E-paper Pakistantoday KHI 9th January, 2012

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Former envoy to US Hussain Haqqani fears for his life

Television actress Juhi Parmar wins Bigg Boss five

Ten years on, Guantanamo still casts long shadow

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rs15.00 Vol ii no 193 22 pages karachi —

pakistantoday.com.pk

edition

monday, 9 January, 2012 safar 14, 1433

ImplementatIon of SC’S verdICt on nro by 10th

Govt on confrontational path g

g

experts view president’s statement as contempt of court Justice (r) Wajih says refusal to implement SC verdict reflective of govt’s intention of confronting judiciary

SM Zafar says govt must review its decision g PMl-n says Zardari trying to use BB’s grave as shield g

ISLAMABAD

T

IRfAn BukHARI

HE government is seemingly ready for a showdown with the judiciary. With January 10 deadline set by the Supreme Court to implement the decision on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) ending tomorrow (Tuesday), the defiant ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s resolve not to seek reopening of cases pending in Geneva is most likely to finally end up in a confrontation between the government and the judiciary.

President Asif Ali Zardari, as the cochairman of the PPP in an interview, has recently said the party had decided not to write a letter to Swiss authorities. Upset by the government’s dilly-dallying in implementing its orders, a five-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, had set January 10 as a cutoff date for implementing its decision on the NRO with a warning to the government that in case of non-compliance, the court would take action.

As the president has made a public statement that the PPP had decided not to write a letter to the Swiss authorities, the constitutional experts opined that his statement amounted to contempt of court which was not covered by the constitutional provision giving immunity to him.

Seen in this context also, the NRO case is set to bring the PPP and the judiciary head on. Commenting on the president’s statement, Justice (r) Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui and Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed said, by saying that the PPP had decided not to write a letter to the Swiss authorities, the president had committed contempt of court. They said the president was not supposed to write a letter as the chief executive (the prime minister) was answerable to the court but his remarks of defiance were tantamount to contempt of court.

In the interview with a private TV channel, President Zardari said the PPP would not conduct a trial of the grave of Benazir Bhutto. “It is a point of principle that the PPP will not try the grave of Benazir Bhutto, come what may. This is not

my decision. This is a decision of the party... this is not about me, it is about us,” the president had said taking a political position on the NRO case. “It is not because of Article 248, but I am saying that I do not want to be written in history and my prime minister does not want to get it written in history. Twelve to 15 months are left in my presidency and after that any government can come and write the letter. Why should my government write it?” he had said. Talking to Pakistan Today, Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed said President Zardari’s refusal to implement the Supreme Court’s verdict was reflective of the government’s intention of confronting the judiciary. “President Zardari has committed a contempt of court. A contempt of court case is not covered under Article 248 of the constitution which gives immunity to the president,” he said. Asked to comment on options available with the Supreme Court Continued on page 04

president Can only be kiCked out: fazl | page 03

Pakistan taken on board by US on talks with Taliban ISLAMABAD SHAIq HuSSAIn

After its successful bid to engage the Mullah Omar-led Taliban in peace talks, the United States is strongly urging Islamabad to bring the Haqqani network to the table of negotiations as it believes that without the participation of this most powerful militant faction in the ongoing Afghanistan reconciliation process, any peace talks would be fruitless and unproductive. The Obama administration has taken Pakistan into confidence regarding Washington’s fresh peace talks with the Taliban and for that purpose the proposed Taliban office in Qatar. In an important development, Islamabad too has conveyed to Washington that it would facilitate its dialogue with the Taliban provided it is kept informed and fully in the loop about the developments on this important front. “Pakistan’s support to the US talks with the Taliban has been achieved after intense American efforts through behind-the-scene efforts that have been made after the NATO airstrike at Salala border post in Mohmand agency,” said a Pakistani official seeking anonymity.

He said Pakistan had always supported peace efforts in Afghanistan and it had no problem with the forthcoming US-Taliban talks in Qatar but all it wanted was to be kept aware of the ensuing developments and also that Washington would take care of Islamabad’s genuine concerns in Afghanistan. The official did not elaborate the Pakistani concerns but generally it is about the increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan, which has been seen here with a sense of deep worry and concern. “The Obama administration now wants that Islamabad shall also ensure that the Haqqani network also takes part in the consultations and that this group extends full support to the Qatar process,” he said, adding that the US had been urging Pakistan once again to use its ‘good offices’ for the purpose.

Continued on page 04

lull in drones strikes aids militants | page 04

Musharraf will land in Karachi between January 27 and 30 KARACHI qAzI ASIf/REutERS

All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) President General (r) Pervez Musharraf on Sunday announced that he would return to Pakistan any day between January 27 and January 30 and would land in Karachi.

Addressing an APML rally in Karachi through video conferencing from Dubai, Musharraf said he would contest general elections from Chitral. “I will come back to the country. They are trying to harass me. I will not be harassed. I will come to Pakistan, will face all fabricated cases against me. I will come back to the country for the people of Pakistan. I will put myself in danger for the people. I will succeed in the elections.” Asked if he had asked any of military leaders for protection once he returns, Musharraf said it was not the army’s duty provide security to individuals.

“I don’t like to embarrass them, I haven’t asked them,” he said. “I will ensure my own safety, I know how to keep myself safe ... there are a large group of officers who are in support and I’m very proud of that.”

Musharraf avoided criticising the government but condemned PML-N President Nawaz Sharif without taking his name. He said the public meeting was “not a tsunami but an earthquake which will leave an impact on the future of Pakistan and its politics”. The former president started his speech by announcing support for Bangalis and Beharis, saying Banglis should obtain CNIC and passports of Pakistan while Pakistan and Bangladesh should sit and resolve issue of Beharis, who were true patriots stranded in Bangladesh.

He said he was in favour of Hazara province and would resolve the matter with consensus. “Karachi is the city of every Pakistani. This is the city of Quaid; it is my city and those who sacrificed a lot for Pakistan. Karachi is the engine of the country’s development,” he said. He said he brought development to Karachi, refurbished Mazar-e-Quaid, sanctioned Bin Qasim Park, signal-free corridor and a number of flyovers. Musharraf also praised MQM’s Mustafa Kamal and Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad for their support during the upgrading of Karachi. “We are going to general elections this year. That is why this historical public meeting has been arranged.

Continued on page 04

LAHORE: Indian fishermen waiting to cross the Wagah border on Sunday. Pakistan has released 183 Indian fishermen and civilians who were imprisoned for violating territorial waters. online

piCture | page 24 We are Waiting for ‘killer’ musharraf: badr | page 24

Conspiracies underway because we talk of new provinces: Gilani g

PM says federation, national security to be put at stake if attempt made to break PPP

MULTAN: In a charged speech to Pakistan People’s Party workers in Multan, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday said some quarters were conspiring against the government over its decision to form new provinces, but the party would give the people of Seraiki belt their own province and assembly.

“Conspiracy is going on as to why we are forming new provinces. We will give Seraiki province to the people of this area.

People will have their own province and their own assembly. Some elements are saying how will the PPP create provinces, but people have risen up and they want their

rights,” Gilani said while addressing a cakecutting ceremony in connection with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s 84th birth anniversary. He said some elements said that “we are politicking on the Seraiki province issue and are not serious about it; I want to ask them, should we launch a movement for the purpose or adopt the constitutional way?” He said the government was moving forward on the issue in accordance with the constitution. Gilani said the constitution would be protected and institutions would be respected. He said during the past four years, several conspiracies were hatched against the government, but all were foiled with the

masses’ support. Gilani said the PPP was a party of the federation and national security would be put at stake if PPP was broken.

“The PPP is the name of a movement and ideology,” he said. “Bhutto gave honour to the people, saying people were the fountainhead of power. Bhutto accorded recognition to everybody by giving them the right to exercise their vote.” “We promise that all the pledges made by Bhutto will be fulfilled,” he said. “We restored the constitution and judiciary. We gave autonomy to small provinces. Some people say the PPP does not respect the judiciary; we honour the judiciary as well as the constitution,” he

added. The prime minister said the government would control the gas and electricity crises in the coming months.

Gilani reiterated the commitment to accomplish the mission of martyred PPP leaders for the empowerment of the people. He said the PPP was a federal party having popular support of the people, including peasants, farmers, workers and other poor segments of the society in all four provinces besides AJK, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan. “It was this popularity that paved the way for party’s victory with comfortable majority in recent AJK elections,” he added. AGenCieS

altaf Wants Creation of kabailistan | page 24

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02 News Today’s

Monday, 9 January, 2012

karachi

NewS

foreiGN NewS

A Pakistani Spring?

kP doctors want Swat-like action against taliban

Romney holds frontrunner pace as rivals attack

Story on Page 08

Story on Page -09

Story on Page 15

Quick look

There are many cases against Nawaz in my briefcase: Malik ISLAMABAD: Issuing a direct threat to Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rahman Malik on Sunday said he has many cases against Nawaz in his brief case that could be opened. He lashed out at PML-N chief for his role in ‘memo conspiracy’ and asked him to disclose his links with Mansoor Ijaz; the protagonist of the memo case.

Malik termed memogate ‘Fasaadgate’ and said that it had hurt Pakistanis. He said Mansoor Ijaz was not a Pakistani citizen and Malik suspected Ijaz had hatched the memo conspiracy to sell his article. Talking to media after a meeting with former federal minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf, Malik said the assassins of Benazir Bhutto had been exposed. Malik said he and Raja Pervez Ashraf were against the last rally addressed by Benazir Bhutto at Liaqat Bagh. Malik further said that President Zardari’s recent interview to a private TV channel helped removing misunderstandings on different issues. Speaking on the occasion, Raja Pervez Ashraf said President Zardari presented his point of view in simple words before the people. StAff REPORt

US terminates contracts of Pakistani workers at Bagram airbase DI KHAN: A number of Pakistanis working at US run Bagram airbase in Afghanistan have been removed from service by the US army corps. Peshawar resident Asif Ali who worked as Manager at the US Army Engineers Corps in a facebook message to American Consulate General in Peshawar said that the FBI had removed the Pakistanis from their service without giving any reasons, possibly due to tense relationship between the two countries. He asked the consulate to help them. InP

Gas heaters send 5 to eternal sleep QUETTA: A couple and three children died of gas suffocation in two separate incidents in the provincial capital on Sunday. In the first incident, Suleman Amiri and his wife Gul Begum went to sleep with their gas heater on in a freezing night in Hazara town.

The gas heater consumed all the oxygen in the airtight room and the couple suffocated to death. The bodies were discovered in the morning by neighbours. In a similar incident, three children died in the Killi Khano area of Kuchlak, some 15km away from Quetta. Police said the children, two daughters and one son, were asleep with a burning gas heater in the room. All three suffocated to death due to lack of oxygen.

The deceased were identified as Zulqaida, 8, Hikmatullah, 10, and Shakira Bibi, 12.

SHAHzAdA zuLfIqAR

Shujaat calls Zardari LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim LeagueQuaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Sunday telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari and discussed the political scenario. Sources disclosed the two exchanged views on President Zardari’s interview to a private channel.

Shujaat appreciated Zardari for taking strong positions on various issues.

Meanwhile, at lunch hosted by PPP leader Shabina Riaz, Shujaat aid some people are having dreams on the Memogate issue but their dreams will not be fulfilled. He said his party is strong and does not need to ask for votes during Senate elections. StAff REPORt

KARACHI: Supporters of Dr Aafia Siddiqui hold placards during a demonstration for the release of Dr Aafia near Guru Mandir. onlIne

PPP, PMl-n will be allies again: imran g

Says both parties share ideology of wanting power ISLAMABAD StAff REPORt

MQM to table new provinces’ bill in next nA session: Sattar MULTAN AgEncIES

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) will table a bill for establishment of Seraiki and Hazara provinces in the next National Assembly (NA) session, Overseas Pakistanis Minister Dr Farooq Sattar said on Sunday.

Holding a press conference at the Multan Press Club, he said that 23 districts were mentioned in the draft bill including two districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 21 districts of South Punjab. Sattar said that the MQM had already presented a resolution in the NA and wanted people of the area to recognise it as a historical step for fulfilment of their legitimate demands.

The minister said, “The federal government is sincerely making efforts for a Seraiki province. Local intellectuals and media have done a good job in shaping up public opinion but they need to further intensify efforts for

their rights.” He said that people of the area believed that a separate province and acknowledgement of their identity could help protect their rights, adding that people of the region were near their destination.

Sattar said that MQM chief Altaf Hussain had honoured his promise during his telephonic address at the public meeting on December 23, 2011 to support the creation of a Seraiki province. He expressed concern over Balochistan’s issues and underlined urgent steps to address problems of the people. The minister also appreciated the stance of the PPP-led government on the Seraiki province. Sattar said that no one could separate the MQM and people of the region, adding, “We will continue to fight for rights of the local people.” He said that those who were opposing the creation of the province would turn out to be losers in the end. Sattar warned of a 1971-like situation if new provinces were not made. The minister demanded a referendum in all districts of Punjab to decide about their inclusion in South Punjab. He said that the 20th Amendment would bring a revolutionary change in the history of the country.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday predicted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will once again form an alliance since the ideology of both parties was the same: they want power.

Speaking at the launch ceremony of the Urdu version of his book ‘Pakistan; A Personal History’, he said he had received offers to become Prime Minister several times but had rejected since his dream was not to become PM but save the country. “All those who have joined PTI will have to act upon my party’s agenda, or they won’t come on top.”

He said political parties were mocking the people by claiming agencies have forced them to participate in PTI rallies. “I cannot understand how lawmakers make allegation on people demanding nothing other than getting rid of those who have sabotaged the economy and peace in the country,” he said. “Those who fear losing cannot win. Parties who have announced rallies to counter my Tsunami are amongst those who fear losing,” he said.

Imran said the youth should be inspired by Iqbal, as he was himself. “Many people tried to stop me from joining politics but my understanding of the poetry of Iqbal was what did not allow me to suppress my voice against injustice,” he said. “I struggled to create awareness among people for 15 years and now the time has come when

ptI to pitch honest candidates in polls: Qureshi LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday said his party would field honest candidates in the next general elections to secure the country. He was speaking at a ceremony to welcome newcomers in the party. The ceremony was attended by senior PTI leaders including former foreign ministers Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and Sardar Asif Ahmad Ali, PTI Lahore President Mian Mehmoodur Rashid and PTI Spokesman Ishtiaq Malik. Former foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri said transparent elections were the need of the hour. He also denied having contact with former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf.

Sardar Asif Ahmad said that other nations considered Pakistan a failed state, adding that the present government’s foreign policy had failed. StAff REPORt people will not allow family political parties to again come into power again,” he said.

He said people were united and there was no need to fear any super power. He said, “Jihad is a great concept and the key to succeed. People who come out of their houses to raise voice against injustice are also on the path of jihad’.”

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Monday, 9 January, 2012

arTS & eNTerTaiNMeNT

SPorTS

News 03

coMMeNT

Man breaks in twitter verification with fake account of Murdoch’s wife Younus poses the greatest challenge to England

Today’s

Service to justice?: Politicising the judiciary

Quick

On Israel: Let no one forget

Arif Ansar says; Resurgence of moderate Islamists: A counterweight to hardliners?

Waqqas Mir says;

look

Continuing BB’s mission: The greatest tribute there is

umair Javed says; 21st century populism: Analysing the PTI effect

Story on Page 16

Story on Page 18

articles on Page 12-13

Taliban reject reports on talks with US g

Spokesman says initial agreement on political office in Qatar reached g afghan MP asserts no US-Taliban talks in Qatar ISLAMABAD

T

President can only be kicked out, says Fazl LAHORE

StAff REPORt

President Asif Ali Zardari can be forced to resign but there is no constitutional method to compel him to step down, Jamiat Ulema-eIslam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman said on Sunday. He was talking to reporters after chairing a party meeting to discuss preparations for taking out a caravan in Gujranwala on January 20. He said the establishment had always played a covert role to influence politics and democracy. About the role of judiciary, the JUI-F chief said it was a powerful institution but court verdicts should speak instead of judges. “If the court’s decisions stand unimplemented, the best available option is to look towards the courts again,” he added. Indirectly hitting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Rehman said that although Imran Khan was talking about bringing a revolution, but his sole agenda was to reach the corridors of power. He said that only seasoned politicians and religious parties could bring the nation out from crises. He said that he had sent a message to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and told him that the elections would be transparent only when fake voting list are removed and a neutral Election Commission is appointed.

OnLInE

ALIBAN on Sunday strongly rejected the western media reports and statements of officials regarding talks with the US but said only an initial accord on political office in Qatar was agreed upon.

In an email, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reiterated that the “perturbing reports spread by some news agencies and western officials about negotiations have no reality”.

When he was asked whether any political office of the Taliban existed in Qatar, he neither rejected nor accepted, however, said initial agreement in this connection had been reached. “Besides our powerful presence inside the country at the moment, we are ready to establish a political office outside the country to come to an understanding with other nations and in this series, we have reached an initial agreement with Qatar and other related sides. The Islamic emirate has also asked for the release of its prisoners from the Guantanamo prison in exchange.” Mujahid said it was an unambiguous reality that the Islamic movement of Taliban arose to set up an Islamic system in Afghanistan, uproot injustice, eradicate narcotics and the local writ of gunmen, strengthen security and to form national

unity and “with the help of Allah and with the backing and sacrifices of the nation, it has been able to eradicate corruption and establish an Islamic government in various provinces and the capital in a very short period of time”. He said the emirate almost completely eliminated the years of strife and fragmentation in the whole country and was able to bring 95 percent of the country under the control of the central government.

The spokesman said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan had always tried to solve the problems with the opposition through talks. “The ongoing issue in the country which came about 10 years ago has been between two fundamental elements: on the one side is Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and on the other is the United States and its foreign allies,” he said. Sources said the US and Taliban started another round of talks in Qatar last month just a week ago before the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan. But the talks were in the initial stage and Taliban demanded release of some prisoners as well as initial agreement about political office somewhere around Doha was discussed. The negotiators from Taliban’s side are Tayyab Agha, former head of Taliban Chief Mullah Omer’s office, Maulvi Dilawar, Taliban’s former diplomat, and probably Mullah Abdul Aziz, a former first secretary of the defunct regime’s embassy in the United Arab

Emirates and now a businessman in Doha. Some sources said another Taliban diplomat Sohail Shaheen was part of the negotiation as a translator.

PARLIAMENTARIAN: Meanwhile, Afghan parliamentarian Huma Sultani, who had asserted to have strong contacts with Taliban chief Mullah Omer, on Sunday claimed that no negotiation was going on between Taliban and the US in Qatar.

In an exclusive interview with Online from Kabul via telephone, she claimed that Tayyab Agha or others in Qatar are not representing Taliban.

She said a US general from Pentagon, whose name she said could not reveal, and US Ambassador to Afghanistan Rayan C Crocker recently contacted Malikzai, a man she claimed a messenger between her and Mullah Omer, to hold direct talks with US officials in Qatar but Omer refused to do so. When she was asked how could the news be false if Taliban themselves were confirming it and demanding the release of prisoners in US custody, Sultani said, “Well, destiny of a few prisoners is not so important for us or even for Mullah Omer and destiny of 30 million Afghans is more important. So, Taliban stress US to quit Afghanistan.” Interestingly, she said the US had interfered in the communication system and the confirmation was not by the Taliban but was a confirmation under their name.

aPML canada president resigns

KARACHI AAMIR MAJEEd

LAHORE: PML-q chief chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and senior leader Pervaiz Elahi meet Punjab governor Sardar Latif khosa at the house of MPA Shabeena Riaz. Pr

Ji makes headway in FATA politics former party chief Qazi hussain ahmed leads party for gaining foothold in Tribal areas g Demands government stop military action and hold dialogue with militants g

PESHAWAR SHAMIM SHAHId

Benefiting from ruling coalition partner’s engagements and compulsions, leaders and stalwarts of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have intensified efforts for enhancing its popularity and support in the Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA).

For the purpose, the JI has assigned the task to its former chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad, who addressed another well-attended public rally in Mianmandi, Gandab area of Mohmand Agency on Sunday.

Compared with other political and religious forces, the JI has adopted an ironic policy regarding the ongoing war on terror or “trends of terrorism on the name of Taliban”. On one hand, the JI leadership blames

the US government for the ongoing violence and bloodshed in the country and on the other, its leadership is pressing the government to stop military action and resolve the issue through dialogue.

Although the JI lost its soft-spoken leader Haji Dost Mohammad in Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani suicide blast on April 19, 2010, the party has overall remained “safe” amidst violence and terrorism in the country.

Contemporary parties like the Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party are on top of militant’s list. The stance of Fazalur Rehman’s JUI-F is also different, as a majority of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders and commanders remain associated with the JUI-F, however, the party also suffered a lot due to internal rifts in the TTP and other militant groups. Unlike its ri-

vals, the JI is active in FATA politics and has reasonable support in certain pockets like Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur agencies. JI leaders and stalwarts from all over the region have welcomed the extension of Political Parties’ Act to FATA and Qazi has been at the forefront, going ahead with addressing public gatherings in the tribal region. He addressed the first-ever public gathering in Landikotal tehsil of Khyber Agency and second in Khar, headquarters of Bajaur.

Besides Qazi, Jamaat Islami’s public meeting at Mianmandi area of Mohmand Agency was addressed by party’s provincial chief Senator Prof Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, Sahibzada Haroonur Rashid, Zar Noor Afridi and Mohammad Saeed Khan Mohmand. The JI meeting was attended by more than three thousand people, including

tribal elders, and Qazi remained “careful” while commenting on the activities of the Taliban. In his address, Qazi held no other than the US responsible for what he called the “ongoing genocide of innocent tribesmen and destruction of properties worth billions of rupees”. “Pakistan suffered a lot for American friendship and now it is high time to walk away from such friendship,” he said.

He said peace and stability would return whenever Pakistan terminated all sorts of ties with the US. Reiterating JI’s stance, Qazi opposed military action (against militants) in the Tribal Areas, saying “it couldn’t help resolve the issues”. He asked the government to stop military action and find out solution to all problems through table talks, which he said was in accordance with tribal traditions.

All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Canada President Imran Majeed Siddiqui has resigned saying that the party is now in hands of non-political forces, Pakistan Today has learnt.

Siddiqui resigned from his post just two days before former president and APML President General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s address at Karachi where he announced that he will comeback to the country between January 27 to 31.

According to sources close to Musharraf, Siddiqui called the former president and expressed his reservations on his return to Pakistan.

