E-paper Pakistantoday LHR 8th January, 2012

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pakistantoday.com.pk

Rs22.00 Vol ii no 192 22 pages Lahore edition

Sunday, 8 January, 2012 Safar 13, 1433

Realising the Saraiki dream Zardari gives go-ahead to party to implement first demarcation plan for Saraiki province, which is likely to comprise Multan, Bahawalpur, DG Khan

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ISLAMABAD

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MURREE: Local residents walk on a snow-covered street on Saturday.

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Govt looking to pack up judiciary, says Nawaz QUETTA ShAhzAdA zulfiqAr

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday the government was aspiring to pack up the Supreme Court by imposing the wishes of an individual on the people of country but his party would not allow the government to destroy the judiciary, which had the backing of the entire nation.

Nawaz was talking to reporters at a local hotel with PML-N’s newly-elected Balochistan President Sardar Sanaullah

Zehri and General Secretary Naseebullah Bazai. To a question about remarks by President Asif Ali Zardari that the government would accept the decision of parliamentary committee on the memo issue, the PML-N leader said if Asif Ali Zardari had said that, he had expressed intent to pack up the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

He said it was unfortunate that the attitude of the PPP leadership about SC was not positive, but it was clear that the SC would not make judgments on wishes and pressure of anyone.

He said there was no need of form-

ing the parliamentary committee on memo issue when the SC had already formed a commission that had started working on the issue. He said his party would soon host a national conference on Balochistan to determine its problems and their solution and promised to bring the killers of Nawab Akbar Bugti to justice if he came into power.

Nawaz said although convening the national conference on Balochistan was the responsibility of the govern Continued on page 04

‘No one is naïve enough to seek my resignation’ ISLAMABAD APP

President Asif Ali Zardari said in an interview with veteran journalist Hamid Mir on Saturday that there were no calls for him to resign from any quarters.

When Mir asked the president if his resignation was being sought, a confident Zardari replied in the negative. “I don’t think anyone is naïve enough to ask for my resignation.” During the interview, the president spoke at length about various issues of national and international significance ranging from the domestic political Continued on page 04

MiAN ABrAr

N a bid to avoid controversy regarding the creation of a Saraiki province keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter, President Asif Ali Zardari has given the go-ahead to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s second-tier leadership to implement the first demarcation plan on a Saraiki province focusing on three divisions of southern Punjab: Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan Today learnt on Saturday.

This would be the first demarcation for the new province proposed by the ruling party.

“The president is clear in his mind that he wants to include three divi-

sions in the Saraiki province, although there have been assertion by two other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - Dera Ismail Khan and Tank - while some party leaders also wanted to include two districts of Balochistan and parts of Sindh including Dera Allah Yar and Nasirabad,” a PPP source said.

The source said the president did not want to annoy the Awami National Party (ANP) leadership by accepting the demands of the people of DI Khan, which might offend the PPP’s coalition partner, the ANP. The source said further that according to plan, Makhdoom Shahabuddin would move a resolution during the upcoming session of the Continued on page 04

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02 News Today’s

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

lahore

NewS

foreIGN NewS

‘You’ll regret taking this to the point of no return!’

Musharraf will be arrested upon return: fiA lawyer

egypt islamists claim 62% in latest voting

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Quick Look

Pakistan frees 179 Indian fishermen KARACHI AfP

Pakistan freed 179 Indian fishermen on Saturday who were imprisoned for violating territorial waters, the prisons chief said. “We have released 179 Indian fishermen and a civilian prisoner who had completed their sentences,” Sindh prisons chief Ghulam Qadir Thebo told AFP. They were sent to Lahore by bus, where they will cross the Pakistan-India border on Sunday, he said. He added that 360 other Indian prisoners, mostly fishermen, remained in jail.

Pakistan and India frequently seize each other’s fishermen, accusing them of violating their respective zones in the Arabian Sea.

No talks with Zardari on any issue: Shahbaz LAHORE

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oNliNe

UNJAB Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday said no talks would be held with President Asif Ali Zardari on any issue. He was talking to reporters at Lahore airport after his arrival from Turkey. He said no issue had been left to be debated with Zardari. Shahbaz said he would move the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the gas crisis in Punjab. The chief minister said mayor of Istanbul was due to visit Pakistan next week. Giving details of his visit to Turkey, he said the visit would strengthen bilateral relations between both countries.

He said during his visit, agreements on bus services and investment in canals was signed with Turkish authorities.

Shahbaz said he met the Turkish prime minister, president, Istanbul’s mayor and parliamentarians and exchanged views with them on various projects launched by Turkey in Pakistan. “The machinery related to solid waste project will reach Pakistan from Turkey within two days. I have inspected the machinery and found it to be state-of-the-art and excellent,” he said.

Shahbaz said the Istanbul mayor would visit Pakistan next week, adding that an agreement had been signed with a Turkish bank. “Another accord has also been signed with Turkey under which Turkey will invest in the project of launching metro bus service in Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Multan,” he said. The chief minister said another accord on construction of hydel power project along the canals of Punjab had also been signed.

Don’t play favourites, PML-Q advises US ISLAMABAD irfAN BukhAri

In a recent interaction with US Ambassador Cameron Munter, the Pakistan Muslim LeagueQuaid (PML-Q) leadership advised US policymakers not to play favourites among local politicians for bringing in regimes of their own choice, as this policy had backfired in the recent past and had earned a bad name for the US among Pakistanis at large.

A source told Pakistan Today that PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Senior Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi conveyed their reservations to Munter, who had called on the PML-Q leadership last Monday.

“The PML-Q leaders told Munter that the US must shun the policy of playing favourites in Pakistani politics and should not support covertly or overtly any political party as was done by US interlocutors for clinching a deal between former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf and PPP’s

slain chairperson Benazir Bhutto in 2007, as admitted by the former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in her recent book,” the source said.

Former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in her memoirs “No Higher Honor” has given full account on how she toiled for many sleepless nights to have a power-sharing deal clinched between Musharraf and Benazir in 2007. The source said PML-Q Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed, citing Rice’s book, asked Munter to use his influence as diplomat to change the US policy of playing favourites in Pakistan. “In response, Munter told the PML-Q leadership that the US had already changed its policy and was not supporting any particular political party in the country,” the source added. Asked to comment why did the PML-Q think the US was playing favourites in Pakistan, a PML-Q leader said, “We told him we think they are promoting Imran Khan in Pakistan nowadays. Frequent meeting of US diplomats and their appreciation of Imran and his political party (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf) compelled us to lodge our protest.”

Cardiologist abducted in Peshawar found dead in Khyber PESHAWAR: The bullet-riddled body of noted cardiologist Dr Syed Mohammad Jamal was recovered from Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency on Saturday. Jamal was abducted around two months ago and belonged to Parachinar, headquarters of Kurram Agency. Jamal was abducted by unidentified militants from Peshawar and the militants had demanded a hefty ransom for his release, however, negotiations were in progress. However, officials in the Khyber political administration said Peshawar police had been informed of the development and the body was first shifted to Hayatabad Medical Complex and later handed over to relatives. Jamal was laid to rest in Hayatabad graveyard. He was the brother of Dr Sultan and belonged to the Shia community. Shias have suffered a lot in the ongoing trend of militancy and terrorism. Over 1,000 Shias have been killed since 2007. StAff rePort

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

arTS & eNTerTaINMeNT

SPorTS

Veena Malik open to stripping for hollywood

Win more important than aggressive approach: Misbah New provinces:

News 03

CoMMeNT

Today’s

Necessary to think it through.

Playing politics: Nawaz Sharif’s newfound conscience.

humayun Gauhar says: Imran Khan: the tiger roars: What of the motley crew he has assembled?

Sarmad Bashir says: Throwback to the past: Sharif’s relations with the court.

Quick

M J Akbar says: A dalliance with Dhokapal: Wish-list for 2012.

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Double Shah sentenced to 14 years in prison, fined Rs 3b LAHORE StAff rePort

An accountability court on Saturday sentenced notorious conman Syed Sibt-ul-Hassan Shah Gillani alias Double Shah to 14 years in prison on charges of defrauding his victims out of Rs 441.347 million.

The judge also fined him Rs 3 billion in addition to the prison sentence so that his victims may be returned some of their money. Shah confessed his crime before the judge, however he lashed out at National Accountability Bureau (NAB) authorities in an emotional speech in the court, saying there were around 4,400 witnesses against him in the case but no one had been produced in court by the NAB investigators. He told the court that that meant his case would have taken decades to be decided had he not confessed. He said he had taken

money from people but had not cheated any one. He said he established the “business of masses” and returned their money in his package of double returns. He told the judge that he had returned more than Rs 2 billion to NAB and that he did not want his case to be drawn out, but NAB wanted to prolong the matter.

The judge fixed January 14 as the next date of hearing for Shah’s co-accused Munawar Hussain Gilani, Syed Farhat Hassan, Chan Pir and Shoukat Ali. NAB Punjab had authorised an investigation against Shah and others on charges of fraud and criminal breach of trust. It found during the investigation that the accused lured and invited the investors to deposit money with them on the promise of returning their deposits with unprecedented profit and to double to their investments after a specified period.

CID kills TTP Balochistan chief in Karachi KARACHI: Crime Investigation Department (CID) police claimed on Saturday to have killed the Balochistan chief of the Taliban in an encounter. The leader, identified as Yasin, was killed during exchange of fire with police on Shahra-e-Faisal. A CID official said two of his accomplices were arrested and two CID personnel were also injured in the encounter. Yasin was the chief of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban outfit’s Balochistan chapter, said police, adding that he had been involved in attacks on two offices of telecommunication companies in Karachi. oNliNe

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Indian court frames espionage charges against diplomat MOnITORIng DESK An Indian court on Saturday framed charges against former Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta for allegedly passing on sensitive information to Pakistan’s InterServices Intelligence (ISI), Times of India has reported.

Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain charged Gupta under Section 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act for spying and also Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy. The court will start the trial on March 22.

Gupta, 53, was posted as second secretary (Press and Information) at Indian High Commission in Islamabad. She was arrested on April 22, 2010 by the Special Cell of Delhi Police for allegedly passing on sensitive information on India’s defence to the ISI. She has been charged with breach of trust, criminal conspiracy and various other provisions of the Official Secrets Act. It was alleged that Gupta revealed classified information to Pakistani officials and was in touch with two ISI officials, Mubshar Raza Rana and Jamshed. According to the charge sheet filed in July 2010,

Gupta was involved in a relationship with Jamshed whom she planned to marry.

She used to communicate with Jamshed who had a code name ‘Jim’. The diplomat was using a computer installed at her residence in Islamabad and a Blackberry phone to be in touch with the two Pakistani spies, it said. She had also visited Indian-held Kashmir in March 2010 on the instructions of Rana to allegedly procure the Annual Plan Report of the state. Rana also wanted information on the proposed 310 MW hydroelectric power project to be set up in the state by 2020, it said.

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04 News

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

PM ‘won’t be cowed down by detractors’ g

Gilani forms taskforce to meet energy shortfall LAHORE

calmed the lawyers down by announcing a housing society for them, which earned him a round of loud applause. The PM announced further that the children of lawyers would have 10 percent quota in schools run by the EPTB. He also announced Rs 2.5 million in aid for a lawyer suffering from cancer.

Reiterating the PPP’s commitment to continue working for the solidarity of the country, Gilani challenged detractors and said he could not be cowed down by the prevailing political scene in the country, APP reported.

The prime minister said there was a supreme constitution, an independent judiciary, free media and a vibrant society in the country, adding that had there been no constitution, it would have been difficult to keep the federation intact.

He said the PPP was the custodian of the constitution and it restored the 1973 Constitution to its true spirit. Gilani said the PPP favoured elections and safeguarded the right to sloganeering and political activism.

“I congratulate President Asif Ali Zardari as his prime minister has been in-

vited to address the largest bar association of Asia,” he said.

Hailing the role of lawyers in various eras of the country’s history, the prime minister said lawyers were at the forefront of the Pakistan Movement under the dynamic leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, adding that PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had the unconditional support of lawyers in his movement for the empowerment of the people. tASK foRCE: Meanwhile, Gilani constituted a special taskforce consisting of businessmen to come up with a roadmap to address the energy shortage faced by the country’s industrial sector.

The task force would present its recommendations within six days and suggest ways to overcome gas deficiency within six months. It would consist of Sapphire Mills CEO Shahid Abdullah, Kohinoor Mills CEO Amir Fayyaz, APTMA Chairman Mohsin Aziz, Suraj Mills CEO SM Bashir, ATS Mills CEO Mian Anjum Nisar, Fatima Group CEO Fawad Ahmed Mukhtar and ICI Chairman Waqar Malik.

A W Y E R S stunned Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani by shouting slogans against President Asif Ali Zardari and in favour of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry at a function of the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) held at Alhamra Hall on Saturday, as the PM said he could not be cowed down by the prevailing political scene in the country.

The LBA arranged a dinner for lawyers in connection with its elections and the prime minister was the chief guest on the occasion.

Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa, Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) Chairman Asif Hashmi and Khurram Latif Khosa were also present on stage.

As soon as Governor Khosa said in his speech that the lawyers of Lahore played an important role in the restoration of the judiciary, a large number of lawyers started shouting slogans in favour of the chief justice.

Looking at the riled up lawyers, Khosa cut short his speech and the organisers of

the function had to request the lawyers again and again to calm down, but the lawyers kept shouting slogans in favour of the chief justice. During the entire episode, the prime minister was a bit stunned but kept his cool.

Gilani then approached the dais and the lawyers intensified their slogans, this time chanting “Go Zardari Go”. However, Prime Minister Gilani faced the lawyers bravely and began his speech.

“It is the beauty of democracy that everyone is free to say whatever they like,” the prime minister said in his address, adding that the judiciary and media was free and that was because of democracy.

The lawyers continued to shout anti-Zardari slogans but the prime minister continued his speech. “We respect the judiciary and the freedom of people,” Gilani said, adding that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto started Pakistan’s nuclear programme and Benazir Bhutto established missile technology. He said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was a symbol of federation and had deep roots in all provinces.

The prime minister later

altaf is now a vegetarian

No one is naïve

NAuMAN tASleeM

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KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said on Saturday that he was eating vegetables for the last five days and avoiding meat to save money. In a statement, Altaf demanded that the federal government cut its expenditures due to the worsening economy. He urged leaders of all political and religious parties to save for the country’s betterment.

The MQM chief said that leaders of the UK and Europe decreased their salaries due to worsening economies and the leaders of Pakistan should also follow suit. Altaf said that the federal government should decrease its expenditures of lunches and dinners up to 90 percent. AGeNcieS

situation to relations between state institutions and ties with India, China and the United States. When asked whether the government was not going to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases closed under the NRO because of Article 248 of the constitution, the president said: “It is not because of Article 248, but because I don’t want to go down in history and my prime minister does not want to go down in history” as the authors of such a letter. When asked if a trial would be held when he is no longer president, Zardari replied: “If somebody else wants to commit this sin, let them do it.” To a question about his health, the president said his condition was a lot better now. “Your muscle gets pulled sometimes,” he said on a lighter note, adding: “At the age of 57 when you are doing a stressful job, it can happen. I routinely work until four in the morning and it affects my health. I have party work, people to meet, protocol, so every-

thing [piles up].”

In reply to a question about why he was seeking justice from the chief justice in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case, he said: “The lower judiciary, which is under the chief justice, has to decide this case.”

Referring to the case of former religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi, on trial for alleged corruption in Haj affairs, Zardari said Kazmi was an honourable person and he believed him to be not guilty.

The president rejected the idea that Rehman Malik, Babar Awan or Farhatullah Babar or other PPP leaders were somehow responsible for the security lapses that led to the killing of Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007.

Without giving a name, the president said the public meeting in Rawalpindi was organised by only one person, as other party leaders, including Rehman Malik, were against it.

He said when Benazir Bhutto was coming to Pakistan from Dubai, he tried to stop her by asking their children to

Realising the Saraiki dream Continued fRom page 1 National Assembly for the creation of a Saraiki province on behalf of the PPP. “President Zardari has directed the leadership of the party’s South Punjab chapter to mobilise the party workers in favour of the creation of a Saraiki province and the party’s president for South Punjab chapter, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, is set to start a mass contact drive from

January 14,” said the source. Shahabuddin, who is also the Federal Textiles Minister, confirmed his plan to launch a mass contact drive from January 14.

He told Pakistan Today that he would visit various areas of the three divisions.

“We also plan to complete reorganisation of the party in all three divisions of the [proposed] Saraiki province,” he said. Asked whether he would move a

resolution in the upcoming session on the issue, Shahabuddin answered in the affirmative.

“Yes, the party leadership has honoured me with this historic task and I am working on the resolution,” he said.

Another source told Pakistan Today that Shahabuddin had also finalised three candidates for the post of the Saraiki province’s PPP secretary,

make her understand that it was dangerous for her to go to Pakistan.

He said he still maintained that he knew who killed his wife. He said he had traced the murderers to Baitullah Mehsud, but he would not stop there. “I did not put a full-stop after Baitullah Mehsud, I put a comma there,” said the president.

The president said it was not true that the PPP gave guard of honour to former president Pervez Musharraf when he left the Presidency.

“That is not true. First of all I was not the president. Those who gave him an honourable send-off, the presidential staff, they cannot be blamed. They do not come under the command of anybody else apart from the Presidency. The Presidency is under the command of its own self,” he said.

When asked to comment on his joining hands with the Pakistan Muslim LeagueQuaid (PML-Q), he said PPP was the largest party in the country, and “if we close our doors, where will people go?”

which he would recommend to the party leadership upon his return from his campaign. Those recommended

by Shahabuddin included Punjab Assembly Members Chaudhry Ehsan-ul-Haq Ahsan Naulatia, elected from Muzaffargarh, Malik Mohammed Amir Dogar, elected from Multan, and Sarwar Akhtar, Divisional President of the PPP from DG Khan.

“Since Shahabuddin himself is a Saraiki, there is a strong possibility that a settler would be appointed

PPP to attend PMl-N’s aPC ISLAMABAD: The PPP on Saturday welcomed PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif’s announcement to convene an All Parties Conference (APC) on the situation in Balochistan. Farhatullah Babar said the PPP believed in consultation and dialogue to resolve issues. StAff rePort

140 NaTo tankers return to Karachi CHAMAN: Around 140 NATO containers parked at the Chaman border were sent back to Karachi, sources said on Saturday. Security officials said 140 NATO containers, which were barred from entering into Afghanistan, were asked to move back to Karachi. “We are sending back the NATO containers under supervision of Frontier Corps and other law enforcement agencies,” a security official said. APP

GuWAhAti: A leopard attacks and wounds a man in a residential neighbourhood of Silphukhuri area on Saturday. three people were seriously injured in the leopard attack before the feline was tranquilized and taken to Assam state zoo. afp

pML-N elects its Balochistan Ijaz willing to Pakistan president, general secretary visit Continued fRom page 24 QUETTA

StAff rePort

Provincial ministers Sardar Sanaullah Zahri and Naseebullah Bazai were elected as provincial president and general secretary of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) respectively in a party council session amidst pandemonium on Saturday.

The council session meeting was held at a local hotel with PML-N President Nawaz Sharif in the chair. A number of PML-N’s central leaders were also present on the occasion. Some of the workers started hooting when the PML-N chief announced the names of Sardar Sanaullah Zehri for the office of Provincial President and Nasibullah Bazai as General Secretary.

