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Delusion, denial and ‘Dr’ Liaquat
The not-so-good doctor had the temerity to claim that this was all a trick of editing and dubbing.
The subject line read “Aamir Liaquat Exposed”. To be honest, I was reluctant to click open the link my friend sent. Having just eaten dinner, I was disinclined to see the good ‘doctor’ laid bare. My mind had wandered to far darker thoughts. Instead, when I eventually clicked the link I saw a video of Aamir Liaquat swearing away. A wave of relief and sympathy washed over me. Relief that it wasn’t the exposure I had imagined it to be, and a fleeting sympathy for the TV evangelist. But the sympathy only lasted a nanosecond, mind you.
Most of us have uttered curses that we would not wish to be made public. Locker-room chat that is acceptable with the boys is not something we would want repeated in front of our wives or mothers-in-law. But then again, most of us don’t propagate an air of piety, uttering gaalis whilst talking about verses from the Holy Scriptures. That is the galling hypocrisy of this unedifying incident. What really sticks in the throat is the man’s cynical disregard for the very same people he professes to love and care about. It was particularly odious to see him sniggering as a woman caller sought advice on the sensitive subject of the legality of suicide in the scenario of protecting a woman’s honour. The very same people who gave him his success are the very people his sniggering disrespects.
It’s fine to swear like a lafunga on a motorbike at Seaview. Less so if you have made millions projecting a holiness that has made you managing director of a television channel that broadcasts religious programmes and also a former minister of religious affairs — in effect, a powerful, rich and influential man.
So what does this religious man do when he’s caught being less than godly? Does he throw his hands up, apologise and confess his sins and ask for forgiveness? Hardly. No, the man with no shame instead compounded the mistake by brazenly lying to the people of Pakistan. Yes, the not-so-good doctor had the temerity to claim that this was all a trick of editing and dubbing. It wasn’t him speaking, singing or clapping his hands. He claimed it was a dastardly plot hatched by his former employers in revenge for the popularity of his Ramazan programmes. Carefully ignoring the fact that it was those very same former employers who hastily pulled the video from YouTube soon after the footage emerged. If you believe his assertion about the dubbing and editing you’ll believe anything — or, at least, that Pakistan’s poor cricket performance was dependent upon the colour of their shoes’ soles. Ah. And there lies the problem.
For me, the good ‘doctor’ has exuded as much sincerity as the president exudes incorruptibility. But this view is clearly in the minority. People love him. And after this revelation, they will continue to love and support him. They’ll believe whatever he tells them. Already, we are seeing people calling his show, supporting his falsehoods and consoling him.
This reaction exposes a deeper malaise in Pakistani society. As a people, we seem intrinsically drawn to egotists, narcissists and demagogues. We love the masala, drama and showboating these characters provide. Whether it is a Bhutto, a Zaid Hamid or an Aamir Liaquat, we look to these people for simple answers to complex problems. Preferring their demagoguery and simplistic solutions to the heavy lifting of using our own grey matter.
So we loved it when Bhutto tore up the papers and stormed out of the Security Council at the UN. We find Zaid Hamid irresistible when he’s blaming the Jews and Hindus for all of Pakistan’s ills. We trust Aamir Liaquat’s superstitious claptrap when he blames the Pakistani cricket team’s poor performance on the green colour of the soles of the team’s shoes. Where’s the empirical evidence, ‘Dr’ Liaquat? So it wasn’t due to poor coaching or match-fixing then? But the colour painted by some poor sweatshop kid in China?
Distrustful of reasoning and logic, we mindlessly follow these characters. They enrich themselves at the expense, as well as the naivety and gullibility, of the Pakistani population. My mother and aunts-in-law — good law-abiding people — would regularly unquestioningly regurgitate the nonsense spouted by these charades. Why? It was easier than searching for the truth, or — heaven forbid — thinking for themselves.
The reaction to Aamir Liaquat’s exposure also reveals another problem within the Pakistani society. We are a nation in denial. Even when faced with the truth about these unsavoury characters we are still unable to accept their faults. Like small children, we can’t accept the truth even when it’s staring us in the face. Pakistan can only resolve its problems when it’s able to accept some uncomfortable, unpalatable truths about its society. The supporters of Dr Aamir Liaquat are a manifestation of the fact that this will not happen anytime soon.
The exposure of Aamir Liaquat exposes some of the country’s inherent contradictions and character flaws. My friend, Nadeem Farooq Paracha, often says that the problems with Pakistan aren’t economic, political or social — they’re psychological. He has a point. We have developed a Stockholm syndrome with the egomaniacs on our screens. Falling in love with them rather than contemptuously rejecting them. And when they have been revealed to be phonies, we continue to delude ourselves into believing their bold faced lies. It is time we turned the alim online, off.
There’s an African proverb that states that ‘singing Hallejullah everywhere does not prove piety’. Remember that next time you hear ‘Assalamualekum warehmatullah’ from Hardilazeez Aamir Liaquat Hussain.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2011.
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Excellent article! It’s sad and ironic to read some comments here, which makes this article even more logical. It’s a shame that so many Pakistanis live abroad and western societies own them provide them a new identity and first class status, and people here are pointing finger at George and calling him an outsider when he is trying to be one of us, thus calling addressing himself as “WE” Thanks.
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The fact that media is in state of strong competition is benefitting public by uncovering the facts, and the release of editor cut versions have become very popular among viewers. It is definitely an important factor to consider the credibility of person, who’s advice we are banking on, but it is more important to judge and regularly double check the credibility. If the videos are not edited the we definitely should rely less on Alim Online’s advice, and should definitely refrain from falling in love with just a media presentor, and more importantly completely refrain from having personal relationships with a person of this character, if we ourselves don’t resort to casual swearing on daily basis, and make fun of women’s problems (which I might not find rare among 85% of Pakistani males, might be 50% internationally).
But lets re-think,
firstly are we supposed to rely on commercial media which is supposed to make money, by telecasting what majority likes to watch and hear, not exactly truth.