He asked Musharraf to wait for sometime instead of taking support of non-political forces for his return to Pakistan. “But Musharraf tried to make him understand but the APML Canada president refused to work with non-political people of Pakistan and resigned,” sources said. On being contacted, Siddiqui said that the APML could bring a change in Pakistan but it could not happen soon. “I had joined the APML when Musharraf assured us that it would be a political party but unfortunately, the former army chief could not fulfil his commitment. The APML is under hands of non-political people and you can understand better that who those people are,” he added.

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04 News ‘icrc official’s kidnappers identified’ QUETTA: Police on Sunday claimed to have identified the kidnappers of Khalil Ahmad Dale, the staff member of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) abducted on January 5. Speaking at a press conference, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Nazir Ahmad Kurd said that police succeeded in identifying Dale’s kidnappers. Kurd hoped that police would soon recover the ICRC official. StAff REPORt

ex-Senator kamran khan passes away MINGORA: Known politician and former Senator Kamran Khan from Swat breathed his last after prolong illness in early hours of Sunday. He was over 90.

Later Kamran Khan was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard at Mingora Swat in the afternoon. His Namaz-i-Janaza was attended by thousands of people from different walks of life. The late Senator Kamran Khan was father of Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Nasar Ul Mulk, former Senator Shuja Ul Mulk Khan and ex-Tehsil Nazim Rafi Ul Mulk. StAff REPORt

Monday, 9 January, 2012

no room for dictatorship in politics, says nawaz LAHORE AgEncIES

Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif said on Sunday that there was no room for dictatorship in the country and the politicians would have to show political maturity to strengthen democracy. “Political parties are the asset of the country and symbol of national unity, while dictators divided them and created parties of their choice to prolong their rule,” he said, while talking to legislators and office-bearers of his party at his residence. The PML-N also decided to convene an APC to discuss the grievances of the

LAHORE: PML-n President nawaz Sharif hugs MnA Afzal khokhar, leaving for Singapore to receive medical treatment. Pr chiefs. Meanwhile, the PML-N has split into two groups on inviting PML-Q leaders to the APC. Sources said that some party leaders considered the PML-Q responsible for the present crisis in Balochistan.

people of Balochistan, Online reported. Sources said the PML-N was likely to convene the APC in the third week of January in Islamabad, and special invitations will be mailed to the PPP, PML-Q and PTI

Pakistan taken on board Continued from page 1 The most deadly militant organisation in Afghanistan, the Haqqani network has always talked about its allegiance to Mullah Omar, the supreme commander of the Taliban movement but the US officials have doubts that if not taken on board, this insurgent group has the potential to sabotage the US-Taliban reconciliation process.

Another Pakistani official when contacted confirmed that

that could have positive impact on the relations between the two important nations in antiterrorism global campaign.

He, however, refused to divulge the details and confined himself to saying “if Washington is willing to accept our demands such as apology over NATO strike and firm assurance of no such breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty in future along with some other conditions then the cooperation with US could be restored”.

the US had been again demanding Pakistan to bring the ‘Haqqanis’ to the table of negotiations. He said Pakistan was willing to play its role for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. Asked whether Pakistan’s support to Qatar process means that a ‘breakthrough’ in Islamabad-Washington ties, currently marred by serious tensions, is in the offing, the official said important positive developments were likely in next couple of weeks

Musharraf will land in Karachi Continued from page 1 You have to decide weather you want to select old parties and leaders or want change. You have to decide,” he added. “I scored a century in my innings. I should not be compared to those who scored a duck or those who are yet to play an innings,” he said. Musharraf said he successfully ran the country for ten years, broke the beggar’s bowl, said good bye to the IMF and did not accept $300 million in loan.

“Pakistan made progress in every sector [under my regime],” he claimed.

“Pakistan is passing through crises. Tussle between institutions has started. Gas and electricity crises have multiplied. Railways has shuts down and PIA is close to doing so. The government has taken $36 billion to $60 billion in loans and the IMF has returned. Terrorism has increased and the country stands alone in the world,”

Musharraf said.

The former army chief said extremist were enemies of development and were carrying out terror acts in the name of Islam.

“Unfortunately some political elements support extremism. These elements go to Balochistan and speak against me, that I was involved in the murder of Akbar Bugti. These elements are busy in a conspiracy.

Those calling me an enemy of the Baloch actually want to keep Balochistan backwards,” he added. “Yes, I was, I am and I will remain an enemy of those who do not allow the Pakistani flag to be hoisted, murder Punjabis and Hazaras,” Musharraf added. He said he had made a mistake by granting amnesty to politicians and bureaucrats accused of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, murder, and terrorism between 1986 and 1999. “The NRO is something I shouldn’t have done. Although I was ad-

vised, but the ultimate decision was mine,” he said, referring to the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) which he issued in 2007.

US RELATIONS: Separately, talking to Reuters, Musharraf said urgent action was needed to salvage Pakistan’s dire relations with the US. “Today Pakistan-US relations are at their lowest, this is because of a trust and confidence deficit,” Musharraf said.

“I believe Pakistan needs to justify and clarify the issue of Osama bin Laden having been found in Pakistan,” said Musharraf.

“At the same time the United States needs to identify what environment they are leaving in 2014 when they quit because that is going to affect directly Pakistan.” Islamabad’s cooperation with Washington is seen as crucial to helping to stabilise the region before foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan in 2014.

“I believe that interstate relations are more than half interpersonal relations between the leaders... if I think about myself, I could anytime pick up the phone to President Bush whenever I got agitated on anything.”

SAUDI TRIP: Meanwhile, Reuters quoted Saudi and Pakistani sources as saying that Musharraf also plans to travel to Saudi Arabia soon to gather support for his political comeback.

“Musharraf will be travelling to Saudi Arabia soon in order to get support before he goes back to Pakistan,” said a Gulf-based Saudi source familiar with the matter. A Pakistani source confirmed that Musharraf, who is in Dubai, was to travel to Saudi Arabia soon. The source declined to say what form of support the former president is seeking.

But some reports have said that Musharraf will seek Saudi guarantees that he would not be detained.

183 indian prisoners freed LAHORE: A total of 183 Indian prisoners, including 179 fishermen, crossed Wahga Border on Sunday after completing their sentences in Pakistan. 179 of the aforesaid fishermen were detained in jails of Karachi while 3 were from Kot Lakhpat jail. StAff REPORt

‘i didn’t know where osama was’ JERUSALEM: Former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf denied having any knowledge about Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden living in Pakistan during his tenure.

In interview to an Israeli daily, Ha’aretz, Musharraf said that he was 100 percent sure about himself that he did not know if bin Laden was there. “I am very sure about my answer.

Especially so because when they say bin Laden was there for five years, that means two years under my watch.,” Musharraf said. nnI

lull in drone strikes aids militants: nYT MONITORINg DESK A nearly two-month lull in American drone strikes in Pakistan has helped embolden al Qaeda and several Pakistani militant factions to regroup, increase attacks against Pakistani security forces and threaten intensified strikes against allied forces in Afghanistan, American and Pakistani officials say, according to the New York Times.

The insurgents are increasingly taking advantage of tensions raised by an American airstrike in November that killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers in two border outposts, plunging relations between the countries to new depths. The Central Intelligence Agency, hoping to avoid making matters worse while Pakistan completes a wide-ranging review of its security relationship with the United States,

has not conducted a drone strike since mid-November.

Diplomats and intelligence analysts say the pause in CIA missile strikes — the longest in Pakistan in more than three years — is offering for now greater freedom of movement to an insurgency that had been splintered by in-fighting and battered by American drone attacks in recent months.

Several feuding factions said last week that they were patching up their differences, at least temporarily, to improve their image after a series of kidnappings and, by some accounts, to focus on fighting Americans in Afghanistan.

Other militant groups continue attacking Pakistani forces. Just last week, Taliban insurgents killed 15 security soldiers who had been kidnapped in retaliation for the death of a militant commander.

Govt on confrontational path Continued from page 1 in case of non-compliance of its orders by the government, he said, “In my opinion, the Supreme Court will stick to its goslow policy. The court will exercise maximum restraint though it can issue a contempt of court notice to the prime minister. I think attorney general will be asked by the apex court to write a letter to the Swiss authorities but consequently he could be sacked (before or after writing the letter) by President Zardari.”

According to him, the Supreme Court wanted to avoid a clash between the institutions therefore it would not summon Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for not complying with its orders. “Under Article 190, the Supreme Court can call the army in aid but the apex court will not exercise this power as it will prove counter-productive,” he said, adding that the PPP government wanted “shahadat” to hide its failures and the SC was mindful of the PPP’s political designs. Justice (r) Siddique said President Zardari’s no to implementation of the Supreme Court order amounted to contempt of court though he had not been directed

by the SC to write a letter.

“The Ministry of Law will submit a reply in the apex court on January 10 and if they say that the prime minister directed them not to write a letter to the Swiss authorities, the court can start contempt proceedings against the prime minister,” he said.

Senator SM Zafar said it was a wrong decision by the government to not comply with the Supreme Court’s orders. “The PPP government must review its decision as it can ultimately trigger a clash between the institutions. The prime minister is responsible to get the apex court’s orders implemented but I cannot comment on what will be the Supreme Court’s reaction if the government fails to implement its orders,” Zafar said. Commenting on President Zardari’s interview, Athar Minullah said, “I totally disagree with the argument of President Zardari that it is the trial of Benazir Bhutto. No case against her is being or can be reopened… rather it is the matter of reopening of cases against President Zardari. If the government thinks the president enjoys immunity, it should claim it before the court.”

Minullah said he was un-

able to predict about the court’s reaction “but under the law, contempt proceedings could be launched against those who refused to implement the Supreme Court’s verdict”.

Another legal expert, Babar Sattar said President Zardari had reiterated his party’s stance. “If the Supreme Court orders are not implemented by the government, contempt proceedings could be launched but I cannot predict whether the Supreme Court will take this course or not. Eventually the case will hit the prime minister as being the chief executive of the country he is responsible to get the orders of the apex court implemented,” Sattar said, adding that the extrajudicial concerns might push the court to avoid confrontation with the executive. PML-N Information Secretary Senator Mushahidullah said President Asif Zardari was trying to use Benazir’s grave as a shield to save himself.

The Supreme Court in November last year had rejected the federal government’s review petition, saying that the documents presented by the government’s counsel failed to make a case.

PPP set to win 22 seats in Senate polls, tally to rise to 44 Continued from page 24 Sindh Assembly: In Sindh Assembly, elections would be held for seven general seats, two women and two technocrat seats. Since the Sindh Assembly has strength of 168 seats, 24 members have to vote to elect a member. Since the PPP has strength of 93 members, the ruling party may win four general seats out of total seven. The MQM would regain their two seats while one seat may be dished out to either the PML-Q or the PML-F if they join hands to win a seat.

While two women and two technocrats seats would

also be shared by both the parties by winning one each on technocrat and women seats. So the final result may be that the PPP bags six, four seats would go to the MQM, while one seat may either go to the PML-Q or the PML-F, as both have eleven and eight members each. However, it would only be possible if the likeminded group also joins the PML-Q, otherwise, the PPP would win this seat also. So the PPP and coalition partners would have seven seats won from Sindh, while four would go to the MQM. KP ASSEMBLy: In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) As-

sembly, any candidate would at least need 18 votes to get elected on a general seat.

Since the Awami National Party (ANP) is the largest political force with 49 members, the ruling party would most likely win three seats with PPP’s support, while the PPP, who has strength of 30 MPAs, may win one or two seats if the PML-Q’s six MPA decide to support coalition partners. Ten independent members may play their cards carefully and their support may also thwart chances of the MMA, who also has fourteen members. So if the MMA is able to get support from either

the PPP-Sherpao, who has six MPAs, it can win a seat, while one seat may go to those supported by independent candidates. The ANP and the PPP may win two seats each on technocrat and women seats with the support of independent MPAs and their coalition partners. So the ANP may win six seats, the PPP may get four seats, while the MMA may win one seat.

BALOcHISTAN ASSEMBLy: In Balochistan, any candidate would need the support of nine members to get elected as a senator. In a House of 65 members, the PML-Q is majority party

with 18 members, but the party has been in tatters and there is no control by party chief Shujaat Hussain over his party’s MPAs. The PPP is the second largest party with a strength of 13 MPAs. Both parties would bag the lion’s share of the seven general seats. The PML-Q may win five seats, three general seats and one each on women and technocrats seats, while the PPP may also get four seats, two general and one seat each on technocrat and women seats. The MMA, mostly comprising of the JUI-F, would bag one general seat with nine MPAs, while

Balochistan National PartyAwami (BNP-A) may also get one general seat.

FEDERAL cAPITAL: From the federal capital’s reserved seats, elections would be held for one general and one technocrat seat. Both seats would be won by the PPP with the support of its allies.

FATA: Four people would be elected from FATA as four senators are retiring. Of the four seats, each party would field candidates as the Political Parties Act has been extended to FATA. MINORITIES: Of the four seats reserved for minorities, elections would be held

on two seats and the coalition government, the PPP, may win both slots of minority seats. Therefore, the final tally may be that the PPP likely wins 22 seats, seven seats might be bagged by the PML-N, six may go to the PML-Q, six might be grabbed by the ANP, two seats might be bagged by the MMA or the JUI-F, MQM may get another four seats and the BNP-A may win one seat. However, another four members would be elected from FATA, but since the electoral college comprises of independents, there is no clue which party would win these seats.

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JPMc doctor’s murder linked to tribal dispute?

Still a mystery 07

Not 0.1m, but enough to save face Around 20,000 participate in APML rally KARACHI qAzI ASIf

T

HERE were not 0.1 million people at the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) rally at the ground near the Mazar-e-Quaid on Sunday as the party had anticipated, but there were enough participants – roughly around 20,000 – to spare it embarrassment and in fact make it feel proud of its efforts.

The rally was supposed to start at 2pm, but until 4pm, only a small number of people had gathered at the venue, most of them of Bengali and Behari origin who were earlier participating in a protest arranged by the Pakistan Bengali Ittehad.

By 5pm, most media personnel were of the view that the rally was a failure. But after that, a large number of people, many of them from Malir, arrived there on buses. A significant number of people at the rally hailed from Gilgit, Chitral and Swat.

The APML claimed that it had arranged 60,000 chairs. Many buses were also arranged to bring people from different parts of the city to the venue.

Party leader Ghulam Rasool Unnar has arranged

many participants from Sakrand.

The stage and sound and light systems were pretty much the same as the ones used by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in its rally last month.

Five large LCDs were installed, the main one on the stage. Walkthrough gates were also installed but most of them were not working.

According to sources, the Sunni Tehreek and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had silently lent their support to the APML rally to make it successful.

As the sun started to set, the weather turned chilly and many participants of the rally started burning the sticks of party flags to warm themselves.

The media was told that party chief Pervez Musharraf would start his speech at around 7:30pm. But at around 6:30pm, many participants started leaving due to the increasing cold. This compelled Musharraf to start his speech 30 minutes prior to the scheduled time.

When his speech started, there were only around 6,000 people left in the ground and many seats were empty.

Music was played between speeches the way PTI had done during its rally. Singers sung songs about Musharraf. Some participants wore shirts displaying a picture of the former president.

Banners were put up on which the prices of commodities during Musharraf’s tenure and the present time were displayed.

Considering that the APML has been around for a relatively shorter period, the rally can be counted as a success.

‘Good old days’ of musharraf recalled KARACHI AAMIR MAJEEd

Many might call him a dictator, but Pervez Musharraf brought prosperity, development and stability to the country and that is why we have arrived at Bagh-e-Jinnah today, opined most of the participants of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) rally on Sunday.

Muhammad Ali, a resident of Block 13-D of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, told Pakistan Today that he loves Musharraf’s concept of enlightened moderation. “Pakistan grew during the tenure of Musharraf. There was prosperity, economic development and foreign investment was flowing into the country because investors considered Pakistan a safe place,” he said.

“I finished BCom from the University of Karachi privately and got a job in amultinational firm, but the company shutdown its business after the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led government came into power,” he added. “Now I am jobless. I believe that if he [Musharraf] comes back to Pakistan, foreign investment and job opportunities would also return.”

Ishrat Hussain, a resident of Malir 15, said there was prosperity in Pakistan when the man, who people call a dictator, was ruling the country.

“When I compare Pakistan under the leadership of President Zardari and Musharraf, I feel that there is a vast difference,” he said.

“There is no political stability during the tenure of the current government. The prices of essential commodities are sky-rocketing and people are unemployed as foreign investment has been pulled out. The country is again asking the International Monetary Fund for loans,” he added.

Muhammad Salman, a leader of the Bengaliorigin population of the city, said Musharraf was the first person who recognised Bengali immigrants as citizens of Pakistan.

“He had also announced issuance of computerised national identity cards and passport to us.

Musharraf is the true leader of Bengalis in Pakistan,” he added.“We have made sacrifices for Pakistan and we have a right to avail every benefit that is enjoyed by the others in the country.”

Mohsin Abbas, who hailed from Chitral, recalled how a tunnel was built in his native area during Musharraf’s tenure that allowed trade to flourish there.

“The people of Chitral hope Musharraf contests the next elections from Chitral,” he said.

“Musharraf connected Chitral with Gilgit-Baltistan and Skardu with the tunnel. He is the only person who is sincere,” he added.

There was also a large number of female participants.

PhoToS BY ASiM rehMAni

a participant of the aPML rally on Sunday plays the cheerleader role.

This participant was really charged up, much to the amusement of others.

What good is ‘Roti, Kapra aur Makaan’ without natural gas?

■ SSGc bans new gas connections in Sindh and Balochistan due to ongoing gas crisis ■ Gasification of a large number of towns and villages stopped KARACHI AftAB cHAnnA

Although Sindh and Balochistan are larger producers of natural gas in the country, with at least 69 percent and 17 percent, respectively, the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has banned new connections in the two provinces because of the ongoing gas crisis, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The SSGC is responsible for ensuring new connections for provision of natural gas to towns and villages of Sindh and Balochistan under the funds

allocated for Senators, Members National Assembly (MNAs) and Members Provincial Assemblies (MPAs).

However, imposing a ban on new gas connections in the major gas-producing provinces would force a large number of people to remain deprived of this basic utility.

SSGC sources said that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had recently imposed a ban on new development schemes throughout the country, except those districts where gas is produced.

“In view of the prevailing situation

in the country, the SSGC is not in a position to undertake new development schemes in more towns and villages of Sindh and Balochistan, especially under the loan agreement with the Sindh government,” added the sources.

They said that the gas company has been repeatedly receiving approvals for new schemes pertaining to all districts of Sindh; however, the provincial government should stop approving new schemes because the SSGC could not implement the policy in the present circumstances.

There are thousands of towns and villages where the gas utility is supposed to undertake new gas connections within the constituencies of elected representatives – Senators, MNAs and MPAs – however, the ban on new connections would create an embarrassing situation for the elected representatives to continue with the slogans of ‘Roti, Kapra aur Makaan’.

“What would the people do with roti or makaan without the provision of gas?” asked the sources.

They said that so far, the SSGC has undertaken schemes worth Rs 2.9 bil-

lion, under the loan agreement with the Sindh government, to provide gas to several towns and villages.

Between December 2009 and October 2011, the gas company has completed schemes in 340 towns and villages at a total cost of Rs 1.89 billion by laying 823 kilometres of pipelines of various diameters, they added.

Besides, they further said, work on 95 schemes worth Rs 780 million is expected to be completed by March this year, and the remaining schemes worth Rs 230 million would be executed in the first six months of 2012.

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Monday, 9 January, 2012

Plan to recruit 14,000 more teachers: Mazhar KARACHI APP

a terrapin on sale at the ‘pet market’ in the empress Market.

The Sindh government plans to recruit 14,000 more teachers soon, provincial Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said on Sunday. He said 14,000 teachers have already been hired on the basis of merit, whereas the same number of teachers would also be inducted soon. The minister said that this would help activate the remaining closed schools in the province. “The assistance from the World Bank, the European Union and the USAID enabled us to resume the academic activities in closed schools as well as recruit able and competent teachers,” he added.

Haq pointed out that with the joint efforts of the USAID and the Education Department, a teachers training programme has been started in two districts of the province. He said that in the coming year, this programme would be started in nine more districts. The minister said the Sindh Teachers Education Development Authority has also been set up. He was of the view that the results of the efforts made for improving the education sector would become visible in the coming years. Haq said the government has also decided to enhance the budgetary allocation for the education sector.

WORLD EDUcATION FORUM: The provincial education minister left for London on Sunday. According to an Education Department press release, the minister would participate in the World Education Forum there. The invitation to participate in the three-day forum was extended by the British education minister. Education ministers from various countries would ponder over the academic matters on the occasion.

ASiM rehMAni

17kg heroin seized... research on freedom but that should have movement leaders: SSUeT a step ahead been old news?

■ consignment confiscated on wednesday, but media informed after ‘culprits refused to cough up bribe’

KARACHI StAff REPORt

S

EVENTEEN kilogrammes of finequality heroin concealed in a garments consignment booked for Lagos in Nigeria were seized on Wednesday, Karachi Airport Unit officials of the Pakistan Customs’ Drug Enforcement Cell informed the media on Sunday after the culprits allegedly refused to bribe the officials.

While Pakistan Customs Chief Media Liaison Officer Qamar Thalho denied sources’ reports, he admitted

that the consignment was seized on Wednesday.

Thalho said that the registration of the case was delayed because of “legal proceedings”. He said that two people involved in the crime have been arrested.

The media officer said that the Cell’s staff were posted at the Export Cargo Complex of the Air Freight Unit at the Jinnah International Airport.

Acting on credible information, the officials intercepted a consignment comprising 80 cartons containing bulk quantity of tshirts being exported to a

consignee in Lagos by a Karachi-based exporter named Seven M Corporation.

A detailed examination of the consignment led to the recovery of 17kg of fine-quality heroin powder packed in 30 polythene packets concealed between t-shirts in two of the 80 cartons.

In a press release issued

by Pakistan Customs, the media was informed that clearing agent Mehmood Ahmad and exporter Ashraf Abbas have been arrested and a prosecution case under Control of Narcotics Substances Act of 1997 has been registered against them.

KARACHI APP

Research is under way at the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) on the lives and achievements of the Pakistan’s freedom movement leaders, a press release issued on Sunday quoted the university’s chancellor ZA Nizami as saying.

Nizami was speaking as chief guest at a “Jauhar Day” function organised at the SSUET to commemorate the memory of the great freedom fighter, Maulana Muhammed Ali Jauhar.

