To go viral and gain views, TikTok users have started the ‘Skull-Breaker Challenge’ causing people to end up in the hospital with broken bones and fatal injuries.
The challenge begins with three people standing alongside one another and in a row, the middle person jumps while the other two kick his/her legs out from under causing a dangerous fall.
Falling like this is life-threatening and can cause paralysis and even death as severe head trauma could lead to serious internal bleeding in the brain.
Meanwhile, TikTok does not allow content that is harmful. The community guidelines for the app state: “We do not promote participation in activities that could lead to harm. We also do not permit users to encourage others to take part in dangerous activities. We do not allow content that promotes self-harm or suicide, but we do allow our users to share their experiences in order to raise awareness about these issues.”
However, TikTok has not officially responded to this matter.
The eighth edition of the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) is taking place this weekend. It is refreshing to see cultural events like the LLF take place in the country because we are fast becoming a society that doesn’t celebrate culture and critical thinking anymore.
From Orhan Pamuk to William Dalrymple, from Audrey Truschke to Fatima Bhutto, from Omar Shahid Hamid to Vali Nasr, the line-up at the LLF is brilliant. It was good to see on the first day sessions discussing journalist integrity and the poetry of Pashtun poet Rehman Baba.
Pakistanis boast generosity, kindness and hospitality. Yet there is something we are slowly but surely losing – tolerance. When movies like Zindagi Tamasha cannot be screened and Urdu translations of fictional books are not allowed, we should know that there’s something wrong. Neither do we entertain critical thinking nor do we tolerate difference of opinion. Also, we are quite a judgemental lot.
Last month, Fahad Mirza posted a picture of his European holiday with his wife Sarwat Gilani. They were kissing in the picture. Comments on social media under that picture were mostly so negative and vile that Gilani had to ask haters to unfollow her if they hated her so much. Imagine that a picture displaying affection between a husband and wife on social media could lead to such negativity, little wonder then that victims of sexual harassment get the sort of abuse that they do online and offline.
Recently, we saw our parliamentary debates turn rowdy. The level of debates was not just low but downright personal. From Abdul Qadir Patel’s innuendo-laden speech targeting Murad Saeed to Saeed’s own abusive speech about “dogs” ruling Sindh, the level of discourse in parliament was quite disgraceful. If the people’s representatives can stoop so low, what kind of message are we giving to our citizens? No wonder then that peaceful protestors are booked under sedition charges and the prime minister thinks Maulana Fazlur Rehman should be tried for high treason under Article 6 of the constitution.
FIA issued a statement saying that columnist Gul Bukhari will be charged with terrorism and her property confiscated if she doesn’t appear before the agency in Pakistan within 30 days. And this is because the government doesn’t like Bukhari’s tweets. One doesn’t have to agree with Bukhari’s tweets, but since when has criticism become terrorism? This is a country where terrorist Ehsanullah Ehsan escapes and flees to Turkey while the government remains silent except for interior minister’s confirmation – after over a week – but the same wants to regulate social media by asking tech companies to open their offices in Pakistan and share data of users the government thinks are making anti-state state?
Intolerance on social media is at another level. If you support ‘ABC’ party, ‘XYZ’ party’s supporters will call you names we can only hope they never take in front of their families. Difference of opinion is not tolerated anymore – both online and offline. Thus to have literary festivals like the LLF, which celebrate critical thinking and have discussions on culture, arts, poetry and literature, is a blow of fresh air.
Karachi Kings’ Coach Dean Jones won hearts and the internet after a video of him clearing the mess and trash after the match went viral on social media. Jones picked up the mess from the enclosure after his team beat Peshawar Zalmi on Friday at Karachi National Stadium.
#DeanJones@ProfDeano Thank you for the display of such greatness and humbleness and We are proud of you being here and helping us learn being better than we are! This is what we need to learn! https://t.co/6RDEEPC3Om
People are praising the international cricketing star for showing a sense of responsibility towards society. Few other Karachi Kings’ cricketers were also seen in the background picking up the garbage.