Secondly, isn’t it more important to double check credibility of information, when there is authentic source available. The information on Alim Online is not first hand information for which only the credibility of source is only option. We should sacrifice our grey matter and some of gossip time to check the credible sources for correctness of his presented info.
Thirdly, is anyone here really dreaming of having personal relationship with media people, who’s best cashable skill is to entrance people with sellable speeches, truth or not.
George’s point on socially widespread social behaviour issues are valid, and they’re not limited to Pakistan. There are poeple all over the world who wud believe that sun rises from west, or even they’re God themselves, if the statement comes from their favourite political / religious leader, movie/rock star, media presentor, community leader or person they love. But makes these problems severe in Pakistan is our own reluctance to gain true knowledge. Remember something ? “Go to China if you have to”. An average Pakistani wont go to nearest library or even internet archives, to verify the commercial info on the TV.
Changing channel is not the root solution, changing attitude is!
If we can can do that ,Channels will change themselves, we wont have to.
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hats off to the author. A very good article.
Captivating and touching. Am impressed how the author has drawn an image of the loop holes and the hypocrisy in the Pakistani society. I also urge the author to make good use of his extensive research suggest a solution so we could learn and improve.
Cheers and looking forward to next articleRecommend
Its nice to know from the replies that there are people courageous enough and capable of picking up the useful matter out of story
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Wonderful piece George!
Those who think this Dr. “Moron” is a credible source who can preach us the nitty-gritty of our religion are the very illiterate and narrow minded class of society who tends to believe everything that an IDIOT BOX presents and never question the credibility and background of the person on the show. I have yet to come across an educated and practicing Muslim who even make an attempt to listen to such half baked Mullahs cum scholars.
Recall his PhD degree is also fake and this recent episode leaves no doubt in its veracity.
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This is the problem with the entire Muslim community not just Pakistanis. Psychology of a nation is shaped by how the masters engineer it. We have been educated to believe in logical fallacies, false glorification etc for more than sixty years and the product is ready now. If you tell somebody that Allama Iqbal had committed a murder or that he used to drink too, his faith in Islam would crumble down in seconds and you had better runaway from the scene or get slapped at least, if not killed.
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Oh and btw…missed this point before @ frank – george is more of a pakistani than some of us…..he was a pakistani by choice not chance…..
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It took me an hour to read your article with the help of Dictionary, what were you trying to prove
Amir Liaquat’s guilt or your English writing.
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I have not came across a single person supporting Aamir Liaquat’s acts! Your assumption that Pakistani society is going to buy the same Manjan which he is selling from past 10 years is not so sound! Secondly Nadeem F. Paracha himself need some treatment of his psychological state, not the Pakistani society. I mean dude!! C’mon! Look at the misery and corruption this society is going through!!! Do you expect a normal society in such situation?
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… its more complexed than what it seems..
Firstly economic social and monetary problems DO lead to psychological problems.
Secondly the HR manager for GEO or watever channel is to be blamed for hiring such a person to do the job.. there is no problem with the program ALIM ONLINE and hence it should never be off… DOCTOR should just cut out the melo drama and carry on sticking strictly to the books.. (he has a shiny tongue..not real gold though)… he has a fan following, money and influence… one cannot make a devil factory out of him by dishonoring him this much ..!
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Harsh realities we never accpet
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If only he had owned up we wouldn’t really be discussing this.
The sad part is that doctor sahib represents us, Pakistanis. Like it or not, this is the face of Pakistan that the world sees. I agree with the earlier comment that a boycott of channel, would bring some humility to our narcissistic doctor sahib.
Am surprised that the higher ups at ARY aren’t taking any action to mitigate the damage, what’s up with that ‘haji’ shahab?
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Really well Done article, but i wish the poor illiterate people of Pakistan may also be able to understand the reality of the situation
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Very well written indeed! Every word of it is so true. I congratulate you on producing an other extraordinary peice of work; keep it up George, i support you.
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Truly sad :( Dr Aamir Liaquat has sent proposals to Reema… Pesturing her through text messages. Then again this society sides with the male & says that Reema was seen with him at PC. May I ask, why was this married man & so called Aalim with her-which I know is fabrication done by him to malign her? Why isn’t he blamed? He is a liar!
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Amir Liaqat is a fake. I thank the people who exposed him.
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This video never came as a surprise to me. He is a “shobda baaz” a “Madari” so as most (in fact all) of our politicians are.
I think that we as a nation have a very low standard of morality. Please note that he was not alone when he was doing all this, there were producers, technicians, office boys, camera men and God knows what other technical staff and may I mention the Mullas. Out of these people no one had the moral standard to stand up and say anything to this man.
I am absolutely sure that most of us who are putting comments here including Mr. Fulton would not have said a word if this was happening in their presence. So for me Aamir Liaqat is just one of us he is as normal as a normal Pakistani, it is just that he can sell him self better.
So for me the denial is that there is only one bad guy or very few…..
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The best part of the article is the denial phenomena of us. Had it happened some where else with any celebrity, he/she would straight away apologized for it.
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“The exposure of Aamir Liaquat exposes some of the country’s inherent contradictions and character flaws…”
Nice article, but i’m of the opinion that these problems are not just limited to Pakistani society. People have the tendency to follow blindly throughout the world. Take Fox News as an example – a major percentage of Americans rely heavily on Fox for their news coverage and take whatever is reported by them as hard stone facts. Jon Stewart’s Daily Show and the Colbert Report among other online websites and more have shown how Fox distorts the news headlines to make their point, but still, people follow it without hesitation.
Perhaps that’s not the perfect example. But regardless, it is definitely a fact that Pakistan is hit hard by these problems. A major population consists of illiterate people or those who don’t have enough resources to investigate anything on their own. When they’re told that its nothing but just a dubbed to disgrace Amir Liaqut they believe it easily because in their mind, the world is full of corruption and anything is possible with technology. Mankind is a funny thing – we’d rather force corruption/falsehood in others than identify it within ourselves or those that we love.
