discussions.

Pakistan: Ishtiaq Ahmed op-ed

Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily Times, A time to humanise Islam, 2 Mar 2010 "There is a screaming silence from the custodians of Islam — the ulema — on the execution of Jaspal Singh, probably because he was not a Muslim. The Muslim masses have not taken to the streets in protest because they have been conditioned to protest only when something is perceived to be anti-Islam."

Pakistan

AP/Miami Herald, Worried father turned in 5 Americans to Pakistani police, 12 Dec 09, "The five had an Internet-powered interest in jihad, or holy war, and had e-mail contact with a mysterious Pakistani militant, the police said. The men's planning appeared amateurish, however. Although police in Sargodha played up the Americans' alleged links to al-Qaida and suggested they were involved in a major terrorist plot, the absence of radical connections may have thwarted their purported ambitions."

Also see dallasnews.com, Pakistani officials search for Virginia men's online Taliban recruiter, 13 Dec 09 "Investigators have identified the man, known as Saifullah, as a recruiter for the Pakistani Taliban and said he contacted one of the American men on YouTube, exchanged coded e-mails with the group, invited them to Pakistan and guided them once they arrived."

Update: NPR, Pakistan Case Highlights Jihadi Efforts On Web, 11 Dec 09

"The Laidback Show"

hindustantimes.com, Pakistani bloggers ‘jihad’ on mainstream media!, 12 Oct 09

"In a first, two of Pakistan’s leading bloggers have challenged the supremacy of mainstream media’s talk shows and programming by launching an online audio-visual show.

"Karachi-based bloggers Awab Avli and Faisal Kapadia, who blog at teethmaestro.com and deadpanthoughts.com respectively, have released the third episode of "The Laidback Show". The promos carry a picture of Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden tagged "Jihad on da suits starts now!""

And here it is:



Haven't watched this all the way through yet, but it is certainly a 'relaxed' presentation style ...

Taqwacore + The Kominas

hollywoodreporter.com, 'Punk Islam' creates a buzz at Montreal fest: Omar Majeed's label-defying feature documentary "It's their inner punk that grabs Muslim misfits, judging by Omar Majeed's label-defying feature documentary "Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam," the buzz film at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal."



taqwacore.com has more information, including premiere details. I haven't seen this yet ...

Faadi: Pakistani search engine

altsearchengines.com, Pakistani search engine Faadi

"Faadi has an own spider which crawls the Pakistani web sites and collects information in an own index (not a Google custom search as many do at the moment). The collect information about sites in Pakistan of all kind and topics (including Educational, Entertainment, Informative). Unfortunately they do not mention on their site if they only index .pk sites or if they crawl the whole internet to identify other web sites with Pakistani content."

Faadi is here. It looks like a neat and useful search engine (based on a quick search).

Pakistan Taliban - Piotr Stanczak

Taliban

The Long War Journal, Taliban feud over murder of Polish hostage, 11 Feb 09 "Two senior Pakistani Taliban leaders had a disagreement over the handling of kidnapped Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak. The disagreement led to Stanczak's gruesome beheading, which was videotaped by the Taliban and released to the public."

Pakistan Legislation

Noah Shachtman, Wired, Pakistan Declares Death Penalty for 'Cyber Terror', 7 Nov 08 "American officials can have some pretty over-the-top reactions to hackers and so-called cyber terrorists. Once, I saw a briefing comparing our own Kevin Poulsen to Osama bin Laden and Pablo Escobar -- seriously. But the U.S. has nothing on Pakistan, when it comes to cyber terror paranoia. Yesterday, Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari signed a law making cyber terror a crime "punishable with death."

"Executions will only be allowed if the hack attack "causes [the] death of any person," the Prevention of Electronic Crimes law states."

Also see: Telecom Grid Pakistan, 'Cyber terrorists' to get death penalty thread.

