e-paper pakistantoday 27th march, 2012

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It’s a riot when people start dying

Obama pledges nuclear cuts, warns North Korea and Iran PAGE | 16

rs15.00 vol ii No 269 22 pages

PAGE | 7

US apology for NATO strike not good enough: Hina Khar PAGE |04

Lahore edition

tuesday, 27 March, 2012 Jamadi-ul-awal 3, 1433

2 people killed in Lahore as power rioters go on rampage across Punjab g

Gilani orders end of unannounced load shedding within 24 hours g

Power minister suspends surcharge in electricity bills g

LAHORE/FAISALABAD/SIALKOT StaFF rePort/aGeNCieS

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WO people were killed in Lahore as protests in Punjab and Balochistan against chronic power outages entered the fourth day on Monday, just as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani woke up to the impending doom and directed the Ministry of Water and Power to end unannounced load shedding schedule within the next 24 hours.

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), traders and businessmen of Punjab have given a 48-hour ultimatum to the government to end load shedding, or brace for more violent protests.

LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said protests would continue unless and until the government addressed the burning issue. “The government would not be in a position to control the situation triggered by demonstrations by the angry industrial workers,” he said.

Sialkot’s business community also announced to come onto the roads after locking up their factories on March 27 (today) to lodge a strong protest against daily 20-hour power outages that have crippled the city’s industries.Meanwhile, submitting to public pressure, Water and Power Minister Naveed Qamar announced the suspension of surcharge included in the electricity bills.

One of the two deaths on Monday occurred when the security guard of a petrol station in Lahore opened fire on an angry mob that tried to ransack the station during the protest. Per details, the demonstrators attacked the fuelling station and tried to set it on fire. A security guard on duty at the petrol pump, situated on the GT Road near Lahore University of Engineering and Technology, opened fire on the protesters in a bid to prevent them from attacking the pump. As a result, a protester was killed, spearheading a frenzied rampage by the mob.

The protesters burnt the petrol station, blocked roads and burnt tyres, chanting slogans against the federal government and PEPCO. The protesters also blocked the main GT Road and pelted stones on passing vehicles. Police later rushed to the spot and used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

In another incident at Shah Alam Market in Lahore, a citizen was in an elevator

when electricity went out and he got stuck in it.

As soon as power was restored, he tried to get out of the elevator, but received severe injuries and died on the spot. The traders of Shah Alam Market took the dead body to the main road and protested against LESCO for power outages.

The country is facing a severe power crisis owing to a shortfall of about 6,500MW in electricity production.Citizens in almost all cities of Punjab, including Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and other industrial hubs of the province, have been protesting for the last three days against the unannounced electricity load shedding.

In Faisalabad, angry protesters blocked the Samundari Road and attacked several vehicles.

On the other hand, police witnessed the entire scene as silent spectators, sources added. The distraught people, protesting against the protracted hours of load shedding, took to the roads and staged a novel demonstration. They first danced to the tune of dhols (drum) on Samundari Road; but, before long, they turned aggressive and went on rampage, destroying two vehicles.

Angry youths, wielding batons, forced the closure of bazaars and then headed to the bus stop, where they unleashed their fury on two cars. The protesters said the power outages had led to a complete closure of business and rendered them unemployed. Although the prime minister has ordered the resolution of crisis, there is a grim chance of improvement, as two major dams of the country, Tarbela and Mangla, are still at the dead level and the hydel generation is far less than possible.

PEPCO sources said that power shortfall remained at more than 6,500MW. The hydel generation remained 2,300MW, while thermal generation stood at 6,100MW, thus the total production remained 8,400MW against a demand of 15,000MW. “There is a grim chance that the situation would improve, as hydel generation is very low,” said a senior official, adding that if oil and gas supplies to power houses were increased, there was chance of little respite, otherwise the situation would remain the same.

power cuts take over Na ageNda| page 03

laHore: Furious protesters attack a petrol filling station in the Shalimar area as protests against unscheduled power cuts raged across the province on Monday. nadeeM ijaz

pakistan’s nukes are in safe hands, pM assures world Tells Obama in brief meeting that pakistani parliament will approve new terms of engagement with Washington

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SEOUL SarMad BaSHir

As world leaders gathered for a working dinner hosted by the South Korean president on Monday to assess the progress made since the 2010 Washington Summit and reaffirm their commitment to enhance international cooperation to bolster nuclear security, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani made a convincing presentation to the participants about Pakistan’s efficient command and control system over its stocks of nuclear material.

The PM informed the largest gathering on nuclear security that Pakistan being an active partner in the global effort to create a secure world had taken a number of measures to prevent the nuclear materials from

Seoul: Prime Minister Gilani shakes hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit working dinner. afp falling into the hands of terrorists, which included the deployment of Special Nuclear Material (SNM) portals at all key entry and exit points at the borders to detect, deter and prevent illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials. The com-

ment came amidst massive disinformation campaign launched by the Indian media about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons being vulnerable to theft just ahead of the ongoing security summit. coNtiNued oN page 04

PML-N announces long march against outages FAISALABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday announced a long march against the federal government over massive power outages from March 31, accusing the Centre of meting out stepmotherly treatment to the province.

Talking to reporters, the chief minister said he would himself lead the long march, pointing out that load shedding was only being carried out in Punjab. He urged the traders and industrialists to join the million march against the federal government.

Shahbaz said the industry of the province had been destroyed, as production units had stopped functioning. He said while electricity was not being supplied, its tariffs were being raised every other day. The CM appealed the people to remain calm and not indulge in violence during protest demonstrations. Per details, protest demonstrations would be held in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar on March 31. Likewise, this phase would be continued in different cities of the country. On April 2, rallies would be held in Abbottabad, Sialkot, Hyderabad and Sahiwal. On April 4 public gatherings would be held in Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Kurk and Sargodha. Rallies would be taken out in Gujrat and Okara on April 5. agencies

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02 News Today’s

tuesday, 27 March, 2012

LaHore

NewS

tread softly because you tread on my dreams

the woman who died twice

Story on Page 07

Story on Page 06

CartooN

Quick Look

Page 13

13 killed in Sheikhupura bus accident SHEIKHUPURA NNi

Around 13 passengers were killed and several others injured when a speedy bus overturned, rescue sources said on Monday.

“The incident took place due to speeding when the bus was making a turn at Safdarabad,” sources said. They said that the injured were being shifted to hospital. Police confirmed death of eight people and said that dozens of others were injured.

Protest held against omission of Quranic verses from syllabus PESHAwAR StaFF rePort

The IJT staged a protest on Monday outside the Cantt Railway Station against the ANP-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for allegedly deleting Quranic verses and Hadith related to jihad in syllabus of Matriculation.

Leading the protest, IJT Peshawar chief Abdullah Shaheen said that if verses mentioning jihad were not included in the syllabus, protests would be held across the province. The protesters also chanted antiUS slogans and accused the government of deleting Quranic verses to please the US. Shaheen said that the ANP wanted to impose secularism in the province and deletion of Quranic verses from the syllabus was the first step in this regard.

Firdous calls Shahbaz Sharif’s long march call ‘treason’ ISLAMABAD NNi

Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan has said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s statement regarding long march is a clear violation of law. Talking to a private television, Firdous said being a doctor she had rightly diagnosed Shahbaz’s disease that he should be admitted into Fountain House. She also urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the statement issued by the Punjab chief minister.

SC moved to dismiss Haqqani’s plea for statement via video link ISLAMABAD StaFF rePort

The Supreme Court was requested on Monday to dismiss Husain Haqqani’s Civil Miscellaneous Application (CMA), in which he had sought permission to record his statement through a video link.

Advocate Tariq Asad, while filing a CMA with the apex court, requested that those who had taken the responsibility of ensuring the former ambassador’s return to the country, including his counsels, be dealt with in accordance with the law. Asad contended that the apex court had ordered Haqqani not to leave the country without permission. He said the CMA filed by Haqqani came after a similar one was filed by Mansoor Ejaz, in which he was granted permission to record a video-statement.

The advocate stated that Haqqani’s CMA defied the court’s orders and that he was not entitled to any special treatment or the right of equal protection as he was obliged to comply with the orders of the apex court and the commission.

“Unlike Haqqani, Mansoor Ijaz is an American national and is not subject to the law and constitution of Pakistan,” Asad said.

iSlaMaBad: Policewomen and lady health workers scuffle during a protest on Monday. the lady health workers were demanding permanent jobs from the government. inp

Gilani, Manmohan meet briefly at nuclear summit SEOUL

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NewS deSk/aGeNCieS

RIME Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and Indian PM Manmohan Singh on Monday had a brief meeting before the official dinner on sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit. “Prime Minister said hello to Mr Gilani,” Indian sources said, describing it as a “meet and greet” encounter. Earlier, both the Indian and Pakistani sides said that no formal meeting was scheduled between Singh and Gilani but at the same time they did not rule out a ‘pull aside’ meeting during the summit.

Separately, Gilani and his Turkish counterpart Recap Tayyip Erdogan met on the sidelines of the summit and discussed bilateral relations, regional and international situation and agreed to further promote trade and economic relations between the two

countries. The Turkish PM said that Turkey was interested to invest in various projects in the field of energy and communication.

He informed Gilani that there was wide scope for Turkish investors on different projects in hydel, thermal and renewable energy and other development projects especially in Balochistan.

Referring to bilateral trade, the Turkish side informed that during 2011 trade balance remained in favour of Pakistan. The Turkish PM said that Turkish firm Zorlu was investing for 50MW power project in Jhimper in windmill. He said there would be more investment in energy sector from Turkey.

Gilani, appreciating Turkish investment in various projects in Pakistan also emphasised the need for early completion of motorway projects especially from Gwadar to Nishtar Ghat and Karachi to Hyderabad to improve connectivity as it is important to

improve development activities.

Also on Monday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono assured Pakistan that it will discuss with all the members of the ASEAN to give Full Dialogue Partner status to Pakistan. During a meeting with Gilani on sidelines of the summit, both the leaders discussed various options to further promote and enhance bilateral relations in all fields. Gilani informed the Indonesian president, “We recognise and fully appreciate that the consensus on Pakistan’s membership to ARF during the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting emerged due to Indonesia’s active support to our candidature.” He said ASEAN achieved greater success under the leadership of Indonesia last year.

Gilani also thanked Indonesia for extending support for Pakistan’s request for Full Dialogue Partnership with ASEAN to further develop the collaboration with ASEAN in a more effective manner.

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tuesday, 27 March, 2012

ForeigN NewS

artS & eNtertaiNMeNt

SPortS

British PM admits hosting wealthy party donors

‘krrish 3’ keeps Priyanka on her toes

aCC dismisses Bd asia Cup appeal

News 03 CoMMeNt terms of engagement Pakistan needs to revise them.

Some realism, please Don’t seem like practical claims.

dr Faisal Bari says: The voice of the public: How private sector has taken over public sector.

Syed Hassan Belal Zaidi says: Another day in Outrage-istan: We seem to protest on non-problems.

rabia ahmed says: Resilient, patient Pakistan: We have a Pakistan that is resilient and problem tolerant.

Story on Page 14

Story on Page 17

Story on Page 18

articles on Page 12-13

Electricity load shedding takes over NA agenda President, prime minister, Na speaker absent, opposition says govt not serious in solving issues confronting country g

ISLAMABAD

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‘threat letters’ ask Sindh MPs to leave ‘Muhajir province’ KARACHI iSMail dilawar

The formation of liberation armies seems to have become quite fashionable in the country as Monday revealed the hidden centrifugal forces in Sindh having formed a Muhajir Province Liberation Army (MPLA). The country already has a Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) fighting for the independence of the resource-rich Balochistan. The MPLA, from unknown whereabouts, dispatched what Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri called “threatening letters” to almost all of the provincial lawmakers hailing from the interior of Sindh. “Leave the Muhajir provinces and go back to Sindh and dwell there along with your families,” requested the letter undersigned by a “well wisher” from the MPLA. Titled as “Vacate the Muhajir Province” the letters have, reportedly, been received by at least half a dozen provincial ministers and a host of legislatures.

However, Marri said, “I think all (lawmakers) must have received the letters”. Humera Alwani, the PPP lawmaker in the Sindh Assembly, visited the Karachi Pres Club on Monday and handed copies of the letter to the media. The MPLA letter claims that the formation of a Muhajir Province was imminent with the help of “patriotic forces”, especially the Pakistan Army. “After undergoing socio-economic and politico-educational exploitation we have concluded that we can live with Sindh no further,” read the letter attributing the statement to the “Muhajir nation”. “Muhajir province would be last nail in the coffin of those dreaming of Sindhu Desh,” said the letter which the lawmakers, Alwani, received through TCS with address of the sender given as Tipu Sultan, House No 15/26, B-1 Area, Liaquatabad, Karachi.

StaFF rePort

HE government on Monday failed to start debate on Pakistan-US relations’ review in the joint session of parliament in the face of strong offensive launched by the opposition parties which prevailed upon the treasury members to discuss the ongoing massive load shedding of power in the country instead of new terms of engagement with the US proposed by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS).

“Neither the president not the prime minister is in the country. Even the speaker of the National Assembly is abroad… this is the level of seriousness demonstrated by the government as it wants to discuss the new terms for relations with the US. This is not possible, we can’t do that and the grave problems confronting the country like massive load shedding is more important for us,” Leader of the Opposition Nisar Ali Khan said at the very onset. The parliamentarians from the PPP and the PML-N on Monday kept on indulging in blame game which created rumpus in the House with the PML-N MNAs chanting slogans of ‘bijli chor, bijli chor’.

The PML-N lawmakers blamed the government for discriminating against provinces Punjab on power distribution while the treasury alleged Punjab government for spending billions of rupees from the national exchequer on irrelevant projects like Sasti Roti and laptop schemes rather than installing independent power generating plants. Nisar warned the government of launching protests on roads and inside the House if long hours of load shedding were not ended within the next 48 hours. “People are protesting in frustration causing losses to life and property… one man was killed even today. Nisar also de-

manded the government extend date for depositing the bills, which were enhanced rapidly, to facilitate consumers.

For addressing concerns of journalist community, which was on boycott, Nisar said journalists were denied facilities and salaries. “The government pays billions of rupees in connection with advertisements and other facilities to media houses. I suggest that the government must link payment to them with salaries and facilities to journalists. It is the duty of the government,” he said.

He drew the attention of the House towards the case of Fakhra, a victim of acid attack who committed suicide in Italy after 12 years of sufferings, saying that “let us catch the big fish first, we should start from top”.

Speaking on a point of order, Senator Ishaq Dar of the PML-N accused the government and its organisations of lack of efficiency in including fuel pending surcharge in the electricity bills of five months altogether in one month and the government promised to collect normal power bills sans fuel surcharges.

Responding to criticism of the opposition leader, Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Shah said the provincial government of Punjab had spent billions of rupees on projects of trifle importance rather than focusing on power generating projects.

He claimed that the Punjab government could produce at least 2,000 megawatts of power by taking a little interest in the last four years as provincial governments under 18th Amendment were authorised to install power generating projects. Shah said all four provinces were facing power load shedding but violence was only in Punjab, so the Punjab government should have bring the law and order under control.

Shah’s remarks ignited protest from the opposition benches and the PML-N members stood up on their seats and started chanting slogans of ‘bijli chor’.

Responding to observations of Shah, Dar said instead of giving a policy statement to address the issues raised by Nisar, the government indulged blamegame.

He also said the minister should have given a schedule for ending the power load shedding and should have not blamed the Punjab government.

Dar asked the minister for water and power to announce withdrawal of fuel surcharge on electricity bills to sooth people. Giving his policy statement, Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar said there was no discrimination among provinces on power distribution. He also offered to hand power distribution to opposition saying that current power generation was 9,500 megawatts and it was being distributed among provinces on parity basis. The minister also said NEPRA included fuel surcharges on electricity bills altogether which had been lying pending for the last five months. However, while endorsing the proposal of Dar, he said consumers should deposit electricity bills sans fuel surcharge and surcharge would collect after reaching any mechanism in this regard.

Speaking on a point of order, Ahsan Iqbal of the PML-N alleged the federal government and its organisations for erecting hurdles in the way of power related projects of the Punjab government saying that federal government’s departments did not grant permission to Punjab government to produce power.

The journalist community staged walkout during the joint sitting of the parliament to register their protest against non-payment of their salaries by the media groups and threats to a journalist from a federal minister.

The parliamentarians from both sides of the divide demanded well-coordinated inquiry into incident of Fakhira Yunus and treasury assured to carry out impartial inquiry into the heinous crime.

as Fakhra case is set to reopen, another woman is burnt by acid KARACHI NNi

Just as Sindh Interior Minister Manzoor Wasan on Monday directed authorities to reopen the case of acid victim Fakhra Younis, who committed suicide in Italy a few days ago for not getting justice in Pakistan, another woman was attacked with acid in Multan by her husband for demanding money to meet domestic needs.

Wasan told reporters in Karachi the responsible would be brought to court.

Fakhra committed suicide by jumping from the sixth floor of her flat. She was attacked with acid 12 years ago by her husband, former MPA Bilal Khar, who is the son of former Punjab governor Mustafa Khar.

Bilal has denied the allegation, saying that he was not even in Karachi at the time when the incident took place.

He claimed that PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Zardari were trying to trap him and his farther. Bilal said Fakhra had taken refuge in Italy after establishing a false case against him “just to earn money” from humanitarian organisations.

In Multan, a man identified as Maqsood threw acid on his wife Shama, mother of four and resident of Bararan Pul area, after a heated argument.

The victim is working with a franchise of a mobile phone company while her husband is a clerk in the district courts.

Reportedly, Shama demanded money for meeting domestic needs, after which Maqsood threw acid on his wife and fled.

Shama was rushed to the Nishtar Hospital where she was admitted to the emergency ward. Doctors said Shama’s face remained safe in the attack, however, she suffered serious burn wounds.

The police have registered a case and are making raids to arrest the accused.

Pakistani deputy AG polished shoes in Delhi Gurdwara NEw DELHI oNliNe

A man in a maroon kurta polishing the shoes of devotees at a room in Delhi’s Gurdwara Rakabganj was actually Pakistan’s deputy attorney general, Indian media reported on Monday.

It’s a common sight in Gurdwaras, except that this man was Pakistan’s deputy attorney general, Muhammad Khurshid Khan, who had requested he be allowed to perform seva (community service) at the shrine.

Khan, 62, is an eminent lawyer and a devout Muslim from Peshawar. He was in Delhi for a judicial conference. “I have been more keen on visiting various places of worship here to promote harmony between India and Pakistan,” Khan said.

Khan’s tryst with temples and gurdwaras began in 2010 to “heal the wounds of minorities in Pakistan by be-

coming their sevadar (performer of service)”. For him, it was a “penance” for crimes committed by the Taliban.

In February that year, the Taliban had kidnapped three Sikhs from Peshawar and demanded a $235,000 ransom. Pakistan Army rescued two of them, but the third, Jaspal Singh, was beheaded by the captors. After the killing, Khan performed service at a gurdwara in Peshawar. “I seek harmony among all religions,” says Khan, citing Pakistan’s pluralistic heritage.

“I am a Muslim, not a terrorist; I am a Khan, not a terrorist; I am from Pakistan, but not a terrorist.” This is Pakistani deputy attorney general Muhammad Khurshid Khan’s humble submission as he visits gurdwaras across New Delhi and performs seva (community service).

The Taliban, he said, had plundered Pakistan’s pluralistic heritage. “But I want to tell the world it’s unfair to tar-

nish a whole community for the sins of a few.” In Delhi for a conference, Khan, accompanied by Surinder Singh, a Delhi based businessman whose father was a comrade of Subhas Chandra Bose, has polished shoes at Gurdwara Sisganj and visited Birla Temple and Hanuman Mandir.

Khan told TOI that he turned to other faiths after the Taliban beheaded a Sikh, Jaspal Singh, in Peshawar in February 2010. “When I visited the house of Jaspal, I was filled with remorse.” The killing weighed on his conscience. He was perturbed that violence in the name of Islam brought a bad name not only to Muslims and Pakistan but also to his people, the Pashtuns.

The next day, he went to Gurudwara Bhai Joga Singh in Peshawar and sat on the steps. He could hear the chants wafting out of the shrine. “I felt peace,” he says. The lawyer started reading about Guru Nanak and approached a

member of the gurdwara management committee to allow him the opportunity for seva. After discussions, the gurdwara management committee allowed to perform seva.

“For two months, I went to the gurdwara daily before the maghrib azaan (call to prayer at sunset) and polished shoes of devotees. “Sevadari is ibaadat (worship),” he said.

In Delhi, Khan also went to Jantar Mantar in the hope of meeting Anna. He sent his visiting card and waited for close to an hour but could not meet Anna. But he left the place “charmed”.

“It is amazing. This is democracy,” he said.

On his way back to Pakistan, he will visit the Golden Temple at Amritsar for the ‘Jora Ghar Seva’ (polishing shoes of devotees). He had written to PM Manmohan Singh last year to allow him a chance to perform seva at Amritsar. “I am yet to get a reply,” he said.

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tuesday, 27 March, 2012

SC sends Hindu converts from page 22 When the court summoned Rinkle, now Faryal, to record her statement, she could not express herself freely. The chief justice said Faryal appeared to be under pressure and was hesitant to talk. He then ordered everybody present in the courtroom to go outside, so that the court could record the girls’ statements in a free environment.

After sometime, when all the people were called back to courtroom, the chief justice said that Faryal, who first claimed to have married on her own will, met her parents and then decided to go with her mother.

The chief justice observed that there was no doubt that the girls had embraced Islam and gotten married and had been living with their husbands.

The court said being adults, both women must freely decide about their better future and directed the Sindh Police to take back them back to shelter home and produce them before the court on April 18. Dr Khalid Ranjha, counsel for Hafsa’s husband, read out a

statement by her, saying that she had contracted marriage with Nadir with her free will and later converted to Islam. He said now they were in the court’s parental jurisdiction.