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@Ahmad:
Why not compare Aamir Liaquat to Bhutto? They can both be categorised as two-faced hypocrites – Bhutto was not great saint. There was a huge gap between his words and deeds. If you bother to read history, you would know that at the exact time that he was throwing his famous tantrum at the UN, the army had already (at his prodding) agreed to surrender in Dhaka. And that’s just one example – ever seen the fawning and sycophantic letters Mr Bhutto wrote to Ayub Khan? The personalities of these two “gentlemen” are very similar: egotistic, narcissist charlatans who mislead people.
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@everyone and george
please dont get emotional after watching such kind of videos ,look sound modelling is a very easy thing to do and we should know that we are living in a technology smart world.
.this video is fake in my opinion as an engineer i know that we can model anyone ‘s voice and give any input to the model and the output would be our input in that particular voice
May b i m wrong ,may b this video is not fake .but please think that IF the video isn’t real then everyone of you would be doing a sin known as “BHUTAAN” and ALLAH would ask you on the day of judgement for that
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the article is definitely well written – but there are 2 things to note here.
1. we are being told not to believe everything we watch and yet we are required to believe that the video is NOT edited? this level of editing is very possible, please note those who are misinformed.
Amir Liaquat is probably being made to suffer this indecent exposure because he is NOT twisting Islam. his following is increasing, probably because he is right!
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This guy so called Dr. Liaquat went beyond swearing…..he insulted Islam as a whole….Reciting poetry of insulting nature to some certain sect….Drinking tea before ifhtar….Making fun of serious question….&….his comments about sahabas….i saw his reply on youtube….and very well planned phone calls…first from MAKKAH & second from MADINA….cannot believe coincidence….his explaination about his leaked video….was just similar to one we gave either to childerns or bunch of fools….Quality of his explaination tells everything about PAKISTANI nation..
Overall Article is well written….nice effort
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George ……. have you seen “Galib” the movie
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though i dont agree with his views about zaid hamid…… but on the whole its an awesome article with the perfect treatment “amir liakat” deserves…
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@ Above;
Why do we always go for cmplx answers to our Q. y do v always go the conspiracy theories? I am not the authority to judge sm1 but the video is far better than being a fake in my view…….. Rest Allah knows better !!
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Very Good article George!! I have always been fan your Intelligence. People are delusional when they say that this video is fake!! Well they should realize this, that the dubbing and sound effects could be fake,but the Amir Liaquat’s gestures were very much relevant to context and the Abusive language that he shared!
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@Muhammad Ahmed:
i agree .. our fascist and so called liberals need to be put down just as the religious extremists.
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channal showihg his religious programme must be ask to explain why such a hypocrate was given chance to play with sentiment of people. unless proper explanation is given by owner of channal this channal must be banned to appear on tv.
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Good article Recommend
@Frank:
Well I guess you and the 57 odd who recommended your post didn’t get the memo, this Englishman is a Pakistani!
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Somehow the other i always had this opinion that Amir Liaquat was a ‘FAKE’. This video proves it. I have seen him misbehaving with airlines employees at the airport. And people please stop blaming others(CIA/MOSSAD etc) for all the ills of our society.Face it, whenever anybody(in Pakistan) gets blamed for any misdeed they very conviently put the blame on others/conspiracy(foreign agencies).
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@aicha absolutely true especially when one is confused about someone’s integrity.
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Nice article. Thanks for highlighting the facts.
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a well written article with excellent emphases on the society we live in. well done.
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George…Pakistanis in general r humane but innocent people…..its difficult for a common pakistani to see through the facade. There has never been dearth of people like Dr in our country and religion (read mullahs, aamil babas) who have been duping the public. Most recent is the copyrights war on the moon sighting…which last time i checked was in the sky apparently for the whole universe to see….
But people like Dr piqued my curiosity and a quest to find out the real Islam for myself….. result… I started reading the Holy Quran with translation…..
If instead of relying on fast food-like answers to our every religious problem from these so-called scholars we toil ourselves , we will be much more enlightened…
So there is a silver lining…..
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Agree with what George has written and majority of the Pakistani believe Dr. Amir is a great actor and a fake so I dont think any sane person is supporting him but is it a coincidence that whenever something bad comes up in Pakistan, immediately we see an article from George …. bashing Pakistan and people of Pakistan. There are hundreds of good things that are happening in Pakistan. Have you George ever bothered to write how thousands (if not millions) are supporting our local Pakistanis with charity, how so many hospitals like shaukat khanam and many other clinics and hospitals are treating patients for free, have you ever bothered to write about Edhi? etc. etc. I guess the moment he mentioned Nadeed Farooq Paracha as his friend, it all summed up for me :)
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This is just ridiculous! A few swears does not make a person good or bad. One should hate him for the two-faced wanabe Shahrukh khan that he is not because of this video. The whole purpose of “leaking” this video was to malign his character obviously by the people who are extremely jealous of his success on ARY.
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Lets follow George, He seems to be spiritual leader of Pakistanis..
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So aptly the article describes the mass psychology of Pakistanis. Bravo….!
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Dear George:
Great article True reflection of the facts. You said everything I wanted to say, in a better way indeed!! Hats off to you for your courage and frankness.
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Very well written article george… Respect to your brilliant summing up of the situation!
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He always looked phony and a fraud to me. My wife never agreed and always thought of him as a poised and devoted man.
Now I know I was right all along.
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@Frank:
I’d say the proverb “Mind your own business” simply does not apply to this man, given how much he has researched on Pakistan and integrated himself with it. In fact, he has all the right to make any and all statements he made, and I for one agree with him completely. What he said was a hundred percent correct and I salute this man for caring enough about Pakistan to express his opinions and concern in the way he did.
