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Berlusconi eyes comeback, voices pride on his record
Aisam-ul-Haq basks in Paris glory
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Farmers uncertain as govt fails to announce wheat support price
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PROFIT | PAGE 01
pakistantoday.com.pk
Vol ii no 139 32 pages islamabad — peshawar edition
monday, 14 november, 2011 Zul-haj 18, 1432
People won’t go for long march: Gilani PM says PPP welcomes constructive criticism g Opp unconstitutional steps will not be tolerated g
MANDI BAHAUDDIN GOJRA: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani addressing a public meeting in Mandi Bahauddin on Sunday.
Six dead in Khyber donkey cart blast PESHAWAR AFP
PTI constitutes body to probe assets of MPs and PTI leaders g
Six people were killed and four wounded when a bomb planted in a donkey cart exploded in a remote town in Khyber Agency on Sunday. A donkey cart carrying sand was left unattended in the market area of Mastak town near the Afghan border, officials said. “The explosives concealed in the sand loaded onto the cart was detonated with the help of a remote controlled device,” local administration official Syed Ahmed Jan told AFP by telephone. Another senior official Mutahir Zaib confirmed the incident and the casualties. He said the injured were out of danger. No group has claimed responsibility. Officials have blamed previous such attacks on Taliban and Islamist militants.
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Party to file reference against awarding contract to PM’s relative Talks with parties against status quo to continue Khan says only a corrupt leader would bow to the military
ISLAMABAD KASHIF ABBASI
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Sunday constituted a committee to scrutinise the assets of parliamentarians, PTI leaders and politicians interested in joining the party. Khan announced the formation of the investigative committee at a press conference held after a meeting of the PTI CEC. He said the committee would be headed by PTI Vice President Hamid Khan, and a team of former NAB investigators, retired army officers and
lawyers would assist him. “The scrutiny committee will look for assets obtain through corruption and all politicians, including those in the PTI, will be scrutinised,” the PTI chief said. He added that the CEC had decided to file an application in the NAB to investigate the “illegal” awarding of a contract to M/s Karkay Karandiz Company, which is owned by a close relative of the prime minister, for installing a power generation plant in Karachi. Continued on page 04
piCture | page 10
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APP
rIME Minister Yousaf raza Gilani said on Sunday that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had always strived to secure the people’s rights, especially the poor, who were now mature enough and would not resort to any long march to destablise the government. He was addressing a mammoth public meeting here after inaugurating the Gojra-Malikwal road (Gilani road) and a natural gas supply scheme that would cover 140 villages. The prime minister said the government did not need to show its power and the opposition must play its due role and bring an in-house change if it had the required number of parliamentarians. Gilani said the PPP-led federal government, unlike past governments, never showed any discriminatory attitude in allocating funds to the opposition, thus setting precedence for future assemblies. However, the opposition in the Punjab Assembly was not being given its due funds, he added. “PPP always welcomes criticism of the opposition, however, the opposition should focus on constructive criticism,” he said. “We are proud of our party workers who are taking forward the PPP’s mission, vision and plans,” he said, adding that the government was implementing programmes chalked out by both the PPP’s martyred leaders. The prime minister said further that the PPP-led coalition government had restored the constitution of 1973. “We have also fulfilled the long-standing demand of provinces by granting them autonomy, besides ensuring internal autonomy for Gilgit-Baltistan,” he said. Continued on page 04
ppp mulling how to woo annoyed mps | page 03
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02 News
Monday, 14 November, 2011
iSlAMAbAd
NewS
Story on Page 06
Story on Page 10
woRld view
Red Bull’s ‘Dark Knights Pakistan 2011’ enthuses youth Kausar asks overseas Pakistanis to invest in FAtA Why china is unhappy
Today’s
Quick Look
Story on Page 15
Unhindered, resultoriented talks with India only way forward: Khar FM says all issues, including terrorism and Kashmir, were discussed in Gilani-Singh meeting g Says SAARC made ‘landmark decision’ by agreeing to collectively fight any natural calamity g
ISLAMABAD
F
SHAIQ HUSSAIn
O r E I G N Minister Hina rabbani Khar emphasised on Sunday the need for a result-oriented and unhindered dialogue with India, saying the two countries had reduced the trust deficit and were now competing on positive gestures. She was holding a press conference at the Foreign Office after returning from the 17th South Asian Association for regional Cooperation (SAArC) summit in the Maldives. She said that in their meeting Prime Minster Yousaf raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh had agreed on building an environment conducive to achieving results, rather than merely holding ineffective rounds of talks. “We have invested far too much in seeking out hostility towards each other and too less in seeking out peace with each other,” Khar said. “The message from the recent meetings between the two countries is that the future direction is forward, positive and much more constructive,” she said, adding: “Pakistan and India are successful in reducing the trust deficit and have started building trust.”
She said the 30-minute meeting between the two leaders was very constructive and positive, and that all issues including terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir came under discussion. She said the Indian prime minister also expressed his country’s desire to move forward with Pakistan. She said the SAArC countries made a landmark agreement by agreeing to meet any natural calamity with unity. Khar welcomed China’s “keen interest in SAArC”, saying the bloc could play an important role in ending regional prob-
3 govt schools blown up
lems. “Pakistan has suggested the establishment of a SAArC regional Bank,” she said. About the meeting between Gilani and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, she said it was held in a positive atmosphere. She said the Pakistani leadership had frankly asked Karzai to apprise its neighbour directly if there was any problem, instead of talking to the media. “A stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan and Pakistan supports Afghan-led and Afghanowned initiatives for peace in the country,” Khar said. On Gilani’s meetings with his russian and Chinese counterparts at the sidelines of a recent summit under Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Saint Petersburg, the foreign minister termed both meetings useful, constructive and forward-looking. “Certainly we have achieved new heights in our relations with russia,” she said. Answering a query, she said Pakistan was active in acquiring natural gas from any available source, including Iran and Turkmenistan. To another question, she said Bangladesh had assured it will not oppose Pakistan’s access to European Union markets in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). She said Brazil too was not opposing Pakistan in the WTO.
A BATH FOR PURIFICATION: Sikh pilgrims take a dip during rituals at the Bhogi Festival during celebrations for Baba Guru Nanak’s 543th birth anniversary at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hassanabdal. ONLINE
Kalam frisked twice, once inside aircraft, in US
NA meets today
SWABI/NoWSHEHRA/BANNU
ISLAMABAD
AGencIeS
StAFF RePORt
Militants blew up a higher secondary school in Bannu and two primary schools in Swabi and Nowshera with explosives on late Saturday night. The doors and windows of a Girls Higher Secondary School in Bannu were damaged in an explosion on Saturday at 11pm. The explosion damaged doors and windows of the building while the residences of a former Union Council nazim Barkatullah Khan and his relatives were also damaged. Meanwhile, unknown militants planted explosives in Government Girls Primary School located in Shewaadda, Swabi which went off during late night. In a separate incident, in Tarujabba locality of Nowshera, the Government Boys School was damaged after explosives planted near the building’s boundary wall went off.
The National Assembly will meet on Monday (today) in the Parliament House at 4:00 pm. In exercise of the powers conferred by the Clause (1) of Article 54 of the constitution, President Asif Ali Zardari has summoned the National Assembly to meet in the Parliament House. It will be the 36th session of the 4th Parliamentary year of the incumbent National Assembly. The major political parties, including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), have summoned their parliamentary parties’ meetings, prior to commencement of the session, to chalk out a strategy on the various issues expected to be raised in the House.
NEW DELHI OnlIne
Former Indian president Abdul Kalam was once again humiliated by security staff while visiting the United States, Indian media reported on Sunday. At New York’s JFK airport on September 29, frantic security officials forced the crew of an Air India flight to open the aircraft’s doors
moments before it was about to begin taxiing, the report said. Seeking to frisk one of the passengers they had already screened once before boarding, the security personnel took away the jacket and shoes of the former Indian president. However, the belongings were returned later, the report added. Kalam was the president of India until July 25, 2007. The fresh incident is not a new experience for the father of Indian nuclear programme, as he was humiliated in the same way two years ago at the Delhi Airport. In April 2009, Kalam had been frisked by officials of the US Continental Airlines despite the fact that his name was on the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security’s list of people exempt from security checks in India. The US has apologised to Kalam for subjecting him to frisking at the JFK Airport. In a written apology to Kalam and the Indian government, the US said, “Appropriate procedure for expedited screening of dignitaries had not been followed.”
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Monday, 14 November, 2011
FoReiGN NewS
ARtS & eNteRtAiNMeNt
SPoRtS
Syria calls for urgent Arab summit to address crisis Slumdog girl requires longevity in career
News 03 CoMMeNt
Pacquiao edges Marquez on tight decision
crying wolf? Introspection needed
Punjabi militancy A million mutinies now
Dr Mubarak Ali says: Superpowers through the ages: Even when not in Rome, do as the Romans do
Waqqas Mir says: The overhyped Khan: Riding the crest of rhetoric?
Kuldip nayar says: India’s minority report: Secularism still has a long way to go
Story on Page 18
Story on Page 16
Story on Page 22
Articles on Page 12-13
PPP mulling how to woo annoyed MPs Raja Riaz calls dissidents Akhtar Malik, Abbas Raan to address grievances g Raan accuses PM Gilani of favouritism, says they will stand by Shah Mehmood Qureshi
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LAHoRE
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nASIR BUtt
AKISTAN People’s Party (PPP) parliamentary party Punjab has become active to block a possible forward bloc from provincial PPP members. Opposition leader in Punjab Assembly raja riaz took charge of the situation on Sunday after news about the formation of a forward block from PPP MPAs, riaz telephoned the two party members who were accused of leading the block formation. riaz telephoned the two alleged rebel PPP members, Akhtar Malik and Abbas raan and assured them of a meeting with PPP chief President Asif Ali Zardari. The displeased PPP members told him of their reservations. The two PPP MPAs hail from Multan region and were dissatisfied with the stoppage of development funds and the conduct of Prime Minister Gilani towards them. riaz assured them their
grievances will be settled, development funds will be released and interference in their respective constituencies will be suspended. Malik Abbass raan confirmed the telephone conversation with raja riaz to Pakistan Today and said they will meet riaz when he calls upon them. However, he said , “While they will respect party leadership, Prime Minister Yousaf raza Gillani and his son were creating a trouble in the Multan division. He said everyone was aware the Multan PPP was grouped into two, the Gillani and Qureshi group. He said they were standing with Shah Mahmood Qureshi. He said they have the support of other PA MPAs from South Punjab and Central and Upper Punjab. He said he was bound to abide by party directions till 2013 but was free to follow his own will after. He said PPP legislators were complaining opportunists were playing a dirty game to attain lucrative slots, while loyal party legislators were being ignored.
SNGPL imposes one-year moratorium on all new connections LAHoRE
KP minister cautions against playing into terrorists’ hands
543rd birth celebrations for Guru Nanak conclude ATTOCK: The 543rd birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak, the spiritual leader of the Sikh religion, concluded with the ritual Bhog at Gurduwara Siri Punja Sahab Hassanabdal on Sunday. The conclusion ceremony was attending by hundreds of Sikh yatrees, including 2,600 from India who recited their sacred book Guru and perform other rituals on the occasion. Shrines Deputy Secretary Faraz Abbas supervised the celebrations. Talking to media, Sikh yatrees expressed satisfaction at arrangements at the Gurdawara. They said they had enjoyed religious freedom and a secure environment and were thankful to the government. APP
nAUMAn tASleeM
In order to avoid a further increase in the load on the gas transmission system during winter, SNGPL has banned new connections but the decision could be dangerous for the PPP-led government which could face a negative public reaction in the coming general elections, Pakistan Today learnt on Sunday. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) has banned all types of connection including industrial, commercial and domestic connections for one year. Only those applications are entertained, which have already been submitted and the company is not taking new applications. The company has been facing a gas shortage for six years which increases sharply during winter.
Company sources said it would allow new connections in the coming weeks. In recent years, the company imposed ban on new connections but had to succumb to government pressure. Around 170,000 applicants in Lahore have applied for new gas connections and out of these connections 20,000 have deposited the money while the remaining 150,000 shall have to wait. “Looking at the high demand, the company decided to impose ban,” a company official said. He adding it would be very difficult to continue the ban. “The company will start accepting new applications in one month or so since the government cannot afford to ban new connections,” he said. SNGPL Lahore General Manager Abdul Haseeb said there was no ban on domestic connections and only commercial and industrial connections were banned.
PPP should not organise rallies against me: Mirza KARACHI QAzI ASIF
PESHAWAR StAFF RePORt
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said on Sunday that in view of the sensitivity of the situation in the region, political consciousness and vigilance must be exercised so that unknowingly and inadvertently playing into the hands of antisocial elements may be avoided. Addressing a tribal jirga from North Waziristan, DI Khan, and Tank in Peshawar, he said the terrorism imposed upon the Pakhtuns had added to the sensitivity of the conditions and the presence of NATO forces in Afghanistan plus the repeated border violations from there added to it, “thus we must remain vigilant at all times”. Awami National Party (ANP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Senator Afrasyab Khattak also addressed the jirga.
Supporters of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Dr Zulfiqar Mirza became face to face in Golarchi town, district Badin. Heavy contingency of police reach to prevent any misshape between two groups. Dr Mirza warn PPP leaders do not hold rallies against him saying that he has not wear bangles, can retaliate with full force. A big rally organized by PPP Tehsil Golarchi taken out against in favor of President Asif Ali Zardri, Manzoor Wasan and against Dr Zulfiqar Mirza on Sunday. The rally was led by Nawaz Chandio and other local leaders. As rally reached near Golarchi Press Club, the road was blocked by armed supports of Dr Zulfiqar Mirza. After this situation rally was dispersed. All of sudden Dr
Mirza reached on the spot while talking to media he warned PPP office bearer that they should not take rally against him in future, if not he has not wear bangles can retaliate with full force. “If I can gather 1,000,00 people for the public meeting of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf raza Gilani than I can organized public meting for myself with the participants of 2,000.00.” he added Dr Mirza said that if any outsider minister, advisor will come and interfere in his home constituency he have to face same condition. Without quoting name of any minister he said “Listen with open ears, the person who can not kept control his wife, how can keep control to others.” He added He said that he is contesting election from same constituency from 1993, he will not leave his this constituency abandon. “President Asif Ali
Zardari is my friend I respect him, because when some minister want to speak against me in Bilawal House on Saturday, President Zardari stop them, not to speak against me.” He added Local people saying that according to current conditions in Badin, it is seems that a line has been drawn between Dr Mirza and rest of PPP, Dr Mirza however said that there is no concept of forward block PPP in Sindh. It was second days when process of rallies against and in favor of Dr Mirza has been started. On Saturday, there were several rallies were taken out by the supporters of Manzor Wasan and Dr Mirza. But dangerous took place when supporters of both came face to face. People are saying that if situation would not keep in control, a bloody tussle can be happed in Badin between both groups.
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04 News
Monday, 14 November, 2011
Debt servicing cost national kitty $15.9b in last 6 fiscal years PPP government sets record by obtaining $14.8 billion in loans from various iFis and donors g
ISLAMABAD tAHIR nIAz/AMeR SIAl
P
AKISTAN has repaid $15.9 billion in debt servicing during the last six financial years, from 2005-06 to 2010-11, out of which $5 billion were incurred only as interest payments on the principal amount. According to the documents exclusively available with Pakistan Today, during the fiscal year 2005-06, $1.44 billion was retired with an interest payment of $716.4 million, making a total debt servicing of $2.16 billion. In the fiscal year 2006-07, total debt servicing was over $2.02 billion, out of which $%1.2 billion was the principal amount while the interest payment was $822 million. In fiscal year 2007-08, total debt servicing was over $2.12 billion out of which $1.13 billion was the principal amount while the interest payment was $982.6 million. During the first fiscal year of the incumbent government, ie 2008-09, total debt servicing was over $3.43 billion out of which $2.56 billion was the principal amount, while the interest payment was $872.9 million. In fiscal year 2009-10,
total debt servicing was over $3.11 billion out of which $2.33 billion was the principal amount while the interest payment was $775.4 million. During the fiscal year 2010-11, total debt servicing was over $3.24 billion out of which $2.35 billion was the principal amount while the interest payment was $897.2 million. The incumbent Pakistan People’s Party government has set a record by obtaining $14.8 billion in loans from various international financial institutions and other bilateral donors during March 25, 2008 to August 31, 2011. It has obtained loans of $3.9 billion from the Asian Development Bank, $3.3 billion from China, $2.6 billion from the World Bank and $1.2 billion from Islamic Development Bank and $1 billion from Japan. Pakistan’s close friend Saudi Arabia also provided loans of $644.9 million during that period. The loans have varying interest rates of 0.6 percent to 3.8 percent with maturity period of two to 50 years. The loans have to be returned within a one- to 30-year period. The loans were obtained for power, infrastructure, commodity financing and for enhancing foreign exchange
reserves. According to the Economic Survey 2010-11, the external debt and liabilities increased from $37.9 billion at the end of June 2000 to $55.9 billion by the end of June 2010, and stood at $59.5 billion at the end of March 2011. Pakistan’s debt dynamics have undergone substantial changes in the last three years. Higher fiscal deficit led to accumulation of huge debt in absolute and relative terms. The debt profile moved towards shorter end of maturity because of desperation to finance deficit through domestic sources owing to inadequacy of external financing. The survey says the excessive increase in debt has caused problems for Pakistan in the past, while imprudent domestic borrowing plagued the economy during 2010-11. Prudent and efficient debt management is required not only to ensure that present debt levels are kept under control, but also manage future repayment obligations, it says. Prudent debt management practices could not undermine the importance of prudent fiscal and monetary policy. Even best debt management may not by itself avert any upheaval in case of poor macroeconomic policy sequencing.
Pak-US ties a ‘bad marriage’ but divorce unlikely: McCaul NEW YORK: US Congressman Michael McCaul has said the relationship between Pakistan and the United States was analogous to a bad marriage, but ruled out the option of a divorce. McCaul, a four-term congressman and chairman of a House Homeland Security Committee panel, and his Congress colleagues recently met with President Asif Ali Zardari to discuss prospects for increasing bilateral trade between the two countries. He said he had told the Pakistani government that it was imperative for both allies to let no doubts take root in the common turf they stand on. “Both Pakistan and US will have to bring the trust deficit down to zero”, said McCaul. In his statement, McCaul reminded Pakistan of the billions of dollars his country had given in aid since 9/11. Lauding a positive shift in Pakistan-India ties, he said improved relations would help Pakistan deploy more troops on its Western borders. OnlIne
lAHORe: Hundreds of people from all walks of life attended the Valima ceremony of Shahrukh taimor, son of Federal Information Secretary taimor Azmat Usman on Sunday. the ceremony was held in D-Block, Model town. Federal Minister Mehreen Anwar Raja, Mian Manzoor Wattoo, Former Punjab governor Khalid Maqbool, Robina Khalid Maqbool, chaudhary Salik Shujaat, MnA Pervaiz Malik, MnA Sheikh Rohail Asghar, Former information minister Qamar-ul-zaman Kaira and PtV MD Yousaf Baig Mirza were present on the occasion. STAff PhOTO
WAlKInG AMIDSt SIlHOUetteS: Boys walk near a mosque early in the morning in Quetta. ONLINE
Govt to complete its constitutional tenure: Firdous SIALKoT
VVIPs stranded as PIA planes grounded in Jeddah
APP
MoNIToRING DESK
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Sunday that the PPP government would complete its constitutional tenure. Talking to reporters in Lalian village, she said that some leaders were furthering the idea of early elections in the country, adding that the institutions have remained weak in the country due to this undemocratic approach. She said collective efforts are necessary to bring political stability and promote democracy in the country.
A VVIP Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Jeddah to Pakistan was delayed by several hours on Sunday, leaving parliamentarians and ministers stranded on the airport waiting helplessly, Geo News reported. Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Khwaja Sohail Mansoor told the private TV channel that PIA’s performance was extremely poor and the national flag-carrier’s managing director should resign. He said he shud-
dered to think what was happening to the people when lawmakers and ministers were facing such difficulties. “The flight we were supposed to be on was scheduled to depart at 11.30am, but we are still sitting here” hours later, said the irate legislator. He said the PIA had not even issued boarding passes to the waiting VVIPs. He said further that several federal ministers and MNAs were stuck at Medina airport as well, waiting for PIA flights to take off.