The chief justice however observed that it was not the issue of the court, but an issue of weak segment of society. “These are our children and we have to protect them,” the chief justice said.

Mujeeb Pirzada, counsel for parents of Faryal’s husband, told the court that instead of shifting them to a Karachi shelter home, they should be kept in Rawalpindi. The chief justice however said they should be sent back to the shelter home.

During the hearing, Dr Ramesh Kumar, Hafsa’s father started crying, pleading that “our child wants to come with us… allow her to go with us”.

Hafsa, who was sitting with the police in the courtroom also tried to rise up and said she wanted to go with her parents. Later, the court adjourned the hearing until April 18, directing that the girls be kept at shelter home in Karachi until the court took its decision.

Ahmadinejad tirade PakiSTan’S nUkeS on Afghanistan prompts US walkout from page 1

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aFP

US delegation walked out of a conference in Tajikistan Monday during a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lambasting US policy on Afghanistan as the source of all the nation’s troubles. Ahmadinejad launched his new tirade against Washington at the meeting in the Tajik capital Dushanbe attended by leaders of Afghanistan’s neighbours as well as a US delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake.

“The cause of all the ills in Afghanistan is the presence on Afghan soil of NATO forces and above all those of the United States,” the Iranian president told the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA). As the firebrand Iranian president was giving

his speech, Blake pointedly led the US delegation out of the conference hall. Once his address was over, the delegation returned to listen to other speakers. Encounters — even at multinational regional conferences — between the United States and Iran are extremely rare. Ahmadinejad, whose country shares a huge border with Afghanistan, said that US forces had gone into the country with the aim of encircling the whole strategic region from Russia to south Asia.

“They went into Afghanistan using the pretext of the fight against terror and now under the same slogan they are surrounding Russia, India and China,” Ahmadinejad said. Iran’s president repeated his doubts on the September 11, 2001 terror attacks against the United States, which he described as “enigmatic”. The attacks — claimed by Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden — prompted the United States to invade Taliban-led Afghanistan.

Using his trademark populist

rhetoric, Ahmadinejad declared that “the times of imperialism have long since passed” and in reference to the West said that “those who do not learn from the mistakes of history will be punished”.

He called on foreign troops to leave Afghanistan “in the shortest time” and said there was “no doubt that the world needs a new order”.

Ahmadinejad said that rather than keeping forces in Afghanistan, NATO should hand over to the Afghan government either 25 percent of its annual expenditure in the country or five percent of its member states’ annual military budgets. “I am sure that the peoples of NATO members will prefer this to interference in Afghanistan’s affairs.” Referring to the killing of 17 Afghan villagers earlier this month by a US soldier, Ahmadinejad said: “Afghan women and children were subjected to an attack in their own home. What were they guilty of?”

US aPoLoGy for naTo STrike noT Good enoUGH: kHar NEwS DESK Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Monday an apology by the US government for the NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers would not satisfy the Pakistani government, and the attack demanded a reassessment of Islamabad’s partnership with the United States. “The incident was grave enough for an apology not to be good enough,” said Khar in a wide-ranging interview with CNN at her home in Islamabad. “This did require

Haqqani’S abSenCe Cops abduct, rape two girls from page 22 The commission was astonished that Haqqani did not express any kind of threat to his life on the last hearing.

“Haqqani is bound to obey the constitution unless he revokes Pakistani nationality,” Justice Isa remarked.

Deputy Attorney General told the commission that neither Haqqani nor his counsel conveyed any security concerns to his office.

Justice Isa further said that Haqqani served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Sri Lanka during 1990s when there was civil war in that country and added now he was not coming to Pakistan due to security reasons.

Akram Shaikh and other lawyers asked the commission to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Haqqani for disobeying the commission orders. They were of the view that Haqqani had submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court that he would be available on a fourday notice at Islamabad to record his statement, but he did not do so. However, Zahid Bukhari, the counsel of Husain Haqqani, opposed any kind of proceedings against his client, saying he

had not refused to come to Pakistan rather did not come as he felt threatened from the intelligence agencies of 24 countries that were in contact with Mansoor Ijaz.

Yaseen Malik: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Yaseen Malik in his statement said that he would retire from his public life if proven that he ever met any RAW official during his thirty years of political life. He told the commission that Mansoor Ijaz had tried to arrange his meeting with the RAW chief but he refused.

“Mansoor Ijaz called me to have a lunch with him when he was in Haryana (India) to attend a symposium. I went to his room and in the meantime a person appeared there to whom Ijaz introduced me as his Indian businessman friend. He asked me if I wanted to meet RAW chief… I declined and left the room within 15 minutes,” he told the commission. Akram Shaikh would inform the commission inwriting by March 31st if he wanted to cross-examine Yaseen Malik or not. Malik also claimed that he had thrown a shoe at Ijaz at a gathering in India after he “abused Kashmiri Muslims”.

LAHORE StaFF rePort

The Allama Iqbal Town Police on Monday recovered two girls, who were allegedly kidnapped and raped by two cops and their accomplice at a house located in Allama Iqbal Town Area. Police arrested one accused, who introduced himself as a cop but later proved to be a civilian. However, the alleged two cops managed to flee.

The victim girls were identified as Anum and Kiran. According to police, they received a call from 15control, stating that two girls were being raped by some men at a house located in Huma Block, Allama Iqbal Town. Police raided the said house and recovered the aforesaid girls. Police also arrested Rana Shahzad, who pretended to be a cop but later proved fake. The girls, in police custody, claimed that two unidentified cops kidnapped them from Moon Market at gunpoint. They claimed that the two cops shifted them to a house in Huma Block where they along with Rana Shahzad allegedly gang raped them.

a complete relook at the terms of engagement with the United States of America.” Khar said the new terms could help mend USPakistan relations and restore the trust and respect that have eroded between the two countries. “We were partners for the past 10 years. Did we get the respect that a partner deserves? A partner which has lost many lives, a partner which has had huge economic costs? I think we must look at this relationship in a more realistic, in a more pragmatic manner, rather

than a philosophical manner.” She said that Pakistan is prepared to play a “crucial supportive role” in the Afghan peace talks, rejecting claims that Islamabad has links to Mullah Omar and can persuade the Afghan Taliban leader to take part in the negotiations. “If what you’re trying to get out of me is if we have links to Mullah Omar or not, the answer to that is no,” said Khar. “I think that the perception of what Pakistan is able to do is blown out of proportion most of the time,” said Khar.

Earlier in an interview with a Korean television, Gilani rubbished the misleading propaganda when he was asked about the doubts being expressed by the world about the security of his country’s nuclear programme.

“We have established a centre of excellence which conducts specialized training courses in nuclear security, physical protection and personnel reliability, and also offer this facility as a regional and international hub for training,” he added.

Asked whether Islamabad had any plans to join the global initiative for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, he said his country’s point of view was different from the objectives of the NPT. What is significant is that while the world leaders warned North Korea and Iran against jeopardizing the effort to create secure world, the PM adhered to Pakistan’s stated position that “everything” should be settled through negotiation and diplomacy rather than coercive moves.

At his dinner speech, Gilani once again urged the international community to give Pakistan non-discriminatory access to nuclear technology for peaceful uses to meet its energy needs. He also informed the participants that Pakistan had been implementing its Nuclear Security Action Plan in cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency which was aimed at reinforcing physical protection of nuclear medical centres and civilian nuclear plants.

Meanwhile, some important events took place on the first day on the margins of the security summit which included a series of bilateral meetings among the world leaders followed by the signing of a multilateral agreement by the United States, Belgium, France and the Netherlands with their leaders reaffirming their pledge to minimise the use of highly enriched uranium.

There are going to be some more bilateral interactions on Tuesday (today) with the most important for Pakistan being a meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Gilani. They also briefly spoke of relations between the both the

india to probe army chief’s bribery allegations NEw DELHI aFP

India’s defence minister ordered federal investigators Monday to probe revelations by the country’s top military officer that he had been offered a $2.8 million bribe to clear a procurement deal.

The disclosure, made in a newspaper interview by Army Chief General VK Singh, will further embarrass a government already tainted by a succession of highprofile corruption scandals.

Defence Minister AK Antony described the revelations as “serious” and his ministry spokesman said the Central Bureau of Investigations had been ordered to conduct a full investigation.

In the interview published Monday, Singh told the Hindu newspaper that a lobbyist for an unnamed military equipment supplier had offered him the cash incentive to approve the purchase of 600 sub-

standard vehicles.

“One of these men had the gumption to walk up to me and tell me that if I cleared the tranche, he would give me 140 million rupees.

He was offering a bribe to me, to the Army Chief,” Singh said.

“He told me that people had taken money before me and they will take money after me,” Singh said, adding that he had informed Antony of the incident at the time.

It was not immediately clear when the bribe was offered, but some media reports suggested it was two years ago.

Singh said he had been “shocked by the brazen offer.”

The army chief’s insistence that he had informed Antony has left the defence minister facing questions as to why an investigation was not ordered before Singh said some 7,000 of the cited vehicles were already in use in the army

and “had been sold over the years at exorbitant prices with no questions asked.”

His allegations follow a very public spat between the general and the government over the timing of his retirement — a dispute the army chief took to the Supreme court and lost.

The bribery disclosure stalled proceedings in both houses of parliament Monday, with opposition members insisting on an official inquiry.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government has been paralysed by a series of corruption scandals, including the mis-selling of mobile phone licences estimated to have cost the treasury up to $39 billion.

India is one of the world’s biggest military spenders with Jane’s Defence Weekly forecasting that its aggregate defence procurement spending between 2011 and 2015 will top $100 billion.

countries as they strode out from the opening session of the summit.

Reports in the local media indicated that the PM told the US president that the new rules of engagement with Washington were to be approved by parliament. The reports further revealed that Obama told Gilani that the United States had confidence in Pakistani parliament and he was looking forward to addressing Islamabad’s grievances.

US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters later, “There obviously has been a fairly turbulent period in US-Pakistan relations over the course of the last several months.”

“We’ll want to address the state of the relationship.” He said Obama would assure Gilani of “our continued interest in counter-terrorism cooperation” with Pakistan and stress shared interests in stabilizing neighboring Afghanistan. He said Obama would also discuss with Gilani plans for a transition to an Afghan security lead in Afghanistan and US support to an Afghan-led reconciliation process.

Rhodes was quick to dismiss Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s warning on Monday of growing instability in the West’s relations with Pakistan. “I’m not sure that he has any particular insight into NATO’s relationship with Pakistan,” he said. “I think NATO has had a relationship since the beginning of the Afghan war, because we have a shared interest with Pakistan and there not being violent extremist groups within their border and instability in Afghanistan,” Rhodes said.

As the world leaders will meet again on the second and last day of the summit, they will discuss the topics of national measures and international cooperation to enhance nuclear security, as well as future commitments, during the morning session on March 27.

The Seoul communiqué, to be adopted at the evening session is expected to reaffirm the international commitments to minimise the use of highly-enriched uranium and plutonium and expand discussions on nuclear safety in the context of nuclear security following the nuclear crisis in Japan.

Zardari urges regional from page 22 IRAN: President Zardari in his meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the existing-border control regime between the two countries needed to be revisited and further strengthened.

Farhatullah Babar said the two leaders discussed the whole gamut of issues and expressed satisfaction over the growing bilateral cooperation between the two countries in diverse fields and agreed to further strengthen their mutually beneficial ties. The two leaders also recalled the recent trilateral summit in Islamabad and termed it a very productive meeting. They were unanimous in the view that together with Afghanistan, they should continue to explore avenues of cooperation. President Zardari said both Pakistan and Iran had vital interest in a stable and peaceful Afghanistan. He noted with satisfaction at the growing cooperation between national security agencies of Pakistan and Iran and urged the need of further expanding the cooperation.

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Names of hundreds of dead people in voters’ list of KPK LAHORE NNi

Large scale errors and omissions have been noticed in voters lists of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa complied by NADRA. According to details, names of hundreds of dead people were in the lists. According to the record, 14 millions voters have been registered by NADRA and ECP in KP including 22,000 dead people. Around 535 deceased were included in voters’ lists of Union Council (UC) Tehkal of Peshawar only and situation in other areas was also not different. According to officials, NADRA did not seem interested to exclude the names of dead people from the voters’ lists and its officials said that the data was provided by the ECP on basis of which voters’ lists were compiled.

Voters’ lists have been displayed at 5,000 centres across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but large scale errors in names, other details of voters caused trouble for the people. Masses interest and desire for correction of data was at its peak and it had become a challenge for the ECP to satisfy voters. Mistakes in voters’ list had also put a question mark on performance of NADRA and ECP raised a debate among people that in presence of such voters’ lists whether transparency and fairness was possible during the next general elections.

dadu: Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PMl-N) President Nawaz Sharif addresses a public gathering here on Monday. nni

Nawaz to people: Does govt’s 4-year performance deserve applause?

Court to charge osama’s wives on april 2 ISLAMABAD

DADU

aFP

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A court will next week charge Osama bin Laden’s widows and two of his grown-up daughters with illegal entry and residency, their lawyer told AFP on Monday.

“The court will frame charges against five family members on April 2” in connection with illegal entry and residency in Pakistan, Muhammad Aamir told AFP. If the women are convicted, they are liable to be deported or imprisoned, Aamir added. Under Pakistani law, the maximum sentence is five years.

The court gave the women copies of the charges on Monday, the lawyer said.

Bin Laden’s two Saudi and one Yemeni widows, together with their children, have been living under the protection of the authorities in Pakistan since the AlQaeda chief was found and killed by US Navy SEALs on May 2, 2011.

Pakistan has always said it would look after bin Laden’s family until they could be repatriated to their homelands.

NEwS DESK Nissa Bibi, 40, carries a mobile phone on an orange ribbon round her neck in the hope that her sister - Shahina Bibi who recently returned to their home village in the Kabal area of Swat valley in northern Pakistan - will call, according to an IRIN report.

Bibi, 35, had lived with Nissa and her family for nearly two and a half years after conflict began between militants and the Pakistan Army in Swat Valley in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa Province in 2007.

Recently, she decided to return home to try and revive the farm that she and her four children now manage after her husband was killed in fighting in 2009.

“I do not see how my sister can carry out the heavy work on the farm. Her eldest son is only 12 and cannot help her much,” Nissa told IRIN. According to a study commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the problems faced by women like Bibi in post-conflict Swat have not been well understood.

The report by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences says the ap-

NNi

ML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said that Sindh and Punjab were equally dear to him and the government had done nothing for the people during the last four years.

Addressing a public gathering on Monday, he said looting and plundering had become routine.

“We exterminated all the brutes from their dens in Sindh in our time,” he said.

He said the people of Sindh were left at the mercy of floods, adding that the Punjab government did its best to help the flood-hit people, particularly in Sindh.

Nawaz said he had signed an agreement with the president for progress and prosperity of the nation, but the PPP government used it for their vested interests in the name of so-called democracy.

He said the media had played its right role for highlighting the issues

Liaquat Jatoi joins PML-N DADU NNi

Former Sindh chief minister and senior politician Liaquat Jatoi joined the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) on Monday.

Addressing a rally in Dadu district, he criticised the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for what he said reluctance towards the uplift of the province from where it drew power.

He said the PPP-led government had done nothing for the people of the province while Punjab chief minister was distributing laptops among thousands of students. of people on a national level.

He said the Sindh government had done nothing for academic up-

lift of students.

“In Punjab, students are being provided laptops and computers while Sindh, Baloch and KP people are deprived of potable drinking water,” he said, adding that the rulers were responsible for extortion incidents in Karachi and elsewhere.

He said the political parties in Sindh had militant wings and the Supreme Court already had mentioned it in its orders.

Nawaz questioned the government’s silence over extortions and targeted killings, adding that the federal government had completed four years but it did not deserve congratulation, as no outstanding achievement was visible.

He also criticised coalition partners, saying they had stood by the government despite its anti-human policies.

Praising Marvi Memon, he said her endeavours were praiseworthy, as she had launched a website in Sindhi language for the rights of women.

Swat’s forgotten flood and terror victims g

women-led households hit by war, floods wait for a miracle that would pull their lives together again

proach to post-conflict problems in Swat has been narrow, focusing primarily on security issues. It notes that in many cases due account has not been taken of the devastating 2010 floods in Swat which aggravated problems for single-headed households.

A separate limited assessment carried out in 2009 in 10 union councils in Swat by the NGO Save the Children, UK, found that around 4 percent of households were headed by women. Swat Valley, according to official figures, has a population of around 1,257,600.

Many of these are women who lost husbands and fathers in the conflict which continued over a prolonged period as militants began campaigns in the mid 1990s.

“Many people feel they have received too little help from the government and NGOs,” said Faisal Khan who

works for a local NGO in Mingora, the principal city of Swat. “The women who have been left as widows, or who lost fathers in the fighting are aware of this and have decided in some cases to try and manage on their own.”

He explained that the post-conflict situation in which a significant number of women had been left on their own was unique in the history of Swat.

“I had to ask my own sister-in-law, a widow, to go back to her home with her daughters, as my small hotel was washed away in the 2010 floods and I myself had no means to earn a livelihood. I felt terrible, but there was no choice,” said Azam Khan, who is today trying to re-build his hotel in the Kalam area of Swat.

STRATEGIES: “I know I have a good home with my sister is Peshawar. But it is important to me that my children grow

up in their own home and that I learn to stand on my own feet,” said Bibi. She told IRIN she gained support from other women in her village, and was able to seek the help of the local village `jirga’ (gathering of elders) by asking a neighbour to put her issues before it.

According to the Norad study, women have used strategies such as this to solve problems - while some villages also have a group of women able to represent the concerns of others at `jirga’ meetings, which are traditionally not attended by women. This is especially true in conservative areas such as Swat.

Many women, however, faced severe hardship in the months following the end of the conflict in July 2009. Bibi’s husband has been missing for the past two years, and she does not know whether he is alive or dead. “I wait each day in the hope that he will return,” she said. “It is

indian BSF foils heroin smuggling attempt from Pakistan border AMRITSAR iNP

In another smuggling bid from across the border with Pakistan, three unidentified smugglers tried to smuggle 14 kilogrammes of highly-refined Afghan-made heroin worth around Rs 700 million in the international market, from near Daoke border out post on Monday.

BSF Deputy Inspector General RPS Jaswal told journalists that a patrolling party of BSF spotted some suspicious movement 40 metres away inside Indian territory and challenged the intruders who instead fired at the BSF. Following the exchange of fire, the smugglers fled.

He informed that during a search operation, the BSF recovered 14 packets of one kilogrammes each heroin which was left behind by smugglers before fleeing.

The BSF also recovered 3 empty cartridges. He said that movement of smugglers was noticed by BSF through hand held thermal imagers.

possible he was captured by the army or by the militants, though he had nothing to do with the fighting,” she told IRIN from her village near Mingora.

While Bibi has been able to send her three small children back to school and makes a living by sewing clothes, she finds it difficult to take her produce (vegetables and eggs) to the marketplace, which would significantly augment her income.

Other women live with a sense of insecurity lurking over them. “We were very badly treated by the Taliban. They seem to have gone for now, but we do not know when they may return and once more track down on women and stop us from even stepping out of our homes,” said Yasmeen Bibi, 25, who supports her elderly parents by working at a cosmetics factory.

She had given up work for two years under Taliban rule and said “it took a lot of courage to go back in 2011, but I had no choice as I have no brothers, my other sisters are married with their own families and there was no one else to bring in money to pay for my parents needs and for the health care they require.”

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Fia declares NBP VP Mirza ibrar Beg ‘security risk’

indian delegation visits gujranwala to spread message of peace

ISLAMABAD

StaFF rePort

GUJRANwALA

iNP

FIA on Monday declared Indian-origin National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Vice-President Dr Mirza Ibrar Beg as a security risk and leveled charges of damaging national interests and fraud against him.

According to sources, FIA recommended blocking CNICs of Dr Beg’s family until completion of investigation against him.

It said that bank accounts of the armed forces and security institutions were insecure in presence of a suspected person at a key position. The FIA said that Ibrar, originally an Indian national, came to Pakistan along with his family in 1992.

He obtained Pakistani nationality and other necessary documents by giving the Karachi address of FIA Deputy Director Khaliquz Zaman. They said that his Indian name was Haris Beg and he changed his date of birth from September 26, 1977 to December 10, 1980 and got it included in his Pakistani and international documents which were issued on September 26, 1992.

His wife Jui Beg also changed the actual date and place of birth. She showed her date of birth as May 19, 1986 instead of May 19, 1985 and place of birth as Karachi instead of Jamshedpur in the Indian state of Bihar.

The report said that Ibrar had a fake PhD degree on basis of which he writes doctor with his name. It said that at the time of seeking Pakistani nationality, he did not disclose the name of his children and by doing so he not only violated the laws but also caused serious damage to security of Pakistan. FIA said that the Directorate of Immigration and Passport was an equal partner in this crime. It went on to say that once ISI also started investigations into suspicious activities of Ibrar but he managed a favourable report from Major Nisar, who was son-in-law of former ISI Sindh sector commander Brigadier Huda, to whom Mirza obliged through certain benefits and jobs on his recommendation.

Quetta: Students of Primary School khaniabad at Sariab road sit in a classroom without a wall. inp

Aitzaz’s ‘illness’ defers SC contempt case’s hearing ISLAMABAD

T

StaFF rePort

HE Supreme Court (SC) on Monday adjourned for today (Tuesday) hearing of the contempt of court case against Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, after it was apprised that premier’s counsel Senator Aitzaz Ahsan was unable to turn up due to some ailment.

A seven-judge special bench hearing the contempt case against Gilani consists of Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa,

Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Athar Saeed.

Barrister Gohar, an associate of Aitzaz, submitted an application for adjournment of the case for at least a week.

He informed the court that Aitzaz was ill due to food poisoning, and unable to travel. The court disregarded the application and adjourned the hearing for today.

