Ghalib Khalil

Ghalib Khalil is the founder of Azaad Pakistan and has been working as a social activist in Pakistan since the devastating floods of 2010. I met Ghalib a few months ago, and was also inspired by his vision. As part of Pakistan Week on UrbanDuniya, I asked him to spill the beans on why he does what he does.

Ghalib Khalil

What is Azaad Pakistan and how did you come to start it?

Azaad Pakistan is a platform for young individuals to come together and work for the betterment of the community. We started Azaad Pakistan in 2013, with 5 members only and now we have around 150 members throughout Pakistan. We have a mission of 14 acts for Pakistan, since we started up on 14th August. Every year on independence day we share our annual report with the team and the donors.

What have been some of the highlights of working with Azaad Pakistan?

We have done around 30 projects under Azaad Pakistan in the past 2 years. These projects are valued to be more than 9million rupees. Our key area of working has been disaster relief and education. We raised a handsome amount of 2 million ruppees for Thar (ed: a famine-hit desert area) in just around 20 days. In the education sector we have been supporting various schools. We partnered with Rabt for their summer internships at government schools. We ran a book donation drive, and ended up collecting 5000+ books.

We also had a chance to work for Pakistan Army. We ran a campaign to support zarb-e-azb (ed: “zarb-e-azb” is the name of the Pakistan army’s campaign against militants). We collected 7500+ hand written letters for soldiers fighting at the front to motivate them.

What do you think are the major challenges facing Pakistan today?

The major key challenge that Pakistan is facing right now is an education emergency. The educational institutions are in crisis. Government schools have no standards and the private schools are too hard to attend. Children then get involved with child labor and once they start earning they never get bothered enough to study.

We want to change this, which is why education has always been our key focus.

Ghalib Khalil at a TedxLUMS talk

Why do you love Pakistan? What does Pakistan mean to you?

Pakistan has given me an identity in this planet, a land to live, and why not? I feel really blessed and proud to be a Pakistani.

Pakistan has given me so many opportunities and challenges which I’d never be able to thank my country for. My country is my challenge, my faith, my pride, my life. Dil dil Pakistan (“Pakistani by heart”)

What are your future plans for Azaad Pakistan?

Azaad Pakistan celebrates its second birthday on 14th of August and then we get started with our work again. Inshallah. (God willing).

We have been secretly working on a project. It is recently in its planning phase. Theres one thing I can guarantee about it; if and once it is fully implemented and run, we can change the future of this country.

To read more about Ghalib’s work or to see how you can get involved, go to the Azaad Pakistan Facebook page, or take a look at Ghalib’s blog Hoping Pakistan.