The military operations in Swat and resulting humanitarian crisis are a test not only for the Pakistani government, but for Pakistani society as well.

In recent days, the general public and media in Pakistan have responded with great vigor to the call to support displaced residents of the Malakand Division. For example, many in Mardan have allowed Swatis to reside in their second or third homes. Other Swatis have found refuge in the homes of extended family. There are acts of great generosity — reflecting the values of Pashtun and, more generally, Pakistani, culture — being made by average Pakistanis.

The major news channels have had live coverage from the IDP camps, bringing images of the victims of war to homes across Pakistan. Pakistan’s most popular news channel, GEO News, had a telethon on Sunday night to fundraise for Swat relief.

But much more must be done. Pakistan’s civil society needs to utilize the same level of sustained commitment it did with the earthquakes in Balochistan and Kashmir and the lawyers movement. Hundreds of thousands have made their way to relief camps, where the provisions are inadequate. The void must be filled Pakistani citizens — especially those who live comfortably in air conditioned homes with high ceilings and flat-panel televisions.

Inside Pakistan, there are many ways to direct funds toward displaced Swatis, including the Edhi Foundation and Mir Khalil ur Rehman Foundation. Kalsoom Lakhani at Changing Up Pakistan has provided the names and contact information of other groups working in the region.

Pakistanis and individuals of Pakistani descent living in the United States, Canada, and Europe can help out by donating to:

• Helping Hand
• Islamic Relief USA
• Islamic Relief Worldwide
• Mercy Corps

As a Pakistanis remember Malakand Division IDPs, the tens of thousands of displaced Baloch as a result of the insurgency and military operations there should not be forgotten. Indeed, now is the time to reach out to them as well and work to heal the wounds reopened in recent years.

General (ret) Pervez Musharraf (Urdu: پرویز مشرف) (born 11 August 1943), NI(M), TBt, was the 10th President of Pakistan and the Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army.

He took power on 12 October 1999, following a nonviolent military coup d’état and subsequent ouster of the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The military-led government stated its intention to restructure the political, economic and electoral systems. On May 12, 2000, Pakistan’s 12 member Supreme Court unanimously validated the October 1999 coup and granted Musharraf executive and legislative authority for 3 years from the coup date. President Musharraf’s decisions as President of Pakistan, were according to the constitution, approved by the Parliament and endorsed by the Supreme Court

On 18 August 2008, Pervez Musharraf resigned from the post of President under impeachment pressure from the coalition government. He was succeeded on 6 September 2008 by Asif Ali Zardari duly elected as Pakistan’s 11th President.

Early life

Pervez Musharraf was born on 11 August 1943 in Nehar Wali Haveli meaning “House Next to the Canal”, situated in Kacha Saad Ullah Mohallah, Daryaganj in Delhi, British India, and stems from a family of government servants.

After Musharraf’s grandfather, Qazi Mohtashimuddin, retired as the Deputy Collector of Revenue based in Dehli, he acquired Neharwali Haveli in the old walled city of Delhi where Musharraf was born.

The haveli, with its high roofs and arches, and is believed to have been previously the home of a “Wazir” (Minister) in the court of Bahadur Shah Zafar — the last Mughal emperor of the 19th century.

After independence of Pakistan, Musharraf’s family migrated to Pakistan where his father, Syed Musharraf Uddin — a graduate of Aligarh University — joined the Pakistan Foreign Office as an Accountant, and ultimately retired as a Director.

Musharraf’s mother, Zarin, received her master’s degree from the University of Lucknow in 1944 and supplemented the recently immigrated family’s income to support the education of her children. She recently retired from a United Nations agency in Islamabad.

He revealed in his memoirs that he was critically injured after falling from a mango tree as a teenager, and he considers this his first direct experience with death.

Musharraf attended Saint Patrick’s School, Karachi, graduating in 1958, later attending Forman Christian College in Lahore and is said to have been good in mathematics during his academic life.

Musharraf is married to Sehba, who is from Okara. They have a son, Bilal, who was a graduate student at Stanford University and currently works in Silicon Valley, and a daughter, Ayla Raza, who works as an architect in Karachi.

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Rehman Malik, Interior Minister has got his fully functional website up and live – even more pleasing is that he will be available for chat with general public for one hour fortnightly. That’s pretty impressive on his part.

If you look at this website, it has got plenty of sections, including Videos, Pictures, press releases, latest news and much more including a newsletter.

Are you amazed? Here is even more amazing that Mr. Malik has got his Facebook page, Myspace, Friendster and even You Tube Channel.

Facebook page or other profiles haven’t got much content, maybe Malik’s team is process of making right now. But if you look at website’s feel, it is evident that minister has got some serious plans to follow.

So that’s what we call online presence…!

•Website Address: http://www.rehmanmalik.com/
•Facebook Page
•MySpace
•Friendster
•Youtube Channel
•Twitter – Not available right now, but let’s expect twitter to happen soon.
Apparently this is not official website – meaning that not run by the Government of Pakistan, however, Mr. Malik’s staff would be running it. Domain name was registered in the name of Faisal Malik back in May 2009 – looks he had this in mind for long.

If this is not official website, then there are good chances that Mr. Rehman may use the followers/readers/fans even when he won’t be in government.

Legendary cricketer, motivated philanthropist and maverick politician Imran Khan had an emergency stomach surgery performed yesterday.

He is still in hospital (yes, at the very same Shaukat Khannum Hospital that is his greatest gift to Pakistan – yes, it is a gift far greater than even his World Cup cricket victory). But he is reportedly out of danger and recovering.

Here is a news story from BBC with some details:

Surgeons have performed an emergency operation on former Pakistan captain and all-rounder Imran Khan to remove an obstruction in his small intestine. The procedure was carried out on Monday at Lahore’s Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital after Imran, 56, complained of severe pain in his abdomen. A hospital spokesman said afterwards: “Mr Khan is now out of danger.”

Imran, who captained Pakistan to World Cup success in 1992, was a member of the national parliament for five years. He is in intensive care and has been advised to remain in the hospital for at least three days. The hospital where he is being treated is named after Imran’s mother and was established following a charity appeal launched by the ex-cricketer himself, after she died of cancer.

For years the founder of leader of Pakistan’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has spoken about financial misappropriation and irregularities of the country’s feudal and industrial rulers through alleged or real misuse of power.

But British Land Registry records now revealed that Altaf Hussain, the charismatic middle class leader of Pakistan’s third largest political party could not curb the temptation of acquiring a series of expensive and middle class properties in the British capital – one of the most expensive cities in the world.