“Had he listened to us, he would not have had food poisoning”, Justice Nasirul Mulk remarked while smiling. Gohar replied that it was a

sheer coincidence, as Aitzaz never missed his duty in his 40-year-old law career. When Gohar insisted the court to adjourn the case for at least a week, Justice Mulk advised Aitzaz to take a heavy dosage to ensure his presence in court today.

If he turns up, Aitzaz will continue his arguments on Article 10-A amidst his contentions that the existing Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003 stood void after incorporation of Article 10-A in the constitution through the 18th Amendment.

He may properly challenge the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003 today.

An Indian delegation, headed by Kuldeep Nayyer, went to Gujranwala on Monday to spread the message of peace.

The delegation attended the launching ceremony of a book, Jidojeha-e-Hyat, written by advocate Jalil Ahmed Khan at the District Council Hall Gujranwala.

Nayyer said the people of both countries were facing the same sort of exploitation as the proletariat section was exploited by the bourgeoisie thus the people of both the neighbouring countries should stand together to fight against the common evil.

He said one needs to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness and suppressed people of both the countries should join hands for the insurance of their rights. He said that class conflict is increasing day by day in both the countries as in India 3 crore people sleep unfed in India despite the growth in GDP and same sort of crisis is prevalent in Pakistan and we are here to express solidarity with the people of Pakistan so that both the countries could work together for the betterment of this region. He maintained that if the European countries could make EU union why couldn’t we. He added that instead of looking towards the West we should capitalize our own potential as we have much more potential complemented with glorious traditions and this amalgamation could manifest to make a prosperous South East Asia. He said even after 60 years “we are not able to make India a true secular state as we have witnessed the atrocities against Sikhs and Muslims in Indian Gujrat and Pakistan is also facing the problem of terrorism so all should strive to spread the message of peace across the border to built a peaceful South Asia and for that we have to open trade insuring people to people contact thus bring the people of both the countries together so that we could work together and grow”. He said Quaid-e-Azam and Gandhi both stood for the cause to build a society based on the principles of humanity but now Pakistanis as well as Indians failed to accomplish that target as we have anti peace elements in both the countries.

The WOMan WhO died TWice REUTERS BLOG There are many ways to make women invisible. One is to ignore them; another is to banish them from public view; and in the case of acid attack victims, to literally efface them. Acid attack victim Fakhra Yunus seems to have suffered all three, when after being deformed by an acid attack in 2000, she escaped to Italy for treatment where she lived for years, largely forgotten in the country she left behind.

This month, according to media reports, she jumped to her death in Italy, guaranteeing that at least for a brief moment, her name would be remembered. Her body was brought back to Pakistan and Geo News channel ran a story on her accompanied by before-and-after pictures of a once beautiful girl. On Twitter, links to old stories about her were unearthed and exchanged a detailed profile in Time magazine from 2001, and a story in Newsline from 2011. Activists also launched a petition seeking justice for acid attack victims.

Fakhra Yunus, a former dancing girl, was catapulted into the feudal elite when she married into one of Pakistan’s best known political families – her former husband Bilal Khar is the cousin of now Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar (whose make of handbag alone has garnered more attention recently.)

After years of abuse, Fakhra Yunus fled back home where she said her estranged husband caught up with her when she was sleeping and poured acid over

her. Bilal Khar was never prosecuted, and insisted after her death that he was not guilty.

After the acid attack, Fakhra Yunus sought help from Tehmina Durrani, who herself had married into the same family before leaving and writing of her own experience in her autobiography “My Feudal Lord”. Helped

by Durrani, she was able to move to Italy where surgeons attempted to restore her face. Yet in some ways, Durrani wrote in an op-ed, she had already died back in 2000. When she committed suicide, wrote Durrani, “Fakhra died again to remind the world that she had lived.”

Yet there are many reasons to believe her name will soon be forgotten again. Pursuing the thread of her story simply takes you across too many of the painful faultlines of Pakistan’s fractured society.

The Pakistani elite has long been accused of being above the law, guilty of corruption and of using violence against more ordinary people with impunity. Yet it is also – at least on its own terms – a peculiarly besieged elite, for whom the sins of the few should not be blamed on all.

Some of its members in the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have been waging their own battle against the power of the military. This does not excuse crimes of violence or corruption – it does mean that the country is so polarised that rational debate tends to disappear behind rapidly constructed defensive walls.

Follow the thread far enough down the rabbit hole and you

acid attack victim Fakhra Yunus with tehmina durrani. reach the point where accusations of corruption and wrongdoing against the ruling political elite – particularly of President Asif Ali Zardari – are instrumentalised not so much as a means of cleaning up the country and protecting the innocent but of overthrowing the civilian dispensation.

As columnist Raza Rumi wrote in an editorial, “corruption, as a slogan, has been used by almost every Pakistani government to undermine political opponents”. In the past it has been popular with the military as an excuse for overthrowing civilian governments; its use now, he wrote, by rising politician Imran Khan (who has promised to end corruption in 90 days) smacked more of autocracy than democracy.

But if the civilian political elite have a hard time positioning themselves when it comes to championing the rights of people like Fakhra Yunis, so too do

those in the religious right and their sympathisers in the military establishment.

While violence against women is not confined to any particular religion or culture, a national obsession with honour or “ghairat” – encouraged by the military and the religious right – makes it easier to champion those who are perceived to be victims of the west rather than of their own people. Women like Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist jailed in the United States after being convicted of attempted murder, make for a better cause and fit more easily into an image of Pakistan as a bastion of Islam. And there is, as well – in speaking out for people like Fakhra Yunus – the tricky problem of sympathy with the Afghan Taliban and their fellow insurgents, given their own track record on the rights of women.

There are, of course, solutions to the problems of violence

against women – among them applying the law and holding people to account for their crimes. Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who has just won an Oscar for her documentary on acid attack victims, tweeted a link to a story of a Belgian man jailed for 30 years for attacking his former girlfriend with acid, saying on Twitter that “this is the kind of punishment that will deter acid violence”.

But for that you would need a sound justice system, and the political will to enforce it. Let’s for now carry on down the rabbit hole until we reach the Mad Hatter’s tea party and what has been the most difficult spin-off discussion from the story of Fakhra Yunus – a debate which concerns the way in which Obaid-Chinoy’s image is projected in Pakistan. Glamorous, brave and talented, she appears to move easily between the Pakistani elite and those of her film subjects so that nobody is quite sure how to claim her.

But as blogger Ahsan Butt wrote in a post about Fakhra Yunus, which included a photo of Hina Rabbani Khar presenting an award to Obaid-Chinoy, there was something not quite right about the image – even though there was nothing to suggest the foreign minister was not herself deeply concerned about acid attack victims. “To recap,” he wrote on his blog, “one acid-burn victim leaped to her death. One acid-burn perpetrator sits comfortably in his home. And oneacid burn perpetrator’s cousin is presenting prizes to a documentarian whose Oscar-winning film

was about acid-burning women.”

That might have been it – merely a stray reference in the blogosphere – were it not for news of the launch in Pakistan of Hello! magazine, catering to the elite. According to one report, Zahraa Saifullah, CEO of Hello!

Pakistan, wanted to tap into the “glamorous side of Pakistan”. “…Saifullah thinks the timing is perfect to showcase Pakistan’s too often hidden treasures, citing Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who recently became the first Pakistani filmmaker to win an Oscar for a documentary about the plight of female victims of acid attacks in the country,” the report said.

“We want to tap into the aesthetically beautiful, the athletic, the fashionable.” it quoted her as saying.

Ouch.

An unfortunate choice of words, very likely given in an interview long before Pakistan’s news media was flashing photos of Fakhra Yunus’ deformed face. But it was a choice of words that made it quickly into the blogosphere.

“An acid attack victim is being used by the magazine as a ‘hidden treasure’?” asked Farzana Versey at Cross Connections.

We have drifted a long way from the personal story of Farkha Yunus here. But that was really my point. She and many nameless others like her will be forgotten, because the challenges of rallying people together to give them protection and justice are just too difficult in such a polarised and fractured society. There are many ways to make women invisible.

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tread softly because you tread on my dreams

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It’s a riot when people start dying Boy shot dead, man dies while trying to escape from a jammed elevator, petrol pump burned down, cars thrashed LAHORE

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NauMaN taSleeM

ITH riots entering fourth day, two people were killed and many injured in the riots against power outages in the city on Monday.

Traders and businessmen also issued a 48-hour to ultimatum, after which they said they would start violent protests. Cities and villages witnessed more than 16 and 22 hours of unannounced outages.

No respite is expected from outages in the near future since the water level in the dams has also fallen and the government has not been able to reach an agreement with the IPPs. Life in Lahore came to a standstill as people flooded the roads with sticks, stones and banners and chanted slogans against the government.

Protests in Shalimar and Darogawala area got violent after workers at a petrol pump refused to shut it down despite being repeatedly asked by the protesters. The security guard of the pump opened fire at the protesters due to which a protester sustained injuries and died on the spot while other received injuries.

The mob then got violent and set the pump on fire. Angry citizens robbed the cash-and-carry store of the pump and set it on fire after thrashing everything. The police tried to stop the protesters and tear-gased them, completely inconsiderate of the little children who were also present on the occasion.

The relatives of the dead protester also staged a demonstration, which was joined by other people also. The family demanded that an action be taken against the guard, who managed to escape from the scene.

In another incident at Shah Alam Market, a citizen, Imran Haider was in an elevator when electricity was shut down. He sustained injuries in his attempt to escape and died, hanging from the roof of the elevator.

The traders of Shah Alam Market placed the dead body on the road and said they would create havoc if the responsible were not brought to justice. PEPCO sources have said power shortfall remained more than 6,500MW. The hydel generation remained 2,300MW while thermal generation stood at 6,100 thus total production remained at 8,400MW while demand surged to 15,000MW. “There is a grim chance that the situation would improve, as hydel generation is very low,” said a senior official adding if oil and gas supplies to power houses were increased then there was a chance of little respite otherwise the situation would remain the same. Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) also gave 48 hours ultimatum to government to end the outages otherwise a series of protests would be launched and the government would be responsible for the consequences.

LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said protests would continue unless and until the government addressed the burning issue. He said all the Punjab Chambers, Trade and Industrial associations had approached the LCCI to evolve a consensus and finalise a strategy to launch nationwide agitation campaign.

“The government would not be in a position to control the situation triggered by the demonstrations by the angry industrial workers against their retrenchments as a result of these power outages,” he said, adding that it would not be possible for the government to maintain its writ. He said most of industrial units had already reduced their working to single six-hour shift from the previous three shifts system. This had led to increased level of raw-material wastage leaving production process non-profitable.

Business leaders from a number of trade and industrial associations, including Lahore Township Industrial Association, Ferozepur Road Industrial Association, Katarbund Road Industrial Association, Kahna Kacha Industrial Association, Anjuman-e-Tajiran Pakistan, Qoumi Tajir Ittehad, Anjuman-e-Tajran Badami Bagh Auto Market, Township Traders Association, Pakistan Auto Parts Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Anjuman-e-Tajran Urdu Bazar, Brandreth Road Traders Association Monday contacted LCCI President and assured their full support over the energy situation.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also assured the traders that his party would take part in the strike too. He said the time for a long march had come and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz would strike with the traders after they formulate a plan.

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08 Lahore

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HoSPitaLS MiD CitY 37573382-3 SerViCeS 99203402-11 MaYo 99211100-9 geNeraL 35810892-8 SHeiKH ZaiD 35865731 Sir gaNga raM 99200572 UCH 35763573-5 itteFaQ 35881981-85 CMH 366996168-72 SHoUKat KHaNUM 35945100 JiNNaH 111-809-809 aDiL (DeFeNCe) 36667275 CHiLDreN’S 99230901-3 DeFeNCe NatioNaL HoSPitaL 111-17-18-19

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power outages are killing hope, not just the economy n psychologist warns that current level of frustration and helplessness mean that the next generation would not have any hopes for the future n

LAHORE SalaHudiN SaFdar/taJwar awaN

T

HE prolonged load shedding hours are not only keeping the electric appliances off but are also killing normal life in the provincial metropolis. But this is not where it stops, psychologists have warned of dire consequences if the level of frustration and helplessness continue to soar.

Heat, outages and blocked roads are hampering people from performing their normal every day chores, so much so that many have been rendered impossible of doing a thing as simple as reaching another place in the city.

Helpless protesters, who burn tyres and break things, block the roads which their own fellow citizens have to use. Apart from this, power outages also mean that the traffic signals remain closed, resulting in long lines of traffic on the city’s main arteries, not the mention the fact that many of the city’s main

“Yes we can all sing the national anthem on August 14 and enjoy when we win an Oscar or when we make the world’s largest flag.

But these things mean nothing in the day-to-day life. It’s the day-to-day life that determines who we are not these rare awards, and at day-to-day life, we are failing.” — A student

roads are still under construction.

Umair Khan, a university lecturer, remained stuck for two hours in traffic mess at Thokar Niaz Baig caused due to a protest against power outage. Sharing his experience, he expressed anger at the federal and provincial governments for their inability to manage the affairs of the country properly. “I had to reach my university to take a class on Raiwind Road and I have been receiving calls from the admin. My class was at 2pm and I reached there at 3:10pm,” he said, adding “they want to bring a revolution in education and health when it is not even possible for people to reach their required destination on time.”

Fizza Batool, a working woman, failed to pick her children from their school due to the blocked roads from her office to school. Talking to Pakistan Today, she said her children, aged 4 and 7, had to stay in school alone for several hours after their classes and when she reached almost all the students and teachers had gone. She was of the opinion that it was a cat fight between Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz and Pakistan People’s Party and the latter had deliberately deprived Punjab of electricity to harm the Punjab government.

Many like Umair and Fizza could not reach to their appointments, offices, homes and hospitals on time owing to the far reaching aftermaths of load shedding.

“This country is heading no where, nor are the people,” said Ghufran Raheem, a rickshaw driver, adding “slowly but surely it is coming to an end.” “It is a shame that the rulers can only concentrate on their publicity stunts and not really care for the people,” said Rahmat Bibi, a lady health worker.

“All my friends and I, we are studying to get out of this godforsaken place. I mean, what kind of future can one have here where people have to fight for a thing as basic as electricity?” asked Asad Barkat, a student, adding “yes we can all sing the national anthem on August 14 and enjoy when we win an Oscar or when we make the world’s largest flag. But these things mean nothing in the day-to-day life. It’s the day-to-day life that determines who we are not these rare awards, and at day-to-day life, we are failing.”

“The politicians are sitting in their ivory towers they can never relate to what these people on the roads are feeling,” said Aasia Mujtaba, a psychologist, adding “You have to understand what would be going through a person’s mind when they smash a car’s screen or throw stone at the police. Think how desperate you would be that you are forced to take this step.”

“Who knows, I could be one of the protesters setting things on fire, you could be with me too. They are people like us, driven by circumstances to do what you and I watch on TV and go all ‘oh my God’ at,” she said, adding “it’s their tipping point, soon, we could reach ours too.”

“The children and youth, they are the ones who are suffering the most. If you hear all adults around you cursing and getting frustrated all the time, you will just not learn how to hope. Hope would be far-fetched idea to you, something that you have never seen working.

These children and youth are being deprived of their dreams, not just their jobs,” she added.

“Who knows, I could be one of the protesters setting things on fire, you could be with me too.

They are people like us, driven by circumstances to do what you and I watch on TV and go all ‘oh my God’ at. It’s their tipping point, soon, we could reach ours too.”

— A psychologist

airPort FLigHt eNQUirY Pia reSerVatioN

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arabiC CaLLiGraPHy

iPSS doCUMenTary CoMPeTiTion

aJoka´S baSanT baHar THeaTre feSTiVaL

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: JUNe 1, 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: FeBrUarY 07 to aPriL 07, 2012 VeNUe: iNStitUte For PeaCe aND SeCULar StUDieS Under the initiative ‘Pakistan india relaxed Visa regime’, the iPSS has organized a short documentary competition. this short documentary contest aims at exploring and recording the depth and seriousness of this social cause, moreover being able to capture on film the intense need of a resolve in this conflict zone.

Date: MarCH 16 — 31, 2012 VeNUe: aLHaMra artS CoUNCiL - tHe MaLL ajoka theatre in collaboration with the Lahore arts Council presents the Basant Bahar theatre Festival March 2012, BULLHa based on the life & times of Baba Bulleh Shah, written by Shahid Nadeem, directed by Madeeha gauhar on 16th March

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‘We will help other provinces fight dengue’ LAHORE

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StaFF rePort

unjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, has said that Punjab has excellent resources, technical skill and experience to cope with dengue and any possible outbreak of dengue will be countered whole heartedly.

He said that Punjab is ready to provide necessary guidance and assistance to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa governments in dealing with the threat of dengue so that people of the whole county could be saved from this menace. He said that anti-dengue brigades will also be set up in Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan and Gujranwala on the pattern of Lahore while high de-

pendency units will be established at district headquarter hospitals.

He also said that Punjab government had started training programmes for doctors and nurses of private hospitals so that maximum awareness could be promoted in the medical staff regarding dengue virus.

The meeting was told that a website had been launched through Punjab Information Technology Board for monitoring the activities of government departments for dengue control. Similarly focal persons have been appointed in different departments for immediate action on public complaints regarding health and cleanliness while the garbage disposal work in parks and other open places is continuing on priority basis.

The Chief Minister further directed that Member National Assembly Pervaiz

Mariam Nawaz distributes laptops in LCwU LAHORE StaFF rePort

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JoHN Carter tHe HUNger gaMeS JoHN Carter KaHaaNi tHe HUNger gaMeS

Judges get proper training LAHORE

PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, Marium Nawaz Sharif has said Punjab government was focusing on hunting and promoting talent and wanted to raise the level of education in the province. She was speaking on the occasion of laptop distribution ceremony in the Lahore College for Women (LCWU) main ground on Monday. More than 4,600 students of graduate and post graduate programs received the laptops which is the highest number of any women educational institution. Vice Chancellor Lahore College for Women (LCWU) Dr Sabiha Mansoor, in her inaugural address, said this simple but prestigious function was a milestone in the history of LCWU. Such large number of laptop recipients reflected the high standard of education in the university.

CiNe Star PH: 35157462

Malik should evolve a comprehensive policy for the maintenance of water filtration plants installed by the federal government in the provincial metropolis and provision of financial resources for this purpose so that potable water could be available to the masses. He issued instructions to consider provision of pick and drop facility to the blood donors. He said that coordination should also be maintained with the federal institutions for eradication of dengue while solid measures should be taken for the disposal of condemned tyres lying on the rooftops of houses and shops.

Minister for Education Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman said that dengue awareness campaign is continuing in educational institutions in the province and private educational institutions have also been included in this drive.

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Under the directions of Chief Justice, Lahore High Court Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, a capacity building service training course for 23 District and Sessions Judges has been started in Punjab Judicial Academy (PJA) Lahore.

Director General PJA, Justice (R) Tanveer Ahmad Khan, Provincial Secretary Law, Dr Abu al Hassan Najmi, DG Human Rights and Vigilance Cell of LHC, Kazim Ali Malik and Dr Danishwar Malik will deliver lectures at the inaugural session while Judges of Lahore High Court and other experts on law and constitution will discuss legal technicalities with the participants during this week long training exercise. It is worth mentioning here that CJ has declared 2012 as the year of capacity building by means of sustained and rigorous training for judges at the judicial hierarchy of the Province. Two more courses will also commence at the end of April and beginning of May for District and Session Judges. 300 Civil Judges have already completed their training at Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur and Multan.

Class 9 student sent to jail LAHORE StaFF rePort

Civil Lines Police registered a case against a student of Class 9 for cheating during examination on Monday night.

Police released the boy on personal guarantee of his parents after arresting him on the complaint examination centre’s staffers. Per details a teacher namely Muhammad Saddique, who was performing his duties as examiner at Examination Hall of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education at Lawrence Road, caught Rana Muhammad Ahsen cheating on his exam. Examiner Muhammad Saddique stopped the student from solving the paper and later handed him over to Civil Lines Police, whose officials later on registered a case number 242/12 under section 3University Act against Rana Muhammad Ahsen. However Civil Lines Police later on handed over the boy to his parents on their personal guarantee.

Rana Muhammad Ahsen and his heirs blamed Muhammad Saddique for his non-professional behaviour stating that Muhammad Saddique caught four boys cheating in the examination but released three boys after taking Rs 1000 from each student as bribe. They claimed the teacher filed a complaint against Rana Muhammad Ahsen, as he failed to furnish him with Rs 1000. Police said investigations were underway in this regard.

Lahore 09

WhO to eradicate malnutrition in pakistan LAHORE StaFF rePort

The role of WHO to establish Stabilization Centre in Children Hospital, to control severe malnutrition situation, is appreciable said Prof Dr Faisal Tahir, Dean Children Hospital. He was addressing a concluding session of a 4-Day training workshop on “Impatient Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition with Medical Complications”.

The training was jointly arranged with WHO, UNICEF and department of Health, Punjab.

The session was chaired by Tahir, while WHO Punjab Operations Officer Dr Babar Alam, UNICEF Representative Dr Uzma, Dr Sadia Azam, WHO Nutrition Officer Punjab and Prof Dr Shakila Zaman, were also present.

Alam said that seven SC in Punjab and two SC in Lahore are already functional. The third and newly established, Stabilization Center would start working from 1st April.

To get the best out of it, WHO also arranged

4 days training workshop, where seven facilitators trained 24 doctors, nurses and other staff members on Community Mobilization, supplementary feeding, out patients therapeutic program and functioning of SC’s essential components of care.

While speaking at the last session of the workshop Zaman said that nutrition is extremely important but the situation is alarming in Pakistan. She said that according to National Nutrition Survey of 2011, among Pakistani children under the age of five, 43.6% are stunted, 15.1% are wasted and 31.5% are underweight. Children are suffering from severe malnutrition as 32.7%, 30.3% and 40 % are suffering from Iron, Vitamin A and Zinc deficiency respectively and 62.5% children are anaemic. She believed that newly created SC would help Children Hospital to handle severe malnutrition cases of mother and child in a better way. She said this was just the beginning, and that we had a long way to go with WHO, to overcome nutrition based health issues.