People won’t go for long march, says Gilani Continued from page 1 Gilani also said the PPP never came into power using backdoor tactics but through the public mandate, and it would similarly win the upcoming Senate elections. He said the PPP leadership and workers were imprisoned many times in the course of their struggle for the rights of the common man. He said the PPP government took media criticism as self-reformation, because the dictatorial regimes had destroyed the country’s institutions by usurping the media’s freedom. Gilani said there was no political prisoner during his tenure in government, which did not resort to any political vengeance. “We too had
faced incarcerations and see the jails as reformation centres,” he added. The PPP would seek votes from the public after implementation on its manifesto during the five-year term, he said. The PPP would be thankful to the people if they voted for it, otherwise, “we will continue to serve them by sitting on the opposition benches”, he added. UNCONSTITUTIONAL STEPS: Gilani also said any unconstitutional steps of the opposition against the elected government would not be tolerated, stressing that the government’s reconciliatory policy should not be construed as weakness. “The opposition may bring no-confidence move against me or an impeach-
ment motion against the president if it has developed a dislike against us both,” he said. He said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif, who was one of the signatories of the Charter of Democracy, had forgotten it. He said the opposition should wait for the next general elections in 2013 instead of resorting to unconstitutional methods, adding that PML-N was worried about the PPP’s expected success in March 2012 Senate elections. The premier also announced a countrywide “Kaarvan-e-Tameer” from Phalia, Mandi Bahauddin, adding that he would go from Karachi to Khyber to launch development projects.
PTI constitutes body to probe assets of MPs and PTI leaders Continued from page 1 He claimed that the company had been questioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), however the government had “illegally” issued 14 percent payment in advance. Khan further alleged that the government, while awarding the contract, had approved higher tariff. “The cost of the plant is $130 million and under the con-
tract the company will earn $540 million in five years… It will be a test case for NAB to probe this scam,” Khan said. He announced that in the near future, the PTI would hold a massive rally in Karachi. “Karachi’s gathering would be bigger than the PTI’s recent rally in Lahore,” Khan claimed. Khan said the CEC had
decided to continue party interaction with political entities against the status quo. He said the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) had been trying to preserve the status quo. “My party will welcome everyone to join… but it will not award ticket to anyone corrupt,” he announced,
adding, “My party will welcome all new entrants, but they will be routed through the authorised party channels only.” He said the PTI would file two separate petitions in the Supreme Court for the registration of voters in accordance with their permanent addresses and for registration of votes of the overseas Pakistanis. To a query, Khan said
the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was not an independent body. He said the ECP had so far failed in holding a free, fair and transparent election. Talking about the next general elections, he said, “All attempts to hold fraudulent elections in the country will be thwarted…if the next elections are rigged, then the PTI will bring the
entire country to a standstill.” Khan said the military would not exert control over the government if it had moral strength. He said a corrupt leader would always bow to the military. “If I faced any undue interference after coming into power, I would prefer to step down and once again go to the people,” he vowed.
The schedule of PIA flights has been badly affected and passengers of the national carrier are facing long delays after at least 10 planes were grounded because of technical faults. Despite an engineering pact with Transworld and $700 million credit supply agreements, PIA has not received spare parts and as a result there is delay in repair of the planes. The grounded airplanes include two Boeing 747s, two Airbus A-310s, five Boeing 737s and an ATr, the TV channel reported.
Malik denies arrests of dr imran Farooq’s killers ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister rehman Malik on Sunday once again denied that any arrests had been made in connection with the assassination of Dr Imran Farooq, co-founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Talking to reporters, Malik contradicted a reported statement by the London police commissioner, who had confirmed that two men had been arrested in Karachi after arriving from Colombo, Sri Lanka. When asked about a letter sent by the British government, he said the letter sent to the Interior Ministry contained nothing on the issue. He added people should avoid blaming Pakistani secret agencies without justification. StAFF RePORt
2 more succumb to dengue LAHORE: The dengue virus epidemic continued its stream of fatalities after two more people succumbed to the disease on Sunday. rasheeda Bibi, 65, died due to dengue hemorrhagic fever in Ittefaq Hospital while Muhammad Bota, 65, resident of Hassan Town died in Jinnah Hospital. Meanwhile, another 87 people were reported to have contracted dengue fever in the city. StAFF RePORt
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SeSSi’s medical officers Afghans with fake degrees? God have mercy! 07
No more for the road: price hike doesn’t even spare booze consumers ■ liquor prices jacked up in Sindh as tussle between major brewery and Punjab government reduces production KARACHI
E
AMAR GURIRO
VErY part of the castleesque building was shrouded in darkness, except one little corner whence light peeked through a slightly open shutter. Long-time regular customers huddled this shop like every evening, and apart from their murmurs, the entire building was silent. Inside the small shop, behind the iron bars and glass, some men packed bottles. A sign at the main entrance read “Only for non-Muslims”. Outside, a man sold popcorn and cold water bottles. Customers, pressed for time, bought their preferred liquor, following which some concealed their purchase under their clothes so they could be carried without being pestered by anyone, while some poured their spirits into the water bottles. At the counter, a man argued with the vendor. “I already told
you! We don’t have a single bottle of Murree (Brewery)! You can buy only this,” the vendor told the customer as he pointed towards the bottles of colourful spirits. However, the customer insisted on Murree. These scenes were witnessed outside a liquor shop situated on Pakistan’s Wall Street, the II Chundrigar road. Pakistan is a Muslim country where the sale, transport and consumption of liquor is officially banned, with the exception of the four percent non-Muslim citizens to whom the government issues a licence. There are 61 licensed liquor shops in the city of Karachi alone. Followed by increased taxes imposed on raw alcohol by the Punjab government, the administration of one of the three legal breweries of the country – the Murree Brewery – reduced total liquor production by 80 percent. As an upshot of reduced production, the prices of Murree Brewerymade spirits increased and local
liquor shops started selling liquor produced by Karachi’s sole brewery – the Indus Distillery & Brewery. The three official liquor manufacturers in Pakistan are the Indus Distillery & Brewery (formerly Beach Brewery) and Quetta Distillery (commonly known as QDL) in Quetta, and the Murree Brewery in rawalpindi. QDL and the Murree Brewery were established by the British before the division of the Indian Subcontinent. The Murree Brewery, which is famous for beer, vodka and rum, fulfils 80 percent of the total demand of alcohol in the country. However, after the Punjab government increased taxes on raw alcohol, the brewery has reduced production. “We are unable to continue production as the Punjab government has increased rs 75 on a gallon of raw alcohol. It is impossible to make liquor on the same price, so we have reduced production,” said an official of the Murree Brewery. A litre of gin produced by the Murree Brewery used to cost rs
KARACHI StAFF RePORt
750, but it is now being sold between rs 1,000 and rs 1,200. It is a general assumption among liquor consumers that the Murree Brewery was forced to reduce production so the Indus Distillery’s spirits could be promoted. Since the Murree Brewery has reduced production, most spirit lovers have started consuming kuppi or homemade liquor, due to which over 15 people recently died in Karachi, Mirpurkhas and other cities of Sindh. “Normally, 80 liquor trucks from the Murree Brewery used to
Pakistan’s metal bands need more than just headbangers ■ lack exposure and large-scale record labels KARACHI FAHAD AlI
They say only the coolest cat digs out deep, distinctive flavour. Similarly, anyone paying acute attention to metal music eventually comes down to Asian metal, and if interested, comes across Pakistani metal at some point in their quest. Today, in Pakistan, various underground bands can be found playing such unconventional musical genres as metal. It’s as if you name a genre and it is starting to thrive already! This is interesting indeed, considering the obnoxious political tension in our country. But we all know when things slacken, people find out a way to speak out, and metal is simply another – not to say one of the best – way to do it. The other day, when I made off to dig out what was cooking in the practice pad – set up at Jauhar – of Communal Grave, the leader of Pakistani death/thrash underground scene, I found that heat was definitely on as the vocalist Moiz appeared at the door with the mike in his hand. Further down the big room, guitarist Nabeel was impeccably shredding his guitar and Jamail, the back-up vocalist and bassist, was practising his growling range. Having seen the dedication and mastery of talent of these guys, I soon began to wonder why is it that the metal scene in Pakistan is so underrated that only a minute fraction of population knows about such talented underground bands playing the genre. Though the metal scene in Pakistan has evolved much since its birth in the late 90s and early 2000 – with bands like Bumbu Sauce, Abyssed, and Foreskin – that now it has all kinds of metal bands playing almost all the subgenres of metal, like Communal Grave (death metal), Messiah (power/thrash metal), Autopsy Gothic (progressive death metal), Karachi Butcher Clan (heavy metal), and Neophyte the Symmetry (grindcore), yet the Pakistani metal scene hasn’t quite been able
to make its mark on the global music scene or even the Asian metal scene for that matter. One band that can be expected to take the metal scene in Pakistan to a whole new plateau is Communal Grave, which formed in 2006 and has gone through various line-up and name changes. Back in
likes of Pantera, but Nabeel Imam’s love for melodic death metal and Jamail rafi’s vision of a thrash metal sound gave birth to the sound of Communal Grave. “Above all, metal music is a cathartic experience for us. Other than that, musically, it allows for boundless experimentation and innovation, which is always exciting,” said Moiz while commenting on their five years of dedication to metal music. When asked what scope they see for
Communal Grave, seen performing in this picture, is the first Pakistani metal band to receive some airplay on American radio. An indie rock radio channel ‘indie wildfire’ aired Communal Grave’s songs ‘Anomaly’ and ‘blinded by the deceit’ in 2008. 2006, it was Jamail rafi (bass) who met Moiz Khan (vocals) with Asas Arif (drums) at a jamming session in Jauhar, after which they set off in search for guitar players to complete the line-up of their heavy metal band SIN. They then approached the local instrumental project reckoning Storm’s guitarists Nabeel Imam and Saad Akhter. Things fell into place after a few jams, and the band was christened Communal Grave, the name originating from the lyrics of one of their all-time favourite bands, Carcass. Disgusted by the local ‘pop’ scene, they sat about carving their own niche in the underground community of Karachi. Initially, the band started out with a more traditional heavy metal sound from the
Abducted newborn ‘worth Rs 30,000’ recovered
the genre in Pakistan, Jamail said, “We believe the scope is in producing original music. Hardly any music scene in the world can take off if there is nothing original. But let’s be honest, none can do music professionally without making money off it, so we need a large-scale record label in the future, but that is nearly impossible at this point. So, independent work is the key right now.” The band went on to mourn the absence of music promoters in Pakistan, specifically promoting metal bands. Nabeel rued the fact that “there is no market for this genre in Pakistan. There are some very dedicated fans though, which are the lifeblood of this scene.” Although the number of fans has increased over the years, especially after their best single
arrive in Sindh every day, but due to a tussle between the brewery and the Punjab government over tax, only eight trucks a day are arriving,” said Sindh Excise & Taxation Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla. He said the Sindh government has officially written to the Punjab government to resolve the issue at the earliest. “I am seriously thinking of closing my business because if the Murree Brewery is forced to shut down, there will be no liquor business at all,” said Maharaj Indar, the owner of a local liquor store.
‘Anomaly’ received some airplay on a local metal radio show, FM89’s ‘Black Sunday’. “But still our fanbase is very limited and we need to gather more support and, take this with a pinch of salt, such a following cannot be assembled with our metal elitist attitude,” he added. At the end of 2008, their songs ‘Anomaly’ and ‘Blinded by the Deceit’ were aired on an American indie rock radio channel called ‘Indie Wildfire’ in a back-to-back show, making them the first Pakistan-based metal band to appear on American radio. This gave them international exposure and motivation to perform as well as record more stuff with renewed zeal, topped off by the brilliant and memorable gig at the royal rodale. The band was both amazed and appreciative of the crowd response and the support from the metalheads there. When asked why the metal scene in Pakistan hasn’t thrived, Moiz attributed the reasons to the apathy of the media and lack of largescale record labels, saying, “The media will not be interested until and unless they can make a buck or two off of it. This is not an anti-establishment rant, but let’s be practical about things. Speaking in terms of metal, we’re in the phase that Europe and America were in the 70s or 80s. Instead, we have more critics per square mile than any other country.” While urging people to drop their censoring attitude, he said, “We need not all be critics. And let’s encourage bands just for the heck of it, for a while anyway.” The band’s manager,
Police recovered an abducted newborn during a raid conducted in Malir on Sunday. The infant had gone missing from the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) a couple of days before Eidul Azha. The law enforcers recovered the child and arrested a couple from a house in Model Colony. Police also arrested a trainee nurse for selling the baby to the couple for rs 30,000. The media was informed that Sobia, a third-year nursing student and a trainee nurse at the NICH, had sold the child to Akbar Awan and his wife Farzana Awan before Eid. Police arrested the couple and the trainee nurse on Sunday, following which the newborn was handed over to its parents.
Fowad, said, “We were approached by a record label, and everything was in line for an album and a few gigs, but the whole thing fell through.” While throwing light on the band’s popularity, Asas said, “We have made some achievements, and achievements have no limitations.” Today, there are many underground bands like Communal Grave who are putting out music off their own bat and striving to make an identity of their own for the sole purpose of making their mark on the world of heavy metal. However, only a few of them make it through, for despite struggling hard to make good music, they often get little or more like no response at all, let alone making good and substantial money. As a result, most of them eventually fall out, and the metal scene remains stagnant.
KHI pages 14-11-11_Layout 1 11/14/2011 1:20 AM Page 6
PakistaN today
06 karachi
Monday, 14 November, 2011
SHos appointed on merit: AiGP KARACHI APP
Written tests and interviews have been started to ensure that station house officers (SHOs) are appointed on merit and in accordance with their professional capabilities, s a statement issued on Sunday quoted Karachi Additional Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh as saying. Speaking at a meeting at his office, the AIGP said that the latest appointments of SHOs in different areas of Karachi have been made purely on merit. He said the objective to appoint SHOs on merit is to control crimes and ensure protection of the masses’ life and property. Sheikh said that the SHOs have been directed to evaluate the frequency of crimes in their respective areas and assign responsibilities to the officials concerned accordingly. He directed the senior superintendent of police of all districts of the city to brief the SHOs about their responsibilities to take necessary steps to control crimes and to finalise ongoing investigations of all registered cases. He also directed the officials to increase patrolling and maintain the record about registration of cases at police stations. Taking notice of robberies reported during traffic gridlocks in different areas of the city, the AIGP directed the officials to take all possible measures to stop these incidents.
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A roadside vendor’s ‘winter collection 2011’ is on sale on the iron railings of a park near the Empress Market in Saddar. AsIm REhmANI
‘Robber couple’ and ‘target killer’ among 10 arrested ■ Railways police bust gang of robbers that looted passengers on board trains KARACHI StAFF RePORt
P
OLICE arrested 10 people, including a robber couple, from different areas of the city on Sunday. Shah Faisal Superintendent of Police Chaudhry Asad told the media that police have arrested nine criminals during raids in Korangi and recovered repeaters, rifles and various other weapons and ammunition from their possession. The police also arrested an alleged target killer, Muslim Khan, from New Karachi and confiscated his arms and ammunition. The Special Investigation Team of Saddar police arrested a couple, Umer Hayad and his wife Sherafa Bibi, from Gizri. The couple is believed to have committed 25 robberies in police bungalows located in posh areas of the city. The police said that the couple had also committed robberies in others cities including Lahore, Gujranwala and Gojra.
FIRE: A fire erupted at KMC Market in Soldier Bazaar, reducing around 40 shops to ashes. Thirteen water tankers and two fire tenders were used to douse the flames in an effort that lasted more than three hours. “It seems that the fire erupted due to a short circuit in the market,” said Chief Fire Officer Ehtisham. RAILWAYS POLICE BUST GANG: The railways police have busted a gang that robbed passengers on board trains, APP reported. "We achieved a breakthrough on November 10 after arresting the key member of the gang identified as Umar Zaib alias Zaiboon from Landhi police jurisdiction,” said acting railways, Karachi Division SP Jamshed Ahmed Butt. Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, he said that Zaib shot a passenger Mohammed ramzan on board the Fareed Express which was departing from the Landhi railway Station at 9.15 pm on October 30. The passenger later expired in the hospital.
The alleged robber has deprived ramzan of his two cell phones and cash and another passenger Mohammed Zahid of rs 15,000 and fled after jumping off the moving train. The police official said that another accomplice of Zaib, Badshahzada, was also absconding and both were residents of the Dawood Colony area of Landhi. The victim, ramzan, was working in the canteen of an
English Karachi-based daily. He hailed from Vehari and was leaving for his hometown to celebrate Eidul Azha with his family. “A pistol, some cash money, the victim’s wallet and his NIC copy were recovered from the Zaib when the police arrested him at radio Pakistan Ground in Landhi area at 4 am on November 10,” the SP said. The SHO of Landhi police station Arbab Solani, in
whose jurisdiction the crime took place, said that two of the accomplices of the accused were already in jail and arrested in September for similar crimes. “They all hail from Swat,” he added. He said that Zaib was also wanted in several other cases in his jurisdiction. “FIr No 26/2011 under sections 392 and 302 of the PPC have been registered against the accused,” he said.
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karachi 07 SESSI’s medical officers Afghans with fake degrees? Monday, 14 November, 2011
PakistaN today
■ Rejected candidate claims provincial labour minister illegally appointed candidates with fake diplomas from unaccredited institutes of Afghanistan KARACHI IMDAD SOOMRO
S
INDH Labour Minister Amir Nawab has appointed Afghan nationals, possessing fake diplomas from unaccredited institutes of Afghanistan, as medical officers in his department, Pakistan Today has learnt. Nawab is a member of the Awami National Party, a coalition partner in the Pakistan People’s Party-led Sindh government. The matter unearthed when a rejected candidate for the medical officer post, belonging to Karachi, filed a constitutional petition in the Sindh High Court and challenged the examination procedure. The petitioner also revealed that Afghan nationals, possessing fake diplomas, have been appointed as medical officers. According to documents, candidates Muhammad Hanif, Muhammad Shahid Iqbal and Shareef Abdullah were appointed as resident medical officers on
Basic Pay Scale (BPS)/grade 17 in the Sindh Employees Social Security (SESSI) and then posted to various hospitals of the department in Karachi. Among them, Muhammad Hanif was appointed through order No SS/MW/APPT/1448, issued by the administration medical director of the department, Mrs Samina Saeed. The candidate possesses a diploma from an unknown medical institute of
sources within SESSI, these candidates also possess fake domiciles of Karachi that can easily be made using a scanner or could be obtained from corrupt revenue Department officials for as little as rs 3,000. According to the service rules of the federal and provincial governments, no grade 17 appointment can be made on just a diploma even if it has been issued by an institute in Pakistan. T h e sources further told
Afghanistan and the letter which he used for getting the gazetted job in the Sindh government was issued by the Afghanistan Ministry of Education. The diploma possessed by candidate Shareef Abdullah is also from an unknown institute and written in Persian. According to the
Pakistan Today that in 2010, the labour minister directed the then secretary of SESSI, Naseer Jamali, to appoint these candidates and after the latter’s refusal to comply with the orders, he transferred Jamali from the department. Then he directed the new secretary Mukhtar
Soomro to carry out the same work, but he also refused. The minister later pressured the then SESSI commissioner Nazar Muhammad Kalhoro, who did obey the illegal orders, but acted wisely by not signing them. Kalhoro used the administration medical director Mrs Samina Saeed to issue the appointments orders on his behalf. A high-level officer in the Sindh Health Department, requesting anonymity, confirmed that such grade 17 appointments cannot be made on a diploma and no one can be appointed as a doctor without authentication of the documents by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council. The sources said that at least 80 medical officers in SESSI are appointed due to their political affiliations without passing the examination of the Sindh Public Service Commission.
With every new logo ‘Late arrival of hajaj causing come additional expenses flight delays’ ■ KMC logo replaces CdGK’s; new stationery causes losses KARACHI AFtAB cHAnnA
Following the revival of the commissionerate system in the province, the new logo of recently restored Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) had to be introduced on official documents, causing losses to the provincial exchequer in terms of the new stationery items bought. This is not the first time that the exchequer will bear additional expenses. A few months back, a huge amount of money was spent on the renovation of offices for administrators, commissioners and deputy commissioners after they replaced
nazims. Earlier in July this year, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led Sindh government had revived the commissionerate system of 1979 in Sindh but the ruling party was compelled to withdraw the decision as a reconciliatory move with the coalition partner, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Development work in the city and resolution of public complaints were the core issues they had to be overlooked for the sake of ‘reconciliation’. Furthermore, the administrative jurisdictions of the densely-populated city were also changed twice within three months, caus-
ing severe confusion among the masses. According to the division, South district includes Saddar, Lyari and Jamshed Town (former), Central district Liaquatabad, North Karachi, Gulberg and North Nazimabad, Malir district Malir, Gadap and Ghazi Barohi Union Council and Jaffer-e-Tayyar society, East district Shah Faisal, Landhi, Gulshan, Korangi and some part sof Malir and West district Baldia, SITE, Gadap and Orangi. The offices of deputy commissioners of all five districts and district municipal corporations are being set up at their old locations of 2001.
individual billing against bulk connection by KwSb unjustified: ombudsman KARACHI APP
The Sindh ombudsman has held the issuance of bills by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to individuals instead of a collective bill against a bulk connection unjustified. The provincial ombuds-
man observed this in his decision on a complaint by Habibur rehman, a resident of one of the 1,100 apartments of Iqra Complex in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. The complainant had moved a plea against the water board against issuance of excessive and unjustified bills for water, sewerage and
fire tax without providing services. The ombudsman directed the KWSB managing director to revise bills of the complainant, charging only for the period that it provided water to the complex and install a water meter in complex for payment of bills as per the actual supplied quantity.