A group of workers expressed their joy over the an-

nouncement, while others started raising slogans for Nawabzada Jangaiz Marri by rejecting the nomination of Zehri and Bazai, besides demanding proper elections.

Nawaz Sharif got annoyed and left the stage without delivering his speech. However, the workers kept chanting slogans in favour of their leaders showing no discipline.

Changaiz Marri, an older party stalwart than the newly-elected Zahri, also walked out of the party meeting in Lahore when Zahri’s name was proposed

by Nawaz. Marri was not seen in the party activity, except at the airport to receive Nawaz. Last night Nawaz, along with some party leaders, reportedly visited Changaiz Marri at his house and persuaded him over his choice.

Govt looking ment, it had failed and PMLN would do that to hammer out a workable and durable solution to Balochistan’s issues.

He said nationalists of Balochistan were with us and “we are with them”.

To another query regarding the PM’s remarks about a state within the state, Nawaz offered his party’s support to Gilani to stop the practice if such a thing existed. He said the PM should speak clearly and tell the re-

ality to the opposition.

He dispelled the impression that there were differences in the rank and file of the party’s provincial set up, saying the council session of party was held properly that elected the party’s office bearers. Addressing party workers who were gathered in the lobby of the hotel earlier, Nawaz said he would soon invite the presidents and general secretaries of all districts of Balochistan to Raiwind and would hold a detailed discussion with them over party affairs.

as general secretary. In such a case, competition would be between Chaudhry Ehsan and Amir Dogar as both are settlers living in Saraiki areas for decades,” the source added.

The source said further that though Shahabuddin wanted to appoint MPA Shaukat Basra, who was his close aide and was also a settler from Bahawalnagar, there was a bar that the president and general secretary could not come from the same division. In order to accommodate other dis-

tricts, either Dogar or Ehsan might be picked for the important slot of general secretary, he added.

“In such a case, Dogar is the favourite as he enjoys support from Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani because he had won elections as a running mate with Gilani and his father, Senator Salahuddin Dogar, had funded Gilani’s campaign heavily,” added the source.

Shahabuddin was appointed as president of the PPP’s South Punjab chapter on April 11, 2011.

Continued fRom page 1

of the petition. The petitioner’s counsel, Raja Israr Ahmad Abbasi, submitted before the court that Ijaz was trying to destabilise the democratic government and defame the “patriotic forces” by his “antiPakistan lobbying”. He stated that Ijaz should be charged under sections 153-A, 177, 197, 199, 200, 468, 471 and 505 of the Pakistani Penal Code (PPC) for publishing memorelated documents containing statements, articles and analyses in the international media. He told the court that his client had approached the police station concerned to register an FIR against Ijaz, but the police refused and told him to request the court to direct the Secretariat SHO to register a criminal case against Ijaz. Talking to Pakistan Today, Secretariat Police Station SHO Hakim Khan said that Khalid Javed had sent him a courier the other day to register FIR against Ijaz, which, according to him, does not fall under his jurisdiction.

REHMAN MALIK: Separately, Interior Minister Rehman Malik told a private TV channel that Ijaz cannot enter Pakistan without a visa.

Musharraf favours Continued fRom page 24 about desecration of the Quran. So we are wholly sensitive to the Palestinian plight, and any new initiative regarding Israel has to be proposed very delicately,” said the former president, who seized power in a bloodless military coup in October 1999.

When asked about his offer to mediate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Musharraf said it was at the root many of today’s bigger problems. “Look at terrorism and extremism, 9/11, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas – all these are products of the unsettled Palestinian dispute.

Because of the misery these Palestinians are suffering, which is seen all over the world on TV, there is a reaction,” he added.

He also said the United States’s pro-Israel policies propelled on-the-defensive Muslims into guerrilla warfare.

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

increasing number of c-sections crosses all danger thresholds

PaGe 08

‘You’ll regret taking this to the point of no return!’ g

Business community warns government of bigger protests, vows to continue till gas supplies are not normalised LAHORE

A

iMrAN AdNAN

large number of business leaders, industrialists, traders and workers staged a sit-in and launched out a protest rally on Saturday from Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) to Punjab Governor House against suspension of gas supply to industrial units.

Business community leaders threatened to continue their agitation till normalisation of gas supply. They urged the government to immediately announce complete ban on new gas connections and to formulate an equitable gas load management plan. Businessmen further demanded of the government to to waive off mark up for the period in which trade and industry was refused gas supply.

Business leaders from all the 17 chambers of commerce and industry of Punjab and dozens of trade association participated in the LCCI-led protest rally, which disbursed peacefully at the Governor House after assurance of two-day gas supply to the industry in Punjab.

Addressing the angry businessmen and industrial workers, LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh stressed that the government had to redefine its priorities related to natural gas supply. Suspension of gas supply to industrial units had already rendered thousands of daily wagers jobless as a large number of industrial units had been shut down.

It was very unfortunate that the economy was the last priority of the present regime, he said, adding that the non-serious attitude towards real issues was giving birth to various social evils.

“If the situation doesn’t improve, law and order may suffer,” he said.

LCCI president pointed out that the industry was paying a mark up for 365 days, while it was given nat-

ural gas for only 200 days last year that caused huge production losses. He asked President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to intervene since the situation was headed towards a ‘point of not return’.

Addressing the protest rally, Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Muzammil Sultan, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Javaid Akhtar Bhatti, Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Malik Zaheer indicated that similar protests would be staged in all cities of Punjab as the government seemed least interested in the wellbeing of the economy.

They said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure provision of necessary utilities to masses. But the situation was totally in contrast with the tall claims of the government even after four years in the power.

LCCI former presidents, including Mian Anjum Nisar, Iftikhar Ali Malik, Bashir A Baksh, Mian Muhammad Ashraf, Sheikh Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Ali Mian, LCCI former senior vice presidents Abdul Basit and Sohail Lashari and vice presidents Shafqat Saeed Piracha, Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Sohail Azhar and Vice Chairman of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Khawaja Shahzeb Akram said the business community wanted to play its role for the progress and prosperity of the country but the government was trying to keep them busy in petty issues. They said government’s policies had forced them to come out on the streets. If the government did not take any action even after the sit-in, business community would give calls for protest in Islamabad.

They said no police case could stop business community leaders in continuing their struggle till the acceptance of their genuine demands in the larger interest of

weather may go polar today LAHORE StAff rePort

Snowfall in different parts of the country sent chilly winds at 5 km/h to the metropolitan on Saturday, which is expected to increase on Sunday, met office has said, adding that the year’s first rainfall will also result in a further dip in mercury.

“The temperature may go sub-zero on Sunday, maybe as low as -1 degree Celsius also, and more rain is also expected,” an official said, adding that the winds will not be going any where for the coming few days and will keep the fog out. “The coming days shall remain cloudy so watch out for mild rainfall”, he added. The maximum recorded temperature in Lahore on Saturday was 12 degree Celsius while minimum was reported to be 1 degree Celsius.

trade, industry, economy and the country. Presidents of all 17 chambers of the province, Anjuman-i-Tajiran Pakistan, Qoumi Tajir Ittehad Pakistan and Chairmen of all the sector-specific associations, LCCI Senior Vice President Kashif Younis Meher, Vice President Saeeda Nazar and former LCCI presidents were prominent among participants of the protest.

The protesters were carrying banners inscribed with slogans “We reject discrimination with Punjab in supply of gas,” “We reject increasing unemployment,” “Save our jobs, save our chil-

Photos by Nadeem ijaz dren” and were chanting full-throat slogans against the government. They also burnt tyres.

Representation of Lahore Township Industrial Area Association, Ferozepur

Road IAA, Katarbund Road Association, Textile Printing and Processing Association, Anjuman-e-Tajiran Pakistan, Ferozepur Road Welfare Association was also witnessed in the protest.

LHR 08-01-2012_Layout 1 1/8/2012 6:12 AM Page 6

06 Lahore

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Mrs anwar remembered LAHORE StAff rePort

The Punjab University College of Art and Design (PUCAD) organised a memorial reference on Saturday for Mrs Anwar Afzal, the ex-chairperson of Department of Fine Arts and one of the pioneer faculty members, at the Anna Molka Gallery of the college. She had breathed her last in the last week of December 2011.

‘Speed up anti-quackery drive’ LAHORE StAff rePort

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has demanded the Punjab government needs to speed up it’s anti quackery campaign to control the deaths due to dengue virus. The PMA office bearers on Saturday alleged that some drug inspectors were receiving bribes from the quacks and allowing them to work, adding that the chief minister should take notice of the affair.

Illegal structures demolished LAHORE StAff rePort

In connection with the drive for ensuring enforcement of building regulations, the staff of the Town Planning Wing of Lahore Development Authority completely or partially demolished nine structures and sealed another in Johar Town and Allama Iqbal Town on Saturday.

Pef to cover more districts LAHORE StAff rePort

The Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) is going to expand its Education Voucher Scheme (EVS) to 17 new districts to open the doors of quality education to poor and needy. PEF Chairman Raja Anwar, while addressing the annual prize distribution function of an EVS-partner school at Baghbanpura on Saturday, said the programme would now include Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Chakwal, Attock, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalnagar, Jhang, Jhelum, Layyah, Lodharan, Nankana Sahib, Sargodha, Sheikhupura and Toba Tek Singh.

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the coSt of the PM BeiNG iN the citY: Vehicles line up on the Mall, waiting for the prime minister to pass. NaDeeM Ijaz

Kamran’s appointment challenged

9 arrested for possessing liquor, kites and explosives LAHORE StAff rePort

The police have arrested nine persons on Saturday in separate incidents. Four persons were arrested for kitemaking, one person for possession of explosives and four persons for the possession of liquor. According to sources, the police, on a tip-off, raided a kite factory in Gulshan-eRavi E-Block. Four persons present in the factory were taken into custody and hundreds of kites, strings and other material used for kite-making and flying was seized.

The arrested persons, identified as Muhammad Ishfaq, Muhammad Jalal, Afaq and Haqi Mushtaq, revealed in the preliminary interrogation that they prepared kites and strings and distributed them across the province. The Punjab government, in the view of deaths caused by the metallic strings and other related incidents, had banned the kite flying and directed the concerned authorities for strict action against kite flyers and elements engaged in the business. Meanwhile, the police upon receiving information about a person, Awais Mazhar, carrying fireworks and explosives in his car, arrested him at the Sagian Bridge in the Shahdra Police Station precincts on Saturday.

Moreover, a large quantity of liquor was recovered from the possession of four drug pushers, Nadeem Maseeh, Nazeer Maseeh, Waqar Maseeh and Mushtaq, in the Nawankot Police Station precincts.

LAHORE

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StAff rePort

N application has been moved in the Lahore High Court challenging the appointment of Dr Mujahid Kamran as the Punjab University (PU) Acting Vice-Chancellor (VC) following his retirement from the post on January 2.

The civil miscellaneous application was filed by Dr Mughees-ud-Din, a candidate for the vice-chancellor position, through his counsel Asad Manzoor Butt.

His petition called for a restraining order against Kamran’s appointment to the post.

The petitioner contended that Kamran was appointed the vice chancellor for four years, according to the section 14 of the PU Act. However, he could not be granted an extension after retirement nor could he be allowed to serve as part of a stop-gap arrangement.

The petition demanded that the appointment notification be cancelled by declaring it unlawful.

The petitioner said LHC Justice Sheikh Ahmad Farooq had, on hearing the main pe-

tition, issued notices last Monday to the Punjab Higher Education Commission Secretary and other respondents, despite which Kamran continued to serve as the VC. The counsel alleged that Kamran wanted to continue as a stopgap arrangement to facilitate his wife or cousin. He asked the court to issue directions to bar the extension in the VC’s contract to give new candidates the opportunity to serve the university.

RAyMoND DAvIS’ RELEASE CHALLENgED IN LHC: The release of the US undercover agent, Raymond Davis, who killed two Pakistani citizens in February last year, was challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday. The mother-inlaw of Fahim, who was among the two shot dead by Davis, filed the petition in the court.

The petition stated that Davis could not be released unless both the parties concerned pardoned him.

“He has been released without my pardoning him. Legal proceedings will be initiated against him,” she said. Raymond Davis was freed after striking a dubious deal with the government while the nation speculated about the terms of the deal.

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Lahore 07

Punjab govt to spend rs 14b for sewerage, water supply

Bolt of lightning strikes PIa’s plane KARACHI oNliNe

LAHORE APP

The Punjab government would spend Rs 14 billion on the provision of effective and efficient sewerage and drainage system during the current fiscal year in the province, official sources said on Saturday.

Of the allocated amount, 60 percent of the funds were being spent on schemes in rural areas. A major portion of the ongoing schemes will go for completing the ongoing schemes, while the rest would be used for the initiation of new projects, the sources added.

As drinking water is essential for human life, efficient sewerage is also necessary for people, especially to those living in rural areas, sources said, adding that the programme includes rehabilitation, augmentation of trunk and secondary sewerage systems and improvement of drainage system.

They said that under the environment friendly disposal of sewerage, water treatment plants were being installed in Lahore and Multan.

The sources maintained that even in this modern age, the safe drinking water was still a dream in most parts of the province and people were drinking unhygienic and contaminated water. Hence the government has allocated Rs 2 billion for the provision of potable drinking water to people. For this purpose modern water filtration plants will be installed across the province.

The project includes the replacement of rusted pipes and laying new water supply lines, as well as the outsourcing of water metering in phases to the WASA-served areas.

The project also includes the replacement of outdated tube-wells with new ones and up-gradation of the water purification facilities.

Moreover, Rs 1.82 billion have also been earmarked for water supply schemes in areas where water was highly polluted.

dottiNG the i’S ANd croSSiNG the t’S: A worker paints a grill at the data darbar in preparation for the saint’s yearly urs. MuRTaza aLI

A Sialkot-bound flight of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was hit by thunder but fortunately, landed safely at the Lahore airport on Saturday.

According to sources, said PK396 flight was hit by lightning near Lahore an hour after taking off from Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport for Sialkot.

They said the thunder could not cause a significant damage, however, the plane’s internal electronic system was partially disturbed. With the presence of mind and outstanding expertise, the pilot controlled the unexpected situation and landed the plane at the Lahore Airport, averting a massive tragedy and keeping all the passengers safe.

‘Police will provide for the injured cops’ LAHORE

T

StAff rePort

HE top cops of Lahore Police visited the Sir Ganga Ram and Lahore General hospitals on Saturday to inquire after the health of two constables, injured while performing their duties.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ahmad Raza Tahir and DIG Operations Ghulam Mahmood Dogar went to the Ganga Ram Hospital to see Zahid of Lytton Road Police Station, who was hospitalised after receiving bullet injuries near Qartaba Chowk on Saturday.

According to police, three unidentified persons going on a motorcycle opened fire on the policeman when he signalled them to stop for checking. The injured constable was shifted to hospital where his condition is stable.

SSP Civil Lines Omar Saeed also visited Zahid in the hospital.

Earlier in the day, the CCPO and DIG Operations also visited Lahore General Hospital to meet Constable Zulfiqar who was injured by the firing of an alleged bike robber during a raid on Friday.

The CCPO said the medical expenses for the injured cops would be paid by police. He also announced to award both constables with cash prizes for their bravery.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Punjab Inspector General of Police, reportedly, had taken serious notice of the top brass of police for not attending the funeral prayers of SHO Hadiara.

The police chiefs had missed the funeral prayers of the officer, who was allegedly killed by angry protesters in Ghond village. After waiting for long in

Memo will rob Pakistan of sovereignty, says Baloch LAHORE iNP

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) General Secretary, Liaquat Baloch Saturday said the Memo was not just a piece of paper, but was a treaty designed to rob Pakistan of its sovereignty.

In a statement, Liaquat Baloch said the incompetent and corrupt government was trying to earn political martyrdom by putting the institutions on a collision course.

Demanding accountability for the corruption and misappropriations committed during the last four long years, the JI leader said the nation expected that the judiciary and army would not violate the constitution and do what was right.

Qila Gujjar Singh police lines, the heirs of deceased SHO shifted the dead body to their native town, Nankana Sahib, for offering funerals there.

CASE REgIStERED AgAINSt tout: The Lower Mall police registered a case against a licensing tout on complaint of City Traffic Police on Saturday. The accused was identified as Muhammad Kashif, a resident of Karishan Nagar.

According to details, the Traffic Police held a man trying to submit a licence renewal file of a citizen in suspicious manner. On searching, a number of motorcycle and LTV driving licenses were recovered from his possessions. The traffic wardens on the licensing counter handed over the accused to police who has registered a case against accused under sections 420, 468 and 471 of Pakistan Penal Code.

Chief Traffic Officer Syed Mubeen Ahmad advised citizens not to consult any of such touts and directly approach the licensing inquiry counters established at the City Traffic Police Office.

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08 Lahore weaTher uPDaTeS

Increasing number of C-sections crosses all danger thresholds

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Prayer TIMINGS fajr Sunrise 05:37 07:03

Zuhr 12:10

asr 14:57

Maghrib 17:16

Isha 18:42

eMerGeNCy helP reSCue eDhI CoNTrol MoTorway PolICe PolICe GoverNor’S houSe ChIef MINISTer’S houSe fIre BrIGaDe BoMB DISPoSal MCl CoMPlaINTS lahore waSTe DISPoSal

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over 50% babies in lahore are born through Caesarean, beating who’s 15% ratio by a humongous margin Junior surgeons’ ‘love of cutting people up’, lack of facilities cited as the main causes of increase MuzAffAr Ali SiAl

ROSSING the 15 percent ratio set by the World Health Organisation by a humongous margin, the ratio of Caesarean Section (C-Section) in public hospitals of the metropolis has alarmingly swelled to around 40 to 50 percent, causing a serious threat to the lives of would-be mothers and their babies.

The limited machinery at the underequipped government hospitals is usually over burdened, while the junior doctors working in Gynaecology wards are usually looking forward to enhancing their experience at surgery and encourage patients to undergo c-section, even when a baby could be delivered normally, Pakistan Today has learnt.

Another reason is that according to recommended practice, an expectant mother should be kept under observation for at least three days but in public hospitals, this is intentionally avoided. Another factor which is also important is the callous and negligent attitude of most of the doctors, who do not give attention to patients and recommend surgery even in the face of a little, curable complexity. Apart from that, there is no arrangement to monitor expectant mothers on a one-to-one basis.

BEyoND DANgER tHRESHoLD: According to WHO, no region in the world can justify

having a Caesarean ratio greater than to 15 percent following documented medical risks on the health of the mother including infections, haemorrhaging, transfusion, injury to other organs, anaesthesia complications, psychological complications and a maternal mortality rate two to four times greater than of a vaginal birth.

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Sculptures on display at alhamra LAHORE Ali tAhir

Saleema Hashimi inaugurated an exhibition of sculptures by Saroop Soofi at the Alhamra Art Council on Saturday, where people belonging to different walks of life had come to see the magnificent innovations of the young artist.

Prolific art pieces were giving a

new vision, with sculptures at the exhibition, as people stood around them looking at the pieces for several minutes. The crowd was amazed by the new ideas used by the artiest Saroop Soofi. 8 pieces related to different social aspects were displayed at the Alhamra. Every piece of sculpture has a contextual concept behind it. The unique material used in the art work highlighted the work even more.

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Art for life

CoMPlaINT waPDa SuI GaS

It was observed that the medical staff including doctors, nurses and paramedical staff could not manage multitude of patients properly.