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10 Lahore

tuesday, 27 March, 2012

Case against slaughterhouse adjourned LAHORE

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HE Lahore High Court, on Monday, adjourned till April 2nd the hearing of petition challenging the shifting of slaughterhouse from Kot Kamboh to Shahpur Kanjran and establishment of Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company (PAMC) to run the slaughterhouse.

Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan was hearing the petition filed by Jamiat-ul Quraish Pakistan representatives Muhammad Kamran and Muhammad Shahid.

Earlier, the Punjab Government filed a reply but the court was requested on behalf of district government and commissioner Lahore to grant time to file the

reply. The counsel for Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company (PAMC) also sought time to file a reply. The petitioner’s counsel did not oppose the request but said that the PAMC was illegally violating the rules and regulations. He said the establishment of slaughterhouse was the responsibility of local district government which could not be handed over to any other authority. The petitioners said that establishment of the PAMC was illegal as it did not fall under section 42 of Companies Act 1984.

The court after hearing the arguments adjourned the matter till April 2 and ordered PAMC to file reply by next date of hearing. The petitioners’ stated in their petition that they had no objection to shifting of the slaughterhouse but it should be done in a transparent manner and the stakeholder should be taken into

confidence. They argued that the Allama Iqbal Town TMA had issued a letter under which slaughterhouse would be shifted to a new place till March 2012, which was illegal and a conspiracy against the business of petitioner and others.

LHC summoned Examination Commission CEO regarding 8th class students’ plea. The Lahore High Court on Monday summoned Chief Executive Officer of Punjab Examination Commission for March 27, on a petition seeking re-examination of Home Economics paper of Middle standard (8th class) of 25 students. Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan passed the order on a petition filed by a student Aisha Sana.

Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel arguing before the court said that the petitioner was an 8th class student in the Divisional Public School, Kasur and ap-

peared on February 11 for her examination along with two hundred other students.

He said that the administration first wrongly distributed a MCQ paper in English but on being informed that the students belonged to Urdu medium they took it back and replaced it with MCQs in Urdu.

However, 25 students were deprived of MCQs in Urdu and forced to answer MCQs in English due to shortage of Urdu MCQs, he said. The counsel said that the administration threatened students and locked the examination room from outside which was later opened by parents of the students after examination time. The counsel pleaded with the court to cancel the paper and issue directions for re-examination.

He also pleaded for action against the responsible persons. The court after hearing the arguments summoned CEO of Punjab Examination Commission on March 27.

Eunuch brutally slaughtered LAHORE StaFF rePort

A 35-year-old eunuch was slaughtered to death by some unidentified persons at his house and later the room was set ablaze to mislead the investigators in the Shalimar police limits on Monday.

The deceased person was identified as Shahid, resident of Ghoray Shah. He had taken a residential quarter near Gandi Bambian Stop in the Shalimar area on rent and was living there for the last many months. On the day of incident, his friends visited his flat and found him in a pool of blood while his clothes had caught fire in the other room. They informed the police and Rescue 1122 who reached the scene and removed the body to morgue.

Sub-inspector Khadim Hussain said some unidentified suspects had first slit opened his throat with a sharp edged weapon and had later set his clothes ablaze to turn the incident into an accident. He added that the circumstantial evidence suggest that the killer(s) were some of his associates. Police have collected forensic evidence and had started investigation. Meanwhile, a large number of

eunuchs gathered at the crime scene and staged a protest. They demanded immediate arrest of killers for justice. A case has been registered against unidentified suspects.

SHOT INJURED: Muhafiz Squad personnel shot injured a man for not stopping his bike at their indication in Sanda Police area on Monday. According to sources at Sanda Police Station, Tariq Ali was going on his bike LEM 9394 at Bund Road. Policemen indicated him to stop but he could not stop near them for being speedy, they said. They added that personnel of Muhafiz Squad including Amjad and Ali Akbar started fire at him which hit him at the back. Police personnel lift him and took him to a nearby clinic for his treatment but seeing him serious injured doctors denied giving him medical treatment and asked them to take him to some government hospital.

The police personnel took him to the police station and registered an FIR against him by accusing him of having 500 gram hashish and firing at police personnel. They also accused in the FIR that one of his accomplice opened fire at them and succeeded in fleering from the scene.

rameen usman wearing spring hat at a spring festival,in a local school (lahore Grammar School, defense)

turkish buses arrive at Karachi Port LAHORE StaFF rePort

Honouring the recent commitment made by Istanbul Mayor Dr Kadir Topbas to gift at least 100 busses to Punjab government’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, the busses have arrived at Karachi Port on Monday. According to sources, around 300 refurbished busses have reached the country’s port and they would be shifted soon to Lahore for plying the defined routes.

In a historic advance, Topbas had recently announced that he would gift 100 buses for the BRT project of Punjab government.

However, sources claimed that around 300 busses which are three times higher priced have arrived at the port and the contractors have asked the concerned authorities in Sindh to provide required CNG to lift the vehicles to their destinations.

Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, had also thanked and welcomed the visiting mayor at a luncheon hosted by Sharif in Raiwind ahead of the opening of the civil work of the BRT project. He had driven a bus inaugurating the BRT project on Ferozepur Road.

It is worth mentioning here that the BRT was a 30-kilometre long road project stretching from Shahdara to Kahna. TEPA and NESPAK are the implementing agencies of the mega project while the LTC will operate buses on the specific lanes.

PU exams to commence soon LAHORE StaFF rePort

Punjab University BA/BSc Annual Examination 2012 will commence from April 4, 2012, for which roll number slips have been dispatched to all candidates to their addresses. If any candidate has not received their slip, they can receive the duplicate slip from BA/BSc Hall, Exams Department New Campus.

Meanwhile, in memory of Iqbal, Punjab University Department of Philosophy has organized a seminar on “Diversity of Nasr-e-Iqbal – A short Study” at the Undergraduate Study Centre. Chairman of the Department of Philosophy, Prof Dr Abdul-Hafeez, Ex-Chairman Dr Abdul-Khalique, faculty members and a large number of students were present at the occasion. Dr Rafi Uddin Hashmi delivered the keynote speech and gave a well-researched analysis on the topic. Hafeez said that his department had been organizing such events since 1965 to pay homage to the philosophy of the Poet of the East.

DHa celebrates Jashan-e-Baharan LAHORE StaFF rePort

Jashan-e-Baharan is usually celebrated annually. This year various sports activities have also been scheduled. The Flower Exhibition was held on 21st March at Sheeba Park, DHA, Lahore. Various attractive colourful stalls were arranged. DHA residents participated in the competition in different categories and won prizes.

Mr Jahanzeb Burki, Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab, distributed the prizes among the winners.

Administrator DHA also graced the occasion.

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tuesday, 27 March, 2012

Editor’s mail 11

advice for Khadam-e-aala

Pakistan Today felicitates its columnist and contributor Nazir Naji on being honoured by the President of Pakistan with Hilal-e-Imtiaz. The award given to him on 23 March, 2012 is an acknowledgement of his bold, dedicated and tireless services to journalism in Pakistan. We wish him all the best in the future as well.

I request the Khadam-e-Aala that he should stop sloganeering as slogans are not the solution to the problems faced by the people. His slogan of “Go, Zardari Go” was not supported by his own party PML(N) because its representatives in the national and Punjab assemblies have not resigned and opted for long march against the federal government. About your slogan to hold accountable Ali Baba and 40 Thieves for plundering the national wealth; those who live in glass houses should not throw stones on others. The slogan of fighting against corruption has no appeal to the general public. A large number of people are attending PTI rallies because its agenda to eradicate corruption in 90 days has good

Disgrace for KU impact on people because they trust Imran Khan being an honest person.

Please stop wasting public money on distribution of laptops to the young students. They will not vote for the PML(N) in the next election. You spent taxpayers’ money on installing cameras at police stations to monitor police torturing the people but don’t you know many are still killed in their custody. Instead of depending on federal government to providing electricity and gas to the public and industries, the Punjab government should take initiative and provide incentive to the private sector for power generation projects. The sugar mills in Punjab, of which seven are owned by your family, can produce 1000 MW to overcome

power outages in Punjab.

Kindly stop going from one place to another with a security of dozens vehicles. At present, 50 percent people in Punjab are living blew the poverty line and the low-income working class is facing difficulties due to the over 200 percent increase in the essential food items.

Lastly, hold local government elections to really empower the ordinary people at gross root level. There cannot be just distribution of recourses without the functioning of the local government. With dependence on bureaucracy to rule, the gulf between the poor and rich cannot be bridged.

S T HUSSAIN Lahore

Media blackout This is with reference to the sudden blackout of media coverage to the two recent rallies that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has made consecutively in Sialkot and Mianwali. I am surprised to see that none of the two is getting such media coverage that it used to in the past.

Is it because that Pasha was backing media channels before or is it because that now media is fed up of PTI and its huge rallies every now and then or is it the result of Punjab government’s recent awarding of the advertisements to different media groups?

As, what little glimpses were seen, can tell that both the rallies have set new records of public participation but no serious coverage by the media channels raises questions in the mind of a layman.

FAHAD ABID Wah Cantt

New drug laws

The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has announced that no thesis work is required for PhD. Twinkle, twinkle little stars.

Z A KAZMI Karachi

The government of Pakistan is formulating a new law to regulate drug.

This act will help ensure the safety of medicines and facilities. I think it should also try to sanction laws that will help promote this industry and make it more profitable and sustainable.

One problem faced by this industry is production capacity barriers. Of the 700 registered pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan, less than half of them are selling and promoting their products through truthful doctor prescription.

Then there are other companies that don’t have the capability or experience of selling through proper channels. To cover their costs these companies then sell their products through bulk cheap rates to other more stint and thrifty businessmen, who use methods that are precarious and harmful to the public, to sell these products.

To stop this type of fallacious business from happening in Europe and US and also to allow new pharmaceutical companies to be set up, they have laws that allow toll manufacturing between the companies. This allows the new companies that lack sales team, to still make a profit by manufacturing another companies’ products. It also allows the companies with high demand for their products, to grow with their demand, rather get stuck when they reach their production capacity.

If the government sets a small fee on this toll license, they can generate a lot of income, which can pay for the cost of more meticulous drug inspectors. It will also stop the process of trading or selling medicines in bulk at low costs, which is illegal under profiteering and damages the health of the public.

It will also help reduce the plethora of registered products and improve record keeping. It will help the sporadic listless pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan to grow into a mature proliferating sector, while creating thousands of new jobs and generating millions of tax revenue.

SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER Peshawar

Nawazish, another young Pakistani, made a world record in the O’ Levels.

Last year, a Pakistan military contingent got a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for breaking the world record of wading through the obstacles.

Around 750 soldiers from across the world descended on the Brecon Beacons in Wales to suffer through one of the toughest exercises ever devised. The Cambrian patrol took two days to com-

plete and tested the soldiering skills of the teams as they crossed some of the most arduous terrain one could imagine.

The list continues, the achievement go on. The vibrant nation perhaps waits for an able leadership. Probably, the younger generation waits for their time and turn to come. Hats off to Moosa Feroz and all others who dare.

F Z KHAN Islamabad

Democracy is no good There is a debate going on as to which is the best: the dictatorship or democracy.

In Pakistan, dictatorship took over Pakistan four times. My question is why such a need was felt? If all was going well for democracy, why did dictatorship intervene? The thing is that in Pakistan democracy failed badly every time it came in to play its role.

Right now, Pakistan is going down economically. When there was dictatorship in Pakistan, it was among the top 10 countries for progress and development.

In democracy, they keep trying show us a dream that will lead us 100 years back by saying the government will do this and that. Every time democracy came, it brought a lot of corruption with it. So, why we are supporting it? What good has it done yet?

I don’t even know about one single good thing that it has done except for the 18th amendment. They say that they freed judiciary but we all know in which situation they let them become independent but what is the use of judiciary if it can’t control corruption and can’t implement its decisions in the country. A change is really needed to have a leader who fulfills the true spirit of leadership and takes the country towards prosperity. It’s time to stand up for our rights.

AFFAN MATI Karachi

PtCL: a ray of hope A country where each and every department is in tatters and corruption is rife, the efforts for regeneration of telecommunication industry in the county by PTCL need a long due appreciation.

The importance of modern information technology in the grooming of minds and fulfilling information needs of students is a proven fact and corporate sector has a multi-facet responsibility in this regard. The Student Package (the writer is also a user) has been the saviour of students providing for the modern internet needs of infotainment at our doorsteps 24/7.

The reasonable price package and its inclusion in the bill have saved a lot of hassle of not only paying bills separately but also affordability in these inflationary times. As a user of PTCL and student, I appreciate the dedicated work of PTCL and its committed staff.

NASIR MAHMOOD QAU, Islamabad

Karachi University is one of the major universities in Pakistan which is recognised internationally. It is one of those institutes in Pakistan which gives job-oriented education. But there are some things which bring disgrace to the name of Karachi University.

The biggest obstacle in prosperity and respect of KU is the student political parties. Although there is no harm in carrying a political party in an institution within limits but in KU they almost scare other people to death by all the clashes in which weapons are also used.

Recently bribery cases have also been found in KU. The students of a certain department are caught red-handed selling drugs (heroine) and drinks which are not acceptable in our society, let alone in a university. These are the major reasons which add to the disgrace of this university and which lessens its reputation in the minds of students and they are forced to choose some other institution.

The cleanliness and tidiness of KU is also an important problem. Some of its areas are worth seeing because they are a real beauty but most of the areas comprising the university are so damaged and need repairing immediately.

Since this university is representing Karachi, the biggest city of Pakistan, it should be kept in mind that nothing should dishonour its value at any cost.

The government is required to keep an eye on it and put a stop to all of it because it is the place which makes up the future of our nation; the youth.

YURJA KAZMI Karachi

electricity crisis worsens The electricity shortfall increased to 5,500MW, about 40 percent of the estimated peak demand of 13,500 MW, resulting in an average loadshedding of 11 hours across the country.

Loadshedding of up to 16 hours was reported in rural areas to keep the duration of power breakdowns limited to 6-8 hours in major cities. Energy crisis persists due to water shortage and gas loadshedding. This energy crisis at the beginning of the summer season is a matter of concern.

I suggest some measures for overcoming the energy crisis.

Fair and square Winning of Asia Cup after a lapse of 12 year was a gift for Pakistani cricket lovers who just await some good news from anywhere.

Newspapers and social media were filled with articles and messages not only congratulating Pakistani cricket team but also praising the marvelous performance of Bangladeshi team. Some well wishers went into nostalgic sleep remembering the days when these both countries were used to be a united country. Bangladeshi cricketers proved that they were way ahead of ICC’s bottom ranking, not only defeated India and Sri Lanka but also gave a really tough time to Pakistani team.

Morally, a win on the last ball is shared by both teams as it’s not the performance but the luck which has won.

But a win is a win, one of the two had to win; on that particular moment luck was with Pakistan and they won. But Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCC) had some other ideas when it woke up after four days and decided to lodge a complaint against a Pakistani bowler of blocking their player.

BCC is seeking 5 runs penalty; in other words Bangladesh team to be de-

Firstly, all IPPs in the country which are not properly working should be put in order.

Secondly, IRSA should go to World Bank if India does not act upon the Indus Water Treaty. Thirdly, the government should put a ban on use of CNG in vehicles. Fourthly, the government should hire electricity from Iran and China for minimising the electricity crisis.

TARIQ HUSAIN KHAN Karachi

clared as winner. Regardless of merit of the request, BCC is spoiling the spirit of sportsmanship to accept the defeat with an open heart. A complaint after four days shows that they are not serious; otherwise, should have lodged it then and there. I don’t know whether the Bangladeshi public and players are ready to become part of this game spoiling scheme.

The game is over. Let’s concentrate on further training and practice to take up stronger teams in the World Cup which is not far away.

MASOOD KHAN Jubail, Saudi Arabia

a subterfuge for KBD A yet another revelation has been made for Bhasha dam in a section of national English press that work on Bhasha dam would start by the end of 2013.

Previously, two groundbreaking ceremonies have been performed in 2006 and 2011. This project was to be completed in 12 years time and it is being now said it would take 8 years to build it i.e., after 2013.

It appears Bhasha dam is presented before the gullible people of Pakistan as a subterfuge or a smokescreen to divert at-

tention from KBD which could be completed in six years time after the word go as all studies for this dam have been completed.

Even the tender documents were ready to be floated in 1985 when the then PM got cold feet and the project was put on a backburner. The PPP government has tried its level best to present Bhasha dam as a lollypop for the people to suck and stew in their own juice.

The formidable task of building a new 135 KM road to bypass the present road would take years before heavy machinery for the dam could be transported.

There are other seismic hazards and lack of a camping site for the labour have to be solved before construction could begin. Finally, Bhasha dam alone would not be enough and too late if KBD is not built in tandem.

DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI Lahore

Up above in the sky

our own einsteins and Steve Jobs Bravo! We have our own Einsteins and Steve Jobs. Moosa Feroz, the 15year-old Pakistani student has won a gold medal in the Online World Mathematics Competition held in Australia, which is a great distinction, a big achievement.

About five million children from 100 counties around the globe took part in the competition which was held in the first week of March. Once again Pakista-

nis have proved that they are no less than the civilised, the educated and the advanced countries of the world.

Last week, Pakistan lifted the Asia Cup in cricket. Earlier, Pakistan beat England in the Test cricket series on their home turf. Arfa Karim Randhawa, who died of cancer recently, was awarded the youngest Microsoft engineer certificate, whom Bill Gates invited to US and awarded the distinction. Ali Moeen

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 terms of engagement Safeguarding national interests

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he ruling coalition faces multifaceted problems in getting the parliamentary committee’s consensus recommendation passed. As the elections are scheduled to be held within months, \neither the coalition partners nor the opposition parties can afford to be seen to be yielding to the US pressure for the reopening of the Nato supply routes without any significant quid pro quo. Marc Grossman has assured Islamabad on the opening of the Parliamentary debate that the US respects Pakistan’s sovereignty. Washington remains unwilling, however, to stop the drone attacks or punish the soldiers involved in Salala attack. Keeping in view Washington’s past reluctance to agree to a deal with Pakistan identical to the one with India on sharing of civil nuclear technology, there is little hope of Obama conceding to Gilani’s fresh overture in this respect. The US urgently needs the ban on Nato supplies to be removed and joint actions taken against the militants. But what it is willing to concede in return remains to be seen.

The ruling coalition is in a position to get the parliamentary committee’s recommendations passed by a majority vote if the demands made from Washington in the proposals are accepted. But as Gilani put it while leaving for Seoul, the government would like to forge consensus to make the opposition also own the decisions. Gilani naturally doesn’t like the opposition parties to unleash an agitation on the sensitive issue in the election year. Washington on the other hand would be hesitant to concede to any demand that could provide the Republicans an issue to malign the US president in the election year. With Pakistan adamant on opening the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, the issue is likely to be agitated by the anti-Iran lobby in Washington.

Resurrecting the Pak-US alliance is highly vital for the two countries. What is going to be tested is the mettle of their political leadership. While safeguarding their best national interests, both are required to give the needed concessions to one another even if these are unpopular.

Some realism, please Campaign promises

P

olitical campaigning is all about selling dreams.

If the cry of roti, kapra aur makaan can be made with a straight face, then, who is anyone to laugh at an outlandish claim by newcomer PTI? There are subtle differences, however. The aforementioned PPP slogan is convenient in its vagueness, its timing. So are slogans calling for the establishment of an Islamist state by the religious or centre-right parties. The PTI’s slogans, on the other hand, lay down specific deadlines, unrealistically close, for the achievement of notoriously difficult objectives.

Imran Khan’s latest claim of halving corruption within nine days of coming into power is the latest in a series of outlandish claims. For those who claim the PTI leader genuinely means what he says, this statement would then reveal a rather tenuous grasp of reality.

Corruption is a deeply-rooted, endemic problem.

One for which there really is no quick-fix. In fact, even extremely complex problems like religious militancy in the country could at least be grappled with much easier than corruption. How he thinks he can solve this problem in three months’ time is anyone’s guess.

As a key Maoist leader in Nepal, in a rare moment of candour admitted after coming into power, things were far, far more complicated than they appear to be from the outside. Governance is a tortuously difficult undertaking, with most solutions being trade-offs. A series of choosing this over that and bearing the fallout for what went wrong. Compared to running any tier of government, managing campaign rallies would seem like a cakewalk.

It is not all wrong on the PTI’s end, however. Having realised he can’t hold a candle to the other parties’ established electoral machines, he is focusing on untapped voter bases. A large proportion of those who will vote for him are expected to be first-time voters.

That’s a service to democracy, then. Secondly, his announcement of polls within the party are a good idea.

No position should go unelected. As opposed to popular imagination, his won’t be the only party that has internal elections. But it is still a good initiative.

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

tuesday, 27 March, 2012

The voice of the public the space for private provisions providers

By Dr Faisal Bari

O

ur economy has changed a lot in the last three odd decades. Privatisation, liberalisation, decentralisation, among other changes, have had significant impacts on the structure of specific sectors.

Goods and services that were once provided by the state, and it was thought that they could only be provided by the state, or should only be provided by the state, are now also being provided by the private sector. But this must have an impact on the public sector provision and the ability of citizens to demand quality from the public as well as the private sector. A colleague and I wanted to understand this dynamic, so, with support from Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (ISAPS), we conducted a 150 household survey in an urban area to understand some of the changes and their effects on exit, voice, and public action in general.

We ensured we selected the households randomly from across high, middle and lowincome households. This gave us a good sample with significant variation in household size, income, education of household head, and profession. Interestingly, we found that almost 90 percent of the households had a television and some 60 percent had a computer. We wanted to check on these to ensure these were households that had good opportunities to connect with the world outside and had access to information.