KARACHI StAFF RePORt
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has so far operated 38 haj flights, bringing home over 15,000 hajaj, a spokesman for the airline said on Sunday. A meeting between PIA officials headed by PIA Chief Haj Coordinator and Haj Services Director Aijaz Mazhar and Jeddah Haj Terminal Airport Management officials was held at Jeddah to review flight operations. Jeddah Haj Terminal Airport Director Operations Abdullah Zamzami appreciated that even after late arrival of hajaj - the main cause of delay in the departure of haj flights- the PIA was the only airline whose aircraft leave Jeddah within the shortest span of time compared to other airlines. He also appreciated the electronic information panel at PIA counters providing information to passengers. The PIA staff can be prominently seen wearing PIA jackets guiding
hajaj and providing assistance and information such as issuance of boarding cards, filling of immigration cards, the spokesman said.
PIA officials are assisting hajaj at immigration counters and helping minimise the entire process till they board the aircraft.
Reception to honour Jamiluddin Aali on 16th KARACHI APP
A reception to honour prominent poet, intellectual and scholar, Dr Jamiluddin Aali, in recognition of his
services in the field of education and research during a 50-year association with Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu Pakistan, will be held on November 16. The event is being or-
ganised at Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan Auditorium, Federal Urdu University, Gulshan campus at 4:30 pm, according to a press release issued on Sunday. Seasoned intellectual,
Dr Farman Fatehpuri will chair the programme, while University of Karachi Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Peerzada Qasim raza Siddiqi and other notables are also expected to attend it.
KHI pages 14-11-11_Layout 1 11/14/2011 1:20 AM Page 8
PakistaN today
08 karachi
If you ratify it, you need to do it
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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
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Monday, 14 November, 2011
■ Government needs to implement labour laws it has ratified, particularly those on female workers ■ Should also come up with new ones that are presently required KARACHI
T
QAzI ASIF
HE labour laws of Pakistan are severely outdated and lack the ‘rights-based’ approach. They do not cover even the basic human rights and particularly have nothing on the gender issue. These laws are redundant and older than Pakistan itself. Despite that fact that Pakistan has ratified the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as the C100 Equal remuneration Convention 1951, C111 Discrimination Emplacement and Occupation Convention 1958, discrimination against working women remains rampant around the country. The state is obligated to promote and ensure equal remuneration for men and women workers. This instrument is critical in Pakistan where the traditional social role does not allow women the freedom to take up employment and there is no wide sphere for employment opportunities. But following Pakistan’s commitment to gender mainstreaming, implementation of this convention is vital. Protection against Harassment at the Workplace Act 2010 and Criminal Law Amendment Act 2009 are two pieces of legislation adopted last year that deal with sexual harassment. The former is quite wide and covers both regular and contractual employees and include ‘employers’ which may or may not be incorporated. It also has a wide and encompassing definition of harassment. It lays down procedures on how to deal with any such case. Home-based women workers, women in agriculture are all unable to avail any contractual protection of their basic employment. This includes contacts with intermediaries, as well as the actual industries themselves. According to a report, job secu-
rity is a huge problem in Pakistan. Alongside the existing obligations, Pakistan should commit to undertaking better reform in providing protection to its workers. It should also ratify C158 Termination of Employment Convention, 1982. This convention addresses some of the vital issues relating to job security. Whilst revising and redrafting the current law, the state should focus on the rights contained in such and other ILO conventions. This convention applies to all branches of economic activity and all employed person.
The Factories Act 1934 deals especially with factories under its Section 6, wherein it is declared that the provincial government may, by order in writing, direct that the different departments or branches of a specific factory shall be treated as separates factories for all or many off the purposes of this Act. No adult workers shall be allowed or required to work in a factory for more than nine hours in any day. No exemption for the provisions of Section 36 may be granted in respect of any woman and no women shall be allowed to work in a factory except between 6 am and 7 pm, provided that if the employers arranges transport facilities, a woman with her consent may work up to 10 pm in two shifts.
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IDentItY cARDS
As per Section 6 of the Factories Act 1934, the provincial government has the power to separate a department for men and women. However, this has not been done. With the Finance Bill 2006, women’s working hours, specifically in the night has been increased on the basis of two shifts and the condition of provision of transport. This is highly discriminatory on different levels. International laws have spelt out that women should not be mandated to do night work, especially during and after pregnancy. It is recommended that alternative day arrangements be made for women. Maliha Zia Lari, an expert on gender laws, says that this is a huge problem in Pakistan. “Working hours and night work is often not voluntary as the threat of dismissal is often used in order to ensure compliance,” she adds. Employers usually violate the necessity of provision of ‘safe’ transport for women, leaving women vulnerable as they need to either use public transport late at night or find private transport. In a country with a high incidence of violence against women, especially sexual violence and sexual harassment, this allows women labourers to be continuously exposed to different forms of violence and harassment. Night timings will result in conflict between work and home life, also resulting in family disputes as many men do not allow their women to be out of their home till late night. These are also in contravention of the concept of ‘decent work’ by not allowing workers adequate time for leisure. It is necessary for Pakistan to ratify C171 Night Work Convention 1990, which is an updated convention pulling together the most fundamental aspect from earlier conventions. It defines the term of ‘night worker’ as an employed per-
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son, whose work requires performance of a substantial number of hours and night work which exceeds a specified limit. It then proceeds to provide the necessary protection of health and other rights of this person including regular health assessment before and during taking up such assignments; provision of first and kits and arrangement of transport. This convention specifically takes up the issue of women and night work. It obligates that measures should be taken to find an alternative to night work for women before and after childbirth, for a period of at least 16 weeks of which at least eight weeks shall be before and expected date of childbirth; for additional periods in respect of which a medical certificate is produced stating that it is necessary for health of the mother or child, during pregnancy. Pakistan is in fact a signatory to C81 Labour Inspection Convention, 1947. This convention, like others is clearly being violated under the current situation. The convention secures enforcement of legal provisions relating to conditions of work and protection of workers. However, in Pakistan, labour inspections have been halted in Punjab. In other provinces, they are irregular and often corrupt and side with the employers, thereby not being able to provide an unbiased and proper evaluation. There are no women inspectors not are any inspectors trained and specifically do not to understand gender specific needs. According to a research conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and research Centre, there is a severe lack of space for women in factories. They do not have separate eating or sitting areas or kitchen. No protective gear is provided to women including goggles, masks and gloves. No first aid facilities are provided; this is relevant with the reference to night work where international standards demand the provision of medical care, especially at night. There is need to implement existing law regarding labour on women workers. There is also the need to make new laws to protect rights for industrial, home and agricultural workers. It is high time that this is done, especially when labour laws have become a provincial matter. The provinces should now come forward and make news laws and implement the existing ones.
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ART EXHIBITIoN STARTS NoVEMBER 15 AT 05:00 PM VENUE: CANVAS GALLERY
ART EXHIBITIoN UNTIL NoVEMBER 15 VENUE: VM ART GALLERY
ART EXHIBITIoN UNTIL NoVEMBER 24 VENUE: IVS GALLERY
‘Identity Cards’ is running from November 15 to 24 at the Canvas Gallery. Call 35861523 for more information.
‘State of Being So Divided’ is running until November 15 at the VM Art Gallery. Call 34940411 for more information.
‘State of Being So Divided’ is running until November 24 at the IVS Gallery. Call 35861039 for more information.
KHI pages 14-11-11_Layout 1 11/14/2011 1:20 AM Page 9
Monday, 14 November, 2011
News 09
NAB enquiry into Rainee Canal project in final stage
PiA brings home 15,000 Haj pilgrims in 38 flights LAHoRE StAFF RePORt
ISLAMABAD
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has so far operated 38 Haj flights and brought home 15,000 pilgrims from Jeddah, a spokesman of the airline said on Sunday. PIA officials led by the airline’s Chief Haj Coordinator and Airport Services Director Aijaz Mazhar met with the Jeddah Airport officials in the Saudi cosmopolitan city. Abdullah Zamzami, director operations at the Jeddah Haj Terminal Airport, praised the Pakistani airline’s performance, saying the PIA was the only airline whose aircraft took the least amount of time to leave the airport. He also appreciated the electronic information panels set up at PIA counters to provide information to the passengers. The PIA chief Haj coordinator said the airline had installed information counters for the convenience of its passengers. He said airline officials wearing PIA jackets could be seen guiding pilgrims and providing assistance and travel information. He said the pilgrims arriving late at the airport were responsible for delays in PIA flights.
T
MIAn ABRAR
he National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has formally informed the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission (PMIC) that it was finalising its enquiry into the rainee Canal project. A NAB official told Pakistan Today that PMIC Chairman Malik Amjad Ali Noon had asked NAB chief Admiral (r) Fasih Bokhari during a recent meeting to finalise report on the rainee Canal. In response, Bokhari told Noon that the NAB inquiry was in the final phase and would take appropriate action after the inquiry, the official said. The PMIC had asked the NAB to hold an inquiry into the project which was executed during the rule of former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf. Earlier, the PMIC had also conducted an inquiry into the project. Official documents available with Pakistan Today reveal that the PMIC report had found delays, formulation of project without proper study, award of four contracts to a single contractor and unsatisfactory quality of work in the rainee Canal project. The PMIC then asked the Planning and Development (P&D) Division and the Government of Sindh to evolve an effective inspection mechanism. The report had also called for an appraisal to be
Pakistan’s low-price JF-17 competes with rivals in dubai
g
Audit reports reveal cost and time overruns, poor work quality and financial discrepancies
implemented, while strictly adhering to the rules of the Public Procurement regulatory Authority (PPrA). regarding PMIC’s proposal to hold an inquiry into time and cost overruns found in the project, the P&D Division referred to its report dated June 10, 2010, wherein an identical proposal was made and the report forwarded to the Ministry of Water and Power and chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). FINDINGS: The consultative process found various factors impeding the project’s implementation such as financial constraints, inconsistency between financial releases and physical progress, deviations made from PC-I, irregularities in land acquisition, cost and time overruns, cancellation of contracts, flood damages, non-development of command area, difference of opinion on regulator and divide wall, lack of effective monitoring and inspection by the Planning Commission and WAPDA and certain irregularities in acquiring land by the land acquisition officer. The PMIC had also asked the Water and Power Ministry if the project was audited or not. In reply, the ministry
sent a copy of the audit report for the year 2009-2010. The scope of the audit was to examine the project accounts for the period between September 2002 and June 2009 (financial years 2002-2003 to 2008-2009). The audit findings and recommendations are as under. According to the project management, the planned cost of the project (Phase-I) was rs 6,297 million against which an expenditure of rs 8,694.087 million was incurred until June, 2009 resulting in a cost overrun of 38.07 percent, equivalent to rs 2,397.087 million. An amount of rs 8,453 million was spent on the procurement of office equipment against the provision of rs 2,640 million in PC-I, resulting in an irregular expenditure of rs 5,813 million. The planned cost of contracts of Phase-I was rs 4,697 million whereas, the contracts were awarded at rs 12,882.232 million, exceeding the planned cost by rs 8,185.232 million. An amount of rs 58.588 million was allocated in PC-I for the construction of residential and non-residential buildings, which have not yet been constructed. Against an approved cost of rs 18,862
million, only rs 3,400 million were allocated by the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) until September, 2007. The insufficient funds caused delays and an extra expenditure on interest charges claimed by the contractors. There was no provision for consultancy charges in the PC-I, but rs 124 million were spent on consultants. RECOMMENDATIONS: The report asked the project management to: Implement the schedule given in PC-I of the project and vigorously pursue a continuous flow of funds; regulate the land acquisition proceedings and payments as per provision of the Land Acquisition Action, 1894, to avoid excess payments; Strictly adhere to Public Procurement rules, 2004, for transparency in awarding of contracts; Adhere to the conditions and clauses of contracts; Ensure proper monitoring and surveillance of project works for achieving quality and timely completion of project; Strengthen internal controls to avoid financial irregularities; Ensure timely resolution of issues between stakeholders to avoid delays; Suggest monitoring mechanism regarding achievement of intended objectives of the project. MONITORING BY PLANNING COMMISSION: The project wing of the Planning Commission had monitored the rainee Canal project in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. The Planning Commission also monitored the rainee Canal Project in 2009 and forwarded a monitoring report to the Ministry of Water and Power in June 2009 which contained issues and observations about delays, failure to achieve targets, change of five project documents since the start of the project, excess expenditures, slow progress, time and cost overrun.
PM promotes 15 officers of Postal, information groups
DUBAI ReUteRS
Pakistan is pitching its new JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, developed jointly with China, at an aggressive discount to dominant Western rivals, the country’s defence minister said on Sunday. “You can buy three of our aircraft for one F-16,” Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar told reuters at the Dubai Air Show, where the aircraft is being displayed. He said that the producer, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, was under pressure to keep pace with the requirements of the Pakistan Air Force. “Three squadrons are already flying the aircraft in Pakistan and one squadron in China,” he added. Analysts expect the aircraft, which Mukhtar said was priced at $25-30 million, to be focused on emerging markets in Asia and Africa. “Going to the (European) market is not very easy because you are cutting the profits of some other people,” Mukhtar said. He said the development of the aircraft was not targeted at archrival India. “India need not worry -- it’s not India-specific. We are building very close relations with India.”
ISLAMABAD StAFF RePORt
Prime Minister Yousaf raza Gilani on Sunday approved the promotion of 15 officers of the Postal Group and Information Service on the recommendations of the Central Selection Board. Fakir Syed Shaharyaruddin and Amjad Aftab Siddiqui from the Postal Group have been promoted from BS-20 to BS-21 while S Mobin Iqbal, Nasir Hassan, Mushtaq Ahmed Mahindro, Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Haq Nawaz and Dr Naseer Ahmed Khan have been promoted from BS-19 to BS-20. From the Information Service, Muhammad Tariq, Saba Mohsin raza, Tehsin Ali Khan, Sheraz Latif, raja Muhammad Farooq Khan, rafiq Ahmed Dahar and Maqbool Hussain Shah have been promoted from BS-19 to BS-20.
SIAlKOt: Workers scattering rice for drying on Sunday. ONLINE
Ombudsman’s office dysfunctional due to govt’s negligence office lying vacant for a year, over 50,000 complaints pending g Pakistan will have to forfeit presidency of Asian ombudsmen Association if no ombudsman is appointed g
MASOOD ReHMAn
O
wing to grave negligence of the federal government, the office of the federal ombudsman has become dysfunctional, as it has been lying vacant since October 27, 2010, adding to the woes of thousands of people whose complainants against the functionaries of various federal government departments are pending orders from the office. Almost 50,000 public complaints are pending with the ombudsman’s office for disposal. According to senior lawyers, the functionaries concerned of the federal government have committed grave negligence in carrying out their mandatory duty of appointing a federal ombudsman or at least an acting ombudsman in accordance with Article 3 or 7 of the Establishment of the Office of the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) Order 1983 (President’s Order No 1 of 1983), resulting in a dysfunctional Federal Ombudsman’s Secretariat, which is the only inexpensive and swift source of justice for poor people. According to lawyer Dr Muhammad Aslam Khaki, an Islamic jurist and chair-
man of Insaaf Welfare Trust, the ombudsman institution has come to be globally recognised as a credible means of addressing the complaints of aggrieved citizens related to administrative injustice of federal agencies such as ministries, divisions and autonomous bodies, as defined under Article 2(1) of the Establishment of the Office of the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) Order 1983 (President’s Order No. 1 of 1983). He said that in fact, its functioning was taken as an important factor in ensuring accountability and transparency in everyday public service delivery throughout the world. He said under Articles 3 and 4 of the ombudsman order of 1983, the president of Pakistan appoints a federal ombudsman for a term of four years. The last federal ombudsman, Javed Sadiq Malik, had completed his tenure on October 27, 2010 and since then the office has been vacant. The prime minister and the president have failed to fill this constitutional post on regular or acting basis for over a year now, which would have been a clear manifestation of their so-called passion for good governance and addressing public
grievances. Legal and constitutional experts believe that keeping the post of the federal ombudsman vacant for over a year has caused various adverse effects, not only for the institution but also for the general public. The core business of the office is addressing citizens’ grievances. During the absence of the ombudsman, the secretariat received some 46,813 complaints (up to September 30, 2011) from all over Pakistan against federal government agencies. Of these, the investigation has been completed in more than 28,394 cases, but no relief could be provided to citizens for lack of the mandatory approval of the federal ombudsman. According to the Activity Monitoring report of September 20, 2011, this has caused frustration in the public mind and downgraded the institution’s credibility amongst the people. The office of the federal ombudsman had initiated a number of projects for capacity building of the institution and institutional streamlining with donor assistance. But because of the absence of an ombudsman, all these projects have now
come to a complete halt, as donors have withdrawn their assistance in several cases. Main donors of these projects are UNICEF, UNDP and the Asian Development Bank. According to Dr Khaki, who has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking appointment of a federal ombudsman, the Wafaqi Mohtasib of Pakistan has successfully earned well-established credibility among the fraternity of ombudsman institutions around the world and it has been acting as the elected president of the Asian Ombudsmen Association (AOA) since 1996. Besides, it has considerably contributed to the recognition of Pakistan’s leadership role in strengthening the institution of ombudsman in 27 Asian countries. The absence of the AOA’s president for the last year has led to embarrassment at the Asian level, as many mandatory meetings and decisions are pending. The election to the office of AOA president is scheduled to be held on December 8, 2011, when Pakistan, in the absence of a federal ombudsman, will be forfeiting this prestigious position, which it has held since 1996.
The federal ombudsman has also been a member of the board of directors of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), Vienna, Austria. The elections for the position were held in August 2011, where Pakistan lost the key position at such an august international forum merely because of the absence of a federal ombudsman. The post has, in the past, been held by retired judges of the Supreme Court as well as retired federal secretaries who had been appointed by the president of Pakistan, both on regular and acting basis. Under the law, the office cannot be kept vacant for such an indefinite period because of its public importance. In case the appointment of the regular incumbent of the post is likely to take some time, the president can (during pending appointment of regular incumbent of the post) appoint some suitable person as an acting ombudsman under Article 7 of the Presidential Order No 1 of 1983, which reads: “Acting Mohtasib – At any time when the office of Mohtasib is vacant, or the Mohtasib is absent or is unable to perform his functions due to any cause, the President shall appoint an acting Mohtasib.” The government’s failure to appoint a federal ombudsman and the resultant dysfunction of the secretariat has also left some 100 employees, including those employed on contract basis, with no work to do.
KHI pages 14-11-11_Layout 1 11/14/2011 1:20 AM Page 10
10 News
Monday, 14 November, 2011
tripartite consensus talks start today ISLAMABAD OnlIne
A 9-day tripartite consensus between customs and border enforcement officials of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States is due to start from Monday (today). According to sources, officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan have been invited by the American State Department’s International Security and Non-proliferation Department Bureau, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Borders Protection Wing for a tripartite consensus. During the proposed consensus, the delegations from Pakistan and Afghanistan would be invited to tour the American training centres and land ports to observe various trainings. The delegations from Pakistan and Afghanistan would also observe the border and customs operations on the American-Mexican border.
