Pakistan Link - January 2, 2015 by PL PUBLICATIONS

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Friday, January 2, 2015

VOL. 25/1 - 11 Rabi ‘ul-awwal 1436 H PAGE 12

Officials Angered at Depiction of Country Nation’s Resolve to Crush Terrorism Is Undeterred Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Wednesday that the present government has taken concrete measures to address the challenge of terrorism. Speaking in the Senate, the premier said Operation Zarb-i-Azb has delivered a fatal blow to terrorists. He said their evil designs should be foiled at the earliest. “In our resolve to rid the country of terrorism, we will march further than any of the world powers,” he said, adding that there is no question of lagging behind in the fight against terrorism. “More than fifty thousand Pakistanis have been killed in the war against terror,” said the PM. The premier said the government had called on all political parties for the formation of a National Action Plan. He said the meeting of parliamentary leaders had unanimously approved a 20-point agenda. He said sub committees formed to prepare recommendations on 20 points of the National Action Plan have started submitting their RESOLVE, P29

PAGE 15

Amir Khan in Pakistan to Honor Peshawar Pledge

Hanif Moves on to 80 with a Tinge of Regret

PTI Seeks Government’s ‘Final Reply’ Islamabad: The Pakistan

Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has told the government to come up with a “final reply” to its demand for an investigation into what it sees as rigging committed in last year’s general elections. The two sides once again briefly met on Tuesday. The meeting took place at the residence of PTI General Secretary Jahangir Tareen. It was attended by federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal from the government side and Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Asad Umar of the PTI. Talking to Dawn, Mr Umar, without divulging details, said the two sides stuck to their earlier stated positions. The government insists on dealing with the cases of rigging at the constituency level but the PTI

PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sarif

argues that if rigging is proved in a selected number of constituencies, it should lead to the holding of snap polls. “We told the government team that the PTI has

demonstrated whatever flexibility it could. Now the ball is in your (the government’s) court.” Senator Ishaq had sought time to come up with the government’s final

response as he had to consult the prime minister and leadership of other political parties, said Mr Umar. Mr Qureshi said the government wanted PTI, P29

Fighter Jets Kill 23 Suspected Militants in Fresh Attack

Ulema Council for End to ‘Armed Struggle’

Islamabad: At least 23 suspected terrorists were killed when Pakistani fighter jets targeted militant hideouts in Shawal area of North Waziristan Agency on Wednesday evening, military officials claim. A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that four militant hideouts were also destroyed through “effective and precise aerial strikes”. The air strikes are a part of stern actions Pakistan has been taking against Taliban militants following the deadly Peshawar school siege last month as the military intensified operations in the troubled northwestern tribal areas. After the school attack that killed 150 people, mostly children, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ended a six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating its use for terrorism-related cases.

It also urges world religious and political leaders to set a clear guideline for the Muslim youths in the light of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The conference through six separate resolutions demanded grant of all rights to minorities enshrined in Islamic teachings and Constitution, condemned propaganda against seminaries after the Peshawar tragedy, declared forced marriages un-Islamic and supported promotion of inter-faith and inter-sect harmony. Council chairman Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi criticized the interior minister for expressing doubts about 10pc seminaries as

Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Allama Tahir Ashrafi addresses a press conference in Lahore

Lahore: The Pakistan Ulema Council has called upon all groups operating in Pakistan to shun their armed struggle in the country. The appeal was made at a conference

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organized by the Council on the message of the forefathers here on Tuesday. “All the armed groups in Pakistan should give up their armed struggle against

the state of Pakistan and the Pakistani nation and should instead join the struggle for making Pakistan an Islamic, welfare and democratic state,” reads the declaration issued after the moot.