Nasreen Hayat, a patient in Lady Willingdon Hospital, said she was not educated enough to understand the medical complexities and she was relying totally on the diagnosis of the doctors regardless of either this diagnosis was accurate or wrong.

Dr Saqib Sadiqque, ex-head department of Gynaecology of Services Hospital said the expectant mothers were usually referred to public hospitals owing to complexities and in such condition, C-section was inevitable, however, if all the data is collected from the entire population, the ratio of LSCS is not more than 20 percent. He said the C-section ratio in England was about 30 to 35 percent and if in Pakistan it was about 20 percent, it did not mean that the situation was better in Pakistan in this regard. He said the safety of foetus is more important than C-section and low ratio of C-section in Pakistan was also a cause of increasing causalities of the newly-born babies in the country.

MoRE CoMMoN IN PRIvAtE HoSPItALS?: Renowned Gynaecologist Prof Dr Yasmeen Rashid refuted the claim of ‘needless surgeries in public hospitals’ and said the trend is only rampant in private hospitals as an easy way of earning more. “A Caesarean operation is a major surgery and should be done only when the health of the mother or the baby is at risk,” she added. oR IN PuBLIC?: Senior registrar at Sir Gaga Ram Hospital Dr Asma Yaseen said the main reason behind the increase is lack of staff and facilities in public hospitals. “Most of the cases received by the public health facilities have complications and are often cases of other small clinics,” she said.

BAD EAtINg HABItS AND LIfEStyLES: Dr Rubina said eating habits and lifestyles also contribute in the increase of caesareans in Pakistan. “Women belonging to the middle class are prone to deliver naturally, as compared to those belonging to the upper-middle and richer classes. This is because the latter section usually witness high blood pressure and diabetes, reducing chances of a natural birth,” she said, adding that the growing cases of infertility caused by late marriages, stress and lifestyles further add to the rising rate of caesareans.

On the other hand, some senior doctors said the standard rate of caesareans in hospitals, which take up all types of cases, should not be more than 10 percent while in referred cases the percentage can go up to 30 percent only.

ArAbic cAlligrAphy

One of the most talked about work was the ‘The Love Foolosophy’ which was a stuffed donkey made of swarovski crystals artificial fur and synthetic wool.

While talking to Pakistan Today Saroop Soofi said the title of the piece explained the concept itself. “When anybody is in love, irrespective for what it is for, it could be for a girl or a boy it can be for money, power or fame, it turns the victim blind,” said Saroop.

“The eye pads on the eyes of the donkey symbolises the blindness one faces once indulged in love,” she added. Saroop says her work draws upon opposing element that she observes in her surroundings and her person experiences.

She was of the view that abjection attractions and repulsion were the main ideas that she boldly expressed through her art works. She said that the sarcasm also plays an import role as she slyly yet playfully mock masculinity.

Saroop said despite the darkness and sombre leaning, her art did not lack humour, which she felt, was vital for survivals in the current chaotic socio-political situation.

“Apparently, a morbid element in

DOcUMENTAry MAKiNg cOUrSE

my works is usually there and I juxtapose morbidity with beauty: I pick up ordinary things which are conventionally conceived to be ugly and create an aesthetic dimension which appeals to the imagination”, said Saroop. Ayesha Khan, a student of arts, said Saroop’s work was inspirational for her. “The challenging work encourages students to touch new dimensions in the world of sculpture as well as to innovate in what ever category of art you belong in”, said Ayesha.

ThESiS DiSplAy, 2012

ColleGeS / uNIverSITIeS PuNJaB uNIverSITy KINNaIrD ColleGe queeN Mary ColleGe GovT. ColleGe uNIverSITy uMT luMS ueT lCwu SuPerIor ColleGe

99231257 99203781-4 36362942 111-000-010 35212801-10 35608000 36288666 99203072 111-000-078

DaTe aND TIMe: Nov 11 To JuN1, 2012, 4PM To 6PM veNue: haST-o-NeeST CeNTer CallIGraPhy ClaSSeS are on-going, interested students can enroll throughout the year. The duration of one module is three months. There are four modules of learning calligraphyt: primary, secondary, advanced and higher. The course includes traditional pen and traditional paper making.

DaTe: DeC 30, 2011 To JaN 30,2012 veNue: lawreNCe GarDeN Be a successful documentary maker and learn the art from the media professionals including orya Maqbool Jan.

DaTe: JaN 16 To 20 veNue: NaTIoNal ColleGe of arTS (NCa) all bachelors’ classes of NCa including architecture, textile, miniature paintings, sculpture, interior design and others to show their final thesis in an exhibition

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

News 09

aPMl set to stage show of power in Karachi today ISLAMABAD GNi

The All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) is all set to stage a show of power at Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi today, with the APML chief Pervez Musharraf expected to address the gathering through video conferencing. APML Secretary General Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said the masses in the country were fed up of the monopoly and hierarchical politics of the PPP and PML-N and the APML would steer the country away from ongoing challenges of deteriorating economic crisis and mounting inflation, corruption and other shortfalls. APML senior office bearers, including APML Secretary General Barrister Saif, APML Punjab Secretary General Fawad Chaudhry, APML Chief Coordinator Chaudhry Shahbaz, former federal minister Mian Zahid Sarfraz, former member parliament Pervez Ali Shah, Brigadier (r) Harris and Ghulam Rasool Unarh would also address the participants. The APML procession would continue from 3pm to 7pm at Quaid’s mausoleum in Karachi and thousands of APML supporters and activists are expected to attend.

former Indian telecoms minister jailed over 1993 scandal nEW DELHI

lANdi kotAl: children throw snowballs at each other after the first heavy snowfall and rain in khyber Agency on Saturday. INp

AfP

An Indian court on Saturday jailed a former telecoms minister for three years over a 1993 financial scandal when he was in office, court officials said. The 86-year-old Sukh Ram was India’s telecommunications minister for three years from 1993 when the corruption scandal involving him and two bureaucrats surfaced. Ram was sent to the same prison in New Delhi where another disgraced former telecoms minister, A Raja, has been held since February last year while he awaits trial over a separate corruption case. Last month, the Delhi High Court upheld a lower court’s 2002 ruling that Ram and the two officials defrauded the state exchequer by awarding a contract to supply telecom equipment to a private firm at a higher rate than stipulated. Ram is also linked to a separate financial scandal in which a court in 2009 sentenced him to three years in jail but he had been bailed.

Raja has been accused of selling second-generation (2G) telecom licences in 2008 at throwaway prices in return for kickbacks. National auditors estimate that the losses from the cutprice sales could have cost the national treasury up to $40 billion.

Musharraf will be arrested upon return: FIA lawyer RAWALPInDI

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EDERAL Investigation Agency (FIA) lawyer Chaudhry Zulfiqar on Saturday said the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) chief and former President Pervez Musharraf will be arrested on his return to Pakistan in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

Talking to media after a hearing of the BB murder case in Adiyala Jail Rawalpindi, Zulfiqar said the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) had declared Musharraf a proclaimed offender and issued arrest warrants against him.

He said the FIA had a right to arrest

Pir Sufaid Shah given ‘Baba-ePashto Sahafat’ award PESHAWAR: Senior journalist and founder of the firstever Pashto daily newspaper ‘Wahdat’, Pir Sufaid Shah Hamdard was awarded the ‘Baba-e-Pashto Sahafat award on Saturday.” The World Pashto Conference held a gathering where Hamdard was given the award. The function was addressed by World Pashto Conference Chair Salim Raaz, Dr Azam Azam, Salahuddin Ahmed, Hameesh Khalil, Murtaza Shaheen and others. Afghan Consulate Cultural Secretary Parveen Malal represented the Afghan government and on behalf of Afghan President Hamid Karzai congratulated Hamdard on getting the award and hoped that he would continue to work as a journalist. The Afghan diplomat also read a message of Karzai. Speakers appreciated Hamdard for his services to journalism, particularly for launching the first-ever Pashto daily newspaper. The Pashto newspaper not only highlighted miseries of Afghans and Pakistanis but also brought people closer from both neighbouring countries. They said that such efforts of Hamdard could lead to return of peace, stability, progress and prosperity in the whole region. Separately, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar and Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti congratulated the veteran journalist on getting the award. StAff rePort

Musharraf on his return if he follows his current return date of the end of the last week of the current month.

He said Musharraf will have to face trial as an accused in the BB Bhutto’s assassination case as per his own declared readiness to face all court cases against him.

He said no new arrest warrants were needed against Musharraf. He said no lawyers from any of the accused, including Musharraf, had appeared before the court during proceedings.

He said the judge had told the defence lawyers that they would loose the right to further question witnesses if they did not appear before the court in the next hearing. The court has adjourned the hearing till January 17.

Sehba challenges court order declaring her husband pO ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf’s wife Sehba Musharraf challenged on Saturday a court order declaring her husband a proclaimed offender (PO). According to a private TV channel, the former first lady filed a petition in this regard in the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court. The petition stated that Musharraf was declared a PO in a faulty manner and on the basis of invalid sections and provisions. The petition also contends that the court had used Section 87 against Musharraf, however, since Musharraf was residing outside Pakistan before the case began, the court should have referred to Section 93 in order to act against him. Subsequently, the court issued a notice to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and adjourned the proceedings until January 21. NNi

Haqqani’s wife lobbies in Washington for his safety in pakistan WASHIngTOn iNP

Farhanaz Ispahani, wife of former Pakistan ambassador to United States Husain Haqqani, has met US State Department officials to express concerns for her husband’s safety in Pakistan.

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland while confirming her meetings said, “We have regular contact with her, and we have since he went home.”

She said the Memogate issue was Pakistan’s internal matter, and the “US respects Pakistan’s constitutional and legal processes. At the same time, US expects that any process for resolving the matter of Ambassador Haqqani will proceed in a way that is fair, transparent and that is as expeditious as possi-

ble.” The spokesperson said the US expected that Haqqani would be accorded all due consideration under Pakistani law and in conformity with international legal standards. She said the US would be watching and monitoring the situation closely.

“The situation is obviously evolving in Pakistan, so we want to see it evolve in a manner that meets the highest international legal standards,” Nuland explained. Asked if this message had been conveyed to the Pakistani officials as well, Nuland replied in the affirmative.

She denied that any body from the State Department spoke to Haqqani officially since he left, but refused to answer when asked if there was any contact with him privately.

Farahnaz Ispahani, who is also a member of the National Assembly, was in Dubai with President Asif Ali Zardari as his staff member when he was being treated for his heart disease and went directly to the US from Dubai to lobby for her husband’s safety in Pakistan in the wake of Memogate controversy.

five hurt in IhK grenade attack SRInAgAR AfP

Rebels lobbed grenades at a major police station in the Indian-held Kashmir on Saturday, wounding three civilians and two policemen, authorities said. A suspected militant was killed when police shot back after the raid on the police station in northern Sopore town around noon. “One of the attackers was killed in the encounter that ensued after police launched a search operation minutes after the attack,” a police officer said. “We are searching more structures in the area as we believe the attackers were more than one,” he added, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to talk to the media. Militant violence has dropped sharply in Kashmir since India and Pakistan started a peace process in 2004. Last month militants made an abortive attempt on the life of a senior Kashmir minister in the ruling pro-India alliance.

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10 News

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

US lawmakers may seek to block Taliban transfer Some Congressmen have already sent classified letters challenging administration’s plan g Concerns include where detainees might end up given afghan government’s poor security track record g

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RITICS of a possible transfer of Taliban prisoners are discussing tactics to block it, even before the Obama administration appears to have made a final decision on the most politically contentious element of its bid to broker an Afghan peace deal.

Administration officials have, under strict conditions of secrecy, briefed senior lawmakers dealing with military, foreign policy and intelligence issues about the proposal that would move five senior Taliban detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba to Afghan custody.

But the White House has not yet initiated a formal, 30-day congressional notification process required by a new US law, officials on Capitol Hill said.

Doing so would put the US closer to implementing a set of confidence-building measures the Obama administration

hopes will pave the way for an eventual deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban, who were ousted in a US-led invasion in 2001.

Among detainees who officials say have been earmarked for possible transfer is a former Taliban commander, Mullah Mohammed Fazl, alleged to be responsible for killing thousands of Afghanistan’s minority Shias.

The potential hand-over of Fazl, a “high-risk detainee” who was in the first group of detainees sent to Guantanamo in early 2002, has set off alarms in Congress and among some US intelligence officials.

Some members of Congress have already sent classified letters challenging the administration’s tentative release plan. Congressional sources said moves to stymie a prisoner transfer could include attachment of blocking amendments to unrelated legislation.

“It’s hard to envision that if they transfer really dangerous guys to a really dangerous place, there won’t be a fight,”

a congressional staff member familiar with detainee policy said on condition of anonymity.

The same staff member said concerns also included where any such detainees might end up even if they were handed over to the Afghan government, given its poor track record of security. “It’s not a cut-them-loose option,” the staff member said.

Last April, hundreds of prisoners escaped from a jail in southern Afghanistan through a tunnel dug by the Taliban.

Among the objections to a prisoner transfer, especially among Republicans, is evidence that some released Guantanamo detainees have returned to the battlefield.

While the mechanics of a prisoner transfer remain unclear, it would mark a significant step forward in US efforts to bring a decade of bloodshed in Afghanistan to an end. The efforts got a boost this week with news the Afghan Taliban had reached a preliminary agreement to set up a political office in the Gulf

nation of Qatar.

By law, the administration must notify congressional intelligence committees which detainees it intends to transfer and specify where a detainee is being sent and if the United States paid the receiving country money as part of the deal.

The administration must also certify to several committees that the Defence and State Departments and director of national intelligence assess that the countries accepting detainees meet certain requirements. Those include not being a state sponsor of terrorism and ensuring former detainees will not pose threats to the United States.

The administration can waive some of the certification requirements, including a guarantee the prisoner will not reengage in terrorism, on national security grounds.

Democrats are more likely to support President Barack Obama’s peace bid. The White House’s desire to draw down US forces in Afghanistan is fuelled partly by fiscal pressures and a widespread belief

7,000 Sindh lower judiciary employees continue strike

Photojournalists are custodians of history, says KP governor PESHAWAR StAff rePort

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Barrister Masood Kausar on Saturday said the press has a role to project positive social and cultural norms and highlight the plight of deserving people and the contribution of photo journalism to the task was significant.

Speaking to Peshawar Photo Journalists Forum members at its award distribution ceremony at Governor’s House, Kausar said, “Photographs are an art form considered an effective custodian of history.” The ceremony was aattended by MPA Mohatarma Nighat Orakzai, newly elected Peshawar Press Club President Saiful Islam Saifi and General Secretary Nasir Hussain and Khyber Union of Journalists President Arshad Aziz Malik.

Citing examples of how photo journalists touch history, Kausar said, “Photography is one of the most effective ways of creating awareness.”

KARACHI iNP

fAiSAlABAd: Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf leader Abrarul haq addresses a public gathering at chowk Ghanta Ghar on Saturday. ONLINe

fog dooms eight in road accidents in Kasur, Shorkot

Shahbaz hails Pakistan-Turkey relations ISTAnBUL iNP

KASUR/SHORKOT AGeNcieS

At least eight persons including members of a family were killed and several others injured in two separate road accidents in Kasur and Shorkot due to thick fog on Saturday.

Police officials said that three members of a family, including two brothers and a sister, were going to school on a motorbike when an over speeding truck hit them because of thick fog at an overhead bridge in Patoki area of Kasur. The three died on the spot. The deceased were identified as Bashir, 15, Javed, 10, and Ayesha, 8. Their bodies were shifted to the hospital for postmortem.

The driver of the truck managed to flee from the scene after the accident.

Police officials said they had started a search operation to arrest the fugitive driver.

In another road accident on Cantt road near Kaswal area in Shorkot, two passenger buses collided head on due to dense fog, leaving five passengers dead and several others injured, police

the war cannot be won on the battlefield alone.

A senior congressional defence aide said reaction to any Taliban release plan depended on who would get custody, at least initially, of the Taliban detainees and where.

“There are people up here who are going to criticise no matter what. There will be a lot of people who will say, ‘I’m against this - this is only going to embolden the Taliban,’” the aide said.

Yet Congress ultimately has little power to delay or stop planned detainee releases, other than its ability to pass new legislation, which would have to be approved by both chambers and signed by the president.

Still, Obama might be risk-averse as he heads toward the November election.

One Democratic congressional staff member, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration signalled last year it would not go ahead with the transfer if it generated significant opposition in Congress.

said. Local people, police and rescue teams reached the site after the accident and shifted the injured and dead bodies to different hospitals. Some

among the injured were stated to be in critical condition, hospital staff said.

The death toll in the incident was expected to increase.

Punjab Chief Minster Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday that Pakistan and Turkey enjoy good bilateral ties of mutual understanding, which would be enhanced further. Speaking at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Turkish Finance Ministry and the Punjab government in Istanbul, Shahbaz hailed Pakistan’s growing relations with Turkey, adding that his visit to the republic would strengthen Islamabad-Ankara cooperation in the future. He said that public welfare projects of Punjab could be executed more successfully though Turkish aid and support. The CM said that Pakistan would soon receive the ordered machinery and equipment from Turkey. Shahbaz affirmed that promotion of bilateral trade was his priority, hoping that talks with Turkey would continue in the future. About the ongoing gas crisis in the province, the CM said that the Supreme Court would be moved against the crisis, which he described as result of government’s ‘failed policies’.

Over 7,000 employees of judicial institutions in Sindh continued their pen down strike for the second consecutive day in favour of their demands and not following judicial policy. Employees of the subordinate judiciary in Sindh had announced not attend office till their demands were fulfilled. After restoration of independent judiciary, a new policy was announced, in accordance with which packages and privileges of employees were enhanced. All the three provinces and Sindh High Court (SHC) implemented the new judicial policy soon after the approval but it was not implemented for subordinate courts in Sindh. The employees of secondary courts of Sindh had pleaded in the SHC in May 2011, after which it had directed that they be facilitated under the new judicial policy but action was taken in the next 8 months.

Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) pledged to raise the issue in the National Assembly (NA). MQM’s Legal Committee head Muqeem Alam Advocate, in solidarity with protesting employees visited the strike camp and assured he will talk with the political leadership to resolve the matter.

Preparations for Bhitai’s urs in full swing HYDERABAD APP

Devotees from all the country, especially Sindh, started arriving in Bhitshah on Saturday to participate in the 268th Urs of renowned saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, starting from January 9th. The Urs Organising Committee had also finalised all arrangements for the three-day event, which was expected to be attended by 0.7 million people. Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Khoro will open the festival on January 9 while Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah would be the chief guest at the concluding ceremony during which Latif Awards would be given to high-achiever Sindhis. Strict security arrangements have been made at the shrine.

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Editor’s mail 11

Narcotics’ tangle Drug addiction has made steady inroads in our community by eroding almost all segments of society. This monster is playing with the lives of our populace and has snuffed out many happy lives without any remorse.

Afghanistan is acknowledged to be the largest producer of opium in the world. On the other hand, our areas of FATA, KPK, and Balochistan are not far behind in the cultivation of narcotics.