2 children kidnapped in separate incidents PESHAWAR StAFF RePORt
ISlAMABAD: Pakistan tehrik-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan addressing a central executive committee meeting at a local hotel on Sunday ONLINE
US Republicans sharply criticise Pakistan in debate g
Mitt Romney says Pakistan ‘close to being a failed state’ g Rick Perry says Pakistanis ‘don’t deserve our foreign aid’ WASHINGToN
P
ReUteRS
AKISTAN took a lot of criticism in Saturday’s republican US presidential debate, with a leading candidate saying it was nearly a failed state and another suggesting the United States cut its foreign aid to zero. But it is unclear whether any of their ideas is likely to be imposed on a country that has nuclear weapons and whose cooperation is seen as vital to stabilising Afghanistan as the United States prepares to pull out from there by the end of 2014. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt romney said Pakistan had multiple centres of power including the relatively weak civilian leadership, the military and the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). “The right way to deal with Pakistan is to recognise that Pakistan is not a country, like other countries, with a strong political centre that you can go to and say, ‘Gee, can we come here, will you take care of this problem?’” romney said. “This is instead a nation which is
close to being a failed state. I hope it doesn’t reach that point, but it’s really a fragile nation,” he said. Polls point to romney as the republican who would be the most likely among the party’s crop of candidates to defeat President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in the November 2012 US presidential election. The republicans begin choosing their nominee in state contests beginning in January. Texas Governor rick Perry suggested that every country, including Pakistan, should see its US aid eliminated each year and then should convince the United States why it deserves any money at all. “Then we’ll have a conversation in this country about whether or not a penny of our taxpayer dollars needs to go into those countries,” Perry said in response to a question about whether Islamabad was playing a double game with Washington. “Pakistan is clearly sending us messages... that they don’t deserve our foreign aid... because they’re not being honest with us,” he added. “American soldiers’ lives are being put at jeopardy because of that country ... and it’s time for us as a country to say no to for-
eign aid to countries that don’t support the United States of America,” he said. ‘FRIEND OR FOE’: Businessman Herman Cain had difficulty offering a direct response when asked whether Pakistan was ultimately an ally or adversary. “There isn’t a clear answer as to whether or not Pakistan is a friend or foe,” Cain said. Some republican candidates argued that the United States has little choice but to nurture relations with Pakistan, citing the fact that it has nuclear arms and that it has to be part of the solution in Afghanistan. “Pakistan must be a friend of the United States for the reason that Michele (Bachmann) outlined. Pakistan is a nuclear power,” said former Pennsylvania Senator rick Santorum, referring to fellow republican candidate Bachmann. “It’s important for us, with a nuclear power with a very vast number of people in Pakistan who are radicalising, that we keep a solid and stable relationship and work through our difficulties,” he added. The candidates also vowed to stop Iran from developing an atomic bomb if they became president but differed over how to do it in a debate that tested their knowledge of world hotspots.
The candidates made no major stumbles at the 90-minute gathering, but their deep differences were reflected, such as how quickly to bring US troops home from Afghanistan and if waterboarding should be brought back for terrorism suspects. None of the eight candidates has much foreign policy experience, save for former US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, but they all criticised Democratic President Barack Obama, whom they want to replace in the 2012 election. Texas Governor rick Perry might have been the biggest winner at the Wofford College debate simply by surviving it with no major stumbles, after he famously forgot one of the three government agencies he would eliminate at the previous debate on Wednesday. A McClatchy-Marist nationwide poll, conducted between November 8 and 10, showed that while romney led among republicans and republican-leaning independents with 23 percent, Newt Gingrich was now second at 19 percent. Cain, who is battling allegations of sexual harassment, slipped to third place with 17 percent.
Two children were kidnapped by unidentified men in separate incidents in Bashirabad on Sunday. According to sources, a child identified as Sudais, son of Ihsanullah, was kidnapped by unidentified persons. The police started search operation after receiving information, however, the child could not be recovered. Another child, Waqas, son of Kamal, had also disappeared mysteriously, the sources said. Meanwhile, police found three bullet laden bodies from Kharkai, within the Dawoodzai Police precincts. The bodies have not been identified yet and were taken to the mortuary for autopsy.
Ji criticises govt agriculture policy LAHoRE StAFF RePORt
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Secretary General Liaquat Baloch on Sunday criticised the government’s policy on agriculture and lamented the increase in prices of fertilizer, diesel and pesticides. In a statement issued by JI, Liaquat said that farmers were not being offered enough money for paddy and cotton crop by investors and industrialists. He said that the federal and provincial governments’ claims to provide fertilizers to the farmers on low prices had proven baseless, adding that the farmers were forced to buy them at higher costs as they were not available in the market. He warned of adverse impact on the wheat crop if cheap fertilizers were not provided to the poor farmers. Liaquat assured the farmers that JI would continue to support them. He demanded the government reduce the prices of fertilizers, pesticides, diesel and electricity and ensure the provision of cheap fertilizers to the farmers.
Kausar asks overseas Pakistanis to invest in fATA g
overseas Pakistanis say they are willing to invest if security concerns are addressed PESHAWAR StAFF RePORt
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar asked overseas Pakistani philanthropists to come forward for investment in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and assist the government in its efforts to bring a true development revolution in this hitherto neglected and ignored part of the country. “It’s a good opportunity for investment as the situation in FATA is quickly returning to normal and the government is going all out to support them”, the governor said. He was talking to a 20-member delegation of overseas Pakistanis, mostly hailing from FATA and running their businesses in
the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which called on him at Governor’s House here on Sunday. The meeting was the follow-up of an earlier meeting that took place in Dubai during a recent visit of the governor to the UAE. The delegation was led by Syed Qayyum Shah. The governor admitted that law and order remained a problem impeding development efforts but said that the situation was now far better than the past and “moving towards normalcy”. “We have made some basic policy shifts in FATA owing to the changed scenario,” the governor said, adding that the administration had been instructed to forget about the colonial attitude and be people-friendly and serve the people rather than rule them. He said 60 percent of FATA’s popula-
tion was made up of youth, who needed to be made self-sufficient in one way of another. “We are trying to equip the uneducated youth with technical skill and know-how and open new avenues for jobs and employment not only in FATA but in the country as well as abroad,” he said. Earlier in the presentation on investment opportunities in FATA given to the delegates, it was revealed that 85 percent of area in FATA had been geographically explored and multiple minerals had been identified for exploitation and utilisation. The delegates were told that 5.85 billion tonnes of mineral deposits were available in Bajaur Agency alone, including coal, manganese, emerald, copper, gold, oil and gas, soapstone, limestone, graphite,
chromite, gypsum and iron ore in almost every tribal agency. They were told that 230 million tonnes of industrial grade limestone and 130 million tonnes of gypsum was present in the Sherani area of Dera Ismail Khan, where industries such as cement, fertilisers and plaster of Paris production could be established. Other industries such as fruit and vegetable processing plants in South Waziristan Agency and Kurram Agency, marble processing units in Mohmand Agency and Bajaur Agency, and rOZs in Khyber Agency could also be promising choices, the delegates were told. Some 120 potential sites were available in FATA for small dams where investment could be made. Leader of the delegation Syed Qayyum Shah thanked the governor for providing them an opportunity to become aware of the investment opportunities in FATA. He expressed
willingness for investment on behalf of his co-delegates subject to the condition that their security concerns were addressed properly. He said people working abroad were willing to come back and work in their own areas to serve their people and their country. They also pointed towards certain drawbacks in the system, particularly some problems at the airports and lack of facilities such as cold storage there. They pledged to develop contacts with the FDA and FATA Secretariat to further the ideas of investment in FATA and avail the opportunities available for investment in the tribal areas. The meeting was attended by the FDA chief executive, secretary to the governor, FATA finance secretary, FATA Projects director general, FATA administration secretary and other officials of the FATA Secretariat and FDA.
KHI pages 14-11-11_Layout 1 11/14/2011 1:20 AM Page 11
Monday, 14 November, 2011
Editor’s mail 11
Questions for imran I would like to draw the attention of the Pakistani nation towards the talk of the town, which is Imran Khan’s ‘Pakistan Bachao Tehreek’ (Save Pakistan Movement). In every meeting and discussion, I often hear about the attendance at Minar-e-Pakistan and it seems that this power show is becoming the basis of support for the PTI. One sensible quarter has asked for an effective plan and strategy on how Imran Khan will change the system. I, too, have my concerns and would like to ask Imran Khan’s supporters, who think that he will bring about a 180 degree change in the direction of the country, about all the tall claims that he has made in the past that have not yet been
Seats for sale? accomplished. I am still waiting for Imran Khan to share the details of the model houses and/or villages for the flood affected people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Punjab in 2010, for which he had collected billions of rupees and said that he will put everything in black and white. I am still waiting for Imran Khan to visit and assist the flood affected people of Sindh and visit victims of target killings in Karachi. I am still waiting for Imran Khan to pursue cases against Altaf Hussain in London that he claimed he would. His action on the ground is now in contradiction to his claims with seemingly cordial relations with the MQM. I am still waiting for
Imran Khan to go to the superior courts to keep the Chaudhrys from running for elections, which he was determined to pursue prior to the 2008 elections and even showed their bank default papers in front of the media. I am still waiting for Imran Khan to conduct a rally in Karachi, Quaid-e Azam’s home city, and refer to Altaf Hussain like he referred the PML(N) leaders to as ‘the dengue brothers’. I am still waiting for Imran Khan to bring new leadership ahead rather than giving the second seat on stage in his Lahore rally to a controversial figure like Mian Azhar, who has only recently joined the PTI. Perhaps now I am waiting for PML(Q)’s outdated politicians to start
joining PTI and sit on the stage pushing down the diehard workers, who have been with PTI for so many years. There is a long list of things that I am still waiting for, but with his present style of leadership and the way that he has launched himself against the PML(N), I have lost hope in him. With all the above-mentioned promises that he could not deliver being in the opposition, assuming that he does come to power, I am sure that he will either be hijacked by the incumbent politicians from the PML(Q) or would continue doing what he has always done, i.e. make empty promises. FATIMA BAREE Karachi
Stop corruption, save Sindh regrettably, corruption has affected every aspect of life in this country of ours. There is no any segment of society which is corruption-free. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit a few departments in my home province Sindh. The scale of corruption which I saw in various departments such as health, education, revenue, police, believe me or not, I have never seen such intensity of corruption in other parts of the country. Not even a single penny is spent over routine or developmental works. The provincial government has given power in the hands of mafias, criminals and corrupt people. I am of the view that such people are the most harmful and dangerous for any nation and people of the country than any foreign aggression. HASHIM ABRO Islamabad
Media ethics Media is an important aspect of every society as it not only gives awareness to people but also gathers people on a common cause. It broadcasts current events and raises important problems on a national platform. But our media is not playing a positive role in our society. It is broadcasting issues or problems in a sensationalised manner rather than covering them in a dispassionate way. It gives undue hype to certain problems; so much so that it often leads to the disaffected people resorting to violence. It is the responsibility of our media professionals to project Pakistan positively. Not only that, it is duty to follow a code of ethics, even if it hasn’t been formalised in the shape of a law, and to cover issues in a rational manner that opens up avenues for their solution. HINA MEHDI Karachi
In Pakistan, one senator seat is sold for crores of rupees. The senators are nominated and voted for by the parliamentarians, who charge these rich technocrats 5-10 crore rupees to get their votes and become a senator for the Government of Pakistan. After paying such a huge amount for a job, any person would have only one agenda in their job, to somehow make this money back and also accumulate enough for the next election, payment for another win. With such a mindset how can we end corruption? The senators do get lots of chances from the government to make money, like weapon license quotas which are sold to the highest bidder etc. They get free cars, free protocol (sometimes consisting of 10 cars) and many other VIP treatments at the expense of the public. The senators and parliamentarians also get job quotas, which they sell as well. Each seat is sold for 8-20 Lakh rupees in KPK these days. The person who buys this seat becomes a government servant. This person then starts their new job with the resolve to first make up the loan of 8-20 lakh rupees that they have for getting their new job. With such a vicious cycle how can we stop corruption in the government? A possible solution could be to stop giving parliamentarians and senators special quotas; they should not be allowed VIP treatment or any special privileges. In the UK and Other EU countries, their representatives go to work on the public transport and even ride to work on bicycles. Once these government servants are treated like common citizens, then they won’t be able to get away with such corruption. ROHAIL BASEER Peshawar
Sack Railways minister
iran’s nukes There is a lot of hullabaloo surrounding Iran nukes which may or may not exist. A lot of officials from the US are issuing declaratory statements about what could happen if Iran continues to develop arms of destruction. These statements should not be lightly as we all know what happened to Iraq on a similar (and utterly fabricated) pretext. It is true that in the international comity, you only have to follow the rules if you don’t have power. The US was
answerable to nobody after it did what it did to Iraq. Now the motions are being gone through again. While proliferation of nuclear arms is a real issue and it should be taken seriously, why is the US raising the roof about Iran’s alleged nukes while it continues to de facto fund Israel’s nuclear programme. Hypocirsy, thy name is US. ABEER ASIF Lahore
The Pakistan railways has reached a moribund state under the charge of present railways Minister Mr Bilour of ANP who should be held squarely responsible for the destruction of this prime public transport system. The plight of a railway pensioner dying before a bank speaks volumes about the stone hearted minister who even advised closure of railway thus pushing us in Stone Age. The president ought to dispense with such a sorry specimen from his ANP cohorts who is bringing a bad name to the PPP government as a hallmark of mismanagement unprecedented in the past six decades of our history. DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI Lahore
Begum Nusrat Bhutto: A personal tribute By Fakhar Zaman
B
egum Nusrat Bhutto is no more in this world. But she would long be remembered for her great qualities with which she was blessed in abundance. She was a woman of substance, commitment and determination. She was committed to the cause of democracy, determined to work for and ensure women empowerment and had a very soft corner for downtrodden people in general and the poor party workers in particular. She would walk into a hut or ‘jhuggie’ of a party worker with a smiling face and spend quite some time there inquiring about the welfare and well-being of the family members. The role Begum Nusrat Bhutto played in politics and in the Movement for restoration of Democracy (MrD), particularly when her illustrious husband and first democratically elected Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown and hanged by military dictator General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, would always be remembered as a golden chapter in the country’s chequered political history. She took both the PPP and the MrD to new heights which even her political opponents have always recognised and appre-
ciated then and even now when she lies in eternal rest along side her husband Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and daughter Benazir Bhutto in the family graveyard. But I was fortunate enough not only to have seen her in different capacities closely but also having the opportunity of working with her for several years as her Political Advisor. She was strongly against corruption in politics. She also used to say in our interaction during tour of Punjab in connection with election that no corrupt Minister or bureaucrat should be tolerated under any circumstances. She was of the considered view that the corruption had spread during Zia-ul-Haq’s martial law regime like the kalashnikov culture and drug culture. She was also the Chief Organizer of PPP Women Wing, a position which had afforded her much desired opportunity to work for women empowerment. Begum Nusrat Bhutto was so committed to the cause of democracy and democratic process , that one of the first things she had told me was that she wanted election of the PPP Women Wing held from down to tehsil level upto the Chairperson level all over the country. This task was accomplished over a period of three years from 1973 to 1976. She was herself elected unopposed as the Chairperson of PPP Women Wing. Her life was full of struggles, sacri-
fices and sufferings. She had seen a lot of strife and hardship in her life but had stayed steadfast and undeterred. Begum Nusrat Bhutto first lost her illustrious husband Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, then her one son Mir Shahnawaz Bhutto, then second son Mir Murtaza Bhutto and furthermore, her eldest daughter Benazir Bhutto. But I don’t think that she was in the best of her mental and physical health conditions while living in Dubai when Benazir Bhutto was martyred in December 2007. As a matter of fact, her health deteriorated after the assassination of her beloved son Mir Murtaza Bhutto, who was shot dead in Karachi. That was the beginning of the decline of the great woman who had already lost her husband and then her son. After this tragedy, she had gradually started showing no interest in politics and withdrawing herself to loneliness. I was out of the country when Mir Murtaza Bhutto was shot dead in Clifton , Karachi , a short distance from his residence. On my return home, I went to the Prime Minister house offer my condolence. I had never before seen her in such bad shape before in all the years I had been associated with her as the Political Advisor, officially and then also unofficially. She had stood firm and strong even when she was beaten up brutally by the
police with batons at Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore, resulting in wounds to her head. She had faced all the rigours of military dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq with courage, boldness and determination both as PPP Chairperson and as MrD leader. She was made the Chairperson of PPP on the insistence of veteran political leader Shaikh Muhammad rashid in view of the conditions then prevailing in the country as well as within the party. She had taken up the challenge very well and did not allow the fact that she was a woman to create any obstacles in discharging the duties and functions as PPP Chairperson despite losing her husband not so long ago. As already mentioned Begum Nusrat Bhutto preferred to meet party workers whom she always treated with affection and as a loving mother. She was deadly against those party leaders who had betrayed Mr Bhutto and PPP in any manner and was of the view that such people should not be taken back in the party. I was with her in Noon house Lahore, along with Benazir Bhutto when Mr Bhutto was in the central jail undergoing trial at Lahore high court. During this period, she refused to meet a number of noted leaders who had betrayed Bhutto sahib. It is a known bitter fact that after Mr Bhutto was hanged, his wife and daughter were not allowed to have his last glimpses and attend his funeral rites
and were instead placed in detention at Sihala rest House near rawalpindi . She despised General Ziaul Haq and even had been questioning Mr Bhutto as to why he had chosen such an unimpressive person as the Chief of Army Staff. She also did not like Zia-ul-Haq’s habit of flattery and feared that this person may cause some harm one day. I also remember how kind she was even to animals. Begum Nusrat Bhutto was going in a vehicle to Jaranwala to address a gathering there. ruksana Bangash and myself with her in the Pajero which was being driven by Tahir Niazi. Suddenly, a galloping horse appeared from one side of the road, sped past the vehicle hitting it slightly and disappeared. The vehicle, somehow, did not turn turtle. It was immediately stopped and Mr Niazi apologized to her for the incident. She asked me to go and find out whether the horse was safe and not injured after hitting the vehicle. She was relieved when I told her that the horse had disappeared which meant that it was not hurt. There are many instances which I can quote here but for want of space it is not possible. The writer is a PPP central leader and can be reached at his e-mail address fakharzaman21@yahoo.com
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 Crying wolf? introspection needed
T
he establishment, claims Nawaz Sharif, is out to prop up new political parties and create wedges within older, most established ones. Now that might not be too far from the truth, and there certainly is a precedent for that. Nawaz should know. But there is only so far one can use the establishment bogeyman. If Nawaz was alluding to the PTI and the rifts within the N-League, like the one between MNA Abid Sher Ali and Punjab law minister rana Sanaullah, then some introspection would do him good. rifts within his party are not necessarily the result of any grand actor but of the peculiar nature of his party. The Punjab chief minister’s penchant for micromanagement, all while alienating his own lawmakers is well-known. Back when the PPP was a coalition member in the Punjab, the running joke around the provincial assembly and secretariat was, who is lesser empowered than a PPP minister in the Punjab? The answer: PML(N) ministers. By relying almost entirely on the bureaucracy and meeting up with legislators sparingly, the CM has set up the seeds of discontent far and wide in its party framework. On the other front: granted, the PTI has tapped into the largely apolitical demographic - and that it has had help from usual quarters is not too unfounded an assumption - but the League’s farfrom-stellar performance in the provincial government has certainly contributed to the newcomer’s appeal, especially within the urban middle-class demographic traditionally enthralled by the League. The League should beware of becoming the party that cried wolf. Citizens disaffected by poorly performing governments don’t take too kindly to being given lessons in political history and institutional dynamics. The country’s political class has the odds stacked against them, especially when they are in government. Having said that, however, there is only so much incompetence a government can explain away.
Punjabi militancy A million mutinies now
T
he media, complain the other federating units, covers, almost exclusively, issues of the Punjab and Karachi. And within that, only the urban centres. That is not too outlandish a claim. A comparison of how a suicide bomb blast in Lakki Marwat that killed more than a hundred people and any of the ones in Lahore, which have yielded far lesser casualties, played out of the news cycles is a ready case to be examined. Yet there are some aspects of the Punjab that are underreported by the mainstream media. The widespread network of religious militants in the Punjab does not make it to the headlines so often. A reason for this might be the relatively less frequent instances like the one that took place in Chakwal the other day, where four intelligence personnel were targeted. But many analysts feel that instances like these are the tip of the iceberg. That the stillsubmerged structure of these networks is comparable, even larger, than the ones found in KP or Balochistan. Even those who acknowledge the scourge limit themselves to discussing only southern Punjab. But central Punjab is rife with the problem as well, and this includes Lahore. Islamabad itself is another problem that needs to be confronted. A true picture of the proliferation of these networks in the federal capital itself packs enough of a punch to give anyone the jitters. These groups are increasingly making the elected representatives irrelevant. rather than seek their favour, it is usually the lawmakers that seek out these groups in matters of constituency realpolitik. In making the positive framework of the state irrelevant lie the seeds of failed states. In this lopsided republic where one federating unit takes up about 60 per cent of the population, it is rare to state that the Punjab is being neglected, in any department. But that may well be the case.
Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami
Arif Nizami Editor
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Monday, 14 November, 2011
Superpowers through the ages even when not in Rome, do as the Romans do
T
he roman Empire was one of the great empires in history. It extended from Europe to Asia and included hundreds of nations and tribes as its subjects. To maintain its greatness, it continuously fought bloody battles, suppressed rebellions with brutality, enslaved the vanquished people and plundered the wealth of the defeated nations. Historians still admire the generalship of Pompey, Julius Caesar and Augustus who conquered new lands and pushed the borders of the empire ahead. The books of history still depict the fascinating scenes when the victors returned from the battlefield along with war booty and slaves that were given to the kings and princesses and paraded in the city of rome as war trophies. By watching this spectacle, people applauded their war heroes and welcomed them back enthusiastically. The grandeur and its heritage inspired the later ruling generations of Europe who time and again made attempt to revive its political institutions and its past glory. In 9th century, Charlemagne built the Carolingian empire on the same basis. He was crowned by the Pope which transformed him as the Holy roman Emperor. This institution continued even after losing its power and became in Voltaire’s words neither Holy nor roman, and not Emperor. It was finally ended by Napoleon in 1812. When Napoleon conducted a coup in 1799 against the revolutionary Directory By Dr Mubarak Ali of France, he called himself the first council on the model of roman republic. His ambitions were to follow the great roman generals and found a great empire. In the 20th century, Benito Mussolini raised the slogan to revive the roman Empire and its greatness. Though Hitler did not make such claims but the show and pageantry of Nazi rule reflected the power and grandeur of the romans. When the British started the process of colonisation, its administrators and army officers studied roman history and emulated the great roman heroes in their efforts to colonise new territories and make their country like the great roman Empire. The American Founding Fathers were also impressed by the roman history and its political institutions. The coming American generations are still trying to make their country a great superpower like the roman Empire. The problem is that all those who made efforts to fol-
eye on History
low in the footsteps of the romans have studied only its success and triumphs and not its downfall and disintegration. The roman Empire became so vast that it became impossible to manage. In the later period, a new system was introduced that instead of one there were four emperors to control the rebellions of the colonised nations. It failed. Finally, it was defeated and humiliated by the Germanic tribes who conquered the city of rome in the 5th century and ended the empire. Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire points out the causes of its downfall. One of them was the civil wars among its generals for power which exhausted its energy and its armies no longer remained in a position to confront the rebellions. Secondly, conversion to Christianity weakened its military power because a large number of people abandoned worldly affairs and concentrated on the salvation of their souls. Pirenne, the Belgian historian, in his book Muhammad (pbuh) and Charlemagne argues that the conquest of North Africa and domination on the Mediterranean by the Arabs blocked the trade routes of the romans which created an economic crisis leading to its fall. Historians also point out the policy of enslavement of the defeated people as one of the reasons of its decline. As a result of this policy, the population of the slaves increased and the nobles evicted the peasants from their land and employed the slaves to cultivate it. The evicted and unemployed peasants left their homes and came to the cities for work. It produced an unemployed and disgruntled population which was ready to disestablish the system. Historians call them ‘the internal barbarians’ who caused the downfall of the Empire. The nobles, fearing the wrath of crowd, left the cities and retired to their villas in the countryside. When the Germanic
tribes besieged the city of rome, there was nobody to defend it. One finds some similarities in the decline of other great empires. The first and foremost reason was the rise of nationalist sentiments among the subject nations. They rebelled against the imperial powers and made it difficult for them to manage them and control their power. All European imperial powers faced the same situation when the colonised nations challenged their rule and forced them to withdraw. Once they were involved in warfare, they exhausted their financial resources which affected their societies. The economic crisis from within and outside compelled them to return to their original borders. At present, the Americans are facing the same problems. The stretch of their ‘empire’ is sucking their resources and talents. Their presence is not liked by the people who are under their political and cultural domination. As a result of this, there are resistant movements. Though, like all imperial powers, they rely on the cooperation of local collaborators, but increasingly, it is becoming difficult to trust them as they are discredited by the people. This is a dilemma for the Americans: how to react. The problem is that the very concept of being a superpower is intoxicating. It creates arrogance which makes its rulers blind to the ground realities and blinkers their understanding. Consequently, the fall comes with humiliation. Those imperial powers that adapted the model of the roman Empire and observed its military glory and ignored its decline did not learn from history and committed the same mistakes and suffered ignoble defeat. The writer is one of the pioneers of alternate history in the country.
Regional Press
Anti-encroachment drive in Peshawar Daily Khabroona
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fter Eid-ul-Azha, the district administration in Peshawar embarked on anti-encroachment drive with particular focus on busy bazaars in the city including the vegetable market. Certain trade unions in Peshawar are up in opposition against such an ‘operation’ and have demanded of the government to show ‘leniency’ in this regard. During the anti-encroachment drive, it also came to the fore that thousands of street vendors (raerhi-wallahs) selling fruits, vegetables and dry-fruits in the city totally depends on these activities for earning livelihood. If the administration continued its drive, the result would obviously render bulk of people jobless. Such people maintained that though the district administration in carrying out anti-encroachment drive is on the right foot in the legal sense of the word, yet the daily wage labourers and street vendors would suffer unduly if the drive was conducted in an indiscriminate manner. They said
that if the operation is indeed needed to be carried out, then they should be provided with alternative jobs to sustain themselves and their family members. They even threatened to resort to demonstrations against the provincial government for not taking into considerations the hardships of the poor strata of society. It is a fact that in the current time, not only Peshawar, but the entire country is faced with a crisis of unemployment. It is because, on the one hand, the law and order situation of the region has taken a heavy toll on economic activities of the country and, on the other hand, the incumbent government at the centre has failed to take any tangible steps to overcome the dreaded phenomena of unemployment. It is needed that government should pursue such drives only if they are well-calculated and absolutely necessary. The problems of all the stakeholders must be kept in mind before taking such steps. – Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur Rauf Khattak
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Monday, 14 November, 2011
The overhyped Khan Riding the crest of rhetoric?
By Waqqas Mir
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ppearances have their place in life—especially for those selling themselves as dispassionate observers engaging in putatively objective analysis of politics. However, post-PTI’s Lahore rally many such appearances have fallen by the wayside. A few TV anchors who sell themselves as analysts have mentioned the ‘tingling’ they experienced during Imran’s rally. While reliance on tingling sensations, as a mode of analysis, is debatable the most intellectually honest step for these people would be to openly endorse Mr Khan and stop misleading the public with pretences of objective analysis. At least Glenn Beck and Fox News openly acknowledge ideological leanings. Despite the blind optimism of PTI warriors, questioning and criticizing Imran Khan is not the moral/intellectual equivalent of endorsing corruption. Anyone who, like Khan, engages in ceaseless rhetoric should be prepared to be peppered with hard questions. There is something lamentable in the way the PTI phenomenon is taking hold among the many young minds of Pakistan. The biggest casualty in the process is open debate. When I heard a renowned historian say some days ago that ‘majorities have to be earned in a democracy’ I felt uncertain of his meaning but now the dangers posed by majorities that are not earned are becoming clear. Thousands of people, apparently so weary of corruption and abuse of power, are unquestioningly buying into the rhetoric of a party and a man whose leanings deserve the strictest scrutiny like all other politicians. Even if corruption is ‘the’ issue in the eyes of so many, why is there an assumption that the PTI will not be corrupt? It is laughable that Imran Khan’s management of a hospital is an argument for the purity of a political party. Most people,
including politicians, would run any project that they have a financial interest in a manner that benefits the project. Therefore, while Khan’s hospital is a commendable effort it is ridiculous to hold that up as an argument against corruption by party members. If Khan is relying on ‘electable’ candidates who were part of the allegedly corrupt political parties (i.e. any party that is not PTI) then how does his dependence on these candidates reduce chances of corruption? You cannot run the ‘if leader is clean the rest will be clean’ argument here since the leader is dependent on the rest — they control his chances and he does not control them. Furthermore, your worry about PTI’s corruption should also incorporate a broader view of corruption, i.e. whether Khan calls a spade a spade. In all the rabble rousing ways he hits the right buttons. He lambasts US policy, he opposes drone strokes and he demonises politicians in general except those who join him. However, as he told Karan Thapar in a TV interview he does not believe in questioning General Kayani since ‘the Prime Minister is the head of state’. If ever there was a case of willful blindness, this was it. Khan proceeded to compare Pakistan with India in the same breath and asked Thapar whether the army chief or the prime minister should be questioned? India is not Pakistan in so many ways. Civil-military imbalance is not an unrelenting reality of the life of the Indian state as it is in Pakistan. If Khan refuses to acknowledge that the military is the biggest player in Pakistan’s politics and thinks that the army should be questioned only when it is directly in power then he is a leader who does not deserve anyone’s confidence — except the ISI’s. And who knows? The stars may have aligned there. Having someone like Mr Hameed Gul on one’s team ought to have been suicidal in a country awash with cynicism. But this rhetoric of demonising politicians apparently has enough power for people to forget the dangers of a leader keeping dodgy company — very dodgy company at that. Also on Khan’s agenda is negotiating with the Taliban. He shamelessly said that all political leaders in Pakistan are ‘non-leaders and are here
to take money’. One wonders what Khan makes of the courageous stance taken by the ANP against the Taliban in KP and the sacrifices endured by that party? It has lost party workers, ministers and children of its members to Taliban’s violence. Those people were killed not because the Taliban was reacting to a drone strike but because the ANP, instead of engaging in rhetoric, took a courageous principled stand to denounce the madness perpetrated in the name of religion. That is what political parties do. I want to ask Khan that if all politicians are just interested in money then why the Federal Government would stand behind a war on militancy—a war that is not making the incumbents popular but is our war based on principle. Surely it is not the money? If it was the money they wouldn’t want to risk unpopularity since staying in office means more money. Get the argument? The statistics stated in his latest book are absurd; he says that 90% of all militants are not terrorists and the remaining 10% that are terrorists can be negotiated with. No sources cited of course. And he ignores a vital point: the Pakistani Taliban are not ordinary militants or terrorists opposing a country’s foreign policy. The Pakistani Taliban seek to establish their extremely orthodox version of an Islamic state; a version that violates the rights of people (especially women). Most importantly, they want political power. This has already been manifested in Swat where the Nizam-e-Adl regulation was only accepted since it gave them power. But the inevitable happened—it failed. And what will we negotiate? Give them an area where they reign supreme? What about the rights of people living under them and the injustices they suffer because PTI chose a hands-off policy? A government that denounces terror and is willing to wage a fight to protect the rights of its children to attend schools is one that is courageous. A party that doles out rhetoric with no concern for the nuances of reality is our ticket to moral decrepitude and a numb conscience. The writer is a Barrister and an Advocate of the High Courts. He is currently pursuing an LLM in the United States and can be reached at wmir.rma@gmail.com
comment 13
India’s minority report Secularism still has a long way to go
Border crossing By Kuldip Nayar
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assacres recede into history. But their memory haunts us. A strain of music, a candle light in the wilderness or a sad face reenacts the tragedies once again. If concrete evidence emerges, it leaves us forlorn and helpless. Two instances this week have brought back before me the killings in Gujarat and Delhi. Nadeem Saiyed, a key witness, was murdered in a street at Ahmedabad. Some thousands held a candle light vigil at India Gate to commemorate the memory of the 3,000 Sikhs killed in Delhi alone. Both are disconnected, but in a way they are not because both tell a sordid story of government’s hand in the killings of Muslims in Gujarat and the Sikhs in Delhi. Not only that, every trace of official involvement has been erased. records have been destroyed, FIrs burnt and till today the government continues to support the perpetrators of loot, murder and rape. On the other hand, the government has been hard on whistleblowers. Nadeem was killed because he refused to fall in line. He feared his murder and asked for more security but did not get it. Another witness, Sanjeev rajendra Bhatt, a senior police officer, also wants more security for his family and himself but there is no response. Bhatt had the courage to say in the open that he was present at the official meeting where Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi said to let the Hindus
“vent out their anger” during the clashes and that he wanted Muslims to be “taught a lesson.” Hats off to Gujarat IPS Association for standing by Bhatt. The question that has been posed again and again is that even after the intervention by the SC, the guilty have remained unpunished since 2002 when the pogrom was completed. The irony is that LK Advani’s rath was in Gujarat when Nadeem was murdered. When I was at the candle light vigil, I came face to face with Nirpreet Kaur. She was 16 years on November 2, 1984, when the mob came for her father, Nirmal Singh. The gurdwara next to their house in Delhi’s raj Nagar had been set ablaze and a mob of about 450 was looking for more Sikhs to butcher. The Sikhs of raj Nagar decided to confront the mob. An hour later, Nirpreet recalled, a Youth Congress leader came to her father requesting him to “settle the matter.” A day earlier, when violence against Sikhs broke out following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her two Sikhs bodyguards, the youth leader had sworn to the Sikhs that they would be protected from violence. The youth leader handed Nirmal Singh over. Nirpreet unthinkingly joined the Khalistan movement to avenge the brutal killing of her father. Nirpreet married a militant in November 1985. Twelve days after her wedding, the Delhi Police picked up her husband. He was never heard of again. Nirpreet then pregnant with her son was declared an absconder. She went into hiding. In December 1986, Nirpreet’s mother, Sampooran Kaur, was sentenced to three years in Delhi’s highsecurity Tihar jail for “sheltering a terrorist.” She didn’t even have an inkling of what her daughter was up to when they arrested her. Nirpreet’s tale of woes is not different from what has
happened to Mrs Zakia Jafri whose husband was cut into pieces at their residence in Ahmedabad and burnt in a bonfire. He was a former Congress MP. Even his contacts and calls to New Delhi when a Hindu mob was surrounding his residence brought him no help. Many people from the area had taken refuge at Jafri’s house. They too were burnt alive. The SChas sent her case to the trial court for disposal. This is not fair. The court could have said something on the role of the chief minister. At least, Bhatt’s affidavit against Modi required some comment because he remains suspended from service. The SIT had given some report and so had amicus curie. The SC should have taken notice of them because both were its creatures. And then there are numerous cases which remain without being pursued even though they are many years old. The story of Malegaon blasts is tragic. It once again shows the bias of authorities against Muslims whenever a bomb blast takes place. None of the suspects were released after they were wrongly jailed. A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act last week granted bail to all the nine accused. It was only after the former rSS activist Swami Aseemanand’s confession about the alleged involvement of Hindu fundamentalists in the blast was leaked did the line of investigation change. Justice demands that all the nine are compensated for illegal detention. After all, a wrong case was framed against them and they carried a tag of terrorism. Indeed, India is a pluralistic society. But it has a long way to go before it can be considered “secular”, a word written within the preamble of the constitution. At present the government seems to be faltering. The writer is a senior Indian journalist.
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14 Foreign News
Monday, 14 october, 2011
Myanmar to free more political prisoners ‘soon’ YANGoN ReUteRS
Myanmar’s government is preparing to release prisoners under an amnesty, for the second time in just over a month, “very soon” and more political detainees should be among them, a senior official said on Sunday. Details of the amnesty would become clear within two days, the official at the interior ministry said, and political detainees, sometimes called “prisoners of conscience,” would be included. “Of course, those referred to as prisoners of conscience will be released very, very soon and the rest of them will be moved to the detention centers close to their families,” said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Myanmar new civilian government, which took office on March 30, freed about 230 political detainees in a general amnesty on October 12, a move welcomed by the West as sign that the former generals in charge might start to ease their strict control of the country after five decades of military rule. If the amnesty goes ahead in the next two days, it would coincide with the start of an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, and would strengthen Myanmar’s case for taking the rotating ASEAN presidency in 2014, two years ahead of schedule. Analysts say hosting the summit would help to satisfy the government’s craving for legitimacy and help it present a case for concrete assistance from international financial institutions to overhaul the resource-rich country’s long-stagnant economy.
world must halt iran nuclear drive: israel PM JERUSALEM AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on world governments to waste no time in stopping “Iran’s race to arm itself with a nuclear weapon.” He was speaking to ministers and the media before a closed-door briefing to his cabinet on a report from the UN’s atomic watchdog, which said it had “serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions” to Iran’s nuclear programme. Netanyahu said the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report “confirms the allegations of many countries in the world, Israel among them, that Iran is systematically developing nuclear weapons.” “Every responsible government in the world must draw the obvious conclusions,” he added. “The international community must, in a timely manner, halt Iran’s race to arm itself with a nuclear weapon, a race that endangers the peace of the entire world.” Israel, which has the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, has long accused Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear programme. Tehran denies that charge and has accused Israel of trying to sabotage its civilian nuclear programme and kill its nuclear scientists. Israeli media in recent weeks have been full of chatter suggesting a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities was being seriously considered by Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak. The speculation came as the IAEA released its report last week, saying it had “credible” information that Tehran “has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.” Israeli media commentators have suggested that the severity of the report could bring increased international pressure on Iran and thereby lessen the near-term likelihood of an Israeli strike. On Sunday, Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had pledged support for strong sanctions against Iran in a letter that came after the French leader was reported to have called Netanyahu a “liar.” The Elysee Palace confirmed that a letter had been sent to Netanyahu, but gave no detail on what was said to be an unusually warm, handwritten letter signed “with friendship,” in an apparent bid to smooth over the diplomatic flap.
dAMASCUS: Syrians splash around in a fountain during a pro-regime rally to show their support for President bashar al-Assad on Sunday, a day after the Arab league suspended Syria. AfP
Syria calls for urgent Arab summit to address crisis thousands of Syrians vent anger over Arab rebuke g Forces kill five antiregime protesters at pro-Assad rally g
DAMASCUS
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AFP
AMASCUS on Sunday called for an Arab summit to address the crisis in Syria, a day after the Arab League suspended the country’s membership over its failure to implement a plan to end bloodshed. “Syria demands an emergency Arab summit to address the crisis and its negative consequences in the Arab world,” state television reported. Meanwhile, massive pro-regime crowds vented their anger on Sunday as international pressure mounted on President Bashar al-Assad after an Arab League decision to suspend Syria and over its bloody protest crackdown. In central Damascus, tens of thousands of people turned out in support of Assad, waving Syrian flags and portraits of the embattled leader. “The people want Bashar al-Assad,” yelled demonstrators gathered at Sebaa Bahrat Square, also chanting patriotic slogans. Footage broadcast by state television showed another massive rally unfolding in Omayad Square, also in the capital. “The Syrian people are filling the squares of the nation and announce their rejection of the Arab League decision,” state television said, showing more pro-regime protests in the commercial hub of Aleppo and other cities. Arab League foreign ministers on Saturday called for the withdrawal of Arab envoys from Damascus and agreed on sanctions while inviting “all currents in the Syrian opposition to meet at Arab League headquarters in three days to draw up a joint vision for the coming transitional period.” The opposition Syrian National Council hailed the Arab League decision, and said it is ready to take part in the proposed talks regarding a transitional period. The SNC “wel-
Studying measures to protect Syrians: Arab League TRIPOLI: The Arab League said Sunday it was studying measures to protect civilians in Syria after suspending the country’s membership over its failure to implement a deal to end bloodshed. “The Arab League is studying mechanisms it could implement to protect civilians in Syria,” the League’s secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, told reporters in the Libyan capital. Arabi hailed the League’s decision to suspend Syria on Saturday as “historic” and said the regional bloc called for the “international protection” of civilians in Syria as the organisation did not have the means to act alone. “There is nothing wrong with going to the UN Security Council because it is the only organisation able to impose” such measures, he added. AfP comes the decisions... considers them a step in the right direction, and a clear condemnation of the Syrian regime, which has persisted in its killing and destruction campaigns,” an official of the council said. It stressed “readiness to participate in discussions regarding the transitional period” on the basis Assad departs and is replaced by a democratic government that excludes anyone “whose hands have been tainted with blood.” Demonstrators attack Saudi, Qatari, Turkish embassies in Syria Shortly after the Arab League decision, hundreds of angry demonstrators attacked the Damascus embassies of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, two of the 18 members of the pan-Arab group to vote for the move. “In the evening, numerous demonstrators entered the chancery, breaking window and sacking the inside,” SPA said in a dispatch from Damascus. Earlier, hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the building and showered in with rocks. Turkey on Sunday ordered the evacuation of non-essential diplomatic personnel from Syria after protestors attacked the Turkish embassy and consulates in the country, the
Anatolia news agency reported. Diplomats’ families would also be evacuated under the decision, made amid growing security concerns following the attacks late Saturday, diplomats told Anatolia. The pro-regime protests came after world leaders applauded the Arab League decision. “After the Assad regime flagrantly failed to keep its commitments, the Arab League has demonstrated leadership in its effort to end the crisis and hold the Syrian government accountable,” said US President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, on Sunday security forces shot dead five people who shouted slogans against President Bashar al-Assad at a rally organised by the authorities in the city of Hama to show popular anger at an Arab League decision to suspend Syria, local activists said. “Security forces were leading public workers and students into Orontes square when groups broke away and started shouting ‘the people want the fall of the regime’. They escaped into the alleyways but were followed and five were killed.” said one of the activists in Hama, 240 km north of Damascus.
