Pakistani Politics Hits Twitter

Tendency of following the trend is what we are witnessing these days, as politicians are embracing Twitter, a micro-blogging network.

Good thing is that this way Politicians are in access of a common person, which is otherwise impossible to think about. But bad thing is that Twitter is taken as a vehicle for propaganda than a means of sustained and meaningful engagement with voters or the general public.

We have seen Salman Taseer pulling legs of Punjab Government on Twitter as well, which many think is part of his job assigned by Federal Government. We could have expected the same in return but luckily Rana Sana Ullah isn’t on Twitter yet. Some fear that Rana Sb would be learning Twitter to come out of den, very soon.

Shabaz Sharif hasn’t teased the Governor through Tweets, as of now, but we don’t know about the future as political temperature may rise in the vicinity.

Other politicians include Imran Khan and Mushaid Hussain Syed, who are going pretty smooth with their tweets. Lately, Mushaid Hussain has started interacting with his followers, in nice manner – good approach.

Marvi Memon has been on Twitter for long with her activism from Karachi to Hunza. She is following pretty much number of people and interacts with them as well.

Fatima Bhutto is on Twitter with 8,500 followers, highest in local race.

The renowned Rehman Malik tweets in his traditional way. His tweets actually sound exactly like his voice and accent as he speaks on TV. A pretty similar charter to what we are familiar with.

Not to forget that politicians are facing barriers while embarrassing technology – that’s okay as far as they are tying. But often they are given tough time when they are countered by tech gurus.

By the way, Pervez Musharraf, the veteran social media personality is also on Twitter.

Here is a selected list of Pakistani Politicians on Twitter with link to their profiles

If you come across any other politician who is on Twitter, drop their link in comments.

Tech and telecom reporter for over 15 years


  • i think u mean ’embracing’ twitter…i had to think about it a bit,cos u never know….u know,the type of politicians we have ;)

        • Dear Admin I dont understand why did you Post this Topic i mean is this some kind of political or something like Current Affairs Show Website or a telecome Website…

          • This post is directly related to technology. Twitter is a mode of communication which involves technology.

            Pakistani Politicians are embracing Twitter.

            Where do you see only ‘current affairs’ in this post?

            I can only see the technological side of this story, don’t know about you…

            • Nabeel sahab this post in not direclty related to Technology.
              You are trying to relate it with technolgy but its not.

              • So doesn’t twitter come under Tech?

                Twitter is politics?

              • Zaki, what would you call Social Networking Website(Twitter)?

                Be informed, that we strictly remain on our track to not to bother our regular and loyal readers with non-telco and IT news items. And we aim to follow the same in the future.

                At the same time, i appreciate your concern over the issue.

    • lol yeah..”I have asked them to be included in the Benazir Income support program” was funny…

  • I find it interesting but how about singers/ actors and actress? don’t they have time to join or is there something else? and journalists as well

  • This is good. We need more Government reps/people in government to be available freely to the public!!

    But the problem is, the vast majority of people (i.e.problems) are not represented by people in twitter. How many Pakistanis use twitter compared to the whole population?

    The problems are on the the streets and all.

    But in the end, I will again say that this is a good step.

    They should keep us updated, but please, give us good news! In your tweets, we are hoping to hear good steps that you take for the betterment of Pakistan and which you actually implement!

  • There are 2 “Kashmala Tariq” accounts. One is “Kashmala_Tariq” & the other is “KashmalaTariq”, so which one is real one?

  • Jamshaid dasti and kashmala tariq both seems fake accounts and if they r real then this is honestly mockery on us Paki ppl the way they representing themself infrnt of public on international media

  • Jamshaid dasti and kashmala tariq both seems fake accounts and if they r real then this is honestly mockery on us Paki ppl the way they representing themself infrnt of public on international media
    the way other replying is V good I like it even if they insulting them they r tolerating specialy Rehman Malik

  • By: Sohail Zafar
    Email address: [email protected]

    The Need of Alliance of A United Muslim League.

    The original successor of Pakistan is Muslim league which is founded in 1906 then as the time passed this party splits into various Muslim Sub-Muslim Leagues like PMLN, PMLQ, PMLZ, PLMJ, PMLF Awami Muslim league and some others in the result of some controversies, military dictatorships and some other “hidden” reasons. Today most of people know about these “hidden” reasons due to which the Muslim League is divided.