Many families thrive on this business for the sake of their survival. Nonetheless, today’s Pakistan has been declared a poppy-free country by the UN. According to a UN report, cannabis is widely cultivated and is cheaply and easily available. Pakistan being the primary conduit for drug trafficking from Afghanistan has become primary victim of its adversity. Even though, the price of opium has been increasing world over; unfortunately, in Pakistan there are more than 628,000 opiate users and out of which almost 500,000(77%) are heroin addicts.

The number of injecting drug users (IDUs) is exploding at phenomenal proportions and is the main cause of the HIV/AIDS transmission. Another report reveals that majority of opiate users were

ours or theirs? heroin addicts and the remaining were addicted to opium, hashish, and synthetic substances.

A survey of drug users showed that around eight percent were diagnosed with HIV, 19% with tuberculosis and almost 11% with Hepatitis. Majority of these addicts ranged in between age of 16 to 30 years, with a smaller minority ranging in between 31 to 40 years and beyond.

Drug trafficking also identifies with gun and human smuggling through cross-border infiltration by the militants.

Through the porous Afghan border, these drugs cross into the Iran, Pakistan, and Central Asian States. Modus operandi adopted by the drug smugglers to traffic drugs internationally includes smuggling by foot, roads, rails, and air.

Pakistan being the key transit hub for Afghan drugs has been involuntarily implicated in the unwanted trade. This is a billion dollars swap which is a flourishing business for drug mafias and militants.

Approximately 65,000 cultivators belonging to extremist drug syndicates cultivate enough drugs in Helmand to procure drugs for 1500 paddlers which is enough to create a substantial black market economy. The drug trade not only

challenges state's writ but also plays a major role in strengthen links between drug traffickers, Taliban insurgents and criminals.

The book titled ‘Narco Jihad’ by Ehsan Ahrari posits that “a Narco jihad is being funded by the opium related systems of trade in narcotics in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Terrorist groups and transnational drug and crime syndicates are involved in protection, price control, and distribution of opium to regional and global markets”. The whole game is managed by the “iron triangle” of corrupt officials, the militants, and the warlords.

We have been unconsciously living with this menace without realising its true horrors. We need diversification in our eradication efforts pertaining to drug trafficking. These efforts include sealing the border, denying the militants safe havens, and educating our public about this peril. We also need to follow the money trail to cut the funding which supports these nefarious activities.

To achieve this, all involved agencies have to be vigilant and the government needs to introduce a new task force which will have the capacity and capability to deal specifically with money trail which is the life line for these despicable

organisations. Economic growth and improvement in law and order will jump start fragile economies of Pakistan and Afghanistan which will alleviate poverty by new job creations, eventually, cleansing our societies from this nuisance.

Government of Pakistan is utilising its limited resources to their fullest extent. However, to control the dispersion of psychotropic benzodiazepines, we need to adopt a new prescription drug policy which will have sufficient safeguards to enforce the flow of these drugs.

There is a need to identify the criminals through surveillance and close monitoring.

Pakistan and India have signed an MOU to enhance the cooperation between these two countries which will help stem the flow of narcotics. It is moral obligation for our policy makers and civil society to educate our society about nuances of drug use so we can eradicate this sinister phenomenon. We can’t resolve these problems on the fly.

The task at hand is hard but as a nation we have the ability and perseverance to exterminate this malignant cancer from our society at large.

BRIG (Retd) NAZIR SHAMS Lahore

The ignored demographic Due to the ever changing dynamics of Pakistani politics, an extra and additional focus is being done on the youth of the country. Some are conjecturing that the youth will play a vital role in the upcoming elections by voting and some consider the youth to constitute a major part of economic growth of country. However, none or a negligible amount of focus is being given to women.

It should be known to the authorities and different political parties, those including women in their policies and policy-making process will not only increase their voter base but also help in catalysing the much awaited change in this country.

AROOSA SHAQUAT Lahore

Cultivating traffic sense

Our government has no choice but to obey because the power to downgrade the credit rating lies with the IMF. As such, it has been observed that with every change of our government, there is usually a 50 percent decrease in our rupee value. In the case of the current government it has come down from the original Rs 60 per dollar to Rs 90 to this date.

This devaluation has very adverse effects on Pakistan’s economy especially its foreign exchnage resreves, its balance of payments and its real GDP growth rate.

The IMF’s stringent policies with regards to Pakistan are not doing the Pakistan economy any favours. We mus become self-sustainable and try to cut ourself loose from this international bully if we want to develop an independent economic policy that is in our national interest.

SHABIR AHMAD Muzaffargarh

Students who would show excellent traffic sense would get lucrative awards from Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP), which is organising a series of colourful events/competitions at different educational institutions of the federal capital in this connection.

These competitions are also open for female students, are being arranged by the Islamabad Traffic Police, in collaboration with the Pak Suzuki Company, to inculcate better traffic sense among students, and to spread awareness about traffic rules. An educational team is visiting various educational institutions of the city and arranging the competitions in various phases. So far, the team has visited six educational institutions. A total of 18 candidates, three from each educational institution, have been selected so far in the first phase by evaluating their traffic sense through filling a questionnaire.

In the next phase, practical driving test of motorbikes or cars of these candidates will be held and the best candidates will be given a chance to appear in the third and final round.

Final round of the ‘Quiz Competition’ is likely to be held in the end of this month, and the position-holders will be given attractive prizes by the Islamabad Traffic Police and the Pak Suzuki Company. This is certainly a good initiative taken by the Islamabad traffic police to involve the youth.

KHURRAM SALEEM Islamabad

memo petitions.

After the success of the lawyers’ movement, it was expected that the judiciary would become truly independent but now the perception is growing that not much has changed. When a lower middle class woman from a minority community is imprisoned just because a fair decision would mean a popular uproar or maybe life threats to judges, when a judge has to flee the country after sentencing the murderer of former Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer because the fanatic religious elements thought he was a blasphemer, when hundreds of Ahmedis are killed with impunity, when hundreds of Hindu women are being abducted, raped and forcefully converted to Islam and the judiciary along with the state’s law-enforcing mechanism miserably fails to provide them justice or even access to justice, the independence of the judiciary seems to be the dream of a mad man.

When we started a movement for

‘freedom of judiciary’, there were a glimmer of hope in our eyes. Post-2009, we thought we got a free judiciary. Unfortunately, the judiciary still seems to be under the establishment’s influence. In the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case, Mehran Bank case or missing persons’ cases, the freedom of judiciary goes into hiding.

When Asghar Khan’s petition comes up, judicial independence becomes silent.

In the pre-2009 days, the judiciary used to be biased against civilian governments and under the strong influence (in some cases, under control) of the security establishment. Looking at the short order on the memo case, one wonders, what exactly has changed? The judiciary still fears standing up to the imperiousness of the military establishment against the civilian dispensation.

At last, we may ask a simple question. Is this the kind of justice, our fellows sacrificed their lives for, mi’lord?.

SARWECH SARYO Larkana

emerging confrontation?

The core committee meeting of PPP was held on Thursday. The committee has reiterated its earlier decision of not writing a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen a money laundering case against President Zardari. It also decided that there would be no separate reply in the memo case. This is a matter of concern.

Undoubtedly, the PPP has not acknowledged the apex court’s decisions from day one of its incumbency.

PPP leaders are travelling on the war path. This practice of the PPP is not good for the country and democratic system.

Confrontation between the government and the judiciary will lead to destruction.

PPP leaders should accept the court’s decisions in letter and spirit. Implementation of the court’s decisions is the responsibility of government.

TARIQ HUSSAIN KHAN Karachi

a criminal escapes What kind of a fake exit control system Pakistan has? Jamaat Ali Shah (the Indus Water Commissioner) has managed to dodge the concerned authorities and has run away to Canada. He allowed India to construct a 57-meter-high Nimoo-Bazgo hydroelectric project at the Leh District on the Indus River and a 42meter high Chuttak hydroelectric project at the Suru River. The said projects will reduce the flow of Indus River.

The water and power ministry had earlier initiated a probe as to how India managed to construct the two projects, particularly the Nimoo Bazgo project, and why the Commission of Indus Water failed to take proper measures under the Indus Waters Treaty to stop its construction. However, having a dual nationality and connections with important persons of the interior ministry, he managed to escape to Canada. Can the government make public who are the dual nationality holding parliamentarians and other government officials? They must all be dismissed from their jobs at the earliest.

DR SOHAIL KIRMANI Ontario, Canada

A culture of intolerance has become one of the defining features of Pakistan in this day and age.

Where ethnic discrimination and religious intolerance run rampant, real development is but a dream, illusory and short lived.

Where the world moves towards what the sociologists would call a melting pot monoculture, the Pakistani society, insecure of its own identity and ideological basis and goals, actively engages the “threat” of the so called “cultural hegemony”. In so doing, it not only loses the very identity it deigns to protect, but also ensures that a culture based on extremism and fanaticism gains momentum.

Is this not apparent when we analyse Pakistan’s failed policies to prevent the Indian media from infiltrating Pakistani homes? The new age, characterised by globalisation, is headed towards an amalgamation.

It can be argued that it is impossible, even fatal, to resist. Now, there are as I see it - two alternatives that present themselves.

One, to accept the culture of the world and amalgamate it with our own, thereby not only allowing our culture to survive, but to grow, as has been successfully done by India, or second, to promote this active resistance to the monoculture, thereby birthing an extremist culture that does not accept anything save its own ideology. There is a choice before us; it is upon us to decide what path we shall choose.

MUHAMMAD SHEHROZ HIRAJ Lahore

the iMf and Pakistan Although our authorities do not admit it, the IMF actually controls the value of our rupee, which ordinarily should closely reflect the state of our economy. But most of our economy is undocumented, so the value of the rupee has to be determined largely by conjecture and speculation.

Unfortunately, the make up of the international economic framework is such that a country that is indebted to the economic powers and IFIs cannot have any economic independence. Similarly, we are also under the influence of the IMF. and it is deepening its hold on us with every passing day.

The IMF, because it does not actually want to fathom the real depth of our economy, is always assuming that we Pakistanis must be consuming more than we should. Therefor,e it is continuously forcing our government to impose more and more taxes and effect devaluation at frequent intervals.

winter of discontent?

The Supreme Court’s short judgment has surprised all. The petitioners could neither prove any violation of fundamental rights as their petition claimed, nor could they prove former ambassador Husain Haqqani’s alleged role in the memo.

In spite of this, an inquiry commission was appointed without due process of law and Mr Haqqani was barred from leaving the country without the permission of court.

In reaction, human rights activist and Mr Husain Haqqani’s counsel in the memo case Asma Jahangir has refused to act as a counsel of her client for further proceedings of the case.

Ms Jahangir has expressed no confidence in the justice being delivered from either the court or the judicial commission. She termed the judgment as a win for the military establishment, which undermined civilian supremacy and expressed her concerns as: “If nine judges of the SC can be (under the establishment’s influence), then I am sorry to say

I cannot have any expectations from the high court judges (heading the judicial commission).”

When the proceedings of the memo case started, it was clearly observed that more credibility was being given by to the military top brass as opposed to the civilians. The apex court has focussed on national security instead of upholding fundamental rights and civilian authority that has turned the public’s expectations from the ‘independent’ judiciary into disillusionment.

Independent courts all over the world do not hear political cases but in Pakistan’s case, as the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has pointed out, “a tendency for the courts to find themselves embroiled in matters that they would not otherwise be an appropriate forum for”.

Our courts have become a tad politicised.

It is the main reason that Ms Jahangir claimed she was not able to get justice for her client despite making a strong legal case about the non-maintainability of the

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 New provinces Grinding political axes

F

or three consecutive days, the issue of creating new provinces has acted as a divisive matter in the NA. On Thursday again, the proceedings were marred by protests and slogans which turned the house into a fish market. The unruly debate revealed sharp cleavages within the ruling coalition on the question.

While so far the point under discussion had been the creation of a Seraiki and a Hazara province, demands were made to give Pothohar and Fata provincial status also. Those indulging in fuming and fretting never gave a thought to the big question whether NA was the right forum to decide the issue.

It was noted that MQM which was the first to raise the issue and remained in the forefront of the fray has never won a single parliamentary seat from the Seraiki area and not even a Union Council seat in Hazara. Still it attacked the opponents of the demand most scathingly.

Curiously, while it has doggedly supported the creation of Hazara as a separate federal unit it has opposed the division of Karachi despite its being many times more populous. This has led the leader of the opposition among numerous others to suspect a hidden agenda behind the demand.

In certain cases, it might be necessary to change the administrative status quo on grounds of ethnic divisions or administrative needs. The carving out of new provinces, however, is a highly divisive and volatile issue as it involves bifurcation of large sections of population which have lived together for centuries. Peddling halfbaked plans may arouse fears and suspicions and give birth to strong or even irrational reactions that can destabilise the system. The issue must not, therefore, be used for politicking. Most of all, there is a need to follow the constitutional provisions while seeking the creation of a new province. Those who are trying to agitate the issue on the wrong forum, need to be reminded that the process for seeking a new province starts from the provincial assemblies and not the NA. The proponents of a new province have to create the necessary consensus instead of resorting to methods that would promote dissension and cause social strife.

Playing politics? a late awakening

M

ian Nawaz Sharif, who visited Quetta on Friday in connection with his party’s reorganisation in the province, spared some time to meet Baloch leaders and assured them that he would soon convene an all parties conference in Islamabad to discuss the Balochistan situation and to find ways to resolve the crisis created by the Musharraf government.

Addressing a press conference at the Bugti House after his interaction with JWP Chief Talal Bugti, he touched upon various issues including forced disappearances, continuing military operations in the province and the lack of initiative by the federation to bring the estranged Baloch nationalist leaders back into the mainstream politics. He was right to make a point that peace would remain elusive until a serious effort was made to address the genuine grievances of the people of Balochistan who had been subjected to repression in the past.

The PML(N) leader criticised the government for not having punished the culprits of Kharotabad incident and also questioned its reluctance to take action against those responsible for Akbar Bugti’s killing but without making any reference to Musharraf. It coincided with President Zardari’s recent observation that his government had decided not to proceed against the former dictator because it could have demoralised the army. The statement is bound to further annoy the Baloch who are already disappointed by the current democratic dispensation and may start responding to the calls of separatist elements.

There is no denying that during his second term in power, Mian Nawaz took the entire political leadership of Balochistan on board and introduced measures to ensure the respect for the rights of the people of the province and provide them security of life. But during the last three-and-half years, he was hardly seen making any effort to mitigate the suffering of the Baloch population. At this stage, when elections are round the corner his visits to the long-neglected province would be seen as an attempt at drawing political mileage.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

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

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Imran Khan: the tiger roars his ragtag pack is no pride

By Humayun gauhar

W

hen Imran Khan lost the 1997 elections, I wrote: ‘The Tiger Will Roar’. When he was arrested I wrote, ‘Tiger Caged’. Now, after 15 years roaming the political wilderness, the caged tiger is unleashed, roaring before a sea of disaffected city dwellers excited by the emerging ‘I-Factor’ – ‘I’ for Imran, not ‘me’. Better than the Lucky Irani Circus we have suffered forever, for he claims not to be part of it. The tiger’s prey better watch it. Or should they?

This tiger has his own act. Or does he? The tiger should watch it too.

Unlike the lion, which lives in a pride, the tiger is a loner. So it is with Imran. When a loner tries to form a pack he is being unnatural. A tiger cannot change his stripes. This is where Imran should be careful. No lion would ever accept a weak or compromised animal in his pride leave alone a gaggle of chameleons.

Any undesirable offspring or member is either expelled or killed. Those that Imran is out to fight are very savvy, very sly. A leopard may not be able to change his spots nor a tiger his stripes, but chameleons can change colour at will to blend in with new environments.

The day before yesterday they were religiosity personified, yesterday morning centrist ‘nationalists’, last night pseudo socialists and today the tiger’s ‘revolutionaries’. They swivel like weathercocks with each passing gust and revolve like mad in a tsunami. Bereft of ideology, they prevent tsunamis because their purpose is to protect the iniquitous status that benefits them – unless they become beneficiaries of the tsunami too. Coldblooded animals, chameleons seek not cold tsunamis but the rising sun to warm themselves.

It’s not going to be easy. Young Imran talks revolution when actually he’s talking absolutism – “My way or the highway”. Revolution cannot happen by co-opting the targets of revolution. A cancer cannot cure itself, nor can tablets and drips when surgery is needed.

If Imran seeks medication from those that have infected the country, the infection will multiply.

Similarly, you don’t overthrow a system by becoming part of the system. Before you know it, the system will pollute you. Try growing a rose in a gutter and soil your clothes. Revolution comes with relativism, proportionality, else its anarchy. Anarchy may topple an iniquitous status quo but not necessarily replace it with an equitable one.

By sleeping with the enemy, you don’t necessarily produce a normal offspring.

Imran entered politics to fight the corrup-

tion of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. So disgusted was he that when Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto came to his hospital after a blast, he refused to receive her. Came the day when he was photographed with both ‘great’ leaders in self-exile: he was slowly becoming part of the system without realising it. The idealist was becoming a realist, and I use the word ‘realist’ pejoratively. Revolutions are made by actions, not words. Rhetoric is no substitute for action. The gap between profession and action must be very narrow. One has to be a pragmatic, no-nonsense idealist, practical without losing purpose.

While realism and pragmatism are tactically necessary, they can silently become copout. Our Prophet (pbuh) was an idealist to beat all idealists and a realist to beat all realists. So was Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Without idealists, history would be static and truly end. Its course wouldn’t change nor new faiths and ideologies be launched, liberation won, states created. But idealism alone is not enough; there must be fire in the belly too.

Those with both are makers of history. Without the fire they become dreamers.

Imran has enough fire in his belly to run a nuclear power plant. He demonstrated that with stunning success in cricket and by establishing his hospital, both against tremendous odds. Sheer tenacity got him there. How many people don’t I know who had great natural talent but achieved proportionately little because of lack of fire in the belly, like black roses with huge buds that hold great promise but never blossom?

People were glad to see those diehards who had stood by Imran through thick and thin next to him on the stage in Lahore. In Karachi, they were sad to see chameleons alongside Imran while the diehards played second fiddle. Worse, they had to suffer their same insufferable harangues that they have suffered for years. “I’ve seen a new beam of light in Imran” – is the typical chameleon ‘justification’ when colour changes. How many ‘beams of light’ are they going to see in their lives? What happened to those previous beams? Did they mistake them for the light from oncoming runaway trains hurtling towards us in that tunnel that has no light at its end? Champions at skipping out of the way and clambering aboard the next beam, chameleons leave the people to be run over by the runaway trains of runaway corruption, nepotism and ineptness. Imran needs to clear away the mist of euphoria lest his new pet chameleons eat him.

A man is judged not by his actions alone.

He is also judged the company he keeps – you know, “birds of a feather” and all that jazz.

Imran’s stock would have risen a thousandfold if he had politely but publicly told the chameleons, “Thanks, but no thanks” for you are the products and protectors of the status quo that I have come to change. If stay in the system he must and bring revolution from within – which will be a first in history – then he must raise his stature so high that neither sticks nor stones can reach him and he doesn’t need chameleons to win elections. His message should be so clear and compelling that that it fires the imagination of the people and it matters little who he puts up for election. In 1946, Mr Jinnah put up ‘lampposts’ and won. In 1970 Bhutto’s lampposts defeated many a chameleon in Punjab and Sindh and Mujib’s in East Pakistan. To reach that level, Imran’s grasp must be beyond his reach, else what were the stars made for?

Wish lists are neither vision nor plan. They are just dreams. We do not need to know what. We need to know how.