He said this work is going on in line with the traditions set by great educationist and reformer Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and in this regard, a lot of information on the mission and struggle waged

by Maulana Muhammed Ali Jauhar and Maulana Shaukat Ali Jauhar has been collected.

Nizami pointed out that when he was director general of the then Karachi Development Authority (KDA), Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar area was named after Maulana Muhammed Ali Jauhar.

Recalling the traditions set by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the chancellor informed the audience that Aligarh College had started with only few students and today it is a huge university complex.

Nizami said that some dedicated followers of Sir Syed had approached him (Sir Syed) to seek his consent to name the university after him. But Sir Syed refused saying that if people think that he has done something for the Muslims, they can set up an institution named after him after his death.

He said that it was after 96 years of the death of the great leader that this university was set up after his name.

“Today, this university works in collaboration with 22 well-known universities in the US and the UK,” he added. “`We try to follow the same spirit

that was maintained by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and the Quaid-e-Azam. In this context, SSUET is the only engineering university in Pakistan where Pakistan studies and Islamic studies are being taught as compulsory subjects as the university desired its students to qualify in these subjects.”

Nizami said this university observes the Jauhar Day every year and commemorates the days of other freedom movement leaders in the same manner.

He referred to the speeches made

by the students of the university on Maulana Muhammed Ali Jauhar and deeply complimented them for their knowledge and vision about the great leader.

Earlier, Muhammed Umer Khan, Umer Ali, Muhammed Adnan Akhtar and Fatima Faiza Ahmed in their speeches shed light on the life, struggle and mission of Maulana Muhammed Ali Jauhar for the cause of freedom and emancipation of Muslims of South Asia.

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karachi 07 PakistaN today

revolution of poor and middle-class inevitable: altaf KARACHI StAff REPORt

The revolution for bringing the poor and middle-class into power in the country has become inevitable, Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said on Sunday. He was talking with the members of the MQM’s Interior Sindh Tanzimi Committee of the Sukkur zone and office-bearers and activists of different wings of the party.

The MQM chief declared that the party’s convention in Sukkur on January 20 would be another step towards abolishing the age-old feudal system in the country. “The determination, courage and resolve of our workers have jolted the ramparts of the palaces of oppression and injustice,” he said. “These palaces would be razed down amid the resounding slogans of truth and honesty,” he added. “The message of the MQM has spread across the land of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai labourers would bring an end to the outdated feudal system by joining hands with our party.” Hussain said the unwavering party activists of Sukkur would work day and night to make the Sukkur convention a great success. He also commended the activists for their efforts for the convention and asked the party’s officials to look after them and honour them. The MQM chief paid tributes to all martyrs of the party, including Nooruddin Jahangir, and prayed for their souls.

activists and supporters of the Pakistan Bengali action committee stage a rally at the Ma Jinnah road on Sunday, demanding legal status for Bengali immigrants and provision of national identity cards and passports. STAFF PhoTo

JPMC doctor’s murder linked to tribal dispute?

■ Police announce rs 0.5 million reward for information about killers KARACHI

T

caa awards scholarships to employees’ children KARACHI APP

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has awarded scholarships to 180 children of its employees and issued promotion orders of 99 lower staff members. The PCAA media coordinator, in a statement issued on Sunday, said the authority’s director general has adopted an employeefriendly policy for the betterment of the organisation. The children would receive the educational grant by obtaining 80 percent and above marks in matriculation or the 1st year examinations from all education boards of Pakistan. Hence, Rs 2.3 million have been released under the head of scholarship. A total of 99 lower staff members have been promoted from PG-1 to PG-2 and from PG-2 to PG-3, including peons and watchmen. The PCCA director general had also promoted 550 staff members a month back. The media coordinator said the promotion order of 99 staff members has already been issued to all the airports.

IMdAd SOOMRO

HE Sindh police have announced Rs 0.5 million reward for information about the killers of Dr Saleem Kharal, head of the Pathology Department at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and brother of Pakistan People’s Party MPA Naeem Kharal.

The police authorities have assured that the name of the informer would be kept secret. Fifty-twoyear-old Kharal, who hailed from Khairpur, was killed by unidentified assailants on December 30 near the Punjab Chowrangi, while he was travelling in a car with his wife and driver.

Police officials have ruled out

the possibility of targeted killing, saying that the doctor was killed while resisting robbers. But sources said Dr Kharal’s family disagrees with the police’s point of view.

The doctor’s wife told the police that two men opened fire on Dr Kharal’s chest when they stopped at a traffic signal.

The doctor was rushed to the JPMC, but he succumbed to his injuries. VIP movement in the area caused some delay in taking him to the hospital.

There is an ancestral dispute between the Kharal and Narejo tribes in kachcha area of Khairpur and Larkana districts and several people from both tribes have killed by their rivals including prominent Sindhi writer Naseem Kharal, the brother of Dr Kharal.

Just what the fisherfolk needed… boats and authorised nets

Two gunned down KARACHI OnLInE

Two citizens were gunned down in separate incidents of firing in the metropolitan on Sunday. According to police, a man identified as 40-year-old Sarwar was shot dead by unidentified culprits near Darul Uloom in Korangi. The victim’s body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Separately, a private security guard identified as 40year-old Tufail Jan was shot dead near the Hyderi Market in North Nazimabad. The victim’s body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Police believe Jan was murdered by a friend.

KARACHI AMAR guRIRO

The World Wildlife Fund for Nature Pakistan (WWF-P), under its ‘Indus for All Programme’, distributed 10 boats and authorised nets among the fisherfolk of the Keenjhar Lake as part of the livelihood development plan.

“The main source of livelihood for the community living alongside

the Keenjhar Lake is fishing and the majority of it is poverty-stricken and lacks basic infrastructure facilities,” WWF-P Programme Coordinator Nasir Ali Panhwar said on the occasion.

“The livelihood of fisherfolk is affected by the increase in population and degradation of natural resources,” he added.

“As a result, fisherfolk are finding it hard to get respectable liveli-

hood sources and they lack the financial resources to buy the basic equipment required to catch fish.”

Panhwar said due to limited options of income, the locals go to nearby areas to cut trees and also hunt migratory birds at the lake, deteriorating the environment in the process.

“Responsible ecotourism needs to be promoted through engaging the local communities as this would pro-

vide them with alternate sources of livelihood and also reduce pressure on natural resources,” he added.

Fisheries Assistant District Zulfiqar Larik said his department is working closely with the fisherfolk living along the Keenjhar Lake.

“The fisherfolk now understand the negative impacts of illegal nets and are helping the department to remove them completely from the lake.

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PakistaN today

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24°c high

clear skies

12°c Low

Monday, 9 January, 2012

A Pakistani Spring?

26% humidity

TUeSDay weDNeSDay ThUrSDay 24°c i 15°c

25°c i 13°c

25°c i 12°c

Prayer TiMiNGS fajr 5:58

Sunrise 7:18

Zuhr 12:39

asr 3:40

Maghrib 6:00

isha 7:20

Starting time in karachi

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Supporters of imran khan at a rally in karachi on December 25.

THE NEW YORK TIMES HuMA YuSuf

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W

HILE I was living in Washington on a research fellowship last year, Pakistanis often urged me to use the opportunity to promote Pakistan’s “positive aspects” to Americans.

With the country steeped in ethnic and sectarian violence and regressing along the Human Development Index, this seemed like a challenge, and I’d struggle to muster compelling examples.

No longer. An exciting shift is now under way in Pakistan: the young are becoming politically engaged.

In coffee shops, beauty salons and workplaces, instead of gossiping or deconstructing the latest televised drama, youngsters are arguing about the merits of various politicians.

As a journalist, I can’t walk into a social gathering without getting grilled by my peers and their younger siblings about this policy or that.

Older Pakistanis who have long bemoaned the apathy of the country’s educated, middle-class youth are sighing in relief at this newfound activism. As one elderly family friend put it, “Your lot has

eUroPeAn PreSS

finally woken up.”

Unlike their counterparts in the Arab world, young Pakistanis are less inspired by revolutionary rhetoric than in producing results through the existing system.

They are demanding issuebased politics and sound government policies to reduce corruption, create jobs and recalibrate US-Pakistani relations.

country’s future has fuelled the unexpected success of the cricketerturned-politician Imran Khan.

He boasts more than 150,000 followers on Twitter and more than 330,000 Facebook likes. The student wing of his Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) party counts over 4,000 members in Karachi.

A PTI rally in Lahore in October attracted more than 7,000 students

Unlike their counterparts in the arab world, young Pakistanis are less inspired by revolutionary rhetoric than in producing results through the existing system. They are demanding issue-based politics and sound government policies to reduce corruption, create jobs and recalibrate US-Pakistani relations Blogging in a local daily, Muhammad Bilal Lakhani describes the evolution, “A visible and growing number of young, educated professionals in Pakistan are channelling their energies to incrementally improve the system by engaging with the current set up.”

Pakistani youngsters’ desire for change and a greater stake in their

PAk-gERMAn cOOPERAtIOn

and thousands of young voters; with so many fresh faces in the crowd, the line between political gathering and rock concert seemed blurred.

And this energy goes beyond PTI supporters. Several social media sites have hosted online voter-registration drives for the 2013 general elections.

Many of these are not affiliated

HAdIA/kIRAn/SOBIA

with any political party; they are simply seeking to boost youth participation at the polls.

Pakistan’s mainstream political parties, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), are launching youth-oriented campaigns and showcasing a new generation of politicians.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, of the PPP, is encouraging private media outlets to emphasise youth-oriented programming.

The opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, who heads the PML-N, recently drafted a new strategy to revamp his party’s Facebook presence and, in a bid to entice young voters, promised to distribute 300,000 laptops to students if he is elected.

The heightened political engagement of Pakistan’s youth is especially significant these days as judicial activism and military interference in the political arena threaten the country’s democratic foundations. Now that’s a positive aspect of Pakistan I’m happy to highlight to Americans or anyone around the world.

Huma Yusuf is a columnist for a local daily and was the 2010-11 Pakistan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

fARAzEH SYEd

PHOTO EXHIBITION STARTS JANUARY 9 AT 06:00 PM VENUE: gOETHE-INSTITUT

ART EXHIBITION STARTS JANUARY 10 AT 05:30 PM VENUE: CHAWKANDI ART

ART EXHIBITION STARTS JANUARY 13 AT 05:00 PM VENUE: UNICORN gALLERY

‘50 Years of Pakistan-German Development Cooperation’ from January 9 to 31 at the Goethe-Institut. Call 35661633 for more information.

Hadia Moiz, Kiran Saeed and Sobia Ahmed’s art exhibition from January 10 to 18 at the Chawkandi Art gallery.

Call 35373582 for more information.

Farazeh Syed’s art exhibition from January 13 to 20 at the Unicorn Gallery. Call 35831220 for more information.

KHI 09-01-2012_Layout 1 1/9/2012 3:26 AM Page 9

Monday, 9 January, 2012

KP doctors want Swat-like action against Taliban g

News 09 NePra suffers rs 48m loss by not imposing fines on DiScos

Dr Jamal hussain laid to rest

ISLAMABAD tAHIR nIAz

PESHAWAR

P

StAff REPORt

ROTESTING the assassination of senior cardiologist Dr Jamal Hussain, doctors from all over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the adjoining Tribal Areas urged the government to initiate a Swat-like military action against Taliban throughout the region.

Hussain’s bullet-riddled body was recovered from Jamrud area in Khyber Agency on Saturday. He was abducted in Peshawar around two months ago. Taliban demanded a large amount in ransom. However, without waiting for the outcome of the bargain, they killed the cardiologist and dumped his dead body near Teddy Bazaar in Jamrud.

The demand for an early action against the Taliban was made in protest meetings by the doctors on Sunday.

On the call of the Provincial Doctors Association, a protest rally was arranged

PESHAWAR: People’s Doctors Forum workers demonstrate against the killing of Dr Jamal Hussain outside the press club on Sunday. online

from Peshawar Saddar to the Peshawar Press Club where the Awami National Party-affiliated Malgari Doctoraan had arranged a general body meeting.

Amidst slogans against the militants, the government and the security forces,

Doctoraan’s emergency meeting also offered Fateha for the departed soul.

The doctor had already declared a three-day mourning along with boycotting of their routine duties in main hospitals.

the doctors proceeded towards Peshawar Press Club. Addressing the protesters, the PDA office-bearers expressed grave concern over the failure of the government for failing to protect the life and property of the citizens. The Malgari

Govt may not release rs 45b for power generation ISLAMABAD AMER SIAL

RAWALPIndI: A palmist tells a lady customer her fortune on a roadside. inP

The Finance Ministry is unlikely to meet the demand of the Water and Power Ministry to provide Rs 45 billion to maintain uninterrupted power supply during the low hydroelectric power supply month of January, Pakistan Today learnt on Saturday.

An official source said if there were no violent street protests during the month, the Finance Ministry might altogether skip the release of any sum other than the monthly subsidy amount of Rs 10 billion. At present, thermal power generation stood at 8,300MW, said the source, and the Finance Ministry felt there was no need to spend an extra Rs 45 billion to bring it up to 9,500MW, which would still require up to 8 hours of load shedding every day.

In the current financial crisis, the government could not provide such a huge sum, as the delay in passing on the monthly fuel price adjustment and hike in power tariff had already piled up Rs 140 billion on the national exchequer, the source said.

The Water and Power Ministry has demanded the release of Rs 86 billion to maintain power supply levels at 9,500MW

during January. It based its assumption on payment of Rs 30 billion to Pakistan State Oil (PSO) for fuel supply, Rs 32 billion to independent power producers (IPPs) for fuel payment, Rs 19 billion capacity payment to IPPs, Rs 5 billion to gas companies as well as nuclear and hydroelectric power suppliers during the month.

However, the source said the Finance Ministry had finalised details of Rs 240 billion debt swap with the banks, under which debt of IPPs would be accommodated against their receivables from the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO). The government will lift their debt and transfer to a power-holding company that would later on be shifted to Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA). He said the swap would take place by mid-January and would resolve the issue of rehabilitation of credit lines to IPPs from the banks.

Delayed payment from the government to IPPs resulted in depletion of fuel reserves at the plants. The debt swap would remove a major hurdle of the IPPs, as revival of credit lines would enable them to stock fuel reserves. After the resolution of the debt issue, there was no need to provide the hefty sum demanded by the Water and Power Ministry, said the source.

The high ups at the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) have caused a loss of Rs 48.62 million to the national exchequer by not imposing fine on defaulting power distribution companies (DISCOs), as an interpretation of relevant rules by the Law Ministry states that NEPRA is under obligation to impose fine and recover it.

The NEPRA Fees and Fines Rules, 2002 enjoin upon every licensee to pay annual fee in respect of any financial year in advance within 30 days of the expiry of the preceding financial year, provided that the licence fee for the first financial year is paid within 30 days of the grant of license. In case of default, NEPRA is empowered to impose a fine of Rs 300,000 for the first day of default, and Rs 10,000 for every subsequent day of violation until the date of payment.

The DISCOs delayed the payments for years, but NEPRA authorities did not initiate any proceedings to impose fine.

An audit calculated the fine amount as Rs 48.63 million. The NEPRA authorities were of the view that the imposition of fine was a discretionary tool and needed to be used with utmost care. They further held that the defaulting licensees were state-owned entities who were running in loss and the imposition of fines would have added to their financial difficulties. The audit insisted that the non-imposition of fine was an example of favouring and patronising defaulting public sector licensees and brought loss to the public exchequer. The Public Accounts Committee in its meeting held in July last year took notice of the situation and directed that the case be referred to the Law Division through Cabinet Division for the clarification of rules regarding the imposition of fine.

According to sources in the Cabinet Division, the Law Ministry in its opinion on the issue said the authority should first get an explanation from the person concerned, and in case the explanation was not accepted, it should direct the registrar to issue show-cause notice to the person concerned with the specific allegation and the amount of fine to be imposed. Furthermore, if the response to the show-cause notice was not accepted, then the authority should determine the amount of fine. It held that the legal provisions clearly show that the authority’s discretion in imposing fine was not absolute, but should be exercised with due care and caution by keeping in view the facts and circumstances of each case.

246 officials of subordinate judiciary apprehended since enforcement of NJP MASOOd REHMAn

After the enforcement of the National Judicial Policy (NJP) on June 1, 2009, as many as 246 officials of the subordinate judiciary of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa faced action on the charges of moral and financial corruption and breach of “code of conduct”, whereas no such case occurred in Balochistan.

However, a majority of lawyers practicing with the subordinate courts of various districts across the country believe that despite the lapse of two-and-a-half years after its enforcement, the policy had so far failed to achieve its targets at the district level, where cases were still not being disposed of in accordance with the guidelines and corruption was rampant.

They said that as far as disposal of cases was concerned, the situation was critical in almost all provinces, particularly Punjab. They said the cases at the district-level judiciary were not being decided speedily. Just after the enforcement of the policy, a cell for eradication of cor-

ruption from subordinate judiciary was established in each high court under the supervision of its respective chief justice for disciplinary action against the corrupt and incompetent judicial officers and court officials.

These cells receive complaints through the registrar of the respective high courts. Since enforcement of the policy, disciplinary actions have been taken against judicial and court officials involved in such practices. According to statistics since the enforcement of the policy, 71 officials were dismissed in Punjab, two judicial officers and 43 officials were removed, one judicial officer and 10 officials were terminated and seven judicial officers and 32 officials were compulsory retired from the service.

In Sindh, 29 officials were dismissed, six judicial officers and five officials were compulsorily retired from service and major penalties were imposed on six judicial officers and 16 other officials.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eight judicial officers and six officials were compulsorily retired, two officials were removed and major penalties were imposed against two judicial officers. However, no

case of corruption surfaced in the district judiciary of Balochistan.

The district judiciary is the backbone of the judicial system of the country and if it delivers to the satisfaction of the people, it inspires confidence and earns their respect. About 90 percent of litigants, at first stage, come in contact with the district judiciary, thus the impression and confidence of public in the judicial system is directly dependent on their experience at the district-level judiciary.

It is a well acknowledged and a settled fact that delay in dispensation of justice not only causes agony to litigants, but also badly affects the fabric of socio-economic activities and this has been the main issue before successive law reforms commissions and committees set up from time to time. The delay in dispensation of justice discourages the people to approach the courts for removal of their grievances. No one can deny that we have entered a new arena of paradigm shift, where we have to deliver legal rights protected by the constitution and the law.

Before the enforcement of the NJP, majority of cases were disposed of mere on technical grounds. However after the

enforcement of the policy, directions were passed to the district judiciary to decide the cases on merit after providing full opportunity of hearing the parties, so that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly be seen to have been done. Transparency in the functioning of courts and eradiation of corruption in all its manifestation on the part of judicial officers and officials is the corner stone of the NJP. The NJP suggested strict adherence to the “code of conduct” by all judicial officers and officials and initiation of disciplinary action against the corrupt ones.

According to legal practitioners of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, the short- and long-term measures for expeditious disposal of cases set in the policy have not yet been met.

They said the judicial policy envisaged that bail applications should be decided by magistrates in three days, whereas ground reality was against it, as such cases were taking weeks and months to get decided.

They said criminal cases punishable with imprisonment from one to seven years registered after January 1, 2009

were not being kept on fast track for disposal within three months, which was a violation of the provisions of the judicial policy. They added that stay matters were not being decided within 15 days of grant of interim injunction.

Besides, they said rent cases were not being decided speedily within a prescribed period of 30 days, adding that civil appeals, writ petitions and other miscellaneous review petitions regarding rent matters were also not being decided in 90 days. They said according to the judicial policy, family cases should be decided within three months, however, such cases were taking six months to a year in getting decided.

The lawyers complained that civil appeals arising out of family cases, custody of minors and against interim orders were not being decided the prescribed time of 30 days.

About submission of challans of the accused persons, they said it was a settled law that the challan of an accused be submitted in 14 days and the judicial policy also stressed upon it, however, the challans were not being produced even in months and years.

KHI 09-01-2012_Layout 1 1/9/2012 3:26 AM Page 10

10 News

Monday, 9 January, 2012

haqqani fears for his life MONITORINg DESK Former Pakistani ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani has been caught in a showdown between Pakistan's army and civilian leaders, and now says he fears for his safety, Yahoo News said on Saturday.

Haqqani was recalled to Islamabad in November amid accusations by a Pakistani-American businessman of involvement in the delivery to American officials of a memo accusing the Pakistani military of plotting a coup. The former ambassador has since sought refuge in the home of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani out of concern for his security, Reuters reported Friday.

"I just want my media trial and harassment to end," Haqqani, a former scholar at Boston University, told Yahoo News by email Friday. "If anyone thinks they can file charges against me, I will face them in court with due process. But to keep claiming that I somehow jeopardised Pakistani national security by joining an individual in sending a memo consigned by its recipient to the dustbin is absurd and unjust."

On Thursday, Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Mark Kirk issued a statement expressing alarm at reports of harassment and threats against Haqqani.

"We are increasingly troubled by Ambassador Haqqani's treatment since he returned home to Pakistan, including the travel ban imposed on him," the statement read. "We urge Pakistani authorities to resolve this matter swiftly and consistent with civilian rule of law and to prevent the judicial commission investigating Ambassador Haqqani from becoming a political tool for revenge against an honorable man."

A travel ban has been imposed on Haqqani while a Pakistan judiciary commission undertakes an investigation into the affair. It was launched by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who alleged an October Financial Times op-ed that he had delivered a memo to American officials in the wake of the US killing of Osama bin Laden last year seeking to stave off a Pakistani military coup.

The memo, Ijaz has subsequently asserted in various, sometimesconflicting accounts, was delivered to then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen on behalf of Haqqani and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. It reportedly sought help in sidelining units of Pakistan's military and intelligence service sympathetic to jihadi militants.

AttOck: Shias flagellate themselves in the chehlum procession of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) on Sunday. online

Snowfall covers country’s north SWAT

T

HAROOn SIRAJ/AgEncIES

HE recent rains and snowfall in Swat has sent the temperature below 0◦C which has left the entire region in a severe spell of cold. According to reports, snow continued to fall in Kalam for the fourth consecutive day and the area has received between three to five feet of snow.

Although rain and snowfall subsided in the lower parts of the district, the valley still remains in grip of severe cold. Pak Army Engineering Wing Major Azhar said it was due to the perseverance of the army that, in spite of the overwhelming snowfall, the Kalam road remains open for all traffic.

On the other side, unscheduled power outages exceed twenty hours a day which has increased water scarcity of water in most parts of the district. All silk and cosmetic industries have stopped operation due to the outages,

rendering thousands of daily wage workers jobless. Business in the city has also been crippled. The business community has warned that unless remedial meas-

ures are taken soon, they will be left without option but protest.

