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Rs22.00 Vol ii no 171 27 pages Karachi edition
ISLAMABAD: Women cook food on a makeshift stove on Saturday as the federal capital and other cities across Pakistan suffer from acute gas shortage. online
Army, executive on same page: PM Gilani says army and judiciary don’t want to derail democratic process g Says he has succeeded in bringing Zardari and Kayani closer g Calls PTI old wine in new bottle g
ISLAMABAD MIAn ABrAr
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Army officer, two soldiers killed in Kurram explosion PESHAWAR: A lieutenant and two personnel of Pakistan Army were killed in a landmine explosion in the Gadda Sarayee area of Kurram Agency on Saturday, while officials claimed killing more than 30 militants in a military operation in Orakzai Agency in the last two days. The officials said a contingent of security forces was advancing during action against
militants in the Gadda Sarayee area of Kurram Agency when a landmine planted by militants exploded. The explosion killed three officials and injured several others. In retaliation, the forces initiated action against the militants and also launched a door-to-door search in the area. On the other hand, officials said the security forces continued action against militants in the Khadezai area of Orakzai on
the second consecutive day. Backed by helicopter gunships and artillery, the forces killed at least seven militants on Saturday, besides destroying two terrorist dens. Officials had on Friday claimed killing around 29 militants in retaliation after a landmine attack on the security forces in the same area. One soldier was killed and 22 others injured in that landmine explosion. StAff RepoRt
Sunday, 18 december, 2011 Muharram-ul-Haram 22, 1433
ITh the tension over the “memogate” scandal apparently defused, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday said there was no confrontation between the army and executive and both were on the same page on the memo issue. Talking to a select group of journalists, the PM said the army and judiciary were “pro-democracy” and both “did not want to derail the democratic process”. he said he had succeeded in getting President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani closer, stating that both Zardari and Kayani had a telephonic chat on Friday night during his meeting with Kayani. Gilani spoke candidly on almost all aspects of the country’s complex politics and economic situation and tried to clear the air on the stand-off between the army and government and tension with the judiciary, besides making some specific attacks on Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), which is rapidly gaining popularity. Surprisingly for the first time, Gilani hit out at Imran Khan’s party, calling it old wine in a new
bottle, and contributed forty percent of his speech to those politicians, who he said were rejected by the people and comrades of dictators and were now joining Imran. During his one-and-a-halfhour long conversation, he came down hard on the media for “uselessly” creating hype over the memo issue, claiming that the memo held no ground following the affidavit by General James Jones, the retired marine corps officer of the US. “When most of the journalists even don’t know the exact meaning of the memo, why do they make an issue out of it?” he asserted. Gilani said that during his meeting with Gen Kayani on Friday, President Zardari called him and asked what he was doing. “I told the president that I was in a meeting with the army chief. he asked me to convey his good wishes to Kayani. When I told Gen Kayani, he said that wanted to talk to the president. Later they spoke and I don’t know about the content of their talk,” the PM said. Asked if the president would attend the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto in Naudero on December 27, Gilani said, “Who can stop him if the doctors allow him?” Continued on page 04
SC sends fresh notices to president, pM, iSi DG in memo case MonItorIng DeSk The Supreme Court on Saturday issued fresh notices to President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in connection with the memogate case in response to a letter faxed to the court by a Pakistani residing in Canada, a private TV channel said on Saturday. The notices refer to the letter in which the writer claimed that he and his family faced threat to their lives from the Pakistani government. The letter stated that the government was not serious about investigating into the memo affair and that the government was “endangering his and the lives of his family members by collaborating with Pakistan’s enemies”. The writer also said all his family members were serving in the Pakistan Army. Notices were also issued to ISI DG Ahmed Shuja Pasha and Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul haq for December 19. The notices said the allegations leveled by the Pakistani citizen were directly related to national security.
Text of replies filed by coas, isi dg and foreign and interior ministries in memo case
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02 News
SundAy, 18 dECEMbEr, 2011
today’s
nEWS
forEIGn nEWS
ArTS & EnTErTAInMEnT
Obama nominates nancy Powell as next ambassador to India
Tunisians celebrate revolution anniversary
Veena Malik goes missing in Mumbai
Story on Page 09
Story on Page 16
Story on Page 18
Quick look
Probe Siachen, Kargil and East Pakistan, demands Awan
ACrOBATS FOr A DAY: Christian children play on a trampoline in a katchi abadi in Islamabad on Saturday. afp
LAHoRE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Senator Dr Babar Awan said on Saturday that commissions should be formed on Siachen, Kargil and East Pakistan debacles for fixing responsibility, like the commission set up recently to probe into a “piece of paper”. he was addressing a conference on Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal organised by Kharl Sangat Pakistan at Al-hamra hall. Awan said that there was no restriction on President Asif Ali Zardari’s return and he would certainly come to Pakistan and attend former PM and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary. The senator said that no one could derail democracy and snatch from the people the right to vote and all should work in line with the constitution, adding that the masses wanted to know the truth behind many issues of national importance. he said that the PPP-led government would protect rights of the people given in the constitution. STAFF rePOrT
Manning defense takes offensive in WikiLeaks case FoRT MEADE: Lawyers for US soldier Bradley Manning mounted an aggressive defense at a hearing Friday on whether to court-martial him for spilling US diplomatic and military secrets to WikiLeaks. Manning’s lead attorney, David Coombs, went on the offensive shortly after proceedings got underway at this sprawling military base on Friday, accusing the presiding officer of bias and seeking his dismissal. A US Army legal expert told reporters the court could rule on Manning’s appeal as early as Saturday, when the pre-trial hearing is set to reconvene at 10:00 am (1500 GMT). It could last up to a week. Manning is suspected of downloading 260,000 US diplomatic cables, videos of US air strikes and US military reports from Afghanistan and Iraq while serving as a low-ranking intelligence analyst in Iraq and providing them to Assange, who has denied knowing the source of the material. he faces life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge - aiding the enemy. AGenCIeS
Law minister expects no justice from SC in memo case ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Moula Buksh Chandio on Saturday said the Supreme Court was overstepping its domain as it was taking suo motu notice of each and every issue. Talking to reporters outside the Parliament house, Chandio said he knew there would be no justice in the memo case, “even then the government will accept the Supreme Court’s judgment on the issue”. he said the SC was taking suo motu notices of even eatables and crossing its limits as prescribed by the constitution. The law minister said the allegations levelled by a US citizen raised many fingers towards the president. he said Article 6 of the constitution was not applied on those who abrogated the constitution and imposed martial law in the country and questioned how could it be applicable to President Asif Ali Zardari. Dispelling the impression that government was not respecting court orders, Chandio said even the ministers were seeking bails in various cases from the lower judiciary. STAFF rePOrT
Wahdat editor honoured Pir Syed Sufaid Shah hamdard, chief editor Daily Wahdat Peshawar, has been awarded the title of Baba-e-Pashto Sahafat by the Aalmi Pashto Conference, an international forum of Pashto writers, poets and intellectuals. Speakers lauded the services of Pir Sufaid for the promotion of Pashto journalism and literature and the effective role of Daily Wahdat in the Afghan jihad.
PILDAT launches Punjab Assembly score card Performance in the third year not too different from the score card in earlier two years g MPs demand increased role for standing committees g
LAHore
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STAFF rePOrT
ILDAT launched the third year score card for the 15th Provincial Assembly of Punjab. The MPAs attending the launch of the score card once again demanded an increased role of the standing committees of the Punjab Assembly as the most crucial reform required to improve the performance of the assembly. Ahmad Bilal Mehboob, PILDAT executive director, gave an overview of the performance of the provincial assembly based on a score card prepared by using the Toolkit originally developed by Geneva-based Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), which has parliament and provincial assemblies in Pakistan among its members. he highlighted that performance of the third year does not show much variation from the score card of the first two years. The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab got an overall score of 43 percent in its evaluation of the performance of the third parliamentary year. This score is identical to the score achieved by the Assembly during the evaluation of its first two completed parliamentary years. The performance of the Punjab Assembly was assessed against the Framework developed by the Inter-Parlia-
mentary Union (IPU). The strongest aspect of the assembly’s performance in the third parliamentary year emerged as the Transparency and Accessibility of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab which got an evaluation score of 51 percent, while the weakest aspect, like the previous two years remains its Involvement in International Policy, with a score of 32 percent. The assembly worked three hours and 18 minutes a day on average in the third year as compared to four hours and three minutes in 2009-2010. About 21 (55 %) of the committees did not hold a single meeting in the third year, while the chief minister attended 13 (18%) sittings. The evaluation is based on the valued judgments of an evaluation group consisting of 36 members, including 25 honourable members of the Punjab Assembly representing various political parties, as well as 11 nonMPAs, including journalists, political scientists, senior statesmen, former senior civil servants, lawyers and members of the civil society. The group was facilitated by PILDAT. This evaluation result indicates that the assembly performance is somewhat stagnant and is not improving. Usually Assemblies do not change much in a short span of a year and this is what was see in this case as well.
The round table was unanimous in its view that the democratic system, despite its weaknesses, should be allowed to continue and should be allowed to improve with the passage of time. MPAs once again demanded more effective role for the standing committees. Mohsin Khan Leghari, MPA (PML;PP245, Dera Ghazi Khan-VI) a member of the Public Accounts Committee of the Punjab Assembly and the fifth most vocal member of the assembly during the third year emphasised that democracy could only be strengthened by improving the functions and working of the assembly. he pointed out that only by empowerment of the standing committees could the assembly be made an effective institution. Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, MPA (PPP; PP112, Gujrat - V) also emphasised the role of the committees in improving the working of the assembly. he cited many examples from the developed legislatures of the world where the committees were very active and the performance of the legislatures was much improved. Mujeeb ur Rehman Shami, editor-inchief daily Pakistan, said it was important that the interest of the common man should be watched in the house.
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Sunday, 18 december, 2011
SPorTS
News 03
CoMMEnT
Salman upstages overnight leaders
enough of standoffs:
today’s
The system is crumbling from the heat.
Spiralling downwards: Can the decline be arrested?
Humayun Gauhar says: The silent coup: Why make noise when you can take over by stealth?
Sarmad Bashir says: Thrown into a tailspin: Fanning the memo flames will burn a lot of people.
Iqbal Haider says: The Bangladesh model: There is a reason they’re doing better.
Story on Page 26
Quick look
Articles on Page 12-13
Faryal mobilises Punjab PPP to counter ‘hard times’ LAHore
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hE Pakistan People’s party (PPP) Punjab has activated itself against what it called conspiracies against democracy and the democratic government and reposed complete confidence in President Asif Zardari. In this regard, President Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur held a party meeting at the Punjab Governor’s house on Saturday. The party meeting passed a resolution against undemocratic elements. Addressing the parliamentary party meeting, she asked the PPP leaders to prepare themselves for hard times and urged them to increase mass contact so that workers could be stimulated for the next general elections. She told the parliamentarians from Punjab that applications for the Senate elections would be called in January 2012. She said the president would re-
turn to the country very soon and PPP leaders must react strongly against the rumours about the president’s future. PPP Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warraich told reporters after the meeting that the party would defend the democratic system and parliament in the country and foil any move to derail democracy. he said a resolution had been passed in the PPP Punjab executive meeting which reposed confidence in President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. “It was decided that any conspiracy against the leadership of the party will not be tolerated,” he added. “Nawaz Sharif’s move to move Supreme Court while saying he did not have confidence in the elected parliament reflects on the PML-N’s defeated mindset,” he said, adding that if an American wrote a memo to another American, how could that be taken up by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
he asked why had Nawaz not filed a petition against the ISI DG as Mansoor Ijaz also spoke against him? Speaking on the president’s immunity, according to Article 248 of the constitution, he said every government servant retired at the age of 60 years and only Supreme Court judges had the immunity to serve up to the age of 65 but why was the president’s immunity not being considered according to the constitution. Warraich said it was also decided in the meeting that all party workers including allied wings, PSF, labour wing and lawyers’ wing would gather on December 27 on Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh. Earlier, Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz said Nawaz would face defeat in the court as he was already defeated by the public in elections and now he had based his politics on a bogus memo.
‘Gap between developed and less Indian with 39 wives, 94 kids is strangest developed areas increasing’ ISLAMABAD ArIF TAJ
Pakistani victim of hate crime may be deported from uS MonItorIng DeSk A Pakistani man may be deported before an investigation is done into a beating he suffered in a Mississippi prison, according to a report in the houston Chronicle. A federal immigration judge ruled on Monday that hasnain Javed, 19, has until April 16 to leave the country after overstaying his visa. Javed and his houstonbased relatives believe the government may be trying to get him out of the country before an investigation can be completed into the Sept. 19 beating they characterize as a hate crime. “We thought some justice would be done,” said Javed’s aunt, Erum Rehman. “It looks like they just want to shut this case down and get rid of him.” “There was no acknowledgment of what happened to me,” said Javed, now back living temporarily in houston. “No one ever said they were sorry.” Representatives of the FBI in Mississippi could not be reached for comment late Monday. Javed, a college student, was taking a bus from houston back to his home in New York on Sept. 19 when Border Patrol agents boarded the bus in Mobile, Ala., and arrested him for having an expired visa. Javed had come to the United States to attend high school and never renewed his visa. Though charged with a civil penalty, Javed was held with felons in a Mississippi prison, where he was beaten. Javed said his attackers called him “bin Laden.”
The Senate Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas, in its report for November 2009 to July 2011 on problems of less developed areas, said on Saturday that the gap between developed and less developed areas of the country was increasing owing to slow releases, non-provision and inequitable distribution of funds. According to the committee report, a number of projects in recent years were approved on the basis of political influence instead of needs of the area and contributed to the increase of the gap as one of the factors. Identifying the reasons for less development in underdeveloped areas of the country, the committee cited following factors which led to an increase in the gap between developed and less developed areas of the country, including more alloca-
tion of funds for developed areas as compared to less developed areas, slow release of funds, inequitable distribution of funds in respect of projects or schemes initiated in less developed areas, approval of projects on the recommendation of influential people or on account of political expediency rather than on objective realties or needs of the people of the area for which the project was approved, initiation of projects without taking local people of less developed areas and other stakeholders into confidence and lack of effective monitoring mechanism to oversee development work. According to the report, the committee, despite its recommendation in various committee meetings, remained dissatisfied with efforts of various departments for eliminating inconsistencies and an imbalance approach about development projects. The committee also added that the committee physically inspected a number of schemes to
present a comprehensive and true picture of development projects in less developed areas. On being contacted, Senator Dr Abdul Malik, chairman of the Senate Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas, said that arbitrary release of funds on directions of the president or PM was the root cause of the problem. “The problem begins when the president or PM direct to release funds for a project and also direct the department concerned about the place and projects for which the amount is released”, he said. “The government makes huge claims and announces allocation of funds for different projects in budgets, but in practice release of funds is either slow or not at all in some cases”, Dr Malik said. he also added that such arbitrary release of funds on directions of the PM or president ultimately hampered efforts for reducing the gap between underdeveloped and less developed areas.
train service from lahore station restored after fuel supply resumed LAHore STAFF rePOrT
The Pakistan Railways has resumed its operations from Lahore on Saturday after receiving fuel from the Pakistan State Oil (PSO). Facing worst-ever fuel crisis, the Pakistan Railways on Friday halted its services of passenger trains originating from Lahore to various cities, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at the railway station. The suspended trains – Ravi Express, Lasani Express and Okara Express– resumed operation on Saturday.
Meanwhile, protesting railway employees, who have planned to stage a sit-in in front of the Pakistan Railways headquarter on December 21 rallied from divisional superintendent office to Boggi Chowk. They were chanting slogans against the privatisation of the Pakistan Railways as well as corruption in the department. Addressing the participants, union leaders said they would not let anybody work against the Pakistan Railways. The vice president of the union, Sheikh Anwar said the sit-in would be staged on all costs on the scheduled date.
story of 2011
new DeLHI OnLIne
The story of an Indian man with 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren, all living under one roof, was named numero uno by ‘Ripley’s Believe It or Not!’ in the top 11 strangest stories for this year, Indian media reported Saturday. Considered to be the authority on all things odd, amazing and unusual, ‘Ripley’s Believe It or Not!’ released the annual list of the strangest stories of 2011. Topping the list is the story reported by London-based newspaper The Telegraph about Ziona Chana, who lives in a four-storeyed building with 100 rooms in a mountainous village in Mizoram, sharing borders with Burma and Bangladesh. “It’s a safe bet that Ziona Chana would not be impressed watching ‘19 Kids and Counting’ or ‘Sister Wives’. The 66-year-old Indian man has 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren,” said ‘Ripley’s Believe It or Not!’ in a statement. “I once married 10 women in one year,” Chana is quoted as saying by The Telegraph. According to the daily, Chana met his oldest wife, who is three years older than he is, when he was 17. Other strangest stories include ‘Implanting organs in the name of Art’, ‘Liechtenstein for hire at $70,000 a night’, ‘Blind dog gets own guide dog’, ‘Cemetery collector with 29 bodies arrested’, ‘Alabama company turn gun lovers’ ashes into ammunition’ and ‘Mexican vampire woman Maria Jose Cristerna immortalised in wax’ among others.
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04 News It’s monarchy in Pakistan, not democracy, says Imran
MonItorIng DeSk The leadership of Pakistan’s political parties is being passed on like sceptres from father to son like in a monarchy, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Saturday. Khan said both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) had passed on the leadership of their parties from one family member to another, Geo News reported. At a political rally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the former cricketer was referring to the PPP’s first chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was succeeded by his wife Nusrat Bhutto and later by his daughter Benazir Bhutto. After the assassination of Benazir in December 2007, the party was led by her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who passed on the mantle to their 23-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Similarly, the PML-N is led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whose brother Shahbaz Sharif is a key party member and the chief minister of Punjab. Shahbaz Sharif’s son hamza Shahbaz is also an important party leader as well as an MP and now Nawaz’s daughter Maryam Nawaz was also being launched in politics. Khan said this was not democracy, as “the political parties are being run like dynasties”.
Sunday, 18 december, 2011
Pasha says would have opposed security deals with US ISLAMABAD QuDSSIA AkHLAQue
I
N what many participants termed a candid interaction with diplomats, ISI Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha declared at the envoys conference this week that had he held a senior position when the controversial security agreements were being negotiated with the US, he would have opposed them tooth and nail, a participant disclosed. The lieutenant general heading the country’s premier security agency was ostensibly referring to the post 9/11 agreements Pakistan inked with the US and NATO/ISAF during the Musharraf regime. According to an insider, Pasha remarked, “We are lucky to have a civilian set-up in the country now because only a democratic government could have taken such a bold stand that also reflects the national aspirations.” his obvious reference was to the decisions taken by the government after the November 26 US-led NATO air strike on Pakistan’s two border posts in Mohmand Agency. Unlike previous envoys conferences, this one was held at a time when the main pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy i.e relations with the US, are undergoing an un-
precedented crisis and hence the need for a review as called for by all pillars of the Pakistani state. Convened after the Mohmand Agency attack on the Salala check posts last month, the conference’s primary focus remained the fragile Pakistan-US relations. The working session on ‘Specifying elements essential to a redefinition of our co-operation with the US and NATO/ISAF’ was cochaired by new Pakistani Ambassador-designate to the US Sherry Rehman who made her formal debut in the Foreign Office team. By all accounts she made a valuable contribution and was appreciated by her new colleagues as “a team player” and a “consensus team leader” throughout the conference. While recalibrating relations with Washington was advocated by envoys, there was a consensus on the need to “de-escalate” tensions and “manage the presently troubled relationship” with the US. Avoidance of confrontation was essential. Diplomats and military officials, who attended the conference, were of the view that the ongoing engagement was needed to settle major disagreements over the Salala attack. But it was proposed that ground supply routes from Pakistan into Afghanistan for the US and
NATO/ISF should remain suspended until there is a formal apology from the US and its allied forces with a guarantee that there will be no such incidents in the future. It was proposed that sharing of actionable intelligence with security agencies and clearance from the government must be made essential preconditions for allowing drone attacks on Pakistani soil. Another general from the military top brass present at the conference noted that since 2009, Washington appeared to perceive Pakistan as a ‘soft state’ and the epicenter of real trouble. Consequently, the Americans have used the ‘carrot and stick approach’ with Pakistan. In this context, he pointed to a strong lobby in the US, headed by Obama’s advisor Bruce Riedal, a former CIA official, projecting Pakistan as the most dangerous country in the world. AFGHANISTAN: There was a detailed discussion on the endgame in Afghanistan and how things unfold in what many believe is the last phase in the Afghan conflict. Envoys recognised Afghanistan’s immense significance for Pakistan and importance of relations for both. It was emphasised that both countries have to work together not just for resolution of problems in
Afghanistan but overall peace in the region. It was noted that the need for Afghanistan to end the blame game ought to be emphasised. While some expressed concern of growing Indian presence in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq observed that Pakistan and Pakistanis remain important for Afghans. The Indian presence has to be viewed in that perspective. Afghanistan and American concerns regarding the haqqani Network were also discussed. The envoys were informed by a key security agency official that the Pakistan-based haqqani Group is non-militant as opposed to the militant groups based in Afghanistan. Against the backdrop of the last two years developments on Pakistan’s western border and clear indications of US military presence in Afghanistan well beyond 2014, the need to take specific steps to further secure the western borders was emphasised. It was also pointed out that in Afghanistan 300,000 to 400,000 security forces were being trained. That this becomes particularly important in view of a continued US presence in Afghanistan increased Indian presence and the raising of an Afghan national army with western and also perhaps Indian
support. INDIA: With India, all agreed that bilateral dialogue should continue and some participants proposed that the government should reconsider Musharraf’s fourpoint formula on Kashmir as an interim move towards the eventual resolution of this issue. It was noted that India’s position on issues such as Siachen and Sir Creek is not proving helpful. But it was stressed that bilateral dialogue should continue with a focus on resolving these issues. By all accounts on the policy decision-making front, the most significant outcome of the envoys conference was the unanimous support for the proposal that in the future all security-related bilateral and multilateral agreements would be cleared by parliament. It was also proposed that the agreements on NATO supplies and logistic support to the US should be re-negotiated. A host of recommendations were drawn up in these working sessions. The meeting of the eight-member drafting committee, which prepared the final recommendations, was headed by Ambassador-designate Sherry Rehman who also made a presentation on conclusions and recommendations in the concluding session chaired by the PM.
Generous 10year-old makes Pakistan proud
LAHore STAFF rePOrT
A 10-year-old girl on Saturday donated her pocketmoney to the earthquake victims in Turkey. Shanzah Shoaib, a student of grade IV presented Rs 9,000 for the Turkish earthquake victims to Punjab Governor Latif Khan Khosa and Turkish Ambassador Babur huzlan. The amount also included the money Shanzah had received as a gift on Eid and her birthday. On this occasion, Shanzah said that she had watched the miseries of the earthquake victims in Turkey and felt sad for her distressed brothers and sisters.
‘Zardari violated the constitution, get rid of him’ LAHore
Swati asks govt to resign as he joins pti g
Says he has proof of rs 10b corruption in Waseela-e-rozgar Programme of bISP ISLAMABAD STAFF rePOrT
Demanding resignation from the “corrupt government” on Saturday, Senator Azam Khan Swati formally joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf “to put the country out of the prevailing challenges and eliminate corruption”. Addressing a press conference along with PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Swati said the country could not move forward because of massive corrup-
tion. he said he had proof that corruption of Rs 10 billion had been carried in the Waseela-e-Rozgar Programme of the BISP, adding that he would go to the Supreme Court on the issue. “The hEC has no funds for its scholars but on the other hand, corruption is rampant in the country,” he said. Swati said he had joined the Imran-led “tsunami of revolution” to make the country corruption-free. Swati criticised the gov-
ernment for its policies, saying “a government which has Wajid Shamsul hassan and husain haqqani as its ambassadors and Salman Farooqi as an adviser, cannot steer the country out of the crises”. he said a sitting minister was in jail on corruption charges which, he added, was a slap on the face of the government. however, he lamented that he could not catch “the corrupt of the corrupt”, referring to the son of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. “I de-
mand the corrupt government resign,” he said. he said from 2000 onwards, he had been declaring his assets, and was a tax payer both in the US and Pakistan. To a question, PTI chief Imran Khan said he did not force anyone to join the PTI but they were endorsing his programme and joining his party. he welcomed Swati in the party ranks and vowed to put the country on the path of prosperity. To a question, he endorsed Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz President Nawaz Sharif’s move to knock the Supreme Court’s door on the memo issue.
STAFF rePOrT
A constitutional petition has been filed in the Lahore high Court (LhC) on Saturday, praying to restrain President Asif Ali Zardari from holding his office for allegedly violating the constitution and his oath. hafiz Muhammad Asim filed the petition through Azhar Siddique advocate, asking for the interpretation of Article 47 of the Constitution after a recent statement of the president wherein he had said that if the Article 47 was invoked, he would not accept the constitution. Petitioner termed the statement a violation of the constitution by the president, within the meaning of the Article 6 of the constitution.
Army, executive on same page: pM Continued fRoM page 1 Commenting on the government’s point of view on the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction in the memo case, Gilani said it was a legal matter, which had to be resolved by the court. “Look, the matter is in court and the court has to resolve it. We have our right to state that the court has no jurisdiction over it but this should not be taken as a conflict. Whatever decision the court takes, we will respect it,” he said. Asked whether his government would give extension to the ISI DG in wake of the recent happenings, Gilani said, “I will cross that bridge when I come to it”. General Pasha’s term is set to expire in a few months. The premier said the army had sent replies to the SC through the Defence Ministry, which was official route for sending such documents. “I think everything
should be routed through the proper channel. As the army and ISI are part of the government, its replies had to be sent through the Defence Ministry and this procedure was duly followed,” he added. Asked had the ISI DG sought his permission before meeting Arab leaders for allegedly seeking support for toppling the incumbent government, Gilani said, “Mansoor Ijaz is a liar.” The PM also brushed aside the impression of an executive-judiciary conflict. he said the apex court’s decision on memo would be implemented. Responding to another query, Gilani said the government would assist the parliamentary committee on national security and the commission formed by the apex court for the memo probe. “We are not running. We are also concerned about national security,” Gilani said.