    Pakistan is going through the worst and most critical situation of history. Where most of things are not going well, Law and order, corruption, un-employment, poverty, deficiency of fundamental needs are the most important problems today. These are the issues which are not solvable in one day but they are increased too much in these two and half years. As compared to this if we see the statistics of the previous regime we will see the previous regime was much betters then this. Government is not visible any where in country. Pakistan is hading towards first position in corruption. And many things are going in wrong directions due to wrong policies of PPP. So the government of people’s party is most corrupt government in the history of Pakistan. There is no dignity of Pakistan in this regime and PPP is responsible for this entire situation which Pakistan is facing.

    It doesn’t means that the members of PML are angles but comparatively they are much better then PPP. Muslim league is the party of a greatest leader Quaid-e-Azam. Pakistan Muslim League made Pakistan and either they belongs from any sub-party group at least they are not anti Pakistan and they can handle the matters. This is the time to combine all the Muslim leagues. Muslim league has a biggest vote bank but there vote bank is divided in elections due to divided sub-parties.

    Muslim league always saves and supported Pakistan in every crises and in every curtail time. The big stones in the way of alliance of Muslim leagues are Chaudary Pervaiz Elahi and Nawaz Shareef.. On the other hand the Quaid of Pakistan Muslim League functional, former prime minster Mir Zafar-Ullah Khan Jamali and senior leader of like minded (Hum Khail) group Saleem Saif-Ullah are playing very important and leading role in the alliance of Muslim Leagues. Every Sub-party leadership should show flexibility because in politics the doors of dialog and negotiations are not closed ever and should leave personalized politics.

    If the leaderships of Muslim leagues will take some positive steps we should hope that positive results will appear and some positive changes will come and united Muslim league will save Pakistan InshaAllah.

  • Much has been heard and written about the S-III Project, designed to cater all sewerage being generated within the Karachi Limits. The credit must goes to the Supreme Court , who took interest in removing all bottlenecks in implementing this much needed project and extend its support to resolve all outstanding issues related to the project. The SC is regularly hearing the case to reduce marine pollution, the case was in fact filed in 1996 and now SC has appointed additional attorney general; of Pakistan to prepare and submit progress reports on regular basis. During the hearing of the said case, it was disclosed by the KWSB that its land originally earmarked as 450 acres in Korangi, near Pakistan Refinery, has been distributed among several societies like aero club, Ishratul ul Ibad trust and civil servants society, industrial park ans so on and so forth to develop the area for use other than the prescibed use of the land. When the matter brought to the knowledge of SC, it took it as exception and directed the concerned authorities specifically Board of Revenue, Sindh to cancel all such leases and initiate legal proceedings against all those involved in issuing such leases and after cancellation all the land should be handed over to KWSB with immediate effect so that the project could be implemented in true spirit and according to the original design. The directives were very loud and clear but as usual bureaucracy played its due role by twisting the decision in their own interest. Instead of re-allocating 450 acres of land to kWSB they manipulated the directives by allotting only 300 acres to KWSB and saving 150 acres, worth billion of Rupees, for their favourites. the land is much needed for the Karachites to install treatment facilities for the next generations. In future it would not be technically feasible to extend the facilities in any other area, it has to be extended at the same location.

    On one hand government officials succeeded in saving 150 acres of precious land reserved for the treatment plant and on the other hand no action was proposed for the culprits who made an attempt to grab the land through unconstitutional means. What a contrast and boldness before the summit court of the land. When investigated it was disclosed that the then MD of KWS, Iftikhar Ahmed, Brig (R) gave a written assurance to the Government officials that KWSB might need only 150 acres of land in future for the development of treatment facilities, which is also not on record in KWSB and no technical member of KWSB team was taken into confidence for this important issue. By law MD has no right or auhtority to withdraw the legal rights of KWSB and again instead of taking action against the then MD. plea has been taken to take away 150 acres of land from KWSB.

    We as NGOs of Karachi have full faith in our judiciary and since the matter is subjudiced , SC can order to recover the remaining 150 acres from the clutches of land mafia. Attorney general of Pakistan is requested to thoroughly investigate the issue purely on technical grounds, case merit and implement the courts orders in letter and spirit, it would be a great service to this and coming generations of Karachi.