Similarly, heavy snowfall continued in the upper parts of the country, includ-

ing Azad Kashmir making the weather chilly besides closing off major roads for traffic on Sunday night.

In Kel, Neelum, Leepa, Sadhan Gali, But Sherh, Punjal Gali and Seer Kot of Azad Kashmir snowfall has continued for the past few days..

Snowfall was reported in upper parts of Baltistan division, Chitral, Murree, various areas of Hazara division, Abbottabad and others on Saturday. More than one feet of snowfall was reported in the galliyat in Abbottabad district.

Snowfall was heavy in the mountainous areas of Mansehra and Battagram district, which left the links roads in the Naran valley in Mansehra and in the Ilai valley in Battagram blocked.

Authorities managed to clear snow from the Lowari Pass to enable small vehicles to continuing plying on the road linking Upper Dir district with Chitral.

Sporadic snowfall has also decreased temperatures in Bajaur, Khyber Agency, Upper and Lower Dir and other tribal areas.

Karachi, an apt symbol of country’s instability MONITORINg DESK Drink tea with Hussein Hazari at his tiny shop in the city's old quarter, and both statements feel true. Hazari is a neat, guarded man who sits with his constantly beeping BlackBerry amid shelves stacked with spray paint, car polish and adhesives. Recently Hazari began selling another product: gun lubricant. "I thought it was worth a try, because weapons are so readily available here," he says.

Time magazine report says that's an understatement. More than a thousand people died last year in ethnic turf wars fueled by heavily armed supporters of Karachi's main political parties, perishing in street battles fought with assault rifles, machine guns and grenades. Some victims were decapitated.

There could be a sequel. Despite the heavy presence of Rangers, there are fears the city is entering an even more dangerous era. This is worrying because what happens in Karachi has global implications. With a population of 18 million, it is the country’s largest city and commercial capital, providing at least half its tax revenues. "You cannot destroy Pakistan by destroying cities like Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar," says Mustafa Syed Kamal, the city's fast-talking former mayor. "You have to destabilise Karachi first, because it is Pakistan's economic backbone, its oxygen provider."

Internally, the country is dangerously divided. The ongoing "memogate" scandal has exposed tensions between the

military and the weak government of President Asif Ali Zardari. The leak of the unsigned memo, in which Islamabad apparently asks for the Pentagon's help to divert a feared military coup, forced the resignation of Pakistan's ambassador to Washington and could ultimately topple Zardari himself.

Unsurprisingly, British author, academic and terrorism analyst Anatol Lieven calls Pakistan "perhaps the biggest and wobbliest domino on the world stage". And the most dramatic symbol of that instability is Karachi. A recent surge in violence has sealed its reputation as life-threatening and unlivable.

In November, global consulting firm Mercer ranked it 216th out of 221 cities in a personal-safety survey that took into account not just sectarian and ethnic unrest, but also terrorist attacks.

Take away political violence, and Karachi is still plagued by the common variety — armed robbery, kidnappings for ransom, murder — with only 30,000 underpaid police to tackle it all. And the city is still afflicted by the problems of a fastgrowing metropolis: pollution, bad sanitation, slums and a transport system so overburdened that thousands of Karachiites commute to work on bus roofs.

Chronic power shortages routinely plunge the City of Lights (as it was known in a bygone era) into darkness. In September, monsoon rains caused floods that brought the city to a halt. "It is perhaps Asia's worst-governed megacity," says Arif Hasan, an eminent Karachi ar-

chitect and town planner.

When it comes to buying weapons, however, Karachi is king. That Karachi traders must sell gun lubricant to make ends meet shows just how far the city has sunk. Or it could be interpreted another way: as an example of the indomitable entrepreneurial spirit that makes this filthy, frenetic place a magnet for so many Pakistanis. For as well as representing Pakistan's dysfunction, Karachi embodies its resilience.

Wander Hazari's bustling neighbourhood and you realise what energises Karachi is not religion or ethnicity or politics, but commerce and its universal corollary: the dream of a better life.

Karachi's Urdu speakers called themselves Mohajirs and formed the MQM that dominates the city today. The party owes its rise to "efficient organisation and willingness to use violence and intimidation to achieve its goals", according to the US State Department. But Karachi's ethnic makeup is changing, and this is challenging MQM's traditional dominance.

The city's relative prosperity has long lured people from across the country.

However, military operations against the Taliban in the northwest have accelerated the influx of ethnic Pashtun and boosted the influence of the Awami National Party (ANP), which claims to represent them.

In short, Karachi is driven by complex ethnic and political fault lines, which intersect bafflingly with local criminal interests and national affairs. And when every resource — every job, house or bucket of

clean water — is scarce, and every vote coveted, it is no surprise that the prospect of civic harmony feels remote.

That the MQM, its ally the ruling PPP, and the ANP have militant armed wings is one of Karachi's worst-kept secrets. Their leaders deny this in strikingly similar terms, portray themselves not as perpetrators of violence but as its peaceloving victims.

The gulf between Karachi's political leaders is mirrored on the streets. "Employers only give jobs to members of their own ethnic group," says Abdul Ahad, a Kashmiri resident of the Mohajir-dominated district of Nazimabad.

Mohammad Kashif, 18, showed off three bullet holes in his family's tea shop. Fighting broke out after a neighbour was killed and "cut to pieces" while buying bread in a Pashtun area, he says.

Kashif hid in his house for three days until the Rangers arrived to enforce a fragile truce. "There's still a lot of uncertainty," says Kashif. "The situation could get bad again."

Achieving peace is not the only critical issue dividing Karachi's politicians.

For the past two years, this megacity has been in an administrative limbo, while the PPP and MQM squabble over how it should be run: by a locally elected government or centrally appointed bureaucrats.

So is there any good news? Ghazi Salahuddin, a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) who investigated the recent violence, has

mixed feelings. On one hand, he takes heart in Karachi's growing civic-mindedness, pointing to successful local nonprofits. On the other, he wonders whether such efforts will be "overwhelmed by the darkness".

By that, he means continued political bloodshed. If Karachi's future depends upon its politicians, then it's hard to be optimistic. "None of the parties negotiate on principles," says town planner Hasan, who is also chairman of the Urban Resource Centre.

Yet Hasan finds cause for hope in an unusual place: urbanisation.

At Karachi's universities, for example, women students often outnumber men, even in traditionally male-dominated subjects. These young women also seem to be marrying much later, as are the men. "For the first time in the history of this city, you have an overwhelming majority of unmarried adolescents, which is enough to change family structures and gender relations," says Hasan. "Project these figures 10 years from now and you will have a totally different Karachi."

Karachi is doomed, Karachi is indestructible. Meet students and you sense they are battling with the same contradiction. They despair of ever dislodging the politicians they unanimously blame for the city's dysfunction. But they still have hope for their hyperkinetic hometown.

When I asked Fariha Sajid, a 21-year-old architecture student, which part of Karachi was her favorite, she shot me a challenging look. "All of it," she replied.

KHI 09-01-2012_Layout 1 1/9/2012 3:26 AM Page 11

Monday, 9 January, 2012

Editor’s mail 11

The real problem Our real problem in the country is that we have highly ill equipped, uneducated and even uncivilised political leaders running the affairs of this state of Pakistan. None, I repeat none, of them have even the basic traits of leadership.

No one has even a minor touch of leadership. We have no nursery where politicians are trained or made to learn.

No one on the horizon has a vision or understanding of the basic concepts of economics or politics or public administration, what to talk of international scenario?

If we analyse the current regime’s four years, we can clearly see that people at the helms of affairs have no idea of what they were doing when even tackling small and even routine matters. I do not have to recall the unending list of mismanagement of things. Suffice it is to say that no decision or action has gone in favour of the masses or general public.

One after the other, disasters crept in. As these incompetent people, who were made to look after the major institutions

Musharraf’s views on israel of the country, were far below the calibre, which was a pre-requisite in any selection. Corruption, defalcation of funds and wrong decisions were the obvious result of their presence.

‘Democracy’, ‘mandate of the people’, ‘past governments’ etc are the empty excuses they plead in their defence publicly.

Overall, the management of affairs has been continuously slipping down the drain. One can see a few ‘made-up’ faces of a few females, the sick-looking males and the ailing and half-baked politicians, fighting with one another on TV over a small issue. Both of them repeating meaningless rhetoric and making absolutely senseless discussions. None speak for the public welfare or any relief to the poor masses. No one seems to be concerned about the falling economy.

I will not touch upon major things; rather, draw the attention of your readers to some of the minor or ordinary things that they see on TV. Why was the ‘illness’ of President Zardari kept so much of a secret? Why were there contradictory

statements from a dozen politicians? This shows a lack of coordination amongst them. Why were not the resumes of people checked and scrutinised before they were given high positions in NLCI, WAPDA, Railways, PIA etc? Why can’t the government see massive erosion of public exchequer? Why do we have so many ministers?

Why could we not repair train engines in time? Why are our planes grounded? Where are the spares? Why is the law and order situation in the country deteriorating every minute? Why do we have such a massive get-togethers on birthdays, death anniversaries etc of Bhuttos in Naudero and at the cost of public exchequer? Why can’t we stop Dr Babar Awan from opening his mouth?

Why can’t we stop (Dr) Rehman Malik from issuing a stupid statement, thanking Talibans for not disturbing rallies in Pakistan on Ashura?

I can go on listing hundreds of things, and I am sure we will fall short of space here. The nutshell is that these so-

called democratic rulers have no sense at all of basic management principles. They should go to a management school and attend training moots before they come to occupy these positions. To me it seems they are joking with 180 million. But is this joke not a serious one?

Mr Asif Zardari, Mr Yousaf Gillani and the junta had been in jail for most part of their learning years. Mr Nawaz Sharif, Mr Shahbaz Sharif and the gang appear temperamentally unsuitable and slow in their minds. Mr Imran Khan, Mr Javed Hashmi, Mr Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the lot have coined new terms and phrases but have no concrete plans so far to bail Pakistan out of misery.

Lastly, I would draw the attention of 180 million people to the seriousness of Balochistan issue. Power shortage, gas, flour, ghee and the like would fall short in their magnitude, once Balochistan explodes.

AMJAD H MIRZA Lahore

Unfair recruitment Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) is one of the most renowned institutes of University of the Punjab and is playing an incredible role for strengthening the fourth pillar of the state (ie, media). It is ranked among the best in the entire South Asia with regards to media and journalism studies.

Few months back the university administration advertised for one vacant post for a permanent lecturer at the ICS. The selection board conducted tests/interviews of the candidates who had applied for the post. The applicants included four seasoned teachers of the institute itself who were working on contractual basis for the past for few years and had tirelessly served the institute. These included; Mr Ahmed Mujtaba (who is also devotedly performing his duties as the Media Advisor of the ICS), Mr Khalid Rashid (who worked on contractual basis for four years), Ms Maliha Hassan Leghari and Ms Shafia Bhatti.

Instead of the deserving teachers, three other female lecturers have been appointed by the Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran for a single post. Even if new vacancies had to be created it is binding upon the university administration to advertise them after the consent of the director of the related institute (this was never done in this case).

Moreover, the selection board didn’t include the Director of the ICS whereas his presence is mandatory during the selection process as defined by the rules of Higher Education Commission. The three teachers selected by the VC Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran have no experience of teaching and they haven’t graduated from the same institute. The present faculty is by all means much better than the fresh recruitments whether it be qualification, performance or experience.

The worst affectees would be the students if teachers would be recruited through nepotism and by violating the rules. Teachers are an asset for the students and mass communication being a relatively new field of study in Pakistan requires dedicated and ambitious teachers.

I implore the Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and Governor Punjab to take notice of these unfair recruitments and save the future of thousands of students who aspire to become future journalists, media professionals and opinion leaders. In addition to this, while approving a candidate for the slot of VC, consider this corrupt decision enforced by the sitting VC. A STUDENT Punjab University, Lahore

Power exercised in secret “Hussain Haqqani fears attempt on his life, Asma Jahangir quits as lawyer of Hussain Haqqani and US is closely watching the Memogate proceedings”, news appeared in your esteemed paper lately. Power has always to be kept in check. Power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is extremely dangerous.

TARIQ RANA Islamabad

Former President Pervez Musharraf’s views published in a section of national English press about accepting Israel as a state in the larger interests of Pakistan needs to be examined dispassionately.

He says that our non-acceptance of Israel has pushed it to forge a close relationship with India to our discomfort.Israel has been accepted by some Arab states like Egypt and Jordon while late leader of PLO Yassar Arafat called Israelis his cousins albeit step ones.

Arabs have a family relationship with Israelis while we have none. As such it is a family dispute of historic proportions as Arabs and Israelis had same father Abraham and different mothers.

Some enmity existed among the step brothers among sons of Prophet Jacob where his son Joseph was thrown in a well by his step brothers who were later forgiven in the final reunion of the family of Prophet Jacob in Egypt where Joseph had become a Wazir of King of Egypt.

Israelis are leaders in knowledge of science as illustrated by Einstein and the large number of Israelis as Noble prize winners in science while Muslims are mostly barren in this regard.

Pakistan can gain much in accepting Israel as a state as per ground realities to reap the benefits of scientific cooperation and lesser bonding of Israel with India unnecessarily.

We should not be more loyal to Arabs than themselves. USA as sole superpower of the world has close nexus with Israel and by opposing Israel we draw the results of the close affinity of US/Israeli combined to the benefit of India, our mortal enemy.

As such there is logic in the views of former President Musharraf when he advocates forging a relationship with the Israeli state. There ought to be a dispassionate debate over the issue in the national media about the pros and cons in the contemporary world in which live.

DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI Lahore

Too much smoking

a single seat in provincial assemblies, which alone have jurisdiction to carve out more provinces within their area of jurisdiction according to the constitution. Their sabre rattling in the National Assembly, given myriad problems this country faces, is either an attempt to divert attention or perhaps a preparation of ground for achieving their own province in the areas where it is fighting a battle for turf.

If this party had any sympathy for human beings that belong to Hazara or

South Punjab and have migrated to Karachi like them, they should have put a stop to target killings of these poor people living in that city.If the Seraiki province is to be headed by scions of these corrupt politicians who have served as PM of Pakistan, or governor and chief minister of Punjab, they will only do what they have been doing, which is plundering this poor country and abusing their powers.

NAZEER ABRO Illinois, USA

A news item says that Pakistani people spent almost 200 billion rupees on smoking in the fiscal 2011. It means that we burnt more than two billion dollars on smoking. This is a huge amount, even bigger than the amount Pakistan get in aid from the United States.

If Pakistanis can spend such a huge amount of cash on cigarettes, it can be assumed that they can also live without the US aid. The report shows that 65 billion cigarettes were used in the fiscal 2011 in Pakistan. This means that almost 2062 cigarettes are consumed in one second.

It will also be appreciated if the government of Pakistan imposes more tax (it's strange that the government imposes taxes on basic commodities but not on such unnecessary items) on cigarettes so that they are not used in large numbers.

It will also help reduce health care expenses of the people and the government as fewer people will contract smoking related diseases.

MUBASHIR MAHMOOD Karachi

and eat the cake themselves. This announcement ushered in a doomsday scenario. Typical of our people who forget everything when it comes to eating; our youth attacked the cake and fought their way to get a bit of it. In all this period, nowhere the culture of discipline could be observed. Discipline literally vanished from the scene.

This is the awful state of our youth which is currently very eager to bring change in Pakistan. But they themselves remain unchanged at large. What does our young generation think? By rallying around Imran Khan and supporting his party, will they be able to stir a very change they often talk about and want to see in their country. Never at all! This is the height of folly. Anyone, who wants to bring change, must remember that

change comes from our inner being. If we do not change ourselves, our attitudes and our mindsets then we cannot bring any sort of change.

Leaving other things aside; we are a nation that seriously lacks civic sense.

From our elite to the lower class, we almost lose sense when we find some food in front of ourselves. Once, I was invited to a book launching ceremony at a local five star hotel where our elegantly attired elite was present as guests. There I saw and met many of our retired bureaucrats and serving government officials which reflects the calibre of participants. When the ceremony concluded and tea was served, our well dressed and usually wellmannered elite rushed towards tea as if this was their last tea. Instead of lining up and giving everyone a chance to come

forward, they ate and took tea in the most inappropriate manner as was generally unexpected of them.

These situations were not new to me and perhaps to anyone of us. I always come across such horrifying scenarios be it a wedding, a religious ceremony, a seminar or a conference. Every one of us sees these things but no one ever thinks to help reduce these shameful acts which have almost become our common national identity. Today, at almost every table, people are discussing the prospect of bringing change in Pakistan. But no one seems eager to change themselves.

With our own being full of obnoxious factors; are we eligible to do so? Is this how we can change things?

BADAR-UL-ISLAM Islamabad

call it a day As Babar Awan continues to defy the court and keeps his practice of issuing statements in contempt of the court, I would plead to the Chief Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan to call it a day now. There are so many other things that need to be looked into and looked after. I mean what you can do to a man who so steadfastly defies the orders of the highest judicial court in the country.

The president has a team that lacks credibility and compe-

More provinces Pakistan's biggest problems are corruption, poor governance, rule of law, lack of energy and no accountability.

Mere creation of more provinces will not resolve any of these issues and may only further add to the woes that plague this poor country.

The MQM headed by a controversial British national has absolutely no representation in either Hazara or Seraiki belt. It does not have

tence, let alone any political credentials. They have ruined Pakistan. Now the President has started taking the liberty of keeping his youngest daughter on his side in official business as shown on TV. This gives an impression that he is taking Pakistan as his personal empire. I would urge CJP to declare such activities as unconstitutional and prosecute him for breaching constitution.

MARYAM A Rawapindi

culture of discipline Past few weeks, I happened to attend the anniversary celebrations (Yaum-eTasees) of Insaf Students’ Federation (ISF), the student political wing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at their Central Secretariat, Islamabad. I was invited by my friend who is currently amongst the office bearers of ISF. Speaking on the occasion, the Founder Head of ISF, Islamabad Chapter said that the thing which differentiates ISF from the student wings of other political parties was the culture of discipline. He added that they had introduced discipline amongst the ranks of youth. His statement was widely hailed amidst the cheers and slogans of young blood present at the occasion.

Afterwards when the cake was cut to mark the celebrations, the same person asked the participants to come forward

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

KHI 09-01-2012_Layout 1 1/9/2012 3:26 AM Page 12

12 comment Service to justice?

Politicising the judiciary

I

n one corner of the ring, former premier Nawaz Sharif would have you believe, is the big, bad government, scheming and planning against the judiciary; in the other corner is Mr Sharif himself, protecting the judiciary, ready to take a punch or two for the noble cause of rule of law. And this neat categorisation of where things lie vis-à-vis the judiciary certainly permeates into the minds of some from the legal fraternity as well; just the other day, the prime minister was heckled off the stage at a function of the Lahore bar association where the rabble-rousers were raising slogans in favour of the chief justice. Their political affiliations would be easy to guess.

This position is a far cry from the time of the attack on the Supreme Court in 1997, when activists of his party raided the building of the apex court. But things change, yes, and so do people. Mr Sharif’s post-exile, prodemocracy avatar, where he has been making all the right sounds regarding constitutionalism and civil-military relations is commendable. But is that a façade or merely a case of incomplete learning? Because his recent faux pas, the one about his intention to set up military courts in Sindh were he to come to power, reveal a lack of clarity on the many aspects of the rule of law in democracies. The statement was widely panned, not just by the political parties but the judiciary itself. Even the quarters whom it would have presumably aroused, chose to decline commenting on it.

Justice should not only be done, goes the adage, but be seen to be done. This would be impossible to do if the judiciary is seen to be politicised, at least by the ruling party. The judiciary has to dispel this impression through its words and actions. That will be difficult to do if it is constantly championed (unsolicited) by the opposition party in a manner that is adversarial to the government.

The government could also do its bit by stopping shuffling their feet when it comes to obeying the decisions of the court. The clauses about contempt of court might have been used unfairly in the past, penalising citizens for merely criticising court judgments. But a refusal to honour court directives actually is contemptuous regardless of how one slices it.

on israel Let no one forget

T

he question of recognising Israel plays itself out easily enough in the general public. They are against it. This would spring no surprises; the intellectual diet that has been fed the public might leave charitable room for the United States occasionally but absolutely none for Israel.

A portion of the liberati, however, have a different take on the issue. They argue that recognising the state would yield a considerably large dividend for the country; that the intransigent position on Israel rests on a retrogressive interpretation of religion, one that reflects itself in the real problems that our country faces in the form of terrorism; that we have immense difference with India as well, but we still do recognise them and have mutual diplomatic setups, so why the exception for Israel? These views gained currency when former president Pervez Musharraf broached the idea in public discourse, as he did while in power and then the other day again.

There are problems with this line of reasoning. First of all, opposition to Israel stems from secular, humanist values, not (necessarily) religious ones. It was only in 1992, for instance, that India formally established relations with the rogue middle-eastern state; the father of the country, Mohandas Gandhi, was dead against the then embryonic state. If the country finally recognised it, it is because the realpolitik overpowered a moral stance, not any notion of inclusive diplomacy.

The Israeli state is fascist and is perhaps the world’s only truly and overtly racist state. The original inhabitants of the land are still living under occupation.

Why should Pakistan, beset with so many problems of its own, be bothered to bear this cross? Because morals do (or at least should) play at least some role in statecraft. We could ease up, yes, but only if the people of Palestine, after years of humiliating subjugation, seek some closure and feel it would be the best way to go. Until then, the position is not too great a cost to us. Our position and that of the many nations that still don’t recognise the state is a reminder that this was one of the clear cases of injustice in 20th century history.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302 Karachi – Ph: 021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 9 January, 2012

resurgence of moderate islamists A counterweight to hardliners?

By Arif Ansar

A

ccording to recent media reports, prominent Pakistani Taliban commanders have held meetings with Al-Qaeda leaders and Afghan Taliban.

The first one was held on November 27 in Wanna, South Waziristan, while the second one took place on December 11 in Datta Khel, North Waziristan. During these meetings, Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leaders tried to convince Pakistani Taliban to set aside their differences, and assist them in their fight against the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

In a fashion similar to the meetings in FATA, Pakistan’s jihadists also came together in a recent get-together in Lahore. In this gathering, banned religious group Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JD) protested against the granting of Most Favored Nation (MFN) to India, and declared it was ready for jihad against NATO. The gathering of 44 right-wing entities and personalities was held under the banner of the Difaa-i-Pakistan Council (Pakistan Defense Council).