Asked if the national security committee had tools to investigate into the memo issue, Gilani said the government would fully assist the committee on memo issue. “I have to give full assistance to the committee or the commission,” he said, adding that he had always been at the forefront on the issue of national security and defended the country’s institutions, including the army and ISI. “I am the government, I am responsible,” Gilani said, adding, “What do you want to take out from a piece of paper (memo)” Let the process complete ... the inquiry is underway,” Gilani said in response to a volley of questions. he said the army chief and ISI DG were working under the constitution and under his government’s ambit. The prime minister also asserted that all institutions should show unity to face challenges faced by the
country. he rejected the impression that former ambassador to US hussain haqqani had attended the parliamentary party meeting of the PPP on Friday. Criticising the media for blindly following the allegations levelled by Mansoor Ijaz, Gilani said he was not a Pakistani and rather was an anti-Pakistan individual. Gilani also hinted at taking the political leadership into confidence over proposals on the country’s foreign policy, saying, “Once the recommendations are finalised by the committee, I will seek support of political forces on the strategy to deal with the Afghanistan issue and relations with the US.” Apparently perturbed by the rising popularity of Imran Khan, Gilani tacitly criticised the PTI, calling it an “old wine in a new bottle”. “Those talking about bringing a change are old wine in new bottles. Oppor-
tunists are joining a new party. But let me tell you that in the next elections, no party would have absolute majority and the situation would remain the same as persists today. Those who are calling each other thieves would have to form coalition government after the next election with the same people they are calling thieves today. Such people should realise this fact,” the prime minister said. he said change would always be possible through a sustainable political process and continuity of elections. “No matter how massive a public meeting Imran Khan holds in Karachi, I challenge him that his party cannot win even a single provincial assembly seat from Karachi.” “These people, who I call ‘chair-takers’ cannot bring change overnight. Those joining a specific party today had also joined Musharraf. We resisted such
temptations and did not seek plea-bargains and rather fought against him. We are committed to an ideology. The PPP is a federal party and those joining the new party have almost been rejected by the masses,” he maintained. Asked whether he would seek resignations from the army chief, ISI DG and sack the chief justice per the wishes of his party’s MPs, Gilani said one could not gag the voice of any individual but decision-making was to be made by the leadership. he said his meeting with army chief had dispelled an impression that the army was against haqqani. Unlike Babar Awan, the prime minister showed respect towards the PML-N leadership, saying he had a few friends in the opposition and had conveyed his thoughts to the Sharifs. To a query on his recent meeting with US Ambassa-
dor Cameron Munter, Gilani said the ambassador had requested for a meeting and the foreign minister and foreign secretary had assisted him in the meeting. “During the meeting, Munter sought demands from Pakistan to revive bilateral ties with the US. I told him we also understand the significance of our partnership with the US. I told him that we wanted ties with the US on permanent basis as in the past 60 years, dictators took decisions without public support,” he said. Reiterating his party’s commitment to creating the Seraiki province, Gilani said the PPP gave recognition and rights to the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and smaller provinces and “we will also give recognition to Seraiki people from sitting assemblies before election. PPP is committed to the cause of Seraiki people,” he added.
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Please educate kids… it’s in the constitution Petition filed in SHC 06
I forgive altaf and Ebad: afaq ■ Haqiqi chief says he has to reorganise his party KaRaCHI: After his release from jail on Saturday, Mohajir Qaumi Movement-haqiqi chief Afaq Ahmed said he has forgiven Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf hussain, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan and all other rivals. “I will prefer to die than leave my country. I was given the option to exit the country in 2004, but I rejected the offer,” he told the media at his residence. Ahmed said he has to reorganise his party and protect the rights of the Urdu-speaking people.
■ Haqiqi chairman Afaq Ahmed released from jail after more than seven years behind bars kArACHI TArIQ HABIB/BAkHAT ALI
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FTER more than seven years behind bars, Mohajir Qaumi Movementhaqiqi Chairman Afaq Ahmed was finally released on Saturday. On Friday, the Sindh high Court (ShC) had ordered the government to immediately release the imprisoned political leader, declaring the order of his detention under a public order ordinance against the law. Ahmed had been granted bail in the last of the cases registered against him by the ShC. The MQM-haqiqi is a breakaway faction of the then Altaf hussain-led
Mohajir Qaumi Movement (now Muttahida Qaumi Movement). The haqiqi activists were still not sure about their leader’s release, but when the Sindh home Department issued a notification of releasing Ahmed on Saturday afternoon, a large number of activists arrived outside the Karachi central prison to greet their leader on his release. The Sindh home Department had issued the notification for Ahmed’s release at around 2 pm. After completing the necessary formalities for his release, Ahmed came out from the prison’s building under strict security, as the crowd shouted slogans. More than 200 security personnel in 22 police vans, six Rangers ve-
hicles and five private cars were reportedly part of the security convoy. Former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza had sent a bullet proof vehicle to carry the haqiqi chief safely to his intended destination. Once Ahmed boarded the black land cruiser, it was surrounded by the vehicles of security forces. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) East Zone Akram Naeem Abro headed the convoy accompanying Ahmed, as the entire district east police force was deployed for security, police said. According to the DIG jails, the MQM-h chairman’s security was handed over to Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) while the regional police would also provide him security.
The haqiqi chief first went to the Sherpao Colony in Landhi, where he offered prayers for his party’s slain activists buried at the Shuhada Qabirstan before going to his residence in Landhi No 6. Talking with Pakistan Today from Dubai, Mirza said that he had sent his own bullet proof Toyota Land Cruiser for Ahmed’s safety as his rivals want to kill him. “I have also provided him [Ahmed] with my own personal security guards.” Expressing his pleasure on the release of haqiqi chief, the former minister said that he was happy as the real leader of the Urdu-speaking community has been released after eight years. “Afaq will start his political activ-
saada gold medal, aithe rakh! ■ ‘deserving’ students of Ku’s bS programmes protest against administration for not awarding them gold medals ■ 1,875 students awarded bachelors, masters degrees at the 22nd convocation of state-run varsity■ kArACHI AAMIr MAJeeD
As the University of Karachi (KU) awarded its students with degrees at the annual convocation 2011 on Saturday, a group of students staged a demonstration against the KU administration for ‘not awarding gold medals to the deserving students of bachelor of studies (BS) programmes’. At the 22nd convocation of the public sector university, 1,875 students of different disciplines from both morning and evening programmes (2009 and 2010 batches) were awarded with Bachelors and Masters degrees. however, a group of KU students stood up against the varsity’s mismanagement, which was sorted out temporarily on the intervention of one of the KU provice chancellors and some senior teachers. The protesting students said they had enrolled for different four-year BS programmes at the university but the position holders were not awarded gold medals, unlike the top achievers of the other study programmes. Shouting slogans among other protesters against the Convocation Committee and the KU administration, Zainab, a Chemistry Department graduate, told Pakistan Today that around 400 students had enrolled in the BS Programme offered in different disciplines at the KU, and there were 58 students who got an overall first position at their respective departments and institutes.
“The [KU] administration had asked the students, who secured the first position, to convert their degrees into MSc to receive gold medals during the convocation,” Safia, another protester said. “But the deserving students could not make the required changes to their respective degrees due to the short notice and failed to collect the prestigious honour [of gold medal]” Economics and Finance Department’s top position holder Shazia Kazmi, said the KU administration had asked her to bring a sponsor, if she wants to receive a gold medal at the convocation. however, a Convocation Committee member told Pakistan Today that the KU does not give gold medals to the students itself and such awards are sponsored by individuals, industries and companies. “As it was the first graduate batch of the BS programme, no sponsorship was available for them, so these students could not get their gold medals that they do deserve,” he added. At a recent meeting at KU, it was decided that “Letter of Acknowledgement” would be offered to the BS students as they were eligible and equivalent to the position holders of other degree programmes. The chief guest at the convocation, Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul haq expressed disappointment over the protesting students’ conduct. “You can protest for your rights, but not an honour. It is an acknowledgment which is given to someone not taken forcefully,” he said. “You should have at least shown
some respect when the honorary degree was awarded to Dr Adeeb Rizvi,” said haq – the KU pro-chancellor. The BS students would meet the KU Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui on Monday (tomorrow) at 9:30am to resolve the issue. Meanwhile, 1,875 degrees were awarded to students from 58 departments at the KU in faculties of arts, science, Islamic studies, engineering, management and administrative sciences, medicine and pharmacy. Speaking on the occasion, the KU VC said the enrolment of both regular and private candidates is increasing and a sharp increase in number of PhD students has been witnessed. “In 2004, the varsity awarded 61 students with PhD degrees and in 2011, 238 candidates got PhD degrees,” he added.
ities very soon and I would stand with him on his each and every step, because we both want peace in Karachi,” Mirza said. According to sources, the outspoken former minister will return to Karachi very soon and will meet with Ahmed. Last week, the court had given three days to the authorities concerned to decide the fate of the haqiqi chief, who has been behind bars since April 3, 2004. The haqiqi chairman was arrested in 2004, when Muttahida Qaumi Movement became a part of the Pervez Musharraf-led government. The Sindh government had first detained the haqiqi chief under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) on September 28 and after a week, the court was informed that Ahmed was an absconder in a kidnapping case registered 10 years ago. The MPO was then withdrawn but on October 29, when the trial court granted him bail in the last case registered against Ahmed and ordered his release, the provincial government again detained him under MPO again; whereas, the Sindh advocate general on the same day had assured the high court that the haqiqi chairman would not be de-
Speaking about his time in jail, he claimed that he was tortured there. he praised home Minister Manzoor Wasan for the role he played for his [Ahmed’s] release. “Manzoor is my friend and what he did for me was brave. he also provided me with foolproof security,” he added. he said that he has forgiven the MQM chief, the Sindh governor and all other rivals for what they did to him. however, he said he still regrets that he was not allowed to participate in his father’s funeral prayer. StAff RepoRt
four Haqiqi workers arrested KaRaCHI: As the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (haqiqi) chief was released from jail after more than seven years, security forces swept through the Landhi area and arrested several suspects on Saturday. Rangers and police launched a joint operation in the Sherpao Colony, Landhi and arrested four haqiqi activists on claims of possessing weapons. “The arrested people are haqiqi workers and the operation was conducted at the behest of Muttahida Qaumi Movement”, said haqiqi spokesman Khalid Naqshbandi. StAff RepoRt tained again. The MQM-haqiqi has always claimed their leader remained behind bars due to the pressure exerted by their rival party and ally of PPP at federal and provincial level, the MQM.
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Please educate kids… it’s in the constitution ■ Petition filed in SHC seeks declaring it obligatory for provincial government to provide children with free and compulsory education kArACHI
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STAFF rePOrT
petition was filed in the Sindh high Court (ShC) on Saturday, on behalf of civil society organisations, seeking the enforcement of the fundamental right to compulsory education under Article 25-A of the constitution. The petition was filed by Advocate Faisal Siddiqi on behalf of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, the Aurat Publication and Information Service Foundation, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, the South Asia Partnership Pakistan, the Institute of Social Movements Pakistan, the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, the National Trade Union Federation and the Bright Educational Society. The petition cited the Sindh government as respondent, through the education secretary. Citing the constitution, the petitioners urged the ShC to declare that the respondent [the Sindh government] is under a constitutional obligation under the 18th Amendment, which ostensibly binds the state under Article 25A, ‘Right to Education’, for providing free and
compulsory education to all children from age five to 16. The petitioners - maintaining that under the 18th Amendment education have now become a right and no longer an arbitrary entitlement - appealed to the high court to direct the respondent to ensure the implementation of this constitutional guarantee as the Respondent has enacted no legislation and taken no executive action to implement the fundamental right constitutional obligation of Article 25-A, of the constitution. The petitioners also sought direction for the formation of a commission, comprising well-reputed members of the civil society and government officials, to monitor the implementation of the concerned constitutional obligation of the respondent; to publish a detailed programme of measures to be taken by them to implement the Article 25A and direct the respondent to check and monitor the charging of exorbitant fees by private schools from children in the province. Terming the failure of the government to provide free and compulsory education to all children as unconstitutional and a fundamental failure of the respondent, the petitioners declared that Article 25-a imposes a constitutional obligation
on the Respondent to take legislative, financial and administrative measures, to ensure no child remains denied of the this fundamental right to education. Quoting the UNESCO Institute of Statistics report in EdStats, 2011, the petition referred to the Pakistan Public Expenditure on education that is only 2.7 percent of the total gross domestic product and the total dropout rate of the primary education is at least 39.8 percent. According to the report, the number of out-of-school male children at the primary level in Pakistan is 3,108,413 while the number of female out-of-school children at the primary level is 4,191,384. The International Development Association established by the World Bank has observed, in relation to Sindh, that an estimated 11 million children, from ages five to 14, were still out of school in 2007. “Only 53 percent of individuals, ages 17 to 21, have completed secondary schooling. Assessment data shows that average learning levels in key subjects such as mathematics and language are significantly below official curriculum standards. These shortfalls are greater for girls, rural children, and, in particular, poor children,” it added. The petition also quoted the Pakistan
Living Standard Measurement Survey, 2007-2008, according to which the literacy rate among the children aged above 10 for Pakistan is 56 percent, 56 percent in Sindh and 44 percent in rural Sindh. According to the aforementioned survey, the primary enrolment in private school is 35 percent in Pakistan, while in Sindh it is 27 percent and in rural Sindh five percent. Linking the right to education with the right to life, “as the right to life includes a right to a decent education,” the petition also mentioned the Principles of policies for governance of Pakistan as enshrined under Article 37(b), of the Constitution, 1973, that outlines removing “illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education
Govt will let people die, but won’t give them MRi
within a minimum possible period”, as duties of the state. While pointing to the abysmal and continuing declining rate of literacy in the country, the petition called for immediate action by provincial government to ensure that no child is denied access to education.
SMIC principal to look after dCET as well kArACHI
kArACHI
STAFF rePOrT
QAzI ASIF
Sindh Madressatul Islam College (SMIC) Principal Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh was given the additional charge of the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) principal on Saturday. According to a notification issued by the Sindh government’s General Administration and Coordination Department, “Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh, principal (BS-20) Sindh Madressatul Islam College, Karachi, shall hold the charge of the post of principal, Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, in addition to his own duties, relieving Javed Mahar of the additional charge.” Dr Shaikh is an engineer and has been on the faculty of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro for several years. he has also served as a director in the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Karachi. he has also served administratively as director general of many departments in the provincial government, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Coastal Development Authority, the Ombudsman’s Secretariat and College Education. he has also authored many books on various subjects.
Due to the delay in the implementation of the ECNEC scheme of 2006, there are still no facilities of MRI and CT scanners at the four largest teaching hospitals of the province. These hospitals are: The Civil hospital Karachi, the Chandka Medical College hospital (CMCh) Larkana, the People’s Medical College hospital Nawabshah and the Liaquat University hospital hyderabad. According to CMCh sources, the scanners have been installed by the suppliers after completion of construction work, however, electricity fittings and power supply have still not been provided. The installation of a heavy duty diesel generator and the procurement of 400KVA pole mounted transformer is also been pending
for a year while the contractor seems to have disappeared from the scene. Apparently, the procurement of equipment was deliberately delayed by health Department officials for their nefarious motives and now the influential contractors are using dilly-delaying tactics for basic contract requirements and obligations. The ECNEC had ap-
proved a scheme, costing Rs 564 million, in its meeting held in 2006 and it was decided that the federal and provincial governments would share the cost on an equal basis. The poverty-stricken people are forced to have their MRI and CT scan tests carried out at private medical centres, which charge a heavy amount of money for them.
Last-minute campaigning is under way during the Karachi bar Association (KbA) elections on Saturday. According to unofficial results, Mehmoodul Hassan was elected as the KbA president, nasir Mehmood vice president, Khalid Mumtaz general secretary, Shazia Manzoor joint secretary, naeem Memon treasurer and Shazia Latif as librarian. online/StAff RepoRt
‘LG bill to be tabled in Sindh Assembly within a month’
SOYEM
KARACHI: The Sindh government will table the new local government bill in the provincial assembly within a month, provincial Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durani said on Saturday.Talking to the media at the inauguration ceremony of hawkesbay Scheme 42, he said the Pakistan People’s Party had asked all other political parties to submit their proposals on the local government system, but only the Muttahida Qaumi Movement submitted it so far. STAFF rePOrT
Two bodies found KARACHI: Police found two bodies in separate areas of the city on Saturday. The bullet-riddled body of a man, identified as Farooq, was found in the Ayub Goth area of Sohrab Goth. Another body was recovered from Lyari River. The deceased was tortured to death and his identity could not be ascertained till the time this report was filed. Separately, the police arrested a bandit in North Nazimabad after an encounter. A policeman suffered bullet injuries in the incident. STAFF rePOrT
Soyem of our father Irshad Syed will take place on Sunday 18th december 2011. Soyem between Zuhr and Asr, at his residence 59/2/1 Main Khayaban e Itthed ph.6. Mourners : benish and omair Khan (03444440385) danish and Arfa Syed (03333118410), Sarosh and Mrs. Anjum Irshad.
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karachi 07 ‘Don’t fall into the memo trap’ Sunday, 18 december, 2011
Sukkur, Mirpurkhas to get women police stations
■ Civil society representatives say scandal is a conspiracy against democracy kArACHI
T
kArACHI APP
Two new women police stations would be set up in the province, while the three already functioning would be upgraded, Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mushtaq Shah said on Saturday. he was presiding over a meeting at the Central Police Office. “New women police stations would be established in Sukkur and Mirpurkhas and the three functioning in Karachi would be upgraded,” he said. At the meeting, the Sindh IGP was briefed about the progress on the women police projects under the USfunded Women Assistance Programme. A statement issued by the police department stated that Shah reviewed the performance of women police stations in Karachi south, east and west zones and gave the necessary instructions for their improvement. “With better training and equipment, women police officials can be provided the opportunity to further enhance their performance,” he said. The Sindh IGP called for formulating a comprehensive training plan to enable the women police officers to enhance their capabilities regarding registration and investigation of cases. Additional IGP Karachi Akhtar Gorchani suggested that a shelter home should be established for the poor and abandoned women of the province.
PakistaN today
QAzI ASIF
hIRTY-FOUR representatives of the civil society including nongovernmental organisations, labour organisations, the academia, women’s rights bodies and the media have expressed concern over the so-called “Memogate”, which they consider as “a crisis being manufactured on frivolous grounds”. “This [crisis] has the potential of subverting the democraticallyelected parliament and the constitution,” they added. In a joint statement issued on Saturday, key civil society activists appealed to the people of Pakistan to stand united in support of democracy and resist all attempts aimed at its subversion. They said people have made many sacrifices for the cause of democracy and they should not let those with vested interests trample their right to have an elected representative system run the country. “We believe that any attack on the sovereignty of the people will be unjust. It will lead to conflict and must be resisted,” they said in the joint statement. They further said: “It is time to hold accountable all those conspiring against democracy and the sovereignty of the people. Sovereignty belongs to the people who have agreed to exercise it through their representatives in a federal, parliamentary and a democratic system. Any attempt at arbitrarily altering this arrangement is tantamount to an attack on the sovereignty of the people,” they added. They pointed out that various institutions of the state are supposed to function within their defined constitutional parameters and complement each other, but they seem to be work-
ing at cross-purposes. “We emphasise that the role of political parties and political leaders is to represent their constituents’ interests and arrive at negotiated agreements to differences in agreed political forums.” They said that the role of state’s security organisations is to serve the people through stipulated constitutional arrangements, under the command of the executive, and not to define what is or is not in the national interest. The role of the judiciary is to protect the rights of the citizens from arbitrary abuse of executive power, and not to itself become a source of arbitrary executive power. The role of the mass media is to help citizens hold powerful interests groups within and outside the state to promote their legitimate interests and hold violators of rights accountable and not to act as an unaccountable interest group. They said in their opinion, the
parliament is the appropriate forum to discuss and investigate this issue. The signatories of the statement were: Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research Executive Director Karamat Ali, Pakistan Peace Coalition Secretary BM Kutty, senior economist Dr Kaisar Bengali, Pakistan Mental health Association president Dr haroon Ahmed, independent economist haris Gazdar, senior development economist Dr Aly Ercelan, Saiban Chairman Tasneem Ahmed Siddiqui, architect and urban planner Arif hassan, former president of the Pakistan Medical Association Dr Badar Siddiqui, Sindh University Teachers Association President Prof Arfana Mallah, industrialist Nazim F haji, Dr Jaffar Ahmed of the Irtiqa Institute of Social Science, South Asia Partnership Pakistan Executive Director Mohammad Tahseen, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Chairperson Mohammad Ali Shah, Sustainable Development Policy Institute Executive Director Dr
Abid Qayoum Suleri, Strengthening Participatory Organisation Chief Executive Naseer Memon, Centre for Peace and Civil Society Executive Director Jami Chandio, Sungi Development Foundation Executive Director Samina Khan, Aurat Foundation Regional Director Mehnaz Rehman, Zulfiqar halepoto of the Sindh Democratic Forum, Awami Jamhoori Party President Abrar Qazi, Zulfiqar Shah of the Institute for Social Movements Pakistan, Jaffar Memon of the We Journalists, independent journalist Ishaq Mangrio, BLLF Executive Member Ghulam Fatima, Sindh hari Porhiat Council President Punhal Saryo, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child Executive Director Arshad Mehmood, Sahara Development Foundation Executive Director Qamar hayat, Sheema Kermani of the Tehreek-e-Niswa, Sheen Farukh of the Inter Press Communications, development consultant haris Khaliq and Labour Party Pakistan spokesperson Farooq Tariq.
3-day anti-polio drive from 19th
kArACHI APP
A three-day polio vaccination drive under the National Anti-Polio Campaign would commence from December 19. This was decided at a Sindh health Department meeting on Saturday, presided over by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Polio Eradication Begum Shahnaz Wazir. Sindh health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed and Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas also attended the meeting. Expressing concern over the rise in polio cases in Pakistan, the adviser stressed the need to take every possible step to make the anti-polio campaign a success. “The administration and Sindh health Department officials have to make coordinated efforts for resolving the problem and make the anti-polio drive a success,” she added. Emphasising on essential steps to be taken to help save children from polio, the provincial health minister said that during the campaign starting from December 19, around 6.5 million children in Sindh would be administered polio vaccine drops. Shedding light on the collaborative steps taken by federal and provincial governments, institutions and welfare organisations for the eradication of polio, the Sindh chief secretary said that all measures should be taken to make Sindh polio-free.
Civil society activists organised a candlelight vigil at the numaish Chowrangi on Saturday to honour the Pakistani soldiers killed in the nATo attack in Mohmand Agency. iMRAn Ali
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Sunday, 18 december, 2011
WEATHEr uPdATES
29°C High
Clear skies
16°C Low
22% Humidity
MondAy TuESdAy WEdnESdAy 29°C I 16°C
28°C I 18°C
27°C I 15°C
PrAyEr TIMInGS fajr 5:49
Sunrise 7:10
Zuhr 12:29
Asr 3:27
Maghrib 5:47
Isha 7:08
Starting time in Karachi
CITy dIrECTory EMErGEnCy HELP PoLICE 15 boMb dISPoSAL 15, 99212667 fIrE brIGAdE 16, 99215007, 99215008 EdHI 115, 32310066-2310077 KHIdMAT-E-KHALq foundATIon 36333811 rEd CrESCEnT 35833973 GovErnor’S HouSE 136 CHIEf MInISTEr’S HouSE 99202051 MoTorWAy PoLICE 130
HoSPITALS AbbASI SHAHEEd CIvIL JInnAH nICvd AGA KHAn TAbbA
99260400-09 99215749, 99215960 99201300-39 99201271-6 34930051 36811841-50
Chained children in Pakistan: Not an uncommon treatment ■ Chaining is not unheard of for drug or mental health treatment in the region Christian Science Monitor
P
Ben ArnOLDY
OLICE rescued dozens of students at an Islamic seminary in Karachi, saying that some of them were drug addicts kept in chains. While the case has gained global notoriety, this form of “rehabilitation” is not unheard of in the region. The Associated Press reported that parents of some 60 youths paid the seminary to “treat their children through a regime of Islamic instruction and worship, or simply to take them off their hands.” Chaining as a form of rehabilitation goes on in other religious institutions in the region, most notably
has a djinn inside, he will clean himself. And once he cleans himself, he will know Allah.” Mia Sahib claimed to have some success with this method, but he admitted he could do little for patients addicted to opium. At the time, he confining in chains a drug addict named Waseem from Pakistan. Waseem explained that a relative had tricked him into making the journey that resulted in his imprisonment. At the seminary in Karachi, men were not allowed to use the bathrooms at night. There were similar conditions at the shrine in Afghanistan. Each of the patients lived alone in a tiny cell with no door. Each had only a couple feet at most of slack in the chain that linked his ankle to the nearby
wall. Some would use uncollected trash in their sell to fling their own waste out the doorway. Afghanistan has made some strides in modernising its mental health system, including upgrades to psychiatric wards and the replacement of chains with medication. But mental health doctors still expressed frustration that people sometimes still preferred to send their relatives to shrines like the one outside Jalalabad. The mental health community in Afghanistan is hoping education campaigns will eventually put the shrines out of work. Meanwhile, the Karachi case is focusing renewed attention on madrassa reform, with critics arguing the seminaries need more oversight to prevent cases of physical and sexual abuse.
FAreeD AYAz/ABu MOHAMMAD
FuTure LG SYSTeM In SInDH
LeCtUre on DeCeMBer 18 At 04:00 PM VenUe: JMDC
MUSIC on DeCeMBer 18 At 08:30 PM VenUe: t2F 2.0
ForUM on DeCeMBer 20 At 05:00 PM VenUe: UrC
Defence analyst Dr Ayesha Siddiqa’s lecture on December 18 at the Jinnah Medical & Dental College. Call 03009276504 for more information.
An evening of qawwali featuring Fareed Ayaz and Abu Mohammad on December 18 at The Second Floor. Call 35389033 for more information.
‘Future Local Government System in Sindh: Issues and Options’ on December 20 at the Urban Resource Centre. Call 34559317 for more information.
shrines. At a shrine outside Jalalabad in Afghanistan, families would leave relatives who were mentally ill or addicted to drugs. A standard treatment at the shrine was to chain a patient for 40 days, either in a small cell or to a tree in the courtyard, and administer a strict diet of bread and black pepper. Mia Sahib, one of the shrinekeepers, explained that his patients are possessed by demons known as djinns. For some, he offers a taweez - a Quranic verse written on a slip of paper. Others require 40 days of confinement. “A mental patient doesn’t know himself,” said Mia Sahib. “In 40 days, he is going to know himself fast. he will know he has some djinn inside. Once he knows he
bLood bAnK HuSSAInI fATIMId PWA
32238405-8 32225284, 32258656 99215740, 32735214
CoMPLAInT KESC PTCL KWSb CdGK SuI GAS
118 1218 1339 134 1199, 99231603
rAILWAyS InquIry CITy STATIon CAnTT STATIon
117, 99213565-6 99213538 99201118
AIrPorT fLIGHT InquIry PIA rESErvATIon
114 111786786
CoLLEGES / unIvErSITIES KArACHI unIvErSITy nEd unIvErSITy fuuAST duHS SMIC fAST-nu SZAbIST IobM IbA IvS
99261300-06 99261261-8 99244141-9 99215754-7 99217501-3 111128128, 34100541-7 111922478 35090961-7 111422422 35861039-40
Dr AYeSHA SIDDIQA
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Ijaz differs with Jones’ affidavit on ‘memogate’ ISLAMABAD
News 09
Dr Nasim’s killing echoes in BA
nnI
KArACHI: A policeman locks up detained Indian fishermen at a police station on Saturday. Pakistan’s maritime security agency has arrested 12 Indian fishermen and seized two fishing boats on charges of poaching in Pakistan’s territorial waters. Afp
obama nominates nancy powell as next ambassador to india
wASHIngton GnI
Nancy J Powell, a career diplomat with wide experience in South Asia, has been named by US President Barack Obama as the next ambassador to India, the first woman to be nominated for the coveted post. Powell, 64, would replace Timothy J Roemer, who resigned from his post in April 2011 following a two-year stint as US envoy to India, after going through a confirmation process by the Senate. Peter Burleigh is currently serving as the Charge d’affaires of the US embassy in India.