Earlier, Jones’ team Karachi Kings was also involved in controversy during the match with Peshawar Zalmi. One of the Kings’ members was spotted using a mobile phone in the players’ dugout area during the match. After this, people started criticising this as ICC rules do not permit the use of a mobile phone during the match.
Jones cleared the air on social media by sharing that the person wasn’t any player but he was the CEO of the team. He said he was doing his job arranging the practice session for the team.
Like in ALL T20 cricket. The manager/CEO is the only one allowed to have a phone. In this case Tariq.. our CEO is doing work. Here he is organising us Practice times for today. Thanks for your concern. https://t.co/UORGtmMlro
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday announced that West Indies cricketing star and Peshawar Zalmi skipper Darren Sammy will be the recipient of the highest civilian award and honorary citizenship of Pakistan for his contribution to the development of cricket in the country.
President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi will confer both the citizenship and award, the ‘Nishane Pakistan’, on March 23, the board said on Twitter.
President of Pakistan Dr @ArifAlvi will confer the highest civilian award and honourary citizenship to Darren Sammy on 23 March for his invaluable contribution to cricket in Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/mn9AiLknB0
The Windies player will be the first cricketer to receive the award.
Following the announcement, Peshawar Zalmi’s franchise owner Javed Afridi said that the recognition of the side’s skipper would encourage other players to provide support.
“When Sammy was supporting Pakistan cricket, he did not do this for obtaining citizenship, but this award is in recognition of his services,” Afridi said, adding it would encourage everyone to support Pakistan cricket.
Meanwhile, Sammy said that his support was in extension for his “love for the country” and that he did not seek any personal gains.
“My love for Pakistan is natural, my contribution for this country is pure. I don’t need a passport to show my love for this country. I didn’t do it for myself it is for my affection with the people and for the love I get from here,” Geo Super quoted Sammy as saying.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has announced to empower women through the allocation of domestic animals to them, so that they can support their families and earn a livelihood, The News reported.
Addressing the Ehsaas Amdan (income) programme launching ceremony in Layyah on Friday, the premier said the government had decided that women will be given one cow, one buffalo and three goats, so that they could run their households.
Addressing the gathering, he said the government had launched the programme — which he described as “the first of its kind” in Pakistan — to alleviate the sufferings of the poorest members of society. Soon people will get more good news about their wellbeing and country’s prosperity, PM Imran added.
The premier assured the nation that Pakistan’s difficult time was over now, and the country had been put on the right track. He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was making efforts for its vision of formation of an Islamic welfare state on the patron of the state of Medina.
The PM said the government was working on different projects to establish an Islamic welfare state. He said neither he was afraid of death nor defeat, and believed in making his best efforts to leave the matter to Allah, whose all decisions would be acceptable to him.
The Lahore Literary Festival at Alhamra was launched on a beautiful day with thoughtfully presented sessions. For what you should be doing on Day Two of the three day event, the founder of The Writing Room, one of Pakistan’s only writing studios that offer creative writing workshops, Mariam Tareen tells us about what sessions you should be attending.
10AM -11AM: HALL 2: Mining Conflict: Writing on Life in a Turbulent World
This session is the best of what LLF has to offer. When else can you expect to see Nigerian writer Oyinkan Braithwaite (author of My Sister the Serial Killer) and Sri Lankan writer Romesh Gunesekera (author of Suncatcher) with our very own Bilal Tanweer (author of The Scatter Here is Too Great) and debut writer Ayesha Baqir (author of Beyond The Fields, a novel set in Southern Punjab) speaking about writing novels today? This stellar foursome is sure to bring some fascinating discussions to the stage about the writing life and the similarities between our turbulent worlds specifically from a shared non-Western viewpoint.