ULEMA, P29

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www.PakistanLink.com PTI, PPP Desire Amendment in Army Act Islamabad: Confronted with stiff

opposition from different quarters to the decision to establish military courts, the two main opposition parties, which had earlier endorsed the move, now appear to be having second thoughts to the commitments they had made during the all-parties conference (APC) on Dec 24. There were a few murmurs earlier and strong remarks by PPP leader Raza Rabbani in the Senate on Tuesday, but the whispers have now turned into an outburst. PPP stalwart and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan categorically stated that he had opposed the idea of amending the constitution for establishing military courts, which were mentioned in the document made public after the APC. “We can still achieve the mandate of the Dec 24 APC through a simple amendment to the law, instead of amending the constitution,” he said while talking to reporters outside the Parliament House. ACT, P29

Seminaries Agree to Consider Incorporating Modern Education Islamabad: The religious edu-

cational boards belonging to five schools of thought here agreed to look into a government proposal to incorporate contemporary education into their syllabus up to the primary level. In a bid to streamline the education standards in the seminaries, the representatives of the boards that conduct exams of the madressahs belonging to the Barelvi, Shia, Deobandi, Ahle Hadith sects and the Jamaat–i-Islami were called to a meeting.It was originally scheduled to be chaired by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan but later it was shifted to the Ministry of Religious Affairs. During the meeting, Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohammad Yousuf presented a pilot project to the members of the seminary to impart contemporary education to the students of the madressahs. Incidentally, with only SEMINARIES, P29

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OPINION

P4 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

Between Murderers and Knaves: Pakistan’s Twin Tragedy

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he savagery and sheer barbarity of the Taliban’s murderous spree against innocent children of Peshawar’s Army School, last December 16, shocked the whole world and traumatized Pakistan’s 180 million people; but obviously not a laid-back and lackadaisical PM Nawaz Sharif.

Of course the corpulent leader of Pakistan has never been known for flashes of genius. But few would’ve believed—before the Peshawar trauma caught us all in its jaws and started bleeding us profusely—that the glutton in him had dulled his senses irredeemably, to the extent that he wouldn’t mind cracking jokes, publicly, while the whole nation was in mourning. I’d problem believing my eyes when I watched the glutton, live on television, making his crude pitch to enliven the proceedings of the APC with banal banter the day after the great tragedy. Could the man be so insensitive to the collective shock and trauma of the nation? Has he lost all sense of proportion to not know that you don’t crack jokes at what was, clearly, a nation’s wake at the dirge of its precious children slain by the vandals? Did nobody ever tell him that you don’t make merry at funerals? And what has been his response so far, now that it has been exactly a week since the butchering of our kids, to give a befitting response to the savages who had the gall to slaughter them? All that the incorrigible glutton has done is presided over the APC and—for his ‘great’ achievement—set up a committee to suggest a national response. We’re a nation fed up with these inane ‘committees’ whose members don’t know what is expected of them— besides they being proven nonachievers—and, consequently, are not known to have come up, ever, with gems of wisdom. Was this all that a grieving and bleeding nation expected of their pompous and puffed-up leader? No; not at all. Even those who are so keenly conscious of the three-stint PM’s visceral and intellectual limitations expected him—as a far-away wish of theirs—to rise to the dictates of the national calamity. They hoped, against hope that for once the man would act like a national leader and not the CEO of a family-limited corporation. The least he could have done to meet the basic demands of the mini-Holocaust visiting his traumatised country was to have addressed the nation—that very evening of December 16—from Peshawar or Islamabad, or wherever, and announced a national response to cowardly attack of the barbarians. He should’ve given the outlines of his government’s plans to go after the vile murderers. He should’ve told them, ‘murderers run for your life, for I’m going to come after you, no matter where you are. I’ll hunt you down to the farthest corner of Pakistan. I’ll spare no effort to cleanse this great homeland of ours from your pes-

tilence. I’ll redeem the honour of my nation that you’ve so brazenly tried to violate. And I’ll avenge, to my last breath, the innocent blood spilled by you in that school of Peshawar. You’ll have no mercy, and you can count on that.’ A traumatised nation licking its deep wounds and sick to its inner core would’ve taken heart from it. A harassed and bemused people would’ve had something to look forward to: they’d—they would’ve said—after all a leader with the courage and resolve to take the beasts by their horns and make them pay for their venal crimes. But no, the nation didn’t get to hear anything of that sort from their craven and cowering leader. He didn’t even have the decency to visit the ravaged school where the blossoming youths of our nation were slaughtered like sheep; he preferred to remain holed up in the plush Governor’s House. What a shame for a bereaved nation to have an ostrich like Nawaz as their