Dawn, Cyber crime & punishment, 10 Nov 08 Cache copy (the original has disappeared): "We support the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in its criticism of the death penalty for cyber crimes. Who gets to define what a ‘cyber terrorist’ really is? Should we put to death a person who mouths off in the heat of the moment only to regret it in the cold light of day? Should we execute impressionable teenagers who may have been misguided by the hate-mongers among us? And do we really have enough confidence in the investigation procedures of the police in this country to put to death a person who may have confessed to a crime under duress? Torture is routine in Pakistan, everyone knows that. Yet there are people who believe in an eye for an eye, even when they are unsure if the accused is really guilty. The prime minister has said on a number of occasions that the death penalty should be abolished. He should live up to his word. Besides saving lives, the move will only improve Pakistan’s battered image in the comity of nations."

Pakistan/India

dnaindia.com, First Indo-Pak gay love story blooms on internet, 17 Oct 08 "Hammad has gone down the gay lane a bit too far, designing Pakistan’s first gay website, pakistangays.com. He runs the site, which had 569 Pakistani members last checked, from internet cafes for obvious reasons.

"Of those who have registered, 302 are “gays”, 241 “bisexuals” and the remaining “transgender”."

Pakistan

Daily Times, ‘State should provide sex education’, 5 Sep 08

"Zafarullah Shaheen, an Internet surfer working with a multinational company, said that a number of Internet surfers used the social networking sites for uploading vulgar messages and pictures instead of using it for constructive purposes. He said, “Such things malign the country’s image abroad. A recently conducted survey by Google has revealed that the most sex queries on Google are made from Pakistan. Earlier, most queries were made from Vietnam.”"

Obama's trip

Wallwritings, Obama Needs Some Internet Virtual Reality On This Trip, 21 Jul 08 "Obama needs an internet virtual reality staff person with him at all times, giving him visual, aural and print data, not on the grand scheme of Middle East politics, but on the reality of occupation." Opinion piece (located via thepeoplesvoice.org.

Medical Ethics

Dawn, Transplant of human organs not violative of Islam: Ulema, 9 May 08 "Ulema from different schools of thought unanimously announced here on Wednesday that transplantation of human organs did not violate the Islamic principles.

"The sole objective of transplantation of human organs is to save the humanity; however, its trade is not allowed and the government should eliminate the role of the “middleman”, they said." I wrote about this issue in my PhD some time ago. It is also a theme of Lampeter's MA Islamic Studies

Sepia Mutiny

Ali Eteraz, Is There an Anti-Pakistani Bias at Sepia-Mutiny?, 21 Feb 08 Opinion piece. Judge for yourself: visit Sepia Mutiny. I have visited the site several times, and have found many interesting posts.

Times of India, Militants blow up CD, barber shops in Pakistan, 4 Dec 07 "Suspected pro-Taliban militants blew up a CD shop and a barber salon in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) after warning the owners to close down their establishments, saying they were against Islam and should be banned."

All Things Pakistan, Imran Khan Mistreated and Arrested, 15 Nov 07 "In an uncivilized turn of events, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan was manhandled at the Punjab University Campus today. He was later arrested by the police. A group of students kept him detained on the campus and later turned him over to the police." Summary with reference to other reports

AP, Bomb kills 1 at Internet cafe in northwestern Pakistan, 13 Nov 07 "A bomb exploded inside an Internet cafe in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing a 12-year-old boy, police said."

AFP, Blacked out Pakistani TV channels turn to Internet, 6 Nov 07 " "News is a contraband item in Pakistan now and it is being sold on the black market," Imran Aslam, the president of Geo Television, the country's most widely watched cable news channel, told AFP.

"Geo sent an SMS to cellphone users on Sunday telling them to log onto its website (www.geo.tv) to get live transmission. Another channel, ARY One, sent out a similar email (www.arydigital.tv)." The report also mentions Dawn TV, which can be accessed in various ways via the Dawn newspaper's front page.