11:15AM-12:15PM: HALL 3: The Modern: Bombay to Karachi: Exploring art and collectorship post-independence
I always try and catch a panel about art at the LLF, and I especially love a panel about the subcontinent’s shared history. Moderated by Salima Hashmi (painter, curator, professor), the panel includes South Asian art specialist and curator Nour Aslam (who was a former head of sales for Bonhams auction house in South Asian art department), artist and art historian Samina Iqbal, and Zehra Jumaboy of the Courtauld Institute, who specializes in contemporary South Asian art. Even if you don’t much about art (like me), you’re bound to learn a lot from these experts.
Lunch Break
For lunch, head to Solli’s Pizza and try any one of their quirkily-named, handmade pizzas – Eat Pray Love, War and Pieces of Pepperoni, and Crazy Rich Asians – for a delicious and comforting meal. Depending on how brightly the sun is shining, get yourself a Cappuccino or a chocolate ice cream from nearby Costra Nostra as a pick-me-up before the next session. But before you head there, make it a point to stop by at the bookstores in Hall 1. The organizers have made sure ALL the books being discussed at the festival are available. If you’re lucky, you can get them signed by your favourites.
1:30PM–2:30PM Book Launch: My Sister, the Serial Killer
After Orhan Pamuk, I think the biggest surprise of the LLF this year was Nigerian author Oyinkan Braithwaite, the Man Booker Prize longlisted author of My Sister, the Serial Killer. “Sibling loyalty comes under pressure in a Lagos-set debut that mixes crime, love story and family saga,” says the Guardian. I feel that Nigerian writing, similar to Pakistani writing, is having a moment. Most importantly, it’s stepping out beyond what is expected of it by a Western audience, and this book is a big part of that. In her own words, “What I see happening is I see people experimenting more, which, you know, I’m really grateful for because I think Nigeria has been known for literary fiction quite a bit. But now we’re seeing a lot more sci-fi. We’re seeing a lot more crime. We’re seeing fantasy. We’re seeing all sorts of things that – not that they weren’t there before, but they weren’t there in these numbers. So it’s definitely an exciting time.”
2:45-3:45PM Hall 1: Book Launch: New Kings of the World
Fatima Bhutto is back again this year with her latest book – New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-Pop, for which she travelled the globe, exploring cultural movements arising from outside the Western world. Reporting from Istanbul, Dubai, Beirut, Lima and Seoul, Bhutto argues that the global dominance of American pop culture has come to an end, overtaken by Bollywood films, Turkish television shows (dizi), and Korean pop music (K-pop). The book is intelligent, thoughtful and entertaining as I am certain this session, moderated by Fatima Arif, will be too.
4-5PM: Bigotry Brigade: Where is India Headed?
Kashmiri writer, Dr. Nitasha Kaul
I usually choose sessions about books to sessions about politics, but I must make an exception here. This panel includes: historian and author Audrey Truschke (she wrote a biography of Aurganzeb) who is very vocal about human rights abuses in contemporary South Asia; Kashmiri novelist Nitasha Kaul (author of Residue and Future Tense); and Iranian-American professor of Middle Eastern Studies and International Affairs and author Vali Nasr, whose most recent book, The Dispensable Nation, deals with the implications of the Obama administration’s foreign policy on American strategic interests. (From 2009 to 2011, he was also the foreign policy adviser to President Obama’s administration.)
The sessions end at 5PM and since there is a PSL match in town, it’s best to leave as soon as possible to beat all the traffic. The weather promises to be sunny with patchy clouds and a truly wonderful day for sun and literature.
Not her debut film Bol, nor her Bollywood film opposite Shah Rukh Khan Raees but Mahira Khan’s ‘most special’ film is Superstar.
The superstar in an Instagram post shared that Superstar “is and will always be the most special film of my life”.
Reason being: “Not only because it gave me so much, but also because it taught me lots. I lived it for years. It was enough for me to have just seen it getting made.”