There is no doubting Imran’s vision and resolve. He has always been a slow starter but with sheer grit and determination has reached the top. But in politics, the way to the top is a long and slippery slope with many paths. Take the wrong path and lose the sheen from your shine.

Acquiring or sharing power is not difficult. It is delivery that matters and democracy is delivery. The best strategy for Imran would be to stay with principles. If he breaks them for the sake of tactics, then before he realises it tactics will become strategy. Jihad means struggle and no jihad remains a jihad by breaking or compromising with principles.

Therein lies Imran’s greatest enemy – the enemy within. Crowds can easily be disappointed and evaporate faster than they form – like pigeons that fly away together when frightened but return one by one.

Some chameleons may seem very nice and decent; it is the status quo that they are products of and represent which is the problem. By taking into the party chameleons that symbolise the iniquitous status quo is to frighten the pigeons away. The excuse that chameleons may not be awarded election tickets is so much balderdash. Who buys that?

The writer is a political analyst. He can be contacted at humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com

regional Press

on talking terms now Daily Wahdat

T

he US and the Taliban have been fighting against each other for the last 10 years. There was no chance of talks beforehand as both sides had set stringent conditions for them to even consider that option. The Taliban were demanding a complete pullout of all foreign troops from Afghanistan whereas the US was insisting on termination of links between Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Thousands of Afghans including women and children were killed and billion of dollars worth of infrastructure and properties were destroyed.

But both the sides, the US and the Taliban, entered into negotiation some 10 months back without taking the Afghan people into confidence. Indirect dialogues are being held at Germany and Qatar. The Taliban have agreed about opening an office in Qatar with the financial support of US. The US directed the Qatar administration to ensure due lodging and boarding for Taliban representatives. Such development confirms that both the sides are close to the signing of an agreement.

Media reports that the US told the Taliban to stop armed resistance and join the political and democratic process have been

circulating almost since the beginning of the Afghan occupation and reports that talks were going on were also doing the rounds for a long time. But it is only recently that it has been confirmed that talks have been going on. Through such dialogues, the US officials are making attempts to pave ways for the establishment of permanent bases in Afghanistan, which is only possible if it has a setup of its own choice in Kabul instead of a fragile democratic process headed by President Karzai.

Pertaining to the negotiations with the Taliban and any consequent deal, the US ignored President Karzai and Pakistan. During the negotiation process, the worst kind of violence was experienced in Afghanistan whereas NATO attacked Pakistan’s security check post at Mohmand Agency, thus compelling Pakistan to stay away from the Bonn conference in Germany. After the assassination of Peace Commission chairman Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani, President Karzai had also refused to conduct dialogues with the Taliban. Now, the Afghan authorities are not completely happy about the peace dialogues between the US and the Taliban as they are not sure where it leaves them in the end calculus.

– Translated from the original Pashto by Shamim Shahid

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Comment 13

a dalliance with Dhokapal Throwback to the past the S in Sc doesn’t stand for Sharif, Mian sb

Getting some perspective this New Year

third eye

By M J Akbar

W

e distribute goodwill generously on New Year’s largely because there isn’t much chance of seeing it again for 364 days. But cynicism is a distasteful response to the array of mobile and immobile best wishes that welcome the departure of yet another year of our lives. Having received my little share, I thought it only fair to record what precisely my five preferred best-of-the-best wishes for 2012 are.

Wish Number 1: There must be an all-party resolution in Parliament’s Budget session to rename the Lokpal Bill a Dhokapal Bill. The difference, for those not familiar with Hindi, is that ‘Lok’ (or Loka) means people, while ‘Dhoka’ means betrayal. You will surely recall the passion and oratory with which political parties proclaimed the need for large dollops of disinfectant in our public life. Okay, not all parties: Lalu Yadav and his MPs, for instance, were honest enough to argue that a little dishonesty was necessary leavening for Indian democracy. But the Congress and BJP engaged in a vicious squabble over who was holier than the other.

Then, with a face as straight as a mobster’s income tax returns, both parties published their first list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. According to National Election Watch, an NGO working for clean politics, the Congress had 26 candidates with criminal records, the Samajwadi Party 24 and the BJP 20. These are early days. Expect numbers to triple. Mayawati, who discovered she was surrounded by crooks only after keeping them as ministers for five years, will pool in her contribution.

Pundits are predicting that the coming up elections will end in a hung Assembly. I have a solution which the Governor must consider.

He should instruct all criminals

elected across party lines to come together and form CPA, or Chor Progressive Alliance. Their numbers will exceed the 201 needed for a majority, and they can form a stable government in Lucknow. By 2018, they will also have gunned down one another in squabbles for loot, which will be a bonus.

Wish Number 2: The term ‘Alliance’ must be banned from political parlance through an amendment to the Constitution. When the glue for unity is convenience rather than conviction, the proper word is ‘Dalliance’ rather than Alliance. Ergo: More accuracy. The Congress entered into a dalliance with Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool in order to uproot Leftists from power in Bengal. Once the immediate objective was fulfilled the relationship becomes non-serious; or, as mod-

quota, it is perfectly valid for any relevant authority to fill up the vacancies with Sikhs and Christians if they find them the better candidates.

Wish Number 4: This one is about jobs too, but of a rarer kind.

How about some form of punishment for those who select the wrong people for top jobs? There is clearly something mentally askew about an army chief like V K Singh who has reportedly said that the Government of India is treating him as if he was the army chief of Pakistan.

Metaphor is the mirror of temperament and judgment. General Singh claims to be fighting for his honour.

How can a man who used one birth date to clamber up a thinning ladder discover a second birth date to stay on top for a few months more? If the date is wrong today, why was it not

there must be an all-party resolution in Parliament’s Budget session to rename the lokpal Bill a dhokapal Bill. the difference, for those not familiar with hindi, is that ‘lok’ (or loka) means people, while ‘dhoka’ means betrayal. ernists would suggest, it became an “open” partnership, with either side free to go its own way when it wanted to. Hence: no hurt feelings, no recriminations, no arguments and no expectations of a stable home teeming with policy-offspring.

Outcome: Clarity. Example: Chor Progressive Dalliance would be far more accurate than Chor Progressive Alliance.

Wish Number 3: Clarity has a healthy appetite. It keeps asking for more. This may be one wish too far, but could government get precise about words it uses? When job reservations are promised (but not yet delivered) to minorities, why does Congress advertise them as a boon for only Muslims? There are elections in both UP and Punjab.

Why isn’t any Congress leader telling Sikhs that the new reservations from the backward castes quota will be a great chance for their kids to become government servants? Once a category is delineated, there is no bar on any minority from applying for a job.

And indeed, since there is no sub-

wrong 20 years ago, when it proved useful in an institution where seniority is taken seriously? Who let Major General Singh add stars to his shoulder?

Last Best Wish: An immediate, nationwide ban on the suggestion that Sachin Tendulkar deserves a Bharat Ratna. Ever since this clamour has risen, Sachin has been unable to get a century. I thought he was going to be victim of the Bradman Curse: the great Don could have reached a career average of 100 if he had made just four runs in his last innings, and got out for zero.

But this is looking more like a Ratna infection. Let us keep quiet, let Sachin score his 100th 100 and then watch Indian cricket decline to its torpor when a win against Kenya was good reason for a national holiday.

The columnist is editor of The Sunday Guardian, published from Delhi, India on Sunday, published from London and Editorial Director, India Today and Headlines Today.

I

t might well have been a Freudian slip.

The problem with Mian Nawaz Sharif is that his inability to properly express himself makes him say things which he doesn’t want to say publicly, thus putting him in trouble. So did his recent observation that he would not hesitate from setting up military courts for restoring peace in Karachi if he came to power again.

This was met with a strong rebuff from both the government and the judiciary.

Speaking in the National Assembly and without naming any names, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani lashed out at those advocating the establishment of military courts in Karachi. The PM was right to make a point that there was no room for such courts in a democratic setup.

The reaction from the superior judiciary was rather blunt. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed that the constitutional court of ultimate jurisdiction had already shut the door on military courts forever. And he went on to add: “As long as we are sitting and functioning under the Constitution, nothing is going to happen to the system.”

Meanwhile, Ch Nisar Ali Khan had to do a lot of explaining to convince parliamentarians from across the political divide that he had the relevant excerpts of Mian Nawaz’s address to the public meeting in Karachi that showed he had only explained circumstances at the times when military courts had been set up in Karachi. But since there was no response from the house, he suddenly trained

By Sarmad Bashir his guns on the prime minister for using the assembly forum to criticise a leader who was not a member of this legislature.

Mian Nawaz’s newfound love for the Supreme Court notwithstanding, his second tenure as prime minister was replete with the measures his government had taken to subdue the judiciary. The first event which became the starting point of a long tussle between him and the then Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was the government’s decision to set up special courts for suppression of terrorism in contravention of the CJ’s advice.

These courts allegedly set up to benefit the PML’s allies and supporters turned out to be a blot on the face of justice.

Chief Justice Shah had a point in that the establishment of special courts would

Politics Bazaar

be tantamount to setting up a parallel judicial system, thus eroding the authority of the superior judiciary. The confrontation between the executive and the judiciary had already begun when the CJ asked the government to fill five vacant positions at the apex court for carrying out the business of dispensing justice in a speedy manner. The PM’s response: those vacancies were abolished altogether. Even though he had to restore the positions afterwards owing to the pressure brought to bear upon him from certain quarters, he left them unfilled.

This was not the end of the story. The government had turned vengeful. It managed to create divisions among the judges which led to a two-member pro-government bench of the Supreme Court passing an interim order restraining Justice Sajjad Ali Shah from performing judicial and administrative functions of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Subsequently, Quetta Bench of the Supreme Court went a step further to hold in abeyance the notification issued by the President appointing Justice Shah as the Chief Justice. Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s frequent shuttling between Islamabad and the provincial capital contributed largely to the government effort to get a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court’s Quetta circuit Bench.

But, on the other hand, the Chief Justice persevered and continued hearing the contempt case against the prime minister despite the fact that his repeated requests to the army high command for deployment of troops at the SC building went unheeded.

Fast forward to November 28, 1997.

An unruly mob led by the Muslim League workers from the Punjab stormed the Supreme Court building, forcing the Chief Justice and other members of the Supreme Court Bench to adjourn the contempt of court hearing against the PM. The police appeared on the scene to restore normalcy when the proceedings had already been adjourned and the courtroom completely ransacked. It all happened on the PM’s watch.

So much for Mian Nawaz’s faith in the supremacy of constitution and judiciary.

He doesn’t tire of claiming credit for the reinstatement of sacked judges. But he still seems to lack confidence in the ability of the courts to dispense speedy justice. If while in power he had created special provisions for giving the army a due role in the running of the government, the policy of appeasement is now reflected in his desire to see the military courts become functional once again. The secret lies in his political grooming by the establishment.

The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today

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14 Comment

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

politicking over the Lokpal of pushing partisan agendas

Border crossing

By Kuldip nayar

H

ow different are the dynamics of people’s politics from the dynamics of electoral politics was clear by the turn the bill to constitute the institution of Lokpal (Ombudsman) to deal with corruption took in the Indian parliament. The first, dependent on the popular support, got nowhere. But the second, dictated by number game, succeeded because the political parties could interpret the status quo, the nonpassage of the Lokpal bill, in the way it suited them electorally.

When Gandhian Anna Hazare was on fast and thousands were on the streets, the Lok Sabha passed the sense of the house resolution to promise an act to cover the three points: 1. Citizen’s Charter including his right to have water and electricity; 2. the lower bureaucracy under Lokpal and (3) establishment of Lokayuktas in the states. The bill has conceded only one point, that is, the appointment of State Ombudsman

(Lokayukta). And the government continues to retain the control of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

When the resolution was adopted, the dynamics of people’s politics worked. Subsequently, the same house accepted a watered down bill because Anna was not on a fast and the people were only watching the outcome of the debate in parliament. There was no pressure on the government.

Still something worse happened in the Rajya Sabha because the bill emerging from the Lok Sabha was not even put to vote.

True, the house had consumed the day, till midnight in speeches alone. But the manner in which the chairman, Vice-President Hamid Ansari adjourned the house sine die leaves many questions unanswered. The government could have extended the session but did not. Obviously, it was influenced by Anna Hazare breaking his fast one day earlier than the period he had announced and the venue, shifted to Mumbai from Delhi, did not draw an impressive crowd. Too many adjournments interrupted the house – Laloo Yadav, the joker in the pack, was handy – lessened time for the debate.

Whatever the government’s compulsions, it was a betrayal of the Lok Sabha resolution. That was because the dynamics of electoral politics took over when the bill was not going through in the Rajya Sabha, each party calculating how many seats it would get in

Punjab, UP, Uttrakhand, Goa and Manipur.

There is a lesson for those who have put their faith in people’s politics. I do not want to indulge in the I-told-you-so argument. Yet I recall the warning I gave on suspending the agitation. My fear, justified now, was that the momentum of demonstrations would be difficult to rebuild once stalled.

Today, the impression that has gone around is that those leading the movement are whimsical, switching it off and on too often.

Now that the strategy is being reworked, it would be counterproductive to clutter people’s mind with too many details on the weaknesses of the bill. Let the movement concentrate on one point: Independence of the CBI. The agency cannot be under the government which uses it as a political instrument. Cases have been followed, dropped or kept in abeyance, depending on the support the government needed from a political party at a particular time. The Manmohan Singh coalition is not alone to blame. It was the same story when Atal Behari Vajpayee of BJP was the prime minister or Narasimha Rao. The weakening of the movement has once again thrown up the same old question: Should people’s movements continue to stay away from participating in elections? So far they have kept themselves out. Some argue that the gamut of polls is so much ridden by money and caste that the people’s movements would have

to make compromises if they propose to contest. Yet in a democratic polity, there is no running away from elections. The state assemblies and parliament are manned by the representatives of people who choose them through the ballot box. Representatives are the arbiters. Should the pressure on them be from outside with uncertain or limited results or should ‘we the people,’ as the constitution’s preamble says, give the country an alternative which would be from the grassroots.

Both the Congress and the BJP, the two main parties for the last three decades, have failed the people. Their agenda is power which for them is the end by itself.

Gandhian Jayaprakash Narayan who successfully ousted the Indira Gandhi government, constituted the Janata Party which won a majority in the Lok Sabha. He too had first confined himself to the agitation alone. He met the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to beseech her to deal with corruption and the use of large sums of money in elections.

She said that her party had no money and that it was fighting against corruption ruthlessly. The Congress has taken more or less the same line today. The only difference is that the Manmohan Singh government has brought to parliament an apology of bill to show that it was committed to deal with corruption and got it through the Lok Sabha.

Anna and his team can tear a leaf from the book of the commu-

Should people’s movements continue to stay away from participating in elections?

Some argue that the gamut of polls is so much ridden by money and caste that the people’s movements would have to make compromises. Yet in a democratic polity, there is no running away from elections. nists. They had to take the way of electoral politics even when their ideology dictated them to revolt against the bourgeois system which was based on the principle of elections. In fact, they are caught in a comical situation: They preach communism which believes in dictatorship but participate in elections which follow the dictates of democracy, an antithesis of dictatorship. This is the reason why their influence is limited. It will remain so until they shed their doctrinaire approach.

To expand their base, the Left has to adopt a democratic, liberal stand that attracts civil society.

The Left enjoyed that position till partition and lost its way after that.

Mahatama Gandhi fought against the British through electoral system, however weak and limited. And he had to have the Congress party as an instrument to push the freedom struggle. He

was not the party’s member because he wanted to build man so that he or she would rise above personal gain for the good of society. He failed but won independence.

Anna may not be a Mahatma Gandhi or a Jayaprakash Narayan.

But Anna has come to represent people’s resentment against corruption and all that they suffer in their daily life. He does not have to go after one party. He transcends parties and parochial politics. He is pursuing an ideal which should remain unsullied because that is an ideal. All NGOs should help his movement, however impossible some of his team members. A failure of people’s movement is the failure of the principle of peaceful protest against mis-governance or non-governance. The nation cannot afford to lose.

The writer is a senior Indian journalist.

The resurgence of moderate Islamists A counterweight to hardliners?

By Arif Ansar

A

ccording to recent media reports, prominent Pakistani Taliban commanders have held meetings with Al-Qaeda leaders and Afghan Taliban. The first one was held on November 27 in Wanna, South Waziristan, while the second one took place on December 11 in Datta Khel, North Waziristan.

During these meetings, Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leaders tried to convince Pakistani Taliban to set aside their differences, and assist them in their fight against the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

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

The meetings in FATA have taken place as US drone strikes were on hold in the aftermath of

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

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

Spokesperson for TTP, Ehsanullah Ehsan stated that Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur, which Pakistan considers as Good Taliban, including Afghan Taliban Zabiullah Mujahid and Maulvi Sangeen, were also present.

Some accounts suggest that Mullah Omar had sent Siraj Haqqani and Mullah Mansour to broker the agreement.

The following outcomes

have resulted from the FATA meetings: formulation of a consultative body known as Shura-eMurakeba that will sort out differences between the groups, avoiding the unnecessary killings and kidnappings for ransom, and ending of attacks on Pakistani military while refocusing efforts towards US led coalition in Afghanistan.

The declaration of not attacking Pakistani forces could be the result of peace negotiations, taking place between the TTP and the country. However, according to media reports, TTP has not fully committed to ceasing its attack on Pakistani targets. On the other hand, despite the rift with US, Pakistan’s military operations have continued against TTP in FATA.

In these circumstances, the declaration has proved to be short-lived. TTP claimed responsibility for killing 15 Frontier Constabulary personnel on Thursday that were abducted on December 22 from Mullazai Fort in Tank.

TTP has stated it was retaliation for the January 1st operation in Khyber Agency. In this particular offensive, Pakistani Taliban commander Qari Kamran was also killed. Qari Kamran was involved in the suicide attack on Shabqadar that killed 90 cadets, and the twin bombing in Nowshehra that resulted in the death of 20 people.

On Friday, TTP announced the release of remaining 16 children that were abducted from around Bajaur Agency last September.

These events suggest that TTP is not sticking to the spirit of the

talks with Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban. Moreover, there may be divisions with in TTP on how to proceed in the future. A few media sources have reported that a rift has emerged between TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud and his deputy Waliur Rehman and that it could soon develop in to a full blown infighting. Hakimullah Mehsud is accused of accepting support from India. Among others, Hakimullah has also been at odds with Mullah Nazir of South Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Bahadur of North Waziristan, and Fazal Saeed of Kurram Agency.

This kind of infighting would obviously be detrimental for the cause of the Afghan Taliban, as they would like to present a united front in the reconciliation process.

However, this is a daunting task as the interests of TTP are more geared towards Pakistan while Al-Qaeda has a more regional and global agenda.

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

This in turn helps the US strategy to divide these groups and develop an upper hand in the peace talks.

Nonetheless, the Mohmand attack is proving to be a turning point towards changing the nation's threat perception. Pakistan may be extending the Good versus Bad Taliban differentiation to Good versus Bad Islamists, and this also helps in putting the Lahore gathering in perspective.

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

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

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

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Foreign News 15

Iran welcomes uS rescue of nationals from pirates

11 dead in New Zealand air balloon crash WELLIngTOn AfP

A hot air balloon burst into flames and crashed in New Zealand on Saturday after hitting a power line, killing all 11 people on board as their families watched on in horror. It came hurtling down "like a rocket" in calm weather near Carterton, a small town north of the capital Wellington and a popular area for ballooning, in what appears to be the worst balloon crash in history. As the balloon was preparing to land, it hit power lines, causing sparking in the basket carrying the pilot and 10 passengers, police inspector Brent Register said.