Karak residents demand varsity’s establishment kArAk
Powell, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, earlier served as US ambassador to Pakistan and Nepal and also held various diplomatic posts in Kolkata, New Delhi, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Islamabad and Ottawa. “These fine public servants both bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles,” Obama said in a statement, announcing Powell’s appointment and that of Dick Berner, who has been named director, Office of Financial Research, Department of Treasury. “Our nation will be well-served by these individuals, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” he said. Currently serving as director general of the Foreign Service and director of human Resources at the Department of State, Powell was conferred the personal rank of career ambassador in January 2011. Prior to her current assignment, Powell served as ambassador to Nepal (2007-2009), ambassador to Pakistan (2002-2004), ambassador to Ghana (2001-2002), and ambassador to Uganda (1997-1999). her Washington assignments include: refugee assistance officer, principal deputy assistant secretary for African affairs, acting assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement activities, and the national intelligence officer for South Asia at the national intelligence council.
SC seeks Altaf’s affidavit on plea against Mirza ISLAMABAD
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The elders of District Karak on Saturday demanded of the provincial government to establish a complete university in the district and resolved to resist the proposal of a university campus with full strength. A delegation of Karak residents, belonging to all walks of life, led by social and political worker Waheed Ustad called on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prisons Minister Mian Nisar Gul at his residence and urged him to convey the sentiments of the people of Karak to the CM regarding Karak University. They informed the minister that the people of Karak would not let the provincial government to change the full-fledged university into only a campus and strongly criticised the provincial government for its “stepmother like attitude” with Karak.
The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Saturday directed Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf hussain to submit his affidavit in the court till December 21 on his application against former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza for leveling allegations against him. An application was filed by MQM chief through Farooq Sattar in the apex court, seeking orders against Mirza for ‘a conspiracy to pit the people of Karachi against each other.’ The application accused Mirza of leveling false allegations of attempting to dismember Pakistan against Altaf hussain. The court asked Sattar to submit Altaf hussain’s affidavit till Dec 21. Farooq Sattar told media that Altaf had sent the CJP a letter in October asking him to take suo motu action against the killing of Altaf’s brother and nephew in 1995.
Mansoor Ijaz has said James Jones is a friend but he differs with some of points in his affidavit. Ijaz in a statement on Saturday said he disagreed with Gen James Jones on a number of the points he raised in his affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court of Pakistan on December 12. Jones issued an affidavit to the Supreme Court in which he tried to recall the events of May 9, 10 and 11 of this year, “which are the dates on which Ambassador husain haqqani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, asked me to assist him in delivering a message that he dictated to me and whose content originated entirely from him to Admiral Mike Mullen, then chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen Jones was the individual who I asked to deliver haqqani s message to the admiral”.
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hE targeted killing of Gwadar district headquarters hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nasim Baloch echoed in the Balochistan Assembly on Saturday. The assembly session started one hour late with Speaker Muhammad Aslam Bhootani. Speaking on point of order, Minister for Agriculture and Balochistan National Party-Awami leader Mir Asad Baloch said armed men barged into the clinic of Dr Nasim in coastal town of Pasni, opened fire and killed him on the spot. he lamented that doctors, engineers and professors were being killed in incidents of target killing in Balochistan. he staged walkout from the house in protest against the negligence of police. Minister for Fisheries Mir hamal Kalamati said that the killing of doc-
tors was very serious concern. he called for an inquiry to be conducted into the incident besides bringing the killers to justice without delay. Speaker Bhootani ruled that the matter should be taken up with the Chief Minister and investigation into the incident should be conducted. Minister without portfolio Nasreen Khaitran said deputy commissioners and district police officers avoid paying attention to improve law and order situation in their respective areas. Minister for Gwadar Development Authority Zahoor Ahmed Buledi while condemning targeted killing of Dr Nasim said that unfortunately, teachers and doctors were being murdered in Balochistan while no single arrest could be made in this regard. The question hour was deferred as the mover was not present in the house. The assembly proceedings remained for 22 minutes. Later, the chair adjourned the session till 20th December 11am.
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10 News
Sunday, 18 december, 2011
TEXT OF REPLIES SUBMITTED IN SC IN MEMO CASE
Reply of Army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani time was of essence and that earlier we knew the truth, the better it would’ .be to address the negative fallout for the Country.
SUPREME CoURT oF PAKISTAN (oRIGINAL JURISDICTIoN) In CP 78/2011 Muhammad Tariq Asad, Advocate Supreme Court Versus Federation Pakistan etc Reply on behalf of Respondent (General Ashfaq Parvez Kayai, COAS) in Compliance with Orders dated 1/12/2011 passed by the honorable Court
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Respectfully submitted;
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In view of the reasons stated in the order dated 1.12.2011 and in compliance with the said orders passed by this honorable Court, the statement is being submitted herein;
2
A story written by Mr Mansoor Ejaz was carried by the Financial Times on 10th October 2011, alleging that a Memo had been sent to the authorities in the US Government by a Pakistani official. This story was picked up by our local media involving lot of speculative reporting. With the passage of time, more details surfaced.
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Foreign Office Spokesperson and the Spokesperson of the Presidency formally denied the story on 28 October and 29 October respectively.
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On 24th October Director General Inter Services Intelligence (DG ISI) briefed me on the issue and his meeting with Mr Mansoor Ejaz in London. In his opinion, there was sufficient material available on the existence of the Memo and that it had been passed to Admiral Mike Mullen (ex US CJSC). he also opined that the evidence shown to him by Mr Mansoor Ejaz was enough to establish that Mr Mansoor Ejaz remained in touch with Mr hussain haqqani from 9 May 11 onwards and exchanged numerous text messages and telephone calls. As per DGISI’s assessment, the sequence and contents of text messages and telephone calls created a reasonable doubt regarding Mr hussain haqqani’s association with the Memo.
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On 8th November 11, Admiral Mike Mullen made it known through his Spokesperson that he did not remember having received such a Memo. however within few days he acknowledged having received it. On 21st November 11, ex National Security Advisor (NSA) of United States, General James Jones, also confirmed having passed the Memo to Admiral Mike Mullen that he had received from Mr Mansoor Ejaz.
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The Memo issue created lot of speculation and doubts in Pakistan. Therefore, on 13 November 11, I advised the Prime Minister that details of the Memo issue were gradually coming to light and that contents of the Memo so far leaked were highly sensitive in nature, I advised the Prime Minister that a position will have to be taken, on the veracity, or otherwise of this issue, it was, therefore, important that complete details be established as early as possible. I strongly recommended to the Prime Minister that our Ambassador in the United States, who was best suited and informed on the matter, be called to brief the Country’s leadership. I also recommended to the Prime Minister that
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On 15 November 11, the President asked the Respondent for a meeting, I met him at the Presidency at 1400 hours. The Prime Minister had already informed the President of my recommendations. The President told me that it had already been decided to call Mr hussain haqqani for a briefing. On 16 November 11, another meeting was held between the Respondent, the President and the Prime Minister. Therein, it was decided that Mr hussain haqqani should come to Islamabad as early as possible. On 22nd November 11 at 1500hrs, a meeting was held in the Prime Minister house. It was attended by the President, Prime Minister, DG ISI and the Respondent. Mr hussain haqqani was called in to brief. Thereafter, the Prime Minister took the decision to ask for Mr hussain haqqani’s resignation and also ordered an investigation. As stated in Paragraph 5 above, there is nothing denying the fact that tile Memo exists and it is also admitted to have been delivered and received by (the US authorities. Therefore, there may be a need to fully examine the facts and circumstances leading to tile conception and issuance of tile Memo.
Replies of foreign and interior Ministries IN THE SUPREME CoURT oFPAKISTAN (oRIGINAL JURISDICTIoN) CM no———- 2011 Constitution petition no 77/2011 Watan party petitioner Federation of Pakistan VS respondents. REPLY ON BEhALF OF RESPONDENTS NO 1 &2
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Respectfully Sheweth; That tile petition primarily refers to events published/reported in the different sections of Media starting from the publication of an article written by Mr. Mansoor ljaz respondent on 10.10.2011 in the Financial Times, copy whereof has been appended with all the petitions and then followed by publications of various statements made by the said respondent and documents released by him as also the varying statements attributed to former CJSC USA. The petition also contains the expression of individual apprehensions of the petitioners.
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That, said matters prime facie are not a proper subject matter of proceedings within the meaning and scope of Article 184 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
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That the Memo episode has an impact on national security interalia unsuccessfully attempts to lower the morale of Pakistan Army whose young officers and soldiers are laying down their lives for the security and defence of territorial integrity and political independence and sovereignty of Pakistan. Nonetheless, Pakistan Army is in high spirits and fully’ determined to defend its homeland, against all challenges.
It may be mentioned here that with reference to the same source (Mansoor Ijaz Respondent) The Daily Independent, UK dated 13th December, 2011 has carried a story titled, “Pakistan’s “Memo gate”: Was there ever going to be a coup?” An internet downloaded copy of the same is annexed-A. That the Federal Government as well as the Presidency has already issued denial of the contents of the said article published on 10.10.2011. It is the stance of the Federation that the Federal Government (including the Constitutional head of the State, the Constitutional Chief Executive of the country or any other component of the Federal Government) has neither conceptualized nor initiated or in any manner, has anything to do with the alleged memo or the allegations or views expressed therein.
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The without prejudice to the foregoing submission, it is submitted that appropriate steps had already been taken competent authorities both on the Executive side as well Parliamentary forum. That it is a matter of record that the former ambassador of Pakistan to USA has put in resignation on file call of the Chief Executive and its acceptance has been notified. The Parliamentary Committee on National Security, has taken cognizance and is seized of the matter. That needless to state that the said Committee is fully empowered to not only probe into the matter, record evidence but also to ensure production of such evidence as it deems necessary and for this purpose all the Powers of a Civil Court are available to the Committee. That it may be added that all the Committee of the parliament are creation of Rules framed under the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1973. The Federal Government had already given directions to all concerned to assist the said Committee in any manner it deems fit and proper. All democratically elected political parties are represented in the said Committee. It is therefore; essential that the said Committee should proceed, with the probe to determine the issue and give its recommendations so that the parliament which has supremacy under the Constitution as a representative body of the people of Pakistan may consider and take appropriate actions and steps, if need be. That it is the firm belief and resolve of the present democratic Government to safeguard, defend and protect the national integrity sovereignty on all fronts and this resolve is manifested through the sacrifices made by the coalition partners in ‘the’ government including the ultimate sacrifice of Shaheed Mohtarma Banzir Bhutto.
It is, therefore, prayed that the petition be dismissed.
Reply of iSi DG Gen Ahmed Shuja pasha (oRIGNAL JURISDRICTIoN) In CPs NO 77 TO 85 OF 2011 Statement on behalf of respondent no 7 in compliance with orders dated 1.12.2001 passed by the honorable court. Respectfully submitted;
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Respondent no 7 has not received any petition till now. however, in compliance with the orders of the honorable Court dated 1.12.2011 reply is submitted herein; Media Wing of the ISI brought to my notice the piece published in the Financial Times on the 10th of October 2011. It was written by one Mr Mansoor Ejaz. The writer had, in this article, criticized the ISl’s role and suggested some actions against the Organization. This was usual anti ISI rhetoric. But I did find the opening paragraph of this piece to be quite unusual -and damaging, it mentioned that a senior Pakistani official had
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It was confirmed to me by my sources that Mr Mansoor ljaz was ready to share the Information but only with the Director General and also not in US or Pakistan. he insisted that the meeting shall be without any aides on both sides. Accordingly, a meeting was thus planned and took place in London on 22nd of October 2011. Mr Mansoor Ijaz briefed me that our Ambassador in Washington had gotten in touch with him and remained in communication about the contents and delivery of Memo to the relevant US Authorities. he also showed me the proof of a large number of messages sent through Black
respect of its people. Men and women under command of the Respondent continue to risk their lives and those of their children to positively contribute to the overall security calculus of the Country. All our efforts are geared towards that end.
tion used I was satisfied that he had enough corroborative material to prove his version of the incident. he insisted that he will present the details of the evidence himself before a commission or a court of law, if asked to do so.
been attempting to pass on a message to senior US leaders indicating imminence of a military takeover in Pakistan. The whole thing looked Intriguing. I concluded that no one could write such a piece so blatantly unless he had some evidence to support his assertions. I, therefore, asked my sources to know about Mr Mansoor Ijaz and find out if he would agree to share the Information about the purported Memorandum.
IN THE SUPREME CoURT oF PAKISTAN
6 7 Berry which had been exchanged between our Ambassador in Washington and him regarding the document, which later came to be known as the Memorandum. he explained to me in fair amount of details about the circumstances leading to the drafting of Memo and why it was delivered through him. I told him, that I could not believe him unless I saw his Black Berry and Computer myself to form an opinion that the messages were really exchanged between the two individuals. having seen these means of communica-
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I left London the next evening and reported my findings verbally to the Chief of Army Staff on 24th October 2011. I met the honorable President of Pakistan on 18”‘ of November 2011 when this matter also came under discussion and I briefed him on what, according to my assessment, the facts wore. I also suggested to him that the issue pertained to National Security and should not be taken lightly. I suggested to the President that it will be in the fitness of things to ask our Ambassador in Washington to verify or contradict the matter. The Respondent has the honor to lead ISI, an organization that stands in the forefront, particularly during the peace time, to safeguard the security of the Country as well as the honor and
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The Respondent, in his humble personal capacity, maintains that access to unadulterated truth and justice is a right of the people of Pakistan, the real sovereign masters of this Country. To this end, honorable’ Court may if deemed appropriate, graciously consider the following. May kindly summon Mr Mansoor ljaz to appear before the honorable Court as he alone holds the real evidence, as claimed by him. he has already, at a number of occasions, indicated his willingness to de so, through the print and electronic media. May kindly demand forensic examination of the computers and all the cell phones and Black Berry Telephones used since May 2011 till date by tire both, Mr Mansoor ljaz and our Ex Ambassador to the US.
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Sunday, 18 december, 2011
Editor’s mail 11
on reko diq It is said that investors are like migratory birds and wherever they find the best environment, they fly away. There is no denial of the fact that FDIs play a vital role in boosting an economy. Any country that want to prosper and be economically stable, should pave the way to attract foreign investors in their country by pursuing open economic policies. But in the case of Reko Diq Mining Project, the phenomenon is quite different. This is a US$ 3.3 billion investment project that promises to build and operate a world class copper-gold open-pit mine in the northwest area of Balochistan. The project has an estimated minelife of 56 years along with immense opportunities of employment and business. This project has the potential to kick-start the mining sector in the province.
Putting Pr back on track It is sad to note that the government of Balochistan, with its shortsightedness, has rejected the mining license application of TCC that has invested so much time, money and resources to bring Reko Diq on the map of the global copper mining industry. According to media reports, the provincial government did not even bothered to negotiate with TCC on their feasibility report and backtracked on the Chagai hills Exploration Joint Venture Agreement (ChEJVA) that was signed 17 years ago and was even endorsed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in its hearing of the case this year. ChEJVA offered 25 percent equity share to the Balochistan government without any financial responsibility in the risk investment of the exploration. The Balochistan Mineral Rules 2002 only
require mining companies to pay royalties and taxes to the government with no obligation of equity sharing. hence, the ChEJVA deal seems to be more beneficial for the government and people of Balochistan and I think it should have been treated as a model for other investors. I fail to understand why, and on whose behest, the chief minister of Balochistan and the nuclear scientist Dr. Samar Mubarakmand are bent upon tarnishing the reputation of Pakistan in front of foreign investors by sabotaging a seventeen year old joint venture agreement by creating false propaganda against the investor and creating legal and quasi-legal hurdles in its way to mine copper and gold in the area which was allotted to it seventeen years ago and where it has invested more than $220mn
on exploration in partnership with the provincial government of 25 percent equity which has not invested a single penny in it so far. Now the company has gone for international arbitration to safeguard its legal rights which are in line with ChEJVA Agreement and Balochistan Mineral Rules 2002. The need of the hour is that the government should take some serious and immediate steps to resolve this matter impartially. This is a great opportunity for the government to set an example and ensure its credibility by promoting investor-friendly economic policies which will energise our economy and have a positive impact on socio-economic development of the country. SHAHZAD ALI GILL Rahimyar Khan
After the deluge Twenty-one upper and lower Sindh districts are still reeling from the ravages of rainfall and floods. The water has not been drained out from these areas. As a result, the ill-fated victims are living in, on and with the rainwater of last year’s ‘super flood’ and this year’s rainfall. This stagnating water has created the worst health and hygiene problems. It has given rise to an epidemic in different districts. One can witness the victims draining out the rainwater on their own in various areas. But the water is in an enormous volume and cannot be drained by these people on their own. It needs to be drained out by using proper machinery and through a coordinated and concerted effort. A faulty drainage system which causes severe water logging has also aggravated the situation in many districts. Now the chilly winter has set in and it is giving a hard time to the victims. The victims neither have proper winter clothes nor proper tents to save them from the very cold southerly winds. Many people have reported to have died due to the onset of winter and a lack of fulfilment of their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. With the exception of a few, more or less all the international and national relief organisations are wasting their resources over non-productive activities such as seminar and workshops in splendid hotels and they are doing nothing practical to alleviate the miseries of the victims. Let’s not leave these victims in a lurch and do something practical. Our rulers must do something to drain out the rain and flood water from the said areas and save the people and fertile soil of Sindh. HASHIM ABRO Islamabad
Change for better Pakistan Pakistan faces biggest threat from within by those forces who insist on maintaining status quo on the much distorted pretext of state security and rhetoric to save a system, which has only damaged this country economically and socially. The elite of this country must accept that whatever they are, inclusive of their assets, are because of opportunities provided them by Pakistan. It is time they do something for this country by bringing back their assets instead of mere lip service. Much hope is being pinned on Imran Khan, given benefit of doubt, especially in view of his projects like a cancer hospital and a university located in Mianwali. however, for over 50 years, Pakistan’s resources have been depleted by an executive and an establishment dominated by mediocrity. Either it is the cronies of a military dictator or of our ruling political elite that have systematically destroyed and pilfered every state corporation and institution. Instead of rule of law, the country has been enslaved to the whims of individuals such as Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-haq, Musharraf, Benazir and Nawaz Sharif. Change can only come about if this country is not considered as a fiefdom, whose institutions and assets could be exploited by cronies and turncoats. MIR TASSADAQ Lahore
As reported in the press, the NA committee has warned that Pakistan Railways (PR) is likely to end its operations and become a chapter of history if the government fails to curtail its current high losses of Rs 45 billion. PR could be put back on track by immediately starting fast container trains on the main lines, instead of fast passenger trains, limiting such passenger trains to a minimum in whatever locomotives are available. This is done all over the world as the main source of revenue for railways is freight trains, while passenger trains have to be subsidised. Instead of following this basic principle in Pakistan, passenger trains get priority over freight trains, causing losses to the Railways, besides other losses to the state for higher diesel imports (as road trucks consume almost ten times more fuel per ton/km as compared to rail), higher expenses on highways, greater number of road accidents, higher carbon/greenhouse gas emissions etc. PR has suffered decades of sheer neglect, during which the locomotives, rolling stock and infrastructure have suffered unprecedented damage. Since state funds are difficult to find, there is a way to overcome this by invoking the “UN Carbon Credit Fund” of millions of dollars to rehabilitate the Railways, as there will be a huge reduction in carbon emissions if cargo is transferred from roads to rails. The NA Committee should look seriously into this proposition. S M H RIZVI Karachi
discrimination
Chained to terrorism Fighting off terrorism is not possible without some serious steps being taken by the government. One of the root causes that have plagued the country with terrorism is a lack of reforms in madrassah education system. Over the years, a neglect, bordering to criminal in nature, has rendered these last refuges for the downtrodden majority of the country more of places for breeding hatred, fanaticism, fundamentalism and terrorism. Lacking an exposure to the real world, students in these madrassahs are brainwashed to distorted and totally con-
Twists and turns The memo scandal in Pakistan is taking a new turn every other day, perhaps at the behest of some powerful groups who don’t want a civilian setup to continue and assert its powers as granted by the constitution. If we keep head hunting aside, there are so many open questions with no obvious answers. Why did the Supreme Court issue notices to army chief and DG ISI to submit replies in the memo scandal as they were not under the executive authority but an entity itself? In view of a national security parliamentary committee already reviewing the case, it should have not been the purview of the judiciary to intervene in the legislative authority. If such an action was so essential, then the federal government should have been asked to get replies from the army chief and DG ISI as theoretically speaking these gentlemen report to the federal government. But you know might is perhaps always right. Also, how come the replies from Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman of Pakistani origin, and the army and ISI chiefs, which should have been confidential documents pertaining to references to some alleged interaction with foreign countries, were bluntly leaked to the media. Electronic media has been using excerpts from the replies of its liking and per editorial policy to feed their ‘Breaking News’ sessions. Someone must be minting a lot in this whole game. One shall also question the statements by the army and ISI chiefs that are authenticating the memo in the media even before the trial begins in the SC.
torted teachings of Islam. What happened in Karachi the other day in a madrassah where security forces retrieved to safety scores of students who were chained on the orders of the madrassah administration, speaks volumes about our government’s lack of will to tackle the issue of terrorism at grass root level. Unless we do so, dreams of a peaceful Pakistan will never translate into reality. SHAUKAT ALI Lahore
Obviously, it’s an attempt to influence the court proceedings and its final judgment. Per media reports, DG ISI is of the view that Mansoor Ijaz can’t write an article in The Financial Times without some convincing evidence. Agreed, but what about his dozens of other articles wherein he has always tried to malign Pak armed forces for playing a double game. Should we assume his evidence is always convincing or should we be selective according to our own liking? What about Mansoor’s allegation that the DG ISI consulted several countries to get their consent to oust the present government? Let’s ignore this very serious charge as it is Mansoor’s habit to accuse the Pak army every other day, let’s move on to target some civilian faces. MASOOD KHAN Jubail, Saudi Arabia
Arms for self-defence The security situation in the country, especially in Karachi, has spiralled out of control of the police, Rangers and the government. Crime is at its peak and criminals now rule the roost. At present, people are faced with the very difficult problem of defending themselves. Even if they have licensed arms, they can only keep these in their houses and cannot carry these with them for their self-defence. This is because the government has banned, by imposing section 144, the carrying of licensed arms, even if these are concealed outside their houses in public places, on roads and in bazaars, knowing well that these are the places where people become vulnerable to
criminals. The other possible remedial measures to deter criminals are the use of non-lethal defensive weapons by citizens for their self-defence against criminals. For example: Stun guns, dart guns, and mace. These non-lethal defensive weapons do not fall in the category of firearms and also do not require a licence to possess. These weapons can knock out an attacker of any size overriding the nervous system and removing voluntary muscle control quickly grounding the attacker for up to 15 or so minutes and there is no permanent damage or danger of death if used properly. This gives enough time to the user to escape or call the police. These weapons can be purchased at a reasonable price from the firms dealing in security products. But whether a person carries a firearm or a non-lethal weapon, it must always be borne in mind that he or she is fully trained to handle the weapon and aware of safety precautions to be taken while using against the assailant so that the life of the other person is not endangered. I therefore, suggest that while it is becoming difficult for the police and other law-enforcement agencies to control crimes and save lives and property of citizens, the government should allow citizens to carry their licensed arms for their self-protection in a concealed manner. This will deter criminals and they will think twice before pouncing on their target. On the other hand, citizens will feel safe and crime will also be reduced. MAIRA SHAKOOR Karachi
Pakistan is a signatory to several international protocols and obligations which support people’s access to their fundamental human needs without any discrimination. Regarding the devastating monsoon rains in Sindh, the spirit of all principles of the international charter and of our own constitution has been severely violated. Aid distribution, rescue and relief services of the government were discriminative. Many people have died due to the ravages of monsoon rains and breaches in the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) in the districts of Benazirabad, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Badin. Besides, it has resulted in the destruction of the means of livelihood for millions of people with the death of cattle and poultry and the inundation of crops. Minority communities were the most badly hit. They have no alternative but to live under the open sky, facing the vagaries of weather. They were denied accommodation in relief camps where only Muslims were living. however, the role of our print, electronic and social media is praiseworthy. On the eve of the International human Rights Day, UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon praised the role of the social media in highlighting the importance of human rights and its role in sensitising and mobilising people to demand their rights including justice, dignity, equality and participation. MUHAMMAD MUSSAB AQEEL Karachi
Advice for the president President Zardari has proved that he is very shrewd politicians; he has survived four years by keeping his coalition partners happy and meeting their demands. Those who know President Zardari say that he is very strong-nerved person, is not afraid of any eventuality and that he will never resign. I suggest to the president that he should resign on health grounds to leave the presidency with dignity and let one of his trusted party members become president for the next one year and he should concentrate (like Sonia Ghandi) in managing his party which is in disarray due to many workers not being happy with the party’s performance during the last four years as it has failed to implement its election manifesto and solve the problems faced by the people. Mr Zardari has achieved his ambition after becoming the president of the country. he should now participate in party affairs and train his son Bilawal Bhutto who will be managing the largest political party in the country soon. S T HUSSAIN Lahore
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.
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12 comment Enough of standoffs Time to back down
W
hile the common man in Pakistan is harassed by ever increasing economic woes, lawlessness and uncertainty about the country’s security after the Abbottabad disgrace, major institutions of the state are involved in a standoff that threatens to bring down the system. If the situation is not brought under control, none of those involved would emerge with unsoiled reputation. What Gilani and Kayani did on Friday was no more than papering over the cracks. The stand taken by the COAS and DG ISI in their statements presented to Supreme Court was clear and unambiguous. They had insisted that the infamous memo is a reality and has to be investigated as opposed to the prime minister’s stand that it was a conspiracy against the government. The position that the statements by the army and ISI were conveyed in response to the court’s demand and should not therefore be misconstrued as a standoff between the army and the government would under the circumstances convince few. A little before Gilani held talks with Kayani, PPP leaders in a high level party meeting asserted that they would not surrender to what they consider an ongoing conspiracy. A demand was made to call for the resignation of DG ISI who has been active in collecting the material for the memo scandal. A defiant Zardari claimed in Dubai that he was healthy and any resort to Article 47 would be unjust and resisted, among other things, by a demand for a new basic law irrespective of its implications. Meanwhile, former US National Security Adviser Gen (retd) James Jones who delivered Ijaz’s document to Admiral Mullen has sent an affidavit that undermines the narrative constructed around the memo. he has said Ijaz never uttered haqqani’s name while talking to him about the memo and that the memo in fact bore the marks of Ijaz’s own peculiar style. The SC needs to consider if the enquiry that has been ordered is really called for. What is required is for the government to focus all its attention on relieving the miseries of the common man, for the army to ensure that there is no repeat of the Abbottabad incident and for the courts to improve the judicial system besides efficiently pursuing the backlog of the cases gathering dust.