Police wrest control of Rio’s largest favela RIo DE JANEIRo AFP
Crack police forces early Sunday took control of rio’s biggest favela from drug traffickers who had been ruling it for the past 30 years, local television reported. The long anticipated operation in a city that has one of the highest murder rates in the country is part of an official campaign since 2008 to restore security in rio before the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, which Brazil will host. Backed by navy armor and commandos, the troops punched their way into the rocinha shantytown that is home to 120,000 people. Hundreds of special forces police and 200 navy commandos backed by armored vehicles and helicopters were involved in the operation. Police also moved simultaneously into the neighboring Vidigal favela. Authorities estimate that some 200 criminals remain inside rocinha, built on a steep hillside overlooking the city and located between two wealthy neighborhoods, following last week’s capture of local drug kingpin Antonio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, also known as Nem. The capture of rocinha, the 19th favela to be pacified by police, recalled the huge operation launched by joint police and military forces to seize control of rio’s Alemao favela, home to 400,000 people in November 2010. Alemao was retaken after three days of clashes that left 37 people dead. Endemic and chronic urban violence has long tarnished the image of rio, where more than 1.5 million people live in 1,000 slums spread throughout the city.
death toll in China mine blast rises to 34 BEIJING AFP
The death toll from a blast at a coal mine in China has risen to 34, an official said Sunday, as rescuers continue to search for workers still trapped underground amid fading hopes of finding survivors. The mine in the southwestern province of Yunnan was hit Thursday by a “coal and gas outburst” - a sudden and violent ejection of coal, gas and rock from a coal face - trapping 43 workers underground. Nine are still missing.
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Monday, 14 october, 2011
Foreign News 15
Italy’s man of the moment Monti: The anti-Berlusconi RoME
I
AFP
TALY turned the page on Sunday after Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation, with ex-European commissioner Mario Monti set to take over to try and avert bankruptcy for eurozone’s third-largest economy. The 68-year-old economist was set to be nominated to lead a technocratic government, once Italy’s president completes a marathon round of formal consultations with political leaders due to end at 1700 GMT. President Giorgio Napolitano is racing against time to have a new government in place by the time financial markets open on Monday, when Italy will face the first bond auction test of the post-Berlusconi era. Berlusconi submitted his resignation to Napolitano on Saturday, triggering an explosion of joy in the streets of rome with people uncorking bottles of champagne, dancing in the streets and honking car horns. A scandal-tainted, larger-than-life billionaire who has been in power for 10 of the past 17 years, Berlusconi looked visibly shocked as he quit power and said he was “deeply embittered” at the scenes of jubilation. “We’re all delighted. We’ve had enough of this person who always acted
in his own interests. Italy is headed for a better future,” said 50-year-old Tommaso romito, one of thousands celebrating in rome on Saturday. After rome partied over his departure, a handful of supporters of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party rallied outside his rome residence on Sunday, saying: “Thank you prime minister”. But Italian were overwhelmingly relieved about the exit of a prime minister whose latest popularity poll gave him just 22 percent approval and whose rule was increasingly clouded by sex scandals and legal troubles. International leaders have pushed hard for Italy to move quickly to form a new government and adopt economic reforms to stave off bankruptcy, after Italian borrowing costs hit alarming record highs. “There is still work to be done in the broader European community to provide markets a strong assurance that countries like Italy will be able to finance their debt,” US President Barack Obama said Sunday. The European Union, which together with the International Monetary Fund is now auditing Italy’s accounts, has said the country may need to pass extra austerity measures in order to meet its economic targets. Italy’s parlia-
Berlusconi eyes comeback, voices pride on his record ROME: Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi said Sunday he wanted to resume the “path to government” and was “proud” of his record of government during the financial crisis, a day after resigning as prime minister. Berlusconi said he was “proud of what we have managed to do in these three and a half years marked by an international crisis without precedents,” in a letter sent to a conference of The right, a small conservative party. “I share your spirit and I hope to resume together the path to government,” he said in reference to the party, which is not represented in parliament. He was also scathing about the parliamentary revolt that unseated him after a group of deputies from his centre-right coalition voted against him. “In the end the logic of petty blackmail and opportunism prevailed the oldest vice in Italian politics,” said Berlusconi, who is still a member of parliament from the People of Freedom (PDL) party that he founded. AfP ment moved exceptionally fast to approve a package of reforms this weekend that Berlusconi had promised to the European Union and whose approval he had set as a precondition for stepping down. The measures include state asset sell-offs, new infrastructure projects and pro-business incentives but not a longpromised reform to ease firing from long-term contracts that has infuriated trade unions. Following Berlusconi’s an-
S Koreans demand rejection of US free trade pact
indonesian islamists protest obama visit JAKARTA
SEoUL
AFP
Hundreds of Indonesian Islamists rallied in central Jakarta on Sunday to protest against this week’s visit by President Barack Obama. Around 2,500 protesters from the radical Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir shouted “reject Obama” and “America is Terrorist” outside the US embassy as they brandished banners with slogans such as “reject Obama, reject Capitalism, reject Imperialism”. “We strongly oppose America and Obama coming to Indonesia,” the group’s spokesman Mujiyanto told AFP. “Obama is a murderer of our Muslim brothers in Palestine and Afghanistan, a thief of Indonesia’s natural resources, and an imperialist who seeks to take over the world and will do anything for US interests,” he added. Similar protests were also held Sunday in other cities, including Surabaya in East Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi. Obama will be in Indonesia for the 18-nation East Asia Summit at the end of the week. The 10member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, with observing nations including the United States attending, is also taking place this week. The delegates are meeting to discuss major regional issues, such as territorial clashes in the South China Sea and the Myanmar’s bid to take over Indonesia’s role as ASEAN chair in 2014. radical groups like Hizbut Tahrir have little popular support in the archipelago of 240 million people. Indonesia, the most populous Muslimmajority country in the world, is constitutionally secular and culturally moderate.
ReUteRS
MAKASSAR: Members of the islamic group Hizbut tahrir indonesia wear anti-obama posters on their faces during a demonstration against US President barack obama’s visit to bali for the east Asia Summit in mid-November. rEUTErS
Power handover deal close: Yemeni vice president g
opposition leader says only way out is for Saleh to sign accord g eight Qaeda-linked militants killed in yemen SANAA ReUteRS
Yemen’s vice president said late Saturday the government and the opposition were close to finalising a deal aimed at easing President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power, one day after 17 people died in violence in the city of Taiz. An opposition leader dismissed the remarks and said the only way to end Yemen’s crisis was for Saleh to sign the deal or empower his deputy to do so. The state’s Saba news agency said Abd-rabbu Mansour Hadi made his remarks during
nouncement that he would resign, Italy’s long-term borrowing costs had risen above 7.0 percent - a dangerous level that could make the country’s debt unsustainable within months. The IMF and the European Financial Stability Facility have both reportedly offered financial help. Some economists however have warned that, unlike fellow eurozone members Greece, Ireland and Portugal, Italy may be “too big to bail”.
a meeting with visiting UN envoy Jamal Benomar and ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council in the capital Sanaa. “We all have a task represented in translating UN Security Council resolution 2014 into action on the ground, and this is a task the ruling party and the opposition must shoulder together,” Saba quoted Hadi as saying. Hadi told the diplomats that discussions with the opposition have covered nearly 85 percent of the Gulf deal, without going into further detail, Saba reported. Saleh has repeatedly backed down on signing the accord, first pro-
posed in April to end months of protests against his rule that have destabilised Yemen and rattled Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter which shares a long and porous border with Yemen. Yasin Numan, a leader of an opposition alliance leading anti-Saleh protests, said Benomar’s mission was to discuss signing the accord, and called for more pressure on Saleh to sign the Gulf initiative. “What does it mean to talk about a mechanism when the other side has not signed the initiative yet? They must sign it first and then we can talk about its implementat Meanwhile, eight militants
linked to Al-Qaeda were killed in Yemen’s restive southern Abyan province in overnight clashes with government troops and armed tribesmen, a local government official said on Sunday. At least two of the dead militants were of “African” origin.Government troops, backed by US drones, are at war with the Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law) in Abyan and Yemen’s eastern Marib province.The group is believed to be an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, which is widely considered the global terror network’s most active and deadly branch.
Tens of thousands of South Koreans, most of them members of trade unions and farmers, staged a rally on Sunday against a free trade deal with the United States, vowing to block what they called a “pernicious” pact. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s government has been under pressure to ratify the agreement after the US Congress approved it last month and President Barack Obama signed it into law. The deal is the biggest US trade pact since the North America Free Trade Agreement went into force in 1994. But South Korean opposition party members have been trying to block it in parliament, some complaining that the deal gives US automakers a major inroad into the South Korean market. Other critics have been taking their complaints to the streets. About 20,000 people, including teachers, students and public servants gathered in Seoul to demand that the government declare the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) null and void. It was the biggest protest in the capital this year. “Let’s block the FTA, which is unpatriotic and pernicious to the nation, at any cost,” protesters chanted during the rally at a plaza in front of Seoul City Hall. Some studies found that the deal could boost the allies’ $67 billion two-way trade by as much as a quarter. Despite the complaints that it gives the US auto industry major access to the South Korean market, Korean automakers stand to gain with swifter and greater access to the US market. US farmers are expected to be one of the biggest winners under the agreement, with more than $1.8 billion a year in increased exports to South Korea. But that’s a worry for many South Korean farmers.
egypt arrests islamist linked to pipeline attacks CAIRo ReUteRS
Egyptian police arrested a leading member of an armed Islamist group suspected of involvement in pipeline bombings that have disrupted gas supplies to Israel and Jordan, Egypt’s state news agency reported on Sunday. The pipeline in the desert peninsula of Sinai was attacked on Thursday for the seventh time this year. The authorities have struggled to maintain full control over Sinai, especially since state security was disrupted by the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in February.
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16 Winfrey’s Monday, 14 November, 2011
SOCIETY
‘unimaginable’ Oscar
LoS ANGELES AGencIeS
Oprah Winfrey received an honorary Oscar for her charitable work on Saturday in what she called an unimaginable moment for a black woman who grew up poor in Mississippi and rose to the top of Hollywood stardom. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences annually bestows its Governors Awards on people who have made an impact in the industry. This year, the honorary Oscars went to Winfrey, actor James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith at a black-tie affair that brought out stars such as John Travolta, Glenn Close and Alec Baldwin.
Slumdog girl requires longevity in career LoS ANGELES AGencIeS
There may be buzz that Slumdog girl Freida Pinto has moved in with boyfriend Dev Patel into a $1.5 million home in Los Angeles, but she denies the reports and says it’s only work on her mind for now. With Dev, she maintains, “It’s the same as it was yesterday.” The 27-year-old, whose film ‘Immortals’ opened on Friday, says, “I want longevity in my career … it doesn’t really matter if it’s an eight minute or an hour-long role … You are not always on top of the moun-
Talk show host and film actress Winfrey, who was nominated for a supporting-actress Academy Award in 1985’s ‘The Color Purple’, was given a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by a young woman who was sent through high school on a financial grant she earned from Winfrey’s foundation. Winfrey teared up when accepting her honorary Oscar and described the moment as “unimaginable” given her humble roots growing up in Mississippi. “All of us can make a difference through the life we lead,” Winfrey said. “We’re all here to help each other.” She talked of her career as a TV chat show host and her movie work, and said it was ‘The Color Purple’ that paved the way to stardom which, ultimately, led to philanthropy. That movie “door opened to me through the magic and majesty of film,” she said. DARTH VADER ‘GOBSMACKED’: James Earl Jones was given his honorary Oscar for a body of acting work that ranges from his Academy Award-nominated performance as a boxer in ‘The Great White Hope’ to voicing the role of the villainous Darth Vader in the ‘Star Wars’ movies. Jones was not on hand because he is in working in London, but he spoke to the Los Angeles audience in a speech that was taped earlier on Saturday. He said he was “deeply honoured, mighty grateful and just plain gobsmacked,” using British slang for being astounded. Finally, the “Godfather of makeup” Dick Simon was given an honorary Oscar for his behind-the-scenes work using makeup and prosthetics to make actors look old, young, sick, dying and dead in films ranging from ‘The Exorcist’ to ‘The Godfather’.
Ayesha, Sobia & Samina
Ghazala & Salman
Farah & Aleezay
iSlAMAbAd: Guests attend the launch event for the international brand, tuttiFrutti Frozen yogurt organised by Rezz PR. STAff PhOTOS
Gulmina, Muqeet & Usman
Mr & Mrs Umer
Michelle & Minjhaj
Rezz Aly Shah, Fawad, Tanzeel & Amina
Rohi Sheikh & Nadia
tain in this business and that’s part of the job. But striving to always be the best and more importantly to get better with every experience is what I am doing.” Luckily enough, she adds she’s had a “great balance” in her career. “It’s a whirlwind ride ... it’s amazing what has happened so far.” Pinto first met the India-born director of Immortals — Tarsem Singh — in November 2009 in Los Angeles. She was already a big fan of two of his movies, ‘The Fall’ (2006) and ‘The Cell’ (2000), and when he told her he wanted to make a film like the Caravaggio paintings, she was excited. “I knew if there was one person who could give me a different look, it would be Tarsem,” she says.
Maury to help Bieber with
baby-momma issues Apparently Maury Povich heard the cries of “Maury could take care of this!!” in the comments on various blogs about Justin bieber’s paternity lawsuit, because the talk show host is trying to report for duty. A rep for Povich’s “Maury” show tells CNN that they’re “actively pursuing” bieber’s tale of possible parenthood. the “Maury” show is of course infamous for its’ “you are/are not the father!” dNA test segments. the 17-year-old star has been dealing with recent accusations that he fathered a child with 20-year-old Mariah yeater after a (according to her, incredibly brief) stolen moment backstage at one of his shows. Although bieber has consistently and vehemently denied the allegations and has said that he’s never even met yeater, the young woman has maintained her story. earlier this week she did an interview with “the insider,” saying that she has proof the teen star impregnated her last october, and the result is her infant son, trystyn. According to People, bieber is planning to take a dNA test to prove he’s not trystyn’s father. the question is, will Maury Povich be the one who does the big reveal? MOnItORInG DeSK
Ammara & Sania
Irfan & Ayesha
Jessica Chastain to play
Princess Diana?
Up-and-coming starlet Jessica Chastain may play the late Princess diana in an upcoming biopic, reports industry blog thompson on Hollywood. the actress is reportedly in talks to play di in ‘Caught in Flight’, to be directed by oliver Hirschbiegel (‘downfall’). the film focuses on diana’s private relationship with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Kahn, and is described as a “love story between a princess locked in a tower and an ordinary man.” the quiet two-year relationship between diana and dr. Kahn will be explored in the movie, which insiders say will cast a different light on “the People’s Princess.” (Apparently, the script shows diana as a damaged woman who stalks the doctor after he calls off the relationship.) An ecosse films project, ‘Caught in Flight’ will reportedly start pre-production in March 2012. the movie is slated to shoot in multiple locations - including Pakistan, Angola, the south of France and Paris, where diana died in a fatal paparazzi car chase. Chastain, 30, is on her way to becoming A-list. in 2011, the actress starred in ‘tree of life’, ‘the Help’, ‘the debt’, and ‘texas Killing Fields’. MOnItORInG DeSK
John, Cristina & Jackilene
‘Akshay likes the
new me’
MUMBAI: After his dostana with Abhishek bachchan, John Abraham seems to have found friendship in ‘Garam Masala’ co-star Akshay Kumar. the two apparently didn’t get along in Garam Masala owing to script issues but all seems well between the desi boyz at the moment. “i was different back then, i am at ease with the camera more now and Akshay feels the same. He said we have better comic timing and chemistry today. He likes the new me” said John. John also joked about Akshay’s obsession with Ayurveda. “if need be he would use it for any and every physical ailment possible” smiled. AGencIeS
he
e’
bachchan, Garam didn’t but
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17 Sabbath bloody is back!
Sabbath LoNDoN
V
AGencIeS
ETErAN British rock band Black Sabbath announced on Friday they are reuniting in their original four man lineup for their first new album in 33 years and a 2012 world tour. Singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bass player Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward told a news conference at legendary Sunset Strip club Whisky a Go Go they would perform at the Download Festival in England in June 2012, and then embark on a world tour. The band, which first got together under the Black Sabbath name in 1969, said they were working on new material for the album for release in the fall of
Mariam & Emaan
2012. There is no title as yet but it will be produced by rick rubin. “It’s now or never. We are getting along great. Everything’s really good,” Iommi told reporters at the club where Black Sabbath played their first show in Los Angeles exactly 41 years ago. “It’s like putting on an old glove. It’s fantastic,” Iommi added. The four musicians, now all in their 60s, released their last studio album of all original material in 1978 with ‘Never Say Never’. rumors of a possible reunion of the English metal band, regarded as one of the pioneers of heavy metal with hits like ‘Iron Man’ and ‘War Pigs’, had been swirling for months. “It’s just time,” Osbourne said, noting that the four had tried in the past to work together again. “This time, for some
magical reason, we have written about seven or eight songs.” Nothing has been recorded yet and no dates were announced on Friday for the world tour. The band also announced the launch of its first official website www.blacksabbath.com, and said it would be making its first foray into social media via Facebook and Twitter. Frontman Osbourne was fired from the band in 1979, leading to a revolving line-up for a number of years. The original foursome reunited for the 1998 release ‘reunion’ and played again together sporadically for shows in the early 2000s. Black Sabbath was inducted to the U.S. rock and roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.