The mobile phone penetration is also very high in these households. Even with the access to information, information about their local representatives, MPAs/MNAs and administrators was not very well known. And there are few welfare organisations, vehicles for public action, working in the neighbourhoods we surveyed.

What came as a surprise was the extent to which households, even in the low income brackets, were using private providers even in areas that are still thought to be the domain of the state: water supply and security.

Low-income households, on average, paid about Rs 200 per month for their water supply. Though they depend very heavily on public provision of water, they have to supplement it with access to water tankers. For the rich, the average monthly expenses go up to Rs 1,200. This does not include the onetime expenses that many households, especially in the middle to higher income households, have incurred in getting private boring done for their personal access to ground water.

For security, even the low-income households were paying more than a hundred rupees a month for sharing in private security arrangements of various kinds. The rich had guards of their own, and some even mentioned they had ammunition at home

and will not hesitate to use it to protect themselves and their property. Exit from the public sector seems to be the oldest, most established, and the deepest in the area of education. Though a small number of children still go to public schools, a much larger number goes to private schools, and this seems to be true of the low-income households as well. In fact, though our data does show that the exit from public sector happens with income, the more important determinant seems to be the ability of parents to take their children to schools. Low-income households report that their children go to neighbourhood schools much more often than the higher income groups do: cost and availability of transportation clearly is a constraint. Our sample is small, but it still shows that more girls are enrolled in private primary schools than boys. This could just be due to relative supply of the two types of schools in neighbourhoods but does seem to point out the importance accorded to education, across gender.

Respondents from low-income households have a higher dependence on stateprovided services, across all three services that we studied. Even where the quality of services being provided by the state is not of acceptable quality, as in the case of water, the dependence on the state still remains.

The low-income households have a limited ability to switch to private providers, though they do supplement public provision where they can. As income levels go up the ability, to exit from state providers and switch to a private provider goes up. And people do switch. For the higher income group, state provider is just one of the options and if they feel it is not of good enough quality, they switch.

Interestingly, while the low income depend on the state and state provision of basic services, they also feel there is not much point to complaining (voice) when the service provided by the state is poor. The usual responses are: they do not know who to complain to, the cost of organising public action, in time and money, is too high, and when they have complained to local representatives, MPAs/MNAs, and government officials, they have not heard, and repeated

complaints have been ignored. They do believe that sustained public action might work, but it was just too hard and expensive to organise and sustain public action. The higher income households feel that public action could be effective, but also feel they have not had any need to engage in public action. They just switch providers as that is easier for them. Even within private providers, if people feel one provider is not giving good enough quality, they switch to another provider (exit) and seldom resort to complaining about quality to individual providers (voice).

The case of the middle-income households surprised us a little. They use exit more than the low-income households, though their dependence on state provision is still there. But what is interesting is that they do file more complaints, on average, than the low-income households or the richincome households, believe in the efficacy of voice and public action more, and think that public action can be more effective. But here too, on the margin, their resolve to sustain public action is weakened by the ability to exit.

Our economy has certainly changed a lot over the last three decades. Where it has helped people have more choice, it is also increased the opportunity to exit public provision, and while our data is based on a small sample and we are still exploring various implications, it does seem that the ability to exit has weakened the resolve to use voice and this also seems to have weakened the ability to organise and sustain public action.

The low-income group seems to be the most severely affected by the change as they have limited ability to exit while the voice option, overall, has been weakened by the exit of the more connected middle and higher income groups. It will be interesting to see if this has anything to do with the need for ‘change’ that is being articulated in the political sphere right now.

The writer is an Associate Professor of Economics at LUMS (currently on leave) and a Senior Advisor at Open Society Foundation (OSF).

He can be reached at fbari@sorosny.org

regional Press

Peace in tribal areas Pashtun Post

T

he war on terror started in the wake of 9/11 and cost no other country more than Pakistan but in turn Pakistan never got full support for it efforts and sacrifices it has rendered since then.

The current law and order situation in the country is a result of military operations in tribal areas of the country. With the initiation of action against miscreants in the tribal belt, the law and order situation started getting worse not only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but also in other parts of the country as well.

During Musharraf era, agreements were made with America that left a gory situation in their aftermath. But the incumbent government has come to the saddle of power with considerable mandate and it is now on them not only to control price-hike, loadshedding, unemployment but to effectively come up with a

solution to address the law and order situation.

But the people find it difficult as the ground reality is getting worse even after four years of this government. The incumbent government cared little for the mandate and the overall security situation and standard of living is getting worse, instead of improving. The country has also become weak on economic front as well.

The question is how to address the ensuing problems including law and order situation in the country. One of the solutions lies in halting military operations in tribal areas without any further delay. Wishes of the people from tribal areas should be taken on board with a body of officials to check what’s going on on the ground as well. Efforts must be put in place to uplift the standard of life of the people in the tribal areas.

– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur Rauf Khattak.

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tuesday, 27 March, 2012

Comment 13

another day in Outrage-istan

Resilient, patient pakistan

absent is constructive discourse on ways to make sure no one suffers the same fate as Fakhra, ever again.

is Pakistan’s patience a blessing?

Mighty obvious

By Syed Hassan Belal Zaidi

T

here are just too many –ists roaming the streets and back alleys of our fair backwater. Apart from journalists, satirists, feminists and activists, a not-so-new breed of –ists has recently taken root. They feed off the outrage that TV channels, newspaper columnists and radio jockeys with bad accents spread and are driven by the knowledge that they know best, no matter what the currently accepted scientific view of the situation is. The widespread presence of these parasites (mind you, not all of them are all that bad) gives us the impression that a lot of activism and voice-raising is going on in society. Unfortunately, however, these voices are restricted to the confines of local press clubs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and blogs at Wordpress. Those of these –ists who manage to make it to the mainstream media are just too ‘happy to be here’ to actually say anything meaningful. Don’t believe me? You shouldn’t, either.

Sharmila Farooqi, the firebreathing face of the Sindh government, has invoked the ire of social media hacks by ‘trivialising’ the suffering of one Fakhra, who took her own life after being let down by the justice system and the world.

Fakhra’s story is heartrending to say the least, and serves as a grim reminder of the barbarity of the society we live in. Unfortunately, all of the outrage has been focused towards how much of a pig the alleged perpetrator Bilal Khar was and how all men should burn in hell for his crimes. I know that I too will get a lot of flak for using the word ‘alleged’ in the previous sentence, but so be it.

What is sadly absent from the picture is constructive discourse and national dialogue on ways to

make sure that no one has to suffer the same fate as Fakhra, ever again. Whether this means overhauling the laws that govern the punishment meted out to perpetrators of violent crimes against women or the development of a Khaadim-e-Aala-style ‘swift-justice-through-one-window’ mechanism to punish such monsters extra-judicially; the point is that rather than looking backwards, one must look forwards and make sure that Fakhra’s death goes not in vain. Unfortunately, the outrage squad is up in arms and wants Bilal Khar re-tried, ostensibly on the basis of the same shoddy evidence that allowed him to be acquitted in the first place. Face, meet palm.

Repeat until it sinks in.

The point here is not to criti-

girl, from the time that her case was closed, up until the point she decided to end it all. Says a lot for the conscience of our society, doesn’t it.

I’m a simple guy. I like the small things in life, like my mum’s parathas, chai from truck driver hotels and driving on the Murree Expressway. In the West, I would be described as a creature of habit.

One that lounges around on the couch, waiting for life to happen to him. That, unfortunately is the way that most of us have now become.

There is no longer any motivation to actually do something. Now, we just talk about doing something, or as the hirsute and rotund blogger Adnan Rasool puts it, talk about talking about doing something.

Where are all the petitions, open-

the point here is not to criticise those demanding ‘justice for Fakhra’, because it is, at the end of the day, a noble cause. what is criticism-worthy is the fact that everyone’s intentions are purely retributive and cannot affect the sea-change necessary to curb and eliminate violence against women in all its forms. cise those demanding ‘justice for Fakhra’, because it is, at the end of the day, a noble cause. What is criticism-worthy is the fact that everyone’s intentions are purely retributive and cannot affect the sea-change necessary to curb and eliminate violence against women in all its forms. This is the kind of sentiment that is missing. What is in plentiful supply is the kind of knee-jerk activism that is all too characteristic of us as a nation. I ask thee, if the young lady had not chosen to end her life and make a statement against the morally bankrupt nature of our society, who would’ve even remembered poor, disfigured Fakhra? Do a Google search and you see no, I repeat, no search results from the past two years. This means that no one was talking about the poor

forum dialogues, legislative lobbying and actual change that we love to dream about? In fact, how many of us know what amending the Pakistan Penal Code would entail?

Not many, eh? Well, there you go.

That’s our problem right there, not knowing what our rights, duties and responsibilities are. Our intentions are pure, yet we would rather use them to pave the road to hell rather than actually putting them to some kind of constructive use.

Under the current circumstances, we couldn’t get ‘justice’ for Fakhra even if we tried. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a greater crime against Fakhra than Bilal Khar ever could’ve committed.

Follow @mightyobvious on Twitter for more incoherence in 160 characters or less

T

here was this on a friend’s Facebook profile: “I am not just bombs, poverty and corruption. I am Edhi's philanthropy, Arfa Karim's brilliance and Pervez Masih's sacrifice. I am Afridi's exuberance and Miandad's six. I am the fastest growing of IT industries, an everexpanding middle class. I have fought dictatorships. I am 40,000 deaths for global peace. I am hospitality. I am the epitome of resilience and one of the bravest nations of the world. I am Pakistan!”

Each one of us can contribute stories about the resilience and bravery of the people of this country; here are mine: At sixty, M, our cook, is a frail, scrupulously honest man. He must have married late because his family is young – a couple of unmarried daughters aged twenty one and twenty two and a feeble minded loafer of a son aged seventeen.

M himself not a towering intellect either has worked in the Middle East, so he was able to build a house for his family in Kashmir. On one of his visits to his native town from Lahore, he wanted to take back four kilos of minced beef. The beef in Lahore, he said, was much better than back home. I worried the meat would spoil, but ‘I have a fridge in the house,’ he assured me proudly. ‘I have a teleBy Rabia Ahmed vision and furniture and everything I need. It’s just that I have no money.’

This bravely bittersweet confession is Pakistan. Damn right, we are not just about bombs and violence. Our people have everything: a beautiful country, minerals and other natural resources, brains and a sophisticated cultural heritage. It’s just that they have no money, and no peace.

Exposed to bombs and violence from above, beyond and within our midst, Pakistan’s resilience is providential but its patience in the face of such trials may be a mixed blessing.

Last week, according to officials, Taliban militants armed with guns and rockets killed at least three soldiers at a check post in the tribal region Khadizai near the Afghan border.

The residents of Khadizai are familiar with these incidents since these areas, acrawl with insurgents, and bastions of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

According to Pakistan Today, ‘Islamist’ militants have killed more than 4,900 people across the country since July 2007 alone.

Life is cheap in Pakistan. When seven people died at the hands of a militant gunman in Toulouse, it shook the people of France and this incident is likely to have political ramifications for France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy.

In Pakistan, we leave it to tawdry scandals to achieve what loss of life, of whatever magnitude, cannot.

An eighteen-year-old boy perched atop the carpenter’s table at our under construction house the other day was writing in a book on his knee, tongue out and oblivious. When I asked him to show me what he was writing, he proudly displayed a page of writing in Urdu and told me about himself: by day he helps lay floors, at night he studies in grade one at his local madrassah.

They aren’t all cradles of militancy, these madrassahs, which like the words ‘Islamic’ and ‘Jihad’ have acquired negative overtones. Tell me where else is a man to go working as a tiler’s aide for less than three hundred rupees a day? The cheerfulness and courage of this hardworking boy studying in his spare time match the intelligence of Arfa, Afridi’s exuberance Pervez Masih’s courage and Miandad’s six, while many of these madrassahs are run on charity as large hearted as Edhi’s.

In the face of the merciless power shortage faced by this country, it is incredible that we are only now seeing some riots protesting against the problem. Given the past though, it is possible that after a month of these days more frequently without than with power, people will accept the fact that their businesses are unable to survive, their homes unable to function.

Is this defeatism or resilience, or a mixture of both? Is it providential, or would the country be better of if its people were less patient with their hardships?

Tailors are taking longer to complete their jobs because they say their workers refuse to use hand cranked sewing machines. Farm workers will not use manual water pumps. These old methods are the new ‘new’ technology, and like with all new technology our countrymen are loath to use them. They’d rather sink slowly but surely into darkness. And yet, there is the fast growing IT industry and middle class.

So you tell me.

Pakistan has ever been a conundrum, a fact never better witnessed than on the cricketing field when its unnerving unpredictability so completely oversets the other team.

Who knows when this patience will turn into uncontrollable violence off the pitch?

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tuesday, 27 March, 2012

Final ‘Harry Potter’

IN LIMELIGHT

sweeps Empire Awards LONDON aGeNCieS

T

HE final instalment of the ‘Harry Potter’ film franchise has won the top prize at the 2012 Empire Awards. ‘Harry Potter

and the Deathly Hallows Part 2’ scooped best film and best director for David Yates, with many of the film's cast attending the ceremony. Gary Oldman won best actor for his role in political thriller ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’. And ‘The Inbetweeners Movie’

beat ‘Bridesmaids’ to pick up best comedy. The Empire Awards are voted for entirely by the public.

Daniel Radcliffe said: “I've always been quite a harsh judge of the series, but I was over the moon with this final film. I think we went out on a high note.” Oldman won the best actor prize after losing out to France's Jean Dujardin, who starred in ‘The Artist’, at both the Oscars and the Baftas. Oldman's film ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ went on to win best British film and best thriller. Director Tim Burton, whose films include ‘Edward Scissorhands’, ‘Sweeney Todd’ and the 1989 version of ‘Batman’, picked up the Empire Legend award. Michael Fassbender, star of ‘X-Men: First Class’, was given the Empire Hero prize.

loNdoN: Gary oldman with his Best actor award at the Jameson empire Film awards. afP

loNdoN: Michael Fassbender with his empire Hero award at the Jameson empire Film awards. afP

MuMBai: ritesh deshmukh, Nargis Fakhri, Prateik Babar and rekha at the Big Star Young entertainer awards. afP

glow by Warid launches augmented Reality through its ‘dosti Ke Rung’ campaign NEwS DESK Youth-based cellular brand Glow by Warid revealed a new dimension to its popular Dosti Ke Rung Campaign, bringing the concept of Augmented Reality for the first time to Pakistan. This is a part of the nationwide celebration of friendship, whereby the cellular brand offers an-

other way to rejoice with friends in a free spirited, light hearted way. Augmented Reality is a concept involving computer-generated imagery in live video streams where a person interacts with the objects on screen, giving the perception of being part of that reality.

This is a virtual world setup where friends stand

in a blank space; this is then transposed to appear as if the group of friends is standing in as part of music and dance video.

These special Glow setups are taken on-ground live with customised activity areas in select colleges, universities, shopping and entertainment venues across Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

Models at the launch

karaCHi: Crab tree and evelyn launched a new outlet recently. Pr

His Excellency Mr and Mrs Thomson

‘Krrish 3’ keeps Priyanka on her toes

MuMBai: For Priyanka Chopra, hard work and hectic schedules seem to be a rush. the dusky damsel is busy shooting for the sequel of ‘Krrish’, and she is just not ready to take a break. Priyanka has been on her toes since times immemorial, it seems. after the success of ‘agneepath’, the actress has hardly had time to relax. and now, on board the sets of ‘Krrish 3’, she is tackling long days and taxing schedules with amazing ease. the cast and crew of ‘Krrish 3’ were in Hyderabad recently, and Priyanka was seen working incessantly all day. the huge sets saw other actors of the film work their roles out. Hrithik roshan, Viveik oberoi and Kangana ranaut all shot their respective scenes on the sets in Hyderabad. However, Piggy Chops’ hard work stole the show. aGeNCieS

Fouad and Nadia Hussain

Want to work with SRK, says Bipasha MuMBai: Someone who has witnessed the highs and lows of being a Bollywood actress, Bipasha Basu still harbours a regret which she cannot come to terms with. the Bollywood diva, in her decade long career has been part of many genres of films and she remains to be one of the most sought after actresses in B-town. However, the bong beauty, who has been there and done that, recently disclosed her craving to work with King of romance Shah rukh Khan. talking to the media, Bipasha said, “there are a lot of people who i want to work with. But i really want to work with Shah rukh. i hope it happens soon. it is my biggest regret so far that i have not been able to pair with him in any film in the last 10 years of my career.” Bips who had three back to back duds - ‘Dum Maaro Dum’, ‘Players’ and ‘Jodi Breakers’, is working hard to put things together and give a fitting reply to her critics. while Bipasha is making all efforts to pair up with SrK, let’s hope the badshah doesn’t disappoint her. aGeNCieS

Roohi, Elena, Fouad and Mrs Campbell

MuMBai: try broaching the topic of her marriage, or even a mention of her husband Sunjay's name, and Karisma doesn't take it too kindly. recently, Karisma was talking about how she is enjoying her motherhood and how with two children there are a lot of responsibilities. and when some one asked whether her husband helps her in the domestic chores and do they share children's responsibities, Karisma politely requested to stay away from the topic related to her husband and marriage. No wonder so, once again there are rumours floating that Karisma and Sanjay Kapur have decided to split and apparently, the two have even decided to file for divorce. that their marriage has been in trouble is common knowledge and they did try to make things work for a long time.

Karisma had reportedly walked out of Sanjay's Delhi home a year after the wedding. But then they sorted out and got back together. But looks like the situation has worsened once again the industry insiders say that the two have started living separately. aGeNCieS

LHR 27-03-2012_Layout 1 3/27/2012 2:56 AM Page 15

15 Bieber's 'Boyfriend' single drops:

Simon Cowell

Twitter explodes victim of alleged break-in LOS ANGELES aGeNCieS

J

USTIN Bieber released a new single, ‘Boyfriend’, off his upcoming album, ‘Believe’. The track was -unsurprisingly -- everywhere shortly thereafter. The pop prince's single hit iTunes on Monday. Biebs himself was in fine form on Twitter, whipping

his nearly 19 million followers into a frenzy with a countdown to the moment of truth. Bieber recently told USA Today that he sees ‘Believe’ as an opportunity to present a more mature version of himself to his fans.

“I'm maturing, and my music's maturing, so I wanted to do something different,” he said.

A recent Complex cover shoot showed a tougher side of the sweet-voiced Usher prodigy.

The magazine showed Bieber bloodied and on the receiving end of a few hits as part of their feature. The song does sound like radio gold, and it's nice to see Bieber referencing his "swag" multiple times throughout the song (and prepping listeners for his falsetto before it hits their eardrums). The fact that the 18-year-old phenom is dating Selena Gomez in real life, however, adds a certain boyish charm to the track.

Benjamin Sisters

to sing together after 24 years

NEwS DESK Pakistan’s well known trio singers Nerissa, Beena and Shabana, otherwise known as the Benjamin Sisters will performed together after 24 years. The Benjamin Sisters, who ruled Pakistan television in the late 1970s and early 1980s with their melodious voices and their powerful renditions of patriotic songs, will be seen next on a musical show titled ‘Artist of The Month’. The sisters will sing together after a span of 24 years. The programme will also feature other popular Paksitani artists, like Shazia Manzoor and Atta Ullah Khan Esa Khelvi.

LONDON aGeNCieS

A

young woman named Leanne Zaloumis has been arrested after Simon Cowell allegedly witnessed her break into his multi-million dollar UK mansion. Scotland

Yard confirmed that Zaloumis, 29, was charged with one count of aggravated burglary.

According to the Mirror, the alleged female intruder used a brick to enter the home through a bathroom window while Cowell watched TV in his living room at around 10 30 pm. The news source continues to report that Cowell and a member of his security staff eventually confronted the alleged intruder in the music mogul's bedroom. The incident is especially surprising as in 2007, Cowell revealed the extent to which he had secured his household, telling the Mirror, "I've spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on the very best security and I can assure you my homes are as safe as the Bank of England." The Mirror reports that Cowell, 52, was "pretty shaken up" following the alleged incident.

rihanna wants to spend summer with ashton kutcher LOS ANGELES aGeNCieS

R&B star Rihanna reportedly wants actor Ashton Kutcher to move to the UK to spend the summer with her. The 24-year-old singer, who is believed to have been having a fling with Kutcher for the past eight weeks, has asked him to join her in the UK for her shows at the Wireless festival, reported a website. "Rihanna and Rorrey, who releases music under the name GQ, are close so him meeting Ashton is a big deal. Rihanna clearly thinks things between them are serious," a source said. The ‘Two and a Half Men’ star, who split from wife Demi Moore last November, has been spotted with numerous women in the past few weeks. Meanwhile Moore, who recently left rehab after reportedly being treated for addiction and an eating disorder, is now said to want Kutcher out of her life for good.

Rang ja launches vibrant and colourful summer collection LAHORE Pr

Sefam PVT Ltd (Bareeze Group) has always maintained unique combination of high quality and fashion through its chic style and vivid colours. These garments are designed in-step with global fashions and in keeping with our traditions.

This year they have lived up to their reputation and brought forward their new prêt line ‘Rang Ja’. The entire collection incorporates bold and beautiful colours

Karisma, Sunjay

Katrina Kaif to get in shape

Kapur to split?

for an action role

that will make you go gaga.