The meetings in FATA have taken place as US drone strikes were on hold in the aftermath of the November 26th NATO Mohmand strike. Furthermore, for the first time, Afghan Taliban have formally accepted it is involved in negotiations with the US, and have consented the office in Qatar for this purpose. With this background, two main interpretations have emerged on these meetings and the motivations behind them. One of them suggests the emergence of new extremist alliances represented by Islamic hardliners, while the other presents growing fissures within these groups.

Reports indicate senior Al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi, as well as Sirajuddin Haqqani of Haqqani network, attended the gatherings in FATA. Other leaders attending included Hakimullah Mehsud and his deputy Waliur Rehman of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Spokesperson for TTP, Ehsanullah Ehsan stated that Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur, which Pakistan considers as Good Taliban, including Afghan Taliban Zabiullah Mujahid and Maulvi Sangeen, were also present. Some accounts suggest that Mullah Omar had sent Siraj Haqqani and Mullah Mansour to broker the agreement.

The following outcomes have resulted from the FATA meetings: formulation of a consultative body known as Shura-e-Murakeba that will sort out differences between the groups, avoiding the unnecessary killings and kidnappings for ransom, and ending of attacks on Pak-

istani military while refocusing efforts towards US led coalition in Afghanistan.

The declaration of not attacking Pakistani forces could be the result of peace negotiations, taking place between the TTP and the country. However, according to media reports, TTP has not fully committed to ceasing its attack on Pakistani targets. On the other hand, despite the rift with US, Pakistan’s military operations have continued against TTP in FATA. In these circumstances, the declaration has proved to be short-lived. TTP claimed responsibility for killing 15 Frontier Constabulary personnel on Thursday that were abducted on December 22 from Mullazai Fort in Tank. TTP has stated it was retaliation for the January 1st operation in Khyber Agency. In this particular offensive, Pakistani Taliban commander Qari Kamran was also killed. Qari Kamran was involved in the suicide attack on Shabqadar that killed 90 cadets, and the twin bombing in Nowshehra that resulted in the death of 20 people. On Friday, TTP announced the release of remaining 16 children that were abducted from around Bajaur Agency last September.

These events suggest that TTP is not sticking to the spirit of the talks with AlQaeda and Afghan Taliban. Moreover, there may be divisions with in TTP on how to proceed in the future. A few media sources have reported that a rift has emerged between TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud and his deputy Waliur Rehman and that it could soon develop in to a full blown infighting.

Hakimullah Mehsud is accused of accepting support from India. Among others, Hakimullah has also been at odds with Mullah Nazir of South Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Bahadur of North Waziristan, and Fazal Saeed of Kurram Agency.

This kind of infighting would obviously be detrimental for the cause of the Afghan Taliban, as they would like to present a united front in the reconciliation process. However, this is a daunting task as the interests of TTP are more geared towards Pakistan while Al-Qaeda

has a more regional and global agenda.

The events of this week also negate the perception that these gatherings in FATA are the Pakistan army’s attempt to pull the extremists together. It is Pakistan’s pressure on TTP and the groups’ insistence to continue attacking the military, which is preventing a firmer alliance to develop between the various Taliban factions. This in turn helps the US strategy to divide these groups and develop an upper hand in the peace talks.

Nonetheless, the Mohmand attack is proving to be a turning point towards changing the nation's threat perception.

Pakistan may be extending the Good versus Bad Taliban differentiation to Good versus Bad Islamists, and this also helps in putting the Lahore gathering in perspective.

After 9/11, Pakistan had to shift its focus to FATA and to challenge Al-Qaeda and many other formulations of extremists that came to reside there. Overtime, the US and NATO pressured Pakistan to revise its traditional national security premise away from India and towards dealing with extremists. The Mumbai incident served as a proof that the danger Pakistan faced was not external, but internal. This argument was used to convince the country in moving its troops from its eastern border, to carry out operations in FATA, including North Waziristan. Now, the pendulum may be swinging back to its original formulation.

The ground situation has been altered to such an extent because of the war against terror and the so-called Islamic Spring that it is no longer possible for the liberal and secular quarters to deliver. It may be because of this stark reality that the emerging US policy in the Middle East and South and Central Asia is no longer premised on preventing the Islamists from gaining power, but to counter and temper the extremists by using the moderate Islamists.

The writer is the chief analyst for PoliTact (www.PoliTact.com and http:twitter.com/politact) and can be reached at aansar@politact.com.

Regional Press

on new provinces Daily Pashtun Post

D

uring the ongoing National Assembly session, several political parties in the house including MQM, PPP, PML(N) and ANP had strongly-worded arguments amongst themselves on the issue of the creation of new provinces in Pakistan.

PML(N) and ANP stood opposed, while MQM and PPP supported new provinces. A resolution in this regard was forwarded by MQM leader Farooq Sattar to the national assembly where the demand for the creation of Seraiki and Hazara provinces was made.

ANP boycotted the assembly session as a protest against the resolution and criticised the same. On the other hand, Pres-

ident Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani called a meeting for consultation on the issue. It was decided in the meeting that other political parties would be consulted in the process of making of new provinces.

ANP Chairman Asfandyar Wali Khan has said that they are not opposed to the creation of new provinces in the country but the country was currently facing various kinds of dangers and demanding new provinces for gaining political mileage and creating political tensions in the current situation are not justified by any means. He maintained that any such manoeuvring will have an adverse impact on the current political scenario and should be avoided at all costs.

–Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur Rauf Khattak

KHI 09-01-2012_Layout 1 1/9/2012 3:26 AM Page 13

Monday, 9 January, 2012

comment 13

Continuing BB’s mission

21st century populism

the greatest tribute there is

Analysing the PtI effect

By Waqqas Mir

O

ne of the greatest mysteries throughout mankind’s journey has been what makes people leaders and, beyond that, great leaders. These leaders also become symbols, not just for their supporters but also for countries they serve in.

My first experience about this was when I was a child and travelling in Turkey. A cab driver heard where I was from and said, ‘ah, Bhutto. Benazir Bhutto’. A name became the pride of a 10 year old.

I grew up in a house where bedtime tales were narrated not just from fiction but history as well and therefore since before I can remember I knew the name Bhutto. At school the mention of the name would cause debates whenever it was raised. But what was always noticeable was the passion of a Bhutto supporter.

Cleaning ladies at school would speak of how they had ‘discovered’ self-respect because of Bhutto. The power of someone saying that was, and remains, breathtaking to me. I was not a PPP supporter but I was in awe of the party.

Benzair, to them, was always ‘BB’. Anyone familiar with the Urdu version ‘Bibi’ knows the layers of respect and affection it captures. This was politics but also a love affair and a deep bond of affection. To a child this was mesmerizing, as was BB. To many I knew, leader, sister, daughter, mother — all in one.

My first memory of BB is seeing her in the biggest sea of people I had ever seen on television when she landed in Lahore after years in exile. Even lifeless things seemed to be chanting with the crowds that day. Even a naïve child like me could tell that someone special had arrived. She had charm, intel-

ligence, charisma beyond comparison and a resolve of steel.

I was never a fan of her governing policies or the egregious mistakes she made and ignored.

But as a Pakistani, she was my pride. I knew that no description of Pakistan could be complete without her story; a woman prime minister in an Islamic Republic that had for so long been governed by military dictators. She allowed young women to dream big. Intentional or not, she breathed romance into Pakistanis’ lives.

BB was not the product of dynastic politics. Power was not handed to her on a platter. There was tumult, personal and national.

There were struggles and battles, again personal and political. That day when she landed in Lahore was the first of her many victories.

Through 11 years of dictatorial rule, propaganda and in the aftermath of a judicial murder somehow she kept a promise alive. In a country where death of human beings is cheap, many ideas die before being born. But the ideas of PPP were alive and well that day — they had lived through everything.

We, the people, won that day.

What a homecoming if ever there was one! It was a script only she could write — there is tragedy inherent in that statement.

Her killers may not realise this now but hangings, bombings and shootings only apply to physical beings—not to ideas.

The ideas will live on. But will they be honoured?

During exile, both BB and Mian Sahab came up with the Charter of Democracy — that was another victory of national proportions. During her last rally, BB praised Mian Sahab and referred to him while discussing how to save Pakistan and to not elect ‘political orphans’. It is time for the PPP and PML(N) to come together and to honour their promise of saving Pakistan from political orphans.

BB’s death was every Pakistani’s loss and anyone who thinks or says otherwise is irrelevant for the purposes of any debate. If there is one thing any PPP supporter can learn from BB’s life it is how to keep an idea alive. Of course, there were disappointments. Allegations of

corruption did not help and despite some courageous decisions not enough positions were taken on crucial matters. But important battles were taken up and seminal among them is her fight to correct the civil-military imbalance. There is a reason that the establishment had contempt for BB. She picked her battles and knew how to fight them.

To give due credit to PML-N, Mian Sahab has taken on the establishment in courageous ways too. In fact his criticism of the security establishment has made, for the most part, all the right points.

Anyone who thinks that Imran Khan’s one line statement regarding controlling the ISI is courageous or a struggle is hopelessly naïve. You only need to read history to see who the puppets and puppeteers are in the new look PTI. Anyone who argues support for PTI by citing PML-N’s birth as being sponsored by the establishment is defeating their own argument. There is no reason to empower the establishment even though the people may have inadvertently done that in the past.

PPP and PML(N) have both taken on actual battles with the military establishment — and they both suffered. But there is hope: the two largest parties have the basic idea (correcting the civil military imbalance) right. Of course their implementation has faced obstacles and at other times the present PPP government has disappointingly backed down in face of increasing pressure.

The greatest tribute to BB would be keeping alive her fight at correcting the civil military imbalance. I was never a BB supporter and never voted for her but her basic fight was always obvious to me.

In present times a rhetoric that favours the establishment is gaining traction. We don’t need apologists for the military establishment. We need leaders who can question the skewed power structure in Pakistan.

The writer is a Barrister and an Advocate of the High Courts.

He is currently pursuing an LLM at a law school in the United States. He can be reached at wmir.rma@gmail.com

I

n the aftermath of the Cold War, the process of pro-market reform has, more or less, continued unabated in large parts of the free, liberated, and would-be-liberated world. Pakistan itself has seen large-scale privatisation, de-regulation in the financial sector, and an unabashed willingness to open up for foreign investment. People have mobile phones, new cars, and 15 kinds of cooking oils to choose from.

In the backdrop of this hasty and somewhat selective engagement with consumerist capitalism, Pakistan has seen a huge rise in the absolute size of a middleincome group, which, according to PIDE, is now estimated to be around 30-35 million.

That’s 30-35 million people who want to live their lives a certain comfortable way.

Interestingly enough, one of the things that Pakistan’s tottering economy has exposed is the degree to which our middle classes have become accustomed to comfort. Historically pampered with subsidised fuel, electricity, and controlled food prices, urbanites are having a hard time dealing with inflationary trends, and a rapid deterioration in statesanctioned service delivery. The obvious response, and a natural one at that, is to blame the sitting government – something that they’ve become adept at for the last three and a half years. And let’s face it, in an era of objective crises, contextualised reactions are neither present and nor should they be expected from the populace. If things are bad, people will throw eggs at whoever’s in the driving seat. It happened in

By Umair Javed the late 70’s, the late 90’s, and it’s happening again in 2012.

The substantive difference between the three cases is that this time around, there’s an organised, coherent, and, most importantly, civilian instrument of opposition in the shape of the PTI. As much as Imran Khan would like to believe, PTI’s popularity has less to do with his personality, and much more to do with structural causes that have historically given rise to dissident sentiment. A while ago, an office-bearer of the PTI, who moonlights as an orthodontist (or is it the other way around?), wrote an opinion piece drawing parallels with Z A Bhutto’s rise to power, and Imran Khan’s increasing popularity. Both leaders, he said, were accepted by a cross-section of the polity, both were able to mobilise effectively, and both relied on their personal charisma to engage with previously dormant segments of society. Based on these three characteristics alone, and ignoring the substantive content of their respective brands of

populism, the comparison has some merit. PTI, like the PPP of the late 60’s, is promising to change the current order of things and for a large number of people, the rhetoric of change is more than enough.

The PTI effect, and that’s what I’m going to call it now, is an interesting culmination of three interconnected trends in Pakistan since the 80’s: selective pro-market reform, middle class growth, and, most important of all, the gradual dissipation of working class politics. The first two are fairly obvious, while the third one is something most of us don’t bother dwelling on despite the fact that it holds the key to explaining party politics in contemporary Pakistan.

The very fact that local heavyweights are considered to be the biggest factor in determining electoral success shows the nature of political contestation. A particular big-wig, say a large landholder like Shah Mehmood Qureshi, is considered to be a representative of everyone, rich, middle class, or poor, who lives in his constituency. The imbibed assumption is that a good-intentioned representative will bring benefits to all and sundry, while the remote possibility that politics could be a zero-sum affair is considered to be an outdated notion, something that withered away with the fall of the Soviet Union.

Unfortunately, the truth is that this has little to do with socialism or communism, and everything to do with the way our political economy functions. The patwari, which PTI will replace with the computer operator, does not hold sway over the rural poor because of his position as a Class II government employee. He’s powerful because of the relationship he enjoys with the local big-wig, with the local magistrate, and with the police, which allows him to block a tenant’s right to land, to ensure female disinheritance etc. Replacing the patwari with a computer and an operator doesn’t alter the way power is structured at that particular level. It will at most force entrenched interests to adapt to a new reality.

Consequently, the irony of talking about ‘getting rid of the patwari’ whilst having a landlord sitting right behind him is completely lost on Imran Khan.

In the 60’s, Bhutto was made a leader by the rural and urban poor because of the circumstances left by Ayub’s Green Revolution and industrialisation. Growing inequality, exclusion from land, and a heavy urban bias gave people tangible issues to rally around. Bhutto responded by leading a government, which despite its many flaws, managed to make the most significant rich-to-poor redistribution in this country’s history.

Today, a desire for cheap fuel, electricity, trains and airplanes that run on time, and national honour fuel a new kind of movement. A kind that can only be built on the premise of a pro-market, neo-liberal economic agenda; can only run when middle class institutions (media, higher education, bureaucracy, armed forces) side with a segment of the elite for their own benefit; and can only gain traction when genuinely progressive alternatives have ceased to exist.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is populism in the 21st century.

The writer blogs at http://recycledthought.blogspot.com. Email him at umairjaved87@gmail.com or send a tweet @umairjav

KHI 09-01-2012_Layout 1 1/9/2012 3:26 AM Page 14

14 Foreign News

Monday, 9 January, 2012

Arab ministers mull Syria mission’s criticism CAIRO

A

AfP

RAB ministers gathered on Sunday to review the record of a widely criticised observer mission to Syria, amid growing calls for the bloc to cede to the United Nations the lead role in trying to end nearly 10 months of bloodshed. The ministerial committee on Syria met in Cairo, where the Arab League has its headquarters, to be briefed by the head of the mission, General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi.

The meeting, chaired by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem alThani, will discuss the monitors’ first report which will contain “pictures, maps and information of the events witnessed by the monitors on the ground,” Arab League Assistant Secretary General Ahmed Ben Hilli said. The report “assesses the situa-

tion on the ground in Syria and looks at the steps that can be taken in the coming phase,” he told reporters before the meeting. A team of Arab League monitors has been in Syria since December 26, trying to assess whether President Bashar alAssad’s regime is complying with a peace accord aimed at ending its deadly crackdown on dissent.

Critics say it has been completely outmanoeuvred by the government and has failed to make any progress towards stemming the crackdown. They have called for the mission to pull out. Dabi — a Sudanese former military intelligence chief who is himself the focus of controversy — said it was too early to judge the mission. “This is the first time that the Arab League has carried out such a mission,” Dabi told Britain’s Observer newspaper. “But it has only just started, so I have not had enough time to form a view.” The Arab League has admitted to “mistakes” but defended the mission, saying it had secured the release of prisoners

and withdrawal of tanks from cities. It said rather than pull out, it planned to send more observers. “No plan to withdraw the observers is on the agenda of the Arab ministerial committee meeting on Syria,” the bloc’s deputy secretary general, Adnan Issa, told AFP on Saturday. “We are not talking about a pullout but reinforcing the mission.” Sunday’s meeting comes as heavy clashes erupted between the Syrian army and deserters, leaving 11 of its soldiers dead, human rights activists said. Another 20 soldiers were wounded in the fighting in the village of Basr al-Harir in Daraa province, south of the capital, while nine soldiers defected to join the rebel troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based watchdog also reported heavy machinegun exchanges between the army and deserters in the Daraa town of Dael.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

Cradle of the anti-Assad protests that began in March, Daraa has been one of the provinces hardest hit by the crackdown un-

leashed by his regime. The Observatory also said a 19-year-old civilian was killed in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. On Saturday, Syria held funerals for 26 victims of a suicide bombing in Damascus, promising an “iron fist” response. The opposition pointed the finger of blame for Friday’s bomb at the regime itself, as it did after similar attacks in Damascus on December 23 killed 44 people.

Violence in Syria on Saturday claimed the lives of 21 civilians, 17 by security force fire and four by a rocket that targeted a pro-regime demonstration, the Observatory said. Saturday’s funerals took place in the Al-Hassan mosque in the workingclass Midan neighbourhood where the suicide bomber struck. The Assad regime has consistently asserted that the unrest sweeping the country is the work of armed rebels, not largely peaceful demonstrators as maintained by Western governments and human rights watchdogs. After the Damascus bombing, the United States con-

demned it and again called for Assad to step down, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon said “all violence is unacceptable and must stop immediately.” The Syrian National Council, an opposition umbrella group which includes the Muslim Brotherhood, said the bombing “clearly bears the regime’s fingerprints.” It said the UN Security Council had to address the bloodshed, which the world body estimated in December had killed more than 5,000 people since March. The SNC said “a joint effort between the Arab League and the United Nations Security Council represents a first step toward the urgent and necessary measures to assure the protection of civilians, and to ensure that the regime does not commit additional bombings and killings.” So far veto-wielding Security Council permanent members Beijing and Moscow have blocked efforts

by Western governments to secure UN action against Damascus.

Bangladeshi faces sedition charge over facebook post

Mass rallies as countdown begins to Taiwan poll

DHAKA

TAIPEI

AfP

AfP

A Bangladeshi high court on Sunday ordered police to prosecute a university lecturer for sedition after he wished for the death of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Facebook, a state prosecutor said. The same court handed Jahangirnagar University teacher Ruhul Khandakar six months in jail last week for contempt of court after he failed to respond to repeated summonses to explain his Facebook posting. “The court has directed police to file a sedition case against Khandakar immediately,” deputy attorney general Altaf Hossain told AFP. The hearing was held in absentia as Khandakar, 29, is studying in Australia. He posted the comments after the death of Bangladesh’s most famous filmmaker Tareq Masud in a road accident last year. “Tareq Masud died as a result of government giving licence to unqualified drivers. Many die, why does not Sheikh Hasina die?” the posting said, according to a court official. The comment, which Khandakar posted from Australia, has since been deleted. Lawyers said this is the first time a Bangladeshi has been jailed and is being tried for sedition for making comments on a social networking site. The case and sentence drew widespread scorn from the country’s vibrant blogging community and online commentators.

The Taiwan president and his main challenger drew huge crowds to campaign rallies on Sunday, as the rivals pulled out all the stops to attract wavering support ahead of next weekend’s election. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Taipei and other major cities to hail President Ma Ying-jeou and his rival Tsai Ing-wen, who are virtually neck-and-neck for Saturday’s presidential poll. “The latest information I got is the turnout has exceeded 200,000,” a glowing Ma, of the Kuomintang party, told a rally in downtown Taipei, as supporters waved election flags and chanted slogans.

The figure could not be independently confirmed. Ma is vying for a second and last four-year term, seeking to convince voters that a policy of boosting ties with China has been good for the island’s economy. The raucous gatherings reflected the feisty side of Taiwan’s democracy, which is only a generation old, with many supporters bringing their pet cats and dogs, and others carrying dolls with Ma’s likeness. A group of workers from a leading transportation company turned up carrying T-shirts with their company logo, reflecting Ma’s popularity among many businesses with interests in China. Meanwhile, Tsai, of the anti-China Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was concentrating most of her efforts further south, where concerns about the mainland could help her become the island’s first female president. In the morning she campaigned through the streets of Tainan, moving on later to Taichung in the centre of the island. The DPP said she attracted tens of thousands of supporters and was expected to see a turnout of 100,000 in an evening gathering in the capital.

opposition ups heat on Merkel over president scandal BERLIN AfP

Germany’s main opposition party piled pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday over a scandal dogging her handpicked candidate for president, calling for new elections if he were to step down. As new revelations emerge almost daily about Christian Wulff, 52, and a home loan affair that has dominated the country’s media for weeks, a senior member of the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) sought to shift the heat onto Merkel. The party’s secretary general, Andrea Nahles, told the Bild am Sonntag weekly: “If Wulff resigns, then there should be new elections ... the Wulff affair is also a Merkel affair.” “Christian Wulff is not up to the office of federal president. Staying in office, no matter what happens? That behaviour is not acceptable ... I have serious doubts that he will survive this affair,” added Nahles. The SPD’s parliamentary group leader, former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, also chimed in, noting Merkel had pushed through Wulff’s election to the largely ceremonial post in 2010. “She cannot just act as if she has nothing to do with this whole affair and as if the federal president is in a different political sphere,” Steinmeier told Sunday’s edition of the Tagesspiegel.

ABu dHABI: dutch queen Beatrix (3rdL) visits together with crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima (R) the Sheikh Al zayed Mosque in Abu dhabi, united Arab Emirates, on Sunday, wearing a long gown and a scarf around her hat. queen Beatrix brings a two-days state visit to the united Arab Emirates. AFP

ten years on, Guantanamo still casts long shadow WASHINgTON AfP

Ten years ago the world was shocked by images of terror suspects locked in cages on a remote US base in Cuba. Today 171 men are still there, despite vows to close the notorious Guantanamo prison.

On January 11, 2002, about 20 prisoners arrived at the base, hooded, handcuffed and clothed in distinctive orange garb.

They were put on display at the prison erected on the military base rented from Cuba under a deal stretching back to 1903.

Quickly Guantanamo became a notorious symbol for the worst of the US excesses in the war on Al-Qaeda launched in the days that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Today, a decade later the cages are gone, abandoned to the weeds and the iguanas which roam the base. But despite President Barack Obama’s celebrated promise to shutter the prison the more permanent buildings con-

structed from May 2002 onwards remain.