Pitbull to perform in India
Usman & Faiza
MUMBAI AGencIeS
Tahir & Nadia
Mr & Mrs Abrar
The international music scene, which went downhill over the years due to high entertainment tax in India seems to be finally picking up. With Metallica performing last month in Bangalore and the Scorpions revealing to HT about their 2012 plans, another big name would be soon enthralling Indian audiences. Armando Christian Perez, better known to the world as Pitbull, would be rapping for audiences in Mumbai on December 3, New Delhi on December 2 and Pune on December 4. Says Utkarsh Bansal, of P3P E Ventures Pvt Ltd, which is organising the show, “Pitbull will bring music from diverse backgrounds to India. The concert will be something that you’ve never heard before in terms of sound and the management.” Pittbull’s India concert will also raise funds for HIVpositive patients in the country, with proceeds going to the Suryoday Aids Foundation. However, the venues for the three concerts are still not finalised. Says Prashant Shirshat of 3rd rock Entertainment, which is jointly organising the shows: “We are currently in talks with owners of various venues in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. We will make a public announcement regarding the same in the coming few days.” Internationally, American rapper Pitbull first rose to fame in 2002, with a collaboration on Lil Jon’s album, King of Crunk. Till date, he has collaborated with famous artists like Eminem, 50 Cent, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, Shakira, Gloria Estefan, T Pain, Sean Paul, Chris Brown, Usher, Kelly rowland, Akon and Jamie Fox among others. His most recent collaborations include ‘On the floor,’ which is a Jennifer Lopez song and ‘rain over me,’ which incidentally is sung by JLo’s recently separated husband, Marc Anthony.
racism
Does stroll the Walk of Fame? LOS ANGELES: when Shakira became the first Colombian this week to get her name on a world-renowned monument to the entertainment industry- the Hollywood walk of Fame - the 34-year-old recording artist recalled what her mother told her at age 7.“one day, Shaki, your name will be here,” her mother said when the two and a family friend visited Hollywood for the first time 27 years ago. For Shakira, the star marked a personal triumph; as an artist and a latina. “if by coincidence you happen to look down to the ground and you see this star, remember that it belongs to each one of you, because it carries the name of a Hispanic woman that, like you, dreams and works and works and dreams every day,” Shakira said during a public ceremony on Hollywood boulevard, with her mom and the same friend present. As the latest celebrity to get a terrazzo star, trimmed with bronze, on the sidewalks of Hollywood, Shakira joins a small but growing rank of minority performers making a dent in an overall industry that some criticize as not inviting enough to AfricanAmericans, latinos and Asians. in fact, of the 2,354 stars on Hollywood sidewalks, only 3.4 percent of them belong to Hispanics such as Shakira, a CNN analysis shows. the figure is 5.1 percent for African-Americans and a mere 0.4 percent for Asians, according to an analysis of the stars on the walk of Fame. those figures fall short when compared with those minorities’ representation in the nation’s overall population: 16percent for Hispanics, 13percent for AfricanAmericans and about 5 percent for Asians. AGencIeS
Is Priyanka
delaying Ileana’s debut? MUMBAI: the grapevine suggests the South export has a long wait ahead due to Priyanka’s commitments to other projects Close on the heels of the deepika Padukone-Chitrangda Singh cat fight on the sets of desi boyz, it seems there’s another fight brewing in btown. this time it’s between Priyanka Chopra and newcomer ileana d’Cruz, the lead actresses in Anurag basu’s upcoming film ‘barfee’. while previously we had written about how PC had snubbed the debutante on the sets of the film, now rumours are doing the rounds that Priyanka’s month-long stay in los Angeles (where she is working on her first international music album) has affected the barfee schedule. this in turn is delaying the South star’s Hindi film debut, where she plays the third lead alongside PC and Ranbir Kapoor. A trade source says, “Anurag has one schedule still left to shoot in Hong Kong, apart from some other talkie portions. with Priyanka being in lA for a month, it has taken a toll on the schedule and some date adjustments have been made. the film will now release in mid 2012.” this means bollywood will get a peek at ileana only around June-July 2012. the No. 1 girl from Kollywood will have to wait patiently for the next seven months to make her Hindi film splash. However, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur denies that Priyanka has left barfee in the lurch. Says he, “i don’t know where these stories are coming from. PC has been very open with us about her professional commitments, be it her album or her movies. She hasn’t delayed our film.” Asked whether ileana is under exclusive contract till barfee releases, Siddharth says, “we have a two-film contract with her, but she is not under an exclusive contract and is free to do other films.” yawn. when will these petty rivalries between insecure actresses end? AGencIeS
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Monday, 14 November, 2011
Aisam basks in Paris glory Page 23
Pakistan keeping it simple: Younus DUBAI
F
AFP
OrMEr captain Younus Khan said his team will continue to keep things simple as they look to double their series lead in the second one-day match against Sri Lanka here on Monday. Pakistan thrashed their rivals in the first match on Friday by eight wickets and Younus hopes the team sticks to the same plan. “We kept things simple in the Tests as well,” said Younus of the preceding three-Test series which Pakistan won 1-0. “Now in the one-dayers we are doing the basics in a simple manner and although there is no assurance of winning we want consistency in our performance.” Pakistan bowled Sri Lanka out for a paltry 131 in 40.3 overs on the back of 3-27 by returning all-rounder Shahid Afridi, ably supported by offspinners Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal who took two wickets apiece. They then chased down the target for the loss of only two wickets to go 10 up in the five-match series. Younus said Pakistan has more match winners than Sri Lanka. “This Pakistan team is one of the best I have played in,” said the 34-yearold who hit an unbeaten half-century in the first match. “Sri Lanka also have four to five match winners but we are doing well in both batting and bowling.” Younus praised former coach Waqar Younus for putting the team on the right track. “Waqar did a wonderful job before
dUbAi: Pakistan’s cricketer younus Khan attends a practice session at the dubai cricket stadium. AfP
the World Cup,” said Younus of the event where Pakistan lost in the semifinals against eventual champions India. “From that point Waqar stressed on our fitness and we were the only side who had no injuries during the World Cup.” Waqar quit the post after the tour of Zimbabwe in September and was replaced by an interim coach Mohsin Khan. Younus said the Pakistan team has been playing well since October last year, two months after the spot-fixing scandal in England which ended in jail sentences for former Test captain Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer. “We were unlucky to lose the oneday series against South Africa 3-2,” said Younus of the series played in the United Arab Emirates last year. “Then we had series wins in New Zealand, Ireland and Zimbabwe so we have been doing well.” Younus said he wanted to be a role model for the youngsters. “Even when I am not the captain, younger players listen to me and I am a role model in the team, so its nice and I want to play for four-five more years and my goal is that my team continues to win,” said Younus. Younus led Pakistan to the World Twenty20 title in England in 2009 before he quit the post after clashes with several players. The remaining matches will be played in Dubai (November 18), Sharjah (November 20) and Abu Dhabi (November 23). Both teams also play a Twenty20 in Abu Dhabi on November 25.
Pakistan one of the best in recent past: Atapattu DUBAI AFP
Sri Lankan batting coach Marvan Atapattu on Sunday praised the Pakistan team as one of the best in the recent past and likened their captain Misbah-ul Haq to his country’s former skipper Arjuna ranatunga. Atapattu’s praise came after Sri Lanka were thrashed by eight wickets in the first one-day here on Friday to go 1-0 down in the five-match series, which followed Pakistan’s 10 win in the three-Test series. “They looked very fresh from the start and they are a very good side, having lots of allrounders and have options,” said Atapattu. “This Pak-
istan side is one of the best I have seen in the recent past having played against their best teams in my days.” Atapattu, a former opener who played 90 Tests and 268 one-day internationals, was full of praise for current Pakistan captain Misbah. “Misbah is a very cool and calm character and what I saw in the Tests was very impressive, he handles things well and is somewhat like ranatunga and he has the patience to wait until he achieves what he wants to,” said Atapattu of the 37year-old. Misbah appointed Test captain in October last year -- two months after the spot-fixing scandal in England -- has not lost a Test series since and is uniting a team
known for its erratic ways. Atapattu hopes his batsmen overcome the lack of confidence in the second one-day match here on Monday after being bundled out for a mere 131 runs in the first. “I really think it is nothing to do with the technique and application but its about the confidence which they are lacking,” said Atapattu of his batsmen’s failure to deliver. “We have played so much cricket and if it happens at a stretch then its important you get out of it, when you get out for low scores, when you are not doing well as a batting unit, then its a matter of confidence,” said Atapattu. Atapattu hoped his bateman forget the past.
Misbah-ul Haq
Honours even at dubai stats corner S. PERVEZ QAISER
After defeating Sri Lanka comprehensively in their first match, Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the second ODI in the five-match series at Dubai on Monday (November 14). This day night/night match will start at 16.00 hours (PST). This will be the 123rd match between the two teams in limited overs international cricket and second at this ground. Pakistan have won 72 and lost 46 in 122 previous encounters between the two sides. Three matches ended without a result while one match ended in a tie. Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by eight wicket in the only match played at this ground. It was the first match of the current series. Leg-spinner Shahid Afridi (3-27) led Pakistan’s spin attack to bowl Sri Lanka for a paltry 131 in 40.3 overs and then chased down the target in 21.5 overs on the back of halfcenturies from Imran Farhat (50) and Younis Khan (56 not out). Pakistan have won three and lost three in the six previous matches played at this ground. They beat South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka once each while lost twice to South Africa and once to Australia.
One DAY InteRnAtIOnAlS At DUBAI teAM P W l SUcceSS% Pakistan 6 3 3 50.00 Sri lanka 1 1 00.00 Australia 2 1 1 50.00 South Africa 3 2 1 66.66 HIGHeSt InnInGS tOtAlS: 317-5 in 50 South Africa v Pakistan 08-11-2010 275-9 in 49.5 Pakistan v South Africa 05-11-2010 274-6 in 50 South Africa v Pakistan 05-11-2010 260 in 44.5 Pakistan v South Africa 08-11-2010 lOWeSt InnInGS tOtAlS: 131 in 40.3 Sri lanka v Pakistan 11-11-2011 168 in 38.5 Australia v Pakistan 22-04-2009 207 in 46.2 Pakistan v Australia 24-04-2009 226-9 in 50 Pakistan v South Africa 02-11-2010 HIGHeSt InDIVIDUAl ScOReS: 119* Hashim Amla (South Africa) v Pakistan 02-11-2010 92 Graeme Smith (South Africa) v Pakistan 05-11-2010 83 Jacques Kallis (South Africa) v Pakistan 08-11-2010 73 younis Khan (Pakistan) v South Africa 05-11-2010 BeSt BOWlInG PeRFORMAnceS: 6-38 Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) v Australia 22-04-2009 4-47 Morne Morkel (South Africa) v Pakistan 01-11-2010 3-27 Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) v Sri lanka 11-11-2011 3-30 Jacques Kallis (South Africa) v Pakistan 08-11-2010
Renowned cricket writer Peter Roebuck commits suicide JoHANNESBURG AFP
renowned cricket writer Peter roebuck committed suicide in his hotel room South African police confirmed to AFP on Sunday. England-born roebuck, 55 and a former first class cricketer, was covering the ongoing Test series between South Africa and Australia. Captain Frederik van Wyk, spokesman for the South African Police in the Western Cape province, confirmed that a British citizen had been found in his room having committed suicide. “I can confirm that the incident took place at a quarter past nine on Saturday,” said van Wyk. “A 55-year-old British citizen was found dead in a hotel room in Newlands, Cape Town. He was working as a cricket commentator for an Australian publication. He committed suicide. “An inquest docket has been opened for investigation. I cannot say more at the moment.” He wouldn’t confirm media reports that roebuck was spoken to by local police earlier on Saturday and that people had seen him in agitated state following that. roebuck studied law at Cambridge and
played 335 first-class matches before making a career writing about the sport, quickly establishing an avid following with his forthright, intelligent prose. He regularly commentated for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and wrote for the nation’s Fairfax newspapers. “It is with great shock that we have learnt today that Peter roebuck has died in Newlands, South Africa,” Fairfax chief Greg Hywood said in a statement. “Peter was not only an extremely gifted cricket writer for The Sydney Morning Herald
and The Age, he was also one of Australia’s most popular cricket commentators for the ABC,” added Hywood. “In recent years he built a reputation as one of the best columnists on the sport.” Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland expressed shock at the death of roebuck, a “familiar face” to the Australian cricket team, who had been with the players “only hours before his sudden death”. “He spoke his mind frankly and while one didn’t necessarily always have to agree, you always respected what he had to say,” he added. Craig Norenbergs, head of the ABC’s Grandstand sports programme, said it was “incredibly sad news”. “He was an integral part of the Grandstand commentary team, apart from being a magnificent print journalist,” Norenbergs said. “For us he could describe a game of cricket in such a way that even if you didn’t like the game, you liked the way that he went about his business.” roebuck, a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1988, captained English county side Somerset in the 1980s and was not afraid of taking brave decisions as when he decided Somerset’s two West Indies icons Viv richards and Joel Garner should not have their contracts renewed.
In came Kiwi Martin Crowe and a very young Steve Waugh but England star allrounder Ian Botham did not approve and he left for Worcestershire - Somerset went on to win the county championship. roebuck
was never far from controversy on and off the pitch and in 2001 received a suspended prison sentence in England for common assault for caning three South African teenage cricketers who had stayed with him in 1999.
‘One hell of an intellect’ Tributes for the cricket writer and former Somerset captain Peter Roebuck, who has died in South Africa, aged 55 “we didn't talk so much about the game, more about things around the game. like corruption and things like Zimbabwe, which he felt pretty strongly about. i enjoyed reading his stuff, at times i read it and didn't get the point, so he wasn't exactly bill o'Reilly, but he was a damn good writer, a colourful writer and he brought other things in life into it.” - ian Chappell, former Australia captain and fellow commentator “He was a fantastic writer cum commentator, one of the best in this generation. He was someone who was very opinionated, but was very independent. i looked forward to reading what he wrote about but more importantly how he wrote it. He had this incredible ability to use words to make the game of cricket and the players come alive. it was also wonderful that he loved india and coming to india.” - Rahul dravid, india batsman “Shocked to hear the sad news from Cape town, RiP Peter Roebuck a great cricketing mind.” - tom Moody, former Australia allrounder “devastated. My dear friend and one of the greatest cricket writers ever Peter Roebuck passes away. He was meant to write about cricket in the manner Sachin tendulkar was born to play it.” - Harsha bhogle, indian commentator and writer “the death of Peter Roebuck leaves the grass less green and cricket without its most effective investigative journalist,” former england captain tony Greig, on twitter “Peter Roebuck was a tortured, driven soul, but his suicide still comes as a shock. Cricket has lost its most erudite idealist.” - derek Pringle, former england cricketer and current cricket correspondent of daily telegraph.
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indo-Pak dangal from 16th LAHoRE StAFF RePORt
The wrestlers of Pakistan and India will lock horns in Indo-Pak Dangal at three different venues of the province from November 16. Addressing a press conference at National Hockey Stadium on Sunday, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, MNA/Chairman Standing Committee railways, informed that the second Indo-Pak Dangal will be played at Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala. Chairman Organising Committee of the Dangal, Khawar Shah was also present on the occasion. The Indo-Pak Dangal will held in the three cities of Punjab: Faisalabad on November 16, Gujranwala on November 18, and Lahore on November 21. Three Indian wresters Jagroop Singh , Shah Muhammad, Satandar Singh and three officials will arrive on November 15, he informed.
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Kamran, Wahab ready to face ICC probe LAHoRE
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AKISTANI cricketers Kamran Akmal and Wahab riaz, whose names have been doing the rounds for their alleged involvement in match-fixing, are ready to face any investigation by the sport's governing body. Their names were mentioned during the spot-fixing trial in London for their involvement in corruption with tainted players Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamer, who were jailed by a London court last month for corruption and cheating. During the trial it was reported that the agent for the tainted trio Mazhar Majeed had told undercover reporter Mazhar Mahmood that there were other Pakistani players involved in spot-fixing and mentioned the names of Kamran and Wahab. "I am open to any inquiry; they can check my assets and accounts. I will cooperate with them but I want this stigma removed once for all," Kamran was reported as saying. The two players were discarded for the ongoing one-day series Pakistan plays in the UAE against Sri Lanka. "I don't like
these media reports insinuating things about me. The selectors dropped me for the one-day series against Sri Lanka that is their decision. But to say that I have been dropped because of some spot-fixing allegations is not acceptable," Wahab
riaz said. Kamran said he could not understand the fresh allegations but an official in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was quoted by a wire agency that besides performance issues, Wahab was also dropped for the one-day series against Sri
Lanka because his name had cropped up again during the trial in London . "We just wanted to be sure and safe that is all," the official said. Wahab said he would like to see the PCB offer more support to the players and he was ready for any inquiry. "What I know is that the ICC (International Cricket Council) inquired about my assets and other things late last year and the PCB also held an inquiry about me. They both cleared me to play in the World Cup so what is the problem now," Kamran said. Kamran said even last year after the spot-fixing scandal broke out he had sent a legal notice to Mazhar Majeed for taking his name during the spot-fixing issue. "He replied to the notice saying he had been misquoted and he meant something else," Kamran added. Kamran said he was ready to face any ICC inquiry. Kamran also suggested that the PCB hold regular checks on the assets and accounts of all players so that Pakistan's image can be cleaned up and all doubts removed. "I would suggest that they have three month to six month checks on player assets and accounts. I am ready for this. If this can be done it would help a lot," he said.
Pakistan ready to tour India first Adisseo notch November Cup title LAHoRE StAFF RePORt
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Zaka Ashraf claims to have told his Indian counterpart that Pakistan is willing to tour India in a bid to restore bilateral cricket ties the two both countries. Ashraf told the media before leaving for Dubai that he had sent a letter to BCCI President N Srinivasan in which he had urged the resumption of bilateral cricket ties. "I have said in the letter we are willing to play in India next year and the BCCI should finalise details of the tour as soon as possible," Ashraf was quoted as saying. Pakistan is due to tour India in MarchApril next year under the Future Tours Program but
the BCCI is yet to confirm the tour or send any details to the PCB. The bilateral cricket ties between Pakistan and India have been frozen since 2008 after the Mumbai terror attacks. Ashraf said details of the series need to be finalised soon so that Pakistan could start their preparations accordingly. "In the letter I have highlighted the importance of normalising cricket ties between both countries and the impact it will have on cricket in the region at a time when relations at the government level are also improving," Ashraf added. He said he was also hoping to visit India soon to hold direct discussions with BCCI officials. Ashraf left for Dubai to meet ICC President Sharad Pawar and CEO Haroon Lorgat and also officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Ashraf is hoping to convince the Bangladesh Cricket board officials to undertake a tour of Pakistan next year in April as per the ICC FTP. No Test-playing nation has toured Pakistan since terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March, 2009. "Bangladesh is scheduled tour visit Pakistan next year and we want them to play the series in Pakistan," PCB COO Subhan Ahmad said.
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Adisseo clinched the November Cup Polo title after a closely contested final here at the Lahore Polo Club’s Aibak Ground on Sunday while Men’s Store claimed the subsidiary title by one-and-a-half goal margin. Playing in front of a modest crowd and chief guest Mrs riffat Haye, AdislAHoRe: Guests of honour former lahore Polo Club president Mr Abdul seo won 7-6 Haye Mehta and Ms Riffat Haye with the winning team. STAff PhOTO against Hataff to take the title. Interestingly Usman Haye and Moin Yaqub shared three goals each from the winner’s side and similarly, Mohammad Samir Malik and Abdul rehman Monnoo hit three goals each but it was Syed Hasnain Shah who brought the winner’s seventh goal in the last moments of the match to win it for his team. Omer Asjad Malhi scored five of the seven goals registered by Men’s Store, which already enjoyed half-a-goal advantage to land a win while Bilal Haye fought gallantly for Newage to get three goals out of 6 they scored while the losing team’s two goals were scored by Adnan Jalil Azam. Umpires for the matches were Omar Asjad Malhi, Mian Hussain Iftikhar, Mohsin Atta Khan Khosa and Samee Ibrahim.
Butt, Asif want to complete term in Pakistan lCCA Super
Cricket league from 16th
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Jailed Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif want to be transferred to a jail in Pakistan to serve the remaining term of sentences, British media claimed Sunday. According to a report in The Independent, the cricketers, who were convicted of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, "have asked to be returned to their home country, to serve the remainder of their sentence." Former Pakistan Test captain Butt and pacer Asif have told their lawyers that they would prefer to be sent to a jail in Pakistan, because the attention they are receiving from fellow inmates is leading to fears for their safety. A High Court application is expected to be made within the next eight weeks. The jailed cricketers were transferred from Wandsworth Prison in south London to Canterbury Prison in Kent this week. Canterbury Prison holds foreign nationals convicted in Britain and inmates are generally deported back to their countries at the end of their sentences. Butt and Asif feel if they are to be deported at the end of it, then they might as well serve their sentences in their own country. A British Pakistani businessman Dalawar Chaudhry met Asif at the prison this week and said the jailed players were not happy with the jail environment. "They are high-profile inmates who are worried about their safety. They are feeling quite vulnerable. Their families are very concerned for their security," he said. "Both Asif and Butt have said that if they are going to be deported at the end of their sentences, which looks very likely, then they should be allowed to leave Britain as soon as possible and finish their sentence in a Pakistani jail," he added. Asif was jailed for one year and Butt for two-and-a-half years for their involvement in last year's spot-fixing scandal. A third Pakistani cricketer convicted in the scam, 19-year-old pacer Amir, is serving his six-month sentence in a young offenders institute. Lawyers representing Butt are appealing against the sentence handed out to him. "He wants to be returned to Pakistan as soon as
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possible but we will also be appealing against the severity of his sentence. We believe that it was unduly harsh," said a source. Choudhry criticised Asif and Butt for seeking to go back to Pakistan, saying the two might get VIP treatment in the jail there. "I told Asif that going to a Pakistani jail to finish your sentence would look bad in Britain. Everybody knows that well known names in Pakistan are treated like VIPs in prison,” he said. "We are trying to rebuild the reputation of Pakistan in Britain following this scandal and if these two re-
turn there to a heroes' reception and live comfortably in jail, then what message does that send out about Pakistan's attitude towards match fixing?" he asked. Choudhry said the presence of the duo has led to an increase in the attendance at Friday prayers. "Everybody has wanted to meet them and the imams of Wandsworth and now Canterbury prisons have been amazed to see so many people at Friday prayers," he said. "The attention the players are getting has made them more nervous however as they don't know who to trust," he added.
The Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Organising Committee has announced the schedule of the nine matches of the of LCCA Super Cricket League .All the nine matches will be played on November 16 (Wednesday) at the various grounds of the city. The ground that will hold the matches includes Prince Club vs Service Colts at the New Ittafaq ground Alfaisal Town, Tauseef Club vs New Union Club at the Wahdat Colony ground, Lucky Star vs raja Club at the Ittafaq Hospital ground, Shining Club vs Mughalpura XI at the Township ground, Shafqat rana Club vs Dharampura Sports at the Imtiaz Academy Model Town ground, Mughalpura Whites vs Faran Sports at the Model Town Greens ground, Service Club vs Golden Star at the Mehran Block ground Iqbal Town, Ghari Shaho Gymkhana vs Young Mughalpura Greeners at the Model Town Whites ground and Gulberg Eaglets vs rising Stars at the Cricket Center ground. Meanwhile, 46 clubs of East Zone have been divided into eight groups.