Spiralling downwards Pak-uS relations in need of guidance
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akistan’s relation with the US, beset with allegations of duplicity and blackmailing on both sides, has never been a smooth one. Strangely, neither side has done much to improve relations. The Salala checkpost incident has sent relations into a downward spiral, with no apparent arrest in its slide. The Pakistani public feels incensed, putting the government on a solid pedestal to raise it voice for a re-evaluation of how the US treats and deals with its non-Nato ally. As PM Yousaf Raza Gilani stressed the need for the US, in a meeting with the US ambassador Cameron Munter, to provide some assurance regarding any crossborder unilateral action, such as the one on 26 November, the US Senate passed a bill to withhold almost $700m in aid to Pakistan. Instead of placating an ally that feels worse than a betrayed lover and has lost thousands in lives and billions in economy, the US seems all set to use its carrots-and-stick tactic again, with the carrot part being that the US president has to certify that Pakistan is taking steps to control the raw material that is being used in the IEDs against the US and Nato troops in Afghanistan. But an important variable has been left out of the equation – the US Congress has withheld the very aid without which Pakistani military finds itself impossible to operate. The menace of terrorism is a common enemy. No one country can defeat it alone. Cooperation between the US and Pakistan is pretty much the only basis on which this war can be won. With America leaving this part of the world in 2014, it is Pakistan that will be facing the aftermath of this long-drawn out war. Wary of the fact that what has happened once before might happen again, Pakistan’s attempts at wringing out as much as it can in its favour are only logical. With public ire at an all time high against this unpopular war, the governments of Pakistan and US should focus on how they can quell this rising tide, instead of bickering over who gets who to do whose bidding. Such steps as the one taken by the US Congress will only exacerbate the situation this tumultuous relation is in.
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
Sunday, 18 december, 2011
the silent coup Hushed and unrushed
By Humayun gauhar
Y
ou know what? The monkey returned. You remember the beautiful monkey I talked about last week and suggested that he should be invited to head our next caretaker government? Well, he came back and pretty miffed he was. I was still surfacing early last Sunday when I heard a chattering coming from my bedroom window. “Mean fellow,” the chatterer was saying in umbrage. “he throws the lives of others into a tailspin and then goes to sleep. Who does he think he is, the fat slob?” Though I had heard that last barb before, I was so intrigued that I opened my eyes to behold the same monkey sitting regally on my windowsill. he was positively shirty. “What have you against me?” he demanded. “You have made my life miserable with your article today. All sorts of human sycophants, job seekers and wannabes have inundated my jungle bearing useless gifts. Your priorities are all wonky. I’ll tell you what? Get a parrot instead to become your prime minister – that would be great.” he was in high dudgeon. “Our politics are full of parrots,” I said weakly. “All they do is talk, talk, talk.” “Squawk, actually,” said Maverick. “I take great offence at your calling human parrots ‘The Chattering Class’. ‘Squawking Class’, more like. We are not nuts like you. You make bombs to save you and you end up saving the bombs. Save you against whom, pray? Other humans? Oh you stupid naked apes. You discover nuclear fusion and instead of using it for good you use it for bad. Now if you do discover the higgs Boson ‘God Particle’ I can bet you will start making black holes that will eat up the world. You are baldies and try and hide it with wigs and hair transplants. Comical creatures. ‘Never trust a man in a wig or a hair transplant,’ my old Pappy used to say. his name was ‘Wise One’. Mine is Maverick.”
Maverick wouldn’t stop. he had to get it off his chest. All thoughts of making a fortune here with a talking monkey evaporated. “One human tried to climb my tree bearing a cake and fell halfway. We had to save the idiot from wild boars. No wonder you are in such a mess. No wonder the whole world is in such a mess. It is you who are at the point of extinction with your amazing stupidity, not my kind. You make great discoveries but use them for making killing machines. Your best brains go into making killing machines. Stupid.” he had a point there. “We have been here much longer than you humans and we will be here much longer than you,” he said optimistically. “Another insult is your claim to have descended from us. Stupid Darwin. You are mutants, an experiment gone wrong, just like in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. Arthur C Clarke had it right. Great movie. Watch it. You are all destructive and in trying to destroy others you actually end up destroying yourselves. America is a case in point. I’ve had it with your kind. Sort out your own problems. You made them.” he made to leave. “No, wait,” I said, jumping out of bed. “Listen, Maverick. It will only be for a short while – three months.” “Knowing your Supreme Court it will be more like three years. No, Sir, it’s your problem. I was not made to lead man. I was made to save my kind from mankind.” “Look,” I said. “If a collection of owls can be called ‘parliament’ and a collection of baboons ‘senate’, why not a ‘government of monkeys?” I saw him smile for the first time. “The other day your prime minister gave the impression in a speech that the wolf is at the door. The wolf has ruled you many times. he will rule you again. You are a yoyo between wolves and parrots. It’s the wolves’ turn now. Forget me. I’m not mad. You will hail me as prime minister one day and start spanking me the next. You guys are crazy. Go see a shrink. Or should I send you mine? “Your world is about to collapse and you go ape, if I might use the expression, over a naked girl on a magazine cover? Why, if one of our girls shaved her body and started prancing around, we would die laughing.” Maverick broke into laughter. “The chances of your pet master America starting a war against you and Iran are growing by the day. I don’t know if it will, I don’t know which will come first. They are preparing while you are caught up in a reverie of irrelevance. how can you be sure they didn’t send their silly drone into Iran in the first
place and let them take it down so as to create the justification for an attack? The question that is begging to be asked is never asked: what was a US drone doing in Iranian airspace in the first place? have you forgotten Iraq and how they fabricated evidence against it? They fear not a nuclear but a cyber attack from Iran, which could drive America back into the Stone Age – something they threatened you with. “Do you know that last Thursday America’s Senate passed a bill that formally puts the Pentagon in pre-eminence. It is a constitutional coup. The bill, S 1867, is the ‘National Defense Authorization Act’ (NDAA). It passed by 93 votes in favour and only seven against, so it has near-total bipartisan support. This should tell you something about these people and what you have been in bed with virtually since your birth. The bill gives them the power to detain any American citizen to indefinite military detention without charge or trial. What else is a coup? You should learn about these coups: best way to keep your politicians and judiciary in check. Now the Pentagon will be running the show while the White house and Congress will be obedient window dressing. And the old concentration camps used for penning in Japanese during World War II have been made ready for people of your ilk. “The bill also enacts strict new sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank and any entities that do business with it. The cat is out of the bag. It’s Iran, my friend, that’s their prime concern, not you, for they need another war to take them out of recession and also get hold of their oil and protect shipping lanes. You only come into the picture because of your nuclear weapons. You could be caught in the middle of another maelstrom before the first has abated. Sure, in the end America will also destroy itself, but you will have been destroyed first. When a behemoth falls he crushes those near him. You are under him. And you’re worried about a naked girl? Wake up, my human friend. The very survival of your tribe is at stake.” having said that, Maverick scampered off before I could stop him. “Who were you talking to?” my wife asked, waking up. “A monkey,” I replied, deadpan. “A monkey? Which monkey? What monkey? You should see a shrink.” Perhaps I should. It probably comes from thinking too much. But I know I was talking to a monkey. I hope he comes back one day. I have a feeling he will. The writer is a political analyst. He can be contacted at humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com
History in capital letters
Third eye By M J Akbar
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xcuse me for wearing a wet blanket to a party, but didn’t a chap called Shahabuddin Mohammed, more familiar to us as Shah Jehan, builder of the Taj Mahal, make Delhi the capital of India in 1638? The current enthusiasm for December 12, 1911, the day on which King George V decided that his Raj would be better managed from the Mughal capital than the colonial epicentre, Calcutta, looks odd. The Government has sponsored a year-long splash of festivity and celebratory literature that seems to suggest that the British gave Delhi its prime status on our political map. The Raj, in fact, devastated Delhi in 1857 and killed more than a million Indians in a frenzy of revenge after its narrow victory in our first war of
independence. If 1857 was the year that Mughals lost the city, and 1911 the moment of British arrival, Delhi has not been capital of India for only 54 out of 373 years. We could have waited till 2038 to enjoy Delhi’s 400th birthday, but even a yogi might tire of such a demand on his patience. One could argue of course that Delhi became the capital of the Sultans after the victory of Muhammad Ghauri in 1192, and stayed at the centre of Indian history till Babur moved to Agra after 1527, but that would be a trifle pedantic. Even if the British narrative is more acceptable to contemporary India than the Mughal one, facts insist on a variation. King George only inseminated a project, and it would be a very long pregnancy. Shah Jehan took 10 years to build the Red Fort; it would take Lutyens 15 before he completed the palace, now known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan, that became a Viceroy’s home-cum-office. The Raj did not actually govern from Delhi until Lord Irwin, Britain’s only vegetarian viceroy, turned up in 1926. he is principally remembered for negotiating the beginning of the British end with Mahatma Gandhi, over the famous talks that followed the suspension of the salt satyagraha.
The British ruled for only some two decades from Delhi after having exercised power effectively and expansively for 16 decades from Calcutta. Perhaps the right way to go about it would be to start a year’s celebration in Calcutta – to mark a centenary of relief from British rule. Would Delhi’s self-congratulatory mood be more justified if we shifted the focus from ‘capital’ to ‘India’? This suggestion implies that the Mughal Empire was merely Mughal while the British created a city that became the hub of a united nation. This is certainly the argument encouraged by a host of right-wing English historians, who tend to get touchy about nationalist narratives. Once again, facts interfere. For at least a century and a half, the Mughals ruled a much larger geography than the British did during the nine decades between 1857 and 1947, the apogee of their period. The British were a pre-eminent power, but not the only presence. But upper crust Delhi is festive about something, of that there is no doubt. What is it? Is it that New Delhi sounds and looks “modern” while Old Delhi is psychologically closer to an ancient ghetto? It is logical for the upwardly mobile to identify with the former. It would probably shock
today’s elite to learn that Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jehan were far wealthier than their Tudor and Stuart counterparts in London, and that in 1750 India had 24 per cent of the world manufacturing output as compared to Britain’s 2 per cent. But it is not their fault. No one mentioned this at school. I suspect that today’s aspiring India feels an emotional continuity with the Raj not because of British rule but because of the English language. Farsi, the court language of the Mughals, has disappeared completely, while English is on the verge of invincible dominance. The British were never as powerful as the language they left behind. The heirs of Mirza Ghalib might get their chance in 2038, if there is anyone left to claim his inheritance. Does all this matter? Not if it is an excuse for some muchneeded fun, a birthright of the ruling class. Delhi, in all its myriad manifestations, has always loved the present far more than the past it reinvents, or the future it cannot foretell. The columnist is editor of The Sunday Guardian, published from Delhi, India on Sunday, published from London and Editorial Director, India Today and headlines Today.
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Sunday, 18 december, 2011
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into a tailspin the Bangladesh model thrown Why make a bad situation worse? Who’s the basket case now?
by Iqbal Haider
T
he debacle of Dhaka is regarded as a national tragedy in the history of Pakistan whereas the people of Bangladesh celebrate December 16 as their day of Independence. 40 years have passed, but our feudal vanity has restrained us from learning any lesson from the catastrophe of Dhaka or to mend our policies or priorities in any sector. I have no desire of highlighting the reasons for the creation of Bangladesh. Instead, I would prefer to highlight the reasons of the prosperity and peace in Bangladesh. Soon after its creation, the people of Bangladesh had carried out fundamental reforms in their constitution and system of governance. Like vast majority of the Muslim countries, the prefix of “Islamic” was omitted from the name of Bangladesh. This was the case of Pakistan as well for some years after its creation. Neither the Quaid-e-Azam nor the Independence Act of 1947, called Pakistan an Islamic Republic. Instead, it was called “Dominion of Pakistan” or simply “Republic of Pakistan”. There was logic in this decision as religions are meant for the people and not for the state. In their constitution, the people of Bangladesh very wisely decided to specify four cardinal principles of the state namely secularism, socialism, nationalism and democracy. Initially, there was a clause in their Constitution that stated that “Islam will be state religion”. Subsequently, even this clause was deleted. The superior courts of Bangladesh imposed a complete prohibition on issuance of any fatwa by any religious organisation or scholar in the name of Islam, on any issue. The said decisions have created religious harmony and saved minority sects of Muslims from being branded as kaafir. Resultantly, incidents of sectarian killing or religious militant extremism and intolerance, which are rampant in Pakistan, rarely occur
in Bangladesh. Religious harmony and absence of terrorism are the key factors that have contributed to the phenomenal economic development in Bangladesh. Peace is a precondition for any country to prosper. Unfortunately, we have destroyed the same. The intense floods that Pakistan has suffered from in 2010 and 2011, the people of Bangladesh suffer the same if not more, virtually every year along with the cyclones. But unlike us, they apply efficient flood control management to minimise the losses and suffering. Despite these natural disasters, most economic indicators of Bangladesh appear to be much better than Pakistan. Unlike us, Bangladesh allocates a high percentage of about 12 percent for education and technology in its annual budget. On the other hand, their allocation for defence is merely 7.3 percent in the current budget. The GDP growth in Bangladesh has been around 6 percent and 6.7 percent this year. Until recently, the Bangladeshi Takka was better by 20 percent in comparison to the Pak rupee. Bangladesh does not grow a single ounce of cotton, but it is one of the largest exporters of cotton garments and materials. In contrast, Pakistan is one of the biggest growers of cotton, but rarely, we have surpassed the export targets of Bangladesh in the recent past. Bangladesh does not possess nuclear weapons or technology. We do possess nuclear weapons and technology, but regrettably, we are incapable of maintaining even our nuclear power generation station in Karachi in working order or use this energy to meet the colossal energy shortage. Though Bangladesh had more population at the time of its creation in comparison to Pakistan, but it has managed to control its population, which is now around 145 million as opposed to 180 million in Pakistan. The foreigners visiting Bangladesh are in much larger number because of the peace and economic growth. Sadly, our hotels are rarely full and the foreign investors/visitors now hold their meetings with their Pakistani counterparts in Dubai, due to the insecurity in Pakistan. Unlike Pakistan, Bangladesh is fortunate not to have any major territorial dispute or tension on its borders. Recently, when the Indian PM visited Dhaka, Bangladesh resolved
its territorial disputes amicably by signing an agreement with India. They still have serious differences with India on water issues, but resolution is pursued through peaceful negotiations. Bangladesh is much smaller than India, but it does not fear threats to its existence. Most painfully, our country is much larger and our arm forces are much better equipped and we do possess nuclear weapons but, Pakistan’s integrity is consistently been threatened by the religious extremists militants within Pakistan and from both Western and Eastern borders. If Bangladesh being one of the largest Muslim countries can have a secular constitution and system, I see no reason why we can not. It is absolutely false and baseless to allege that secularism is against Islam or promotes la-deeniyat. The undeniable truth is that in a secular society people are more free and safe to follow the religion or sect of their choice, as was guaranteed by our Quaid-e-Azam. It is the plight of Pakistan, more particularly after the dictatorial reins of Gen Zia and Gen Pervez Musharraf, that religious extremism and militancy has risen to such a level that Muslims in Pakistan are being constantly killed by the Muslims in the name of Islam. It is all due to exploitation of religion for nefarious selfish political aims and objects of our dictatorial rulers and their civilian collaborators that we are in such a mess that neither the life nor property nor places of worship of Muslims or that of non-Muslims are safe in our country. In all four wars with India put together, our armed forces, law enforcement agencies and ordinary citizens have not suffered as many casualties as they have at the hands of religious terrorists. It is high time that Pakistan must radically correct its internal and external policies, political strategy and priorities to eliminate all kinds of terrorists and bigots from our soil, establish relations on peaceful basis with all our neighbours and learn lessons from the constitutional, political, religious and cultural reforms and strategies adopted by Bangladesh. The writer is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, a former Senator, Attorney General and Federal Minister. He may be contacted at ihaider45@yahoo.com
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ither he kept contradicting himself or his claims were being constantly refuted. Mansoor Ijaz must have been happy to see how the controversy created by him triggered a political storm in Pakistan – the country for which he has no sense of patriotism. Notwithstanding DG ISI Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha’s assertion that Mansoor Ijaz had enough corroborative material to prove his version of the incident, General James Jones latest revelation that the memo was written before Ijaz had come into contact with Pakistan’s former Ambassador to the United States hussain haqqani should have put the matter to rest. The statement lent credence to the government’s repeated denials of its involvement in the issue. It must have come as a shock to the naysayers who’re desperate to see President Zardari’s back sooner rather than later. As if Mian Nawaz Sharif’s personal appearance in the Supreme Court during the Memogate hearing was not enough, the PML(N) filed another petition requesting the court to expand the list of respondents by including in it two journalists. The custodians of the Raiwind Palace remained confused. Their party colleagues were coming up with conflicting statements which they found hard to defend. They were mum when National Opposition Leader Ch Nisar Ali Khan endorsed ANP leader Bushra Gohar’s demand for the DG ISI’s resignation following a British newspaper’s report about his meetings with some Arab leaders to seek their support for By Sarmad Bashir Zardari’s ouster. This exposed the Sharif’s’ double standards. Kh Saad Rafiq is still in no mood to take this farce seriously but his party leadership took the matter to the apex court after Imran Khan had reportedly refused to file a drafted petition handed over to him. And Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif sounded more like an ISPR spokesman when he declared that Gen Kayani had no plan to dismantle the democratic process. It was, in fact, the fear of being vetoed by the ruling coalition that restrained the PML(N) from leaving it to the parliament to examine the Memogate and punish the ‘culprits’. Under the circumstances, the judiciary was the Sharif’s' only hope to see the PPP government fall
Politics Bazaar
ahead of the next Senate election scheduled for March 2012. So they moved the court and started talking about the parliament having become irrelevant. But they did so despite being part of the federal legislature for the last four years. It was this very ‘dysfunctional’ parliament which has to its credit the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment with the Parliamentary Committee headed by Senator Raza Rabbani scrapping all the dictatorial amendments tagged on to the statute during the military rules of Zia and Musharraf. If it has now lost its efficacy then Ch Nisar, who had been given the office of the Chairman Public Accounts Committee in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of Democracy, would not have been able to summon civil and military officers and ensure that those found involved in malpractices should be punished. It was the same parliament where the top brass of our armed forces came over to brief the elected representatives on the issues related to the national security. And if you compare Mr Gilani’s appearances in the National Assembly with those of Mian Shahbaz’s in the Punjab Assembly, then the latter would have become irrelevant long ago. The PM was subjected to scathing criticism for expressing his fears in the Senate about the conspiracies being hatched to derail democracy instead of accepting the failures of his regime on every front including economy and governance. Rather than drawing any sympathy from his detractors for his emotional address he was accused of being unwilling to change the thinking and policies of his government. The ruling coalition’s claim of having done everything possible to solve the problems facing the common man has to be taken with a pinch of salt. But then Mr Gilani had a point in that the conspiracy involving the Memogate was aimed at weakening the current democratic dispensation. There’s no doubt that the PPP leadership was itself responsible for creating confusion about Mr Zardari’s indisposition and his abrupt departure for medical treatment. Now that his doctors have declared him completely fit, those spreading rumours about him being incapacitated might be following the agenda of the forces which have been desperate about ousting the President to undermine the civilian rule. The PML(N) would do itself and the country a great favour by consigning the memo controversy to the pages of history rather than blowing the issue out of proportions. Mian Nawaz will have to keep in mind that once Mansoor Ijaz comes in the dock and is cross-examined, he’s going to cause huge embarrassment to the PML(N). The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today
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Sunday, 18 december, 2011
Capital talk Celebrations missing the point
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inally, it’s over. For a year, every newspaper was carrying out a special celebratory series to mark the 100 years of Delhi as the capital of modern India. In 1911, King George V of Great Britain held a durbar here announcing the shifting of the Indian capital from Calcutta to Delhi. he also laid the foundation of New Delhi. What is there to celebrate? A white king comes to my city, announces some administrative decisions and today we brown people think of it as in the words of a national daily - “an event (that) changed the course of Delhi's history forever.” Yesterday morning, I met historian Mushriul hasan and he agreed with me, saying, “What is there to celeBy Mayank Austen Soofi brate?” hasan said, “The transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi was taken in the light of the fact that Bengal had become a hotbed of revolutionary activities. British officers were being attacked. The best thing for the British was to get out of it.” 1911 is also a year when the partition of Bengal was annulled. I’m told that a considerable section of Muslims were pleased when Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal in 1905. however, under pressure by Bengal’s leading hindu intellectuals as well as Congress party politicians, that decision was withdrawn, making the Bengali Muslims feel alienated. To the British, Delhi seemed a good place to get away from it all. historian hasan told me that lives of ordinary people in the new capital
Delhi Calling
didn’t improve. In fact, the creation of New Delhi was directly responsible for the neglect of Shahjahanabad, the city set up by the Mughals. Yes, Delhi did re-acquire national significance following its fall from glory in the 1857 uprising, but the British also made it a more racially segregated place. Brown people, for instance, could not own cars; brown people could not live in certain parts of Daryaganj. And the Indian media is celebrating this historic milestone. But why should I be a killjoy to its middle class constituency? The other day I went to the Coronation Park in the north of the city where the king made his announcement that “changed the course of Delhi’s history.” In 1877, Queen Victoria was proclaimed the Empress of India at this site. In 1903, the coronation of her son Edward VII was celebrated here. Both occasions called for the summoning of Delhi Durbar, a gold-and-silk extravaganza in which princes from Imperial India’s small and big principalities were obliged to greet the new masters. On December 11, 1911, the 57-acre venue witnessed the third and final Delhi Durbar. The sovereign himself attended. Sitting on a golden throne, under a golden umbrella, King George V declared the transfer of “the seat of the Government of India from Calcutta to the ancient capital of Delhi.” A hundred years later, one freezing December afternoon, I’m standing at the same spot on which George V and his wife, Mary, sat. The view is spectacularly unspectacular: grey sky and muddy-brown ground. The Coronation Memorial is a sandstone obelisk built on a square plinth, which is reached from all four sides by a flight of stairs. It overlooks a flatland; bushes here, puddles there. Boys from the neighbourhood are playing cricket, a game inherited from the British. My eyes follow a kachori vendor as he cycles from one makeshift cricket pitch
to another, hawking his kachoris. The principal attraction is in a side enclosure, west of the obelisk. The gate is usually locked but you can slip through the gap. Inside, it is like being transported into the pages of Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The power is lost; the relics remain. White marble statues of the British nobility lie abandoned in a wilderness of green. The crescent-shaped garden, overgrown with trees and bushes, is a dump yard of colonial-era statues that India no longer needed after its independence in 1947. There are 16 red stone plinths – eight on each side – but only five have statues. The centerpiece is the sixty feet tall figure of King George V, complete with crown, orb and scepter. Designed by Edwin Lutyens, the architect of New Delhi, it originally stood in front of New Delhi’s India Gate. Brought here in the sixties, the statue, with its sculptured robe, looks luxurious in this desolate durbar. A peepal tree grows from the king’s feet. Elsewhere, camel thorn shrubs have established their own barbaric empire. Plants grow on statue-less plinths. One unknown statue is defaced with a hindi swearword. Another has a crow perched on its head. I stayed there until the sun started setting. While returning home in the metro, I thought about how much Delhi has changed – not since 1911 but since I started living here six years ago. There has been a mushrooming of suburban apartments in the east, across the Yamuna. Malls have come up in the west – the home of the Punjabis who came as refugees from Pakistan. And almost every week new restaurants, new lounges, new bars and new discos are opening in the south. But to me, these are not the images evoked by the words ‘The soul of Delhi’. The vision that arises is that of abandoned ruins, old doorways, nar-
row streets, rose petals, Urdu verses, evening azaan, hidden courtyards, soaring kites, veiled ladies, tandoor ovens, itar stalls, seekh kebabs, invisible djinns, unknown tombs, and sufi dargahs. Nizamuddin Basti, considered by many as a filthy Muslim ghetto, is the epitome of this world. And the heart of the Basti is the dargah of hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. This week to “celebrate the 100 years of Delhi as India’s capital” I’m planning to spend an en-
tire night in the shrine’s courtyard. I will go to sleep with Marcel Proust, whose novel I’m currently reading, and I’ll wake up in time for fajr. Wish me good luck. Mayank Austen Soofi lives in a library. He has one website and four blogs. The website address: thedelhiwalla.com. The blogs: Pakistan Paindabad, Ruined By Reading, Reading Arundhati Roy and Mayank Austen Soofi Photos.
Where are relations heading? The murky waters of Pak-uS ties
By Arif Ansar
A
s the US and Pakistan continue to bluff and posture to influence each other’s position over Afghanistan, one is hard pressed to think where the relation is heading. After every incident, they appear to kiss and make-up, without budging from their stands or expectations. The US continues to maintain it has a strategic partnership with Pakistan. On the other hand, Pakistan feels its strategic interests have not been looked after in Afghanistan. The trajectory of events seems to run into a serious crisis every 4 to 6 months. The latest one being the Mohmand Attack, after which Pakistan took several retaliatory steps. These actions appear to be premeditated, as after the Osama Operation, there was a possibility of another unilateral attack. however, after the latest incident, Pakistan claims it would not continue as usual. For the first time, the country has threatened to defend
if attacked in the future. Barring any significant change in the position of both countries, both parties seem to be moving towards confrontation. In this light, understanding the dynamics around the Mohmand Attack becomes critical. It is difficult for the general public to assess what actually may be transpiring between the US and Pakistan as most of the relation is of covert nature. The US judges Pakistan’s performance based on how well it cooperates clandestinely, and this also determines the health of the overt ties between the two countries. Since 9/11, Pakistan has assisted the US in three main areas: allowing the use of its airspace, sharing intelligence, and providing bases. however, the devil is in the details of what these three areas constitutes. For example, for effective intelligence sharing and for manning US facilities at Pakistani airbases, US boots on the ground were needed. American staff was also needed for providing training to Pakistan’s security forces in latest counter terrorism tactics and for using and monitoring the modern technologies that US gave Pakistan. Moreover, Special Forces advisors were also embedded with Pakistani forces involved in military operations. Pakistan’s fear has always been that although the focus of the mission was Afghanistan, US personnel may also be conducting activities related to its nuclear program and other objectives it
shares with India. Furthermore, they could also be carrying out scanning against China and Iran, from bases and facilities in Pakistan. To Pakistan, the Raymond Davis incident and OBL operation validated these apprehensions, causing it to curtail its intelligence sharing with US while threatening to close the Shamsi airbase that housed several types of drones. While most of the media attention
drone by Iran has raised concerns in the region. Reports now indicate that the RQ-170 had intruded from Afghanistan. Based on recent discussions with security and defence analysts from the region, PoliTact was unable to deduce if RQ 170 was ever based in Shamsi airbase. Although they did verify that the site was probably being used for surveillance over Iran and that US bases in Pasni, Dalbandin, Jacobabad,
It is difficult for the general public to assess what actually may be transpiring between the uS and Pakistan as most of the relation is of covert nature. The uS judges Pakistan’s performance based on how well it cooperates clandestinely, and this also determines the health of the overt ties between the two countries. has focused on the predator done, there are several other types of surveillance and reconnaissance drones present in the region. And, its not clear if they take off from Pakistan or Afghanistan to conduct their activities. Media reports indicate that Global hawk, another sophisticated surveillance drone, was also present at Shamsi airbase. Additionally, the recent acquisition of RQ-170 stealth
Shamsi, Tarbela and ‘Near Kahuta’ have now been vacated. If surveillance was indeed carried out against adversaries of US in the region, this would not be the first time Pakistani air base was used. During the Cold War days of the 60s, U2 spy planes used to fly from Peshawar to carry out reconnaissance over Soviet Union. One of these planes was eventually shot down causing an international cri-
sis. The US Badhabar base was ultimately shut down. The question that emerges now is: by blockading NATO’s supply line, stopping intelligence sharing, and shutting down US facilities, has Pakistan used up all it leverages over US? Equally, other than suspending military and economic aid, what more can US do to harm Pakistan strategically. India and Afghanistan have already signed the strategic deal and Pakistan’s red lines have all been violated. On Pakistan’s side, the country has threatened to revoke the use of its airspace in the future. Moreover, it is conducting a review of its US policy. The military orders passed after the Mohmand Attack already declared NATO would now be considered a risk, a fundamental shift in the threat perception of the country. If the orders are taken on face value, it would no longer be possible to conduct business as usual. If NATO is now a threat, then Taliban and Pakistan share the same threat perception. Moreover, in the future, Pakistan could decide to replace the American bases with Chinese. Keeping in view the recent statements made by President Obama in Australia and the geopolitical situation in the Asia Pacific and Middle East, there is increasing likelihood the Chinese may respond affirmatively to the offer. From the American side, the pressure could come in the form of isolating Pakistan internationally,
by moving to have it declared a state sponsoring terror. Recent activities related to Dr Fai in Washington provide clues towards how Pakistan’s support for Kashmir cause could suffer. Although the present state of affairs between US, China and Russia, makes the prospect of Pakistan attaining the state sponsor of terror label, unlikely. In this context, there are two ways to interpret the Mohmand Attack. Firstly, while the US has threatened military incursions in the tribal areas, and has actually done so on a limited occasions, it’s more a posture to pressure Pakistan into acting. US would not want to trigger a premature confrontation with China, or push Pakistan decisively in to the Chinese arms. Keeping the American strategic perspective in mind, this perhaps is inadvertent in the long run, but the point is to delay it as much as possible. If this was indeed the intent, then Mohmand Attack seems to have accomplished just the opposite, and US AfPak policy is now left without any option but Pakistan. The second explanation being, US does not have the privilege of time and it wants to speed up things. This position puts the onus on China i.e., if it wants to confront or allow US to carry on. The writer is the chief analyst for PoliTact (www.PoliTact.com and http:twitter.com/politact) and can be reached at aansar@politact.com.