These clothes are full of youthful designs, for those who love to look trendy and chic with contemporary and stylish motifs and patterns that have enough spunk to light up any wardrobe. The ready-to-wear brand has launched its first store at 120 Y-Block DHA (Urban Culture Building). Many renowned personalities attended the event which started with a fashion show, where models displayed ‘Rang Ja’ outfits. A live performance by QB was a high-

MuMBai: Katrina Kaif is tired of roles that only require her to look pretty. She is ready for more, having recently done action sequences in the upcoming movie ‘ek tha tiger’, apart from shaping up to do a full-fledged action role in ‘Dhoom 3’, where she plays a gymnast. actresses performing stunts is not a new phenomenon. aishwarya rai Bachchan has done some stunt scenes in ‘Dhoom 2’ and ‘Jodhaa akbar’, Priyanka Chopra had some action scenes in ‘Drona’, ‘Don’ and ‘Don 2’, while Kareena Kapoor has thrown her share of kicks and punches in ‘agent Vinod’. action as a genre is translating into hit films these days, and almost every actor worth his six packs will be seen in an action film this year, including Salman Khan (‘ek tha tiger’), akshay Kumar (‘rowdy rathore’), ajay Devgn (‘tezz’) and Hrithik roshan (‘Krrish 3’). actresses don't want to be left behind, and are now leaping off buildings and indulging in car chases as well. Kat is so serious about getting it right that she is seeking help from an international fitness instructor to help her train for ‘Dhoom 3’. the trainer is presently with her in London, where she is shooting for her film with Shah rukh Khan. She trains for two hours everyday to strengthen her core muscles and increase stamina and agility. She will be training with him for four months, post which the film goes on floors. aGeNCieS

light of the event. The event was managed by jBnJaws and the PR was handled by Encyclomedia PR.

Jessica Biel, Justin timberlake still undecided on wedding venue LONDON aGeNCieS

Jessica Biel and singer Justin Timberlake are still hunting for a perfect wedding location for there August wedding. The Hollywood couple yet to find a venue that can accommodate all their guests. "It needs to be in California and offer plenty of room! It will be a big wedding. They have lots of people they want to invite," femalefirst.co.uk quoted a source as saying.

loNdoN: it's been B-town's best kept secret for very long but of late, the elusive couple appears to be throwing caution to the wind. after pictures of them together at the Mumbai airport not so long ago, rani Mukerji was in London last week to celebrate her birthday with aditya Chopra. a source from Yash raj Films revealed, “For the past few years, rani and adi have been celebrating their birthdays and all important occasions together. with adi currently stationed in London to look into his father's directorial venture with Shah rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and anushka Sharma, rani decided to take a break from shooting for anurag Kashyap's aaiya and flew down to London to celebrate her birthday on March 21 with adi.” reportedly, there was no elaborate party. the couple, along with Yash Chopra and Shahrukh Khan, went for a quiet dinner and spent some quality time together. the entire Chopra family has been staying together at a villa in London. SrK has a house there and so does Katrina. the source further said, "rani also visited the sets of Yash Chopra's yet-untitled film.

He seems to have given his nod to the relationship, and rumour is that the couple will tie the knot this year." aGeNCieS

Rani's London

dreams

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16 Foreign News

tuesday, 27 March, 2012

Obama pledges nuclear cuts, warns n. Korea and iran SEOUL aFP

P

RESIDENT Barack Obama said on Monday the United States would further cut its nuclear arsenal, as he warned in a hard-hitting address that North Korea and Iran must back down over their atomic plans. Obama delivered his speech just before the start of a nuclear security summit in Seoul, seeking to build global momentum in the drive to eliminate or safeguard material that could be used to make thousands of bombs. He said major progress had been made since the initiative was launched two years ago, citing a number of countries that had removed their stockpiles and forecasting more commitments from other nations during the two-day summit.

“But we’re under no illusions. We

know that nuclear material — enough for many weapons — is still being stored without adequate protection,” he said. “We know that terrorists and criminal gangs are still trying to get their hands on it, as well as the radioactive material for a dirty bomb... the danger of nuclear terrorism remains one of the greatest threats to global security.” Obama urged the leaders or top officials from 53 nations attending the summit to “keep at it”, and pledged further actions from the United States including trying to persuade Russia to jointly cut their nuclear arsenal. He said that, with more than 1,500 deployed nuclear weapons and 5,000 warheads, the United States had “more nuclear weapons than we need”. “I firmly believe that we can ensure the security of the United States and our allies, maintain a strong deterrent against any threat, and still pursue further reductions in

our nuclear arsenal,” he said. Obama also sought to ramp up diplomatic pressure on North Korea and Iran over their atomic programmes, which although not on the summit’s official agenda were the focus of much discussion among leaders on Monday.

In North Asia, tensions have escalated in recent weeks after North Korea announced it would launch a long-range rocket in mid-April.

South Korea announced Monday it would shoot down the North’s rocket if it strayed into the South’s territory. Japan said last week it would do the same. The United States, South Korea, Japan and many other countries believe the launch is intended to test a missile capable eventually of delivering an atomic warhead. Obama told North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions or face further international isolation.

“By now it should be clear, your provocations and pursuit of nuclear weapons have not achieved the security you seek, they have undermined it,” he said, in what he called a direct address to the North’s new leadership.

“And know this — there will be no more rewards for provocations. Those days are over. This is the choice before you. This is the decision you must make.” Obama also warned Iran in his speech that time was running out to resolve the standoff over its nuclear programme through diplomacy.

“There is time to solve this diplomatically... but time is short. Iran must act with the seriousness and sense of urgency that this moment demands,” he said. Obama also said Monday that all HEU had been removed from Ukraine, and said other nations would report at the Seoul Seoul: uS President Barack obama shakes hands with summit fresh commitments to secure indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit on Monday. afp or remove nuclear materials.

germany’s Pirate party rides the wave of success

Pope heads to Cuba to shore up Catholic Church HAVANA aFP

Pope Benedict XVI heads Monday to multidenominational Cuba, where the Catholic Church has minority status but maintains a special dialogue with the communist regime, in the absence of legal opposition. Benedict XVI, who made his first visit to Mexico at the weekend, set the tone for the Cuba trip by insisting Marxism “as it was designed, no longer corresponds to reality,” and it would be useful to “find new models” of governing.

He said Friday that Catholics were ready “to help in a constructive dialogue necessary to avoid trauma.” But the pontiff added that it was “obvious that the church is always on the side of freedom of conscience, freedom of religion” and that in Cuba, “ordinary Catholics contribute to finding the path forward.” However, nobody expects a clash between the pontiff and the Cuban government, even as it continued a government crackdown on its opponents. At least 70 dissidents have been arrested by Cuban authorities in an effort to stop a demonstration during Benedict XVI’s visit, opposition sources said.

BERLIN aFP

MedaN: indonesian students break the fence of the Polonia international airport during a protest against the government’s plan to raise fuel prices on Monday. afp

Homs shelled, russia warns of Syria civil war DAMASCUS aFP

Syrian forces sent shells crashing into a rebel district of Homs city for a seventh straight day of a deadly onslaught on Monday, monitors said, as Russia warned Damascus to act to avoid a civil war.

The assault came as Syrian opposition factions gathered in Istanbul in a bid to close ranks ahead of a Friends of Syria meeting in the same city on April 1, and Turkey closed its Damascus embassy.

The crisis was also discussed in Seoul at a meeting between US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.

President Bashar al-Assad’s regime pressed on with its military campaign to crush opponents, however, activists and monitors said. Troops fired mortar rounds into Khaldiyeh, a rebel bastion in the flashpoint central city of Homs,

setting houses ablaze, said the Local Coordination Committees. “The regime is trying to storm the neighbourhood,” said the LCC, an activist group that organises protests.

At least five people died in the assault, adding to the dozens already killed in the week-old bombardment of the district, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Activists fear a repeat of the month-long battering that killed hundreds in the Homs district of Baba Amr before the rebel Free Syrian Army withdrew and the military moved in on March 1. Two more people died elsewhere in Syria. Snipers killed one in northwestern Idlib province and an 18year-old woman died in clashes in Harasta, Damascus province. Violence was also reported in the eastern hot spot of Deir Ezzor, in central Hama, in northwestern Idlib and in southern Daraa province, cradle of the one-year uprising against Assad’s regime.

The crackdown, which monitors say

has seen more than 9,100 people killed, was one of the priority issues discussed between Obama and Medvedev at their meeting in South Korea. After the talks, Obama acknowledged there had been disagreements in the past few months between the United States and Russia, an ally of Assad’s regime. But he said both agreed “we should be supportive of Kofi Annan’s efforts to end some of the bloodshed that is taking place in Syria,” and that the goal was to have a “legitimate” government in Damascus.

Russia and China last week backed a UN Security Council peace plan for Syria put forward by Annan, the UNArab League envoy. Annan’s plan calls for a halt to fighting, with the government pulling troops and heavy weapons out of protest cities, a daily two-hour humanitarian pause to hostilities and access to all areas affected by the fighting. It also calls for the release of people detained in the uprising. Before flying to Seoul,

Medvedev warned that Annan represented the last chance for avoiding a civil war in Syria.

Russia has been facing mounting Western and Arab calls to step up pressure and stop delivering arms to Assad’s regime. “This may be the last chance for Syria to avoid a protracted and bloody civil war,” Medvedev told Annan in Moscow. “We will be offering you our full support at any level at which we have a say,” he said. In Ankara, a diplomatic source said Turkey’s decision to close its mission in Damascus was linked to security conditions, adding that the consulate in the northern city of Aleppo would remain open. Norway said it was also shutting its Damascus mission for security reasons. On the ground, security forces launched dawn raids in the eastern hot spot of Deir Ezzor, in which 16 people were arrested, and operations were also staged in villages of Daraa province, said the LCC.

By storming into its second state parliament, Germany’s Pirate party has shown it is no flash in the pan but a powerful force in a fast-changing political landscape, analysts and media said on Monday. After stunning Germany in September by winning seats in the Berlin regional parliament, the Pirates, who campaign for more transparency in politics and Internet freedom, again tasted success in the tiny industrial state of Saarland. By capturing 7.4 percent of the vote, they claimed fourth place in Sunday’s election, eclipsing the more mainstream Greens and obliterating the pro-business FDP, which governs with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party at the federal level. The Pirates, whom national surveys also put at around seven percent, have now shown they appeal not just to Berlin’s notoriously leftist voters, said Nils Diederich, political scientist at the city’s Free University. “I thought the Pirates were a big-city phenomenon. I am a bit surprised by their success in Saarland,” he told AFP. The Pirates themselves put their success down to the fact that alternative parties were failing to inspire voters. “The other parties paint a very poor picture,” said Michael Hilberer, a Pirate politician from Saarland.

And Sebastian Nerz, the head of the Pirates at federal level, was already eyeing two bigger regional elections in May, saying the Saarland result was a “positive signal” for votes in Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia. Polls show that the Pirate party, whose top candidates are often in their 20s and 30s, are appealing to a new generation. Among first-time voters in the Saarland election, they came second.

Founded in Berlin in 2006, based on the model of a similar party in Sweden, the German Pirates are criticised for a lack of substance on the key issues. They focus on sensitive issues such as data protection and copyright policy and seek to woo voters by promoting more transparency in politics, using social networks such as Twitter to send out comments during private meetings and encouraging voters to suggest their own policies.

israel cuts contact with UN rights council: spokesman JERUSALEM aFP

The Israeli foreign ministry decided on Monday to cut contact with the United Nations Human Rights Council after it said last week it would investigate Israeli settlements, a spokesman said. “There was a decision by the foreign ministry to sever work contacts with the organisation,” ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP, adding that Israel had yet to formally inform the council of its decision.

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Foreign News 17

Tibetan protester sets himself ablaze in new delhi NEw DELHI aFP

A Tibetan exile set himself on fire and suffered life-threatening burns as he ran down a street in New Delhi on Monday to protest against a visit this week to India by Chinese President Hu Jintao. The 27-yearold, identified by fellow protesters as Janphel Yeshi, carried out his attempted self-immolation in Jantar Mantar, a city centre venue for public rallies and demonstrations. Yeshi, dressed in a cardigan and dark trousers, screamed as his body was covered in flames and he ran along the road with black smoke pouring from his hair, according to witnesses.

“Suddenly this guy came running along,” Nyima Tashi, a 39-year-old Tibetan businessman based in Delhi, told AFP. “Then he fell down. We were all shocked.

“One of our supporters threw a coat on him to try to put out the flames and then the police took him away hospital. He was heavily burned.”

Turkish ex-army chief on trial for alleged coup plots ISTANBUL aFP

Turkey’s former army chief Ilker Basbug went on trial Monday on charges of leading a terrorist group accused of plotting to overthrow the Islamist-rooted government, local media said. Basbug, who was chief of staff from 2008 to 2010, has been in custody since January and risks life in prison if convicted in a case that has inflamed tensions between the government and the powerful military. He is the most senior officer to be implicated in a massive probe into the so-called Ergenekon network, accused of plotting to topple Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP). Basbug, 68, branded the charges against him as “tragi-comic” when he was arrested in January. At the start of the hearing in a court in Silivri, outside Istanbul, Basbug’s lawyer called for his client to be tried by the supreme court but the demand was rejected, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Mullah Krekar gets five years prison for Norway death threat OSLO aFP

A Norwegian court on Monday sentenced Mullah Krekar, the founder of a radical Iraqi Kurdish Islamist group, to five years in jail for issuing death threats against a former government minister and others. The 55year-old mullah, whose real name is Najmeddine Faraj Ahmad and who has lived in Norway since 1991, founded the Ansar alIslam group. He was found guilty of threatening the life of Erna Solberg, an exminister who signed his expulsion order in 2003 because he was considered a threat to national security. “Norway will pay a heavy price for my death,” he said during a meeting with international media in June 2010. “If for example Erna Solberg deports me and I die as a result, she will suffer the same fate,” he said in Arabic. “I don’t know who will kill her: Al-Qaeda, Ansar al-Islam, my family, my children. I don’t know... But she will pay the price.” The three Oslo court judges said the threat was aimed at pushing Norwegian authorities to retract the expulsion order. Krekar, whose name is on terrorist lists drawn up by the United Nations and the United States, has avoided expulsion since the order was signed nine years ago since Norwegian law prevents him from being deported to Iraq until his safety can be guaranteed and as long as he risks the death penalty there. Krekar was also accused of threatening three other Kurds living in Norway who had burned pages of the Koran or insulted it in another way.

Herat: Former taliban fighters stand near their weapons as they joined afghan government forces during a ceremony on Monday. afp

France launches hunt for Islamic extremists after attacks PARIS

P

aFP

RESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy, in mid-campaign for reelection, said Monday French security services would launch a hunt for Islamic extremists following the killing spree by an Islamist gunman.

Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old who claimed he had links to Al-Qaeda and was killed Thursday in a stand-off with police in Toulouse, killed seven people including three Jewish children in the attacks in southwestern France. “Are there other Merahs? All the security, intelligence and police services in democratic countries are on the lookout,” Sarkozy told France

Info radio. He said the interior and justice ministries have been ordered to engage in a systematic evaluation of potential threats. On Sunday, authorities charged the gunman’s brother, 29-year-old Abdelkader Merah, with complicity in the attacks but he denied any involvement.

French security services have come under fire for not preventing the three shooting sprees, which saw the killings of three off-duty French soldiers and three children and a teacher at Jewish school.

The attacks have also pushed security issues up the agenda in the midst of a heated campaign for France’s April-May presidential election. Merah said he had received training in Pakistan and Afghanistan and he had been on a US “terror blacklist” banning him from US-

bound flights after he was arrested in Afghanistan and sent back to France. The director general of the French national police, Frederic Pechenard, defended security services Monday, saying it was easier to criticise in hindsight.

“It’s easy now, when we have the killer’s name, to look back. It’s a bit like the lottery: it’s easy to have the six numbers in order after the fact,” he told RTL radio. He said police were facing a daunting task in evaluating the risks of other potential extremists. “There are hundreds of young French people who go to Egypt, to Yemen, to Pakistan to study the Koran... who are nothing more than religious,” he said. “Amid these hundreds of people are a few potential terrorists whom we need to

british PM admits hosting wealthy party donors

work on.” Sarkozy also said Monday that France had barred influential Qatar-based Sunni Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi from visiting the country.

In the heated atmosphere following the attacks, Qaradawi’s planned visit next month for a congress of the Union of Islamic Organisations in France (UOIF) was attacked by the opposition Socialists and far-right National Front.

“I told the emir of Qatar himself that this gentleman was not welcome in the territory of the French Republic,” Sarkozy told France Info. Qaradawi, who hosts a popular show on AlJazeera satellite television, backed Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, and has launched a fundraising effort for the Syrian opposition.

Nato to declare missile shield without Putin: rasmussen MOSCOw aFP

LONDON aFP

Britain’s David Cameron admitted Monday to hosting donors to his Conservative party at his official residence, the day after a top party official quit for trying to sell access to the premier.

In an abrupt U-turn Cameron published details of three dinners with wealthy supporters since taking office in 2010, but also sought to quell the row with a promise to work towards long-stalled reforms of party funding.

Tory treasurer Peter Cruddas was forced to resign on Sunday after being filmed offering potential donors private dinners with Cameron for £250,000 ($396,000, 299,000 euros) and an opportunity to shape government policy.

Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband demanded a full independent investigation into the “very disturbing revelations” and full disclosure of all meetings with donors. Hours after a senior Tory minister said such a disclosure was “unreasonable” and just minutes after a Downing Street spokeswoman said they were private meetings, the prime minister changed

tack. “There have been three occasions on which significant donors have come to dinner in my flat,” Cameron said, interrupting a pre-planned televised speech on funding for dementia to deal with the issue.

He said none of the dinners had been fundraising events and they had largely involved old friends, adding: “Peter Cruddas has never recommended anyone to come to dinner in my flat, nor has he been to dinner there.” Cameron also promised to publish all such future dinners, compile a register of major Tory donors who attend party fundraising events, and draw up new guidance for ministers on lobbying. The prime minister repeated that Cruddas’ comments, filmed by undercover reporters, were “completely unacceptable and wrong” and insisted that they did not result in any money changing hands.

“However to avoid any perception of undue influence from now on we will on put in place new procedures” for ministers concerned about lobbying, he said.

The prime minister added that the row had proved there was “an urgent need for party funding reform in this country” and invited the opposition Labour party to

restart talks on the issue. Senior Tory minister Francis Maude was due to make a statement to parliament later Monday on the reforms, after years of disagreement between his party, which relies on individual donations, and trade-union funded Labour. Cruddas resigned early Sunday following the publication of the footage shot by undercover reporters for the Sunday Times newspaper, although he said his comments were “bluster” and insisted money could not buy access to ministers.

Miliband said the row involved “very disturbing revelations about the way that access was sought, the way that access was bought or apparently at least offered, and that’s why we need a proper investigation into what happened.”

Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the Sunday Times whose frequent meetings with successive British prime ministers have also come under scrutiny, weighed in on Twitter, backing an independent probe and asking: “What was Cameron thinking?” Concerns over lobbying in British politics are not new but the timing of the latest row is particularly damaging for the Conservatives as they battle claims of pandering to the rich after cutting the top rate of income tax in last week’s budget.

NATO will announce the completion of the first stage of a controversial missile defence shield at a May summit that will not include Russian leader Vladimir Putin, its chief said Monday. NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Western military bloc intended to announce the deployment of the first “interim” phase of a missile defence shield for Europe at the summit in Chicago. The US-backed system has been bitterly opposed by Russia and has remained one of the main stumbling blocks in Moscow’s recent relations with Washington. “I can confirm that it is our intention to declare what we call an interim capability of the NATO system. That is part of the first phase of the development of the NATO missile defence system,” Rasmussen said in a video conference with Moscow reporters. However he confirmed that Putin is expected to miss the May 20-21 meeting when he pays his first visit to the United States since his March 4 election to a third term as president. Rasmussen said he and Putin had agreed by telephone that their summit was unlikely to go ahead in Chicago “due to the very busy domestic schedule in Russia.”

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tuesday, 27 March, 2012

woods ends 30-month title drought Page 21

ACC dismisses BD Asia Cup appeal KARACHI/LAHORE

C

aFP/StaFF rePort

RICKET’S governing body in Asia on Monday rejected a complaint from Bangladesh that one of their batsman was obstructed by a Pakistani bowler in their recent Asia Cup final defeat. The complaint was rejected on the grounds that it was not reported by on-field umpires, an official said.

Ashraful Huq, chief executive of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), said Bangladesh officially complained about the last over of the final, which Bangladesh narrowly lost. “We had received Bangladesh’s complaint but since the incident was not reported by the onfield umpires nothing can be done,” Ashraful told AFP from Kuala Lumpur.

Bangladesh had appealed to the ACC to review the final over, accusing Pakistani paceman Aizaz Cheema of deliberately blocking batsman Mahmudullah Riyad from taking a second run.

Pakistan beat Bangladesh by two runs to lift the four-nation Asia Cup after a thrilling final on Thursday. The Pakistan Cricket Board had expressed disappointment over Bangladesh’s complaint, calling it an “after thought” after defeat.

Ashraful, who also hailed from Bangladesh, said the International Cricket Council (ICC) had also turned down the complaint. “It could have happened then and there, in the final but since umpires and match-referee did not take any action then, so the matter is

closed,” said Ashraful.

“I think the Bangladesh team played so well in the whole tournament, beating India and Sri Lanka — World Cup 2011 finalists — was no mean achievement and although they lost the final, the Bangladesh team won millions of hearts.”