And within their walls still languish 171 men, out of a total of 779 who have passed through the gates in the last 10 years.

Those detainees still remaining have greater freedom than in the early days, with access to newspapers and televisions, some phone calls home, and with 80 percent of them allowed to mingle in common areas. “We’ve always tried to improve the facility conditions of detention,” said Colonel Donnie Thomas, joint detention group commander, saying the men had more freedom to go in and out of their cells, as well as to pray and relax together. “Although President Obama remains committed to the goal of closing Guantanamo, the US Congress has taken action to prevent steps that would assist in the realization of this goal,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Todd Breasseale told AFP. But Obama’s room for maneuver has been severely curtailed. A controversial law, which the president

himself signed at the end of December after bitter partisan infighting, de facto prevents the prison from closing.

It bans the use of public funds to transfer detainees to the United States and decrees that terror suspects must be tried before special military commissions.

“Hope is fading. Closing Guantanamo is harder politically and legally because of this legislation detainees are in legal limbo,” said Jonathan Hafetz, a law professor from Seton Hall Law School, who represents one inmate. Only six detainees have been found guilty by military commissions, according to the Pentagon, and seven others — including the self-confessed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks — will appear before the tribunals in the coming months. Some 89 inmates have been cleared of all charges, but pose a headache for the Obama administration which cannot find nations to take them in amid fears they will face persecution and oppression in their own countries. Among them are

some Uighurs, part of a group of 22 from Turkic-speaking northwest China, arrested at a camp in the mountains of Afghanistan after the US-led invasion of the country began in October 2001. While most of the Uighurs were relocated in such countries as Albania, Bermuda, Palau and Switzerland, another group has been fighting in the US courts to be relocated onto US soil.

“Guantanamo has come to symbolize 10 years of a systematic failure by the US to respect human rights in its response to the 9/11 attacks,” said Amnesty International’s Rob Freer. “Guantanamo remains an insult to human rights, not just a symbol of abuse or ill-treatment, a symbol of continuing attack on human rights international principles... (the) failure of the US to ensure accountability.” Terrorism expert Karen Greenberg agreed, saying: “The legal issue was that they had rounded up these individuals in Afghanistan or elsewhere and they didn’t have a legal category in which to place them.

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Foreign News 15

SRInAgAR: A leopard, nicknamed Rani, walks on the snow covered dachigam wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Srinagar on Sunday. Heavy snowfall over the past two days has closed down Indian-administered kashmir’s main highway, stranding hundreds of travellers, officials said today. AFP

israel charges five Jews over army base raid JERUSALEM AfP

Israel on Sunday charged five alleged Jewish extremists over a December raid on an army base, accusing them of gathering intelligence on the Israeli military and planning a riot, local media said. The Jerusalem Post said that the accused, from Jerusalem and two West Bank settlements, were charged with “gathering important military intelligence, conspiracy to riot and entering a closed military zone.” In the attack on a brigade headquarters in the northern West Bank, about 50 right-wing activists breached the perimeter fence and went on the rampage, setting fire to tyres, assaulting a senior officer and damaging vehicles with stones, paint and nails. Public radio said that the indictment presented in court on Sunday accused the five of tracking the movements of army units in the West Bank and passing them on to settlement activists. “They sought to prevent by illegal means the dismantling of (settlement) outposts decided by the government, and distributed reports from spotters, scouts and accomplices,” the radio said.

Sarkozy closes gap on rival as french poll nears PARIS AfP

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has closed the gap in voting intentions on his opposition Socialist rival Francois Hollande just four months before their election face-off, a new poll showed Sunday. The year’s first poll by the Ifop institute for the Journal du Dimanche had Hollande beating Sarkozy by just two points in the first round of voting on April 22, at 29 percent to 26. It forecast Hollande would then go on to win by 54 percent to 46 in the May 6 head-to-head run-off — the closest margin between the two favourites in many months and two points closer than in the last Ifop poll in December. Sarkozy’s supporters have begun privately boasting that the momentum in the race now favours Sarkozy, who has been slowly building support while his once dominant rival’s campaign got off to a lacklustre start.

Anwar’s ups and downs rivet Malaysia KUALA LUMPUR

A

AfP

NWAR Ibrahim rose to the brink of power in Malaysia, fell spectacularly, only to rise again as a firebrand opposition leader in a tumultuous life that faces yet another pivotal moment. A charismatic politician, Anwar was next in line to the premiership more than a decade ago but, after a falling out with then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, he was ousted, beaten, and jailed for sodomy. On Monday, the 64-year-old faces a verdict on new sodomy charges which, like those before, he says were concocted by the long-ruling coalition he was once was poised to lead in a bid to send him into “political oblivion”.

Sodomy is punishable by up to 20 years in Muslim-majority Malaysia and a guilty verdict — widely expected by many, including Anwar — could spell the end of a turbulent political life.

Anwar first rose to prominence as a radical Islamic student leader, catching the eye of Mahathir, who dominated

Malaysian politics for more than two decades until he retired in 2003. A gifted natural politician, Anwar rose quickly in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which dominates the multi-racial coalition that has governed Malaysia since independence from Britain half a century ago.

He headed various ministries before taking the key finance ministry portfolio in 1991, and was lionised in the West for his reformist image. Two years later he was all but anointed Malaysia’s future leader when he was named deputy prime minister. But as Asian economies toppled in the 1998 regional financial crisis, a bitter rift emerged with Mahathir, who was infuriated by Anwar’s calls for reform and an end to corruption and nepotism. Anwar was seen by many to have misplayed his hand, underestimating the proud and canny Mahathir, and was sacked and charged with corruption and sodomy. In a drama that riveted and shocked Malaysians and earned worldwide criticism, Anwar was brought into court with a black eye after a beating from the country’s police chief. The stunning fall

from grace was widely seen both at home and abroad as politically motivated and triggered massive protests in a country where dissent is suppressed.

Anwar was jailed and finally released in 2004 when the sodomy charge was overturned. Emerging in poor health, he spent time recuperating and working as an academic. But Malaysian politics was left polarised by his ouster, and by 2007 he was campaigning for Parti Keadilan Rakyat, a centrist party formally headed by his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who had emerged as an opposition symbol while Anwar was jailed. In 2008, Anwar led a three-party opposition alliance to astonishing victories in general elections, seizing control in five states and a third of parliamentary seats. The ruling elite was shaken to the core by the results, and an ultimately failed bid by Anwar shortly afterwards to seize control of parliament. But instead of the prime minister’s office, Anwar now faces a possible prison cell. Shortly after the 2008 vote, he was hit with fresh charges for allegedly sodomising a former male aide.

Suu kyi could get government role YANgON AfP

Democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi could be given a job in Myanmar’s nominally civilian government if she is elected to parliament in April by-elections, a presidential adviser said on Sunday. The Nobel laureate, who could be propelled into a parliament still largely composed of the military and ruling army-backed party, would be given a “suitable” position, Nay Zin Latt told AFP. It is the latest gesture of reform by Myanmar’s new leadership, but concerns remain about the fate of political detainees in the country also known as Burma. “There is... a possibility she will be appointed to the government,” said the adviser, adding it would depend on Suu Kyi’s wishes. “If she’s more interested in legislative matters, there can be a suitable duty for her at parliament.”

The comments come as Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party confirmed that the 66-year-old would contest the vote in a constituency near Yangon. “Daw Suu will contest from Kawhmu constituency.

We will release final candidate lists for constituencies after January 11,” NLD spokesman Nyan Win told AFP. Daw is a term of respect in Myanmar. “We do not know yet how and where she will serve her duty if elected,” he said, a stance he reiterated when asked for reaction to the government’s latest apparently conciliatory move. Nyan Win said earlier that Suu Kyi would embark on a campaign trip soon, although details of the tour have not been decided.

romney holds frontrunner pace as rivals attack gOFFSTOWN AfP

Republican US presidential candidate Mitt Romney weathered sharp attacks from his rivals in a Saturday night debate and pushed full speed ahead towards New Hampshire’s bellwether primary.

Assailed on his business background, the frontrunner made no major stumbles and often stood, hands in his trouser pockets and an amused smile on his face, as his would-be challengers ripped each other up in the prime-time contest.

The former Massachusetts senator and millionaire venture capitalist, eyeing a victory here Tuesday and in South Carolina on January 21, kept his fire trained on the man he aims to take on in November — President Barack Obama. “His policies have made the recession deeper,

and his policies have made the recovery more tepid,” Romney said at the outset of the 90-minute debate, the first of a pair barely 12 hours apart ahead of the primary here Tuesday. His more conservative rivals, seeing time running out to deny him the nomination, took aim at Romney’s financier past, noting that his Bain Capital firm made hefty profits after dismantling firms and laying off thousands of workers.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich accused him of embracing “a Wall Street model where you can flip companies, you can go in and have leveraged buyouts, you can basically take out all the money, leaving behind the workers.”

“Business experience doesn’t necessarily match up with being the commander-inchief of this country,” said former senator Rick Santorum, a Christian conservative

who has recently surged in the polls. “The commander-in-chief of this country isn’t a CEO,” said Santorum, who lost the Iowa caucus to Romney by just eight votes out of 120,000 cast and hopes for a similar miracle here and in South Carolina.

The six candidates were due to square off again at 9:00 am (1400 GMT) Sunday.

Representative Ron Paul, a small-government champion who opposes overseas military interventions and is running a strong second here, engaged other candidates — but not Romney — in several sharp-worded duels. Paul, who has represented Texas in Washington for 20 years, defended a recent attack on Santorum as “corrupt,” accusing him of being “a biggovernment person” who made a fortune as “a high-powered lobbyist in Washington.” “I got involved in causes that I believe in,” the former lawmaker shot back.

Former US China envoy Jon Huntsman and Romney twice dueled on foreign policy, first on when US troops should return from Afghanistan, and then on the proper approach to US relations with China.

“I believe it’s time to come home,” declared Huntsman, who said most US forces should leave by late 2013 but added that he would leave about 10,000 troops for counter-terrorism efforts.

Romney shot back that this “would put in jeopardy much of the hard-earned success which we’ve had there” and said he would listen “to the commanders on the ground.” Huntsman countered by noting US military commanders had argued for escalating the Vietnam War in 1967 and warned that “civil war is around the corner in Afghanistan. And I don’t want to be the president who invests another penny in a civil war.”

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Monday, 9 January, 2012

Haya Zia

STARS DAZZLE AT THE UMANG POLICE SHOW AT MUMBAI Shah Rukh Khan

Vidya Balan

up and close

KARACHI

H

AAMIR MAJEEd

A Y A Zia, now a well known name in the television and fashion industries, started her career in 2011 when she started modelling in Karachi “I remember the day when I faced the camera for the first time. It was a humid day in May but I was shivering when the director called action,” she said while talking about her career in an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today.

A 24-year-old resident of Gulistan-eJauhar, she says that she is not inspired by anyone and wants to forge an identity of her own. “In a few months I have made a mark in the industry and I am hopeful

that in the future too I will continue down this path, you will hear my name from every nook and corner of the country.

Talking about her past, she said she graduated privately and started working in a private bank while she was still studying. “We are four sisters and one brother and my father runs a small business. I wanted to share his financial burden as a son would,” she said.

“While working at the bank, I got offers from various production houses. As I was fond of modelling I responded to some offers after which I did several shows as a model. I am currently working in many drama serials. Some of these dramas were aired in the last few days and audiences will see me in other serials soon,” she added.

Elaborating on the projects she is currently involved in, she said: “Initially, I did fashion shows for a private modelling firm. Then I was offered commercials by Thomas Fernandez. Since then I have appeared in advertisements for several products.”

She said that working as an assistant director at Venus Corporate for several months boosted her self-confidence.

She is currently in a contract with ANB Productions for performing in serials. The audiences will see her in the lead roles in some of these soaps, while in others she will perform supporting roles.

To a question about the showbiz industry, she replied that while there is number of people in who do not encourage youngsters, there are those who are not only very encouraging, but also help out the new people.

Madhuri Dixit

Man breaks in Twitter verification with fake account of Murdoch’s wife LONDON AgEncIES

Ever since Twitter developed a system in 2009 for authenticating celebrity accounts, following a lawsuit by then-St Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa over the unauthorised use of his name, the microblogging site’s blue-and-white “Verified Badge” has become an authoritative imprimatur — the surest way to tell whether an account is genuine or fake. But the system is under greater scrutiny today after the administrator of an account allegedly belonging to Wendi Deng Murdoch, which briefly received the Verified Badge after launching on Sunday, admitted that she was not, in fact, the wife of News Corp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, who had joined Twitter right before the New Year with his own verified account. Before the revelation, news outlets had dissected Rupert and Wendi’s splashy appearance on the social networking site tweet by tweet (Rupert praised Rick Santorum and Fox films, while Wendi advised her beloved Rupert on Twitter etiquette, flirted with the likes of Ricky Gervais, and overused exclamation points and smiley faces).

Beyonce has a baby girl nEW YORk: US pop diva Beyonce has given birth to a girl named ivy Blue carter, media reports said. The baby and mother are doing well. The New york Daily News reports the singer checked into Lenox hill hospital on Manhattan’s upper east Side on friday night under the name “ingrid Jackson.” Beyonce and her husband, hiphop star Jay-Z, rented out the hospital’s entire fourth floor for $1.3 million, the report said. on Saturday night, people were seen bringing bags of food and bottles of red wine onto the heavily guarded hospital wing, apparently for celebrations, The Daily News noted. Several security guards were spotted patrolling the perimeter of the hospital, the paper said.

There has been no official confirmation of the birth. AfP

Anil Kapoor

No rats for

Rakesh Roshan MuMBAI: rakesh roshan’s upcoming film krissh 3, which is currently under production was denied permission by the animal welfare Board of india (awBi) to include rats in one of the scenes. The board has also sought an explanation for scorpions and frogs that were found misused earlier on their sets. in the application made by them, roshan’s production house sought permission to include five rats. This was for a scene in which the artiste would keep all these animals and insects in a lab because he is shown to be an animal lover in the film. however, awBi denied the application late last month. and instead, they asked the applicant to explain about the snakes, scorpions, frogs and other creatures that were seen loitering around on the sets. it was recently reported that the script of the film demanded real reptiles rather than animated versions. hrithik roshan had assured that the reptiles would not harm others or get harmed, as there were trained professionals to look after them. when we tried contacting Major General r M kharb, the chairman of awBi, he was unavailable for comment. however, on awBi’s website, the status of the application made on December 22 by roshan’s production house clearly mentions that the permission given may not be approved as the applicant needs to explain the reports on the reptiles that were found on the sets. Speaking on the issue, rakesh roshan said, “we used dummies for long shots and for the close-ups we will be doing it on computer graphics.” AgEncIES

Ranbir Kapoor

Sunny Leone to bare it all for

Jism 2 MuMBAI: Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt want the adult film actress to shed her clothes for the opening scene of the forthcoming venture; a sequel to the 2003 hit erotic thriller starring John and Bipasha She became the most searched name on the internet with her entry into Bigg Boss 5. and now, international adult film actress Sunny Leone might just appear on the silver screen, the way she appeared in all those search results. Mumbai Mirror spotted Pooja Bhatt explaining Sunny her introduction scene in Jism 2, the sequel to the 2003 erotic thriller Jism, in a colaba 5-star recently. and the ‘explanation’ could be summed up in just one word - nudity. cashing in on her ‘porn star’ status, Pooja wants Sunny to pose nude for her upcoming project. and on Tuesday afternoon, the filmmaker and her father Mahesh Bhatt carried pictures to demonstrate how exactly they wanted Sunny to feature in the opening scene of the film. Mumbai Mirror found out that Pooja’s

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Juhi Parmar wins Bigg Boss 5 MUMBAI

T

HInduStAn tIMES

HREE months of patience and fair play paid rich dividends to TV actress Juhi Parmar, who Saturday won the fifth season of the controversial reality show “Bigg Boss” and the prize money of Rs.1 crore. The “Kumkum” fame actress, who was among the first 13 contestants to enter the house Oct 2, 2011, pipped actress Mahek Chahal and Siddharth Bhardwaj to win the show, which was described as high on fights and low on entertainment quotient by season three participant, actorfilmmaker Kamaal R. Khan.

She is the second female contestant to win the show, as Shweta Tiwari had taken away the trophy in the last season.

Juhi, 31, had earlier participated in other reality shows - “Pati Patni Aur Woh” and “Maa Exchange” and was seen indulging in lots of arguments, but in “Bigg Boss”, she played the game more patiently.

Many inmates and viewers were not so happy with Juhi’s friendship with her inmate Akashdeep Saigal aka Sky, who got embroiled in the ugliest fights on the show, but it didn’t stop her from winning the show.

Others in the top five included Amar

Upadhyay and Sky. Juhi too had her share of arguments with contestants like Shraddha Sharma, Amar, Siddharth and Mahek, but at the same time she enjoyed a good friendship with Raageshwari Loomba, Pooja Bedi, Indo-Canadian porn star Sunny Leone as well as Sky. What made her stand out was her patience and quality of lending everybody a patient ear in the “Bigg Boss 5”, which was co-hosted by Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan.

The finale was graced by actor Imran Khan and filmmaker Karan Johar, who came to promote their forthcoming film “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu”.

Johar had expressed that he wanted Juhi to win the show, and that his mother, Hiroo Johar, a fan of the show, feels that she was the most promising contender for the winner’s trophy.

The prediction came true.

Juhi was ecstatic to see her husband, TV actor Sachin Shroff, her parents and her mother-in-law upon her exit from the secluded house, where she spent 98 days without being connected with anything or anyone outside the four parapets of the house.

The finale saw several performances, including those by Sunny, Malaika Arora,

Pooja Missra, Rakhi Sawant, transgender activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi and Shonali. Even Shakti Kapoor danced with all the girls who entered “Bigg Boss 5” bringing the show to a full circle.

Malaika added spice to the finale by dancing on numbers like “Chhaiya chhaiya”, “Chhammak chhallo” and “Honth raseele” while Rakhi grooved to “Chikni chameli”.

Salman and Sanjay too shook a leg together, making it a treat for the audience.

“Bigg Boss 5” began with an eclectic mix of celebrities - controversial models, actresses, a wrestler, as well as a proud transgender.

war horse misses out at writers Guild nominations

The season saw former Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai, who was banned in the country for wearing a bikini; Nihita Biswas, wife of “Bikini Killer” Charles Sobhraj, VJ Pooja Missra, actress Pooja Bedi, model-actress Shonali, popular host Mandeep Bevli, and Rajasthani folk dancer Gulabo Sapera. Woman wrestler Sonika Kaliraman was also seen on the show, but she left within a week of her entry as she was pregnant.

Laxmi also added drama to the season, while guest appearances were made by social activist Swami Agnivesh, Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds and sumo wrestler Yamamotoyama.

Jurassic Park voted Spielberg’s best film to date

LONDON AgEncIES

Amitabh Bachchan company, fisheye Network has done a photo shoot with an unidentified model in the nude lying down under transparent sheets. according to the filmmakers, this picture, eventually shot with Sunny will become the first look of the film. father and daughter Bhatt were seen having a rather animated conversation with Sunny, with the elder Bhatt explaining (rather loudly) the scenes and the script. Sunny, too, looked rather excited about the project. Though Sunny has no qualms about shedding clothes, as she recently told in an interview with Mirror, the actress has still not signed the film.

AgEncIES

Steven Spielberg’s War Horse and George Clooney’s The Ides of March are among a number of big films not to make the cut for this year’s Writers Guild awards.

Instead the US body has nominated some more unexpected titles for its prizes, to be handed out on 19 February. Sports drama Win Win and cancer-based comedy 50/50 are among the movies up for the original screenplay prize. The US version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring Daniel Craig, is up for best adapted screenplay. The nominations also omitted such critically acclaimed titles as The Artist, My Week with Marilyn and The Iron Lady.

However, this is because these films had been ruled ineligible under Writers Guild of America (WGA) rules.

Raunchy farce Bridesmaids, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris and Young Adult - the latest film from Juno scribe Diablo Cody - round out the original screenplay field. The Descendants, The Help, Hugo and Moneyball are the other nominees in the adapted screenplay category, The British-made Senna, about legendary Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna, is one of five titles up for the documentary screenplay prize. The WGA also gives prizes to television writers working in comedy, drama, animation and children’s shows.

Last year, the Guild gave its original and adapted screenplay prizes to Inception and The Social Network respectively.

Yet The King’s Speech - winner of the original screenplay prize at last year’s Oscars - was omitted from the shortlist, a fact alluded to by Inception’s Christopher Nolan as he picked up his trophy. The prize, he said last February, would have been more significant if “certain other screenplays” had been nominated alongside his. Writers Guild nominations are restricted to movies made under the trade association’s rules on pay and working conditions or pacts struck with affiliated foreign groups.

I worked at a petrol pump: MuMBAI: actress Mugda Godse went to the MMcc in Pune. She says, “i studied commerce. i remember, when i entered college, i wanted to do every thing at one go - study, party and have boys friends. i had a handful of friends who were my partners in crime for fun and work. My friends and i worked for some extra money so that we could be more indulgent. i did odd jobs like selling oil or doing a survey at petrol pumps. we’d make rs 100 a day. coming from a middle class family, i had a nominal pocket money of rs 300 a month. The extra money was used to take care of our so called ‘lavish fun’. while movies occupied most of our free time, we also enjoyed lunching outside, and sometimes even having beer in the afternoon! afternoon discos, and hanging out at vaishali, a famous place on Pune’s fc road was another passtime. Sometimes we’d get hold of studious kids to gain entry into the british library, where we’d chill for hours. There is loads of lukhagiri to talk about. Mass-bunking and going for coffee instead”. AgEncIES

Meera to sizzle on small screen

LAHORE: after doing so many films in both Pakistan and india, Pakistani diva Meera will once again appear in a Pakistani drama serial entitled as “Bichray Tau ehsas hua”.The star cast of “Bichray Tau ehsas hua” includes Meera, Noman ijaz, ijaz aslam, azfar rehman and iffat omer in lead roles. written by Muhammad asif, Pakistan’s latest drama “Bichray Tau ehsas hua” is directed by Barkat Sidiki and is produced by both raheel rao and Barkat Sidiki. in this drama, Meera entangles in one trouble after the other but the story keeps revolving around all main artists. The screen play of “Bichray Tau ehsas hua” is quite captivating and is shot in Pakistan and abroad. AgEncIES

LOS ANGELES: 1993 Sc-Fi Horror flick ‘Jurassic Park’ has been voted Steven Spielberg’s best work till date by a British website. The Digital Spy organised a poll last month to find out which Steven Spielberg movie is liked the most by readers and 19% of the 5,000 people who took part voted in favour of the Dinosaur thriller. The movie faced some tough competition from ET: The Extra Terrestrial which raked in 17.5% of the votes. Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws followed with 11.5% and 10.6% of the votes respectively. AgEncIES

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Monday, 9 January, 2012

kvitova primed for australian open Page 21

cook hits 76 as england crumble in tour opener ScOREBOARd Icc cOMBInEd XI, 1st innings: 281 (c. Viljoen 98, Mohammad Shahzad 51, B. Rankin 43; S. Broad 3-42, g.