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thorpe out of world Cup in tokyo
toKyo: ian thorpe of Australia swims in the men's 100m butterfly preliminary session. AfP ToKYo AFP
Australian former star Ian Thorpe’s Asia World Cup series ended with a whimper in the morning heats in Tokyo on Sunday when he finished 26th overall in the men’s 100-metre butterfly. The five-time Olympic gold medallist clocked 53.59 seconds, far behind top finisher Takeshi Matsuda of Japan in 51.39, failing to qualify for the final. The Japanese duo of ryo Takayasu and Kazuya Kaneda followed Matsuda in 51.40 and 51.63, respectively. Takayasu went on to claim the final in 50.52. “This week has been challenging, but has been very good,” said Thorpe. “I wish I could have done it with no one watching but that’s unfortunately not the case. I am very comfortable with where I’m at.” On Saturday, Thorpe also failed to qualify for the final of the men’s 100m freestyle after finishing 12th with 49.45. He then pulled out of the 100m individual medley, citing a poor physical condition. Thorpe’s exit marked a disappointing return to action for the former Olympic champion ahead of Australia’s Olympic trials in March, where he will bid to qualify for London 2012. He had quit the sport in 2006 aged 24, but returned to competition this year. In the finals, hosts Japan -who won eight out of 17 titles on Saturday -- added nine gold medals, while Australia took three to add to Saturday’s four.
Lampard goal gives England 1-0 win over Spain
loNdoN: Spain’s midfielder Sergio busquets vies with england’s midfielder Phil Jones. AfP LoNDoN AFP
England scored an upset 1-0 victory over world champions Spain here Saturday, with stand-in captain Frank Lampard heading the only goal of the game to delight a sell-out Wembley crowd. Spain, who had not lost to England for 10 years, dominated possession and territory throughout but were frustrated
by a superb English defensive effort as the home side clung on for the win. Lampard’s winner came on 49 minutes when the Chelsea midfielder headed in from close range after Darren Bent’s effort from a James Milner free-kick spun back off the post. Goalscorer Lampard paid tribute to England’s team spirit but said the squad were keeping their feet on the floor. “For everyone it is a lift, but we have to be realistic. We know they dom-
inated the game for long periods,” Lampard said in an interview on ITV1. “We won’t be shouting from the rooftops. We understand football. “We are not quite where we want to be just yet, but to beat a side like Spain is something we can definitely build upon.” Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque was frustrated after the defeat. “I’m a bit disappointed and almost angry that we didn’t win the game,” Del Bosque said. “But I can take lots of positives ... “We took the initiative, we held the initiative, we didn’t let England get out of their half. We just missed that skillful defining moment,” he said. The result was a vindication for England manager Fabio Capello, who had taken the risky decision to leave captain John Terry on the bench and dropped Wayne rooney from his squad altogether. Capello had fielded a new-look side with Manchester United’s Phil Jones playing out of position in midfield and an untried international centre-half partnership of Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka. For the most part Capello’s gambles paid off, with England maintaining their shape and discipline against technically superior opposition. A low-key first half saw Spain dominate as expected, pinning England back deep inside their own half with their relentless pressing game. Despite the intelligent movement of Spain’s attacking players, England’s defence held firm, with Lescott excelling at centre-back alongside his former Everton team-mate Jagielka. In midfield, Scott Parker and Jones worked tirelessly to disrupt Spain’s silky passing game, with Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva probing menacingly throughout the opening 45 minutes. Yet a sell-out Wembley crowd of 87,189 had to wait until the 32nd minute before the first shot on goal from either side, which came from a rare English foray into Spanish territory when Lampard let fly from 25 yards.
Pacquiao edges Marquez on tight decision LAS VEGAS ReUteRS
Manny Pacquiao was tested to the full before retaining his WBO welterweight title with a controversial majority decision over Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday. The 32-year-old southpaw received as much punishment from his older opponent as he dished out over the 12 rounds but his superior foot and hand speed made the difference as he improved his career record to 54-3-2 with 38 knockouts. Back in the ring for a third time since claiming a seat in his country’s national congress last year, Pacquiao won his 15th consecutive fight after earning two of the verdicts from the three judges. Dave Moretti (115-113) and Glenn Trowbridge (116-112) awarded the fight to the Filipino while robert Hoyle made it a 114-114 draw. “My fans are very happy because clearly they thought I won the fight,” Pacquiao said in a ringside interview as boos echoed around the arena from the disgrun-
tled Mexican fans. “We have to accept that my opponent is not easy. He is a good fighter and it’s not easy, but I won the fight. He was ready for my punches but I thought I blocked a lot of his punches.” Asked if he would consider a fourth bout with three-division world champion Marquez who has consistently been his toughest opponent, Pacquiao replied: “Any time, any time. I am a fighter and my job is to fight in the ring.” Marquez, who lifted his arms in triumph after the fight ended, was bitterly disappointed with the outcome after firmly believing he had been cheated of victory in his two previous meetings with Pacquiao. “It’s hard when you’re fighting your rival and the three judges, too,” the 38-year-old Mexican said in his dressing room, having stormed out of the ring after the decision was announced and his chance of vindication denied. “I got robbed. Honestly I don’t know what I need to do to change the mind of the judges. We won with clearer punches. I am frustrated right now, very frustrated.”
lAS veGAS: Juan Manuel Marquez (l) of Mexico fights against Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines. rEUTErS
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PARIS: Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (L) and teammate Rohan Bopanna in action during the final. AfP
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Aisam basks in Paris glory g
indo-Pak pair win their first ever AtP Masters title PARIS AGencIeS
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ISAM-UL-HAQ Qureshi and rohan Bopanna won their first ever ATP Masters tournament after whipping away the challenge of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut in straight sets in the final on Sunday. The seventh seeded Indo-Pak pair took just 65 minutes to defeat the French wild cards entries 6-2, 6-4 and pocket their third title of the season. They had won the Gerry Weber Open at Halle and the Stockholm Open before this event. Bopanna and Qureshi, who have already qualified for the season finale in London, earned 1000 ranking points each and split euro 134,500 as prize money. Bopanna and Qureshi created chances in a
jiffy and broke their rivals in the third and fifth games to open up a comprehensive 41 lead in the opening set within 20 minutes into the match. Twice they were down 030 but did not lose control over the set and comfortably sealed it. Benneteau and Mahut, who had shocked top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan en route to the final, gave a better account of themselves in the second set but could not stop the in-form Indo-Pak Express from lifting the title. A good battle followed in the second set as the two pairs were locked 4-4. But Bopanna and Qureshi broke Mahut when the Frechman committed his second double fault in the ninth game, sixth overall, to offer a break chance. The IndoPak Express then served out the match in the next game after a few anxious moments.
wAtcH it Live TEN SPORTS Pakistan v Sri Lanka 2nd ODI 04:00PM
NEO CRICKET India v West Indies 2nd Test Day 1 08:30AM
Federer wins Paris Masters for first time
Roger Federer celebrates with his trophy. AfP PARIS AFP
Bolt, Pearson named athletes of the year MoNACo AFP
MoNACo: iAAF President lamine diack (l) and Prince Albert ii of Monaco (R) pose with Sally Pearson (2ndR) and Usain bolt (2ndl). AfP
Jamaican sprint icon Usain Bolt and Australia’s Sally Pearson, the world 100m hurdles champion, were named athletes of the year by athletics’ governing body the IAAF here Saturday. Bolt, the Olympic 100 metres champion, wins the award for the third time after being honoured in 2008 and 2009. This year the 25-year-old notably retained his 200m crown at the world championships in Daegu where he also helped Jamaica defend the 4x100m relay in a new
world record time of 37.04sec. In South Korea Bolt, however, squandered his chance to defend his world 100m crown when he was disqualified from the final for a false start, allowing compatriot Yohan Blake to succeed him. “This season was a really trying season for me, I really had to work hard and stand up my game,” said Bolt. “There were some close races this season, I really had to push myself. So this (award) really means a whole lot to me. Because I really came out there hard this year, and all the hard work I put in paid off.” It was in Daegu that Pearson, 25,
produced the fourth fastest time in history, and the fastest in 19 years, for the women’s hurdles event which she dominated in a time of 12.21sec. She becomes the first athlete from Oceania to be honoured as such by the IAAF since the awards were introduced in 1988. Although Pearson won 10 of her 11 competitions and produced seven of the season’s quickest 11 performances she said she was surprised to win the award. “It was just such an honour to be in the top ten this year,” said Pearson, who like Bolt was a World Youth champion in 2003.
roger Federer won the Paris Masters for the first time on Sunday by defeating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) in a one sided final. It was the Swiss star’s third tournament win of the year after Doha early in the year and his Basel hometown event last week. It was also his 18th Masters title win, second only to rafael Nadal who has won 19 times. Tsonga, the winner here in 2008 and a hugely popular figure with the noisy Bercy Stadium crowd, was aggressive from the start and he immediately had two break points. The 30-year-old Federer, though, saved them both and then totally took command of the match running off five games in a row with two breaks of serve. The Frenchman finally got off the mark by holding serve at the third attempt, but Federer was easy on serve and he promptly pocketed the first set. Tsonga looked shell-shocked and frustrated, but he held serve twice to take a 2-1 lead at the start of the second set and finally profited from some errors from the Swiss star to put some pressure on his opponent’s serve. A whipped crosscourt forehand which wrong-footed Federer at the net gave Tsonga break point but he went for broke on his service return with a forehand drive down the line and missed by inches. Federer duly held serve again to level at 2-2 but he was in trouble again in the eighth game only for what looked initially like a Tsonga winner on the baseline to be called out much to the anger of the crowd.
Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ABU DHABI AFP
Lewis Hamilton produced a near-flawless performance on Sunday when he took full advantage of the early retirement of double world champion Sebastian Vettel to win a sizzling ‘day-night’ Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Driving his McLaren with measured assurance and great speed, the 26-year-old Englishman dominated from the second corner of the opening lap to the finish as he claimed his third win of a troubled season and 17th of his career. He started second, but took the lead within a few hundred metres when 24-yearold German Vettel’s red Bull suffered a puncture to his right-rear tyre and forced him to swerve off the Yas Marina circuit. Hamilton streaked by and took a lead he relinquished only twice briefly during the pit-stops as he delivered one of the most accomplished performances of his 89 races in Formula One. Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso
came home second for Ferrari, wiping away some of the memories of a nightmare race in 2010 when his title challenge was wrecked by strategic mistakes. Briton Jenson Button in the second McLaren fought through to finish third ahead of Vettel’s red Bull teammate Australian Mark Webber and fifth-placed Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari. German Nico rosberg led compatriot and Mercedes team-mate seventime champion Michael Schumacher home in sixth and seventh places with another German, Adrian Sutil, finishing eighth ahead of his Force India team-mate rookie Briton Paul Di resta. Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber finished 10th just beating his teammate Mexican Serigo Perez into the final points-scoring position. “A mega-job, mega, as always,” said Hamilton on
team radio at the end. “I want to dedicate this one to my mum on her birthday and it is great having her here this weekend.” Starting from a record-equalling 14th pole position of the season, Vettel made a clean start when the lights went out and pulled clear of Hamilton and into the lead. The field behind him rushed unscathed into racing order behind him. Having won both previous Grands Prix held at the Yas Marina circuit, it looked like business as usual for the 24-year-old German, but only for a few hundred metres as a puncture pitched him out of control and off the circuit as he turned into Turn Two. The right rear tyre of Vettel’s red Bull machine deflated rapidly and, although he was able to recover and nurse the car back to the pits, it signalled the end and his first retirement in more than a year since the Korean Grand Prix of 2010. Vettel climbed from his car and was soon tapping into a laptop computer to discover precisely why it happened, but by then the leaders were completing lap three with Hamilton leading the field by nearly three seconds. Alonso, having swept past Webber and Button, was in second place with Button third, Webber fourth and Massa fifth. rosberg had climbed to sixth in the opening skirmishes, fighting his way past Mercedes team-mate Schumacher.
AbU dHAbi: Mclaren Mercedes’ british driver lewis Hamilton leads after the start. AfP This running order was maintained as, having started in high sunshine and temperatures close to 40 degrees Celsius, the sun began to fall and the floodlights to take over. The temperature fell swiftly, too. Button, battling to resist Webber, reported problems on lap 13, which McLaren told him was a failure of his KErS (kinetic en-
ergy regeneration system), asking him to reboot it as he raced. Hamilton pitted for the first time after 16 laps swiftly followed by Alonso and Button, handing the lead to Webber for one lap. The Australian, however, lost time and impetus with a slow stop for new tyres as red Bull suffered problems with his right rear tyre.
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Road accident near thatta leaves 23 dead MoNIToRING DESK At least 23 people were killed and more than 20 were injured when a passenger van and a bus collided with each other on National Highway near Thatta, Geo News reported on Sunday. The speeding passenger van, which was traveling towards Karachi from Badin, ran into a bus headed to Shah Aqiq from Karachi. The bus tore through the van, blasting it apart, and plunged into a ditch. Locals, police and emergency services were carrying out rescue and relief activities, but their work was hampered by darkness at the site of the crash. Some dead bodies and injured people were stuck in the twisted pieces of the van and the rescue teams had to cut the seats to free them. According to police sources, 20 passengers were inside the van while the bus was carrying some 70 people. The dead bodies and injured people were rushed to Civil Hospital Makli, where an emergency was declared. rangers were also called to the hospital as a security measure after a large crowd gathered there. Eight of the most seriously wounded had to be shifted to Civil Hospital Karachi and their condition was stated to be critical. Thatta District Police Officer Muhammad Ali Wassan said all the passengers of the van seemed to have perished in the accident. The accident caused a severe traffic jam on the busy National Highway.
Singh accepts invitation to visit Pakistan NEW DELHI nnI
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan, media reported on Sunday.\ While accepting the invitation, the Indian premier said peace dialogue between the two countries would resume soon. Prime Minister Yousaf raza Gilani had invited his Indian counterpart in a recent meeting held between the two leaders at the sidelines of a regional summit in Maldives. “Pakistan’s prime minister was very keen that the Indian prime minister should visit Pakistan,” Indian Foreign Secretary ranjan Mathai told reporters after the Maldives meeting. “It will be an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations as well as an opportunity to visit his ancestral place, Gilani told Manmohan Singh,” according to the Indian foreign secretary. The dates of Singh’s visit to Pakistan would be decided through mutual consultations.
January to face worst gas load shedding: Dr Asim ISLAMABAD
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EDErAL Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain said on Sunday that the coming January would bring the worst gas load shedding, with gas shortfall reaching 1,027mmcdf, but claimed that the crisis would be overcome by 2013 by putting more gas into the system. Addressing a press conference at Oil and Gas Development Authority (OGDC), the minister said adequate supply of gas would be crucial during the next year, therefore supply to industries and gas stations would remain suspended for three days a week in winter. He said 200mmcdf more gas was expected from domestic resources while the power sector would get 76mmcdf and fertiliser sector would get 90mmcdf of gas under the gas load management plan. He said the preliminary sale and purchase agreement on TurkmenistanAfghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline would be signed on Monday (today) upon the Turkmenistani president’s arrival in Pakistan. Describing measures taken in the last six months, Dr Hussain said survey and design work on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline had been completed and that Pakistan had decided to renegotiate the gas price with the Iranian authorities. He said three oil companies had been awarded licences under the new
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Policy under which supply of LNG was expected to begin in the third quarter of next year. He said encouraging signs had been received from ZIN Block gas field after reaching the targeted depth. He said the government would resolve the issue of circular debt, adding that the government was planning to establish a think tank comprising all the stakeholders to design the oil and gas policy for the next 20 years. Dr Hussain said the government
had decided to close down or penalise the independent power producers (IPPs) captive powers and rental power projects (rPPs) not found to be energy efficient. He said after the approval of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), four more oil depots had been built in order to raise the oil and gas storage from 40,000 tonnes. He said Gas Infrastructure Surcharge would only be taken from commercial, industrial and fertiliser sector and would not be imposed on domestic consumers. A Senate panel cleared the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess bill, paving the way for the government to impose the tax in the range of 14 to 96 percent on gas consumers, which will yield revenues of rs 34 billion. To a question, the minister said provinces were getting the Gas Development Surcharge (GDS) and it was not utilised for the purpose for which it was imposed. He said the government was installing smart gas metres at CNG stations to end gas theft and 1,100 such metres had already been installed in Sindh. He said the government was also monitoring the consumption of industrial units to curb distortions. He said in winter gas would be provided to domestic consumers on a priority basis. Dr Hussain said further that Pakistan State Oil (PSO) would open the first LPG station in Lahore in the next few days. Meanwhile, the All Pakistan CNG Association announced a campaign along with the opposition against increased gas outages in the country.
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‘dawood ibrahim being treated in UAe’ KARACHI tARIQ HABIB
Notorious Indian underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is alive and under treatment at a hospital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mubashir Ahmed, a close relative of Ibrahim, told Pakistan Today on Sunday. Mubashir, who is a foster son of Ibrahim working in the UAE, rejected as baseless all reports of Ibrahim’s death in the Indian media. “[Ibrahim] is still alive and will be better soon, he is under treatment in hospital,” Mubashir said, but refused to give the name of the hospital. When Pakistan Today asked him about the presence of the don in Pakistan, as claimed by the Indian media, he denied that Ibrahim was in Pakistan. In reply to a question about the location of the hospital where Dawood was under treatment, Mubashir said: “[He] can move freely everywhere in India, UAE and other countries. The Indian government cannot bind him so he might be in India or UAE or anywhere else, but not in Pakistan. “He survived two heart attacks and now he is under treatment in critical condition,” he added. He said Ibrahim had attended the wedding of Mubashir’s sister in the UAE in October 2010 and was “in contact with my family and I”, said Mubashir. When asked about Ibrahim’s wish to be buried in India, Mubashir replied: “Such talk is premature right now.” Indian media had earlier reported that Ibrahim has died in a hospital in Pakistan. Ibrahim, also known as Sheikh Dawood Hassan, was born on December 27, 1955. He is the head of the organised crime syndicate ‘D-Company’ in Mumbai. He is currently on the wanted list of Interpol for organised crime and counterfeiting.
No operation was conducted at Chambal Peer g
Terrorists escaped immediately after killing 4 security personnel ISLAMABAD
L
ARIF tAJ
ASKAr-E-JHANGVI commander Dr Arshad and his group had been living in the Chambal Peer area near Chakwal for more than six months and had left the area immediately after killing the security personnel on Friday, Pakistan Today learnt on Sunday. “Neither any operation was conducted nor was any terrorist killed or arrested,” Mushtaq Ahmed, Station House Officer (SHO) of Choa Saidan Shah Police told Pakistan Today. Chambal Peer lies
within the Choa Saidan Shah Police precincts. Dr Arshad and his group had killed four Military Intelligence (MI) personnel on Friday, including a major, and one civilian who was reportedly an informer of the MI. “The dead bodies of the persons were taken out of the area after 15 to 20 hours of the incident. There were no signs of any kind of operation. It seemed the terrorists had left the area immediately after killing the four security personnel as they had time enough to disappear. Local people informed the authorities about the corpses lying in the vicinity of Chambal Peer,” Basir Ahmed, a labour leader of Pind Dadan
Khan who had visited the place, told Pakistan Today. Chambal Peer is a highly inaccessible place located in the Salt range and Dr Arshad had been living there for the last six months along with his three to four dozen armed men. They had sophisticated weapons as well, Basir said, citing locals. Basir said further that the reported informer of the MI, named Mehmood, belonged to Chak Ali Shah, a village near Pind Dadan Khan. Mehmood was an office-bearer of the Tehreek Minhajul Quran of Tehsil Pind Dadan Khan, Basir added. When SHO Mushtaq was asked about how long terrorists had been living in the area, he refused to comment saying
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.
he did not know of the terrorists’ presence in the area. Meanwhile, Pakistan Today also learnt that Dr Arshad belonged to Pind Makko of Mandi Bahauddin and was wanted by the security forces for killing dozens of people of the Ahmedi community in Mong village of Mandi Bahauddin, Hafizabad and some other places. He was also wanted by the security agencies for being involved in kidnapping for ransom. Chaudhry ramzan, a resident of Kheora, told Pakistan Today that a number of people were arrested from the nearby areas of Chakwal and Jhelum districts on the suspicion of having ties with terrorists.