country? The answer to this question is a resounding no. No, he isn’t the leader Pakistan needs in its hour of grave peril. The nation is in the throes of an existentialist threat from a cabal of murderers whose sole pursuit in life is rapine and plunder. Nawaz doesn’t even have the foggiest of ideas how to answer this monumental threat to the polity of Pakistan. The man is thoroughly convoluted in his mind. His priorities are skewed in the extreme. He wants to be a Mughal emperor and leave behind a legacy befitting his stature. So, instead of allocating every precious penny to the fight against terrorists and their ilk, he’s squandering 70 billion rupees on his metro bus scheme for Pindi-Islamabad. Like a child the imbecile doesn’t know how valuable the money he’s passing around to contractors and cronies could be in the fight against terror plaguing Pakistan. If Nawaz were the CEO of

He wants to be a Mughal emperor and leave behind a legacy befitting his stature. So, instead of allocating every precious penny to the fight against terrorists and their ilk, he’s squandering 70 billion rupees on his metro bus scheme for Pindi-Islamabad. Like a child the imbecile doesn’t know how valuable the money he’s passing around to contractors and cronies could be in the fight against terror plaguing Pakistan leader. All that the people of Pakistan ended up with was a committee, presided over by that snooty and arrogant crony of Nawaz, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, who’s more of a problem than solution. Law and order in Pakistan has been going to the dogs on the watch of this knave who thinks of himself as being knight in the shining armour. That prompts the obvious question: is this glutton of a man fit to preside over the destiny of a nation fighting for its soul? Is he capable of being the man-of-themoment the nation needs, in its darkest hour, to lead them to salvation? Does he have any iota of that grit and determination needed to take the battle for Pakistan to the marauding Taliban and wipe off this scourge from the face of the

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a public-limited corporation its share- holders would long have fired him and shown him the door. He deserves the harried people of Pakistan doing this to him. And the time to do it is NOW. Nawaz will not fight the blood-thirsty Taliban because even if he personally isn’t an aficionado of them he’s heavily surrounded by Taliban-partisans in his close circle of confidants and cronies. His younger sibling, Shehbaz Sharif, is on record pleading with the marauders to spare Punjab, his fief, and pour their wrath elsewhere. That goon, Rana Sanaullah, is known to keep their company. And even the pharaoh at the Interior Ministry, the insufferable Chaudhry Nisar, has a soft corner for the murderers and their fellowtravellers. For this reason Nisar wouldn’t

move a finger against that cowardly cleric of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, Abdul Aziz who remains unrepentant in his espousal of the Taliban agenda even in the wake of Peshawar’s colossal tragedy. Kudos aplenty to Islamabad’s civil society for its move to have this hate-monger dislodged from his pedestal that he has been using to spread terror. Nawaz’ shenanigans call for only one inference to be drawn: the man is unfit to be in the saddle of power where an accident of history has landed him to the utter dismay of the people of Pakistan. He deserves to be given the boot and without further ado. Nawaz doesn’t have what it takes to be a leader and the sooner this was conveyed to him the better for Pakistan. This scribe stuck his neck out in a previous column for this paper that the gravity of the crisis spawned by barbarous Peshawar carnage demanded the formation of a government of national unity headed, ideally, by Imran Khan, the only untainted and corruption-free leader in today’s Pakistan. The time is now for the Army Chief, General Raheel Sharif, to march into the PM Palace and tell its nincompoop denizen to vacate. The general has moved with commendable alacrity to let the terrorists of Taliban and other outfits sharing their nihilistic agenda for Pakistan know that he’d be coming after them and give them no quarters, anywhere. Nawaz, in contrast, has done nothing to be given credit for. Under General Raheel Sharif ’s watch, those convicts awaiting the gallows have been quickly despatched to their fate. On the civilian side, meanwhile, an incompetent administration ably assisted by corrupt courts is still dragging its feet on meting out to the terrorists the ignominious death they deserved. Take your pick, folks, which’s serving Pakistan and which isn’t. The khakis should stand foursquare behind this government of national unity and go after the terrorists and their sleeper cells in cities, towns and villages of Pakistan in a fully co-ordinated countrywide campaign. It may be a long and arduous campaign but its outcome will be totally worth the effort. That’s what a bleeding nation expects of its leadership in its most trying moment. God speed ahead to what will truly be a jihad in the strict sense of the term; and good riddance of knaves and scoundrels whose fluffy backbones TRAGEDY, P29