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I think it’s being over-analyzed and to take this incident and draw parallels to what’s wrong with pakistani society is far fetched to say the least. It not everyday that we learn ‘the real identity’ of someone we thought we knew. He is ‘exposed’ , move on ! Recommend
I so not agree! Whatever happened, the videos should not be coming out like this from video channels..
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Hey man nicely done. But You explained only one side of the story.
I kind of agree with some of your points. But why are you so inclined on believing he is the bad guy? why don’t you shed light on the other possibilities.
Just tell me what person in his right mind would make fun of a live caller like that on a live tv program? what do you think he was out of his mind?
the rest of the video was dubbed and edited at every part where he abuses and says something bad. About all the other parts his lip movement doesnt match with the audio we hear. about the clapping part, i dont think hes not allowed to clap or joke around if he stays in the limit. hes a human being he deserves to have some fun but that part is dubbed too by the Tv channel he resigned from.
This was an extremely negative article in which you used some facts to fool the fools.Recommend
Thats the norm in pakistan for his kind (religious scholars/ leaders etc)to make fools of the public in the name of God. Its been the norm since the creation of pakistan, they have all looted, lied and wheeled their way in, and all in the name of Allah.
Religion has been instilled in our society via fear and we have been conditioned not to question these personalities as they use religious dogma to enforce their authority.
Its about time all these clowns got their real faces exposed , so sick of seeing these commercialised religious so called scholars forcing their weird notions and opinions in urdu laced with a heavy arab accent to the unassuming fearful simple public of Pakistan.
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CONSIDER THIS
During Sehar Transmission ARY Digital has achieved 25.4 GRPs whereas GEO TV received 5.5 GRPs and HUM TV 0.7 GRPs.
During Iftar Transmission ARY Digital has achieved 66.9 GRPs where as GEO TV received 35.6 GRPs and HUM TV received 17.0 GRPs.
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Its his problem, he is answerable to ALLAH not us on his behalf. This clip is not dubbed at all, but the point is dont we all swear in our daily lives? if you see the oh so famous tv anchors off the screen, this video will look like a cartoon clip for kids to you.
I am not trying to advocate amir or geo or ary or any molvi for that matter, admit it, we all love to gossip. And after some time we have something to talk about other than (Shahrukh and Kareena) read shaista and sahir :).
The video is not dubbed and it can be proved anywhere but i beleive amir liaqat (if he really thinks this video is dubbed) should get an audio forensic expert on his show and prove it live on air that its fake :)
Best for him was to ignore this video. but he didnt and the the drama that followed on the sehri night when a caller calls from Makkah and then other from MAdina who performed Umrah for him and made a point to call in the show.
About time we leave him alone with his drama.
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Yes Frank, you are alone. George the ‘Englishman’ is as Pakistani as anyone else is, what’s your point?
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@Sajawal Javaid:
I salute you for having such a clear , practical and nice attitude, But these people will never understand because they want to be deceived ,they want to live in false world.Hopeless people they are… Who can not see the truth even if you prove it hundred times. And salute to georg too for showing his concerns about Pakistan.
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Completely agree with Fah on this: “It’s interesting how you use the word “We” and yet you’re the one who left the country…”
and with Frank: “There’s an African proverb that states
that ‘singing Hallejullah everywhere
does not prove piety’.
There’s an English proverb that goes something like ‘Mind your own business.’
Am I alone in finding this Englishman’s tone and message patronising and offensive?”
Out of all the irrational, delusional and psychologically disturbed Pakistanis, comes forward a divorcee of Pakistan who had left with a whiny note for those who were still in a relationship with it. A post divorce therapy is usually recommended for divorcees who just cant stop whining even after the divorce.
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Frank, this kind of thinking represents a hypocricy of the highest order, when one of us gets a western countries citizenship of a western country, we expect full and equal rights including the right to critisize on social issue, while when George a Pakistani citizen does the same you find it hard to digest. Bigotry has no limits it seems…
And yeah all of you who think the AL’s video is a fake, God help you:)
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We should try to oust this man Amir Liaquat Hussain from the media.
Nasty man should not be making fool of the innocent ordinary people.
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@ Frank leave these self loathing losers . Agree with you 100%, it is useless to argue with those who only see flaws in their people after someone else tells them or through video tapes. BTW i am not a fan of Dr Liaquat.
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@Frank:
….Frank, fankly speaking, you are on the dot…the question in my mind while reading this article was, ‘what business has he got to do with this?’
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Well written
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Mr. Ali akbar Khan! I am exremely sorry to say this but to me your comment is not sensible. We cannot just hide bad side of our own society by blaming agencies as you mentioned. By the way, can you just clarify your statement “No true Mussalman could ever use such abusive language”? I didnt get it. Are you trying to say that Amir Liaquat is a true Muslim? His Doctorate degree is still a controversy as he managed to earn it only after 20 days of his Master’s degree. This guy has to be some kind of a scholar to achieve this feat. Whenever I have heard his naat/hamd, I always thought that he must have been a diehard music fan in the past but I didnt know he still is “Ghalib film ka chacha”.
Mr. Asfandyar! I completely agree with you. We (The people of Pakistan) are so innocent (mentally) that anyone can fool us and we still think that the person is good! Every single person is playing with the integrity of the nation.
One thing to mention which I found interesting is about his reply in which he says “Mai jaanta hoon ke jhoot kis tharha phelaaya jaatha hai aur is ke liye bari mehnat ki jaathi hai aur editing ki jaathi hai”. Now how does he know that? Has he been involved in any such thing before?
We cannot punish him but if he has done all this the Allah Thaala will definitely punish him one day.Recommend
Moral of the story : Pakistan cricket team’s poor performance was due to their green sole ..
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the word ”psychological” is very aptly written with respect to our nations problems’.Wishing if nadeem paracha could write about this too..I never opened the link…im glad i have a mind of my own ….rational enough not to believe this stuff …and coming ones..in years
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You’ve taken the words out of my mouth! A good read.
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Exactly what i was telling my friends last night.
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Brilliant article! My sentiments exactly. Thank you George for putting my thoughts to words so beautifully!
