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Over the years, numerous bans on Pakistani blogs have been arbitrarily imposed and lifted. Only recently, the Google-owned blog hosting software Blogspot was barred by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) after a court order ruled that all sites containing blasphemous content should remain inaccessible within the country. But the blogosphere is, by definition, a space for resistance and free expression. After a small blogging community in Pakistan launched a sustained online campaign for the restoration of Blogspot, the ban was lifted.
And now, in a surprise twist, the government has softened its stance towards this emerging, yet feisty, medium. Today, the Sindh government is hosting the ‘First National Bloggers Conference 2009’ in an effort to ‘recognize blogging as an alternative medium and source of information’.
This change of heart is no doubt welcome in an environment where free speech is once again under threat. But why now? Can it really be that the Pakistani government sees the benefit in empowering citizen journalists and encouraging voices of dissent? Or are the authorities working by the old adage, know thy enemy, before they face the same problems with bloggers as their counterparts in Egypt and China. Not surprisingly, some wary voices in the blogging community are voicing their fears that this might be an attempt by the government to rein them in.
Dawn.com’s Salman Siddiqui will be live blogging the conference from the Regent Plaza, Karachi, in an attempt to determine the fate of Pakistani blogging. Bloggers - those attending the conference as well as others - are invited to join the conversation and help Salman determine why the government has had a sudden change of heart and whether this initiative will bring about any change in the online world of Pakistan.
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The writer was a former member of the Dawn.com portal launch team and life-long disciple of the Sanwal Sufi order. He tweets @salmansid
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Comments (44) Closed
Apr 18, 2009 09:27am
Well, I would prefer to be as far away from this conference as possible for sure.
Ghazala Khan
www.pakspectator.com
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Apr 18, 2009 09:48am
We are also covering it live and we think that this event should be viewed in optimism instead of pessimism. The event will highlight the importance of blogging community and give them the much needed recognition. The bloggers are going to be the alternative source of information for Pakistani's. I hope the event is a major success
Team, Pro-Pakistan.com
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Apr 18, 2009 10:33am
Thanks Faisal. I just observed that even though it's a bloggers conference, there arn't any participants armed with laptops here. Also, women bloggers also seem to be a few here. I wonder why. What do you think?
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Apr 18, 2009 10:18am
The conference is yet to start. Participants are just settling in now. Some bloggers can be heard complaining that the wifi access is not working.
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Apr 18, 2009 10:21am
Faisal Kapadia blogs at the site: Deadpanthoughts.com He's sitting next to me and just got successfu lly hooked up to the wifi here. Faisal, what do you think is the objective of this conference?
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Apr 18, 2009 10:26am
As they say Hope for the Best but be Ready for the Worst.
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Apr 18, 2009 10:31am
Hi salman
The objective of this conference is to get all of pakistan's bloggers or as many as could make it today togather on one platform to discuss ideas, exchange views and participate with each other as far as blogging is concerned. We are also using coveritlive.com to cover it online on various blogs and the message is to get as much positivity out of this as possible for the blogging community.
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Apr 18, 2009 10:41am
Well I agree on the laptops part, but then a lot of people today do not need laptops to connect into the conference. twitter and other software on most cell phones allow you to do the same.
Even in the last two local conferences that I attended there was a dearth of woman bloggers, perhaps they prefer the sanctity of their own homes, I don't know.
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Apr 18, 2009 10:48am
Right so we're still waiting for some action. Participants in the meanwhile can be seen chatting away. I'm now sitting right next to the teabreak.pk team which is also covering the event live.
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Apr 18, 2009 10:51am
Being delayed - as the "Cheap Guest" is still awaited.
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Apr 18, 2009 10:59am
Women bloggers may be smaller in number but they make up for it with intelligent, passionate, well-researched blogging. :)
The wifi is now working as is the power. The company is great - that is why the complaints regarding the delay are not that local.
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Apr 18, 2009 11:08am
Teeth Maestro or Dr Awab as he is known is a popular blogger in Pakistan. He is also seen here at the conference. Awab what do you make of the purpose of this conference? Do you think the government is really serious about promoting a blogging culture in Pakistan?
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Apr 18, 2009 11:15am
@Salman - I believe this conference is a step forward - merely for Sindh IT ministry to acknowledge this arena is a step for mankind in blogging.
I also think it will set into motion a more widely accepted concept of citizen journalism.
TO be honest im eagerly waiting in the wings for a better initiative by the government to harness this medium for hte betterment of Pakistan. 'Blaagers' you rock!
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Apr 18, 2009 11:15am
Celebrated columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee has arrived wearing his summer shorts. It's been a very hot day in Karachi.
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Apr 18, 2009 11:21am
After a delay of over an hour, the event has finally started. As per tradition, it has begun with the recitation of the holy Quran. State Minister for IT Raza Haroon has just arrived.