"At this point, two of the 11 people onboard, believed to be a male and a female, appear to have jumped from the basket," he said. Register said the balloon then made a sharp ascent, a fire ignited on board and the balloon plummeted into a paddock. There were no survivors. The passengers were confirmed as five couples from the Wellington region. Family members of some of the dead witnessed the tragedy because they were on the ground waiting for their loved ones to land, The New Zealand Herald said. Aurea Hickland, who lives next to the crash site, saw the accident happen as she was having breakfast.

"It was terrible," she was quoted as saying

by The Herald. "I said to my husband, 'Oh no, the basket's on fire, the basket's on fire'. We saw the two people jump and I said to Neil, 'They won't survive,' it was just awful.

TEHRAn AAfP

The Iranian government on Saturday welcomed a US navy rescue of 13 of its nationals from pirates near the entrance to the Gulf, in a rare respite from months of rising tensions between Tehran and Washington.

But one Iranian media outlet, the Fars news agency, which is close to the hardline Revolutionary Guards, dismissed the incident as a suspect "Hollywood movie" meant "to justify the presence of a (US) aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf waters." The rescue was carried out on Thursday by one of several warships escorting the carrier USS John C. Stennis -- which Iranian military chiefs early this week warned to stay out of Gulf waters or else face the "full force" of Iran's navy. "We consider the actions of the US forces in saving the lives of the Iranian seamen to be a humanitarian and positive act and we welcome such behaviour," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told Iran's Arabic-language broadcaster AlAlam on Saturday. "We think all nations should display such behaviour," he added.

The US military on Friday that one of the vessels escorting the Stennis, the USS Kidd, rescued the Iranian fishermen from around 45 days of captivity at the hands of pirates thought to be Somalis.

Call for British royal to sell Bahrain jewels LOnDOn AfP

One of Queen Elizabeth II's daughters-inlaw was criticised Saturday for accepting jewels from the royal family of Bahrain, which has been accused of human rights abuses. Dennis MacShane, a former junior foreign minister, said the gift to Sophie, Countess of Wessex, who is married to the queen's youngest son Prince Edward, should be sold and the proceeds given to victims of the civil unrest. The countess received a "suite of jewels" from both King Hamad and prime minister Sheikh Khalifa when she visited Bahrain with her husband in December, an official record of the trip released by Buckingham Palace shows.

Last year, Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa turned down an invitation to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton after a public outcry over police use of excessive force against prodemocracy protesters in the country.

MacShane told the Daily Mail: "Given the appalling suffering and repression of the Bahraini people, it would be a fitting gesture for the Countess of Wessex to auction these trinkets and distribute the proceeds to the victims of the regime."

aNKaRa: Members of leftist turkish groups hold a banner that reads ‘ democratic congress of people, join with your voice’ as they protest on Saturday the killing of 35 people at the turkey-Iraq border last week. AFp

Kenya admits terror attack risks as Britain warns national g

Kenyan jets kill ‘60 or more’ Somali Islamist insurgents nAIROBI AfP

Kenya admitted Saturday the threat from Al-Qaedalinked Shebab insurgents from neighbouring Somalia was not "totally neutralised," as Britain warned its nationals of a heightened risk of attack. The British Foreign Office said it believed there was a heightened threat of "terrorist attacks" in the Kenyan capital and that attacks "may be in the final stages of planning." Kenyan police spokesman Eric Kiraithe admitted that despite a boost in security the threat remained, urging shopping malls to remain vigilant and to "do more" to prevent attacks.

"We don't believe that Al-Shebab activities are totally neutralised," Kiraithe told reporters Saturday, but added that police had thwarted several recent attacks.

"We are denying those with wicked plans to operate freely," Kiraithe said. Nairobi sent troops into Somalia to battle Shebab rebels in October after several attacks, including the kidnapping of a French woman and a British tourist -- and the killing of her husband -- damaged its key tourism industry. The Shebab, who deny involvement in the coastal attacks, in turn vowed to attack Kenya.

"The Kenyan authorities have alerted the public to a heightened threat from terrorist attacks in Nairobi. We believe that terrorists may be in the final stages of planning attacks," Britain's statement said. The Foreign Office did not identify any group but said attacks could be "indiscriminate" and target "Kenyan institutions as well as places where expatriates and foreign travellers gather, such as hotels, shopping centres and beaches".

egypt Islamists claim 62% in latest voting CAIRO AfP

Egypt's two main Islamist parties claimed on Saturday to have together taken 62.2 percent of the vote in the final stage of a general election, maintaining their lead in the overall contest. The Freedom and Justice Party of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood said on its website that it had garnered 35.2 percent of the party list vote in the polling in the final nine governorates on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Al-Nur party of the even more conservative Salafists, said it received 27 percent.

The two parties chalked up 65 percent in the first two phases of Egypt's first general election since the February ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.

The elections for the lower house of parliament have divided up the country geographically.

The last stage included the unstable Sinai region, which lies along the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip and includes the country's popular Red Sea tourist resorts.

Under the complex electoral system adopted after Mubarak's ouster, secondround run-offs still have to be held later this month where necessary for the one third of seats that are decided in first-pastthe-post constituencies.

Israel vows to treat hackers like other ‘terrorists’ JERUSALEM AfP

Israel said on Saturday that it will respond to cyberattacks in the same way it responds to violent "terrorist" acts, by striking back with force against hackers who threaten the Jewish state. The message from Deputy Foreign Minister Dany Ayalon came after a self-defined "Saudi hacker" from a cabal known as "group-xp" published details of more than 6,000 Israeli credit cards online.

"It is necessary to send a message to everyone who attacks or tries to attack Israel, including in cyberspace," Ayalon said in quotes published widely in Israeli media.

Hackers stand warned, he said, "that they are putting themselves in danger and that they will not benefit from any immunity against reprisal actions from Israel." Cyber-attacks amount to "terrorism that must be treated as such. In cyberspace, we have

active capacities and we can hit those who try to hit us." Ayalon also applauded the United States for declaring that "all attacks in their cyberspace will be considered as a declaration of war and they will react as if it had been a missile attack."

On Thursday, the Saudi hacker, who goes by the name "OxOmar", said he had posted the details of 11,000 Israeli credit cards online, but Israel's three major credit card companies said only 6,050 cards were affected. Earlier in the week, 0xOmar posted a message on an Israeli sports website saying group-xp, which he described as the "greatest Saudi Arabian hacker team," had posted details of 400,000 Israeli cards online.

After examining the details, Israel's major credit card companies said only 14,000 valid cards had been exposed. Israeli news website Ynet reported that an Israeli computer expert claimed to have uncovered the true identity of 0xOmar -- a 19-year-old Mexican waiter called Omar Habib.

CataNIa: Lava spews from a crater of the giant Etna Volcano on the southern Italian island of Sicily. a column of hot ash spewed high into the sky from Italy's Mount Etna on the Mediterranean island of Sicily on January 5, as Europe's highest active volcano rumbled back to life. AFp

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Veena Malik open to

stripping for Hollywood DUBAI

IN LIMELIGHT loNDoN: abhishek Bachchan attends a press conference to promote his film ‘Players’.

New yorK: actress and Chanel ambassador anna Mouglalis, Padma lakshmi attends the 10th annual GeM awards.

zeeNeWS

V

EENA Malik has said that if she was in Hollywood, she would have to work according to the ‘culture’ there, even if it means going nude. The dark haired beauty, famous for her Lollywood and Bollywood roles and outspoken views on fighting Pakistani Muslim traditions, is caught up in a scandalous affair posing naked on the front cover of India’s FHM magazine. “In Pakistan I work within the culture and in India or Bollywood I do the same,” Gulf News quoted her as saying. “When I’m in Hollywood I would do what is expected of me within their industry. I’m an entertainer after all,” she said.

The controversial actress, who has been engaged twice in the past, called herself a romantic and said that some day, she would like to be a wife too.

“I really believe in love and marriage. I’m a real ro-

mantic and I want to be a wife some day but it has to be with the right person,” she said. “I know someone will come along eventually.

I believe that if you look for something you will eventually find it,” she added.

MuMBaI: Kareena Kapoor poses with the Bollywood Business award for ‘The Most Profitable actress’ (overseas)

joel edgerton 'in talks' to star in bin Laden film nEPAL AfP

Hollywood actor Joel Edgerton confirmed on Saturday he is in talks to lead a stellar cast in a film about the killing of Osama bin Laden by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow. The 37year-old Australian, who starred alongside Tom Hardy in martial arts blockbuster ‘Warrior’, said he has been in contact with Bigelow's team over a possible lead role although a deal is yet to be struck.

“I've been involved with those guys for a long time. The thing was I was possibly going to be involved when the film was of

a different incarnation, before bin Laden was killed,” he told AFP. “I still have a relationship with those guys- there's nothing definite to report. In fact I just got a ton of emails about it but all I'll say is its not necessarily untrue but it's not necessarily true.”

Bigelow, who won an Academy Award for best director for ‘The Hurt Locker’ in 2010, is firming up the cast for the controversial film, with Idris Elba, Guy Pearce and Hardy all also reportedly pencilled in for roles. Republican politicians in the United States voiced concerns that Barack Obama's administration leaked classified details about May's Navy SEALs mission to the team behind the still-untitled film, slated for release in December.

The White House has denied the allegations. Bigelow had reportedly been planning a film about the hunt for bin Laden long before the raid on the terror kingpin's compound in northern Pakistan in May last year.

Ranveer is

super talented:

Ranbir

MuMBAi: ranbir Kapoor is undoubtedly one of the smartest youngsters in hindi films today. Not only is ranbir a terrific actor but also someone who's good at encouraging his contemporaries.

Though ranbir is doing great professionally, ranveer and Imran come close as competitors and that hasn't stopped ranbir from appreciating either of the two. when ranveer debuted with ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’, instant comparisons were made with ranbir. Their 'names' were similar and so was the acting capability. ranbir feels ranveer is super talented. The Kapoor junior admires ranveer's work and looks forward to “seeing him on screen”. ranveer on his end has admitted that he is not as good looking as ranbir and loves the latter's work too. Do we see another close friendship happening here? AGeNcieS

CalIforNIa: amanda Peet, former model elle Macpherson and Nicol richie arrive at the NBC universal 2012 winter TCa Tour all-Star Par

Salman Khan makes

Priyanka Chopra

pay?

MuMBAi: Actor Salman khan who is hosting the current season of ‘Bigg Boss’, seems to have got his revenge on Priyanka chopra. it can be remembered that after Priyanka chopra declined to be a part of Mr. and Mrs. khanna, not all was well between the two, and they have never worked together post that. Also, Salman and hrithik got into a trivial battle of words when Salman opined on hrithikstarrer Guzaarish. though hrithik claims there is no problem between Salman and himself, it is heard that Salman didn't allow the promotion of hrithik-Priyanka starrer ‘Agneepath’ on ‘Bigg Boss’. he instead accommodated kareena kapoor and imraan khan to promote their soon-to-be-released ‘ek Main Aur ekk tu’. After all Sallu loves imran and kareena as much as he isn't fond of Priyanka. AGeNcieS

loS ANGeleS: actor Daniel radcliffe says he always wanted a “crazy” party lifestyle. The 21-yearold always aspired to lead a wild life, but gave up drinking alcohol last year when he realised his behaviour was “boring and pathetic”. radcliffe, who will be soon seen in a thriller ‘The woman in Black’, said: “My inner life was being drowned. I've worked with richard harris, Gary oldman, all those actors who went crazy when they were young, and I always wanted that. The idea of that kind of life and chaos was always so appealing to me. unfortunately, the way I do it-there is nothing glorious or triumphant about it - it was pathetic, boring, and unhappy.” radcliffe fans will see the star in a different and a more mature role in his upcoming film where he plays the role of a young lawyer in the super-natural thriller, who travels to a remote village to organise a recently deceased client's papers and discovers the ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance.

Directed by James watkins of ‘eden lake’ fame, the movie definitely claims to be in one of the top positions in the must see list especially for the people who love horror movies. ‘The woman in Black’ will release on february 10. AGeNcieS

LHR 08-01-2012_Layout 1 1/8/2012 6:15 AM Page 17

17 New book describes tension over uS first lady WASHIngTOn AfP

A

MuMBaI: Shahrukh Khan poses with the Bollywood Business award for ‘The Most Profitable actor’ (overseas).

‘The voice’ amps up star power for Season 2

new book detailing life in the White House describes high tension under the tenure of Barack Obama as First Lady Michelle Obama struggled with his top aides over the direction of his presidency. She "cherished the idea of her husband as a transformational figure" but battled with White House advisors on compromise deals he had cut with Republicans, growing frustrated that he was being viewed as an "ordinary politician," according to the book out Tuesday by journalist Jodi Kantor. The New York Times writer, who said she has interviewed some 30 current and former Obama employees along with friends of the couple, paints a picture of the First Lady struggling to find her footing within the White House ever since she moved to Washington with her husband and two daughters in 2009. Crisis erupted, according to Kantor, from extracts of the book, in early 2010 when Michelle Obama felt the administration had cut too many deals compromising her husband's signature health care reform legislation. Obama's then-top adviser Rahm Emanuel denied "he had grown frustrated with Mrs. Obama, but other advisers described a grim situation: a president whose agenda had hit the rocks, a first lady who disapproved of the turn the White House had taken, and a chief of staff who chafed against her influence." Key to the first lady's frustration was anxiety "about the gap between her vision of her husband’s presidency and the reality of what he could deliver," Kantor wrote in the book, titled "The Obamas." The first lady had sought to involve herself in promoting the president's agenda, but advisers, wary of a similar situation under president Bill Clinton where his wife Hillary attempted to promote a health care in the 1990s, "mostly declined her offer."

LOS AngELES reuterS

fast food chain launches Vader Burger ABC Star Wars fans rejoice.

You will now be able to enjoy your favourite side of the force in a whole knew way, by eating it in burger form.

There’s only one problem, you’ll have to fly to France to do it. French fast food chain Quick recently announced the introduction of two new burgers, the Jedi Burger and the Dark Vador Burger – the latter being named for the Sith lord Darth Vador, who is known as Dark

le rty.

Radcliffe wants a

'crazy' lifestyle

SRK

Vador in France. The burger launch is timed

jittery

to coincide with the rerelease of ‘Star Wars:

The Phantom Menace’ in 3D. The Jedi burger

looks very much the same as a regular burger. However, the odd-looking Vader burger is turning a few heads. The buns of the burger are dark black, giving it a burnt, somewhat sinister appearance, much like Vader himself. But don’t worry. Potential buyers should have no fear because, the Daily Mail is reporting, the buns are merely dyed, not burnt.

The burgers are on sale for a limited time only.

Quick plans to stop selling them on March 1.

Kate Middleton about working with Katrina?

MuMBAi: Wary of his strained relationship with Salman khan, Bollywood badshah Shah rukh khan asked katrina whether she was comfortable working with him in Yash chopra’s next considering his differences with her ex-boyfriend – Salman. Apparently, katrina reassured the actor that she had no reservations working with him. talking to a daily, a source said, “in the past Salman has disrupted shoots featuring his former girlfriends. the shoot of Aziz Mirza’s ‘chalte chalte’ had to be stopped when Salman barged in on the sets of the film. deciding to avoid the risk of facing disruption once again, Shah rukh replaced Aishwarya rai with rani Mukerji in the project back then. Perhaps it was due to past experience that Srk asked katrina before beginning the shoot with someone as senior as Yash chopra,” the source said. “katrina’s equation with Salman is very clear. they’re very good friends. But if he does the exboyfriend act with her, he will lose her goodwill for good. for Shah rukh who has been through some nightmarish experiences with Salman, the tranquil equation that katrina shares with Salman was not easy to understand. having understood the equation Shah rukh now feels he can shoot the film in a relaxed atmosphere,” added the source. zeeNeWS

ABc: how does a princess celebrate the start of her third decade? The world will soon know when Kate Middleton, the newlywed bride of Prince william, turns the big 3-0 on Monday, Jan. 9. until then, speculation is rife about how Middleton will celebrate the milestone birthday.

The uK’s Daily Mail got royal watchers buzzing with a Jan. 5 article speculating that Kate’s younger sister, Pippa Middleton, and royal brother-in-law, Prince harry, were planning a “secretly arranged”, blow-out, ’80s themed party at a “pop-up venue” in london, for which the guests, said to be close family and friends, had already received their invitations. But, the story was not so, said the palace, which issued a brief statement on the couple’s plans, or lack thereof, to celebrate Kate’s special day. “whatever is planned will be low-key and private,” said a spokesman for St. James’s Palace. In addition to the party guessing game, royal watchers have also had fun speculating what kind of gift befits a princess turning 30.

The stars of television singing contest ‘The Voice’ promised more celebrity and top talent in their upcoming season as they compete fiercely with rival ‘American Idol’, the most-viewed program on TV. “It is a very tired format,” Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, one of the program's star mentors, said about singing contests, “but in a way, this is a very fresh way of doing it.”

The show grew into a surprise hit for television network NBC in 2011 with a format in which the panel of stars-Levine, Christina Aguilera, country singer Blake Shelton and hip-hop star Cee Lo Greenalso take on contestants as their protégés and help them as the compete against others.

For season two, which premieres on February 5 and will compete for viewers with ‘American Idol’, the show's producers added new celebrities who will work as advisors with the star mentors.

Levine will be joined by Alanis Morissette and Robin Thicke, Green will have Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Ne-Yo, Aguilera will get assists from Jewel and Lionel Richie while Shelton recruited wife Miranda Lambert and Kelly Clarkson for his team.

“I chose Miranda and Kelly because they both survived reality television shows,” Shelton told reporters at an annual gathering of TV critics. “I just wanted somebody who could talk to them (the contestants) about what they were going through.”

While ‘The Voice’ became a surprise hit, executive producer Mark Burnett admitted it may not have lived up to some of its early forecasts.

Last year's winner Javier Colon released an album, ‘Come Through For You’, which peaked at No. 134 on the Billboard 200 album chart, not reaching the success of early ‘Idol’ winners such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.

Despite Colon's inability to reach the top of pop music charts, the judges said they were confident they could find the next big talent on the new season of ‘The Voice’.

“I trust the show more than I trust the record industry at this point,” said Levine.

Turns 30:

How Will She Celebrate?

Some reports claim that william is commissioning an oil portrait of his bride and shopping for a more thoughtful gift, like a watch. others have Prince william’s grandmother, queen elizabeth, giving the Duchess a tiara from the royal collection. one story the media may have correct in all the Middleton mania is her wish that family and friends make a donation to charity in lieu of buying her a gift. Middleton drew further comparisons to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana of wales, when she announced this week the array of charitable organizations to which she would donate her time and attention, including a group of children’s hospices, an art therapy and addiction charity, and the Scout association, the British equivalent of the Girl Scouts.

