Aqeel Zafar’s Randomness

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has finally lifted the lifted the ban, which it imposed few days ago, after YouTube removed the offensive video from the site.

I am a fan of YouTube (and other Google products) and am glad that it has respected the feelings of Muslims all around the world.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has recently ordered all ISPs to block access to popular video sharing site YouTube, due to some “objectionable content”. Here is an email sent to customers of micronet (taken from naitazi):

Dear Valued Customer:

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (www.pta.gov.pk) has directed all ISPs of the country to block access to www.youtube.com web site for containing blasphemous web content/movies.

The site would remain blocked till further orders from PTA. Meanwhile, Internet users can write to youtube.com to remove the objectionable web content/movies because this removal would enable the authorities to order un-blocking of this website.

We’re sorry for any inconvenience.

Best Regards

Manager
Technical Assistance Center
Micronet Broadband Pvt. Ltd.
Islamabad

There is lot of speculation on what this “objectionable content” might be, many people are thinking it is due to recent videos uploaded on youtube that showed election rigging, though according to some people it’s due to a controversial Dutch movie against Islam.

In any case, this kind of blockage never works, one, it can be easily bypassed and two, it makes people wonder the reason behind the ban and then those who wouldn’t look for it under normal circumstance, tries to check it too.

Update: According to news, the ban is due to a controversial anti-islam movie uploaded by Dutch politician Geert Wilders. You can read about it more on TheNews, DailyTimes & The Post.

With all these news of what’s happening in country these days (people killing, people dieing, protests, emergency etc.), it’s nice to read something good about Pakistan. BBC correspondent Hugh Sykes has written (actually he broadcast it on radio), a nice article about his (ongoing?) holidays in Pakistan. Check it out on BBC website.

Thanks to Pakistan Uncut for the link.

I once heard there is Lahore in USA too (I live in Lahore, Pakistan), but never found more about it, until today; While reading blogs, I found a post about Lahore in Virginia, USA.

From Metroblog Lahore (which took it from Lahore for Lovers):

Columbus discovered America: I discovered Lahore in America. Both discoveries were accidental.

What everyone found mystifying was that there was a Lahore in the state of Virginia, yet none of the Pakistanis living in Washington had ever heard of it. The map was pulled out again and, lo and behold, there it was: Lahore. We did not have far to drive, in fact, no more than a mile and a half before we were in Lahore. But where was Lahore, we wondered, because all we could see was a cabin, a filling station and a few scattered houses. There were five or six girls playing on a patch of grass. We got out of the car and I asked one of them to come closer. The others followed their friend. “What is your name?” I asked. “Doris.” “Where do you live?” “Right here.” “Where is the city of Lahore?” “Lahore is not a city; it is a village.” “Are all your friends from Lahore?” “Yes, we go to the same church.” “You see, we all come from a city called Lahore.” “Where is your Lahore?” “Lahore is in Pakistan.” “How big a city is it?” “As big as Washington.” “We have never seen Washington.” “What is the population of your Lahore?” “Population? We have twenty-five family homes.” “Our city has millions of people living in it.” “Oh my God!” “Stand next to that sign. Can I take a picture?” “Sure.”

Until the middle of the 19th century, this area had no name, which was inhabited by about a dozen families. Their mail would often get misdelivered or even remain undelivered. A resident by the name of Phillip Marshal Jackson realised that their tiny settlement must have a name. One day while going through a book about India, he came upon the name Lahore and liked it so much that he proposed that their helmet be called Lahore.He wrote to the federal government which offered no objection to the name Lahore and, thus, the Lahore Post Office was established here in 1885.

For more information about Lahore, VA, check Lahore for Lovers.

P.S: Forgot to mention before, website’s name is inspired by Virginia’s official slogan, “Virgina is for Lovers”