  • WATER SHORTAGE IN KARACHI
    WATER SHORTAGE IN KARACHI

    Water scarcity in Karachi has long been on the agenda and is referred to as one of the biggest challenges for the mega city. Government should explore the issue of artificial water shortage in Karachi.

    Living along the most developed coastline of the country, common logic dictates that Karachi should ostensibly not be facing a water crisis,
    considering that factories utilise all their supply, and households have enough water left for people to wash their cars or even grow their own
    vegetables. In reality, this reasoning does not hold true.

    A population of about 18 million people in Karachi is supplied with water primarily through the Gujjo and Hub canals. However a deficit of water supply exists and is estimated to be about 100 million gallons per day (MGD). According to statistics from the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), Karachi’s water supply currently stands at 647 MGD in contrast to a demand of 750 MGD.

    The supply deficit of water begs the question: how do citizens manage to fulfil the supply deficit of water for their common needs?

    The answer lies in water tankers 96 which many perceive as the only solution to the city’s water problems. As the government is unable to keep the water infrastructure in adequate condition, water tankers in Karachi are high in demand, catering to thousands of people, hundreds of industrial units, hotels, service stations, and commercial ventures. It is estimated that in Karachi, water tankers make over 20,000 rounds every day. In addition, there are hundreds of tank-mounted vans and donkey carts supplying millions of gallons of water across the city to domestic users, industrial units, hotels, and other businesses where water is required in abundance.

    The water supply through tankers, many believe, will never end. In the absence of a proper system through pipelines, most remain indifferent of water wastage. As a result, people do not conserve or better manage the water they receive through tankers. As a matter of fact, since these tankers are just a call away and more efficient, citizens do not bother questioning their source and are willing to pay a high price for a better service provided at their doorstep.

    Although KWSB officials claim that only three per cent of the city’s areas use the tanker service, reality is different. “In a mega city like Karachi,
    only up to five percent of total water is supplied through tankers in areas where pipelines don’t exist or where there is temporary need for water,” claim officials. However, Kolachi learnt that 60 per cent of the areas that receive water through tankers already have water pipelines.

    There are currently 22 ‘official’ water hydrants being managed by town administrations, some of which were retrieved from the Rangers a few years ago. In addition, there are also hundreds of illegal hydrants functioning in the city, which officials at the KWSB are aware of, but choose to look to the other way, it has reliably been learnt. The majority of such illegal hydrants are situated in the areas of Manghopir, Baldia, SITE, Orangi Town,Lanhdi industrial area, and adjacent areas. “It is impossible for these hydrants to exist without the consent of the KWSB.

    The department’s “corrupt” officials for citizens’ preference for the tanker system. ”There is a large industrial unit in Federal B Area industrial area where one can see a queue of water tankers, despite the fact that they have a proper water connection. They are compelled to get water through tankers, because their pipelines do not supply them with sufficient water. Another factor is that mill owners also want to save on commercial water charges.”

    Gulistan-e-Jauhar is another area where most apartments opt for tankers even though they receive water through the KWSB pipelines. Residents claim that they are compelled to rely on tankers since distribution of water is unequal. “There are cases where one of two adjacent buildings receive water from the pipeline, while residents of the other are compelled to use tankers,” complains a resident.

    It is believed, however, that the tanker service is beneficial to KWSB officials, who extract favours from influentials such as ministers,
    bureaucrats, and politicians in return for a steady supply of water at no cost. Since these influential personalities are provided with water tankers free of charge, which the KWSB officials manage by pressurising the hydrant and tanker owners, no action is taken either against the water thieves or corrupt KWSB officials. Only those citizens who purchase water tankers at exorbitant rates suffer.”

    Due to this racket, KWSB recovers just 18 per cent of water charges from its customers, and lacks indigenous resources required to lay new pipelines and prevent leakages. The main source of income is from the Bulk consumers but interestingly out of 5500 bulk meters only 500 are functional and rest and therefore average bills are being issued to the faulty meter holders. Its in the benefit of the corrupt Revenue staff to utilize as a tool of bribery.