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JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P5

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OPINION

P6 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

A Step in the Right Direction

n By Syed Kamran Hashmi

“

Westfield, IN

Allah o Akbar(God is the Greatest),” they shouted together before opening fire on their targets, the young students of the Army Public School Peshawar, ranging from eight to sixteen. Through their single-yet, wellcoordinated and well-plannedattack the terrorists mowed down over one hundred children last week, all of them innocent, unarmed and hapless. Their fault? They were all Pakistanis.

Vengeance, they have called it, for the children of tribal areas who were also innocent like the ones in Peshawar but lost their lives from the jet bombings and indiscriminate killings of the Pakistan Army. Even if we agree with their assertion for a moment without asking them why those children were being used as human shields; and even if we ignore that many of them held guns in their hands and acted as trained spies or soldiers; the attack in the public school still is so barbaric and heinous that Pakistanis would never forgive the perpetrators (or the supporters) of such violence, let alone accept its justification. After the massacre, one thing should be clear to the Tahreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that if there had been any chance for Taliban to win over the hearts and minds of Pakistanis in the name of Islamic revolution, that window has been permanently closed. And if the terrorists thought that there was any

possibility to regain their strength in the tribal areas and to put the administration on the back foot again, then they have lost that opportunity too. People are angry, even those who stood in favor of a dialogue with TTP in the past and those who thought that Taliban could be kept as assets to help win across-the-border objectives. Pakistanis have tolerated TTP for a while, despite its attacks on our soil and its suicide bombings. People thought that the religiously misguided gorilla warriors had some genuine grievances which needed to be addressed. But now, the time to stay patient is gone. Whether you are a cleric, a politician, a religious leader, an officer or a criminal, it is time to sever all ties with the terrorists. There lays no middle ground anymore, no grey areas where people can be fooled in the name of religion or retaliation. And at least for now, you either stand with us or against us. By the way in 2001, this is exactly how the Americans had felt after the Twin Tower attacks - only twenty times stronger than us as the number of their casualties hangs close to three thousand. I know most Pakistanis do not feel their pain as much and some even believe that it is America’s own doing or a reaction of their policies. You know, we can be blamed for the same crime in that regard. After all, TTP came into being as a result of our bad policies in the tribal areas. Furthermore, some of us can even construct a conspiracy theory holding Pakistani Army responsible for

F m

the Peshawar massacre in the same way we have contrived so many for the United States. How preposterous would that be? However, the reality is that innocent Americans lost their lives in 2001, people who had nothing to do with the foreign policy. The horrific images emerging from

war incident brings out in us. Nonetheless, I am happy with the people’s verdict. I am not happy because so many kids have lost their lives, of course, or happy because their parents will suffer for the years to come but I am happy because the children who have sacrificed for

We can win this war, no doubt about it. But I also have no doubt that this war is not confined to the tribal areas, nor do I think it is limited to the United States-led war against terrorism or its invasion in Afghanistan Peshawar of the school floor coated with human blood are not more horrific than the images of the people jumping down from the top of the World Trade Center. Nine Eleven, even after more than a decade, brings out the same emotions of anger, pain and grief in Americans as the Pesha-

