Notes

Good afternoon, we hope you have been enjoying your assembly and continue on to have a lovely day.

Last year, around this time, BBC and CNN, both renowned media sources in the western world, released an article stating that 87 per cent of Americans have a negative opinion about the nation of Pakistan. 87 per cent of people, that is an extremely large number, and I know that this isn't America, and that Canada is a more tolerant and patient nation, but it wouldn't be wrong of me to set that number as a benchmark for the majority of the western world. As a person, even though I have been born and bred in Canada, and have only been to Pakistan once as a toddler, I know whatever I am today, whoever I am today, I am what I am because of Pakistan.

Pakistan is one of the greatest, kindest, most compassionate nations, and it and it's people have so much to offer to the world, and it is wrong, it is wrong that 87% of people in this room, and in this country have a negative opinion about Pakistan. An opinion based entirely on the media and propaganda we are all subjects of today, Pakistan is much, much more than that.

In a mere 67 years of independence Pakistan has had a great global contribution, and will continue to do so. But these contributions are over looked and over seen, masked in random charges, we want you to see the real side of Pakistan, and would like to request you to please, please, please, know that the world is amazingly huge and that it is here for you. Everything the media tells you is not true, and everything you think you know can not be used as a judgement factor over a entire nation because you will never know everything.

We would also like to give you this opportunity to question us about anything. The culture, religion, allegations, food, literature, governance, independence, relations, conflicts, anything. Please ask us questions, to help clear this opinion, if you do not want to ask them here, please feel free to stop any of us in the halls and ask questions, we promise to answer them to the best of our abilities.

The first song used in the presentation is the Qaumi Tarana, the national anthem of Pakistan also commonly called Pak Sar Zameen. The second song is an army appreciation song, in honour of all those who have sacrificed their lives for Pakistan, originally sung by the legendary Noor Jahan Sahiba, and here sung by popular Pakistani artist Shehzad Roy and actress Ayesha Omer. And the third song was written by Pakistan's ISPR in honour of the children and teachers who were martyred in the recent attack in Peshawar.

They're are bits of poetry in the presentation, in Urdu, I'll read them to you, and they have been translated to their closest meaning just underneath.

Thank you.