Swann 3-99) EngLAnd, 1st innings: A. Strauss c Haq b Hassan 17 A. cook c Shahzad b Viljoen 76 J. trott c Shahzad b Hassan 1 15 k. Pietersen c Shahzad b Rankin 3 I. Bell c Shahzad b Rankin E. Morgan c Stirling b nabi 1 S. davies lbw b Haq 12 S. Broad c Porterfield b nabi 19 g. Swann not out 14 12 J. Anderson not out 15 EXtRAS: (b8, lb4, nb 2, w1) 185 tOtAL: (for eight wkts dec) fall of wickets: 1-44 (Strauss), 2-54 (trott), 3-107 (Pietersen), 4-121 (Bell), 5-126 (Morgan), 6-132 (cook), 7-159 (davies), 8-159 (Broad).

BOWLIng: Hassan 11-4-26-2 (w1), Viljoen 11-1-42-1 (nb2), nabi 14-3-42-2, Rankin 16-3-49-2, Haq 3-1-14-1 Overs: 55 cOMBInEd XI 2nd innings: W. Porterfield c davies b Anderson 0 0 P. Stirling lbw b Broad 31 k. coetzer b Anderson Saqib Ali c davies b Broad 2 11 c. Williams c Bell b Swann 34 Mohammad Shahzad not out Mohammad nabi not out 9 3 EXtRAS: (lb1, nb2) 90 tOtAL: (for five wkts) fall of wicket: 1-0 (Porterfield), 2-2 (Stirling), 3-8 (Ali), 4-31 (William), 5-71 (coetzer).

BOWLIng: Anderson 12-6-29-2, Broad 9-5-15-2 (2nb), Swann 10-1-33-1, finn 6-3-12 0 Overs: 37, toss: England.

DUBai: england Xi cricketer alastair cook plays a shot during the second day of a three-day practice match between the england Xi and icc combined Xi. AFP DUBAI AfP

Opener Alastair Cook was the only batsman to get some good practice as England's batting crumbled against some spirited ICC Combined XI bowling in their three-day tour opener here on Sunday. The left-hander held the batting during his patient knock as none of the England batmen could score big on a slow Global Cricket Academy pitch, spurning a good chance ahead of the first Test against Pakistan starting here from January 17. Cook added 53 for the third wicket with Kevin Pietersen (15) before England declared their first innings on 185-8. Combined XI finished the second day on 90-5, having an overall lead of 186. They scored 281 in their first innings.

Resuming at 16-0, England had reached 44 when skipper Andrew Strauss (17) fell to Afghanistan paceman Hamid

Hassan who finished with 2-26. Hasan also dismissed Jonathan Trott (one) with a beautiful delivery, caught behind by his fellow Afghan Mohammad Shahzad.

Cook also fell caught behind off Namibian Christi Viljoen. Besides Pietersen and Trott, Ian Bell (three) and Eoin Morgan (one) also failed to get going. Off-spinner Mohammad Nabi finished with 2-42 while Irish paceman Boyd Rankin took 249. William Porterfield and Paul Stirling flopped again as both failed to score in Combined XI's second knock, and it was left to Kyle Coetzer (31) and Shahzad (34) to keep the Combined XI in a position to give England a stiff target.

pakIStan v enGland 2011-12

Misbah not ready to relinquish ‘safety first’ DUBAI

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cRIcInfO

AKISTAN captain Misbah-ulHaq has said he would rather win matches than worry about maintaining a balance between attack and defence. Though Misbah led Pakistan to six wins in 10 Test matches in 2011, there has been some criticism that he adopts a safety-first approach as captain.

"Cricket these days should be taken up with a balanced approach," Misbah said at the end of a four-day training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium organised to help Pakistan prepare for their upcoming series against England in the UAE. "[But] it's better to win by playing defensively, instead of losing by playing aggressively. It's all about the situation; what you are required to do or not do in a particular scenario."

The camp in Lahore mainly focussed on the bowlers and entailed strenuous fielding drills at the beginning of each day, as well as mental strengthening sessions for the players. Among the batsmen, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Imran Farhat and Mohammad Hafeez were spotted having intense sessions in the nets. A big positive to come out of the camp was that fast bowler Junaid Khan, who suffered an abdominal muscle strain during Pakistan's recent one-day series against Sri Lanka, was declared fit to play. The players have now dispersed and will reconvene on January 9 to leave for the UAE, with the first Test to begin on January 17 in Dubai.

England are the No. 1 Test team in the world according to the ICC rankings, but Misbah said his team would not be intimidated by their opposition's reputation. "My

approach is simple in cricket: when you go onto the ground, give your 100% and focus on your performance. Forget about who the opposition is, do what you can do right, play tough cricket and then you look at the results.

When you do all these things right, results will be in your favour."

While fast bowler Aizaz Cheema had said the conditions in the UAE are similar to those in Pakistan, Misbah said, based on his experience of playing in the UAE, both batting and bowling will be a challenge. "If you look at the conditions in the UAE, it's difficult for bowlers to take wickets, it's also difficult for batsman to score runs because of the slow pitches where the ball doesn't come onto the bat.

It will be a challenge for both teams; both departments will have to work hard.

"England is a thoroughly professional team, and we have to put in real hard

work to score runs against them and will have to bowl up to the mark to bowl them out."

The Decision Review System (DRS) is a welcome addition to the series, he said. "I always say it (the DRS) gives both teams a chance because umpires are also human-beings and they can make mistakes sometimes. This is an option for both batsmen and bowlers to help rectify the mistakes of the umpires. I am always in favour of this superb innovation. No doubt it needs better accuracy but I still believe it's quite helpful for the teams."

Pakistan had an impressive run in 2011; they did not lose any of the Test series they played and reached the semi-finals of the World Cup. They have been helped by consistent allround performances, Misbah said. "If you look at our recent performance, Pakistan is doing well in every department: batting, spin bowling, fast bowling. We do lack [a bit] in fielding and there are a few lapses, but overall every department is doing the required hard work.

Against top teams you can't depend on a specific department, you have to perform well in every department to compete.

Younus poses the greatest challenge to England CoMMent SCYLD BERRY

T

HE veteran batsman's ability to scrap and take on the short ball will be a huge asset as Pakistan attempt to rebuild after the damage caused by the spot-fixing scandal Since England and Pakistan last met — or acrimoniously clashed — in September 2010, Pakistan have assembled a virtually new team. It is just as good as their previous team in cricket terms and better, one trusts, in ethical terms.

Pakistan concluded their training camp in Lahore and will fly to Dubai for their Test series against England. The ‘host’ country will be favourites to win the one-day series of five 50-over internationals, and while England have to be favoured to win the three-Test series, it is not by much: at the moment 1-0 to England looks the likeliest result.

This is a remarkable tribute to Pakistan’s ability to regenerate their cricket, thanks to their depth of resources, and makes you wonder what the Test rankings would be if the whole world were at peace. Take away all but three players from England or India or any other country, and you would not have a team that could win six and lose one of their next 12 Tests, as Pakistan have done since their captain Salman Butt orchestrated the spot-fixing in the Lord’s Test of August 2010. Pakistan’s new team could even claim to be better than the one they have replaced, and not simply on ethical grounds.

They are stronger in one particular respect: they have a veteran at number four who has been shoring up a middle order that was decidedly flaky when England won 3-1 in his absence.

This veteran batsman is the hawk-

like Younus Khan, who has been averaging 78 in Tests since then.

Falconry was the pastime of the few inhabitants of the United Arab Emirates before oil was discovered in the 1950s

and Dubai was turned from a village up a creek into a mass of six-lane highways and tower blocks; and Younus has the look of a bird of prey, and the ability to feast insatiably on loose bowling as if it

were carrion. Younus has the highest average of any Pakistan batsman ever, the only one to reach as high as 53. This is due in some small part to his last innings, an unbeaten double-century against Bangladesh, and should not be interpreted to mean that he is Pakistan’s finest batsman ever.

But he is up there with Javed Miandad and Mohammed Yousuf, Inzamam ul-Haq and Zaheer Abbas and Hanif Mohammad, which is enough to make him England’s key opponent in the coming series.

Pakistan’s bowling will be roughly equal to England’s. It is their batting which is more questionable, more fragile and inexperienced, and Younus has been the one who has been holding it together. He has scored more Test centuries than everyone else in the team put together, and they usually aren’t small ones. He has already played nine Tests in the Gulf (Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah), more than anybody else.

He does not ooze serenity at the crease like Inzamam or Yousuf, nor does he have the grace of Zaheer. Younus scraps like Miandad, without prompting the need for UN peace monitors and conflict-resolution experts to be on hand.

Above all Younus, having played abroad so much during his 34 years, is far more accomplished than his teammates against the short ball, which will be one of England’s main weapons, at least when the ball is new.

He can play off the back foot, cut and pull — which will enable him to act as the human shield for Asad Shafiq at number six and Adnan Akmal, the new keeper at number seven, who will be prime targets for England’s pace bowlers. Younus missed the 2010 tour of England because he had been banned by

the Pakistan board for an indefinite period after their tour of Australia earlier in the year.

Being banned by the Pakistan board should not be considered a stigma; more often it is a badge of honour. Younus was accused of ‘infighting’ in Australia, but anyone who cared about his country might have taken exception to the dreamy captaincy of Yousuf, who led Pakistan to defeat in every competitive game.

Rare in Pakistan, Younus is one of those senior players who has been the captain — indeed he led Pakistan to victory in the 2009 World Twenty20 in England — but who doesn’t rock the boat. He is a team man to the extent that he is an excellent slip-catcher, arguably the best Pakistan have had.

In his last Test, even though 34, the hawk flew from slip to gully to take a right-handed catch at maximum stretch off a spinner that was hailed as the catch of the century.

Younus has managed to survive so long by being his own man within the team.

The dynamics of the Pakistan team are traditionally a division between the Punjabi speakers of Lahore (Butt and his two imprisoned bowlers, Mohammed Amir and Mohammed Asif, are all Punjabis) and the Urdu speakers of Karachi, but with an increasing component of Pushto-speaking Pathans who go their own way.

Younus, the senior batsman, and Umar Gul, the senior pace bowler, are both Pathans from the North-West Frontier Province. They have avoided being dragged into the games within the game, and they have led, if not the renaissance of Pakistan cricket, then its promising revival. Subdue Younus, and England will do better than 1-0. (Telegraph)

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Monday, 9 January, 2012

faheem, hina notch ranking tennis titles KARACHI StAff REPORt

Faheem Ramzan and Hina Naveed won the men and ladies singles titles respectively of the Sindh Sports Board Talent Hunt Ranking Tennis that concluded at Karachi Club.

President Pakistan School Sports Association Javed Yousuf Qamer was chief guest and gave away trophies to winners and runners up.

The week long event was sponsored by Sindh Sports Board and held in collaboration with Sindh school sports association & council of Tennis players. fInAL RESuLtS MEn’S SIngLES: fahim ramzan beat abdul majeed 6-4, 3-6, 10-5.

LAdIES SIngLES SEMI-fInALS: hania Naveed beat Neha khan 8-0 undER 17 SIngLES SEMI fInAL: hassaan Siddiqui beat aqeel Shabbir 6-0, 6-0, final: Talha Zubair beat Saud Shoaib 6-4, 6-4 undER 17 fInAL: Talha Zubair beat hassaan Siddiqui 6-3, 6-2 undER 13 fInAL: hasan farooq beat Jalauddin Babar (Mirpurkhas) 6-3, 6-3. undER 11 fInAL: houd azher beat Shahzil Malik 8-5 Under 9 final: M. yahya ehtisham beat rida khan 8-2.

Messi helping Barcelona make history

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India set to lose 2nd spot in ICC rankings DUBAI

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AgEncIES

VEN if India manages to win the next two Tests against Australia, it will still lose its second place in the ICC Test ranking to South Africa. India have conceded a 0-2 lead to Australia in the four-match series.

If the series in Australia ends in a draw, then India and South Africa will be locked at 117 ratings points but the Proteas will be ranked ahead of India when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

If Australia wins 3-0, it will move to 110 ratings points, two behind India, while a 3-1 series win will mean India will drop to 113 ratings points while Australia will rise to 108 ratings points.

However, if Australia makes a clean sweep of the series, then both sides will be locked at 111 ratings points but India will still be ranked above Australia by a fraction of a point. Meanwhile, the news is not

afc c certificate coaching course concludes LAHORE StAff REPORt

The AFC C Certificate Coaching Course for Women, under Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), concluded on Sunday at Football House, Lahore with Director Development and Competition, Wing. Commander (retd) Pervaiz Saeed Mir in the chair. PFF's, Director Member Associates & Projects, Lt. Col. ® Farasat Ali Shah was also present on this occasion. “The participants were lucky to learn from top instructors over two-weeks and they will have to transfer their knowledge for the promotion and development of women football in Pakistan. To strengthen women’s football is in the PFF President's Faisal Saleh Hayat's long-term planning and women coaches will play vital role in this regard. The 14-day Course under AFC Instructor Tariq Lutfi will enable 18 women to take this challenge." said Mir. Tariq Lutfi ran the Course from December 26th to January 8. Kiran Ilyas, Assistant Instructor, Mr. Naveed Butt, Referee Instructor and Mr. Arif Siddique, Course Coordinator, assisted Lutfi.

The participants were; Jamila arif, ambreen hameed, Nadeem Munzoor, arifa Sheikh, Qurat ul ain hameed, Samia ishaq, Naila rani, Nadia Bhatti, Zanib Mushtaq, amber Nazir, riffat Shabbir, Nazia Naz, Zoobia Latif, rubina Shaheen, Tahira akram, Saba aziz, Shahida kausar and fouzia Saeed.

good for the Indian players as Sachin Tendulkar has dropped two places to sixth position and Rahul Dravid has fallen four spots to 15th position.

VVS Laxman has dropped one place to 18th spot and Virender Sehwag has fallen out of the top 20, in 22nd position, after conceding four places. But Australia captain Michael Clarke has rocketed his way into the top 10 for the first time in 15 months after his career-best unbeaten triple century. Clarke scored 329 runs and jumped 12 places to eighth position.

The skipper has also become his side's highest-ranked batsman after leapfrogging Michael Hussey.

Hussey has moved up four places to 12th position after scoring an unconquered 150. In the Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia's Ben Hilfenhaus has broken into the top-20 for the first time in his career. Hilfenhaus, who had figures of 3-51 and 5-106, has jumped 11 places to claim 11th position. The 28-yearold Tasmanian is just two ratings points behind 10th-ranked Daniel Vettori of New Zealand.

MADRID AfP

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique says his teammate Lionel Messi deserves to win the Ballon d'Or, saying the Argentine forward has helped turn the Spanish club into "one of the best in history".

Messi, 24, will find out on Monday if he has become the first man since Michel Platini to win the Ballon d'Or for three years running when the winner of the 2011 award is announced at a ceremony in Zurich. "It is clear, Messi, he has been playing at a high level for years. And Leo is the best in the world," Pique said in an interview published in Catalan daily La Vanguardia on Sunday when asked who deserved to win the prize. "He is driving this team to be one of the best in history. thanks to him we have won many of the titles that we have in our windows. "It is a pleasure to have him with us, he plays like when he was 13 years old, except now he does it in a professional way and before the best players. We just have to hope that he maintains this level for as long as possible." Messi won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or -- a combination of the France Football Ballon d'Or prize and FIFA's World Player of the Year award -- last year, having picked up both awards in 2009. The Barcelona superstar's rivals for the honour are his Barcelona teammate Xavi and his great Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2008. Pique, 25, also said he hopes that Pep Guardiola signs a new contract with Barcelona.

Five-goal inter keep hopes alive as lazio crash ROME AfP

Inter Milan crushed Parma 5-0 at the San Siro on Saturday to keep their slim Serie A title hopes alive while Lazio's championship challenge took a hit when they crashed 4-0 to a vibrant and adenturous Siena. Fifth-placed Inter moved to within a point of Lazio, one place above them, having hit nine goals in their last two games. They have won seven of their last eight league matches.

It was also the third time this season that Parma have been thrashed by one of the big teams, having previously lost 4-1 to both Juventus and AC Milan.

Diego Milito scored a brace for Inter while he also had a hand in goals by Thiago Motta and Giampaolo Pazzini before youngster Marco Faraoni scored his first goal in Serie A late on. Milito darted across his marker to flick home Ricardo Alvarez's left-wing cross at the near post after 13 minutes. His deflected shot then dropped to Thiago Motta 20 yards out five minutes later and the Brazilian-born international lashed home a low drive.

Former Inter forward Jonathan Biabiany created a pair of chances for Parma with fine crosses from the right but Sebastian Giovinco and Francesco Modesto each failed to hit the target. Maicon crossed from the right four minutes before the

MiLaN: inter Milan's midfielder Thiago Motta (2D L) fights for the ball with Parma's defender Goncalo Jardim Brandao during the italian Serie a football match inter Milan against Parma. AFP break and Milito headed home to kill the game. Milito then slipped in Pazzini on 56 minutes to clip home before 20-year-old Faraoni put the icing on the cake with a stunning volley that dipped over goalkeeper Antonio Mirante on 79 minutes.

In Siena, Mattia Destro scored a brace for the hosts and Emanuele Calaio added two penalties while the visitors had goal-

keeper Albano Bizzarri sent off at the end of the first half. The victory moved Siena up to mid-table while Lazio could drop to seven points off the leaders if either AC Milan or Juventus win on Sunday.

Lazio coach Edy Reja felt was so embarrassed by his team's performance that he apologised. "We didn't turn up, that was the worst performance since I came

to Lazio," he told Sky. "I want to say sorry to the fans and I take full responsibility.

That today wasn't the same team that played very differently for the first half of the season." Siena coach Giuseppe Sannino suggested Lazio's players still thought they were on holiday.

"Maybe Lazio weren't yet ready after the (winter) break, I'm not saying they made things easy but almost," he said.

This match was over by the break after Siena ripped Lazio apart on the counter-attack. Lazio fell behind when Destro surged forward from midfield and shot across Bizzarri on 11 minutes, although centre-back Giuseppe Biava was guilty of leaving a gaping hole for the forward to attack.

Siena were awarded a penalty when Franco Brienza went down after trying to squeeze through a Marius Stankevicius and Lionel Scaloni sandwich, with Calaio scoring from the spot on 35 minutes. But on the stroke of half-time the game was effectively ended as Destro ran between Stankevicius and Senad Lulic, the pair letting him pass all too easily, perhaps wanting to avoid giving away another penalty.

Destro dinked the ball over Bizzarri, who appeared to clip him with his foot.

The ball hit the post and Destro jumped up to slot home the loose ball except that the referee, perhaps somewhat prematurely, had already blown his whistle to give a penalty.

Ahmed steers Rijas-Waste Busters to title victory LAHORE StAff REPORt

Ahmed Ali Tiwana led Rijas-Waste Busters to victory in the final of the Bank of Punjab Lahore Open Polo Tournament here at the Lahore Polo Club’s Aibak ground on Sunday. In the final, Rijas-Waste Busters’ combined team had to fight all ends to not only block Santiago Mendivil stride towards title, but also ensure their lead remained intact till the final hooter. Ahmed Ali was leading scorer from the winner’s side with five goals albeit Santiago Mendivil was in total control with six goals in his team’s PICIC Insurance’s 7-8 loss to Ali Tiwana’s side in which Ahmed Nawaz Tiwana and Atif Yar Tiwana had also contributed two and one goal respectively.

The action started from the very first chukker when PICIC was leading the match 4-3. Santiago converted three goals while Naveed M Sheikh scored one in the opening chukker while despite opening the attack, Ahmed Ali got two goals while Ahmed Nawaz hit one to finish the first quarter. Ahmed then took his team a goal ahead by scoring two back to back goals in the second chukker

Lahore: rijas-waste Busters and Picic insurance riders vie for the ball in the final. (right) Managing Director waPDa Tahir Basharat cheema with the winning team. nAdeeM iJAZ while the third chukker was a tit-for-tat affair in which four goals were scored with Santiago producing the first and third of the quarter while Ahmed Ali and Atif Ali managed one each. Rijas were already a goal ahead by the close of third

chukker (7-6) and then Ahmed Nawaz extended the lead 8-6 to start the final session. But just before the close of the game, Santiago with his solo effort took the score to 7-8 with Rijas winning the match. Later, Managing Director

WAPDA Tahir Basharat Cheema presented the winners’ trophies and other shields to Rijas and Waste Busters quartet. Earlier in the day, Olympia beat Guard Group 8-7. Hamza Mawaz Khan and Abdul Rehman Monnoo made the

win possible for Olympia while Taimur Ali Malik, Raja Samiullah and Raja Temur Nadeem tried their best to get close to win. The matches were supervised by Shah Shamyl Alam, Raja Remur Nadeem and Agha Murtaza Ali Khan.

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Mohsin impressive but not a qualified coach HYDERABAD APP

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Zaka Ashraf has said that Mohsin Khan, current coach of national team, is a talented man but he is not a qualified coach.

Talking to media here in Hyderabad after attending the golden jubilee celebrations of Arbab Niaz Stadium on Sunday, Ashraf said that they were making changes in domestic cricket. He said that international cricket would be restored in the country after Bangladesh tour. Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Zaka Ashraf has expressed the hope for a revival of the international cricket after the anticipated visit of Bangladesh cricket team in April this year.

He said this while addressing a press conference here on Sunday at the golden jubilee celebration of Niaz Stadium. The PCB chief said that Danish Kaneria could be included in the team after getting clearance.