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Dear author,
I will support your opinion if there is some authenticity of the video. I have also seen the videos there is a doubt in it .A person can relax as he was doing by expanding his arms and relieving his muscles.but the “gallies” appears to be dubbed .I dont like amir’s show but I think he is innocent until or unless that video is not authenticated by some expert on editing and dubbing.So you must imvestigate before writing.
regards
RecommendM Atif
George, you sir, are a true legend! I would have you as the new ‘aalim online’ anyday in place of this “ghalib film dekhi hai” doctor.
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I agree with the part when you mentioned about our problems being psychological than any other …
Accepting the reality is one thing but as far as my observation is concerned, the reluctance to accept his real face is more from the side of our senior citizens who might spend more time watching TV than being on the internet …
Now the issue with this guy is that he faces the camera denying the footage all the way. Had our softwares been so advanced that they could manipulate gestures, tones, facial expressions and the song that he was singing, Hollywood would have been at our doorstep asking for the copy rights or trying to buy it off for an amount that could have relaxed our country’s debt burden. We know why … because it doesn’t exist.
Great Article George! It’s more like a mirror which we can see our reflections in …
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I wonder why you keep calling him a doctor again and again. His PHD degree has been proved fake.
Even Mubashar Luqmaan invited him to his program to talk about all this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJrPmxR9Xpo
Nadeem F Paracha has been tweeting about this incident but its only you who is writing about it. I wonder why none of the other TV channels or newspapers are highlighting it.
Anyways very good column. Great!!!
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awesome!!!
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Really? After reading that whole article, you really had room to think about [nevermind being concerned with] the fact that this was not written by a Pakistani?! Isn’t this the very thing that’s wrong with our society? I’m having a hard time understanding why it would be relevant if this was written by an Egyptian or a Japanese individual, whether these views were of the President of United States or a member of the Zulu Tribe. The truth will stay the truth no matter whose mouth it comes out of.
Do not insult the man’s intelligence.
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Hi George:
you unnecessarily tried to mould the topic .you started with Amir Liaqat and then insulted all pakistan and pakistani society and culture. that is not only the case in pakistan it happens everywhere in the world. it would be good ,if you focus was only politician and personalities like amir Liaqat (0.2) part of pakistan. But you trying to propagate that every pakistani is like that. Its not honesty and its not fair. Review your opinion and dnt inforce ur opinion on all over the society.
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I believe that he repented himself. He is still doing a good job bringing us closer to our religion. Using abusive language off the screen is a matter between him and God. This does not mean he is misguiding us from Islam. He is doing TV shows from last three to four years, if he had convinced even one person on Sirat,ul,mustakim, we should at least give him some credit. We already accepted in the past that GEO TV is not work for the wellbeing of Pakistanis. My question is what they are going to achieve by making this video.???. When most of us used slange language so called (galliyan) at one time of the day and then go for prayer the other time of the same day, when people who are drinkers and gamblers fast during Ramadan and pose as no one is more Muttaqi than them, then why we expect from celebs that they will be not as Munafiq as we are! Why we think they will be different from us. If any of you watch this video on youtube, read the comments people have left on it. ‘Sadly’ I must say that our own pakistanis and muslims have used 10 times more abusive and shameful language in protesting against the video in the motnh of Ramadan. How can we justify that? People are leaving absolutely shameful and dirty comments about him on youtube. In that case I think they are no different
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Religion does this to people. Witness the blind followers of the Maharishi, legions of slick US televangelists, assorted rabbis, shamans and medicine men. After all we know for a few years now that AMH’s ‘academic qualifications’ were bought off an internet degree mill. Why am I not surprised..?
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Excellently written article. Exactly my sentiments.
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i am not his fan but i was thinking people sometimes have double standards, judging him so harshly was bit unfair ..because cursing which can be bit business as usual among boys or even grown ups some times….
however you did change my mind ..he was ridiculing the very people who respect and trust him…and cursing while discussing religious matter is disgusting…. George you nailed it
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@Fah
This article has nothing to do with him leaving this country, its a personal choice. “Just because an Englishman pointed out a flaw, which is valid. we must praise him after doing some criticism.” Recommend
“Nadeem F Paracha believes Pakistan’s problems are not political, economic or social but psychological …”.
That’s so true. He has said in just a few words what many struggle to explain in whole books.
Btw, good article, George. NFP has been a great influence on a number of rational columnists, including both you and Fasi Zaka.
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@Frank:
is it just me or are u missing the point the writer is trying to make? grow up.Recommend
Very beautifully George you give a words to a thoughts of millions.
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@Ali You are the reason “Dr” Amir Liaquat is still on TV.
No video can be edited or dubbed this much, where his hands are moving. WAKE UP PAKSITAN.
@D Don’t take it offensively because whatever he said was true, be sad that very few people in Pakistan think like him.
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It also shows how Fake characters our TV channel bring to miss guide audience n sell their program.
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Hi George
A good article to read and think about. Well versed and well articulated.
The only problem is that those who can read your article are not his victims anyways! It’s the poor and illiterate who would go for people like him. For the same reason, I haven’t met anybody (ever) who likes him! Why? because our social circle is different, we need reason and logic to convince ourselves. And his supporters, though in majority are from a different class.
My point is: “George, if possible put it on YouTube so people can understand by listening to you!”.
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This column is the BEST comprehensive analysis of the subject. Really the best summary as stated: “we can’t accept the truth even when it’s staring us in the face. Pakistan can only resolve its problems when it’s able to accept some uncomfortable, unpalatable truths about its society.”
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Herdil aziz Munafiq………… LOL… well said…Recommend
Very well said. I have always believed Pakistans main problem is its society and the people.
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Got to love George, especially when he calls himself a Pakistani.
Amir Liaqat makes me cry for Pakistan.
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the problems with Pakistan aren’t economic, political or social — they’re psychological. Oh man you wrote my sentiments!