FIELD UMPIRE CAN DECIDE DISTRACTION DURING MATCH: The Pakistan Cricket Board officials at the National cricket Academy and some of the former cricketers have in general discussions came to the conclusion that only the on field umpire has the right to report the incident of Pakistan bowler blocking way of a Bangladeshi batsman during the final over of the Asia Cup that was won by Pakistan last week. “During a routine consultative discussion held at the National Cricket Academy between the NCA Officials and various former Pakistan cricketers a number of issues were discussed and deliberated upon,” revealed an official of the PCB. He said: “Among other issues, the recent Asia Cup final between Pakistan and Bangladesh and complaint filed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board with a considerable delay regarding the purported incident that occurred in the last over of the final of Asia Cup match in Dhaka, was also discussed.” Director Game Development PCB, Intikhab Alam, speaking regarding the complaint filed by the BCB clarified and brought on record that, “as per Law 42.5 (a) of the Laws of Cricket, it is for either one of the umpires to decide whether any distraction or obstruction is willful or not.” “Therefore, if any distrac-

tion or obstruction was caused by any Pakistani player, as alleged by BCB, the same could have been validly raised, complained against and pursued by on-

field umpires only. The fact is that no decision was taken up by the umpires at the relevant time as per the Laws of Cricket, which clearly reflects that no infringe-

ment of laws took place.” It is surprising rather astonishing that a complaint was lodged after a couple of days of the match, the official added.

pcB in talks with other Cairns wins twitter libel action against Modi boards for home series LONDON aFP

LAHORE StaFF rePort

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Zaka Ashraf has said that his board has line-up some other cricket teams in case the Bangladesh does not tour Pakistan next month.

Talking to journalists in Islamabad Zaka said he doesn't want to disclose which cricket boards they are and will wait until Bangladesh makes a decision. Bangladesh's cricket board has submitted a security report on Pakistan to its government after its president Mustafa Kamal led a nine-member delegation to the country earlier this month. A foreign news agency quoted Ashraf as saying that the BD

president is satisfied with the security arrangements, but the board is still waiting for clearance from the government. PCB wants to host Bangladesh for either three one-day internationals or two ODIs plus a Twenty20 match. The host cities remain negotiable.

Meanwhile, Zaka put his weight behind captain Misbah-ul-Haq and stated that he is an Asia Cup winning captain and there is no point in bringing in other captain.

Earlier there were reports that the PCB plans to remove Misbah as ODi and T20 captain and appoint Mohammad Hafeez of rbing back Shahid Afridi. But he ruled out any such change and said that he has done a good job as captain and there is no need to change the captain.

Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns has won a libel action against Lalit Modi in London that leaves the one-time chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) facing a bill of more than £500,000 ($794,000). In the first libel action heard in England against a post on Twitter, Cairns, 41, was awarded £90,000 damages after Judge David Bean dismissed fixing allegations levelled against the cricketer by Modi. Meanwhile, Modi was also ordered to pay an additional £400,000 on account of Cairns's costs to his solicitors within 28 days.

The figures do not include Modi's own legal costs. Cairns sued over an "unequivocal allegation" of match-fixing on Modi's

Twitter account on the micro-blogging site in January 2010. Bean said Modi had "singularly failed" to provide any reliable evidence Cairns was involved in match-fixing or spot-fixing. Modi responded to Monday's ruling by telling his Twitter followers: "I have seen the judgment. All I want to say at the moment is that we are appealing the Judgment." Cairns, not in court on Monday, said in a statement: "Today's verdict lifts a dark cloud that has been over me for the past two years. I feel mixed emotions.

"Firstly, sadness that I should ever have had to put myself, my friends and my family through this because of one man's misdirected allegations. "But I also feel great joy because my past career has come through unscathed and remains intact and because I had the courage to stand up in the highest court to defend my name."

Fitness of players, ball control is the key: Akhtar Rasool LAHORE aSHer Butt

The second phase of the camp training of the senior hockey team started here at the National Hockey Stadium on Monday under the supervision of newly-appointed head coach Olympian Akhtar Rasool.

With Kh Junaid and Shahid Ali being the assistant coaches, the team’s immediate task is to train for tri-nation hockey series scheduled for next month at home while the next assignment is the Azlan Shah Cup and then the main target, the London Olympics.

Apart from short-corner specialist Sohail Abbas, all the probables have joned the camp that began with fitness drill on Monday morning and the evening session carried proper hockey drills.

Talking to this scribe, Akhtar Rasool said that team has assembled here at the National Stadium to first prepare for the tri-nation hockey being hosted by the Pakistan Hockey Federation.

The PHF has planned to host India and Malaysia in a tri-nation hockey tournament beginning from April 9 here at the National Hockey Stadium. And then comes the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia.

“The foremost task is to get the play-

ers into shape before the three-nation tournament planned by the PHF,” said Akhtar. After the home series the team will take part in the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia.

“Right now we have these two tournaments in hand to prepare for and then come the London Olympics. The team is to leave for London by July 12, so we have very little time left before we start our campaign for the Olympics glory.

“Every moment and every minute of training is very important for us. We have started off with a six hours strain-

ing sessions – three hours in the morning and the same duration of session in the evening,” said Akhtar.

‘During the time, we have, we would try our best to have the best out of the players and made the players physical fit enough that they could deliver in all the sessions of the match. There use to be time when the match approaches its closing time the players get lethargic so keeping that in mind they would be prepared to such a level that they would gave the same level of stamina and fitness the final hooter is blown,” he maintained.

“What we would be doing during the camp is that let the players have full control of the ball, dribbling, controlled passing, movement from one position to the other with complete control on the ball.

“Above all the fitness of the players to deliver throughout the match would be of paramount importance during their training. They should be fit till the last minute of the match like the first stretch of the game,” said Akhtar.

He further added that he had a 43year of experience and he would try to pass it on to these players. “With a sincere effort I would give what I have learnt during my hockey life ad leave it all to Allah Almighty.”

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Australia level series despite Sammy heroics GROS ISLET

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EST Indies' hopes of a first series win over Australia in 17 years were shattered on Sunday when the tourists clinched a 30-run victory in a thrilling fifth and final one-dayer.

Chasing a victory target of 282, West Indies came agonisingly close before Australia won to level the series 2-2 with one tie.

From a seemingly hopeless position of 118 for seven, skipper Darren Sammy and all-rounder Andre Russell carved out a record eighth-wicket partnership of 101 off just 59 balls to take their team to 219 with nine overs left. Sammy, batting at nine, raced to 50 off just 20 balls and was eventually last man out in the 48th over having hit a blistering 84 off 50 deliveries with six boundaries and six sixes.

Russell made 41 off 33 balls before he was out lbw to Xavier Doherty, the Australians succeeding with a review after the batsman had been given not out by the onfield umpire. Once that red-hot partnership was broken, the Australians were virtually home. "At one time it looked like we would be chasing 330 but we pulled it back," said Sammy. "Against the world No. 1, with our backs against the wall, it was a fantastic effort. "Today again the top order didn't click but we can still put runs on the board. We have a 'never say die' attitude. I think we should have won the series."

Australian captain Shane Watson admitted there was still work to be done ahead of a two-match Twenty20 series which starts here on Tuesday. "Darren Sammy ran us close," said Watson. "We hoped to get up around 300 but thought

textile tigers beat Ch Sports LAHORE: Textile Tigers beat Chaudhary Sports by 6 wickets in the 1st Lahore Veteran Champion Trophy here at the at Kashmir Crown Cricket Ground Shahdara.

SCoreS: Chaudhary Sports batting first 188/9 after 30 overs. Babar Butt 76, Shahid ali 35 & Naeem ahmad 38 runs. rehan rouf 5/23, azhar Hussain 2/29, Masood ahmad 1/31 & Khalid Habib 1/28 wickets. in reply textile tigers 189/4 after 28.4 overs. Khalid Habib 61, rizwan Nisar 32, Muhammad riaz 29, ashraf ali 28 runs not out & asif Qureshi 25 runs not out.

Chaudhary Shafqat Hussain bowling well 3/33 & Babar Butt 1/33 wickets. anees Siddiqui, Sagheer ahmad Umpire & azhar Hussain was the scorer. Later chief guest test Cricketer ashraf ali gave the man of the match award to rehan rouf. StaFF rePort

aBL move into semis LAHORE: ABL move into the semi-final of the Shapes’ Cricket League 2012 on Monday beating Lahore Gymkhana by seven wicket here at Bagh-e-Jinnah. Dr. Tahir Shabbir Bhatti was the chief guest and met the players before the start of the match.

SCorS: Clots 229 for 5 in 30 overs. Hasnain alam 78, ahmed Khan 73. rizwan aslam took 2/38 and wasi Shah and Junaid Maqsood one wicket each. in reply aBL 230 for 3. rizwan aslam 126*, Muhammad Khawar 42 and Humayun Fida Hussain 31. ibrahim aqeel and Haris ramzan took one wicket each. rizwan aslam (aBL) was declared the Man of the Match. Match was supervised

by Qaiser waheed and Saghir ahmed (Umpires) and Muhammad rafique was the scorer. StaFF rePort

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groS iSLet: the australian team celebarte their win over the west indies. afp we'd done enough. There are a few things we have to work on but we're going the right way." West Indies got off to a nightmare start, losing opener Johnson Charles and Marlon Samuels, who were both dimissed for ducks by a fired-up Brett Lee in the first and third overs.

Darren Bravo made just three off 21 balls when he was caught behind by Matthew Wade off Clint McKay with Dwayne Bravo becoming the fourth man out after a lazy prod to mid-off off Shane Watson ended his brief cameo of 19. At the halfway stage of their run chase, West Indies were 82 for five after opener Adrian Barath (42) had been dismissed off slow bowler Xavier Doherty. That left

them requiring a run rate of eight an over and the situation got worse when Carlton Baugh was caught in the deep by Ben Hilfenhaus to give Lee his third victim.

Kieron Pollard, who blasted a matchwinning century in Friday's win that had given West Indies a 2-1 lead, was then caught by Mike Hussey off Watson in the 32nd over having hit two sixes in a 40-ball 33. That was the cue for Sammy's and Russell's pyrotechnics which almost took them to a famous win. Lee finished with the best figures of three for 42 off nine overs.

Australia made 281 for nine, their highest score of the series, after being put into bat. Watson, with 66 off 89 balls, and fellow opener David Warner,

auStralia 66 S. watson c Samuels b russell 69 d. warner c dwayne Bravo b Narine 53 P. Forrest c roach b russell 19 G. Bailey c russell b roach 12 B. lee b Narine 25 Mike Hussey c Pollard b russell 0 david Hussey c Baugh b russell 26 M. wade c darren Bravo b roach C. Mckay c darren Bravo b roach 0 1 X. doherty not out B. Hilfenhaus not out 0 extras (b2, lb1, w7) 10 total (nine wickets; 50 overs) 281 Fall of wickets 1-118 (warner), 2-161 (watson), 3-193 (Bailey), 4-212 (lee), 5-241 (Forrest), 6-241 (david Hussey), 7-279 (Mike Hussey), 8-279 (Mckay), 9-279 (wade) Bowling: roach 9-0-53-3 (1w), dwayne Bravo 6-0-40-0 (3w), Narine 10-0-55-2, Sammy 6-0-29-0 (1w), russell 9-0-61-4 (1w), Samuels 10-0-40-0 (1w) weSt iNdieS 0 J. Charles c & b lee a. Barath c Bailey b doherty 42 0 M. Samuels c wade b lee darren Bravo c wade b Mckay 3 19 dwayne Bravo c Bailey b watson 33 k. Pollard c M. Hussey b watson 13 C. Baugh c Hilfenhaus b lee 41 a. russell lbw b doherty d. Sammy c M. Hussey b Hilfenhaus 84 S. Narine c wade b Mckay 7 k. roach not out 2 extras (lb1, w6) 7 251 total (all out; 47.2 overs) Fall of wickets 1-0 (Charles), 2-5 (Samuels), 3-37 (darren Bravo), 4-63 (dwayne Bravo), 5-76 (Barath), 6-111 (Baugh), 7118 (Pollard), 8-219 (russell), 9-232 (Narine), 10-251 (Sammy) Bowling: lee 9-3-42-3, Hilfenhaus 8.2-1-36-1 (2w), Mckay 100-68-2, watson 10-0-44-2 (3w), doherty 10-0-60-2 (1w) result: australia won by 30 runs, toss: west indies, Series: drawn 2-2; one tie, umpires: kumar dharmasena (Sri) and Peter Nero (wiS), tV umpire: Shavir tarapore (iNd), Match referee: andy Pycroft (ZiM), reserve umpire: Gregory Brathwaite (wiS).

who crashed 69 off 61 balls, with 10 fours and a six, put on 118 for the first wicket by the 20th over as the tourists looked on course for a 300-plus total.

But only Peter Forrest, with 53, made another major contribution.

philander on fire as south africa turn screw SCoreBoard

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SoutH aFriCa 1St iNNiNGS: 474-9 dec (a. Petersen 156, JP duminy 103, H. amla 63; Gillespie 6-113, Martin 2-95) New Zealand 1st innings d. Flynn c Boucher b Philander 45 M. Guptill lbw Philander 59 B. McCullum c Boucher b Steyn 31 r. taylor rtd hurt 18 39 k. williamson c Boucher b Steyn d. Brownlie c Steyn b Philander 29 30 d. Vettori c rudolph b Philander k. van wyk c sub (tahir) b de lange 7 d. Bracewell b Philander 0 M. Gillespie c de Villiers b Philander 10 C. Martin not out 2 extras (lb 2, w 2, nb 1) 5 total: (all out; 96 overs) 275 Fall of wickets: 1-86 (Flynn), 2-136 (McCullum), 3-145 (Guptill), 3-160 (taylor rtd hurt), 4-219 (Brownlie), 5-242 (williamson), 6-263 (Vettori), 7-263 (Bracewell), 8-263 (van wyk), 9-275 (Gillespie) Bowling: Steyn 23-8-41-2, Philander 22-4-81-6 (1nb, 1w), Morkel 20-6-54-0, de lange 21-1-74-1 (1w), duminy 100-23-0 SoutH aFriCa 2Nd iNNiNGS a. Peterson not out 38 G. Smith not out 34 extras (w 2, nb 1) 3 total (no wickets; 15 overs) 75 Bowling: Martin 6-0-24-0, Bracewell 5-0-29-0 (2w), Gillespie 4-0-22-0 (1nb) toss: New Zealand Series: South africa lead the three-match series 1-0 umpires: aleem dar (Pak), richard kettleborough (eNG) tV umpire: Billy doctrove (wiS) Match referee: ranjan Madugalle (Sri)

South African pace sensation Vernon Philander became the fastest man in 116 years to reach 50 Test wickets on Monday as New Zealand struggled to stay alive in the third Test.

Philander, 26, reached the milestone in only his seventh Test as New Zealand folded for 275 in their first innings in reply to South Africa's 474-9 declared, avoiding the follow-on by just

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a single run. At stumps on the fourth day, South Africa, who hold a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series, were 75 without loss in their second innings, leading by 274 runs with one day remaining.

First innings centurion Alviro Petersen is not out 38 with captain Graeme Smith on 34 as the tourists look to bat New Zealand out of contention. New Zealand's fading hopes of levelling the series received a severe setback when captain Ross Taylor was hit on the left forearm by paceman Morne Morkel.

Vernon Philander bowls during the test match against New Zealand at the Basin reserve. afp

JK and Marathon in National Bridge finals LAHORE StaFF rePort

JK IV and Precision Marathon teams qualified to face each other in the finals of the Kayseria Lawn endorsed National Bridge Championship, at the Gymkhana Card Room, after overcoming the challenge put up by Century Insurance against JK 1V and Preemptors against Precision Marathon. And while the JK IV team comprising internationals Javed Khalid, Saeed Akhter, Tahir Abbas, Masood Mazhar and the husband and wife couple Mirza Shauq Hussain and Fehmina Shauq, were simply superb against Century Insurance and virtually crushed them in the three boards, resulting in an unbeatable margin of 82 imps and Century Insurance were compelled to concede the fourth board. That brought an outstanding victory for JK 1V and a tension free entry into the finals.

The semi-final contest between Preemptors comprising Ahsan Javed Qureshi, Ghias A.Malik, Safdar Mehmood, Asad Iqbal, Jahangir Ahmed and Izzat Khalil and Marathon comprising Hassan Askari, Tehsin Gheewala, Muhammed Mubashir Puri, Khaled Mohiuddin, Farrukh Liaqat and Junaid Said, was not one-sided and till the last segment it could have been anyones game. Ultimately however the Marathon team had the better of Preemptors and moved into the finals to meet the giants JK1V in a memorable encounter.

The finals will be contested over four segments, with one segment to be played late on Monday evening and three segments on Tuesday at Lahore Gymkhana with the finals overseen by international tournament director Ihsan Qadir and his associate Sarfraz Butt.

Faisalabad Veteran, Multan tigers in zonal quarters LAHORE StaFF rePort

Faisalabad Veteran beat Lahore Tigers by 4 runs and Multan Tigers beat Jinnah Seniors by 24 runs and qualified for the zonal quarter final of the 14th National Veteran Senior Cricket Cup. At the Model Town White ground, Faisalabad Veteran made 225/5 in 30 overs. Muhammad Shakeel 80, Waseem Haidar 71 runs not out & Ejaz Ahmad Junior 23 runs. Mujahid Jamshaid 1/49, Amanvel 1/40 & Saleem Butt 1/58 wickets. In reply Lahore Tigers 221 all out in 30 overs. Mujahid Jamshaid 61, Muhammad Munir 35, Tahir Irshad 55 & Saif-ur-rehman 29 runs. Maqbool Ahmad bowling well 5/34, Ejaz Ahmad 1/30, Pervez Hussain 1/45 & Waseem Haidar 1/55 wickets. Muhammad Kaleem, Javeed Ashraf Umpire & Azhar Hussain was the scorer. In the second match at BZU Multan Ground, Multan Tigers got 232/4 after 30 overs. Zakir Hussain 124, Abid Mehmood 52 & Ateeq Khan 35 runs. Daud Yousaf 2/44 & Muhammad Lal 1/20 wickets. In reply Jinnah Senior 208 all out. Nasir Qureshi 45, Qasim Rizwi 40 & Daud Yousaf 38 runs. Naeem Iqbal 4/36, Nadeem Bukhari 2/41, Faisal Hayyat 1/29 & Ghaffar Raza 1/32 wickets. Aftab Ali, Nadeem Iqbal Umpire & Shahid Gillani was the scorer.

Shakib top ODI all-rounder again, Akmal among top 10 LAHORE StaFF rePort

Former Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan has returned as the number one ranked allrounder in the latest Reliance ICC ODI Championship table after a series of strong performances in the Asia Cup. The left-hander's 237 runs with the bat have put him in a career-best 12th position, up by 14 places. He slipped one place to eighth in bowlers' list after his six wickets but earned 27 ratings points for his player of the tournament performance. There was good news for Bangladesh, too. They got five rat-

ings points for the memorable wins against the reigning world champions India and ICC World Cup finalists Sri Lanka. The combination of two means he has pipped Australian Shane Watson to the top spot in all-rounders' category. Australia's stand-in captain Watson had leapfrogged Shakib after the tri-series tournament in Australia.

Three West Indians – Darren Sammy, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard – are the other players to improve their rankings in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for allrounders' list which was updated on Monday.

Sammy, the West Indies captain, has jumped 18 places to 16th position, Russell has gained

16 places to occupy 18th spot while Pollard has broken into the top 20 for the first time in 19th position.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has moved up one place to fourth in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen along with Shakib while Pakistan's Umar Akmal has returned to the top 10 in 10th position. Batsmen outside the top 10 and heading in the right direction include Sachin Tendulkar in 27th (up by two), Tamim Iqbal in 29th (up by 10), Suresh Raina in 32nd (up by four), Pollard in 33rd (up by 17), Mohammad Hafeez in 40th (up by eight), David Warner in 43rd (up by 10). In the Reliance

ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez gained one place and is now in fourth spot while India's offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Watson and Kemar Roach of the West Indies have achieved career-best rankings.

Ashwin has moved up six places to fourth position after his five wickets in three Asia Cup matches in Dhaka while Watson's 11 wickets against the West Indies have provided him a lift of nine places which makes him his country's second highest-ranked bowler after Mitchell Johnson in 16th position. Kemar Roach has broken into the top 20 for the first time in his career. The fast bowler, along with

Watson, also took 11 wickets in the series for which he has been rewarded with a jump of nine places and puts him in 17th position. In the team standings, Australia have dropped four ratings points after its five-match ODI series against the West Indies ended in a twoall draw in St Lucia on Sunday. Watson's side had entered the series on 127 ratings points and was guaranteed a number one position in the C’ship table at the April 1 cut-off date after they won the series opener in St Vincent by 64 runs. However, the two loses, one win and a tied-match in the remaining four matches meant Australia conceded four ratings points and finished on 123 ratings points.

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nadal, Murray advance at Miami tennis iSLaMaBaD: Chairman PCB Zaka ashraf with the prize winners of Bait-ul-Maal Sweet Home Prize Distribution Ceremony. sTaff phOTO

Sri Lanka earn second win in asia Baseball Cup

LAHORE StaFF rePort

Fine performance by batters and pitchers helped Sri Lanka to earn the second consecutive win, outclassing Afghanistan 141 on the fourth day of the 10th West Asia Baseball Cup at the Punjab Stadium here on Monday.

Sri Lanka, which defeated Iran in the first match 15-0, made an impressive start scoring seven runs in the first innings against Afghanistan. Kosala, Dampi, Niroshan, Sameera, Nelanka, Fupun and Naveed all contributed one run each, as Afghani pitchers failed to give any significant resistance to the rivals.

Sri Lanka further added two runs in the second innings as their Dumpi and Shalitha contributed one run each.

In the third innings, while Sri Lanka failed to move ahead , Afghanistan drew the first blood scoring one run through Sher Ali, which proved their solitary run of the match.

Sri Lanka, from there on dominated the field completely, getting one run in the fourth innings through Sameera and then piled up three runs in the fifth innings.

Kosala, Niroshan and Naveen scored one run each in the fifth innings.

In the sixth innings, Sri Lanka plundered one more run to complete the tally.

Kosala, Dampi, Niroshan, Sameera, Nelanka, Naveen scored two runs each while Shalitha and Fupun chipped in with one run apiece.

Khyber Pukhtoon Khwan Sports Minister Syed Aaqil Shah was the chief guest.