    There are other impediments in the supply of water. Several natural rainwater drains have bisected the Hub canal that supplies Karachi with water from the Hub Dam. Built-in pipes have been constructed along the canal that suck water in and redistribute to farm houses, poultry farms and squatter settlements on the outskirts of the city, from where the canal initiates to the Northern Bypass area. Bridges have been built to maintain the continuity of water in the canal in the presence of rainwater drains, but this is not as effective as it should be =96 water from the canal often seeps into rainwater drains, which flow all year round as a result, rain or no rain.

    Similarly, the Gujjo Canal supplies Karachi with water from the Kinjhar Lake. This particular canal is 150 kilometers long, but only 30 kilometers
    of it is cemented. A large portion of the water is absorbed into the soil, and lost. Scores of fields along the Gujjo canal, as well as agricultural
    and recreational farms are cultivated by the water from the canal. Illegal factories, too, use the same freshwater for their goods. So do residential colonies nearby, leading experts to believe that nearly 35 to 40 percent of water being supplied to Karachi either leaks away unnecessarily, or is stolen.

    It is suggested that corruption, mismanagement and political intervention have pushed the organisation towards a brink of collapse. ”What the KWSB needs right now is effective administrative and financial management, an end to political interference into its affairs, tight monetary control, and the elimination of certain highly corrupt elements,” including Chief Engineers, DMDs and Managing Director.. Until that happens, water will continue to be ‘stolen’ before it reaches the pipelines as has been happening for several years now.

    A Water Expert

  • A Hydrant on Dalmia Road, National Cricket Stadium Karachi

    We the residents of the locality would like to bring this in the notice of the concerned authorities that the Tanker mafia is once again eyeing Dalmia Road. Newly opened hydrant at Dalmia Road, adjacent to Bahria University becomes nuisance and daily hundreds of tankers parked on road to disrupt the traffic flow.

    After KWSB’s effective operation against illegal hydrants within the city limits, the tanker mafia finally succeeded at opening a hydrant at Bahria University on Dalmia Road, causing a serious threat to the Road. The city government has invested millions of Tax payers’ money on the construction of Dalmia Road from National Stadium to Askari-4 apartments, widening the road and installing a central island with rows of saplings along it.

    Some corrupt officials of KWSB and the local administration have deliberately destroyed the efforts of the city government and Nazim Mustafa Kamal. They have opened a hydrant almost in violation of all norms, rules and regulations.

    KWSB staffs deputed on the water trunk mains are cooperating with the hydrant operators to cater to water deficiency in parts of the area by private tanker services. Over 300 tankers supply thousands of gallons of water daily to the surrounding areas and occupy a kilometer-long lane to park their vehicles.Most of the tankers leak water on the rod and are creating puddles of water on the road, which will destroy the road and neither the town officials nor the city government officers are taking any action to intervene.

    By law, it is the responsibility of KWSB officials who are managing the operation of Bulk water supply to stop the tankers from parking on the road as well as repair the leaky valves of tankers that will eventually damage the road and draw water from KWSB lines without any check. It may also be mentioned that the KWSB has closed the many hydrants on the directives of Sindh High Court as it was creating an inconvenience for the area residents and the movement of heavy vehicles was damaging the road.

    This Hydrant has also become a nuisance for traffic as the entire area has been converted into a parking lot for hundreds of water tankers. This hydrant was opened by the Cantt. Administration in collaboration with the KWSB staff about few months ago to overcome water scarcity in some areas, but has now become an inconvenience for Bahria University visitors and is disrupting traffic flow on Dalmia Road as well.

    The city government, KWSB should close down this hydrant to save the recently Dalmia road as the tankers are creating craters on it. The Sindh High court is requested to take Suo Moto action in this regard to immediately close down this hydrant to avoid any untoward incident immediately.

    Residents of the area.

  • The recent remarks made by the provincial home Minister against one of their alliance has stirred up the whole political set up. One should astonish to hear the speech of the Minister in front of the most elite class of the society. Either the fear or the agreement did not allow the participants to utter even a single word during the speech. The allegations levelled by the minister needs thorough investigation OR at least Courts should take suo moto action to expose the culprits behind theses heinous crimes. The citizens now need answer and will not accept any more compromise and deals after such allegations.


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