KHI 18-12-2011_Layout 1 12/18/2011 1:29 AM Page 15
14 comment
Sunday, 18 december, 2011
Capital talk Celebrations missing the point
F
inally, it’s over. For a year, every newspaper was carrying out a special celebratory series to mark the 100 years of Delhi as the capital of modern India. In 1911, King George V of Great Britain held a durbar here announcing the shifting of the Indian capital from Calcutta to Delhi. he also laid the foundation of New Delhi. What is there to celebrate? A white king comes to my city, announces some administrative decisions and today we brown people think of it as in the words of a national daily - “an event (that) changed the course of Delhi's history forever.” Yesterday morning, I met historian Mushriul hasan and he agreed with me, saying, “What is there to celeBy Mayank Austen Soofi brate?” hasan said, “The transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi was taken in the light of the fact that Bengal had become a hotbed of revolutionary activities. British officers were being attacked. The best thing for the British was to get out of it.” 1911 is also a year when the partition of Bengal was annulled. I’m told that a considerable section of Muslims were pleased when Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal in 1905. however, under pressure by Bengal’s leading hindu intellectuals as well as Congress party politicians, that decision was withdrawn, making the Bengali Muslims feel alienated. To the British, Delhi seemed a good place to get away from it all. historian hasan told me that lives of ordinary people in the new capital
Delhi Calling
didn’t improve. In fact, the creation of New Delhi was directly responsible for the neglect of Shahjahanabad, the city set up by the Mughals. Yes, Delhi did re-acquire national significance following its fall from glory in the 1857 uprising, but the British also made it a more racially segregated place. Brown people, for instance, could not own cars; brown people could not live in certain parts of Daryaganj. And the Indian media is celebrating this historic milestone. But why should I be a killjoy to its middle class constituency? The other day I went to the Coronation Park in the north of the city where the king made his announcement that “changed the course of Delhi’s history.” In 1877, Queen Victoria was proclaimed the Empress of India at this site. In 1903, the coronation of her son Edward VII was celebrated here. Both occasions called for the summoning of Delhi Durbar, a gold-and-silk extravaganza in which princes from Imperial India’s small and big principalities were obliged to greet the new masters. On December 11, 1911, the 57-acre venue witnessed the third and final Delhi Durbar. The sovereign himself attended. Sitting on a golden throne, under a golden umbrella, King George V declared the transfer of “the seat of the Government of India from Calcutta to the ancient capital of Delhi.” A hundred years later, one freezing December afternoon, I’m standing at the same spot on which George V and his wife, Mary, sat. The view is spectacularly unspectacular: grey sky and muddy-brown ground. The Coronation Memorial is a sandstone obelisk built on a square plinth, which is reached from all four sides by a flight of stairs. It overlooks a flatland; bushes here, puddles there. Boys from the neighbourhood are playing cricket, a game inherited from the British. My eyes follow a kachori vendor as he cycles from one makeshift cricket pitch
to another, hawking his kachoris. The principal attraction is in a side enclosure, west of the obelisk. The gate is usually locked but you can slip through the gap. Inside, it is like being transported into the pages of Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The power is lost; the relics remain. White marble statues of the British nobility lie abandoned in a wilderness of green. The crescent-shaped garden, overgrown with trees and bushes, is a dump yard of colonial-era statues that India no longer needed after its independence in 1947. There are 16 red stone plinths – eight on each side – but only five have statues. The centerpiece is the sixty feet tall figure of King George V, complete with crown, orb and scepter. Designed by Edwin Lutyens, the architect of New Delhi, it originally stood in front of New Delhi’s India Gate. Brought here in the sixties, the statue, with its sculptured robe, looks luxurious in this desolate durbar. A peepal tree grows from the king’s feet. Elsewhere, camel thorn shrubs have established their own barbaric empire. Plants grow on statue-less plinths. One unknown statue is defaced with a hindi swearword. Another has a crow perched on its head. I stayed there until the sun started setting. While returning home in the metro, I thought about how much Delhi has changed – not since 1911 but since I started living here six years ago. There has been a mushrooming of suburban apartments in the east, across the Yamuna. Malls have come up in the west – the home of the Punjabis who came as refugees from Pakistan. And almost every week new restaurants, new lounges, new bars and new discos are opening in the south. But to me, these are not the images evoked by the words ‘The soul of Delhi’. The vision that arises is that of abandoned ruins, old doorways, nar-
row streets, rose petals, Urdu verses, evening azaan, hidden courtyards, soaring kites, veiled ladies, tandoor ovens, itar stalls, seekh kebabs, invisible djinns, unknown tombs, and sufi dargahs. Nizamuddin Basti, considered by many as a filthy Muslim ghetto, is the epitome of this world. And the heart of the Basti is the dargah of hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. This week to “celebrate the 100 years of Delhi as India’s capital” I’m planning to spend an en-
tire night in the shrine’s courtyard. I will go to sleep with Marcel Proust, whose novel I’m currently reading, and I’ll wake up in time for fajr. Wish me good luck. Mayank Austen Soofi lives in a library. He has one website and four blogs. The website address: thedelhiwalla.com. The blogs: Pakistan Paindabad, Ruined By Reading, Reading Arundhati Roy and Mayank Austen Soofi Photos.
Where are relations heading? The murky waters of Pak-uS ties
By Arif Ansar
A
s the US and Pakistan continue to bluff and posture to influence each other’s position over Afghanistan, one is hard pressed to think where the relation is heading. After every incident, they appear to kiss and make-up, without budging from their stands or expectations. The US continues to maintain it has a strategic partnership with Pakistan. On the other hand, Pakistan feels its strategic interests have not been looked after in Afghanistan. The trajectory of events seems to run into a serious crisis every 4 to 6 months. The latest one being the Mohmand Attack, after which Pakistan took several retaliatory steps. These actions appear to be premeditated, as after the Osama Operation, there was a possibility of another unilateral attack. however, after the latest incident, Pakistan claims it would not continue as usual. For the first time, the country has threatened to defend
if attacked in the future. Barring any significant change in the position of both countries, both parties seem to be moving towards confrontation. In this light, understanding the dynamics around the Mohmand Attack becomes critical. It is difficult for the general public to assess what actually may be transpiring between the US and Pakistan as most of the relation is of covert nature. The US judges Pakistan’s performance based on how well it cooperates clandestinely, and this also determines the health of the overt ties between the two countries. Since 9/11, Pakistan has assisted the US in three main areas: allowing the use of its airspace, sharing intelligence, and providing bases. however, the devil is in the details of what these three areas constitutes. For example, for effective intelligence sharing and for manning US facilities at Pakistani airbases, US boots on the ground were needed. American staff was also needed for providing training to Pakistan’s security forces in latest counter terrorism tactics and for using and monitoring the modern technologies that US gave Pakistan. Moreover, Special Forces advisors were also embedded with Pakistani forces involved in military operations. Pakistan’s fear has always been that although the focus of the mission was Afghanistan, US personnel may also be conducting activities related to its nuclear program and other objectives it
shares with India. Furthermore, they could also be carrying out scanning against China and Iran, from bases and facilities in Pakistan. To Pakistan, the Raymond Davis incident and OBL operation validated these apprehensions, causing it to curtail its intelligence sharing with US while threatening to close the Shamsi airbase that housed several types of drones. While most of the media attention
drone by Iran has raised concerns in the region. Reports now indicate that the RQ-170 had intruded from Afghanistan. Based on recent discussions with security and defence analysts from the region, PoliTact was unable to deduce if RQ 170 was ever based in Shamsi airbase. Although they did verify that the site was probably being used for surveillance over Iran and that US bases in Pasni, Dalbandin, Jacobabad,
It is difficult for the general public to assess what actually may be transpiring between the uS and Pakistan as most of the relation is of covert nature. The uS judges Pakistan’s performance based on how well it cooperates clandestinely, and this also determines the health of the overt ties between the two countries. has focused on the predator done, there are several other types of surveillance and reconnaissance drones present in the region. And, its not clear if they take off from Pakistan or Afghanistan to conduct their activities. Media reports indicate that Global hawk, another sophisticated surveillance drone, was also present at Shamsi airbase. Additionally, the recent acquisition of RQ-170 stealth
Shamsi, Tarbela and ‘Near Kahuta’ have now been vacated. If surveillance was indeed carried out against adversaries of US in the region, this would not be the first time Pakistani air base was used. During the Cold War days of the 60s, U2 spy planes used to fly from Peshawar to carry out reconnaissance over Soviet Union. One of these planes was eventually shot down causing an international cri-
sis. The US Badhabar base was ultimately shut down. The question that emerges now is: by blockading NATO’s supply line, stopping intelligence sharing, and shutting down US facilities, has Pakistan used up all it leverages over US? Equally, other than suspending military and economic aid, what more can US do to harm Pakistan strategically. India and Afghanistan have already signed the strategic deal and Pakistan’s red lines have all been violated. On Pakistan’s side, the country has threatened to revoke the use of its airspace in the future. Moreover, it is conducting a review of its US policy. The military orders passed after the Mohmand Attack already declared NATO would now be considered a risk, a fundamental shift in the threat perception of the country. If the orders are taken on face value, it would no longer be possible to conduct business as usual. If NATO is now a threat, then Taliban and Pakistan share the same threat perception. Moreover, in the future, Pakistan could decide to replace the American bases with Chinese. Keeping in view the recent statements made by President Obama in Australia and the geopolitical situation in the Asia Pacific and Middle East, there is increasing likelihood the Chinese may respond affirmatively to the offer. From the American side, the pressure could come in the form of isolating Pakistan internationally,
by moving to have it declared a state sponsoring terror. Recent activities related to Dr Fai in Washington provide clues towards how Pakistan’s support for Kashmir cause could suffer. Although the present state of affairs between US, China and Russia, makes the prospect of Pakistan attaining the state sponsor of terror label, unlikely. In this context, there are two ways to interpret the Mohmand Attack. Firstly, while the US has threatened military incursions in the tribal areas, and has actually done so on a limited occasions, it’s more a posture to pressure Pakistan into acting. US would not want to trigger a premature confrontation with China, or push Pakistan decisively in to the Chinese arms. Keeping the American strategic perspective in mind, this perhaps is inadvertent in the long run, but the point is to delay it as much as possible. If this was indeed the intent, then Mohmand Attack seems to have accomplished just the opposite, and US AfPak policy is now left without any option but Pakistan. The second explanation being, US does not have the privilege of time and it wants to speed up things. This position puts the onus on China i.e., if it wants to confront or allow US to carry on. The writer is the chief analyst for PoliTact (www.PoliTact.com and http:twitter.com/politact) and can be reached at aansar@politact.com.
KHI 18-12-2011_Layout 1 12/18/2011 1:29 AM Page 16
15 Foreign News
Sunday, 17 december, 2011
Eight killed, 300 hurt in Cairo clashes
Amnesty urges Saudi Arabia to commute amputation sentences DUBAI AFP
human rights watchdog Amnesty International urged Saudi King Abdullah to commute amputation sentences handed down against six men convicted of highway robbery in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom. The sentences to chop off the right hands and left feet of the six Saudis is currently before the Supreme Court for approval and could be carried out within days if ratified by the king, the London-based group said on Friday. It said they were forced to confess. "'Cross amputation' is a strikingly cruel form of punishment that amounts to torture and should have no place in a criminal justice system," said the watchdog's Middle East and North Africa interim director, Philip Luther. "We are urging the king to use his authority to urgently commute these sentences and spare these men this horrific punishment," he added. The bedouin men were arrested in October 2010 in Riyadh, accused of "highway robbery" and taken to Malaz prison in the capital. All were allegedly beaten and forced to confess to the charges against them, Amnesty said. The men were tried before the General Court in Riyadh with no legal representation and were sentenced in March 2011 to "cross amputation", it said, adding that an appeal court upheld the sentences in October.
north Korea ‘agrees to suspend uranium enrichment’ SeoUL CAIro: Egyptian army soldiers beat a protester with batons during clashes with army soldiers. At least eight people were killed and about 300 wounded in Cairo on Saturday, as demonstrators fought troops in the worst violence since Egypt began its first free election in six decades. ReUteRS g
CIA spy arrested: Iran intelligence teHrAn AFP
Tehran has arrested an alleged US Central Intelligence Agency spy of Iranian origin before he could complete his mission of infiltrating the intelligence ministry, media quoted the ministry as saying on Saturday. "Based on the scenario, he was supposed to infiltrate the intelligence ministry ... and feed it deceptive information on a large scale and spy on it," said a statement reported by the ISNA news agency. "The Iranian-origin CIA agent received complex training, had worked as an analyst and also worked with the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan," the statement added, without identifying him. The man was first identified at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and arrested in Iran, the statement said, without identifying the man or saying when he was seized. Several times in the past, Iranian officials have announced the arrest of suspected spies for the United States, but provided little information to substantiate the detention or allegations. Meanwhile Iran has prepared for "the worst case scenario" to circumvent a toughening of Western sanctions targeting its financial sector and oil industry, its foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, said in an interview published Saturday. "We are not really worried," Salehi told the official IRNA news agency. "Appropriate responses have been prepared for the worst case scenario, and we have devised a road map" to circumvent new sanctions. The remarks came after the US Congress approved a tough new proposal to impose an embargo against Iran's oil exports and to cut off its central bank from the world financial system, effectively seeking its collapse. The European Union is considering similar measures of its own. Salehi did not elaborate how the "road map" would envisage dealing with strengthened Western economic sanctions in response to Tehran's refusal to curb its controversial nuclear programme. But, he said, Iran has managed to "circumvent" Western and UN sanctions since the 1979 Islamic revolution, while acknowledging that "sanctions have their effect.
Acting PM declares protesters ‘anti-revolutionary’ CAIro
N
AFP
EW violence rocked the administrative heart of Cairo on Saturday as troops and police deployed after clashes with protesters against continued military rule left eight people dead and 299 wounded. Caretaker Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzuri further raised tensions by accusing the protesters of being counter-revolutionaries and denying that security forces had opened fire as they broke up the sit-in launched against his nomination last month. Troops and police moved to retake control of the area around the cabinet offices early on Saturday, erecting razor-wire barriers on access roads. But after a few hours of calm, new clashes erupted between demonstrators and security forces, overshadowing the count in the second phase of the first general election since the ouster of president hosni Mubarak
in February. Protesters hurled stones and petrol bombs. Friday's fighting, which raged from dawn well into the night, was the bloodiest since five days of protests in November killed more than 40 people just ahead of the first round of the phased parliamentary election. "The people demand the execution of the field marshal," the demonstrators chanted in reference to hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took over following Mubarak's ouster. Pictures of a military policeman grabbing a women by her hair, and of another looming over a sobbing elderly lady with his truncheon quickly circulated on the social networking site Twitter, enraging activists. But in a press conference on Saturday, Prime Minister Ganzuri accused the protesters of being counterrevolutionaries and denied that security forces had opened fire. "Those who are in Tahrir Square
(epicentre of the revolution that overthrew Mubarak in February) are not the youth of the revolution," Ganzuri said. "This is not a revolution, but a counter-revolution," added the man who first served as premier under Mubarak from 1996 to 1999. he said 18 people had been wounded by gunfire on Friday and, without elaborating, blamed "infiltrators," who he said "do not want the best for Egypt." It was the SCAF's nomination of Ganzuri as prime minister on November 27 that prompted the protesters to launch their sit-in outside the cabinet's offices. They continued it after his interim government was sworn in on December 7. The demonstrators want the military to hand power immediately to a civilian administration with full powers. The count continued on Saturday in the second stage of elections for the lower house of parliament. A third stage next month will be followed by a similar three-phase election to the upper house before the presidential vote.
AFP
North Korea has agreed to suspend its enriched-uranium nuclear weapons programme, a key United States demand for the resumption of disarmament talks, news reports said Saturday. News agencies quoted an unidentified diplomatic source saying Washington had also agreed to provide the North with up to 240,000 tonnes of food aid. Pyongyang pledged "to implement initial measures of denuclearisation that include a suspension of its uranium enrichment programme," they said. The North apparently agreed to put stricter and clearer monitoring systems in place to ensure that the food aid reached those most in need, according to the source, they said. The agreements came when Robert King, US special envoy for North Korean human rights, met with Ri Gun, head of North American affairs at North Korea's foreign ministry, on Thursday and Friday in Beijing, the source said. The reports could not be independently confirmed. Suspending the uranium enrichment programme -- first disclosed by the North one year ago -- is a key demand of Washington's before sixparty negotiations can resume. According to sources, the two countries were likely to hold a third round of talks this coming week in Beijing to discuss resuming the six-party talks.
no choice but to marry attacker: Afghan rape victim kABUL AFP
She was jailed for adultery after being raped, then pardoned and set free. But now her brothers are threatening to kill her and with nowhere else to go, Gulnaz is resigned to marrying her attacker. Gulnaz, who does not know her exact age but is 20 or 21, spoke in a quiet voice with her blue burqa pushed up over her face. her baby daughter, the child of her rapist, played on the floor at her feet. "I have to marry him, I need a father for my child. I need somebody to take care of my daughter and give us a home," she said. "I don't have any other place to live. My brothers have vowed to kill me and my attacker and my daughter." Gulnaz
was freed from prison on Tuesday, two years after she was jailed for a so-called moral crime -- being raped by her cousin's husband. President hamid Karzai pardoned her on December 1 following an international outcry, but even then it was almost two weeks before she was released. And now, in ultra-conservative Afghanistan, she faces great pressure to marry the man who attacked her, to provide security for her baby and restore family honour. Campaigners describe such persecution, all too common in Afghanistan, as a "remnant of the Taliban era" highlighting the poor state of women's rights, 10 years after the USled invasion sought to put the country on a democratic path. Gulnaz was jailed after reporting the rape to the police. "I petitioned and asked the govern-
ment to arrest the man, but they arrested me. Why was I put in jail innocently?" she said. "I don't know why we have this kind of government here, they don't even care about a poor woman. I brought up the case to seek justice but I was put in jail." Gulnaz was raising her child in a prison cell in Kabul. And although she was released, she is still confined. With fears for her safety, she has moved to a women's shelter in a secret location. her US lawyer, Kimberley Motley, said Gulnaz was "trying to figure out the best way she can protect herself and her daughter". But with her attacker still in jail for another five years, it will be even harder for Gulnaz to marry and move on. "Unfortunately the culture quite often decides that even if a woman is violated or a victim the best way to find
protection is to embrace their attacker and marry them," Motley said. She said by issuing the pardon, Karzai and the prosecutor's office recognised that rape victims were not to be persecuted. There is little sign that violence against women in Afghanistan is decreasing, despite billions of dollars of international aid which has poured into the country during the decade-long war. The Afghan Independent human Rights Commission logged 1,026 cases of violence against women in the second quarter of 2011 compared with 2,700 cases for the whole of 2010. About 87 percent of Afghan women report having experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage, according to figures quoted in an October report by the British charity Oxfam.
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Sunday, 18 december, 2011
britain is a Christian country: PM LonDon AFP
Britain is a Christian nation and should not be afraid of standing up for Christian values to help counter the country's "moral collapse", Prime Minister David Cameron has said. In a rare foray into religion by a British premier, Cameron said "live and let live" had too often become "do what you please" in Britain. The "passive tolerance" of immoral behaviour had helped fuel the August riots, excess in the banking industry and home-grown Islamist terror, he said. "We are a Christian country. And we should not be afraid to say so," Cameron said at an event in Oxford, southern England, to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. "The Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today. Values and morals we should actively stand up and defend. The alternative of moral neutrality should not be an option." Cameron described himself as a committed but only "vaguely practising" member of the Church of England, who was "full of doubts" about big theological issues. "We've got stand up for our values if we are to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations," he said. "Moral neutrality or passive tolerance just isn't going to cut it any more. "Shying away from speaking the truth about behaviour, about morality has actually helped to cause some of the social problems." Cameron said that along with the works of William Shakespeare, the King James Bible was a "high point of the English language". "The Bible has helped to shape the values which define our country," he said. "Responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility, self-sacrifice, love, pride in working for the common good and honouring the social obligations we have to one another, to our families and our communities -- these are the values we treasure. "Yes, they are Christian values. And we should not be afraid to acknowledge that. "But they are also values that speak to us all -- to people of every faith and none. And I believe we should all stand up and defend them." People who say that would be "doing down other faiths" were "profoundly wrong".
Foreign News 16
Arab League to consider taking Syria plan to United Nations g
Iraq delegation in Syria for talks: Iraq PM's office DoHA/ DAMASCUS AFP
A
N Arab ministerial committee proposed Saturday taking an Arab League plan to end the crisis in Syria to the UN Security Council, Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani said. Faced with Syrian "procrastination", the bloc's foreign ministers will meet in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, he said, a day after Russia proposed a surprise draft resolution to the
council. "As Russia has gone to the Security Council, a proposal will be presented in the (Arab ministers') meeting on December 21 that the Arab League goes to the (UN) Security Council to present the Arab initiative," the Qatari premier said. Speaking after a meeting of an Arab League taskforce on Syria, Sheikh hamad said the move is aimed to "adopt the Arab decisions, instead of that of other countries." Sheikh hamad, who is also the foreign minister of the Gulf state, accused Damascus of "procrastination" over the Arab proposal to send an observer mission intended to monitor the protection of civilians.
"There is no hope to find an exit from this crisis. We have used all possible means, (but) it is clear that there is procrastination," said the minister, who chairs an Arab League taskforce on the Syria crisis. Earlier Arab League number two, Ahmed Ben helli expressed hope that Syria would "soon" agree to the Arab proposal, citing "positive signs.” “There are positive signs... I expect the signing will happen soon,” Ben helli said ahead of the Doha meeting. In a letter to the bloc's secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem set a number of terms, notably
Pentagon chief in Libya after lifting sanctions
2011 topsHots
trIPoLI AFP
TunIS: Tunisians lighted flares to celebrate on october 22, 2011, the eve of the Arab Spring’s historic first Constituent Assembly elections, nine months after the surprise toppling of strongman Zine el Abidine ben Ali. ReUteRS
france giving britain a ‘good kicking’: Clegg LonDon AFP
France is giving Britain a "good kicking", deputy premier Nick Clegg said in an interview on Saturday, as the spat over each other's economies rumbled on. Clegg warned against lurches into xenophobia and chauvinism, the day after telling French Prime Minister Francois Fillon to "calm the rhetoric" as Britain hit back at French criticism of its finances. The deputy prime minister said it was important to "keep a level head while others are losing theirs", as he vowed to mend bridges in the European Union. The cross-Channel row comes after Britain clashed with France at a dramatic EU summit last week when British Prime Minister David Cameron refused to join members of the eurozone currency bloc in a new fiscal pact. "We all need to go away, have a bit of hiatus, a bit of time to have Christmas, to eat some mince pies or whatever the French equivalent is. Everyone is a bit tired," Clegg told The Guardian newspaper. The Liberal Democrat leader said Britain may be getting caught in the cross-fire of the French presidential election campaign. "There is nothing more popular in French politics -- it has always been the case and it will always be so -- than giving 'perfidious Albion' a good kicking from time to time," he said. "At the end of the day, France and Britain have always worked out it is better to work together rather than shout at each other across the Channel." The Guardian said Clegg, a europhile, admitted a repair job was needed to fix relations with Britain's European partners. Analysts said French officials seemed to be trying to deflect attention from the country's own economic concerns.
the lifting of sanctions. Tunisia, meanwhile, is hosting a three-day meeting of Syrian opposition movements formed before and since the launch of the uprising. “The Arab League is killing us -- enough deadlines,” Syrians protested on Friday, when more than 200,000 people protested in the besieged central city of homs alone, venting their frustration at the Arab League. Meanwhile, Baghdad announced that an Iraqi delegation was in Damascus for talks over a peace initiative and Tunisia was hosting a meeting of Syrian opposition groups.
tUnIS AFP
Thousands of Tunisians rallied on Saturday in celebration of the first anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled their long-standing dictator and unleashed the Arab Spring revolutions. Newly-elected President Moncef Marzouki joined the crowds in the town of Sidi Bouzid, where a roadside fruitseller's altercation with a policewoman and his subsequent self-immolation on this day a year ago set off a wave of protests that have dramatically changed the Arab world. here are the main developments in Tunisia since the popular uprising in December 2010 which led to the ouster of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power, sparking the Arab Spring revolts.
Confronted with a massive popular movement, Ben Ali steps down and flees with his family. He finds refuge in Saudi Arabia. A state of emergency is declared.
JANUARY 26 An international arrest warrant is issued for Ben Ali and his wife.
JANUARY 27 Prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi stays on in a cabinet reshuffle, but other key ministers from the government of Ben Ali are replaced.
JANUARY 14, 2011
SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 The government announces a strict application of the state of emergency and announces a ban on police engaging in union activities. Violence rocks the country.
OCTOBER 23, 2011
FEBRUARY 19, 2011
Ennahda wins 89 of the 217 seats in Tunisia's new constituent assembly after the country's first free election.
DECEMBER 17, 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old university graduate who had only been able to find work as a fruitseller, sets himself alight in the town of Sidi Bouzid to protest harassment and unemployment. Two days later rioting breaks out. During the unrest some 300 people are killed, according to the UN, and hundreds are arrested.
JULY 28, 2011 After a third trial held in his absence, Ben Ali has so far been sentenced to more than 66 years in prison.