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Good article but one sided
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well written and surely an apt expression of what the sane think. Pakitan is increasingly coming under the influence od huwaks, Amir Liaqat n Zaid Hamid, they target raw minds in a disillusioned society. this hate mongering has nothing to do with Pakistan’s ideology or Islam. i believe the episode of AAlim online which led to the killing of Qadianins has nothing to do with Islam, nor does the dubbing Hindu’s as evil. These people are in for a short time n will wither are the right has true might.Recommend
Only if they had cameras and youtube some 1400 years ago…
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Beautifully nailed the problems with have in our society. As for “Dr?” Liaquat: You fool me once shame on you, you fool me twice shame on me.
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Beautifully nailed the problems with have in our society. As for “Dr?” Liaquat: You fool me once shame on you, you fool me twice shame on me.Recommend
I have not read your complete article.Therefore can’t comment on it.But what i have seen in daily motion video,After that,i am feeling the word of Allah has been proven to be the truth.
‘Let not those who hurry to fall into disbelief grieve you, of such who say: “We believe” with their mouths but their hearts have no faith..
Those are the ones whose hearts Allah does not want to purify (from disbelief and hypocrisy); for them there is a disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter a great torment.
Quran 5:41
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For Allah sake Amir LIaqat is an ordinary human being he never claimed that he is someone very special mean Allah wali …..dont we humans make thousand of mistakes in our daily lives .Just name one peson who doesnt watches movies so what if he named some movie on his show and that also off camera .We asians are the most horrible people all the time doing gheebat after other people just shame on a…ll of us .If Amir has done something wrong which i think he never did but still if u think he did let Allah deal with him what can we weak humans do instead of making a meaningful and informative page u made this page to insult him this will surely bring a big gap between us muslims.If Allah can cover our big big sins y r v displaying somebody else moments which can embarse that other person .i request u all just leave whatever he did to Allah and concentrate on your Ramzan and try to earn as many blessings as possible instead of gosssiping about him
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Exactly
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@Frank:
‘Mind your business’ is not an English proverb, its just an oft-repeated phrase. And where criticism is valid and sincere, its better to accept it and do something about it than stick ones nose in the air and say ‘oh mind ur business, Englishman’.Recommend
George I disagree with you when you say that the problem within us is psychological. Actually the problem within us is educational. Someone who cannot think rationally is easily susceptible to the emotional chants of our “Heroes.” he will never look for a logical explanation to an argument but instead look for someone who would shower him with his emotional and spicy bitter-sweet talk. Anyone who is capable of thinking rationally would never watch the program in the first place let alone be fooled from it. What makes it more ironic is that the people who actually do watch the program have not read your views and most probably would never be able to. Yes exactly!!! the people to whom you have reached through this medium already believe you and don’t watch Alim Online anyway!!!
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The writer has a point, but saying Pakistan has more of a pschological problem, is not true. Such incidents have happened the world over and yet for some reason people still believe these figures. The famous “magician” Uri from America was famous for bending the spoons with his “psychic” powers. Although he was exposed MANY times on several Tv shows by Randi but still people continued to believe Uri. Probably with this example Americans have bigger pschological problems than us.
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Why Amir liaquat received ONLY all the “Good Calls” after this incident? because they were probably fake callers,his friends,paid people …trying to do all efforts to regain the trust he has lost………George have no doubt about it that People of Pakistan are not as foolish as you think they are,we are known to be one of the finest and smartest brains in world.
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excellent article Mr.Fulton. I felt the same way abt the whole Amir Liaquat scenario, but you gave words to my thoughts. very well written.
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There is nothing exceptional about this article,not even worth sharing.I detest to hear we are any lesser even if its Amir liaquat…he still alot better then what they are in Afghanistan and all the muslim countries.Recommend
I have to agree with what you are saying, as a nation we are very weak. But when it comes to individual benefits we are ready to fight neck and neck with anyone and lie about it.
Today the state of our country is blamed on our president, but here people dont seem to see that they are all part of this. Everyone of us has a little corruption hidden inside us be it Amir liaquat or any other personality. People here find it easy to find faults in others rather then themselves. In pakistan people are only worried about themselves rather that the nation as a whole.
Looking at all these religious television shows now I feel that they might all be hypocrites we don’t know whats going on behind the camera. We are very gullible and are easily influenced by people who show themselves undeterred by anything. There charismatic personality is all it takes for us to be enamored by them, however that is where are faults lie.Recommend
Excellent words you have depicted in the article. I’m having point of view that one need not to fix any perception about him without listening his words. He may be right – Video is being edited by some channel – but flipping coin tells it is genuine. If some channel is defaming him, remember, their credibility is at stake too.
I was shocked at the point when he says “Serr Deobandi.”
Pakistan needs harmony among creeds and religion, it would bring hostile feelings among creeds.
Khudara reham kijiye hum per!
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Good explanation of how vulnerable the general public is when it comes to following and believing in everything they see. These cable channels are very powerfulbut they share the responsibility in investigating the allegations and providing the public an apology and a disclaimer statement saying they don’t share the views of the presenter and the audience must decide for themselves what they believe.
As for this fake, it was high time for his exposure and finally the truth has come out. Let this be a lesson for all, that no matter how high you fly, the harder you fall! The other hard lesson is that the general audience is not only uneducated but also ignorant to the truth. As you say they are in denial and take any valid or invalid criticism as an attack on their ego! If we can overcome our ego problems, we can achieve a lot. Please stop looking up tonthese people, open your eyes and mind and THINK!
Why are “we” so offended by what an Englishman has to say about us when no other Pakistani is saying it? Wake up and smell the coffee, accept the hard truth and try to change instead of being defensive and protecting something that isn’t there, patriotism…
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Great article George! but I think Geo TV should have sacked this man if they knew he was a charlatan. It seems their ratings were more important than their broadcasting integrity. It is they who provided a platform for this man in designer kurtas.Recommend
George is right. Our problems are psychological. Rest is a matter of detail.
