Lahore, 21st July 2010: Pakistanis from all walks of life are seen being creative and contributing their home-made videos, photos, poems and stories to a new digital library designed to showcase Pakistan by Pakistanis across the globe.

This digital library called ‘Manzare Pakistan’ (a view of Pakistan), is part of the Azme Alishan various initiatives to build a better Pakistan and can be seen as an extension on the www.azmealishan.com website. Manzare Pakistan has been established to give people a forum in which to tell their stories of the nation they love and to counter negative images of the country around the world.

People can submit videos, MP3s, text documents and digital and cell phone photographs directly to the website, or send their submissions in the post. These will then be converted to the appropriate digital format and posted online by the Azme Alishan volunteers.

Faisal Paracha, one of the patrons of Azme Alishan explained that the online library was designed to be open to as many people as possible. “You don’t need to be a professional in any way to get involved in this campaign,” he said. “If you love Pakistan and have something to say, this is your opportunity to make your voice heard.”

The library has already attracted hundreds of contributions, with everything from old poems to mobile phone pictures being uploaded by members of the public. One entry entitled ‘My Beautiful Pakistan’ features an image of traffic on the streets of Lahore demonstrating the “fusion of the old and the new”. Another, filed under the title ‘Love Pakistan’, claims to show the photographer’s “vision and my hope for a brighter, more vibrant and a more colorful Pakistan”.

All contributions will go towards building a huge digital library of everyday life in Pakistan, with users being invited to comment on and add to the submissions with their own thoughts and experiences. Azme Alishan supporters are highly optimistic the website will turn into a real celebration of Pakistan’s culture and values while helping to change perceptions of the country both at home and abroad.

“If you only read the papers or watch the international media you get a completely skewed view of what this country is all about”, continued Mr. Paracha.“There’s so much that we should be celebrating about Pakistan, but it’s up to us to find those stories and then get out there and tell people about them. I really hope people will use Manzare Pakistan as a tool to come forward and make Pakistanis in Pakistan and internationally aware of how much Pakistan has to offer with its beauty, rich culture, resources and talented people”.

The Azme Alishan initiative was launched in March earlier this year as a vehicle to give all Pakistanis a voice in everyday life to make a positive difference in the country. It is also the driving force behind another initiative, the National Song Competition, which is currently being aired on local satellite television channels. Other large initiatives include a widely supported ‘Sanwaro Pakistan, Tidy Lahore’ drive where thousands of volunteers and mohallas’ residents took part collectively to make their city clean.

Submissions to the new online library can be made by going to www.azmealishan.com and clicking on the Manzare Pakistan Tab, or by post to Azme Alishan, 68A, CIII, Gulberg 3, Lahore.