Pakistan, its people most misunderstood in Europe: forum

[A.Rafay]

KARACHI - German journalist Ingrid Mueller said at a forum discussion held at Karachi Press Club on Tuesday that Pakistan and its people were among the most misunderstood in the world particularly in Europe and these misperceptions could only be corrected through frequent contact of people at all levels.
The discussion was held under the auspices of the German Consulate General in Karachi
Ms Muller who has previously visited Pakistan and interacted extensively with the people of upper Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Areas said the outside world was amazed when told about the rich ethnic and cultural diversity of the different areas of Pakistan.
She added it was unfortunate that the world particularly Europe viewed Pakistan in the context of conflict and terrorism which was why very few people were willing to come to this country whereas the reality was totally different. Ms Mueller said that she had found Pakistanis to be extremely friendly and very hospitable.
The women here had much more freedom than what was the perception outside. However, she said what was most interesting for her was the low opinion and negative feeling of the people for politicians across the board. She said the Pakistani people were the best judge of what was good for the country and how to run it. Her observations were followed by a lively discussion.
Earlier German Consul General Dr Tilo Klinner in his introduction said Ingrid Mueller was a Senior Editor at Berlin’s Der Tagesspeigel (Daily Mirror) a Liberal newspaper. In his short remarks Dr Klinner said Pakistan had a rich and distinguished culture and its diverse people made it a very colorful and interesting country. He also showed a two full page article written by Ms Mueller about her previous trips which covered various topics.

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[iajj]

americans and europeans willfully distorted pakistan's achievements and valor in fighting arabic terrorism and deliberately misled their own constituency. the purpose was to engineer a public sentiment unfairly unfavorable to pakistan, and the payoff is that the political and military class in the west could then leverage the ignorance and prejudice of their own public to coerce pakistan into sacrificing ever more for a sinister, western agenda.

but in the end, the political leaders of the west would only be undercutting the roots of their own democracy