An amnesty is introduced for political prisoners.
FEBRUARY 25 Around 100,000 anti-government protesters take to the streets of Tunis.
MARCH 1, 2011 Moderate Islamist movement Ennahda is legalised.
DECEMBER 11, 2011 The constituent assembly adopts a provisional constitution that will allow the country to name a government until the adoption of a permanent constitution and general elections.
DECEMBER 12
MARCH 7 Essebsi announces a new government free of any members of the Ben Ali regime and scraps a security agency that had targeted political dissidents.
MARCH 9 A Tunisian court dissolves Ben Ali's Rally for Constitutional Democracy (RCD).
Former opposition leader Moncef Marzouki, a fierce rival of Ben Ali, is elected president and is sworn in the following day.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta was in Libya on Saturday to confer on the security needs of the new government, saying he envisioned a close security partnership with it. During the visit, which was to last only a few hours and is the first by a Pentagon chief, he met Defence Minister Osama Jouili and Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib said. "The purpose of my trip to Libya is to have an opportunity to look at that situation up close but to also pay tribute to the Libyan people to what they did in bringing Gaddafi down and trying to establish a government for the future," Panetta told the travelling press. "There are going to be challenges here, there are going to be difficulties, but I think any country like Libya, that was able to do what they did and showed the courage that they did... I'm confident that ultimately they're going to be able to succeed in putting a democracy together in Libya. "They have earned the right to try to determine their future, to work their way to the issues that they're going to have to confront. "Obviously, we're prepared, if they want, to provide whatever assistance they ask us to do. NATO countries have indicated the same willingness to do that." Speaking later, Panetta said he believed "this new and free Libya can become an important security partner of the United States" and that Washington was looking forward to building a close partnership. "We stand ready to offer whatever assistance in the spirit of friendship and a spirit of mutual respect." Enforcement by the Atlantic alliance of a UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya was crucial in the months-long battle to oust Gaddafi that began in February. Libya's new rulers are facing a big challenge as they try to disarm militiamen who fought to topple Gaddafi and secure thousands of surface-toair missiles stockpiled under the former regime. his visit came a day after the United Nations and the United States lifted sanctions on Libya's central bank in a bid to ease a cash crunch in the post-Gaddafi era, diplomats said. The UN Security Council ended a freeze on the assets of the Central Bank of Libya and the Libyan Foreign Bank, which was ordered in February as part of sanctions against Gaddafi. The US government said it would be freeing more than $30 billion (23 billion euros) of assets belonging to the central bank and LFB in a bid to help the new Libyan government.
Kazakhstan orders state of emergency in Zhanaozen AStAnA AFP
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Saturday ordered a state of emergency in the Caspian town of Zhanaozen after clashes between police and laid off oil workers killed at least 11 people. The state of emergency will last until January 5 to "ensure public safety, rebuilding law and order, and defending citizens' rights and freedoms," according to a decree posted on the president's official website.
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Sunday, 18 december, 2011
Obama bans daughters
SOCIETY Laal band's Taimur
from logging on
to Facebook Speakers - Saba, Arfa, Sara, Dr Amjad, Taimur, Omair, Memoona and Aneeq
LonDon
U
AGenCIeS
S President Barack Obama, who relied heavily on the social media to boost his presidential campaign in 2008, has banned his daughters from using Facebook, a media report said Saturday. The ‘First Social Media President’ said it “does not make much sense” to put the most private details of his family life on public view. he doesn’t want “strangers knowing” their family business, UK’s tabloid Mail Online reported. his elder daughter, Malia, is 13, and just old enough to use Facebook. her younger sister Sasha is ten. But Obama said he won’t consider allowing them to join the
site until they are both four years older. his admission seems somewhat ironic, given that he made full use of Facebook and other websites to encourage the young to vote for him in the presidential election and to raise millions of dollars for his campaign. As a result, he became known as the ‘First Social Media President’. his Facebook page which has 24 million ‘likes’ remains a key part of his ongoing efforts to seek re-election. One of the many photos on the page shows Mr Obama swimming in the sea with one of his daughters. In an interview, the President described the thinking behind the Facebook ban as: “Why would we want to have a whole bunch of people who we don’t know knowing our business? That doesn’t make much sense.” he added: “We’ll see how they [his daughters] feel in four years.”
Performance by FAST music society
art itinerary of lahore LAHore STAFF rePOrT
Ricardo Cinalli, an Argentine painter will be opening his show in the Zahoor-ulAkhlaq Gallery, NCA, on December 21, 2011. Prior to the occasion of the launch, the Ambassador to Argentina, Rodolfo J Martin Saravia has stated that he had dreamt of introducing Cinalli in Pakistan since a long time. he said that Cinalli had brought his work to Islamabad and Lahore and the work would remain here as a testimony to the communication that art is capable of spreading between communities beyond any geographical distance. The solo paintings’ exhibition of Erum Ashfaq is to be held at the Shakir Ali Museum of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) from December 29. This will be
Sajid’s
Erum Ashfaq’s second solo show in about one year which is likely to be continued for more than a fortnight though the exact programme is being finalized by the organizers in consultations with the artist these days. her maiden solo paintings exhibition was held at Nayyer Ali Dada’s Nairang Gallery in Lahore about the same time last year. She has also participated in some group shows, most of which were held at different art galleries of the provincial metropolis. Erum Ashfaq, who hails from a family which has rich academic and artistic background, is a naturally gifted artist who has got no formal art education, yet continues to attract viewers. She has done Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore and also Masters in Economics from the Punjab University.
fussing
Attendees holding cups which they brought along because they care for the environment!
Anum, Rubab, Elishba and Nermeen
Tedx organisers - Chen, Cindy, Zoia, Aqsa and Omar
Ranveer Singh is over Jacqueline’s sexy costumes
MuMBAI: “For my eyes only” seems to be the way Sajid khan feels about his uber sexy girlfriend Jacqueline Fernandez these days. While the actress’ role in ‘Housefull 2’ requires her to wear short numbers and even bikini tops, the director Sajid himself is having second thoughts about her wardrobe. On the sets of the film, which is now on its final leg, Sajid has been asking to make his girlfriend’s clothes longer with every passing day. Sajid’s intrusions into her styling is however not going down too well with lady love Jackie. A source from the sets informed, “khan was unhappy with her short outfits in the film. He always wants her to be better covered. But Fernandez would insist otherwise.” reportedly, this length issue led to a lengthy fight between the lovers. “Sajid and Jacqueline had discussions and arguments on this. The entire unit started talking about how Sajid doesn’t like his girl showing too much skin,” added the source from the sets. When contacted, Sajid said, “That’s stupid and rubbish.” However, Jacqueline did not deny the story. She simply said, “no comments.” MIrrOr
hot property this new year MuMBAI: The year is coming to an end and Indians love to shell out moolah on celebrating new year’s Eve with bollywood celebrities entertaining them. It is also that time of the year when stars make oodles of money by performing at such events. This year however, the hottest property is not any sexy siren or item girl but sexy newbie ranveer Singh. yes the hyper excited actor is all set to own the 31st night as this year comes to an end. The ‘band baja baraat’ hitmaker confirmed, “yes, I am going to perform at Aamby valley, and I guarantee, I will bare it all for the stage.” Last year it was Malaika Arora Khan who was highly in demand for her Munni act but this year ranveer takes the cake, leaving behind all bombshells. He is here to change the cliché, he said: “I have seen all the female performances of the last year, it was fantastic. but I will try to outdo them this time. At the moment, I am more on the demon-ish side because of my ‘kameena’ performance in my last movie ‘Ladies vs ricky bahl’. of course, I won’t be seen in skimpy clothes but I can give an amazing performance for sure.” zeeneWS
MuMBAI: Actress Vidya Balan, at the success of party of her most recent hit, ‘The Dirty Picture’, seemed to enjoy all the attention and praise that was being bestowed upon her. It was told to her that kareena kapoor, her arch-rival, had seen ‘The Dirty Picture’ and even applauded Vidya’s bold act. However, she was also told that Bebo will have as hard-hitting a role in ‘Heroine’ as she did in ‘The Dirty Picture’. What did Vidya have to say that? “It can’t get dirtier than ‘The Dirty Picture’. They could make a ‘Heroine’ but no one will be able to make ‘The Dirty Picture’.” Vidya and kareena had a fall-out ever since Vidya was linked with Shahid kapur shortly after Shahid and Bebo’s break-up. Well, let’s see if Vidya’s taunt does get to kareena, who is still basking in the glory of being the first to act with all three khans reigning Bollywood today. At the same time, Vidya who is being given a pat on the back for her woman-centric choice of movie was compared to the khans of Bollywood, and Vidya said, “Instead of me adding khan to my name, the khans can add Balan to theirs.” AGenCIeS
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18 Faizan
Mehreen Syed joins list of power women as L’Oréal Spokesperson LAHore
C Alina
STAFF rePOrT
LAIMING a right for a multi-faceted beauty over a standardised or perfect beauty, L’Oréal Paris, the world’s leading beauty brand, and its international ambassadors have always been influential personalities from the world of arts, fashion and beauty: Penelope Cruz, Aishwarya Rai, Eva Longoria, Beyonce Knowles, Jane Fonda and Patrick Dempsey are a few amongst the many who have come to represent a cross section of age, morphology and ethnic origin - all illustrative of the brands’ beauty philosophy. L’Oréal Paris Pakistan’s spokespeople share the same brand philosophy and this December 2011, the brand proudly introduces glamorous model and media personality Mehreen Syed as a Spokesperson in Pakistan. Mehreen Syed, one of Pakistan’s top supermodels, has set national, regional and international fashion runways ablaze with her show stopping poise and confidence. She continues to grace the pages of local and international magazines and is among Pakistani’s most sought after
MUMBAI zeeneWS
Saadia, Raazia and Zoha
After courting severe backlash for her controversial nude photo shoot with FhM magazine, Pakistani starlet Veena Malik has mysteriously gone missing from her Mumbai residence. Apparently, Veena’s business manager Prateik Mehta and filmmaker hemant Madhukar revealed that Veena is untraceable since the morning of December 16. Veena was shooting for a horror flick ‘Mumbai 125 kilometres’ in Goregoan (West) before disappearing. hemant said, “Veena, without giving her last shot at 5 am for my film ‘Mumbai 125 kilometres’, suddenly disappeared from her vanity van. her mobile too was not reachable I assumed that the actress was tired and left for home.” however, hemant received an SMS from Veena, which disclosed that the actress was depressed and unwell. After almost twelve hours of the incident, Prateik and hemant discovered that Veena was missing. “Today we had a couple of shots with Veena but I realised that her phones are still switched off and she has also not communicated with her manager since then which is indeed serious. Veena normally is very chirpy and full of life on the sets but from past few days she looked depressed. hope she is fine.” added hemant. hemant and Veena’s manager have approached the local Bandra Police to help them find Veena Malik.
supermodels. An entrepreneur, Mehreen has most recently launched the International Fashion Academy Pakistan [IFAP] where she combines her expertise in fashion with her business acumen to lead the institute with a passion to succeed and indeed contribute positively to institutionalizing and organizing the fashion industry in Pakistan today. Indeed through IFAP Mehreen has sought to establish a platform that allows the next generation of fashion industry professionals, specifically stylists, models, makeup artists and photographers, to study their field in a professional environment, equipping aspiring specialists with the technical know-how and exposure enabling such students to be able to pursue such studies as a viable career. As model, Mehreen has also achieved numerous accolades which to her credit include the “International Model of the Year” award in 2005, “Face of the Year” award in 2007, “Glamorous Entrepreneur” award in 2010 and was ranked 16th in the hottest 50 Asian Women in the World 2009 survey.
Veena Malik
goes missing in Mumbai
John to lose
weight for ‘Dostana 2’ MuMBAI: Karan Johar has now confirmed that ‘dostana 2’ will go on floors next year in 2012. Katrina Kaif will reportedly play the female lead, replacing Priyanka Chopra. After the mega success of ‘dostana’, the news of its sequel has already created a buzz in the media. Lead actors, John Abraham and Abhishek bachchan are ready to rock the big screen again. This time, the setting of the sequel has been relocated from Miami to London. Tarun Mansukhani is all set to start the shoot as the script has been finalised and Karan himself is extremely excited about it. And buzz has it that John is hell-bent on losing all the excess muscle before the film takes off. As if the prequel’s John wasn’t swoonworthy enough! AGenCIeS
beti b rechristened
‘bitiya’ for now MUMBAI zeeneWS
Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai’s daughter is yet to find a name, and the family has decided that the name will start with the letter ‘A’, same as that of her parents. And for the time being grandpa Amitabh has decided to call the little one ‘Bitiya’. “hopefully, we’ll zero in on one that everyone unanimously agrees on soon. My father named my two other grandchildren Navya Naveli and Agastya. This time, the task has fallen on us, and until we find an appropriate name for her, she’s ‘bitiya’,” the actor says. Senior Bachchan divulged that while his own children Shweta and Abhishek were growing up he was so busy with work that he could not spend much time with them. But now he wants to spend time and see his grand daughter grow. In fact, he had taken month and a half off, so he could spend every single day observing the baby grow and change. “When she was born she looked a lot like Aishwarya, but now you can see a little bit of Abhishek in her too. It’s still too early to say who she will eventually resemble, babies change everyday,” said the loving ‘dadaji’ (granddad), pointing out that initially babies live in a blackand-white world: “I recently read that they start recognising people and reacting to colours only after the first three months,” he said. A proud grand father of three children is having a great time getting a peep into the world children live in. he expressed, the entire family, including Navya and Agastya, are excited about the new addition. “There’s quite an age difference between my other two grandchildren and this one. Navya is 14 and Agastya is 11, and they are very protective of the baby,” he says. “I hear things like, ‘When she’s seven, I will be 21, I’m going to make sure she does this.’ Kids today are so mature, it’s fascinating to get a window into their world.”
I’ll do it again: Britney Spears to marry boyfriend LoS AnGELES: ‘oops, I did it Again’ star britney Spears is ready to marry for a third time, after accepting boyfriend and former agent Jason Trawick’s proposal, the couple announced friday. Trawick, who Spears has been dating since 2009, announced the news on entertainment Tv show ‘Access Hollywood’, saying: “yes, we are engaged,” adding that he was “over the moon, as (is) she.” The 30-year-old singer then took to her Twitter page to express her excitement. “oMG. Last night Jason surprised me with the one gift I’ve been waiting for. Can’t wait to show you! So So So excited!!!! Xxo,” she tweeted to her 11.8 million followers on the micro-blogging site. Trawick, 40, said he popped the question in a very traditional manner - down one on knee adding that britney’s sons, six-year-old Sean Preston and Jayden James, five, witnessed the proposal. The ex child star has been married twice before: infamously for 55 hours in 2004 to childhood friend, Jason Alexander, and then to Kevin federline, father of her two sons. The so-called “Princess of Pop” has rebuilt her career over the last few years, after a prolonged period of turmoil in her private life following her 2006 split from federline. AGenCIeS
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Sunday, 18 December, 2011
What Pakistan Tennis is crying for:
Synergy of a Centre of Excellence SportS thiS Week ALI AkBAr
T
hE Pakistan Tennis Federation held it's AGM last week. Chaired by President Kaleem Imam, the meeting was the usual round of politics and inanities. Some overly ambitious members were expelled and in a show of clemency were accepted back with open arms. Kaleem Imam had made a promising start to his reign as president PTF. he had raised the status and prestige of the players, improving their lot. Whereas in Dilawar Abbas' time, players had to walk several miles a day just to eat meals, Kaleem arranged meals catered by five star hotels. While this may not go very far in improving tennis in Pakistan, certainly the intent was positive, something that was completely lacking in the previous motley few who had victimised and nepotised Pakistan tennis into oblivion. Kaleem has been posted overseas and will only be coming to Pakistan sporadically. The PTF secretary has meanwhile pulled a disappearing act, rarely venturing out of his native Quetta. In Kaleem's absence, the PTF reins have been handed over to Brig. Saleem Nawaz, a top class hockey player who also utilises his blazing speed to play a very effective doubles game in tennis. Saleem Nawaz is moreover a sportsman and will have the interest of the sport in mind. his main problem will be to sort through the disinformation and obfuscation created by the remnants of Dilawar's atrocious regime. Should he sort out these people, he will be well on his way to making a success of it. having attended several PTF meetings, there is always talk of spreading the sport far and wide, all over Pakistan. Unfortunately, that is not within the resources of the PTF. Additionally, if one studies the success stories of other countries, it is seen that they focus their development work around Centers of Excellence. Spain has Barcelona, the USA has the Tampa area where the Nick Bolletieri's and the harry hopman Academies put the world's most promising young players through their paces. Similarly, France has the Moratogliu Academy. What happens is that the top players all congregate at these locations. They have good coaches, excellent facilities and a great support structure. This synergy of effort converts talented plays into world class professionals. Pakistan had one such Center of Excellence, the Coaching Center at Bagh-eJinnah Lahore. This center was the home of tennis in Pakistan and produced most of our top players. Any good player could go and train there and had to pay next to nothing. That center has been ruined by the past Punjab LTA.
The Coaching Center at bagh-eJinnah Lahore was the home of tennis in Pakistan and produced most of our top players They built fast hard courts instead of the beautiful grass courts that had so much history behind them. So called coaches now started preying on the unsuspecting children and extorting large sums of money with promises of stardom. The late Choudhry Farooq who ran the Coaching Center for so many years with the able assistance of Bashir A Gill, would have been aghast at what has happened to his pride and joy. The Coaching Center can still be taken back to its former glory but requires dedicated management which the current people in charge of Punjab tennis are neither equipped nor in the mood to provide. Their sole focus seems to be to build as many synthetic hard courts as they can in the shortest possible time. Karachi has a coaching center, but with Saeed hai around all one can say is that nothing grows in the shade. hai at one time refused to let the world renowned schools tennis initiative programme come to Karachi unless he was paid half the salary of the coordinator. he has managed three PTF votes and continues to pressure the PTF in every possible way. Karachi seems to be a lost cause. Where PTF can make a difference is to make the PTF complex in Islamabad a Center of Excellence for tennis in Pakistan. Were they to open three new cans of balls everyday and let children come and play for free, they would see large number of children on the courts. Balls are the major expense once a player has bought his racquets. There should be a stringing machine where any boy can go and string his racquet for free. Even shoes such as the Servis Cheetah may be provided. This is not a huge cost,
around Rs1,000 a day. The center should be a home away from home for all players. They can come here, stay in the rooms and get free food. Every weekend there should be a camp at the complex, starting on Friday afternoon and finishing with a tournament on Sunday afternoon. Players from all across the country should be invited. This will create the synergy type situation that we had discussed earlier. On Sunday evening there should be a barbecue party with fancy dress etc just to make it fun and to induce kids to come back. Tennis is a very enjoyable sport. By holding camps for too long and working the kids too hard, we make it seem like work. Unfortunately, however, the remnants of the previous regime are least interested in this sort of activity. They are not tennis players and their only goal is to get as much benefit out of tennis as they can. Were they told to organise this programme, they would make sure it failed. On the other hand there are people willing to put forth the effort, gratis, but refuse to have anything to do with these people. That is the Catch22 and that is where tennis rests. Brig. Saleem Nawaz has the right attitude and credentials to start something like this and he will have the help that he needs but first he will have to sideline the profiteers as no tennis expert in his right mind would want to deal with these people. Tennis is a wonderful game. Developing tennis is not rocket science. We have a wonderful facility built by Waseem Sajjad although the name was hijacked by the hapless Dilawar Abbas. The courts
are a major issue. Apart from the four training courts, the rest of the courts are no good for learning. For training, a player needs a court where the ball has an even, consistent bounce so that he can engage in long rallies to groove his strokes. The way the present courts are, every third ball is a bad ounce, so the players simply cannot take a consistent swing at the ball. This serious issue has to
be addressed. It is better to have hitting partners than coaches who have half baked ideas about the sport. This is absolutely crucial. No correction to a player's technique should be made without consultation with a knowledgeable coach or internationally, over YouTube. This is the way coaching is done. Videos are made and are sent to specialists who analyse and present advice and solutions. We will support Brig. Saleem Nawaz in this very worthwhile endeavor. All he has to do is free tennis from the professional PTF office holders who have brought tennis to this sorry pass.
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Post-mortem
An inquest into the performances of Real Madrid, Amir Khan and Pakistan hockey team barcelona still have real Madrid’s number
Sunday, 18 December, 2011 Khan is without a doubt a top drawer boxer, and a publicity magnet to boot, but technical deficiencies are still present and he does make that crucial error of judgment that costs him – like it did against Peterson. Khan was evidently far superior in skill and athleticism, but what cost him the fight – apart from the refereeing – was Peterson’s technical superiority and apparently Khan is too willing to be lured into a brawl, something that Peterson capitalised on. however, being a fan-friendly boxer ensures that the fans find it easier to overcome losses. Regardless of the result and the potential rematch, Amir must realise that if he wants to continue his march towards the apex, he cannot afford to lose that often. Nonetheless, Amir still has the dynamics to be an all-conquering star. he has impeccable footwork, sweltering hand speed and solid balance. If he were to profit from his strengths and remove the chinks in his armour, he could fulfill his immense potential.
PAkISTAn DISInTeGrATe AT CT
All BAses Covered kUnwAr kHULDUne SHAHID
E
L-CLASSICO and the Khan-Peterson fight were two massive sporting events that didn’t turn out the way we expected them to. The results have colossal repercussions for the respective sports and are a major setback for those who were at the receiving end of the beatings. Meanwhile, our national sport has unpleasant ramifications of its own to deal with after an abysmal showing at the Champions Trophy in Auckland last week.
reAL SQuAnDer OPPOrTunITY Last Saturday’s (or Sunday depending on where you find yourselves on the globe) El-Classico was touted as Real Madrid’s time to seize the moment and announce the change of guard in Spain. As showcased by last week’s column, they had been the form team, they were at home, already on a scoring spree and Ronaldo had looked unstoppable. Au contraire, Barca had looked lacklustre, their performance level way below the towering standards they had set over the recent past. There had been genuine scepticism over their squad’s desire and will, considering the fact that their respective medal cabinets are mini gold mansions. hence the unanimous consensus prior to the kick off was that Madrid should outdo Barcelona and in turn herald a new dawn of domination – as we all so conspicuously found out around 4 a.m (PST); that wasn’t to be. When Benzema put Real up one-nil before some of us managed to bring in their popcorns and snacks from the kitchen, (surely, the writer was not only
The current crop need to showcase desire
one Benzema caught unprepared) one felt that the pre-match prophecies were going to be vindicated. And even after the opening goal, owing to the not-so-brilliant footballing skills of Victor Valdes, Madrid controlled the game. Barcelona’s passing was uncharacteristically diffident, and it was the home team that propelled wave after wave of attacks and had the Catalonian third under siege initially. however, the turning point of the game came when Cristiano Ronaldo frittered away Di Maria’s pass – one of two huge misses from the Portuguese – when the score was 1-0. had that gone in – and it should have – one fancies that Barca would’ve found it difficult to conjure up a reversal. Ronaldo’s nemesis Messi however, was not in a similarly generous mood, and he brilliantly capitalised when Madrid gave him one-tenth of an inch to manoeuvre and set up the equaliser that was stunningly finished by Alexis. The volatile forward has the makings of filling David Villa’s boots aptly and with four goals in four games he is definitely making his mark. After bringing the score at a level pegging, Barca began to dictate matters in their emblematic fashion, and were lead dependably by Iniesta’s orchestration – easily the player of the match – and Xavi’s composure. What makes Barca’s ‘tika-taka’ brand of football an absolute nightmare for the opposition is its defensive fortitude. While Barca’s perpetual control over the football ensures that the opposite team feels that they are aging right there in the middle of the park, what it also does is it sucks out their energy. Combine this induction of lethargy with Barca’s relentless pressing whenever the oddity of them being without the ball comes and the adver-
saries fail to put two and two together in the latter stages of the match. Barca personify defending from the front astoundingly well and after taking a two goal lead they still fielded a 4-2-4, reminiscent of Brazil of 1970. While Barca were typically merciless, there was a lot that Real could’ve done better. For starters, Coentrao should never have played at right-back, and Lassana Diarra would’ve been the more apposite replacement for the injured Arbeloa. Secondly, while Benzema is more of a team player, and of course his early goal might have vindicated his selection, but if you have to pick one between higuain and the Frenchman to trouble Barca’s rearguard, higuain is more likely to create opportunities for himself. And, as we all witnessed after Benzema’s goal – which again was courtesy Valdes – he faded out of the game and didn’t manage to create any opportunities. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly Madrid rely more heavily on Ronaldo than Barca ever did on Messi, and hence when the Portuguese puts up a no-show his side is bound to struggle. Not only was the aforementioned chance at 10 criminal, the free header he wasted from an Alonso ball when Madrid were 21 down was even more profligate. The league is definitely not over following the result, Madrid still have the lead over Barcelona and look like having enough drive to overpower the other 18 sides in Spain. however, the question marks over them overcoming their archenemy have become all the more daunting following the 7th El-Classico of 2011. All the same, if the column were to put a wager on this year’s La Liga champions, it would still opt for Real Madrid.
DISAPPOInTMenT FOr kHAn Yes, we could have a rematch; yes the refereeing was straight out of boxing joke books and yes the result was controversial, but all things said and done the Khan-Peterson fight should never have hinged on this. Controversy and boxing go hand in glove and Amir Khan had enough of an arsenal to ensure that the fight doesn’t end up being as close as it was and in turn it would’ve ensured that the adjudicating didn’t prove to be the decisive factor. What the loss has also done is that Khan’s jump up to welterweight has come under scrutiny. Even though a potential matchup against Floyd Mayweather Jr was being hyped up not so long ago, it should be shelved for the time being since Amir is clearly not ready for that acid test.
Though Pakistan is nowhere near their halcyon days, one has always felt that instead of criticising the present bunch, one should be supportive despite its being in a state of unending transition for about 17 years. The seventh place finish in the Champions Trophy has capped off an eerie year, leaving more questions than answers. The 2-1 defeat against England, 42 beating at the hands of Spain, 6-1 mauling by Australia and a 5-0 battering by Germany – in the lower tier of second round pools – are disheartrending to say the least. These teams are the Who’s Who of world hockey and by pitting ourselves against them we can gauge where we stand against the very best in hockey; and that place is isolated from the zenith of hockey, unfortunately. And again, one must stress that merely the results don’t narrate the entire tale, the performances were sheepish and it was almost as if we were scared stiff against the topmost sides in the world. The Champions Trophy was another throwback to the demons of malfunction in global events for the hockey side. There was a stark contrast in the fitness
Amir Khan needs to iron a few creases
and speed between Pakistan and the rest of the sides. The forward line was pedestrian, and they flaunted an inability to keep hold of the ball and kept on losing possession. Salman Akbar and Imran Shah have been criticised following the exploits in New Zealand, but like Mansoor Ahmed has judiciously pointed out, one would find it hard to block the leakage of goals if one faces a barrage of attacks every now and then. Keeping hold of possession, defending from the front is the more consummate form of defending – something that Barcelona and indeed the topmost European hockey sides depict. Now, with the Olympics coming up next year and with the performance in the biggest global tournament in the lead up no way near the desired standards, it does leave Pakistan hockey in a veritable fix. One needs to dig deep into a bottomless pit to extract any optimism; and while we owe some patience to the national sport for its historical grandeur, the current crop owes it to the fans to present an upsurge in performance and desire.
real Madrid can’t afford a ronaldo ‘no-show’
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Sunday, 18 December, 2011
bangladesh’s Shahriar nafees is hit by a bouncer by umar Gul. (r) Mohammad Mahmudullah is bowled by Aizaz Cheema.
