Karachi it seems is synonymous to the word protest ....we have an unbelievable culture of protest ...we protest for the most unbelievable things, issues and causes....sometimes it does and sometimes it even does not concerns 
us...but we protest...its in our blood..in our jeans...and in our head...we have been protesting for years....there are three main places in the city where you can catch an ongoing protest any day and you
don't have to be born lucky....One of those places is Bander road (M.A.Jinnah rd) which is the longest and widest road in karachi linking the karachi port to sohrab goth supper high
way....the enterence to the city from up-country....the other two main places of protest are the regal chowk in sadder and the Binori town mosq
ue....beside these some people in recent times prefer to protest in front of the press club...regular protest and demonstrations are held there but the number of protesters is usually very small...and it usually disperse without disturbing the traffic.....in olden times some protests used to be held in front of the US consulate near the metropole hotel...but now it is out of bound for
any protest.....not even the feminist NGO's are allowed to protest there....police and other law enforcing agencies usually raid the protesters two days before their planned protest if they plan to protest in front or near the US consulat
e...lolJust like the places we also happen to have a number of organised protesters ...very professional...very dedicated..very. Top in this list is the Jamait ay Islami....one of the best and organised in the world ...it can organise a very successful protest demonstration within hours....no matter what...their protest are usually Anti-American...Anti-Zionist....pro-muslim...Anti-government and pro-establisment
Next is MQM....they started their struggle as a protest....their protests are usually very violent ...many people die or are injured when and if they protest....so every gove
rnment tries to prevent them from protest....they love to protest and kill more than they enjoy being in the govenment...recently there is a new player in this game...PTI..Pakista
n tehreek ay Insaaf (struggle for justice) under the able leadership of jemima's Imran Khan.... so far they have not been able to organise a very meaning ful protest....but they have the money,the foreign backing and the support of NGO's and then of course the face value of Khan saab.
..being the national hero and world famous cricketer...their protest usually gets the best media attention both locally as well as in international media....khan saab is probably the best known protester after the late Benazir Bhutto....
On Wednesday May the 19th Jamait ay islami's womens wing took to the street on Bander road..
..against the facebook group...Draw Muhammad day.... f
riday is usually the favorite protest day of jamait ay islami because most male muslims gather in mosques to offer the juma prayers....Unfortunately the Pakistan telecommunication Authority PTA acted timely on the directive of the Lahore High court and shut down Facebook throughout the country...so on friday when I came out of the mosque after juma prayers I saw very relaxed JI activist...almost smiling at me...or engaged in shopping of fruits and other edibles....
I remember few years ago an uncle came from abroad and complained about an email... computer and internet was very new back then and unfortunately my previous generation was not computer literate....it used to be very difficult to explain to the elders how an email sent to one person is read by the entire family all across the globe...by cc or bcc....and than there was the difference of british/american/slang ..english....initially we faced a lot of lost in translation scenario....and most of the time ended up enraging our uncles,aunts ,cousins and friends all over the world instead of making friends and improving relations....so the interesting thing is that somebody stopped that uncle by saying ..."Internet wars are for internet...." listening to this the uncle from abroad got very relaxed ...and had a great time h
ere....
n tehreek ay Insaaf (struggle for justice) under the able leadership of jemima's Imran Khan.... so far they have not been able to organise a very meaning ful protest....but they have the money,the foreign backing and the support of NGO's and then of course the face value of Khan saab.
..being the national hero and world famous cricketer...their protest usually gets the best media attention both locally as well as in international media....khan saab is probably the best known protester after the late Benazir Bhutto....On Wednesday May the 19th Jamait ay islami's womens wing took to the street on Bander road..
..against the facebook group...Draw Muhammad day.... f
riday is usually the favorite protest day of jamait ay islami because most male muslims gather in mosques to offer the juma prayers....Unfortunately the Pakistan telecommunication Authority PTA acted timely on the directive of the Lahore High court and shut down Facebook throughout the country...so on friday when I came out of the mosque after juma prayers I saw very relaxed JI activist...almost smiling at me...or engaged in shopping of fruits and other edibles....I remember few years ago an uncle came from abroad and complained about an email... computer and internet was very new back then and unfortunately my previous generation was not computer literate....it used to be very difficult to explain to the elders how an email sent to one person is read by the entire family all across the globe...by cc or bcc....and than there was the difference of british/american/slang ..english....initially we faced a lot of lost in translation scenario....and most of the time ended up enraging our uncles,aunts ,cousins and friends all over the world instead of making friends and improving relations....so the interesting thing is that somebody stopped that uncle by saying ..."Internet wars are for internet...." listening to this the uncle from abroad got very relaxed ...and had a great time h
ere....
NYC,,
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