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their country will defend us as our guardian angels. They will protect us not only from the real Taliban who kill and blow themselves up but also from the fake ones, the ones who always seem to find a way to justify the cause of the Taliban. From now on, these angels will stand between

us and the TTP or their sympathizers, guiding us to identify the enemy within us and encourage us to fight all of them till the last one has met justice. We can win this war, no doubt about it. But I also have no doubt that this war is not confined to the tribal areas, nor do I think it is limited to the United States-led war against terrorism or its invasion in Afghanistan. Instead, this war is like a demon with multiple heads, out of which only one can be attributed to the American foreign policy. Rest of the heads of this devil lay in Pakistan. And trust me we have to chop off every one of them to be completely free. The good news is that with the Army operation in North Waziristan we have started the process. Although, skeptics, including myself, believe that the Army operation is too little too late, but still it is a step in the right direction. Considering that as the baby step one, the next few steps need to follow soon. However, they pose a bigger challenge to our society. I am with that alluding to our struggle (jihad) against extremism and religious intolerance. It requires real courage - much more than standing in front of the death squad - to lead that struggle. Giving up life is easy, even Taliban can do that. Fighting extremism is difficult: it questions our existence as a sovereign nation, challenges our Islamic identity and objects to our defense paradigm. The time has come to make all-inclusive-Pakistan as our only state religion, no more no less. Are we ready for that? Would we ever be ready?

OPINION

JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P7

n By Dr Mohammad Taqi

Florida

hnay phat meray jussay te

Jinnay teray vaal ni ma’iy (O mother, my body is stricken with as many wounds as the hair on your head) We went to the Pakistan Air Force School and College together and then to the Khyber Medical College in Peshawar. He then moved to the Army Medical College and has served in the armed forces since his graduation. It was three days after the Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) slaughtered 132 innocent children and nine teachers at the Army Public School (APS), Peshawar, that I came know that my friend’s young son had also been killed in one of the most barbaric acts my city has sustained to date. It was hard to muster the courage to call and offer my condolences. We Peshawarites are out of words but not out of tears. My friend was stoic in his boundless grief but one line of his summed up the feelings in all of us: “They have ripped my heart out!” Jihadist terror has certainly ripped our collective hearts out. Peshawar and its children have as many wounds as the hair on the heads of its wailing mothers. The only hope in these pitch-dark times was that those at the helm would commence immediate course correction. From Benazir Bhutto’s December 27, 2007 assassination to the brutal murder of the Awami National Party’s leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain’s son to the slaying of the lion of Peshawar, Bashir Ahmed Bilour, to the killings of Generals Ameer Faisal Alvi and Sanaullah Niazi, the terrorists have crossed this threshold many times. Each time one thought that the powers that be would change their disastrous policies at least for the next generation’s sake. The sound and fury coming from Pakistan’s security establishment both before and after the heinous attack on APS would have one believe that there might be a change after

Peshawar Attack: They Ripped My Heart out all. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif, said all the right things during his recent US visit and after the Peshawar attack. But, sadly, even the optics of what has transpired since the barbarity at APS raises more questions than it answers. The COAS’ visit to Kabul, along with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief General Rizwan Akhtar, the very next day after the attack, seemed prima facie a very efficient exercise. Unfortunately, the move has badly undermined the country’s elected political leadership, which is taking the flak for not coming down hard on terrorism. Was it that hard to take the prime minister’s national security advisor, Mr Sartaj Aziz, along, if not have him lead the delegation? Presumably there were intercepts of the communication from the TTP ringleader, Umar Mansoor aka Naray (the slim one), ostensibly based west of the Durand Line, to the terrorists attacking the APS, which the military delegation shared with its counterparts in Kabul. The presence of a civilian would not have weakened the case the military team was trying to make unless there was some earth-shattering information — apparently not the case here — that was shared. Umar ‘Naray’ was a common jihadist thug from Adezai (Frontier Region Peshawar), who operated from that area and Darra Adam Khel for years and gradually rose through the TTP’s ranks. Is his presence in the Salafi-littered porous Afghan border regions of Kunar, Nuristan or Nangarhar a surprise? Indeed, is the TTP head honcho Mullah Fazlullah’s alleged presence in those areas such a revelation that could not be made in the presence of civilian leaders? While blaming the Afghan National Security Directorate for harboring Fazlullah, Pakistan conveniently ignores his Salafi roots and ties. The TTP has a Deobandi doctrinal hue but Fazlullah’s own creed remains Salafi due to his

education at the Panjpir madrassa (seminary) that was established and run by the security establishment’s darling, Maulana Tahir Shah. Another Panjpir alumnus, Jamilur Rahman, founded the Salafi emirate in Kunar and Nuristan in the 1980s and later served as the Taliban’s shadow governor till he was killed in 2012 by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Large pockets of active Salafi support still remain in Afghanistan’s northwest. Not co-

The sound and fury coming from Pakistan’s security establishment both before and after the heinous attack on APS would have one believe that there might be a change after all. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif, said all the right things during his recent US visit and after the Peshawar attack incidentally, another set of the ‘good’ jihadists, the Salafist Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD)/Lashkar-eTayyaba (LeT), trained in Kunar and Nuristan clear up to 2001.