Cheema rocks B’desh, A year of redemption, glory and hope Shakib, Nafees repair damage DHAkA
SCOreBOArD
AFP
S
hAKIB Al hasan cracked a careerbest 108 not out and Shahriar Nafees hit a solid 97 to lead Bangladesh’s recovery on the opening day of the second and final Test against Pakistan in Dhaka on Saturday. Bangladesh were struggling at 43-4 following paceman Aizaz Cheema’s three-wicket burst in the morning before reaching 234-5 in their first innings at stumps, thanks to Shakib and Nafees. The left-handed pair applied themselves remarkably well to deny Pakistan any success for 51 overs as they added 180 runs, Bangladesh’s highest stand for the fifth wicket in Tests. Nafees looked set to complete his second Test century before falling in the last session, caught behind off his gloves off paceman Umar Gul after hitting 12 fours in his 177-ball knock. “I knew the Pakistani bowlers would give me bouncers, so I was prepared for it but unfortunately I could not remove my hand in time. This knock was something I could learn from,” said Nafees. “Our partnership was very essential for the team, especially at a time when we had four wickets down quickly. Now we are in a bit of a comfortable position, but still we have miles to go.” Former captain Shakib moved from 89 to 100 in one over off Gul and completed his second Test hundred when he cut the paceman for a sin-
BAnGLADeSH 1ST InnInGS: Tamim Iqbal c Cheema b Gul 14 0 Mohammed nazimuddin lbw b Cheema Shahriar nafees c Akmal b Gul 97 0 Mohammad Mahmudullah b Cheema 7 nasir Hossain c Akmal b Cheema Shakib Al Hasan not out 108 5 Mushfiqur rahim not out eXTrAS (lb3) 3 234 TOTAL (for five wickets; 68 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-0 (nazimuddin), 2-16 (Tamim), 3-21 (Mahmudullah), 4-43 (nasir), 5-223 (nafees). BOWLInG: Gul 14-1-63-2, Cheema 16-2-52-3, Hafeez 9-3-27-0, Ajmal 15-1-47-0, rehman 14-0-42-0. TOSS: Pakistan, uMPIreS: Billy Doctrove (WIS) and Shavir Tarapore (InD), TV uMPIre: enamul Haque (BAn), MATCH reFeree: David Boon (AuS)
gle. his previous best was 100 against New Zealand in hamilton last year. Shakib has so far hit 14 fours, including three in an over off Cheema, in his 168-ball knock. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim was unbeaten on five when bad light stopped play. Nafees, who swept and pulled off-spinner Mohammad hafeez for two fours in an over, reached his seventh Test half-century when he fluently drove Gul through the covers for a boundary. Bangladesh were in deep trouble in the morning as Cheema grabbed three wickets in a sharp eight-over opening spell after the tourists won the toss and elected to field. “I just tried to maintain a good line and length and put the ball in right area,” said Cheema.
BD’S HIGHeST FIFTH-WICkeT STAnD stAts Corner S. PerVez QAISer
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HAHrIAr nafees and Shakib Al Hasan set a new record for the fifth wicket partnership for bangladesh in Tests by adding 180 runs against Pakistan. It was bangladesh's first century partnership in Tests since June 2010. The duo batted for almost two sessions to rescue bangladesh from what had looked set to be yet another low total, after Aizaz Cheema had reduced them to 43 for 4 in helpful morning conditions. Mehrab Hossain Junior and Mushfiqur rahim, who added 144 runs against new Zealand at Chittagong in 2008-09, held the previous record.
Habibul bashar and Javed omar's 167-run stand for the second wicket at Peshawar in 2003 was the previous best stand for bangladesh against Pakistan. Shakib Al Hasan became the fifth bangladeshi and 332nd batsman overall to score over 1500 runs in Test cricket. The left hand batsman achieved this feat during his unbeaten 108-run knock. It was 48th innings of his 26th Test match. The other bangladeshi batsmen to achieve this milestone were Habib-ul-basher (3026 runs in 50 Tests), Mohammed Ashraful (2419 runs in 57 Tests), Tamim Iqbal (1724 runs in 24 Tests) and Javed omar (1720 runs in 40 Tests). Shakib Al Hasan also became the third bangladeshi batsman to score a hundred against Pakistan. Habibul bashar's 108 at Karachi in August 2003 was the first hundred for bangladesh against Pakistan.
BAnGLADeSH'S HIGHeST STAnDS AGAInST PAkISTAn runS 180 167 130 114 111
WkT 5 2 3 2 4
BATSMen SHAHrIAr nAfEES/SHAKIb AL HASAn HAbIbuL bASHAr/JAvEd oMAr JAvEd oMAr/MoHAMMAd ASHrAfuL HAbIbuL bASHAr/HAnnAn SArKAr HAbIbuL bASHAr/rAJIn SALEH
Venue dHAKA PESHAWAr PESHAWAr KArACHI KArACHI
SeASOn 2011-12 2003-04 2003-04 2003-04 2003-04
the Yorker length nABeeL SABIr
I
F 2010 was a year of tumult and hullabaloo for Pakistan, 2011 is a year of fabulous performances, glory and optimism. The Pakistan cricket was at an all-time low last year in the backdrop of the ‘spot-fixing’ controversy, chronic mismanagement; an inefficient Pakistan Cricket Board failing to fight Pakistan’s case at the international forums, and the only thing worse than PCB’s management was the team’s on-field performance. Thankfully in contrast, this year has been much serene and tranquil both on and off the field. There may be one or two cases of misconduct or mismanagement overall but in a nutshell it was a peaceful year in Pakistan cricket’s context. And most important of all, the results have gone Pakistan’s way on a more consistent basis which was heartening to see after a long time. At the end of 2011 Pakistan cricket team looks in a much better shape than it was last year at this time. The team looks like a more settled unit with everyone doing his job and delivering for the team’s ultimate good. Also there has been a change at the helm in the PCB and positive vibes seem to emanate from the corridors of power. The foremost thing in this regard is revival of international cricket in Pakistan which was terribly halted after the 2009 attack on Sri Lankan cricket team. The new chairman Mr. Zaka Ashraf has clearly laid down the fact that revival of foreign teams visits to Pakistan is his main aim after taking over the chairmanship of the board. Talks are on with Bangladesh board and if all goes well Bangladesh can become the first Test playing nation to visit Pakistan in almost three years this spring. Let’s hope and pray that things improve and the cricket grounds across the country come back to life once again with international cricket and the ardent Pakistani fans get to see their own stars perform in front of them. Playing your home series away from home is never easy. Eventually, when cricket will come back to Pakistan not only the fans but also the cricketers will reap the benefits and with the home encouragement the cricketers will be able to develop their game further.
Then there is some talk of revival of cricketing ties between Pakistan and India. There was a possibility Pakistan might tour India in March-April next year to play a bilateral series but that idea has gone out of the window after the announcement of the Asia Cup schedule in Bangladesh during the same dates on which Pakistan’s tour of India was to take place. Its seems that despite the PCB’s genuine intent to resume bilateral ties with India there is an overall reluctance and disinclination on part of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and they don’t want to play Pakistan just yet. Coming on to the field Pakistan cricket team is to have a new head coach soon. Former fast bowling great Waqar Younis resigned from the position of head coach in September after serving for a year or so. Since then former opening batsman Mohsin Khan has taken over as an interim coach and has done a reasonable job so far. But if reports are to be believed, former Australian batsman and head coach of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Dave Whatmore is to take over this role before the start of England series next year. Now this is going to be a good choice by PCB as Whatmore has a proven track record as a coach. he has done appreciably well as a coach with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh plus he also coached English county side Lancashire with success in the 90s and is currently doing a good job with Indian Premier League (IPL) side Kolkata Knight Riders. The other good and important thing about Whatmore is that he knows the sub continental culture well and with his keen eye on the game he can be the ideal man for Pakistan cricket team. Apart from head Coach there is also talk that specialist batting, bowling and fielding coaches are to be appointed as well which one fells is a very good idea as cricket is changing and similarly are its management playing dynamics. And its high time Pakistan cricket adopts these modern dynamics. When we talk of results on the field in 2011 Pakistan cricket team has had a fruitful year in 2011 beyond any doubt. The team has gelled well as a cohesive unit and the role of captain Misbah-ulhaq has been vital in this regard. he has given Pakistan team the stability that was needed the most at this point in time. Misbah is calm and collected in his demeanor as a captain on the field and also off it. he knows what he is doing
and also backs his instincts when needed. he looks positive and backs the players in his own way and the boys seem to respect him as he himself leads from the front by scoring runs and keeping fit despite being 38 years old. Pakistan started the year with an ODI series win in New Zealand. Then in the World Cup they played fantastically beating Australia, Sri Lanka and West Indies on course to the semi-final where they lost out to eventual winners India. Then on the tour of Caribbean they won the ODI series 3-2 and drew the Tests series 1-1. The 2011-12 season started with a comprehensive victory over Zimbabwe across all formats in September. After this the team went to UAE to take on Sri Lanka in a home away from home series. This was going to be their toughest Test this year given the fact that Sri Lankans are a top notch side and have been playing good cricket in the lead up to this series. The team did well yet again and won the Test series 1-0 and the ODI series 4-1. Now on the current tour of Bangladesh they have blanked out the hosts winning all the games so far. There have been some fine individual performances as well this year. Saeed Ajmal has developed into a top notch off spinner. As one writes he is the leading Test wicket taker of the year table with 47 scalps in just seven Tests this year and he also sits on top of the world ODI ratings. Apart from him, Mohammad hafeez has turned out to be a true allrounder taking wickets when needed and scoring runs consistently. Younus Khan has done well with the bat as have Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali and Umar Akmal. With the ball Abdur Rehman has grabbed all opportunities that have come his way while Junaid Khan has shown immense promise, something which augurs well for the future. And then there is Shahid Khan Afridi who has been simply awesome with the ball. Overall, the team’s show this year has smoothened the ruffled feathers of last year and the team seems to be headed in the right direction. The consistency has been there in the results but the overall performance will be tested to the maximum next month when they take on England in a full series in the UAE. If Pakistan keep up the good show, play with positive intent and professionalism there is no reason why they can’t do well against England and carry on the good show of 2011 in 2012 as well.
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South Africa cruSh Sri Lanka CentUrIon
V
SCOreBOArD
AFP
ERNON Philander claimed his second five-wicket haul of the match as South Africa stormed to victory by an innings and 81 runs before tea on the third day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park here on Saturday. Sri Lanka crashed to 150 all out in their second innings, with Philander taking five for 49 after taking five for 53 in the first innings. Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher took six catches to equal the South African record for the fourth time. The Sri Lankans could not cope with South Africa’s pace attack on a pitch of uneven bounce and extravagant seam movement. They lost their first six wickets for 70 runs and only some desperation hitting by their tailenders enabled them to reach their eventual total. Sri Lanka were 38 for four at lunch. Fast bowling discovery Philander took two wickets and Dale Steyn one before Sri Lanka lost Mahela Jayawardene to a needless run out when he was one run short of becoming the first Sri Lankan to score 10,000 runs in Tests. Philander made the first breakthrough when he had Sri Lankan captain Tillekeratne Dilshan caught behind by Mark Boucher for six in the fourth over, with Dilshan forced to play a ball close to his off stump which moved away off a pitch which has helped the fast bowlers throughout the match. Tharanga Paranavitana was caught behind for four off Dale Steyn in the fifth over and Kumar Sangakkara followed two overs later when he edged a superb delivery from Philander to Boucher, the ball swinging in to the left-hander and then nipping away off the pitch. Paranavitana survived two televi-
CEnTurIon: South Africa’s Imran Tahir (C) celebrates with teammate the dismissal of Sri Lanka’s batsman Kaushal Silva (not pictured). Afp sion reviews and was struck on the knee and right elbow during his brief innings. Steyn, on a hat-trick after finishing off the Sri Lankan first innings, appealed for leg before wicket when he beat Paranavitana with the first ball of the innings. Umpire Rod Tucker gave the batsman not out and his decision was shown to be correct when the South Africans asked for a review, with the ball missing the left-hander’s leg stump. Paranavitana was then given out
lbw to Philander by umpire Steve Davis and successfully sought a review which showed the ball pitched outside leg stump. Jayawardene, needing 16 to reach 10 000 Test runs, took his score to 15 with two boundaries in an over off Jacques Kallis. he then pushed a ball from Kallis to the off side and was called through for a run by batting partner Thilan Samaraweera. Kallis reacted quickly, picked up the ball, turned and threw down the stumps at the bowler’s
end with Jayawardene well short. Samaraweera made a plucky 32 before he was caught behind off Morne Morkel, which effectively ended the tourists’ resistance, although Thisera Perera and Rangana herath hit sixes before Philander claimed the final wicket when herath was caught behind. South Africa were bowled out earlier for 411 with last wicket pair Mark Boucher and Imran Tahir adding 22 runs in four overs to extend their last wicket stand to 61,
A uSTRALIA wOuLD win nExt AShES BAttlE eXPerT COMMenT
T
SHAnE WArnE
hE Big Bash is just one element of a changing game in Australia. There is a feeling of a new era dawning after the gloomy days of the Ashes series last January. Australia are still inconsistent with older players out of form but I can sense already that under Michael Clarke’s captaincy they will play an exciting brand of cricket. Over the next couple of years I think the younger players around the country will grab their opportunity so by the time the next Ashes series comes around Australia will be a very good cricket side.
They will be challenging England for the No 1 spot by then. The next Ashes series will be a great battle. There is a lot of cricket to be played before then but Eng-
land’s team isn’t going to change very much and a lot of these younger players will emerge for Australia. David Warner is only 25, Usman Khwaja looks good and
the quicks James Pattinson and Pat Cummins have made promising starts. Nathan Lyon, the off-spinner, has a real chance to be a success. he reminds me of Graeme Swann and is an old-fashioned off-spinner in that he doesn’t bowl a doosra but has a good off-break and arm ball. he can dry an end up but also spins it. Swann is the best spinner in the world but Lyon has a chance to catch him. If he comes out of this Australian summer unscathed against India then I think he has a big future. So far everyone has been impressed with Clarke’s captaincy. I have spoken to him a fair bit and we’ve bounced a few ideas off each other. It is an honest relationship. I kick his backside when he makes mistakes and had a go at him for not bowling Lyon in the second innings of the first Test in South Africa recently. I am a harsh critic and drive him hard but at the moment it is difficult to criticise him. Australia look like they are enjoying playing cricket under his leadership - which is half the battle.
Lure of frying pan and Warne’s love of cheese Comment tAnyA ALDreD
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hANE Warne’s hearty appetite - for women, cheese, diuretics, cigarettes and more cheese - frequently got him into trouble. When Elizabeth hurley took him under her wing and taught him 100 ways with macrobiotic rice, though, it seemed his wanton days were over. But, this week, Monday to be precise, he slipped. Five days before his big return for the Melbourne Stars at the Twenty20 Big Bash, the lure of the frying pan was too much to bear. he bubbled up the oil, threw in the bacon, got into a pickle with the packaging and ended up with a bowling hand, red, and crisp and blistered. For
Shane Warne, at least for the old Warne, this was par for the course. he was a plum-pudding of a larrikin with an appetite for the absurd and a bluntness with endeared him more to England fans than toAustralia captains. Whether this new neat-hipped soppy-tweeting version can bowl with the same disregard for convention, seems unlikely. At least he still has the aptitude for getting into scrapes. The bacon burn is one of a long list of freak accidents to hit elite athletes, who should be banned from crossing on the stairs, never mind leaving a pair of shoes on the table. Take Derek Pringle, the cricket correspondent of The Daily Telegraph, who once hurt his back addressing an envelope full of complimentary tickets prior to the headingley Test of 1982.
he leant back for a stretch and promptly destroyed the chair that he was sitting on and collapsed onto the floor. he ended up with shooting pains going up through his neck and missed the game. Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya dislocated his shoulder reaching for the shampoo in the shower, which seemed especially unfortunate as he didn’t have much hair in the first place. Chris Old, the serial walking accident, once pulled out on the morning of a Test after sneezing and hurting a rib, and Tony Greig cricked his neck having a shave. More seriously Fred Titmus lost some of his toes on a tour of West Indies after absentmindedly dangling his feet over the side of the boat when the propellor was on. The West Indies also did for Rob Bailey,
now an international umpire, then an England batsman. he broke his toe in Barbados after kicking the dressing-room fridge but forgetting that he had already taken his boot off. Troubled Chris Lewis, now in prison for drug-smuggling, got sunstroke on St Vincent after shaving his head and then spending hours outside on the field without a hat. Cricketers are not, of course, alone. The humble remote-control seems to have caused carnage for a remarkably high number of footballers. Robbie Keane trod on the remote and ruptured his knee cartilage. Goalkeeper David Seaman pulled a muscle in his back when straining to record Coronation Street. The maddening search for the zapper also caused injury to Carlo Cudicini (knee) and David James (back.) Meanwhile Rio Ferdinand managed to strain a tendon
in his knee watching television and Michael Stensgaard, another goalkeeper, hurt his shoulder so badly doing the ironing that he was temporarily forced to retire. Golfer Sam Torrance has just about the worst accident record in any sport. he fractured his sternum at the Belfry hotel after tripping over a giant flower pot while sleep-walking. he has also gashed his head getting out of a car door, and torn the muscles in his neck lifting his baby out of her pram. There has also been an incident with an airport trolley. Some blame must go to the moustache. But the booby prize goes to Darius Vassell, whose attempt at DIY surgery on his own foot went so horribly wrong. he found a blood-blister under the nail of his big toe and so, for reasons known only to him, decided to drain it with the help of a power drill. (Telegraph)
SrI LAnkA, FIrST InnInGS: 180 SOuTH AFrICA, FIrST InnInGS (OVernIGHT 389-9) J. rudolph c Paranavitana b Perera 44 61 G. Smith lbw b Fernando 0 D. Steyn run out (Herath) 18 H. Amla c Mathews b Perera 31 J. kallis c Mathews b Welegedera 99 A. de Villiers sub (kurunaratne) b Perera 39 A. Prince c Silva b Mathews M. Boucher c Silva b Welegedera 65 4 V. Philander c Jayawardene b Dilshan M. Morkel c Samaraweera b Welegedera 4 Imran Tahir not out 29 17 eXTrAS (b1, lb1, nb12, w3) 411 TOTAL (122 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-88 (Smith), 2-90 (Steyn), 3-125 (Amla), 4136 (rudolph), 5-173 (kallis), 6-270 (Prince), 7-303 (De Villiers), 8-344 (Philander), 9-350 (Morkel) BOWLInG: Welegedera 31-4-96 -3 (1nb, 1w), Perera 24-1-114-3 (1w), Mathews 9-4-13-1, Fernando 28-2-128-1 (7nb, 1w), Dilshan 7-1-17-1, Herath 23-4-41-0 SrI LAnkA, SeCOnD InnInGS 4 T. Paranavitana c Boucher b Steyn 6 T. Dilshan c Boucher b Philander 2 k. Sangakkara c Boucher b Philander M. Jayawardene run out (kallis) 15 T. Samaraweera c Boucher b Morkel 32 5 A. Mathews c Boucher b Philander k. Silva c kallis b Tahir 17 21 T. Perera c Smith b Steyn 23 r. Herath c Boucher b Philander 10 C. Welegedera c and b Philander D. Fernando not out 4 eXTrAS (lb1, nb10) 11 150 TOTAL (39.1 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Dilshan), 2-11 (Paranavitana), 3-19 (Sangakkara), 4-37 (Jayawardene), 5-66 (Mathews), 6-70 (Samaraweera), 7-104 (Perera), 8-133 (Silva), 9-145 (Welegedera) BOWLInG: Steyn 10-2-36-2, Philander 11.1-1-49-5 (5nb), kallis 5-3-13-0 (1nb), Morkel 9-0-36-1 (4nb), Tahir 4-1-15-1 Man of match: Vernon Philander (rSA) reSuLT: South Africa won by an innings and 81 runs, SerIeS: South Africa lead the three-match series 1-0, TOSS: South Africa, uMPIreS: Steve Davis, rod Tucker (both AuS), TV uMPIre: richard kettleborough (enG), MATCH reFeree: Chris Broad (enG)
a record against Sri Lanka. Boucher added four boundaries to his overnight 49 before chasing a wide ball from Chanaka Welegedera to be caught behind by Kaushal Silva for 65. Tahir was unbeaten on 29.
realising dreams just
a trial away!
Comment
G
zAInAB H. kHAn
roWInG up in Pakistan meant watching PTv and the plethora of advertisements. There were brand advertisements offering unbelievable riches, jewels and holidays to far off mysterious places. remember how a soup brand gave you the chance to win diamond rings and other promised walkmans? or better yet were others who offered exciting vacations! As we grew up so did the number of channels and accordingly did these offers. These days diamond rings are not the only allure, today it is all about making you the next big thing. one don’t remember if anyone actually won the ring or the walkman but this is an established fact that dedicated companies are working hard to make others’ dreams come true. Amongst these brands, the name that came up often was that of Pepsi. Who can forget the time when Pepsi promised a trip to England for the cricket World Cup in 1999 only if you got a 1 2 3 on your bottle cap or the numerous ads starring Shahid Afridi displaying superb cricketing skills? Cricket is one language that all Pakistanis understand and Pepsi is one beverage that runs in our veins so when you combine the two, together it makes one good mocktail. Pepsi has always been associated with the promotion of Pakistani cricket in one way or the other and recently it has gone a step further by launching the ‘Pepsi Cricket Star’ 2011 campaign after a successful first term completion. According to the campaign, Pepsi is giving the opportunity to every Pakistani kid to make it big and be one day part of the national cricket team. What deeply touches is the fact how marketing has gone beyond just jingles in commercials and free giveaways. Instead of calling people to their doors, the campaign has gone to every corner of the country giving young street cricketers a chance to make it big on a national level. It’s the dream of every aspiring cricketer to be trained under some of the biggest stars of Pakistani cricket. The launch of the campaign has generated a lot of positive feedback from the masses. once considered giants, Pakistan were on a downward. revival efforts were underway and this helping hand by Pepsi will go a long way in giving the sport the boost it requires. The campaign is a highly successful example of reaching out to the general public especially the youth that forms the bulk of its market and is an appreciative move by Pepsi in the larger interest of the country. Pepsi will now help realize the dreams of those starry eyed boys who drank the beverage during games in their streets all the while imitating Afridi’s style and Shoaib’s swagger. Pakistan is teeming with talent and the most effective way of keeping it here where it belongs is to give our youngsters a platform to perform. Kudos to all these companies for coming up with these ideas and here’s to hoping that all these ideas plan out and bring forward the brilliance that is Pakistani youth. How marketing has done wonders in the larger interest of the country is not a new story. How it has made the impossible possible for those youngsters is a tale that will be told by cricket stars of future themselves.
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HAFeez AND uMAR:
Providing
some sense of stability
at the top Comment FAIzAn zAkArIA PoLAnI
h
OBBS-SUTCLIFFE, Greenidgehaynes, hayden-Langer, and more recently Strauss-Cook as well as Sehwag-Gambhir. A dependable opening partnership is a key feature of every dominant Test team. The impact a consistent opening pair has on the team can be seen by the success of each of the teams that the above mentioned openers played for. having been assigned the task of facing the pacemen coming at them full throttle with new cherries in their hands, the openers act as shock absorbers who attempt to see off the new ball, wear down the pacemen and lay down a foundation to the innings for the other batsmen to build upon. When Mohammad hafeez and Taufeeq
Umar came out to bat in the only Pakistan innings in the Chittagong Test, it was the 21st straight time they did so, which, rather surprisingly, is now a record for Pakistani openers. While the likes of hanif Mohammad, Sadiq Mohammad, Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Saeed Anwer, Aamer Sohail, all went on to play more than 40 Test matches, the fact that it is the first time Pakistan persisted with the same opening pair for 10 straight Test matches goes a great distance to explain the instability in the team, especially at the top of the order. Finding a consistent opening pair has been the Achilles heel of Pakistan cricket for a while now. In the 363 Test matches Pakistan has played, 135 different opening pairs have been tried. That means that on average an opening pair has been persisted with for a little less than 2.7 matches. That is the lowest among all test playing na-
tions. Compare that with Sri Lanka, who top that list, having tried just 50 different opening partnerships in 208 Test matches, hence persisting with the same pair for 4.2 innings on average, and Pakistan’s batting can be better put into perspective. Although the hafeez-Umar duo now holds the record for the longest unchanged opening partnership for Pakistan, there are still four more pairs who have opened the innings on more occasions than the two. That list is topped by Mohsin Khan and Mudassar Nazar who have opened the innings for Pakistan on 54 occasions. The persistence of the Pakistani management and selectors with hafeez and Umar is not because they have been the most consistent. The average partnership between hafeez and Umar lasts just a tad above 40 runs, which is no match for Majid Khan and Sadiq Muhammad, who piled on more
than 60 runs on average, the 26 times they opened the innings for Pakistan. The hafeez-Umar streak is instead a result of mental as well as physical fitness, as those are the key attributes for any consistent opening pair. The openers need to mentally strong to hang in there in the middle, even if the going gets tough and the runs dry up, and be able to craft an innings through the most difficult of times. They also need to physically strong to survive for long periods, often in physically testing conditions. Sadly for Pakistan, these attributes have not been all that common in the opening batsmen. They have either gone down due to injuries or went through extended lean patches leading them to run out of favor with the selectors. Add to the equation the fickle-mindedness, or impatience, of the selectors, and you have musical chairs at
eXPerT COMMenT
MArK WEbbEr It has been an incredibly long and busy Formula 1 season, so it seems appropriate that the last few days before my end-of-season break have been flat out and involved an enormous amount of travelling. I was in Tasmania for most of last week, helping get the Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge up and running. As those of you who read the column last week will know, we revived the adventure race after a three-year break. It went really well, although I was not able to take part in the whole event, as I would normally do. I managed to compete on the first day, a good six or seven hours out on the course in gorgeous weather. There was some orienteering to start with, mixed in with a two-mile run, to break the field up before we did a six-mile ocean paddle in a kayak. Then there was a quite technical and tough 25-mile mountainbike ride, followed by an optional abseil, which I didn't do because it was a bit sketchy up at the top of the cliff and I didn't want to take any risks. I rejoined the
race for another paddle and a bit of a run at the end. I really enjoyed it, although I was a little bit undercooked. I think all the travel at the end of a long F1 season had caught up with me. But I managed to stay within 25 minutes of the leaders, which I was pretty happy with. A couple of local guys - Mark Padgett and Mark hinder - won the event, which was great to see. They have been taking part for years now. I had to go to India for the official end-of-season FIA prize-giving ceremony in Delhi last week. I'm not
From car spinning to award evenings
a big fan of black-tie events and managed to leave my dinner suit in the lounge at Melbourne airport. It's Sod's Law, isn't it? I'd carried the suit with me for six days, only needed it for three hours and had lost it. The airline I was on, Qantas, tried to get the suit to me, but there wasn't time. When I got to Singapore, I had to go out into the city to buy a new one. I ended up in a shop right by the F1 track. It was a bit surreal to be there in December. Awards evenings are always a bit stiff, with a lot of clapping,
the top of the Pakistani batting order. The hafeez-Umar duo has shown some toughness at the top, by hanging in there even when the going got tough. Four century stands, a tie with Saeed and Aamer for the most for any Pakistani opening pair, to go along with four 50-plus ones is a testament to their potential. The selectors and team management also deserve a pat on the back for the faith they have shown in this duo. But with the England series looming, the two are gearing up for their biggest challenge to date – facing up to Anderson and company. A few runs in the Dhaka Test should help their cause and keep the momentum going, but it would take a brave performance from the two against England for them to make their mark as not only one of the better opening pairs to represent Pakistan, but also one of the better ones in present-day Test cricket.
but it's important to recognise the achievements people have made through the year, plus it was good to spend some time with Jenson Button. Until the last race of the season, it hadn't looked as if I would be going to the FIA ceremony. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was ahead of me in the championship and only the top three drivers have to go. In fact, Jenson, Fernando and I had had a bit of a joke on the drivers' parade before the final race of the season in Brazil last month. We were all keen to improve our championship positions, but none of us were that up for any extra travel. In the end, I won in Brazil, relegating Fernando to fourth. he's an intense competitor but I don't think he was that unhappy about losing out by one point. I got a text message from him the day before I was going to India, reminding me that I had to go. It was along the lines of: "This is your captain speaking, your flight is ready for boarding." It made me smile. I was only in Delhi for a few hours. I didn't even stay a night, boarding a flight back to England for the Red Bull "home run", where my team-mate Sebastian Vettel and I drove two F1 cars around the team's home town of Milton Keynes. The council had the courage to close the town centre to traffic on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. It was a nice thank you for us and it was a really good day. A lot of people had travelled quite far for it. I heard some people had come from Poole in Dorset and others from Manchester. But it seemed to go down really well. We drove up and down, did a few 'donuts', spinning the car around and around smoking the rear wheels. Not everyone gets the chance to go to a grand prix, so it's nice to give them a feel for how the cars sound and look. The first time someone sees an F1 car, it's always a mind-blowing experience. (BBC)
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Sunday, 18 December, 2011
eXPerT COMMenT
Pakistan Cricket
Time to hit the next gear Enough of beating the middle-of-the-road sides, we need to equip for bigger challenges
India’s best chance Down under is now
younus Khan: Solid but failed to penetrate into the new millennium.