In a separate post, Mahira thanked her fans, stylists, my makeup artists, hairstylists and designers for helping her win the Most Stylish Film Actress.
“If it was up to me I’d live in my white shalwar kameez,” she wrote.
The opening ceremony of the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) failed to impress the audiences. Apart from the lukewarm performances, the one thing which the audiences hated was Ahmed Godil, the host of the ceremony. Following his act on stage, netizens took to social media to troll Godil. Memes on him were plenty and people left no stone unturned to bash him.
Following the immense backlash and hate, Ahmed while talking to a private news channel said,”Meri ghalti kya hai? I was doing my job. Meri maa behan ko to bakhsh do yaar. Main ne kya ghalti ki hai. (What is my mistake? I was just doing my job. At least leave my mother and sisters out of this).
Godil explained that all he did was try to warm up the crowd before the ceremony officially commenced.
“I was asked to go on stage to get the audience excited before the opening ceremony,” he said. “I was not even the host of the event. Fakhre Alam was always the host. I didn’t even know the broadcast had begun because I had the slot before the show itself.”
Godil further shared that he had not slept after the ceremony as people wouldn’t stop harassing him and his family. He added that his private number was leaked because of which he had to shut down his phone.
“Pichli do raton se main soya nahi hoon. Hum subah 5 bajay ghar aaty thay or phir 10 bajay hamain wapis report karna hota tha. Where did I go wrong? Kya main ne stage pe koi badtameezi ki? Kya main ne kisi ko gaali di? Ap log chahaty kya hain? (I haven’t slept since the past two nights. We had to report at 10 am every morning and would work till 5 in the morning. Where did I go wrong? Did I misbehave on stage? Did I abuse anyone? What do you all want? I am so hurt”).
Ahmed then proceeded to show his phone to the audiences and said, “This phone is on flight mode since last night. Someone leaked my contact number on Facebook.”
“Aap ne kya expect kia tha mujhse. Main aik host hoon. Main yahan pe aa k kapray utar k nachoon ga. Main ganay gaoonga. Main America gaya or Atif Aslam or Sonu Nigam ke shows ko host kiya. I am the only Pakistani host jisne Indian artist ka show host kia hai. Aap koi host dikha dein mujhay utha k. There is no one. (“I am just a host. What was I supposed to do? Take off my clothes and dance? I’ve been a host for a long time. I’ve hosted shows for Atif Aslam in America. I’ve done this before, I didn’t just come out of nowhere. But what did I do so wrong?)” he said.
Godil shared that since the PSL ceremony he has replayed his performance multiple times to try to find out where he went wrong. He shared that he is under severe mental pressure and fears that his career could end because of the trolling.
Godil is a host, VJ, RJ, actor and model. He did his Bachelor’s from Iqra University and Master’s from SZABIST. Before hosting PSL V, he also hosted the FebFest and Karachi Eat.
Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram’s life is being made into a movie.
The film titled Akram: An Era was announced at the opening ceremony of the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the National Stadium in Karachi.
According to the press release, the film will go on floors at the end of this year. The cast and release date has not yet been locked.
Akram: An Era will be produced under the banners of 502 Productions and Pomelo Films with Executive Producers Adeel Niazi and Arsalan H. Shah steering the project. Niazi will also be directing the film.
Sharing his thoughts on the film, Akram said, “The fact that films are being made on cricket and, more importantly, sports stars is not only a good sign for the film industry but for the sport as well. Movies are a unique portal to engage a whole new generation, I am looking forward to participating in the production and cannot wait to see how this pans out.”
The movie is said to not only highlight Wasim Akram’s many accomplishments but also shed light on his personal life and endeavours outside the stadium.
Akram: An Era is currently in its preliminary stages of pre-filming and the production house will be commencing with auditions and screen tests soon after PSL 2020.
Previously, a film was made on the life of Shahid Afridi. The film starred Humayun Saeed and Hamza Ali Abbasi in key roles.