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The net outcome of the military delegation’s Kabul visit was that the establishmentfriendly Pakistani media ran with the story that Afghanistan was involved in the APS attack. War drums were beaten that Afghanistan should be attacked for it and that on India’s behest it had given sanctuary to Fazlullah. It was not reported for a week that the Afghan army chief, General Sher Muhmmad Karimi, categorically denied after that meeting that Fazlullah was harbored by or in Afghanistan and that a demand was made by his Pakistani interlocutors to “hand him over”. Some news reports say that the ANSF have started an operation nonetheless to purge elements of the TTP if there are any on Afghan soil. However, where serious introspection was in order, in one masterstroke, the civilian leadership was made to look inept and the blame was deflected to Afghanistan and India. Then came a series of capital punishments to terrorists in what appears to be a knee-jerk retribution rather than a well thought out strategy. The video clips of the death penalty being carried out were leaked then, making them virtually public hangings. Without going into the morality of the death penalty, one must note that the current spree is bound to become a rallying point for jihadist terrorism rather than serve as a deterrent. The reality that must sink in is that the good, the bad and the ugly jihadists are joined at the hip: harboring one is harboring all. As we go to press, the state has delayed challenging the bail granted to the JuD/LeT ringleader Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, who masterminded the 2008 Mumbai attacks while the sectarian outfit Ahle-Sunnat-wal-Jamat — effectively a reincarnation of the terrorist group Sipah-eSahaba that has been killing the Peshawar Shia since 1992 — has the audacity to hold a ‘peace’ moot in the hapless city. To add more insult to injury, the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), whose several members have bankrolled the jihadism that has ravaged my city Peshawar for four decades, also plans a ‘peace’ conference there. Is there a tangible HEART, P29

OPINION

P8 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015 n By Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai Washington, DC

Kashmir Rights Cannot Be Ignored

he enlightening and informative article, ‘SAARC summit and the Kashmir problem’ written by a seasoned Saudi diplomat, Dr Ali AlGhamdi (Saudi Gazette, December 3, 2014) needs some observations from a Kashmiri perspective. I totally agree with Dr Al-Ghamdi that “it is high time for the leaders of both countries (India and Pakistan) to take bold and serious decisions to resolve this dispute. It is impossible for the region to enjoy peace and security without solving the Kashmir problem.”

The Kashmir question is one of the oldest unresolved international problems in the world. The experience of the past six decades has shown that it will not go away and that an effort is urgently required to resolve it on a durable basis. It is imperative, whatever be the rights and wrongs in the equation as far as arguments go, that we realize that real populations are involved with a pronounced sense of an identity of their own, with their suffering and their aspirations rather than just legal title and merit. The mantra has been repeated too often that the UN has no alternative to relying on bilateral talks between India and Pakistan to achieve a settlement. The experience of more than 67 years is ignored. No bilateral talks between India and Pakistan have yielded agreements without the active role of an external element. The miss-

ing element is to make the Kashmiri leadership part of the negotiations with India and Pakistan. It is not the inherent difficulties of a solution, but the lack of the will to implement a solution that has caused the prolonged deadlock over the Kashmir dispute. The deadlock has meant indescribable agony for the

ceasefire from all sides during negotiations. Negotiations cannot be carried out at a time when parties are trying to kill each other. There cannot be, and should not be, any condition from any party other than commitment to nonviolence and to negotiations. Our objective should be not to answer what is the correct or best