Monday, 9 January, 2012

United knock City out of FA Cup in derby thriller LONDON

Lee beats foe Lin Dan in Seoul final SEOUL: World number one Lee Chong Wei stormed back to defeat arch-rival and holder Lin "Super" Dan in the final of the Korea Open on Sunday to prevent a rampant China for sweeping all five titles. The first Superseries of the new season, which is also an Olympic year, saw the 4,000-seat arena in Seoul packed out, and an enthusiastic crowd was treated to some South korea's Lee yong-Dae (rear) and ha Jung-eun high-quality badminton from (front) react to a losing point against china's Xu chen the two best players around. and Ma Jin in the mixed doubles final match at the In a tense 75-minute showkorea open Badminton Super Series Premier. AFP down, the Malaysian Lee, the top seed, lost the first game 12-21 to his nemesis, before winning the closely fought second game 21-18. Lee enjoyed eight smashed winners to seal the third game -- and with it the title -- 21-14, as the Malaysian made up for the bitter disappointment of losing to Lin, the Olympic champ, in last year's final. AfP

HYDERABAD APP

The Chairman’s XI team beat Patron’s XI by 49 runs in the T20 cricket match organised to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of Niaz Stadium here on Sunday.

The winning team was awarded Rs 25,000 prize while the losers received Rs 15,000. Mir Darya Khan and Imran Chandio of the winning team shared the man of the match prize of Rs 5,000. Chairman PCB Zaka Ashraf distributed the prizes.

AfP

Manchester United knocked holders Manchester City out of the FA Cup with a 3-2 third round win in an incident-packed derby at Eastlands on Sunday. Wayne Rooney scored twice, netting either side of the controversial sending off of City captain Vincent Kompany, with Danny Welbeck also on target to make it 3-0 before the break for the visitors But City pulled a goal back early in the second half when Aleksandar Kolarov bent a free-kick round the wall from the edge of the box. And 10-man City struck again when Sergio Aguero made it 3-2 in the 65th minute following a mistake by United substitute Paul Scholes, summoned out of retirement by manager Sir Alex Ferguson following an injury crisis.

Premier League leaders City, three points in front of champions United at the top of the table, pressed for an equaliser, with Kolarov going close from a second free-kick in stoppage time, but Ferguson's men held on. Defeat meant City's hold on the Cup lasted just one match, as the third round is the stage where Premier League clubs enter the tournament. "I think we made them (City) better than they were," Ferguson told ITV. "We were just so careless in the second half. "At 3-0 up at halftime they thought they were through and took their foot off the peddle. "It was a

chairman’s Xi win Golden Jubilee cup

Blind trials begin ISLAMABAD StAff REPORt

MaNcheSTer: Manchester city's english defender Micah richards (L) vies with Manchester United's french defender Patrice evra (r) during the fa cup third round football match. AFP careless performance, we should have been home and dry." City boss Roberto Mancini, clearly unhappy with the 12th red card shown to Kompany by referee Chris Foy, praised his team's character after going 3-0 down. "It's best that we talk about the game and not the referee.

"I am happy because I think we played a fantastic performance, the players did well in the second half.

"We scored two times, we had other chances to score in the end and we didn't concede any chances for them to score."

Rooney gave United the lead against the run of the play in the 10th minute when, after spreading play wide to Antonio Valencia, he sprinted into the box and then, from the winger's cross, he powered in a header off the crossbar. And, two minutes later, City -- three points in front of champions United at the top of the table -- were down to 10 men. Kompany appeared to win the ball cleanly from Nani, who played on, after sliding in on a wet pitch but the City defender had gone in two-footed and referee Chris Foy produced a red card.

The Pakistan Blind Cricket Council on Saturday announced to conduct selection trials here at PAF Cricket Ground E-9 from January 8 to 12 to select the Pakistan Blind Cricket Team for the forthcoming India Tour in February.

Almost 30 players from all over the country will participate in the selection trials.

The selection committee for the trials comprised M. Jamil, M. Bilal and Taimoor imran ali khan. Players asif Mahmood, Sohail aziz, Shoaib, Gulab, waleed aziz, Muhammad Nawaz, chaudhry Mudasar, Nabeel Satti, habibullah, anwar ali, rana ashraf, Muhammad Shahbaz, Muhammad waqas, Muhammad arshad, Muhammad ayaz, waseem akram, Muhammad afzal, Ghulam Mustafa, ashraf Bhatti, arfan Majeed, Zain-ul-abideen, Muzafar ali, Zeeshan abbasi, Nisar ali, Muhammad akram, iftekhar ali, arslan Javed, Muhammad Zohaib, Tariq Samuel and Shariq yaseen would participate in the trials.

Bekele beaten in Edinburgh Cross Country EDINBURgH AfP

Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele suffered a disappointing outing at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country on Saturday, finishing way down the field in an event won by Kenya's Asbel Kiprop.

Bekele, the reigning Olympic champion at 10,000m and 5,000m had hoped to use the three kilometre event in the Scottish capital to kick off a successful season heading into the Olympics.

However the 29-year-old Ethiopian was unable to make an impression over the Edinburgh course as world and Olympic 1,500m champion Kiprop romped to victory in 9min

20secs. Kiprop bided his time over the opening stages before unleashing a blistering turn of speed to pull away from the field by a comfortable margin. Former world 5,000m champion Eliud Kipchoge finished third after a battle for second won by British youngster Jonny Hay. Kiprop was delighted with victory after going close last year. "I expected a very tough competition from them," the 22-year-old Kenyan said of his big-name rivals. "I am excited having won here today after being second last year." In the men's eight kilometre race, Spain's Ayad Lamdassem took the line honours in 25:44 with Bobby Mack of the USA second and Belgium's Atelaw Bekele in third.

eDiNBUrGh: kenya's asbel kiprop (front left) in the Great edinburgh cross country challenge 3km race that he won running against olympic and world champion, kenenisa Bekele (2r) who finished 11th and eliud kipchoge (2L) who finished 3rd at holyrood Park. AFP

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Monday, 9 January, 2012

MADRID: Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (C) vies with Granada’s defender Inigo Lopez (L) and Granada’s goalkeeper Roberto Fernández (R) during the Spanish league match. AFP

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Rampant Real open six-point lead MADRID

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EAL Madrid extended their lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga to six points on Saturday with a 5-1 rout of Granada in the minnows' first trip to the Santiago Bernabeu in 36 years. The pressure is now on champions Barcelona, who still boast the psychological advantage of having beaten Real last month, when they meet Espanyol on Sunday. Real coach Jose Mourinho promised there would be no repeat of the sloppy first half performance in the King’s Cup against Malaga in midweek where they had to come from behind to win 3-2. But it was still a laboured first 45 minutes with the team fortunate to go in 2-1 up at the break. Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil combined to set up Karim Benzema to slot in the home side’s first goal, but Granada replied from their first real attack with an unmarked Mikel Rico heading into the corner after 22 minutes.

With the Real defence dozing again, Granada could have gone ahead after they cut through the backline but Rico saw his shot saved well by Iker Casillas. Sergio Ramos then headed Real back into the lead from a corner after 34 minutes. The game turned in the first few minutes after the break when Gonzalo Higuain and Benzema finished off Granada’s hopes of a comeback and then, with a minute to go, Ronaldo hit the fifth.

"The third goal after the break was the key," said Real assistant coach Aitor Karanka. "We knew that Granada were going to be a difficult opponent as they showed in the first half but they are a team which is

Masterly Murray flattens dolgopolov in Brisbane BRISBANE AfP

World number four Andy Murray laid down a marker for the Australian Open with a 65-minute demolition of Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final of the Brisbane International on Sunday. Murray, runnerup at Melbourne Park for the past two years as he chases his first Grand Slam, showed no mercy against the number 15 from Ukraine as he cruised to the title 6-1, 6-3 in the Pat Rafter Arena. With former great Ivan Lendl watching on for just the second time since being appointed Murray's surprise new coach, the Scotsman's emphatic performance got their BriSBaNe: andy Murray of Britain holds the high-profile partnership off trophy aloft after defeating alexandr Dolgopolov to the perfect start. The top of Ukraine in the men's final at the Brisbane seed was lethal in all deinternational tennis tournament. AFP partments as he dominated Dolgopolov, a player who pushed him to four close sets in the Australian Open quarter-finals last year but who took a slight groin injury into the final.

"I served pretty well again, it got close in the second set but I stayed focused," Murray said, with the first Grand Slam of the year barely a week away.

"He started going for his shots and hit quite a few winners but I didn't let it get to me." Murray broke Dolgopolov twice in the first set and did not lose a point on his first three service games to claim the opener in just 26 minutes.

He went on a run of nine consecutive games from 2-1 in the first to 4-0 in the second before the Ukrainian finally stemmed the flow by holding serve for only the second time in the match. That signalled a slight rally from Dolgopolov, who then got a service game back and fought to make it 4-3.

But Murray held his next serve then broke Dolgopolov to love to clinch the Roy Emerson Trophy and his 22nd title on the ATP tour. "Even though it got back to 4-3, I had game points at 4-1 and game points at 4-2 and was creating a lot of opportunities," he said. Murray had started the week slowly and struggled to win his first two matches, against Mikhail Kukushkin and Gilles Muller. But he hit top gear from then on, easily accounting for Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals and Bernard Tomic in the semis before his impressive display against Dolgopolov.

"I played much better the last three matches for sure," Murray said. "I could easily have lost the second round against Muller but I managed to fight my way through and play three very good matches. "I felt like I was moving well right at the end of the week and hopefully the next few days before Melbourne go well." Dolgopolov, who has been troubled by a slight groin injury he picked up in his semi-final against Gilles Simon, acknowledged he had been outplayed and apologised to the crowd for playing "boring tennis". "I couldn't move very well on the right leg and it was tough to go right and push forward," he said. "I just tried to do my best and stay on the court because the stadium was full and you don't want to pull out of something like that. "But you also don't want to get injured so it was a fine line to keep healthy and not get worse and stay out there and play some tennis. "I did what I can and I'm happy with my week." Murray said he was aware his opponent was hurting. "When someone steps on the court you've just got to play it like a normal match," he said.

built to defend and so after we had scored the third -and with all the space at the Bernabeu -- they had more problems." Granada coach Fabri Gonzalez felt that it was a lack of composure after the restart which proved crucial. "It was all over after the third goal and then we made it worse by conceding the fourth but before that the game was quite competitive," he said.

Champions League hopefuls Levante drew 0-0 against Mallorca, but remained four points clear of fifth-placed Osasuna who were also locked in a stalemate with Real Sociedad. Levante started the stronger but Mallorca took the game to the home side as the match progressed and keeper Gustavo Munua came to their rescue on a number of occasions.

He denied Emilio Nsue in the first half before also blocking well from Fernando Tissone and Jose Luis Marti later on. Arouna Kone was Levante’s biggest threat and had a goal ruled out for being fractionally offside after 66 minutes. It was a more open contest between in-form Sociedad and Osasuna but neither was able to make the breakthrough.

Atletico Madrid showed more bite under new coach Diego Simeone as they drew 0-0 with sixthplaced Malaga. With Atletico failing to demonstrate the consistency needed to push for a place in Europe, coach Gregorio Manzano was shown the door before Christmas and Simeone was given the responsibility to install a more solid style. They showed plenty of tenacity and grew as the game went on against Malaga who bossed the first half but found it difficult to create clear cut chances with Jose Rondon going closest with a header which was saved well by the keeper.

kvitova primed for australian open PERTH AfP

Rising Czech star Petra Kvitova sounded an ominous warning to her Australian Open rivals with her form at the mixed teams Hopman Cup. Kvitova's winning Hopman Cup teammate Tomas Berdych revealed that she arrived in Perth with a niggling injury, but the world number two showed precious little sign of it during the tournament. The world number two, who could claim the top ranking within days, was in imposing singles form throughout, dropping just one set in her four singles matches on the back of her powerful forehand.

The sole blemish came against the woman she looks set to replace at the top of the women's rankings in 2012, Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, in her three-set victory over the world number one on Friday.

Kvitova beat world number nine Marion Bartoli, 2011 Hopman Cup winner Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, all in straight sets, in a further sign the 2011 Wimbledon champion is ready to claim the top ranking in women's tennis. The Czech was ranked 28th in the world heading into last year's Australian Open, where she reached the quarter-finals before being beaten in straight sets by Russian Vera Zvonareva.

Kvitova heads to the Sydney International to complete her preparation and said the Hopman Cup had been a perfect start to the year,

with the guarantee of four singles matches.

"Well I mean for me it's something really special because you know that you have to play three or four matches against great girls and you don't really have some pressure on your back and you just play," she said. "Hopefully after this preparation it will good to play the Australian Open. "I'm going to Sydney and you know every single week it's a new chance to win some points and some matches. "It's really close to be number one but still it's really far away."

WATCh iT LivE STAR CRICKET Hobart Hurricanes V Melbourne Stars 3:10PM

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Gojra lift inter academy hockey trophy SIALKOT StAff REPORt

Sialkot thrashed Gojra to lift the second PHF Inter Academy Hockey Tournament trophy here at the Sialkot Hockey Stadium, Sialkot. With this big 7-1 win, Sialkot got to the top of the leaderboard followed by Gojra and Bahawalpur. The day started with the classification encounter between Bahawalpur and Lahore which saw Lahore take the lead through Mohammad Waqas on penalty corner in the 14th minute but that lead was short lived when Madid Ali leveled the score in a similar fashion in the 21st minute of the match. The teams remained one-all till the half time and winning goals of the match from Bahawalpur came in the 40th minute of the match when Bahawalpur’s Muneebur-Rehman found the ball right in front of the Lahore’s goal mouth. Later in the day, Sialkot beat Gojra in a one-sided affair 7-1. The hosts of the tournament added four goals against Gojra in the first 35 minutes of the match through Nohaiz Zahid (16th minute field goal, Ali Raza (two goals, 21st & 30th minutes in the fields) and Mohammad Ali (23rd minute) on a penalty corner. Gojra opened the second half with a 32nd minute penalty corner goals through Mubashir but after that they did not find a breathing space and Sialkot’s Amir Sohail got two goals in the 36th and 51st minutes while Hammad Zafar scored in the 50th minute. Member National Assembly Khawaja Muhammad Asif was the chief guest and distributed the prizes among the winners. Also present on the occasion were Chaudhry Muhammad Akhlaq (MPA), Olympian Muhammad Asif Bajwa Secretary General PHF, Mr. Khawar Anwar Khawaja President District Hockey Association, Tournament Director Amir Shafique, Organising Secretary Ajmal Khan Lodhi, Tournament Officers Muhammad Shafique Bhatti & Chaudhry Ansar Jora, Umpires M. Mushtaq, Rana Sajid & Mubarik Ali and Officials DHA Sialkot. The chief guest also announced Rs 50,000 for the winners Sialkot and Muhammad Asif Bajwa, Secretary General PHF gave Rs 200,000 to the winners while third position Bahawalpur Academy would get monthly amount of Rs 2500. Runner up Gojra Academy will get monthly Rs 3000.

SyDNey: Jelena Dokic of australia returns the ball to isabella holland in her 6-0, 6-0 win. (right) Dominika cibulkova of Slovakia returns a ball to Peng Shuai of china at the Sydney international event. The match was suspended due to rain. AFP

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Monday, 9 January, 2012

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efforts on to thwart memo commission’s progress ISLAMABAD tAHIR nIAz

kARAcHI: All Pakistan Muslim League activists attend a public meeting near the Mazar-e-quaid on Sunday. online

PPP set to win 22 seats in Senate, tally to rise to 44

We are waiting for ‘killer’ Musharraf: Jehangir Badr

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PMl-Q, JUi-F to be major losers, AnP to gain ISLAMABAD MIAn ABRAR

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MONITORINg DESK Reacting to former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf’s Sunday announcement of returning to the country in the last week of January, Pakistan People’s Party General Secretary Jehangir Badr said it was good news, but did no stop short of calling Musharraf a killer. “It’s good news.

We are waiting for the killer,” Badr said.

Britain’s backdoor diplomacy seeks to soothe Pak-US ties ISLAMABAD: British backdoor diplomacy is in action to resolve tensions between Pakistan and the United States that intensified with NATO attack on Pakistani border posts on November 26 last year. “We are not in a position to say anything openly but we are advising Pakistan through back channels to go for early resolution of conflicting issues,” a high-ranking British diplomat told Online on condition of anonymity. “An early resolution is not only in the interest of Pakistan and the US, but also the entire alliance (NATO),” he added.

According to the diplomat, the United Kingdom supported most of the points Pakistan was seeking to revisit in its bilateral relations with the US and subsequently with NATO. “For instance,” he mentioned, “Pakistan was rightful in asking the US to stop drone strikes within its sovereign territory.”

Without saying in clear terms, the diplomat sounded as if the UK was also supportive of Pakistan expelling or limiting CIA operatives and their activities. However, the diplomat added that Pakistan did not have the choice to get out of the war on terror which had already entered its final phase. “It would be a suicidal decision if Pakistan chooses so at the end of an ongoing parliamentary review of the particular segment of your foreign policy,” he said. The diplomat was of the view that it was not fair to punish the entire alliance by halting NATO supplies to troops in Afghanistan, saying Pakistan’s grievance with the US alone.

He said Pakistan should continue playing its role in the war on terror so that it could reach a logical conclusion and the region could achieve peace and stability. online

ITH Senate elections being held in February instead of March, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), though short of clear simple majority, will emerge as the single largest party in the Upper House of parliament, keeping its relevance in parliamentary politics even if it does not form a government after the general elections.

The PPP is likely to win 22 more seats in the Senate, which would take its tally of senators to 44. Fifty percent of the members of the Senate will be elected, as an equal number of senators will retire in March 2012. Behind-thescenes efforts by the ruling party have already been initiated to avoid the election process and settle the matter through seat adjustment with other political parties, keeping in view the purported threats to the coalition government. Moreover, the ruling party would be losing five incumbent senators following the termination of their term if new senators are elected through the sitting assemblies. Those retiring from the ruling party include stalwarts like

Mian Raza Rabbani, Babar Awan and Safdar Abbasi. In contrast, the major ally of the PPP – the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) – would be the major loser by letting go its 20 members of a total 21. However, the party may also win six more seats through a seat adjustment formula with the PPP, and one senator may be elected from Punjab. The major PML-Q men retiring include former information minister Mohammad Ali Durrani, Jan Mohammad Jamali, Wasim Sajjad, Lt Gen (r) Javed Ashraf Qazi, Jamal Leghari and SM Zafar. Apart from the PML-Q, the JUI-F would also lose seven of its sitting senators. The PML-N would emerge successful, as it would bag another six senators taking its total to 12. The Jamat-e-Islami (JI) which has three members, one each from PkMAP and Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) would disappear from the senate as they have no representation in the national and provincial assemblies, the electorate for the senate. Senators of ANP retiring include Ilyas Bilour.

After a thorough calculation and interaction with officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan, it was found that of 64 general seats, seven members would be elected from Punjab on

general seats, two on women seats and one on technocrat seat. Punjab Assembly Since Punjab Assembly has strength of 371 members, any candidate would require at least 53 votes to get elected. Since the PML-N is the majority party in the Punjab Assembly with the support of 186 members, it would get at least four members elected on general seats.

The remaining of two seats would be left for the PPP, who has a strength of 107 members. The PML-Q has the support of around 54 members and the remaining 30 members have either been re-elected on PML-N ticket or formed a forward bloc, so both parties can get one seat each by supporting each other. Of the two women seats, one would be easily grabbed by the PML-N while the other would be won by a PPP and PML-Q joint candidate. So the PPP would have to either adjust a PML-Q member on the technocrat or women’s seat. One technocrat seat would go to the PML-N, while the other would go to the PPP-PML-Q alliance. So, out of total 11 seats, the PML-N would win seven seats, three would go to the PPP and one might be bagged by the PML-Q. Continued on page 04

As the memo commission is moving gradually to “catch the fish” and holding its second meeting at the Islamabad High Court today (Monday), some players have jumped into the fray in apparent attempts to muddle the pool, with one approaching the court for the registration of an FIR against Mansoor Ijaz and the other challenging the constitution of the three-member commission set up by the Supreme Court. A Pakistan People’s Party activist moved a lower court on Saturday for registration of an FIR against Mansoor Ijaz, who is one of the main characters of the memo scandal, for his “anti-Pakistan lobbying”. Khalid Javed, known to be a PPP activist, moved the court at a time when the US national had already hinted at visiting Pakistan at an appropriate time to testify before the commission. Islamabad Additional Sessions Judge Wajahat Hassan has sought report from the Secretariat police SHO by Tuesday after preliminary hearing of the application.

On the other hand, petitioner Shahid Orakzai challenged the establishment of the three-member commission by the Supreme Court to probe the memo case, saying the Sindh and Balochistan High Court chief justices were not authorised to work as commission members, as they were employees of the provincial governments and their salaries were paid by the respective governments. He submitted that the said chief justices could not become part of the commission without the permission of the president. He added that the commission’s formation was not in accordance with the constitution. The attempt on part of the two individuals appear to be attempts to complicate the case and create hurdles in the way of Mansoor Ijaz’s arrival to Pakistan, as the government is already shying away from the probe into the memo by the commission.

As the commission is meets today, PPP Cochairman Asif Ali Zardari and former Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani are unlikely to appear before it. However, PMLN sources said party chief Nawaz Sharif was likely to appear before the commission.

During the previous hearing on January 2, the commission had expressed displeasure over Haqqani’s absence from the proceedings despite him being served notice.

The commission asked the AG to reissue summon to Haqqani to appear on the next date of hearing. It directed the government to provide him requisite security as well.

Sources in the government said Haqqani was unlikely to appear before the commission even today. However, the foreign secretary is expected to apprise the commission about the entries in the records of Pakistan’s embassy in Washington pertaining to meetings between Hussain Haqqani and Mansoor Ijaz.

altaf wants creation of kabailistan MONITORINg DESK Demanding the formation of Kabailistan province consisting of the country’s Tribal Areas, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Sunday said a pledge should be made to protect one another’s rights, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.

In a telephonic address to notables of Baloch and Sindhi communities, Altaf sympathised with the people of Baloch community, saying Balochs were denied their rights since the day Pakistan came into being. He said conspiracies were hatched to pit Balochs against Muhajirs in Karachi.

“I do not speak exclusively for the rights of the Urdu-speaking people,” he claimed. He said he knew poor Balochs did not even have enough food to fill their bellies, while the children of landlords and feudals went abroad to receive education. Altaf said a revolution for bringing the rule of the poor and middle class had become indispensable for Pakistan. He

said MQM’s convention in Sukkur on January 20 will bring a good news about abolishing the age-old feudal system in the country. Altaf said the determination, courage and resolve of the workers had jolted the ramparts of palaces of oppression and injustice and declared that these palaces would be razed amid resounding slogans of truth and honesty. He said that the message of his party had spread across the land of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and hoped that the peasants and labourers, would bring an end to the outdated feudal system by joining hands with his party.

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