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Apr 18, 2009 11:28am
The state minister is just addressing the participants now. After admitting that he doesn't read blogs, the state minister has said that the Sindh government will do all it can to help and promote the blogging community of Pakistan.
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Apr 18, 2009 11:37am
Umema Adil, who passed the Microsoft MCP professional exam at a very young age, has been presented with a laptop as a present by the government for her achievements. But one participant was overheard asking an intriguing question: 'but does she blog?'
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Apr 18, 2009 11:45am
If this is in fact true then we must not rely on blogs anymore. There will be more planted stories and more disinformation! I think it's better to be independent...knowledgeable people would be able to discern the objective of what the writer/blogger is trying to convey.
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Apr 18, 2009 11:47am
Jehan Ara, president Pakistan Association of Software Houses (PASHA), who earlier left a comment here at the blog has now taken the stage. She's been an avid blogger for the last two years. Her blog site is called In the line of wire and can be found at: http://jehanara.wordpress.com/
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Apr 18, 2009 11:55am
Ammar Yasir - of teabreak.pk is a great aggregator of good blog posts being made around Pakistan
Do check it out
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Apr 18, 2009 12:06pm
Many bloggers are group blogging at this link: http://www.deadpanthoughts.com/?p=1770
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Apr 18, 2009 12:11pm
Cowasjee just said that although he doesn't like the MQM, he surely appreciates what Farooq Sattar had to say in the aftermath of the Nizam-Adl regulation.
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Apr 18, 2009 12:20pm
Speaker Farhan is a blogger who writes mostly on issues related to technology. He just gave an example of an 18-year old in Islamabad who's blog site is called Sizlopedia. Farhan informs that Sizlopedia receives at least a million hits and one can make a lot of money just by writing blogs.
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Apr 18, 2009 12:25pm
MQM parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar was expected to be the chief guest at the event. However, he hasn't showed up and it's quite unlikely that he will.
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Apr 18, 2009 12:30pm
But then soon after I wrote those lines the MQM leader Dr Farooq was seen walking into the hall. He's sitting at the stage right next to Mr Cowasjee.
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Apr 18, 2009 12:36pm
Ali Asghar, who's new to the blogging world, has just recited his own verses inspired from Shakespeare. 'To blog or not to blog, that is the question, whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and puns of that outrageous blind young blogger, that is the question,' says Ali, who is a stage actor.
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Apr 18, 2009 12:43pm
Ammar Yasir is the brains behind the site teabreak.pk. Here's with me. Ammar please first tell our readers a bit about your site and what you do there? Also what do you think of the govt's initiative to hold this conference?
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Apr 18, 2009 01:14pm
'All kinds of freedoms come with responsibility. We don't believe that a state should be involved in curbing freedoms...We are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of a blog. we are aware of the merits and demerits of a blog...perhaps bloggers themselves could decide on a code of conduct....We should not use blogs only to pinpoint the small problems in our country..,' says Dr Sattar.
'We are concerned about cyber crimes. A bill needs to be placed to tackle the increase of cyber crimes in our country.'
We have to be very careful about respecting human rights. 'My fundamental rights end where my nose ends,' says Sattar exhorting again that we have to be very careful about what we say online.
But having said, he also says that blogging provides an opportunity to people
to vent out their feelings, which is an advantage.
In the end, he reminded MQM chief's policy of 'No to Taliban and yes to Pakistan'.
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Apr 18, 2009 12:51pm
Hello *Salman* and dawn blog readers, thank you for having me here. Teabreak.pk my site is a blog aggregator and a platform for 850 plus Pakistani bloggers.
We promote unknown but talented bloggers and put their point of view on the blogosphere. I find this conference and previous intiatives taken by CIO, Google Pakistan and IT Ministry a positive step.
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Apr 18, 2009 12:55pm
Dr Sattar is now addressing the crowd. 'In this era of political economy...we cannot overlook the importance of the social media,' he says.
'Internet is the most powerful propaganda tool today,' explains Sattar, saying that there's a need to counter the negativity which one finds about Pakistan online.
'The parent of blogging is education', he says in an effort to highlight the importance of education.
'We have said no to flogging and yes to blogging,' says the MQM leader. 'We have said no to banging and yes to blogging,' he adds while citing the examples of Martin Luther King and US President Obama.
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Apr 18, 2009 01:23pm
One participant at the Q & A session urges Dr Sattar that he should make efforts to give ministers and high ranking government officials laptops instead of fancy cars.
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Apr 18, 2009 01:53pm
Raja Islam gave a wonderful presentation on the importance of photo blogs. He shared some humorous photographs which he took in Karachi which the participants enjoyed alot. Islam blogs at the Karachi metblogging site. Unfortunately, the session on Urdu blogs was cut short and the speaker barely got three minutes to talk in the end. The three hour National Bloggers Conference 2009 has now ended and bloggers can be seen quite relieved to unhook their laptops. This will also be the end of my updates from the event. Readers and bloggers are invited to carry on the discussion forward here. thank you.