President Pakistan Federation Baseball President Shaukat Javed, Secretary Khawar Shah, POA associate secretary Haider Khan Lehri and vice president of the PBF Mohsin Khan received the chief guest. Iran will take on Afghanistan in the next match on Tuesday. Usman Anwar, Director General Sports Board Punjab, will chief guest today on Iran versus Afghanistan at 2.30.

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World number two Rafael Nadal cruised through to the last 16 at the ATP/WTA Miami Masters tournament, while fourth seeded Andy Murray advanced without even breaking a sweat on Sunday. Nadal continued his domination over Czech Radek Stepanek with a straight forward 6-2, 6-2 victory in a third round match on centre court.

Murray reached the fourth round by not hitting a ball when Canadian Milos Raonic withdrew with a right ankle injury.

Nadal, who is chasing his first Miami title, has now beaten Stepanek in all six contests dating back to their first meeting in 2004.

"I am just happy to be in the fourth round winning two matches with positive feeling and with comfortable results," Nadal said. "I will just try to keep doing well and try to keep improving a little bit the level."

Nadal finished with three aces, won 74 percent of his first-serve points and saved both break point chances he faced in the 86 minute match. Nadal advances to face Japan's Kei Nishikori who breezed past Czech Lukas Rosol 6-4, 6-2 Sunday. "He's a fantastic player and will be a very difficult match for me," Nadal said of Nishikori. "He

has big talent to hit the ball very early, to play very aggressive."

The 24-year-old Scot Murray will tackle French 13th seed Gilles Simon for a place in the quarter-finals of a tournament he won in 2009. Highly-regarded Canadian 26th seed Raonic had already been forced to pull out of the doubles on Saturday where he and South African partner Kevin Anderson had managed just three games against Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic.

The 21-year-old Raonic had been in a rich vein of form in 2012, winning titles in Chennai and San Jose and making the final in Memphis.

At Indian Wells last week, he was knocked out in the third round by eventual champion Roger Federer. "The doctor in Spain doesn't think it's anything big. It probably just needs a couple days of rest and, with treatment, it should be OK in a week," said Raonic. "It's frustrating, but you have to look at the big picture." Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov recorded his first victory over a top 10 player when he beat seventhseeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-3, 26, 6-4 in two hours and 16 minutes.

Dimitrov saved five of seven break points to reach the fourth round of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time. The 20-year-old Dimitrov will next face ninth-seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic, who fired

down 10 aces to get past 18th-seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. Tipsarevic leads Dimitrov 20 in their head-to-head series, with both meetings coming last year at Eastbourne and Washington.

On the women's side, American wild card Venus Williams struggled to defeat Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) and top seed Victoria Azarenka powered past Heather Watson 6-0, 6-2 in third round matches on Sunday.

Williams advances to face former world number one Ana Ivanovic who beat 20th seeded Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 7-6 (7/2).

"I just kept coming back," Williams said. "I tried not to let anything discourage me today. I kept thinking about how I really need this match and I need these points."

Azarenka will square off against 16th seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova for a spot in the quarterfinals. In other women's matches Sunday, French seventh seed Marion Bartoli defeated Simona Halep 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska crushed Silvia Soler-Espinosa, of Spain 6-1, 6-2.

AzARENkA INTO NExT ROUND: Top seed Victoria Azarenka defeated wildcard Heather Wilson 6-0, 6-2, in the third round of the ATP/WTA Miami Masters tournament on Sunday.

Jayawardene thwarts England in first Test GALLE aFP

women National Cycling from 23rd LAHORE StaFF rePort

The Pakistan Cycling Federation is holding the 10th Women National Cycling Championship from April 23 to 25 here.

Idris Haider Khawaja, Secretary General PCF, said that the Championship will be held from at Lahore and all the affiliated units of the federation have been asked to start training and prepare their respective team and also confirm participation. “We will provide boarding and lodging and their travelling expenses to the provincial teams.

The participating teams must reach Lahore on April 22,� he added.

gaLLe: Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene (L) is congratulated by england's ian Bell at the end of the first day of the opening test match at the galle international Stadium. afp

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene crafted a classy century to steer Sri Lanka out of trouble on the opening day of the first Test against England in Galle on Monday.

Jayawardene hit an unbeaten 168 as the hosts recovered from a disastrous 15-3 by the fourth over to move to 289-8 by stumps at a Galle International Stadium packed with some 8,000 English supporters. Fast bowler James Anderson claimed two wickets off successive balls in his second over and new-ball partner Stuart Broad chipped in with the third after Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.

Jayawardene retrieved the situation by adding 52 for the fourth wicket with Thilan Samaraweera (20) and 61 for the fifth with young batsman Dinesh Chandimal (27).

Tailender Rangana Herath contributed just five runs in an eighth-wicket stand of 62 with his captain, who reached his 30th century with a paddle sweep off Graeme Swann for a boundary. As the bowlers wilted under the hot sun, England were left to rue three dropped catches -two by Monty Panesar and one by Anderson -- that reprieved Jayawardene.

The Sri Lankan captain has so far hit 20 boundaries and three sixes. Jayawardene surpassed Australian legend Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test hundreds and moved to fourth place among those still playing at the top level behind Sachin Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (42) and Ricky Ponting (41). Number 10 Chanaka Welegedara kept Jayawardene company at stumps on 10, the pair having added 36 valuable runs. Sri Lanka's South African coach Graham Ford hailed Jayawardene's "special innings" and said the fightback had ensured his team will be competitive in the match. "We had our backs against the wall when England bowled well and put us under pressure," Ford said. "It was tough to go in at that

SCoreBoard Sri laNka 1St iNNiNGS: l. thirimanne c Swann b anderson 3 t. dilshan c Strauss b Broad 11 0 k. Sangakkara c Prior b anderson 168 M. Jayawardene not out t. Samaraweera run out 20 d. Chandimal c Bell b Patel 27 P. Jayawardene lbw b anderson 23 S. randiv run out 12 r. Herath lbw b Patel 5 C. welegedara not out 10 extras: (lb6, nb4) 10 total (for eight wickets, 90 overs) 289 Fall of wickets: 1-11 (thirimanne), 2-11 (Sangakkara), 3-15 (dilshan), 4-67 (Samaraweera), 5-128 (Chandimal), 6-170 (P. Jayawardene), 7-191 (randiv), 8-253 (Herath).

Bowling: anderson 17-5-56-3, Broad 18-1-66-1 (nb4), Panesar 23-11-42-0, Swann 23-3-92-0, Patel 9-1-27-2. toss: Sri lanka umpires: asad rauf (Pak) and rod tucker (auS) tV umpire: Bruce oxenford (auS) Match referee: Javagal Srinath (iNd)

time, but Mahela is a quality player who has been around the game a long time.

"The pitch was not easy to score freely on. He had to absorb pressure, fight his way into the innings and, at a later stage, apply pressure on the opponents.

"One can never be sure how good this total is unless the other side has batted. But we are in a competitive situation now from what we were in the morning" Anderson, who claimed his 250th Test wicket with the dismissal of opener Lahiru Thirimanne, said England needed to get over the disappointment of allowing Sri Lanka to bounce back. "If you gave us 280-odd for eight wickets at the start of the day we would have taken it," he said. "But unfortunately we could not capitalise on the good start.

"But the more we dwell on it, the more frustrated we will get. We have a job to do tomorrow and that is to get them out early and then the batsmen have got to dig in deep. "They have to take a leaf from Mahela's book and scrape out some runs." Anderson had Thirimanne caught at second slip in his second over and then forced Kumar Sangakkara to edge the next ball to wicket-keeper Matt Prior.

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KEY BISCAYNE: A general view of a match between Rafael Nadal and Radek Stepanek at Crandon Park Tennis Center. afP

wATch IT LIvE TEN SPORTS First Test: Sri Lanka V England 09:00AM

elections of regional Cricket association Multan LAHORE StaFF rePort

1st Safari Marathon at Bahria town rawalpindi

Tiger Woods ends 30-month title drought ORLANDO

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LAHORE StaFF rePort

Safari Club Bahria Town organized the first Safari Marathon which was held in four different age categories. VCE Bahria Town Cdre (Rtd.) M. Ilyas was the chief guest at the occasion and was accompanied by Project in charge Safari and Mini Golf Club Mrs Sitwat Baber (Organizer) and a large number of distinguished guests. Hundreds of participants and spectators made this a lively event. Marathon was divided in four categories - senior citizens, women, men and under-16. Volunteers were also present at the event to provide emergency medical services and beverages to the participants and spectators. Chief guest Cdre Mohammad Ilyas participated himself in the marathon and distributed the winning prizes amongst the top three positions in each category.

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IGER Woods snapped the longest winless drought of his career with a dominating fiveshot victory over Graeme McDowell at the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday. It marked the first PGA Tour victory for Woods in 30 months, ending a winless spell that coincided with the personal turmoil that followed a 2009 sex scandal.

"It's not like winning a major championship or anything," Woods said. "But it certainly feels really good." Woods drained a short par putt on the par-four 18 to complete his round of two-under 70 and post a 13-under 275 total at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge course. "It was just pure joy," Woods said The 14-time major winner, wearing his Sunday red and black pants, celebrated his 72nd PGA Tour victory with a fist pump then the customary shaking of hands with runner-up McDowell, who finished at eight-under 280. "Today was unbelievable. The conditions were rough and those pins," he said. "I don't know what the average score was today, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near par. "It was a very tough day. It was a day of attrition. There weren't going to be a lot of birdie opportunities out there."

England's Ian Poulter finished in third seven shots behind Woods, while South Africa's Ernie Els was part of a group of seven golfers who tied for fourth at the $6 million event. Woods had been on a win drought since revelations of his secret sex life in November of 2009 left his reputation in tatters, put his marriage

The elections for the post of President and Secretary of Regional Cricket Association Multan will be held on April 4 at 10.30 am at Multan Cricket Stadium.

The elections will be held as per following schedule: The candidates will be briefed, filing and hearing of objections (if any) against the candidates of Regional Cricket Association (RCA) Multan will be held on April 4, 10.30 a.m, at the Multan Cricket Stadium which will be followed by the rlections of Regional Cricket Association (RCA) Multan. The candidates will submit their duly filled nomination forms along with bank draft amounting to Rs 10,000 each in favour of Pakistan Cricket Board by April 2 positively at the Multan Stadium.

List of office Bearers (Voters) for the elections of regional Cricket association (rCa) Multan District Cricket association Multan: , imtiaz ahmed Malik, President, Sohail akhtar Khan, Secretary, Farhat ali, treasurer Bahawalpur: Syed Hassan ahmed, President, abdul raheem, Secretary, abdul Basit Khan, treasurer rahim Yar Khan: Ch. ghulam abbas, President, Shahid islam, Secretary, Javed iqbal, treasurer Bahawalanagar: Muhammad Umar Farooq, President, Muhammad Khalid Javed, Secretary, Muhammad Yahya, treasurer D.g.Khan: Muhammad Kashif, President, aftab Baloch, Secretary, Muhammad akram Sial, treasurer Sahiwal: azmat Pervaiz, President, Sohail Khaliq, Secretary, Muhammad ahsan ameen, treasurer okara: Muhammad Saleem, President, Khalid Mahmood, Secretary, Muhammad akram Shah Hashmi, treasurer rajanpur: Syed Zahid Hussain, President, Malik Nadeem Hussain, Secretary, Muhammad Javed, treasurer Vehari: Sarfraz ahmed, President, Zahid alam wahla, Secretary, Javed iqbal, treasurer Khanewal: Mehdi Hassan, President, Umar Farooq Khan, Secretary, asif Hussain, treasurer Muzaffargarh: Sajid waheed Khan, President, Muhammad Mueen Khan, Secretary, Muhammad ajmal Khan, treasurer Layyah: ahmed Farhan, President, Javed iqbal, Secretary, Syed asif Hussain Naqvi, treasurer.

Meanwhile, the elections for the post of President, Secretary and treasurer of Dg Khan were held and Muhammad Kashif was elected as President, Muhammad aftab Baloch - Secretary and Muhammad akram Sial –treasurer.

east Zone U-19 teams named LAHORE StaFF rePort

orLaNDo: tiger woods plays a shot on the 4th hole during the final round of the arnold Palmer invitational at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge. afp on the path to divorce and sent sponsors fleeing. Amid the uproar, Woods' game suffered and his struggles continued in 2011 as he battled to cement swing changes despite injuries that limited his playing time. "I am thankful for a lot of people helping me out. You all know who you are. It has been tough," Woods said.

Host and golfing icon Palmer missed the end of his tournament after he was taken to the hospital with a blood pressure problem. It is the custom at this event for Palmer to greet players just off the edge of the 18th green as they finish their rounds but he couldn't do that Sunday. He was also supposed to be part of the trophy presentation to Woods.

"Nobody is overly concerned about the prognosis," said Alaistair Johnston, vice chairman at IMG and Palmer's longtime business manager. Woods did post a win in December, but that came in the limited-field Chevron World Challenge in

southern California, an invitational tournament that he himself organises to provide funds for his charity foundation.

Sunday's official PGA Tour win was the largest margin on the Tour since Rory McIlroy won the 2011 US Open by eight shots. Now with the Masters just a couple of weeks off, Woods heads to Augusta where he will try to continue his march towards Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors.

"I am excited no doubt," Woods said.

"It is always fun to play it. I am looking forward to the momentum I have built here and the things I have worked on with my game. It is all coming together at the right time." Woods entered the final round with a one-shot lead on McDowell then seized command on Sunday with a flurry of birdies on the front nine. He compiled a four-shot lead midway through the round by making four birdies on the front.

"It does feel good," Woods said. "It feels really good. A lot of hard work.

After a series of trials East Zone Cricket Association of the LCCA has named following four teams for participation in the forthcoming LCCA Imtiaz Ahmed Under-19 Cricket League.

The selected players have been advised to report to Hanif Muhammad, joint secretary east zone, at 4:00pm on March 29 at Burt Institute Ground Garhi Shahu Lahore. all the players will also along with their age verification documents i.e. B Form/Matric Certificate, two passport size photographs and club registration card teams are: east Zone whites: Saeed Mir (Captain), Sheraz Baig, ameer Hamza, agha Shaharyar, Nisar ahmed, waqar rehman, M ramzan, waleed altaf, rehmat Ullah, Mudasar abbas Zaidi, rehan ahmed, Hassan ilyas, Zia Shahzad, ali Salman, M asif gondal, Zafar gohar, M asad, rehan Malik, M Usman, Syed ahsan raza, M rameez east Zone red: ammar tariq (Captain), Zeeshan arshad,ayaz-ur- rehman, Zeeshan Muazam, Zeeshan Mughal, M Bilawal, rehan gohar, Malik Bilal,Shaoor Shahid, Faraz Jaffari, sharjeel Shahid, waleed tabraiz, ali imran, Sadam ul Haq, Farhan Masood, Hammad Zafar, Hussain asghar, Mureed Khan and ahmer arif east Zone Blues : Zainul Hasnain (Captain), adnan Danish, Sikandar Mehdi, Kashif ali, Nauman akber, Khurram Shahzad, aamir Saleem, Hamza Shahzad, waleed anjum, Haris Majeed, awais, Jahanzaib, Mirza Qasim Baig, Hafiz adeel, Khawaja M ali, ali raza, arslan Munawar, M Mohtisham, Shakir Mushtaq, Sajid ali, raja Farzan, M awais east Zone Yellow: Daniyl rana (captain), Muhammad Qasim, arsalan ahmed, wqas ahmed,Haroon afzaal, waqas asim, abdul rehman, Shoaib Muhammad, Nasir Nisar, aamir Dar, M.asim, Habib ali Hasan, Shhzad Mirza, Syed Hamza ali, M. Shoiab, waqas aamir, tahir and M Hasan.

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tuesday, 27 March, 2012

Haqqani’s absence from hearing irks memo commission ISLAMABAD

dost khosa to be booked for killing Sapna LHC orders senior-level investigation into murder charges against former Punjab CM

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After having been unable to obtain the PIN and blackberry sets of Husain Haqqani so far, the memo commission on Monday sought decrypted version of the statements sent by the former ambassador to the US to the Foreign Office (FO) in 2011, so as to find a possible hint about the memorandum in those messages. As Haqqani ‘violated’ his own affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court and did not appear before the commission to record his statement, the commission expressed “great restraint and extensive grace” and announced to provide him another opportunity to appear before the commission on next date of hearing. It directed former foreign secretary Salman Bashir, present Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani and Head of the US Desk in FO Sohail Khan to appear before the commission on next date of hearing with a copy of contract agreement of the former ambassador Husain Haqqani, SoPs, briefings, protocols, guidelines for the politically-appointed ambassadors and other relevant record that could help the commission establish the nature of the job and duties of a political appointee.

Due to sensitivity of the information, the commission would hold in-camera proceedings. Earlier, Foreign Office director told the commission that the telegrams containing sensitive information from Pakistani embassies abroad were received in the FO in an encrypted version and only an expert having the ‘key’ could decrypt it. Haqqani did not appear before the commission on Monday for recording his statement due to security concerns and his counsel requested the commission to adjourn the proceedings until the Supreme Court passed an order on his application for recording his statement via video link from London as the star witness Mansoor Ijaz was allowed. However, the commission rejected the request with an observation that there was no comparison between Ijaz and Haqqani, as the former was a foreign national and the latter was a Pakistani citizen and government servant.

The commission also referred Article 5 of the constitution which deals with loyalty to the state and added that it applied to each Pakistani citizen wherever he may be. It further said that Mansoor Ijaz, a US citizen, was not bound to obey the Pakistani constitution.

Commission Chairman Justice Qazi Faez Isa asked the deputy attorney general what the government of Pakistan could do to bring Haqqani back to Pakistan if he refused to come back. He observed that Haqqani had put the government in an embarrassing situation by saying that it could not provide him security. “You cannot provide security to your own former ambassador,” he addressed the deputy attorney general.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday ordered the police to register a case against former Punjab chief minister Dost Muhammad Khosa, son of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Zulfiqar Khosa, for allegedly kidnapping and murdering his wife Sapna. Announcing a detailed verdict of actress Sapna Khan’s murder case, the LHC also ordered appointment of

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a senior officer to investigate the matter. Justice Sheikh Najamul Hasan criticised police officials for refusing to register the case earlier.

After the court’s proceedings, the victim’s attorney wrote a letter to the Lahore capital city police officer (CCPO) to register a case against Khosa. In December, Missal Khan, Sapna’s father accused Khosa of kidnapping and murdering his daughter while Khosa levelled the same charges against his former wife’s family.

SC sends Hindu convert girls to shelter home ISLAMABAD MaSood reHMaN

New delHi: tibetan exile Janphel Yeshi, 27, runs after setting himself on fire during a protest on Monday against an upcoming visit to india by Chinese President Hu Jintao. afp

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that the two girls, who according to their families had been forcibly converted to Islam and married to Muslims, be sent to a shelter home in Karachi and also directed the Sindh Police to reproduce them before the court on April 18. A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez was hearing an application filed by one Dr Ramesh Kumar. Pakistan Hindu Council Patron-in-Chief Dr Ramesh Kumar on March 8 complained to the Supreme Court that three females of the Hindu community including Rinkle Kumari, daughter of Nandlal (Mirpur Mathello) and Dr Lata, daughter of Dr Ramesh (Jacobabad) were kidnapped from CPSP Karachi, while Pooja Devi (Larkana) had been forcibly abducted. He had alleged that the people of the Hindu community were being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam, adding that the entire Hindu community felt insecure, as a result whereof they had lodged a protest in Karachi. He requested the court to issue necessary directions to the provincial administration for recovery and production of these girls. On the last hearing, the court had directed the Sindh inspector general of police to take all necessary steps for the recovery of the females and produce them before the court on March 26. On Monday, the Sindh police produced before the court two women including Rinkle, now Faryal and Dr Lata, now Hafsa. Dr Ramesh Kumar told the court that correct name of Pooja Devi was Asha.

zardari urges regional leaders to join hands against drug trafficking DUSHANBE aPP

PRESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari on Monday urged regional leaders to join hands to counter drug-trafficking, calling it a major source of funding for militants and terrorists.

Talking separately to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Zardari discussed bilateral relations, regional situation and global issues. The leaders have gathered here in the Tajik capital to attend the Nauruz celebrations and the fifth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA-V) being hosted by Tajikistan.

President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said President Zardari urged the leaders to gear up efforts for closer interaction so that the issue of drug trafficking was effectively addressed. The spokesman said the meetings were held in a very cordial atmosphere, in which the leaders had a frank exchange of

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views on bilateral as well as other matters of mutual interest, particularly peace in the region. He said in his meeting with the Afghan president, Zardari reviewed development projects being funded by Pakistan and were aimed at bringing about a positive change in the lives of the common Afghans.

GOAL: The president said the two countries must work together towards attaining the shared goal of peace and prosperity in the region.

President Zardari said Afghanistan, Pakistan and the region as a whole was passing through a defining moment. “It has been the government’s consistent policy to strengthen their relations in all spheres with Afghanistan, as it firmly believes that a peaceful, prosperous and stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s national interest,” he added. He also recalled and termed President Karzai’s recent visit to Islamabad “extremely useful”. The president hoped that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s appeal to all sections of the Afghan society to en-

gage in intra-Afghan dialogue with the Afghan government would receive a positive response.

He said Pakistan and Afghanistan should also work together to extend APTTA (Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement) to the Central Asian countries. He said as they gathered in Dushanbe for RECCA to provide regional integration, he hoped that Afghanistan would give serious consideration to Pakistan’s request for its access to through the Wakhan corridor to Tajikistan.

Zardari told his Afghan counterpart that the parliamentary review process for reengagement with the US and the NATO and ISAF was going on and Pakistan would now engage with the US on the basis of these recommendations. He, however, added that the Pak-US cooperation must be based on respect for Pakistan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. He also invited President Karzai to the quadrilateral Summit to be held in Islamabad later this year. coNtiNued oN page 04

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

Editor: Arif Nizami, Executive Editor: Sarmad Bashir

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