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@Umair Saeed: Umair we should have open minds and big hearts when dealing with truth.When Pakistani doctors fail to treat our medical conditions we rush to UK or USA. There we have a totally different attitude. We treat these foreign doctors like demi gods and accept their advise blindly.
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@Frank: The man is minding his “own” business as a Pakistani it is his business incase you are not aware. This is the Proverbial “bitter truth” of our society and the first step toward finding resolution to problems is to recognize that the problems exist. Your assessment is a Proverbial “Hide one’s light under a bushel”
.
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Great article. We are trying to launch a movement to remove Aamir Liaquat from ARY for 3 simple reasons – his education, his personality and his credibility.
Please like our facebook page so that we can get Aamir Liaquat fired! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dear-ARY-Please-fire-Aamir-Liaquat/200554620005359?sk=wall
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@Baray Abu: He did all that; he is still on air| There is nothing wrong with us. GO back Rethink
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A brilliant article. Of course we will always have commenters like Frank who cannot bare the thought of Pakistan’s flaws being exposed. He considers himself a patriot because he will vigorously defend everything wrong about Pakistan. Frank – true patriots want their country to succeed and the truth even when it hurts rather than looking for simplistic defenses to complex issues.
The author has brilliantly summarized what ails Pakistan. We refuse to accept the truth. We defend idiots and bigots. We dig our grave deeper and deeper telling ourselves that the whole world is out to get us. We defend ZA Bhutto, Zia, Zaid Hamid, Imran Khan, the ISI, our pathetic Armed Forces and just about everyone else who has failed us. We hate the US for cleaning up the world’s worst terrorist when we should be thanking them. We think we’re great. We think our army is so fantastic yet reality does not bare out our beliefs. We then tell yourselves that the media lies to us and stay in our houses and only listen to other people who agree with the lies we were raised on.
Wake up Pakistan. The more we delude ourselves, the less likely we are to succeed as a people and as a country.
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@Frank: Id say youre alone!
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wow such a rare thing to see a good and mature piece on express tribune
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Very well-written George and definitely, Singing Hallejullah everywhere does not prove piety!!
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Delusion and denial, two pillars of all religions.
Likes of ‘Dr’ Liaquat pops up every now and then, in societies obsesssed with religion.
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I am sorry i differ with the majority of comments which is against Dr. Amir Liaqat. Mistake is of those who make something Godlike and then got annoyed when he did not act as their expectation. He is an ordinary human being like us, This video has nothing very significant in it. We dont have the private videos of others so how can we pin point him? What we think about our self. Are we 100% same in the public and private moments? Dont majority of us break traffic signal if constable is absent?. I have no emotional relationship with Dr. AL Rather I dont belong to his school of thought, but I want everyone to use common sense.
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@Ali Akbar Khan: Please it is time we grew up and realised that Israel, RAW and WEST are not repsonsible for every default in our soceity
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If they new his true nature why did GEO TV air his programmes for such a long time?
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@Frank: The real reason why you find this Englishman’s tone and message patronizing and offensive is your monstrous EGO. And that makes George’s message even more true!
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Excellently written. I do not disagree with a word you’ve written but it’s sad to see someone like you, who always exuded such positive energy, to have taken such a cynical tone. I guess Pakistan did that to you. it’s disappointing, really.
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Clearly it comes from a man who has maturity as a human. George further goes on to quote the notoriously apologetic Nadeem Paracha; but what had hurt me the most was to see Dr Shireen Mazari share this on her page. I thought at least she was someone with a clear head if not a clear conscience. George has uttered all these remarks against our society comparing us to WHAT or WHO?? The enslaved minds and hearts of the Western World? Whose every last string of hair is strangled in loans and debts!! Or he is comparing us to ‘Shining India’? Their system of Kufr is clearly dying it’s own death and yet these characters receive personal airtime from patriots like Dr Mazari, what a shame!!Recommend
I think George that your articale is an I opener for most of us. I think a discourse should start about the reponsibilities the media. What is being aired?, How is it being aired? must be taken into consideration. I think todays media is only commercially driven and thinks of only financial benifits that is why it tries to show contents which would get to the emotions of the people eaisly. Religion is dear to every one in Pakistan and there are some who are using it only for their advantage. Religion teaches us selflessness, service to others, abolishing your ego, gaining knowledge for the transformation of the socity for prosperity and love for all and more, but then who has the right to use it for his own self intrest. It is unfortunate that media today is only showing a fixed menu of content which are more targeted to the lower nature of the human being. Well its time that all should start to think about a change.
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@Frank:
i agree with u frank 110%
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Half way through reading your article I could tell you were talking along the lines of Nadeem F Piracha who no surprise turns out to be your friend. NFP’s articles are as biased as this one by you, which became evident when you compared Zaid Hamid and Amir Liaquat, former an over zealous man putting his life at stake to REVEAL hypocrites like Amir Liaquat and latter who shamlessly befools the FOOLS. Psychological is the logic used in your and NFPs articles. People like you cannot and will not discourage our nation from progressing by trying to confuse us with your irrational unfounded or perhaps deliberately deceiving logic that mixes up good and bad, truth and falsehood, evil and good only to spread chaos in the society.
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i completely agree with frank! George does seem pretty cynical and i certainly disagree about zaid hamid too!
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well as far as i think.. its good to write article talking about someone who one is on tv show.. dont compare Bhutto with amir liaqat…. Bhutoo was a man of word.. he did alot for the country.. and secondly.. if you think amir was abusive or what ever what we see on the tv are the questions asked from ulama.. not from amir liaqat those alims are awesome…. so please dont be a mess.. talking about an anchor… he is just an anchor talking to alims. alims are authentic and they say everything with refrence from books.. so no need blame amir.. i dont care about amir and i am not intrested in personal affairs.. we all human beings have flaws and we are filled with faults.. we can heir new anchor….
anyways that is true that we are blind.. we cant see the truth.. the reason is we are week coz of our people or government.. or establishment.. who are eating the country like hell…
All we can do is change ourselves. and Pray to Allah that he fix everything….