I believe that peace and justice in Kashmir are achievable if all parties concerned – India, Pakistan and Kashmiris – show some flexibility and make sacrifices. Each party will have to modify its position so that common ground can be found people of Kashmir and incalculable loss for both India and Pakistan. The persistence of this problem has been a source of weakness for both of these neighboring countries. It is time to recognize that there cannot be a military solution to the problem; any such solution is bound to invite challenge. There has to be a

solution for the Kashmir problem but how that solution can be arrived at. In other words, it should by itself neither promote nor preclude any rational settlement of the dispute, be it accession to India or Pakistan or independence. I believe that peace and justice in Kashmir are achievable if all par-

ties concerned – India, Pakistan and Kashmiris – show some flexibility and make sacrifices. Each party will have to modify its position so that common ground can be found. It will be impossible to find a solution that respects all the sensitivities of Indian authorities, values all the sentiments of Pakistan, keeps intact the unity of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, and safeguards the rights and interests of the people of all the different zones of the state. Yet this does not mean that we cannot find an imaginative solution. ( Dr Fai is the Secretary General of World Kashmir Awareness. He can be reached on 202-607-6435 or gnfai2003@yahoo.com)

We Will Not Forget You n By Saira Bhatti

Virginia, USA

ow selfish can the Taliban be to retaliate against children? How could they possibly think that such a sin will help them achieve their goal? Youths who had no crime worthy of this punishment did not deserve to leave the world in this way. When I think of going to school, I think of it as a safe haven and a place for me to learn in an environment where ideas and inspiration are born. Unfortunately, the Taliban attempted to crush that inspiration and that hope. When the Qur’an says that “...whosoever killed a person...it shall be as WE, P29

Would Someone in the Diaspora Lessen My Pain? n By Naveed Khan Pleasanton, CA

he senseless carnage in Peshawar, and before that mayhem in many places across Pakistan, has shaken me beyond words. I cannot describe the feeling, nor do I have the words to share the profound sense of failure and helplessness. I feel equally responsible for the state of affairs in Pakistan. I feel ashamed, I feel hurt beyond my threshold. I cannot describe my feeling of dismay and agony.

I owe a lot to Pakistan. It nurtured me, it nourished me, it educated me, it loved me and now I see the most precious, the most delicate of Pakistan people, young, innocent children being callously butchered. I wake up at night and ask myself what have I not done, why have we let this happen to our dear country. Every child of Pakistan is precious. They all are to be loved and nurtured so that they become great citizens of Pakistan. Every woman of Pakistan is honorable. Women are our mentor, they are our fortress, they are our strength. Why have we faltered, why have we led ourselves to a situation where remorse, regret, pain, penitence are not adequate words to express the excruciating pain? I cry at night and I cry during the day on my failure, on my inability on my helplessness in preventing such atrocities, such oppression. I ask myself every minute: why and where PAIN, P29

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OPINION n By Dr I. Kamal

hool daikhay thay janaazoN pe hamesha ‘Shaukat’

Kal mery aaNkh nay phooloN kay janaazey daikhay One of the most poignant aspects of Apocalypse Peshawar is the feeling that it could possibly have been prevented by timely and decisive action. Decisive action can only be taken by a decisive and responsible leadership, which has been absent from the political scene in Pakistan for the last seven years. The earliest warning from a person in authority was sounded by former President Parvez Musharraf in a speech to the nation explaining the reasons for the promulgation of the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) in November, 2007, in the following words: “Terrorism and Extremism are rampant. Suicide bombings are widespread. In Karachi, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, fanaticism is now common. Fundamentalist extremists are everywhere. They are not afraid of law-enforcement agencies. What was confined to the frontier areas, has now extended to many other areas. Extremism has spread even to Islamabad - the heart of Pakistan.” There were several warning shots in recent months, such as the attack on the courts in Islamabad and the killings at the Wagah Border. These incidents were loudly calling for action on a war footing, but it looks like the politicians had their priorities elsewhere. In his speech on the PCO, Parvez Musharraf had gone on to say: “The people are worried. The extremists are trying to take the authority and power of the government into

n By Riaz Haq

ndia has always used Afghanistan as a second front against Pakistan. India has over the years been financing problems in Pakistan. - US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Chuck Hagel should know what he’s talking about when it comes to intelligence. He served on the US Senate Intelligence Committee before he became the Pentagon chief.

