Frequently asked questions about PakPositive. Modified occasionally to reflect ongoing changes and queries.

Are you a 'feelgood', pro-government propaganda blogger?

The answer is a plain and categorical NO.

I am an ordinary Pakistani from Karachi. In fact, no one in my family is associated with government employment. If you are a regular visitor, you will also notice that none of my stories have any governmental twist or spin.

Then why do you care?

One fine evening, after browsing dozens of websites and blogs, I realized that I had not read a single piece of general-interest news about Pakistan. All I read about Pakistan or any of our cities was in relation with terrorism, hatred, violence, bigotry, intolerance, bomb-blasts, Al-Qaeda, extremism, etc. At that point I truly craved for some 'ordinary' news from Pakistan. After all, we are a living, breathing society where something 'civilized' must happen, or ordinary people aren't always killing each other to rid Pakistan of them! That's when I decided to start PakPositive.

Quite a few stories on this site are from Indian websites. Are you pro-India?

First, I am not pro- or anti- India. In fact I am not pro- or anti- anything for the sake of being a Pakistani. I am 100% pro-Pakistan and am proud of my country and my origin. So again, I don't believe in hatred in order to be politically or religiously correct.

Secondly, If you are a regular internet news reader, you will agree that Indian media is simply ubiquitous on the web in terms of news from South Asia (and thus Pakistan). So it is natural to come across more Indian sources even for Pakistani news, which is widely covered in Indian press.

I send you so many links to news stories that I like but you never post them, why? Do you even go through them?

I go through all suggested stories. However, I post according to my own criteria, of course (next faq). So, please keep suggesting, which I really appreciate.

I read an item on this site and to me it is absolutely NOT positive! What's going on, what's your criteria?

Fair enough. Here's a tip: Don't take "Pak Positive" name too literally. If you don't agree with a news item's nature, then probably this site is not your cup of tea. My criteria keep changing and are very circumstantial, improvised and according to the whims of a mad blogger.

What's with "without religious, political or military tones?" What have you got against religion, politics or the military?

I have nothing against religion, politics or the military. In fact I have great respect for these institutions. The PakPositive theme, however, is simply to post news about ordinary Pakistani citizens and Pakistani events not necessarily influenced by these (as much as possible, at least).

The headlines and quite a few posts on PakPositive are different than what's on the original source, why's that?

I'm glad you noticed. I just get this uncontrollable urge to do (my) justice to headlines and blurbs if I feel doing it would be more interesting to PakPositive readers. The original full story, of course, is untouched and readily accessible.

I appreciate your effort! Is there anything I can do to help?

Yes, you absolutely can! Please post your opinion, a random thought, a rant, a news item, something new, or just about anything here. Or how about sharing a great photo you took or saw, at Photos? If you have a website or a blog yourself, how about supporting PakPositive by displaying this cool stuff on your site?

You could also recommend PakPositive to your non-Pakistani (or Pakistani!) friends. Tell them Pakistan is simply not what's reported in the 'mainstream' media - at least not all of it!

Good good very nice. But I have to ask this… I know this sounds very rude and you not having any religious or political views, but I'm very curious (hey, I'm Pakistani!)… er… Are you Muslim??

LOL. Yes I am (and I do have strong religious and political views, but they're personal and will remain so.)

I can't stand your ridiculous website! I have so many reasons for not liking it that I don't know how to list them and give you a piece of my mind!

Don't bother! Just don't visit if you cannot stand it. You were not forced to visit it now, were you?

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Contact address: pakpositive (@) gmail (dot) com

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You may also wish to read an old interview cum feature published in Bandbaja magazine (Oct 2004).

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