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I can’t believe how easily people get brainwashed. One video and that sit, we all hate Aamir Liaquat. There is absolutely no proof of this video being genuine. The lip movements might match the timing of the words but no one can prove if he is actually saying the exact words. And my word please watch the video again and hear the voice. It looks very different from when he does his show. But at the same time we have no proof that this video is false. According to Islamic laws it is forbidden to make allegations on someone without any proper evidence. So they call it a Muslim country. Please stick by it and leave this matter to Allah.
And btw look at yourselves for a change and try to change yourself before pointing fingers at others because when you point 1 finger at someone, you have 3 pointing to yourself
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@Ali Akbar Khan:
Isnt it much easier to say that the good doctor is not a good muslim, instead of abandoning reason, rationality and common sense. Come on,have you seen the video it looks very authentic Besides what would Mossad, Cia etc gain from discreting a muslim scholar??
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By far the best article iv read so far regarding the havoc over Mr. Liaqat. You have excellently summarized the whole scenario by not only presenting the antecedent but also explicitly well explained symptoms too. May we all be guided righteously.
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Nicely put. Awesome piece of reality!
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@Zulfiqar:
Normally people (at least people with more than 2 braincells) know that politicians hardly ever say the truth. But the ‘DR’ preaches about Islam and God, so you can expect a bit more honesty from him.
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We are thankful to people like you George,who have the courage to write such articles.As in our society to talk against someone who is liked this much automatically leads to eyebrow raising.Its a shame for us and our country to have people like Dr Amir Liaqat who know exactly how to play with peoples minds and feelings but what is more sad is that before this channel the channel before this also worked with him for he was bringing them the ratings and their channel was the most watched so they accepted whatever he had to offer and no objections were put upfront then.This is all about success and the chase to be the best over the best and it will never stop.You are right when you say we as society may be psychologically sick.Its sad how we cant look at the truth and want to put our heads into the ground and hope that the trouble would vanish away but it comes to us ten times fold in return.By encouraging hypocrites like Dr Amir who exploit Islam we are encouraging our beliefs and system to fail further and we are a part and parcel as we all contribute towards it in our own little way.I hugely respected the man but he has lost all respect in my eyes.Everytime i look at him i think here we have a liar, a hypocrite hiding behind the veil of Islam.He is worst than anybody else and if to be it was all editing why is asking for forgiveness or apologizing to his viewers such a bad thought?It is because the word sorry does not exist in our dictionary but we can use it to manipulate it when we want to give big lectures to people on TV to ask for forgiveness from Allah and people around you.Like its easy to preach but difficult to practice.Dr Amir should have apologized for what he had done that would have made him a bigger and a better hero in the eyes of the people.A far stronger message of rising above the petty politics of channels and showing he is a man of conduct.But sadly there is none and we talk of the holy scriptures.It is but laughable!
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Nice piece of work George! Though we will do with it what we always do…fall into a dogmatic discussion about what is (additionally to the faults you’ve laid out) wrong with us and then go back to sleep again after coming to no conclusion. We need Legos!
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Your article is brilliant and must say that you have hit the nail on the head. We are Islamic Republic of hypocrisy. Unfortunately our country is governed by bunch of idiots and some “disco” religious scholars are manipulating the religion.
“the problems with Pakistan aren’t economic, political or social — they’re psychological” – Well Said!
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Good analysis and an attempt to revive (with a low voltage shock) the dying soul of Pakistanis.
I guess they have little soul left in them. They need a bigger shock, bigger humiliation, they are waiting for some thing big. God help them.
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@Shehryar: – Are you serious??? i hope you are joking right??
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i found this through google Aamir Liaquat First Written Answer To Dubbed Videos
http://www.awamiweb.com/aamir-liaquat-first-written-answer-to-dubbed-videos-23753.html
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God Bless you George Fullton :)
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Here is a very apt sher by Ghalib for Amir
“GHALIB BURA NA MAAN JO WA-AZ BURA KAHAY
AISA B KOI HAI K SAB ACHA KAHEIN JISSAY….”
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The lip and movements do not match.Are you people blind?If you want to believe that he is a cheat and a liar then find a better reason. Even I hate him, that does not prove that the video is real.
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I couldnt agree more..this is perfectly written!.
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So very true George. You have very rightly expressed the disappointment and utter discomfort among the people’s of “Islamic” republic of Pakistan.
The fact that a person commits a sin and then very utterly denies it too makes him a bizarre figure. Having said that, the term “Bizarre” is applicable to the more morally sound people of the society which unfortunately we lack in numbers in our society.
No wonder why “Dr. Amir’s” show continues in “Islamic” republic of Pakistan…
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@ George urgg!!! please don’t do this . Atleast You don’t become a hypocrite now. You know very well that the video ain’t fake. his lips are completely supporting his voice. yes theres a bit problem in the audio. Observe the lips people. T hey are matching. . George i would request You to stop taking his wrong side while You know the reality. yup i can only say that we should not make fun of him. and keep his secrets. that’s it.
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Excellently written articale by George Fulton,
Drliaquat-…….really such a cheap low standard comedian.Recommend
Amazing article — thanks!
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Whole story related with the mentality of our society. Bcz people so so credulous that they are dependet on these self proclaimed scholars. And following these people blindly. Their words proved to them as authentic and justifiable.
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@Frank:
Frank – your lack of an intellectual response is so typical of what is wrong with Pakistan. Clearly, this is the best you could come up with – sad…
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George this was very well written, congrats. Let us expose such hypocrites and also look into our ownselves to bring in individual change
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@Frank:
yes you’re alone, out of the many article’s I have read written by “white” people, his tone is the LEAST patronizing and demeaning. Whatever he wrote hit right home, he raised points that really need to be thought about and sorted out..Now.
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Well George this is how bad we need a hero in today’s PakistanRecommend