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virender Sehwag’s monstrous knock remind us of the lack of dependable aggression amongst our ranks.
Comment J.k wALI
A
S Virender Sehwag was busy pulverising the West Indian attack and dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground, and beyond; the cricketing world was witnessing the brilliance of one of those rare breed of cricketers who have the audacity to eye the unprecedented and also achieve it. The masterful innings of 219 in 149 balls at Indore, not only toppled Sachin Tendulkar’s knock from the top of the concerned table, it did so with beastly devastation. Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, Pakistan were busy crushing whatever little resistance Bangladesh offered – which was probably light years away from qualifying as minuscule – and putting the lid over the envelope of stability that we seem to have finally found. While the recent upsurge is admirable, the problems in the batting lineup are still there for all to see. And Sehwag’s record-breaking innings reminded us all about something that Pakistan’s batting lineup is completely devoid of – flamboyance with substance. Limited-overs cricket has become a festival of run-scoring. Scores in excess of 300 are a norm, the 350 run mark is being touched ever so frequently and the formerly unthinkable act of crossing the hallowed 400 runs in 50 overs has become a reality. Cricket is following baseball in that batting has now become the ‘offense’, and the bowling – like pitching in the American sport – has donned the garb of being the ‘defense’. The pundits and experts might not label it as such in this moment and time, but there is not doubt that the days of cricket being labeled as an even contest between bat and ball are long gone. Batting friendly conditions are being created all over the globe, and hence low scoring thrillers have become a rarity. All this has resulted in the obvious decline
in the quality of fast bowling all over the globe. And it’s a no-brainer; any kid growing up watching cricket over the past decade or so would rather be at the giving end of beatings than the receiving end. Now, considering the change in dynamics of cricket, the question that Sehwag’s innings asked of our side was whether or not we have the arsenal to post totals in excess of 300 runs regularly. As things stand, the answer is a firm no! Starting off from the top, hafeez might be earning a lot of praise for his performances with the ball in his hand, but his batting leaves a lot to be desired. It is indeed ironic that after a decade long search for a regular opener, the man who seems to have cemented his place at the top has done so owing to his ability with the ball. hafeez has the touch and the timing, but never manages to make full use of the first powerplay. hafeez’s opening partner is a lottery draw and there is a huge pool of options ranging from promising middle-order batsmen, butter fingered wicket-keepers and recently culminating in a not-
so-brilliant son-in-law. What current pick Imran Farhat and hafeez have in common is their inability to perform when the onus is on them, and their ability to look like world-beaters when the task is not so daunting. At number three is Younus Khan, who has managed to prolong his stay in the limited-overs thanks to his performances in Test cricket. And this indeed is bizarre and of course is only possible in Pakistan Cricket. Younus doesn’t have anything resembling big hitting prowess, and the times of a solid anchor coming at onedown and not bothering about the run rate failed to penetrate into the new millennium. One can’t really fault Younus for not doing something that doesn’t fit his style of play, it’s the people who keep selecting him and fail to understand the evolving nature of the game that are culpable. With the recent turnaround in fortunes, it is hard to point finger at just about anything Misbah-ul-haq does nowadays, but the question marks over him being bogged down still remain. however, the thing with our captain is that he
It is hard to point finger at Misbah-ul-Haq but the question marks over him being bogged down still remain.
SunIL GAvASKAr
has the ability to up the ante as well. Customarily, he might be seen trotting around scoring 25 off 50 odd balls, but he can reverse the number of balls and runs as well – if need be. Again, there is a difference between the perceptions of ‘need’ as Misbah perceives it, and as the average Pakistani cricket fan sees it. The lower middle and the lower order is where one can trace the aforementioned flamboyance; but then again the question marks over ‘substance’ remain. Umar Akmal is the nearest thing we get to the archetype modern ODI batsman, but his ever-so-frequent irrationality ensures that he falls way short of being the real deal. Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq when at their best have the ability to post daunting strike rates. The last two were no way near their best against Sri Lanka and in all probability are fighting for the same spot. Afridi and towering strike rates might have had a long-term relationship, but despite him being the equivalent of David Beckham in terms of popularity, none of his ardent followers would put a wager on him guiding Pakistan to victory even if we needed 25 runs off the last five overs with four wickets to spare. It’s sad, but true. The wicket-keeper has the liberty to openly express himself with the bat because he has his primary job to fall back to as well. While our wicket-keeping job has become the hub of controversy off-late, Sarfaraz and Adnan Akmal have indeed shown enough promise with the gloves. But again, it’s the batting – a prerequisite of being an international wicket-keeper these days – that falls way short of their contemporaries around the globe. hence, even though Pakistan’s recent progress deserves all the approbation in the world, Sehwag’s monstrous knock has been a timely reminder about the lack of dependable aggression amongst our ranks. We have showcased enough to beat the middle-of-the-road sides, it’s time to take the next step.
Y winning the one-day series comprehensively, India have given themselves loads of confidence before the big tour to Australia. having also won the one-day series against England and Test series against the West Indies earlier, they seem to have come back well after the forgettable tour of England. There are of course some areas of concern and hopefully these will come good as the series in Australia progresses. First among those is the inability to prise through the tail enders which helped the West Indies pile up respectable totals in the one-dayers, despite losing their top order for not too many. As was seen in the nail biting finishes in Johannesburg and hobart, the Australian lower order do not throw their wickets away and stick around especially if there is a recognised batsman at the other end. Perhaps with Zaheer coming back strongly, the other younger bowlers will be able to solve this problem to ensure that India don't have to field too long. In the batting, everybody seems to be good nick and have runs under their belt. Perhaps the two players who are undercooked are Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar. Gambhir got a couple of half centuries, as did Tendulkar, but the really long innings that can exercise the legs and the lungs was not there. In Australia, with the weather conditions likely to be hot and steamy, this might be a bit of a disadvantage though both batsmen are vastly experienced in all conditions by now. It is good to see Vinay Kumar being selected in the team, because he is a genuine swinger of the ball. Mithun has been probably picked to be the 'in to the wind bowler' because he seems to be strongly built for that. The West Indies would be very disappointed with their showing. They have a good batting line up but it has been inconsistent. Kieron Pollard finally came good but was still not able to win the game for the team. Getting a hundred was a personal achievement, but having failed miserably in the first four matches, he hasn't quite justified the reputation that he has. In fact, it is hard to remember a match that he has won for his team. The biggest problem for the West Indies is their skipper Darren Sammy. Without trying to be too harsh, from what one has seen in the Test and one-day series, he doesn't deserve a place in the team and in fact he disturbs the balance of the team. With Andre Russell shining with both bat and ball, the West Indies would be looking to have him as the allrounder who can bat at number seven and then still have four other bowlers in the team. If Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach and Ravi Rampal can stay fit, they can be a formidable new ball attack and with Russell coming in, the attack will have sharper teeth. The West Indian fielding was also disappointing or maybe it looked that way because for a change, India's fielding was outstanding. The young legs in the team certainly made a huge difference as they dived and threw themselves about and restricted runs for the West Indies. This in fact is the biggest gain for India. Unfortunately though, maybe just one of them might get a chance in the Test series. (PMG)
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Sunday, 18 December, 2011
28tH MIllat GovERnoR’s Cup Golf
Salman upstages overnight leaders LAHore kHAWAJA PerVAIz SAeeD
Salman Jehangir of Lahore Gymkhana emerged as the front runner by upstaging the overnight leaders Waleed Zubair and Amir Choudry at the end of the second round in this 54-hole three-day 27th Millat Governor’s Cup Golf Championship in progress at the Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course. And this was no fluke, as this accomplishment was made possible by a display of power hitting, superb fairway shots and a gifted putting touch where all the four to five feet putts found their lodgings in the hole and not on the lip of the hole, as some unlucky moments normally cause. During the second round, Salman birdied the 2nd, 8th, 9th and 11th and secured an eagle on the 16th. Added to that there were 12 regulation pars, with just one bogie, that being the odd one. Salman is a youngster of immense talent, already in the national reckoning but somehow studies stand between him and heroics on the golf course. Per-
haps a victory here can inspire his father Jehangir Aziz to give him a respite to devote all energies to golf. But between him and victory stand other men amateurs of golfing ability. Mohsin Anwer is one and Taimur Shabbir another. Incidentally Taimur is the son of Nishan-e-haider, Shabbir Sharif, and is determined to win and dedicate the victory to his father. Mohsin Anwer had a mixed second round yesterday with sparks of brilliance towards the end of the round, the two birdies on the 15th and 16th and regulation pars on the 17th and 18th, a reflection on his talent and ability. Mohsin is placed at a score of net 139, two strokes behind the leader, while Taimur Shabbir is at 141 alongwith Jamal Nasir and Sardar M. Leghari. At 142 is Maj Asad Zia. In the race for honours in senior section, Dr Zubair Qayum (Garrison) is leading with a net score of 67, and following him are Maj Shahid and Col hamayun Rashid. Amongst the ladies, the joint leaders are Kara Alam and Noori Zaman
bopanna keen to play in Pakistan LAHore STAFF rePOrT
Indian tennis players Rohan Bopanna and Mustafa Ghouse have termed the conditions in Pakistan as safe and secure for any international event. Rohan Bopanna was talking to journalists during his visit to Bagh-e-Jinnah Tennis Coaching Centre of Punjab Lawn Tennis Association (PLTA) on Saturday. Bopanna and Mustafa Ghous here to attend the wedding ceremony of Pakistan tennis star Aisamul haq Qureshi. It was Aisam and Bopanna who proposed a Peace Tennis Series at Wagha Border to improve the relations between the two countries. During his hour-and-a-half stay at the PLTA’s courts, Bopanna watched young children practicing tennis and penned down his views in the comments book placed at the PLTA academy. Praising the PLTA facility, Bopanna termed it one of the best but pointed out that lack of interest was the main reason behind less development in the game. he also pointed out that tennis is a game cannot be played without the help of sponsors. Bopanna further stated that conditions in Pakistan are safe for any game to be held. “If there will be any international tennis event, I will feel happy to participate in it. Pakistan is a good place,” he added. “Security here is better than what is portrayed throughout the world,” he maintained. he further stated he was very happy to be in Pakistan attending the marriage of old friend Aisam. "It's nice to be in Pakistan and I hope we resume tennis between the two countries which in turn would increase interest in the sport in both the countries," Bopanna added.
LAHore STAFF rePOrT
LAHorE: veterans weren’t behind youngsters by much at the Governor’s Cup Golf. StAff pHoto and tagging a few strokes away are Nushmiya Sukhera and Tehmina Rashid.
Today is the final day and at the conclusion of the championship, Governor Punjab will be
the chief guest at the prize distribution at 4pm at Gymkhana Golf Club.
Bangladesh will tour Pakistan in 2012 LAHore STAFF rePOrT
T
PCb stops players from b’desh Premier League
hE Pakistan Cricket Board and the Bangladesh Cricket Board have agreed to collaborate on a number of cricket related measures and their security team will also visit Pakistan to inspect security before finilising a tour to Pakistan in a few months. Reports received here from Bangladesh suggested that the Bangladesh’s security team will come to Pakistan next month before going ahead with a planned bilateral series in April next year and the PCB will support Bangladesh to a vice-president seat in the ICC. PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf and COO Subhan Ahmad Saturday met BCB members in Dhaka. The PCB officials are on a visit to Bangladesh on the invitation of the BCB. The visit coincides with Pakistan team's ongoing tour to Bangladesh. The meeting looked at ways of strengthening the partnership between the two boards. The two boards agreed to collaborate and work jointly on not only building the partnership but also developing cricket. Both long term and short term strategies were discussed and the two Boards agreed to extend cooperation in a number of fields. An official of the board revealed that the PCB will assist Bangladesh in grooming their academy players. Reciprocal tours between women's team of both countries and partnership for organizing international cricket events in collaboration with other Cricket Boards. Among other matters, the nomination for ICC President was also discussed. As per ICC's rotation policy, it is PCB and BCB's turn to jointly nominate a President. The nominated President will assume office as ICC's Vice President at the end of ICC's Annual Conference in 2012 and will thereafter become ICC President in 2014. The PCB officials briefed the Bangladesh Board members that in October 2011 PCB
had endorsed Mustafa Kamal's nomination as the ICC President and therefore PCB feels that it would be an opportune moment to formally announce this nomination today in the presence of both the Chairmen, and when the Pakistan cricket team is already touring Bangladesh. Zaka said: "I am happy to be in Bangladesh where I received the warmth from a brotherly nation. It was a very fruitful meeting that we had today with the Bangladesh Board and the steps that we agreed to implement will go a long way in supporting our two nations in becoming strong in cricket. We also reaffirmed our support for nomination of Mr. Mustafa Kamal in the ICC." Commenting on this announcement Mustafa Kamal said: "The support that PCB has given me demonstrates the close relations our two
Boards enjoy and it is not the first time that PCB has come forward to support us. Who could forget that it was Pakistan that proposed Bangladesh's entry into Test cricket. We are indebted to them. I am also encouraged with the steps that we agreed which will help in developing and making Bangladesh cricket more stronger. Since last one year, I have been discussing with some of the Cricket Boards on how to bring back international cricket in Pakistan and to demonstrate that we are genuinely taking steps in this direction my Board today agreed to form a security committee to visit Pakistan in January 2012 to review their security measures. My Board further agreed that Bangladesh cricket team will visit Pakistan in April 2012 as per ICC's Future Tours Programme".
Don’t’ rule out India series yet, says Zaka LAHoRE: The Pakistan Cricket Board has not given up hope of playing India in a Test series next year, said Chairman PCB Zaka Ashraf. Ashraf, who is in Dhaka to meet the Bangladesh Cricket Board officials to discuss prospects of the country's team touring to Pakistan next year, said he had not given up hope on the Indo-Pak series. "The Indian board chief, N Srinivasan, didn't come to attend the Asian Cricket Council meeting in Singapore, so the issue of next year's series could not be discussed," Ashraf said. "But I will meet him next month on the sidelines of the ICC meeting in Dubai and hopefully some solution can be found to having the series with India," he reported to have said. PCB officials suffered a setback during the ACC meeting in Singapore recently as the Asian Council confirmed the Asia Cup would be held on schedule in March in Bangladesh, effectively ruling out prospects of Pakistan touring India around the same time for the FTP Test series. The series has fallen into doldrums since the fifth edition of the IPL is scheduled to commence around April 12th. Ashraf, however, said he was not disappointed with what had happened in Singapore. "I think the Asia Cup had to be held on schedule. But when I meet with Srinivasan next month I see some ray of hope for the bilateral series," he insisted. STAFF rePOrT
The Pakistan Cricket Board has on Saturday barred nine of its national players from taking part in the Dhaka Premier League. In was learnt that nine Pakistan cricketers were scheduled to take part in the league, but a PCB official revealed that they have been stopped from taking part due to the upcoming series against England. Prominent cricketers such as Younus Khan, Muhammed hafeez, Abdul Rehman, Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat were to take part in the league. Earlier, the participation of nine Pakistan players was taken as a surprise as to how the PCB allowed its top players to sign up for the Bangladesh Twenty20 Premier League ahead of the allimportant series against England in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The league it to start from December 26. Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir and Wahab Riaz, who are currently out of the team, were the other players who believed to have been given a go-ahead to play in the league. When the news of their participation came, cricket analysts, however, questioned the wisdom behind allowing the players to sign up for the league before the England series. And when the criticism started to grow, the PCB barred them from participation. "The Pakistan team will hardly have 12 to 13 days, after returning home, before they go to the UAE for the England Tests. In this period a conditioning camp will be held and there is a possibility that the board might appoint the new coaching staff headed by Dav Whatmore," an analyst said. "So it makes no sense that instead of telling the players to mentally and physically prepare for a tough series against England the players have been allowed to go and play in a T20 league that will not help them in their preparations at all," he insisted. he pointed out that England will be reaching UAE on January 3 to prepare for the Test series. "The series against England can’t be taken lightly at all. They are a totally different opposition from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh," he pointed. The board has already allowed Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Rana Naved to play in the Big Bash Twenty20 league in Australia, but the source pointed out that all three were not required by Pakistan for the Test series against England.
Glory to WAPdA in national Women’s Hockey LAHore STAFF rePOrT
WAPDA on Saturday not only registered a comfortable win against Railways but also replaced them at the leaderboard on the 27th National Women’s hockey Championship being played at National hockey Stadium. As many as five matches were played on Saturday and wins came for Sindh Whites, Army Punjab Colours, hEC and WAPDA. In the first match Sindh Whites beat Punjab Whites 4-3. In a toughly fought match, Sindh led by 3-1 difference at the end of 35 minutes play. Sindh got their three goals through Sumaiya. In the second match of the day, Army had an easy sailing against KPK 16-0. In the third match, hEC beat Sindh Colours 8-0. In the fourth match, Punjab Colours thrashed Balochistan 5-0 and led the match at half time by 3-0. Punjab’s Tahmeena, Sidra Younis, Iqra, Iram and Mayda enjoyed with one goal each. In the last and most tough match of the day, WAPDA downed Railways by three straight goals that came in the first half while the second half was barren. President Pakistan hockey Federation Qasim Zia was the chief guest. On the occasion, PhF secretary Asif Bajwa, Organising Secretary Mrs. Abida Tanveer and Tournament Director Miss Parveen Sikandar Gill were present.
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Sunday, 18 december, 2011
20,000 soldiers mobilised in huge rescue and relief operation
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162 people still missing in cagayan de oro and iligan g
ILIgAn AFP
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ROPICAL storm Washi whipped the southern Philippines, unleashing mammoth floods across vast areas that left 440 people dead and nearly 200 missing, relief workers said on Saturday. About 20,000 soldiers had been mobilised in a huge rescue and relief operation across the stricken north coast of the island of Mindanao, where the major ports of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were worst hit. Cagayan de Oro city reported 215 dead, and nearby Iligan city lost 144 residents, Philippine National Red Cross secretary-general Gwen Pang told AFP. Iligan mayor Lawrence Cruz described rampaging floodwaters from swollen rivers that swamped up to a quarter of the land area of the city of 100,000. “It’s the worst flood in the history of our city,” Cruz told GMA television. “It happened so fast, at a time when people were fast asleep.” The station showed dramatic pictures of a family escaping out of the window of their home in the town as the floods rose, and rescue workers in orange vests shepherding survivors to safety above chest-deep waters. oRDERS: President Benigno Aquino expressed concern at the extent of the tragedy and ordered government agencies to map out areas in the country most vulnerable to future flash floods. “These areas will be at risk every year... The first (step in) mitigation has to be relocation from these areas,” he said in a meeting with senior civil defence officials. Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council told reporters that Mindanao residents were warned about the dangers posed by the storm days earlier but elected not to move to safer
areas. he said Mindanao was rarely visited by storms, even as 20 major storms strike the Philippines annually, with most hitting Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the Southeast Asian archipelago. “We expect huge damage, especially on agriculture,” Ramos said. Marlyn Manos, an Iligan resident, recounted how she and her children watched in terror from their rooftop as the floodwaters swallowed up the neighbourhood. “All the small houses behind ours were destroyed, and many of my neighbours are missing,” she said. Iligan tourism officer Pat Noel told AFP waters began rising shortly before midnight (1600 GMT Friday) as people slept, sweeping houses made of light materials and their inhabitants along the riverbanks. “Many of them told me they sought refuge on their rooftops,” he said after joining the first wave of rescuers at daybreak. Two of the three rivers that flow into the port of Iligan had overflowed, he added, and a popular radio commentator was among those killed. Other affected areas on Mindanao included Bukidnon province, where 47 people died, while nine others people were killed elsewhere on the island, Pang of the Red Cross said. Meanwhile, 25 people drowned on the island of Negros, the provincial civil defence office told AFP. “What happened was beyond the expectation of the public,” said the civil defence official, Minda Morante. Pang said 162 people were still missing in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, while a Negros official said 19 people were missing there. CoNDoLENCES: Britain offered its condolences for the “tragic” loss of life. Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne said in a statement, “I would like to express my sincere condolences to the families and friends of those affected. My thoughts are with them and the government of the Philippines as they lead the recovery work.”
MQM-H chief Afaq Ahmed freed from jail kArACHI
ILIGAn: A woman holds the dead body of her child who died during floods caused by tropical storm Washi at a village in Iligan City on the southern island of Mindanao on Saturday. Afp
Senate treasury joins opp to slam ministers’ absence ISLAMABAD
TArIQ HABIB
After more than seven years behind bars, Mohajir Qaumi Movement-haqiqi MQMh) Chairman Afaq Ahmed was finally released on Saturday. On Friday, the Sindh high Court (ShC) had ordered the government to immediately release the imprisoned political leader, declaring the order of his detention under a public order ordinance against the law. Ahmed had been granted bail in the last of the cases registered against him by the ShC. The MQM-haqiqi is a breakaway faction of the then Altaf hussain-led Mohajir Qaumi Movement (now Muttahida Qaumi Movement). The haqiqi activists were still not sure about their leader’s release, but when the Sindh home Department issued a notification of releasing Ahmed on Saturday afternoon, a large number of activists arrived outside the Karachi Central Prison to greet their leader on his release. After completing the necessary formalities for his release, Ahmed came out from the prison’s building under strict security, as the crowd shouted slogans. More than 200 security personnel in 22 police vans, six Rangers vehicles and five private cars were reportedly part of the security convoy. Former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza had sent a bullet proof vehicle to carry the
ArIF TAJ
haqiqi chief safely to his intended destination. Once Ahmed boarded the black land cruiser, it was surrounded by the vehicles of security forces. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) East Zone Akram Naeem Abro headed the convoy accompanying Ahmed, as the entire district east police force was deployed for security, police said. According to the DIG Prisons, the MQM-h chairman’s security was handed over to Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) while the regional police would also provide him security. The haqiqi chief first went to the Sherpao Colony in Landhi, where he offered prayers for his party’s slain activists buried at the Shuhada Qabirstan before going to his residence in Landhi No 6.
A call for ‘long march’ from the Parliament house to the Prime Minister’s house echoed in the Senate on Saturday as Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) treasury members joined the opposition to stage a walkout against ministers’ absence, forcing a lack of quorum that eventually led to the adjournment of the house proceedings. Saturday’s walkout was also evidence of the fragile coalition between the PPP-led government and its allies. Reacting strongly to the ministers’ absence from the Upper house during the Question hour, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Senator Ismail Buledi addressed Deputy Chairman Senate Jan Muhammad Jamali, who was presiding over the proceedings, asking him to take notice of the ministers’ absence. he said not even a single minister was present in the house despite a ruling by the Senate chairman that ministers must ensure their presence in the house to answer questions. The ministers even did not inform the leader of the house in this regard, Buledi added. Addressing the deputy chairman, Buledi said, “If your ruling is ineffective, if the leader of the house in the Senate
is ineffective, then we are left with only one option and we have to take out a long march from the Parliament house to the Prime Minister’s house and you should lead that march.” Senator haji Adeel said a large number of ministers constituted the federal cabinet and even the prime minister himself might not know their names and portfolios. The Senate deputy chairman said the ministers’ presence in the Senate was mandatory per the constitution. Upon this, Senator Buledi again stood up and asked what would be the punishment if a minister violating the constitution did not attend the proceedings of the house. The deputy chairman said everybody knew the punishment for violating the constitution. MQM’s Tahir Mashhadi remarked that all ministers slept after 3 or 4am in the morning because they belonged to the ruling elite, which always kept busy discussing national political issues. “The Senate meetings should take place in the evening, keeping in view busy schedules and sleeping hours of the elite ministers and let them ridicule poor people like us,” Senator Mashhadi said. Senator Professor Khurshid Ahmed said the questions to be asked had been deferred a few days ago due to the ministers’ absence and they would be deferred again today
Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd. Printed by Ghulam Akbar, AA & NHT Group, Plot 24, Shalimar Road, Lilly Market, Soan Garden, Islamabad.
which reflected the seriousness of the government in running the house business. Leader of the house in the Senate Nayyar Bukhari, however, said there was no justification for the walkout as the proceeding of the house could move forward because he would answer the questions raised by the members on behalf of the minister incharge of the Cabinet Division and Minister for Communication Dr Arbab Almgir was already present in the house. Alamgir had entered the Senate when the debate on the ministers’ absence was underway. Bukhari also suggested that the questions of the remaining ministers should be deferred or taken as read. PML-N Senator Raja Zafarul haq said the ministers’ absence was a frequent occurrence and the senators were tired of protesting every day. he said his party would stage a walkout in protest. All opposition parties, the ANP and all members of PML-Q, except Wasim Sajjad and Javed Ashraf Qazi, walked out of the Senate on the call given by haq. Once the senators went out of the Senate, Senator Wali Badini pointed out that proceedings of the house could not be held as the quorum was incomplete. The deputy chairman asked for the bells to be rung, but the quorum was not attained and the house was ultimately adjourned.