Yeh Hum Naheen....says Pakistan

Nearly 63 million Pakistani citizens have signed the anti-terror ‘‘Yeh Hum Naheen’’ campaign. The campaign was launched in 2007 with a hit song featuring some of the country’s biggest pop stars, including Ali Zafar. The idea originated with a British-Pakistani media consultant Waseem Mahmood, whose aim was to prove in a tangible manner that Pakistanis were against the violence that comes in the guise of Islamic “jihad”.“This is about giving people a common platform to fight terrorism,” Mahmood was quoted as saying by a British daily. He said all signatures were verified and most signatures collected by direct promotions. The campaign was financed by Muslim businessmen from UK and Indonesia and has caught the imagination of Pakistani celebrities and media. Despite the obvious attraction of the signature campaign, not much can come out of it. The power of civil society in Pakistan has not left room for hope and inspiration and the yearning for civilian government has repeatedly been run roughshod over by military rule, dictators and coups. Besides, the “silent majority” has been repeatedly overtaken by the “determined minority”.