LHR 08-01-2012_Layout 1 1/8/2012 6:15 AM Page 18

18 Foreign News

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Syria buries Damascus dead, threatening ‘iron fist’ Syrian National Council says friday’s bombing ‘clearly bears the regime’s fingerprints’

g

DAMASCUS AfP

DaMaSCUS: Syrians line the streets of Damascus on Saturday to view the funeral procession of the 26 people killed in a suicide bomb attack the previous day. AFp

The Syrian regime held funerals on Saturday for 26 people killed in a Damascus suicide bombing that it called a "terrorist attack," promising an "iron fist" response to the second such incident in two weeks. The opposition has pointed the finger at the regime itself, as it did after similar attacks in the capital on December 23, in which 44 people died. The funerals were taking place in the AlHassan mosque in the working-class Midan neighbourhood where Friday's attack took place.

As thousands of regime supporters gathered outside, many waving flags, Damascus mufti Bashir Eid preached a funeral sermon in the presence of several ministers, officials and ordinary people.

"With our souls and our blood we will sacrifice ourselves for you," the crowd outside chanted to President Bashar al-Assad.

The ruling party's Al-Baath daily devoted half of its Saturday issue to the attack, in which 63 people were also wounded, including two pages of colour photos of the carnage.

The headline leading three pages of commentary and interviews said Syrians were calling for the perpetrators to be "struck with an iron fist."

On Friday, the interior ministry said "we will

strike with an iron fist all those who undermine the security of the nation." Another headline said "we are not afraid of oil money," an allusion to alleged involvement in the 10-month-old prodemocracy uprising by Gulf Arab oil states.

And the official Ath-Thawra daily said "terrorism is uprooted, not cured, and its eradication is inevitable." It pointed the finger at Islamists, saying they "committed many crimes in the past and they are doing it again today as a sign of defiance."

That was a reference to bloody attacks during a rebellion by the Muslim Brotherhood between 1978 and 1986 which was brutally crushed by Assad's late father and predecessor, Hafez. But the Brotherhood, which has since renounced violence, said on Friday that "we hold the regime, its agents and its gangs, fully responsible for this crime." It had also accused the government of orchestrating the December 23 attacks that the regime blamed on Al-Qaeda, and it called for an international probe, claiming the attack benefited the regime.

The umbrella Syrian National Council, which includes the Brotherhood, said Friday's bombing "clearly bears the regime's fingerprints."

The United States condemned the attack, again calling for Assad to step down, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon said "all violence is unacceptable and must stop immediately."

Britain sends new egypt Copts celebrate Christmas amid security warship to Gulf amid Iran tensions CAIRO AfP

LOnDOn AfP

Britain's newest warship is heading to the Gulf for its first mission at a time of tensions over Iran's threat to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key transport route for oil.

The Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring, which has a "stealth" design to help avoid detection by radar, is to join other British ships in the region, the Ministry of Defence confirmed Saturday. Although its deployment has been planned for more than a year, it comes as Britain and its allies have expressed deep concern about Iran's threat to close the shipping lane through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows.

Iran has threatened to take the move if it is hit with fresh sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on a visit to Washington this week that both Britain and the United States would ensure that their response to any provocation was "very measured, that there isn't an accidental escalation".

But he added: "What we cannot answer for is whether there is a

KAnO AfP

Hundreds of people fled their homes Saturday in northeast Nigeria after deadly all-night gun battles between Islamists and security forces, police and residents said. The latest clashes with the Islamist sect Boko Haram came amid growing fears of wider religious violence in Africa's most populous nation, roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

The previous night, 10 people were gunned down in a church, the latest such attack in an escalating wave of violence since Christmas Day bombings of churches and other targets killed scores of people. Police said after the overnight fighting in the northeastern town of Po-

plan on the other side to escalate."

The threat to close the Strait of Hormuz has pushed up the price of oil. On Friday, Iran's Fars news agency reported that the naval commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards said Tehran would hold fresh military exercises in and around the Strait of Hormuz within weeks.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman in London said: "The Royal Navy has had a continuous presence East of Suez for many years, including the Armilla patrol and its successors since 1980.

"While the newly operational Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring is more capable than earlier ships, her deployment East of Suez has been long planned, is entirely routine and replaces a frigate on station."

HMS Daring completed four years of sea trials last year and is the first of six new destroyers that will replace the Type 42 vessels, which went into service in the 1970s.

The Type 45s are armed with high-tech Sea Viper anti-air missiles and can carry 60 troops. They also have a large flight deck that can accommodate helicopters the size of a Chinook.

Egypt's Coptic Christians celebrated Christmas on Saturday amid tight security, looking over their shoulders at the violence they have suffered in recent years and ahead, as Islamists emerge as the dominant force in the new parliament.

Pope Shenuda III celebrated a midnight liturgy in Cairo's Abbassiya Cathedral, that was attended by members of Egypt's ruling military council, including chief of staff General Sami Anan.

The elaborate service went off without a hitch, raising a collective sigh of relief from the Coptic community of some eight

million people, which was targeted by murderers after midnight services two years ago and after a New Year's Eve liturgy last year. And Coptic churches, homes, businesses and individuals have been targeted in the months following the revolt that ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February.

Soher Hana, leaving one Cairo church after services, said "Christians don't feel safe. They thought the revolution would herald better times, but it has been the opposite."

Last year, more than 20 people were killed in an apparent suicide bombing as hundreds of worshippers were leaving the Al-Qidissin (The Saints) church in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria after a New Year's Eve service.

SKoPJE: a child lights a candle on Saturday during a religious service to celebrate the orthodox Christmas in Saint Clement Cathedral in Macedonia. AFp

Nigerian troops clash with Islamists tiskum, where the Islamists attacked a police headquarters and robbed and burnt two banks, that they had not yet determined the death toll.

"Our men engaged Boko Haram gunmen in shootouts for most of the night, which led to some deaths and injuries," Yobe state police commissioner Lawan Tanko told AFP. "It is too early to give figures because we are still investigating the incident." Dozens of soldiers were deployed on Saturday and took up positions around the police headquarters, firing sporadically.

The town is part of a region placed under emergency rule by President Good-

luck Jonathan a week earlier. Dozens of Islamists stormed Potiskum and launched gun and bomb attacks on the police headquarters. They also threw a bomb into a nearby police barracks but no-one was hurt, said residents.

People in nearby neighbourhoods fled their homes in fear of military raids in the aftermath of the attack, they said.

"Virtually all the residents have fled their homes for fear of attack by soldiers who came to the town this morning," said Idris Bakanike, a resident of the Dogo Tebo area near the police headquarters.

"We are afraid the soldiers will raid and burn our homes like they do in Maid-

uguri each time Boko Haram attack," said local resident Amiru Umar.

Soldiers in the northeastern city of Maiduguri have been accused of burning homes and shooting residents after attacks by the Islamists, accusing residents of complicity with them. Nigeria has been convulsed by a recent spate of attacks.

A Christian rights activist and a hospital source said 10 men were gunned down inside a church on Friday evening in downtown Yola city, the capital of Adamawa state in northeastern Nigeria.

Earlier Friday over a dozen other Christians were shot dead in Mubi town in the same state. It was the deadliest at-

tack in the region in the wake of an ultimatum last Sunday by Islamists for Christians to leave the north.

Five gunmen opened fire on Christian Igbos at a house in Mubi in a daytime attack as they mourned the death of a friend shot the night before. Residents and a relief official reported up to 17 dead, while police said 12 were killed, with between two and five people killed the previous night in the same town.

On Thursday evening, gunmen stormed a church in the northeastern city of Gombe and opened fire as worshippers had their eyes closed in prayer, killing six people, including the pastor's wife.

A purported spokesman for Islamist group Boko Haram, Abul Qaqa, last Sunday issued a three-day ultimatum for Christians to leave the north.

LHR 08-01-2012_Layout 1 1/8/2012 6:15 AM Page 19

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

The heat Down under Page 20

Win more important than aggressive approach: Misbah LAHORE

P

StAff rePort

AKISTAN Captain Misbahul Haq on Saturday stressed that winning the match is much more important than having an aggressive approach. Talking to journalists here on the last day of the camp training at the Gaddafi stadium, the Pakistan captain pointed out that it the match is won by a defensive style then there is no use adopting aggressive style. “The team is upbeat to make a mark against England. Although its going to b challenging after what happened during the last series against them but the minds of the whole team is focused on the series and no one is thinking about spot-fixing,” he maintained.

It was against the same opposition, in August 2010, that a British tabloid exposed the scheme that ended in jail terms for Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, and roiled the sport in Pakistan and beyond. “The Pakistan team has already proved a lot and the scandal is no more on our minds,” Misbah said ahead of the three-match Test series between topranked England and a resurgent Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “It’s quite clear now that nobody has kept

Gojra, Sialkot in Inter academy hockey final

that scandal on his mind and everyone is just focusing on cricket and will do the same in this series by focusing on cricket,” said Misbah, who replaced Butt as Test captain. Speaking at the conclusion of a training camp in Lahore, Misbah, 37, praised his team’s resolve after the scandal. “I must say that this team has focused on cricket on and off the field and that is why we have done well,” said Misbah, under whom Pakistan have not lost any series since being defeated by England in 2010. A foreign news agency quoted him as saying that Pakistan will have an advan-

tage this time because they know the conditions in the UAE, where they have been playing since 2008 because most teams refuse to tour the South Asian country over security fears.

“Playing in Pakistan would have been different, but recently we have played a lot in UAE so we have become used to the venues there so that will definitely be an advantage for us,” he said. “England is a very professional team and we will have to do well in all departments to beat them. “I think the players have done well, both the spinners have done well in all our series so we have confidence on them that they will do well.” The series starts in Dubai with the first Test from January 17.

‘it’s a war on field for pakistan’ LAHoRE: Former Pakistan cricket captain Ramiz Raja has urged the players to assume that they are waging a war when they take on England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Ramiz said Pakistan’s victory in the upcoming series against England would be a perfect way to heal the spot-fixing scandal that had engulfed the sport in 2010. “Players should assume themselves to be in a state of war in every match to maintain consistency in their performances,” Raza said. “I think this is the best opportunity for the Pakistan team to avenge the disgrace of the spotfixing scandal; all the frustration in the wake of that embarrassment should be exhibited in the form of performances on the field. England might be a strong opponent but beating a top team is the only way to become a hero. There is always room for improvement but there must be self-belief and strong body-language,” he added. Pakistan has not lost any Test series and won six bilateral one-day series in 2011. Ramiz said the Pakistan team has already won over the fans due to its consistent performance following the spot-fixing scandal. He also backed Umar Akmal who has made a comeback in the Test squad, to perform to his expectations in the upcoming series. “Umar Akmal, the batsman who is returning to the Test squad after being dropped for two series, is the one from whom I am expecting a lot and I am hopeful he won’t disappoint us,” Raja said. StAff rePort

asif appeals to CaS over ICC ban

SIALKOT

LAHORE

StAff rePort

StAff rePort

Gojra and Sialkot have moved to the final of the 2nd PHF Inter Academy Hockey Tournament being played here at Sialkot Hockey Stadium. The final between the two top academy teams of the country will be played today at the same venue while Lahore will take on Bahawalpur in a classification encounter before the final. In the semi-finals, Gojra beat Bahawalpur while Sialkot moved past Lahore. Gojra had a one goal win over Bahawalpur and that golden goal of the match was scored by Gojra’s Mubashar in the 44th minute on a penalty corner. In the second semi-final, Sialkot left Lahore speechless with 4-1 margin win. They also dominated the first half and allowed just one goal opening to Lahore in the second session.

Sialkot got its goals through Hammad Zafar in the ver first minute, that was doubled by Nohaiz Zahid in the 11th minute. Amir Sohail it the third goal in the 38th minute and them Muhammad Ali scored on a penalty corner in the 58th minute (PC). Lahore scored through Awais-ur-Rehman in the 45th minute.

Chaudhry Arshad Warraich was the Chief Guest while Khawar Anwar Khawaja, President District Hockey Association, Organising Secretary Ajmal Khan Lodhi (Assistant Coach Pakistan Hockey Team, Tournament Director Amir Shafique and officials of DHA Sialkot were also present on the occasion. Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Member National Assembly of Pakistan will be the chief guest of the final.

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has filed an appeal against his five-year ban by the ICC with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland.

The ICC anti-corruption tribunal had banned Asif and two other Pakistani cricketers, Salman Butt and Muhammad Aamir in February last year after finding them guilty of involvement in spot fixing during the fourth Test against England at Lord's in 2010.

"The appeal filed in the CAS against the ICC ban is founded upon multiple grounds that include the argument that the ICC tribunal breached its own proceedings and in other ways infringed fundamental human rights to which Asif is entitled," a spokesman for the legal firm representing Asif reported to have said.

"In such a situation the ICC ban is not only flawed, it could also be unlawful," he added.

The spokesman said the CAS will now set a date for the hearing.

While Butt and Aamir had filed appeals with the CAS immediately after their bans, Asif was advised by his lawyers to wait until the conclusion of the trial in the Southwark crown court in London.

Last year in October, the trio were given different jail terms by the London court. The court found Butt and Asif guilty of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments for fixing part of the Lord's Test.

Asif is presently serving time at her Majesty's Canterbury prison in category 'C' which specialises in housing foreign criminals convicted in Britain.

In another related development, the Express Tribune newspaper claimed that Aamir could be released from Her Majesty's Portland Prison, known as Weymouth in Dorset, England, as early as next month.

Quoting sources in London, the report published on Saturday said that the 19-year-old pacer would be released after the completion of half of his jail term on February 3 as per the

amir offered rematch loNdoN: Promoters for British boxing star amir Khan have claimed that he has been offered a world title rematch with lamont Peterson after the International Boxing federation revealed to them that the "mystery man" seen ringside at last month's fight was one of their officials. Khan lost both his wBa and IBf light-welterweight titles after home-town fighter Peterson was awarded a controversial split-decision victory following their bout in washington on December 10. The 25-year-old had questioned the performance of referee Joe Cooper and aired grievances over alleged inconsistencies with the judges' scorecards, before turning his attention to the mystery individual at ringside. Khan has already appealed against the defeat, but on Thursday he took to Twitter to draw attention to the unidentified man's actions during the fight. There was no immediate identification of the man, but richard Schaefer, chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions now claims the IBf told him that he was one of their officials named Mustafa ameen, who was given accreditation for the fight despite not being directly involved in it. AfP

england get good work-out duBAi: little-known Namibian batsman Christi viljoen fell two short of his maiden firsticc combined Xi 1st innings class hundred as england's W. Porterfield c davies b Broad 1 bowlers were given a good P. Stirling b Broad 7 work-out in their tour opener k. coetzer c davies b Broad 1 against a ICC Combined XI Saqib Ali c Swann b finn 14 here on Saturday. The 24-year- c. Williams c davies b Swann 34 old right-hander struck his Mohammad Shahzad c Broad b Anderson 51 0 highest first-class score of 98 Mohammad Nabi b Swann 98 to help his team recover from c. Viljoen c Anderson b Swann 26 Majid haq lbw b finn a precarious 177-8 to 281 all 43 W. rankin c finn b Anderson out on a typical slow pitch at hamid hassan not out 0 the Global Cricket academy 6 eXtrAS (lb3, w1, nb2) Ground here. In reply, england totAl 281 closed the first day at 16-0 fall of wickets: 1-1 (Porterfield), 2-10 (Stirling), 3-11 (coetzer), 4-52 (Saqib), 5-82 (Williams), 6with alistair Cook and an90 (Nabi), 7-122 (Shahzad), 8-181 (haq), 9-277 drew Strauss both unbeaten (rankin) on eight, as they seek a good BoWliNG: Anderson 19-6-48-2 (nb1), Broad 16innings before the first Test 6-42-3 (w1), finn 17-3-60-2, Swann 23.3-0-99-3 against Pakistan starts here (nb1), trott 2-0-6-0, Pietersen 6-0-23-0 on January 17. england will overs: 83.3 eNGlANd 1st innings play another three-day 8 A. Strauss not out match, against a Pakistan A. cook not out 8 Cricket Board XI, also in (without loss) 16 Dubai from January 11-13. eng- totAl: BoWliNG: hamid 2-1-4-0, Viljoen 1-0-4-0, land, who won the toss and Nabi 1-0-8-0 decided to bowl first, were overs: 4, toss: england. given a good start by fitagain paceman Stuart Broad who dismissed the Irish opening pair of william Porterfield (one) and Paul Stirling (seven) and Scotsman Kyle Coetzer (one) in his first three overs. Stockily-built afghan batsman Mohammad Shahzad produced an aggressive innings of 51 off just 58 balls before Combined XI were rescued by viljoen. AfP

ScoreBoArd

Czechs lift hopman Cup

Perth: The Czech republic thrashed france to lift their second hopman Cup on Saturday as world number two Petra Kvitova sent warning signals to her closest rivals ahead of the australian open. Kvitova put her country ahead with the first victory of the day against Marion Bartoli, and her team-mate Tomas Berdych wrapped up the contest beating richard Gasquet, with neither dropping a set. The mixed doubles was not played. unbeaten in her three previous singles matches in Perth, including beating world number one Caroline wozniacki on friday, Kvitova was too good for ninth-ranked Bartoli. Kvitova won 10 of the last 11 games on her way to an impressive 7-5, 6-1 win, while Berdych, ranked seventh, overpowered the 19th-ranked Gasquet, 7-6 (7/0), 6-4. Berdych was thrilled to have claimed one of the unique diamond-encrusted tennis balls presented to the winners and he paid tribute to Kvitova's form during the tournament. AfP

Kanepi gets Brisbane glory

British laws.

It is expected that the cricketer will be released on bail over good attitude. He was sentenced to six months jail term by the crown court which took into consideration his age and admittance of guilt in the case.

BriSBANe: estonia's Kaia Kanepi produced a stunning display of attacking tennis to blitz Slovakia's Daniela hantuchova and win the Brisbane International on Saturday. Kanepi, ranked 34th, was in irresistible form as she destroyed her opponent, ranked ten places above her, 6-2, 6-1 in 74 minutes in the Pat rafter arena. The 26year-old Kanepi overpowered hantuchova with the ferocity of her groundstrokes, her backhand particularly damaging throughout. and while her serve was not as effective as in previous rounds, she still did not face a single break point during the final. Kanepi broke hantuchova twice in the first set as her fierce returns placed enormous pressure on the Slovakian, and when she raced away to a 4-0 lead in the second the final was as good as over. AfP

LHR 08-01-2012_Layout 1 1/8/2012 6:15 AM Page 20

20 Sports

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

The heat Down Under

Discussing the India-Australia test series, start of the ATP season and Miami’s impending challenges ALL BASeS CoVeReD

I

KUnWAR KHULDUnE SHAHID

T’S that time of the year when sporting action heats up in Australia. The Aussies are pulverising the Indian challenge Down Under, the first tennis major is fast approaching while Miami Heat are bracing themselves for a challenging road trip.

43 in four innings in Australia – to be dropped ahead of Perth, and Rohit Sharma might be brought in. Even so, considering Laxman averages 20 in his last 12 overseas innings, and the fact that Kohli was touted as the ‘next big thing’ not so long ago; the Indians might want to think hard before they pull out the axe.