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Apr 18, 2009 06:39pm
I totally agree with Salman who demands a self-generated moral code,no taliban dictated moral code,yes to Pakistan, besides of course, no to government's ban, as well as to inducements by the government.Only free spirited speech,guided by healthy learning,respectful of a moral code,and regard for the democratic rights of the other. Just see the positive outcomes after a while.Sorry for the patronizing tone. Thanks.
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Apr 18, 2009 07:28pm
Good topic Salman. The present is the best of times and the worst of times for Blogs and ers.
Total freedom of expression is often misunderstood by the readers as Gospel. By the same token a successful blogger can easily become self rightious. But that is the name of the game.
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Apr 18, 2009 10:18pm
Great work - Salman
Maybe next time covering an event via Live Blog it becomes a little tedious running the Live blog only limited to comments - I would suggest explore the possibilty of using Timestamps on the post or alternatively a CoveritLive.com plugin embeded into your site -
We ran a coveritlive utility on our blogs at Deadpanthoughts and Teeth Maestro - it fits the bill and is highly customizable
I must appreciate the great work you did on this blog - ;) was committed in keeping us engaged on Dawn.com thats a great effort in itself
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Apr 19, 2009 10:02am
In the U.S. jingoism and gross ignorance swamp the blogging boards, and the infamous PC ("political correctness") imposes its stamp in the end. (For example, expressions of outrage against the chronic, U.S.-subsidized atrocities of the zionist colonials in Palestine will get you blocked as an "anti-semite"; in the U.S., of course, zionism can do no wrong, even if it is rabbi-urged wholesale theft and murder.) Posting blog comments is a way to vent, but only serves to get you and your IP listed with various agencies of government and untold numbers of political factions of every stripe. It is venting into the wind, to no personal or collective avail. Of course, writers of opinion pieces, to which comments are then attached, can and do use such forums to propagandize, more than inform, a phenomenon expemplified in the U.K. Guardian's CIF blogs. Reading blogs only reinforces my cynicism with regard to both power-mongers and the mob. Reason and moderation are suppressed and shouted down. Cynicism increasingly equates with reality. It saddens me to see that the enlightened and high-minded people of Pakistan have little political power, and are increasingly threatened by the Taliban gangsters. Here in America the two-party plutocracy is controlled by the Wall Street money-grubbers, into whose corrupt fabric the zionists have long-since woven themselves inextricably. I fear for my children and grandchildren, and for yours.
If the five-part republished BBC investigative-report video on
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Apr 19, 2009 11:24am
Dear Friends,
Please come out of denial mode. The video of the Girl getting whipped by Taliban video is not fabricated. The state machinery will soon say the couple seen getting shot were also fabricated. The people involved are dead and can no longer say their version. If the girl who is alive can deny, the dead don't speak.
When ever there is a government within a government, the long term consequences are very dangerous eg .. Hizbollah in Lebnon.
If things continue as they are you will have state within a state and that leads to birth of a failed state with nuclear bombs
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Apr 20, 2009 04:05am
Dear
Blogging is straw against Strom, yet do works. Keep knocking door will be opened one day
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Apr 20, 2009 05:38am
This is just a fake drama. Government want a soft image of itself and this is one way to do that. When tides will be high, all this will be gone and there will be complete ban. After all remember the Pre- Long March. Rehman Malik is still there watch out bloggers !
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Apr 21, 2009 10:13am
Freedom of expression is a basic right of every human, so we i.e. the blogging community of Pakistan will strongly oppose any hurdle that comes in our way. Of course! blasphemy of holy prophet(S.A.A.W) is a condemnable act but a wrong made by one none-sense doesn't mean to kick out all innocents as well!!!!
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Apr 20, 2009 12:55pm
We the blogger community will fight for our rights as we give true perspective of issues our beloved country facing. Bloggers are the voice of poor Pakistani Commoner.
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Apr 21, 2009 12:48pm
Hi Salman. Well done mate. Good on ya.
As far as "Freedom-Of-Expression" goes, I would just like to say:
"One man's Freedom-Of-Expression could prove Blasphemous for another man"
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Apr 23, 2009 10:08am
Ghazala Khan's comment above is an OPEN demonstration of a CLOSED mind, the problem of little or no knowledge coupled with assumptions / presumptions sprinkled with extremist and egoist attitudes.
The Conference, first in South Asia and Middle East, was very informative, lively and a grand success. Anyone who attended the Conference will vouch for that. All the Top bloggers of Pakistan were there and it was a wonderful family get together like atmosphere. My only wish is that the Q/A session could have been longer.
Great initiative, well conducted proceedings, impressive presentations - we need more successful events like this one. Congratulations to the organisers as well as the presenters and participants.
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Apr 27, 2009 05:33am
Blogs are part of freedom of speech, the only problem I have with them is that they are extremely biased.
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