MurrAY’S AMBitioN

iNdiAN trANSitioN

fortitude and dealing with the pressure of the biggest stage that has come under scrutiny in the past. Hence, in lieu of further upping the heat on the pressure cooker, he should look to take things one step at a time. The good news for the Scott is that he may have found the ideal man to drag him out of the fix of Grand Slam disappointments in Ivan Lendl. Lendl’s coaching role should be more of a mental training regime as Murray already has an on-court ensemble. At 24, Murray is at the same age as his would-be coach was when he won his first of eight majors, after enduring – like Andy Murray – a continuum of Grand Slam final disappointments.

acki in Perth, furthering shortening the odds of her being the prognosticated Aussie Open champion. When juxtaposed with Wozniacki, one sees why Kvitova has more of an arsenal to conquer more meaningful silverware than the Dane. Wozniacki’s game is conservative, and she lacks intimidating weapons like the serve and the forehand that the Czech possesses. Kvitova’s power game is her strength, one that can guide her to new heights. Nevertheless, with four different major winners last year, Kvitova might be leading the pack, but the crown of tennis’ queen is still up for grabs.

MiAMi’S eXPeditioN

czech SeNStAtioN

India’s abysmal show in the first two tests has illuminated the need of an influx of young blood into their test side as the oldguard cling onto a protracted downward spiral. Staring down the barrel of another whitewash away from home, the Indians are clutching at straws as they vie to overturn the matters. In the long run, they need to look at the trio of Laxman, Dravid and Tendulkar, and one by one phase them out of the side. The former should be the first one to bite the dust, as Dravid is still the best test batsman that India have and Tendulkar – well, if the team were to perform the blasphemous act of dropping him before his hundredth hundred, it could spell out the return of the Indian mutiny. Nonetheless, the safe money is on Virat Kohli – 234 runs in six test matches;

The world number four, Britain’s Andy Murray, has been gregariously straightforward about his New Year’s resolution: he wants to become the world’s top ranked player in 2012. As far as expectations go, Murray has had a cumbersome load resting on his shoulders for a while; hence witnessing the Scott further augment the weight is peculiar to say the least. Of course, women’s tennis might suggest otherwise but the odds are that to be any way near the proximity of the number one ranking Murray would have to break his Grand Slam duck. As things stand, he should focus on vanquishing his maiden major title, before bringing the rankings into play – especially with the Australian Open just a week away. The Brit has been the losing finalist in the last two editions of the tennis season’s first major, and there is no reason why he can’t go one better this time round. As has been expounded in this space quite a few times, Murray has the game to down any opponent, on any given day – it’s the mental

ONE mOrE timE,

CaptaiN Comment MUHAMMAD BUTT

"He has great passing ability, can tackle and scores goals, but most importantly he gives the players around him confidence and belief. You can't learn that – players like him are just born with that presence."

–Zinedine Zidane on Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard

a

T the time these words were said, 2009 to be precise, the Liverpool captain was arguably at the height of his powers, leading the club’s title challenge which would eventually see them finish in second place, four points behind Manchester United. In the ensuing two seasons, three if you include the current one, much has changed; Gerrard has been a shadow of his former self owing as much to poor form as to injury problems. However, there is no denying that Liverpool, this season, have definitely missed their talismans presence.

Gerrard was scheduled to miss the start of the season due to a troublesome groin injury which saw him miss much of the second half of last season but some Liverpool fans were confident that the absence, while a problem, would not prove to be critical in the clubs quest for a Champions League spot. This confidence stemmed from an impressive string of performances and results under Kenny Dalglish, who rolled back the years and made Liverpool play a brand of football that they had perfected in the 70’s and 80’s. And to an extent, that confidence has been vindicated; Liverpool is on the coattails of a Champions League spot but the

Having made her mark at the biggest stage last season, jumping from the 34th spot in the rankings to now being the world number two, Petra Kvitova is being touted to stamp her authority on this season and announce herself as the next superstar in the women’s game. With Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters – the only three Australian Open winners among active players – having injury setbacks of varying scales, the gauntlet has been thrown towards the Czech sensation to truly cement herself arrival by winning the year’s first major. Kvitova has also toppled the current number one player Carline Wozni-

worrying thing has been the lack of goals. The defence has been exemplary, in fact the best in the league and the team in on par with the likes of City and United when it comes to creating chances but not converting those opportunities into goals has been perfected in such a way that it is starting to appear like an art form. Suarez is the most culpable with only five goals to show for his 63 shots. Carroll has struggled to make it to the pitch and has struggled when on it. Suffice to say, Gerrard’s goals from midfield are sorely being missed.

The midfielder is expected to make a return against Newcastle on Friday and while he is certain to start whenever he gains full fitness, not so certain is the position he will occupy on the pitch. Rafael Benitez was right in identifying Gerrard’s lack of positional discipline and his knack for losing possession in an attempt to play the ‘hollywood pass’ and therefore deployed him in an advanced role behind the striker. This freed Gerrard from his defensive duties and allowed his attacking game to blossom. This gung-ho style of play has meant that injuries have begun to take their toll and now on the wrong side of 30, there are valid concerns whether Gerrard can provide the dynamism that is required to play that high up the pitch.

On a brighter note, the few times he has played under Dalglish, he has been employed in a deeper role and has done well most notably against Manchester United this season. This transformation could be down to maturity on the player’s part or the fact that Kenny can command the sort of respect from Gerrard that previous managers could not. The problem however is that at the present time, Liverpool need their captain to play in two positions; the lack of goals mean that he is needed near the opposition goal and the injury to Lucas means Liverpool lack someone who can boss the midfield especially against the bigger teams. This could prove to be a bridge too far even for someone like Gerrard. The more likely scenario is that reinforcements will be brought in January and the nature of players coming into the club will determine the role of Gerrard. At 31, having scored in the finals of all major competitions and won almost everything at club level there is not much for Gerrard to prove but the Anfield faithful will be hoping their favourite son can once again propel the team in the right direction. Fulfilling this seasons objective may prove to be a catalyst in the Merseyside clubs bid to win a Premier League title, something that has eluded both Steven Gerrard and Liverpool for over two decades.

With the agony of losing out in the finals against Dallas still fresh in their memories, Miami Heat are quick off the blocks in their quest for redemption. With an NBA best 7-1 start – the latest coming sans Dwayne Wade and LeBron James – the Heat have made their intentions pretty conspicuous. However, with four away games against the Nets, Warriors, Clippers and Nuggets, Heat’s first real test is on the horizon.

Against the Nets, the two rosters are

going to be a total mismatch, even though New Jersey have an advantage at the guard position with Deron Williams having the clear edge over Mario Chalmers.

Chris Bosh will be massive against Sheldon Williams, especially if one – or both – of Wade and James is not passed fit.

Nonetheless Miami should have too much for the Nets today. After three days off, Miami take a trip to Golden State, and Wade and James should be fit for that game. Coping with the duo would be too big an ask for a weak Warriors defence, and they would find it hard to earmark the guard for LeBron James. Again, Miami have the wherewithal to overcome the Warriors even in second gear.

The game on 11th January against Los Angeles Clippers is the one that is the most intriguing. It’s undoubtedly, Clippers’ biggest game for a while, as they’d be vying to prove that they belong with the Who’s Who of NBA. The most telling matchup should be the battle at the center position; Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan against Heat’s duo of Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem. The match hinges on the performance of one Chris Paul. If he brings his topmost game to the floor, he has enough support around him to overcome Miami.

On paper Miami have a stronger starting five than Denver. But in the first eight games of the season, with a surprising 6-2 record, the Nuggets have flaunted their ability to sermon team performances. Also, with Miami potentially worn out after so much traveling, expect Denver to have too much energy for a lethargic Heat lineup. Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson will be pivotal for Nuggets chances; and also, Nuggets’ bench strength is something the Heat should be wary of.

The follow-up games against Saint Antonio Spurs isn’t going be a mean task as well; but if Miami have a lucrative road trip this week, the clamour of the Heat conquering all before them this season would further resonate. And of course, the return to fitness of Dwayne Wade and LeBron James will have a big say in that.

A SPRINTER

PAR EXCELLENCE Comment K.P MOHAn

SAIN Bolt captivated millions of fans around the globe with his performances at the Beijing Olympics and the Berlin World in 2008 and 2009. Despite a shock disqualification and elimination from the 100m final at the Daegu Worlds last August, Bold remains the firm favourite to take the sprint double at the 2012 Olympic. The only question is will he set another world record in London? Expectations, following his superhuman performance at the Beijing, did not weigh him down in Berlin a year later when he produced unbelievable world records as though for the asking. Bolt was far ahead of our times in Beijing and Berlin in both the sprints. Can he slice precious fractions from those intimidating timings of 9.58s and 19.19s in the two sprints next year even if we take it for granted that he can win both races in the Olympics? It had looked all too simple in Beijing. He had gone into the last Olympics as a world record holder in the 100m, but then the whole world would sit up and take note only after his phenomenal exploits at the Bird's Nest.

Bolt had lowered countryman Asafa Powell's record to 9.72s while winning the Reebok GP in New York in May 2008. It was only the fifth competitive 100m sprint of his career! In less than three months he would win the Olympic gold, shaving 0.03s off his world record. His thigh-slapping antics, experts agreed, had cost Bolt precious fractions in Beijing. Ato Boldon, former 200m champion, said he would put it at around 9.59s if he had not

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wasted time celebrating near finish line. That is what Bolt did a year later, in Berlin. He ran a 9.58s to stun the world again. What is Bolt capable of? That question has lingered from Beijing to this day. “I said I could run 9.4sec. I think it will stop at 9.4 but you never know,” Bolt had said after his 9.58 in Berlin. “Running 9.5sec is definitely a big thing. I'm proud of myself because I'm the first man to have done that.

“I honestly don't know how fast I can go.” Recently, the Telegraph quoted Bolt: “But it (9.4s) is not an obsession. I already have the record.”

Mathematicians have never agreed on the ultimate men's 100m record. A study in 1998 put it at 9.37s; one in 2009 placed it at 9.51s without having taken Bolt's Beijing and Berlin times into consideration. Being a tall man (6ft 5in) he never was a great starter. In fact in Beijing, with a reaction time of 0.165m/s he was only the 7th fastest in the final; in Berlin, at 0.146m/s, he was the 6th fastest.

However, for his 19.19s in the 200m in Berlin, Bolt was the best in the field. Whether he was best off the blocks or not, everyone agreed Bolt was beyond reach in the 100m once past the half-way mark. His stride length was unmatched and his speed towards the closing stages difficult to match. Even though the new IAAF regulations would allow stars to avoid the opening round in the sprints, it is doubtful whether Bolt would contemplate the individual 400 in the Olympics. The longer relay might be a different proposition. Of course, with the world champ, US, quite capable of holding off a challenge as it did in Daegu, there could be no certainty that Bolt might sneak in. With Bolt around, you never know for sure, of course.

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Sports 21

Guessing Saeed Ajmal’s special

delivery Comment J.K WALI AEED Ajmal has reiterated – something that he had exclaimed last year – that he has created a “special delivery”, tailor-made to cater to the English batsmen’s maladroit approach to playing spin bowling; and that the unveiling of the aforementioned ‘variety’ would take place this month as Pakistan lock horns with the top ranked side in the world.

Now, while the teaser has been floated by our spin wizard, the exact dynamics of the delivery have not been revealed by last year’s leading wicket-taker, much to the intrigue of cricket scientists. Spherical geometry, UAE’s geography and Ajmal’s biography have all been thrown into the mix, as we vie to unravel the mystery.

Saeed Ajmal has the traditional off-spinning delivery, and of course that little monster we call the ‘doosra’.

The doosra of course is a misnomer; Ajmal uses thedoosra so frequently that we might as well start dubbing it the ‘pehla’. And this is a not-so-pleasant flashback to the twilight of Saqlain Mushtaq’s international career, where the doosra is all that he bowled, much to the delight of batsmen and tail-enders alike. While Ajmal has been near impeccable in assorting his deliveries, he should not overuse his doosra, lest he loses grip over his stock delivery. Maybe that’s the special ‘variety’ he has saved for England – double bluffing the English batsmen with a barrage of prodigiously whirling conventional offspinners?

Another bluff in the garb of specialty could be more use of the flight; surely this scribe is not the only one leery about Ajmal’s constant “I’m not comfortable, giving the ball flight” rhetoric! The English team would have memorised the 671 pager ‘How to play Ajmal’ manual compiled by Andy Flower by now, and hence Ajmal might have to think out of the book. Ajmal’s deliveries’ rendezvous with air is as extensive as the English media’s association with sanity; and while the latter would always be narcissistic nut-heads, the former should enhance his amity with air – you never know when it might come in handy.

Saeed Ajmal could also have taken a leaf (a plant or even a bush) out of Afridi’s book – if one might call that – as well. Boom Boom has so many deliveries up his sleeves, that his bowling repertoire is like a box of chocolate – and as the cliché goes: you never know what you’re going to get. So does Ajmal have the 135 kph dynamite in reserve for England? Or maybe he has developed a conventional leg-spinner; with the added menace of a googly perhaps? If the leading off-spinner in world cricket were to bowl a googly, wouldn’t that just be the most outrageous double bluff in the history of the sport!? However, reason and her good friend logic, both suggest that this is not going to be the case.

While tweaking his repertoire might be a judicious approach, Ajmal should ensure that whatever earth-shattering invention he has convened, does not dismantle the strength of his existing array of deliveries. For, Ajmal not being at his best in 2012 would be disastrous for Pakistan.

Speaking of disasters; what calamities in the name of “Thunder Down Under” are going on in Australia!

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InDIa’s slIDe Inexorable as Proteas rebound SpoRtS thiS Week

b

ALI AKBAR

Y now there is more than a suspicion that India is on the downward slope after their climb to the top of Test cricket. A 4-0 shellacking by England has been followed by two one sided losses to a resurgent Australia. Most cricket teams albeit the truly great ones, are on a rollercoaster style performance graph and generally it depends on having all their players healthy and in top form. When a key player drops out through injury, it affects the delicate balance and the razor thin balance margins that are there at the top level, begin to tilt.

In India’s case the problems are twofold.

Their only match winning bowler, Zaheer Khan, has been injured and is working his way back to form. But even with Zaheer firing on all cylinders, it is not enough as the batsmen can play him out and score off the remaining bowlers. Fast bowlers hunt in pairs and in rare the case of one West Indian team, in fours.

Another factor that is worrying for India is the inability of their vaunted batsmen to score big hundreds. As a result, the bowlers do not have enough runs to attack with a large slip cordon and it ends being an exercise in containment. Tendulkar has been getting starts but perhaps the anxiety of getting the hundredth hundred has been holding him back although it should not be for a player of his experience. Rahul Dravid has forgotten where his off stump is and is being bowled through the gap with increasing frequency. Neither are Sehwag and Laxman setting the ground on fire. India’s charismatic skipper, Dhoni, has lost his golden touch and is struggling with a team that does not give him enough opportunity to attack. It remains to be seen how and when India can stop this fall. What they need are a couple of batsmen who can shore up the crumbling batting lineup, as well as a spinner and paceman to assist Zaheer. That is a monumental ask, considering India’s current talent pool and a group of resurgent Test teams chomping at the bit.

South Africa have rebounded from their first home Test defeat against Sri Lanka and have lost by a huge margin of 10 wickets on the fourth day of the third Test – giving the hosts their first series win since 2008. Without the extraordinary and unorthodox talents of Malinga and Muralitharan, the Sri Lankans are an ordinary

bowling side. This puts increasing pressure on the bastmen to score runs. The second Test was Sri Lanka’s first Test win since Murali’s retirement and it remains to be seen whether it was a one-off, freak result. This could very well be the case because South Africa have totally outplayed them in the third Test and are winning by an innings as we got to print.

teNNiS SeASoN iN full SWiNG The tennis season is in full swing. Tournaments in Qatar, Chennai and Brisbane are building up to the Australian Open the first major event of the year. These events are known as Grand Slams although that was not always the case. The Grand Slam was originally, the act of winning all four major titles in the same calendar year. Don Budge was the first to do it, in 1938. Lew Hoad came within a couple of sets of doing it in 1956. Rod Laver did it twice, once as an amateur in 1962 and once as a pro in 1969.

This unprecedented achievement has provoked his peers to call him the greatest ever men’s tennis player. The Grand Slam has not been won since then although Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988) among the women have done so. Graf won the golden slam, winning the Olympics gold medal as well at the Seoul Olympics.

Grand Slams were easier to accomplish in tennis’ earlier years because three of the four events were on grass courts. There was not as much depth in the draws and there were not many clay court topspin spe-

cialists. Now, each surface is different and there are players who specialize in each surface thus making them a threat in their conditions. The only player who has a chance to win the Grand Slam this year is Novak Djokovic. He has recovered from the long 2011 campaign and was playing really well at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi. Djokovic has an excellent defence and can attack with deadly precision. In order to beat him, a player has to play almost perfect attacking tennis for three hours or more. This is an enormous mountain to climb and proves too much for most opponents. This column predicts that Novak Djokovic will men’s tennis’ first Grand Slam since 1969, this year, should he stay healthy.

There is another intriguing event that is taking place in Perth Western Australia. The Hopman Cup is named after the legendary Australian coach Harry Hopman. Hopman was responsible for a veritable stable of world champions, starting from Sedgman, McGregor, Rosewall, Hoad to Cooper, Anderson, Fraser, Emerson, Laver just to name a few. Almost certainly, he was the most effective coach of all time. Hopman kept things simple. He made his players fitter than anyone else and made them do two on one drills all day. As Davis Cup captain he told his players to go for the lines. And it worked. Under Hopman Australian players won dozens of major titles as well as a whole slew of Davis Cups. Hopman then moved to the USA, some say he was a step ahead of horse racing bookies whom he owed money. Hopman was a compulsive horse racing enthusiast. At Port Washington Academy in Long Island New York, Hopman took the young John McEnroe and Vitas Gerulaitis under his wing; and the rest is history. The Hopman Cup is the only tennis team event featuring both sexes.

The men and the women first play singles and then combine to play a mixed doubles match. A befitting tribute to a man who cast such a long shadow over the tennis world.

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Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Ijaz willing to visit Pakistan when required: lawyer ISLAMABAD

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StAff rePort

HE lawyer of Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz on Saturday said that his client was willing to visit Pakistan and appear before the judicial commission probing the controversy.

Akram Sheikh also said that his client had not set any preconditions for his visit to Pakistan. He alleged that the Pakistani government had used the attorney general’s office to issue misleading reports about Ijaz’s visit to Pakistan.

He clarified that Ijaz was willing to come to Pakistan to testify before the judicial commission when required. He hoped that the memo

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Musharraf favours reviewing relations with Israel LOnDOn NNi

commission would direct the government and its high ups to avoid “such tactics” in future.

Meanwhile, a member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) moved a lower court to register a first information report (FIR) against Ijaz for his anti-Pakistan lobbying.

The move appears to be an attempt to create hurdles in Ijaz’s visit to Pakistan. Khalid Javed, the PPP activist, considered it the best time to register a case against Ijaz, who has shown willingness to appear before the commission. Additional Sessions Judge Syed Wajahat Hassan sought a report from the station house officer (SHO) of the Police Station Secretariat within three days after the preliminary hearing

Former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf told an Israel-based newspaper in an interview on Saturday that he was in favour of Pakistan reviewing its relationship with Israel, saying it would benefit the country. “Israel is a fait accompli and a lot of the Muslim world have understood that and I know many Muslim countries have relations with Israel, whether above board or covertly. So this is the change in reality I am talking about,” said Musharraf. He said like Israel, Pakistan was an ideological state. “That is the foundation of our creation. We are an Islamic republic, which goes toward explaining why Pakistani Muslims are much more sensitive about Islam than most other Muslim countries. We are extremely sensitive

Continued on page 04

Continued on page 04

Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.