How does India “finance problems” in Pakistan? Here are some of the ways it does so: 1. India’s intelligence agency RAW uses its long and deep ties with the Afghan Intelligence KhAD (Khadamat-e Aetela’at-e Dawlati, also known as the National Directorate) staffed by openly anti-Pakistan agents who are known to support the Pakistani Taliban (TTP). There are reports that the current TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah is being protected by KhAD agents in Afghanistan. Last year, US troops snatched former TTP chief Hakimullah Mehusd’s deputy Latifullah Mesud from Afghan intelligence agents. Apparently, Latifullah had been traveling back and forth across the Pak-Afghan border to coordinate attacks in Pakistan with the Afghan agents. 2. Before writing and promoting an anti-Pakistan book in India, American analyst and author Christine Fair said in 2009: “Having visited the Indian mission in Zahedan,

JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P9

We Had Been Warned!

their own hands. They want to impose their outdated religious views upon the people. In my eyes, this is a direct challenge to Pakistan’s future as a moderate nation”. Unlike the political leadership which had been in denial since his ouster, Musharraf had recognized the obvious fact that Pakistan was in a state of civil war. Like the Great American Civil War, this is a war between the moderates “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”, as envisaged by the founding fathers of both countries, and the extremists, who believe that a privileged class is more equal than the others. Extreme situations call for extreme measures. Abraham Lincoln had suspended habeas corpus twice during the American Civil war for reasons similar to those given by Parvez Musharraf. Like a real leader determined to come to grips with the problem, Musharraf had recognized that the action of some of the judges had been a major hurdle in dealing with the menace on a war footing, as clarified in the preamble to the PCO: “WHEREAS there is visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, IED explosions, rocket firing and bomb explosions and the banding together of some militant groups have taken such activities to an unprecedented level of violent intensity posing a grave threat to the life and property of the citizens of Pakistan; “WHEREAS there has also been a spate of attacks on state infrastructure and on law-enforcement agencies; WHEREAS some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism, thereby weakening the government and the nation’s re-

solve and diluting the efficacy of its actions to control this menace; “WHEREAS there has been increasing interference by some members of the judiciary in government policy, adversely affecting economic growth, in particular; “WHEREAS constant interference in executive functions, including but not limited to the control of ter-

militants, extremists, terrorists and suicide bombers, who were arrested and being investigated, were ordered to be released. The persons so released have subsequently been involved in heinous terrorist activities, resulting in loss of human life and property. Militants across the country have, thus, been encouraged while law-enforcement agencies sub-

The earliest warning from a person in authority was sounded by former President Parvez Musharraf in a speech to the nation explaining the reasons for the promulgation of the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) in November, 2007 rorist activity, economic policy, price controls, downsizing of corporations and urban planning, has weakened the writ of the government; the police force has been completely demoralized and is fast losing its efficacy to fight terrorism and intelligence agencies have been thwarted in their activities and prevented from pursuing terrorists; “WHEREAS some hard-core

dued;……….”. Parvez Musharraf cared for the lives and property of people he had sworn to protect, both as an army general and as a president of the country. For people who don’t agree with Musharraf ’s reasoning, I would like to quote an extract from a news report in the Dawn dated October 19, 2013: “ISLAMABAD: From 2007 till

Is India “Financing Problems in Pakistan”? Iran, I can assure you they are not issuing visas as the main activity! Moreover, India has run operations from its mission in Mazar (through which it supported the Northern Alliance) and is likely doing so from the other consulates it has reopened in Jalalabad and Qandahar along the border. Indian officials have told me privately that they are pumping money into Baluchistan”. Prominent Pakistani Baloch insurgents like Brahamdagh Bugti are also being sheltered by the Afghan security and intelligence establishment along with RAW. 3. Another US analyst Laura Rozen explained the India-Taliban nexus as follows: “While the US media has frequently reported on Pakistani ties to jihadi elements launching attacks in Afghanistan, it has less often mentioned that India supports insurgent forces attacking Pakistan, the former (US) intelligence official said. “The Indians are up to their necks in supporting the Taliban against the Pakistani government in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the former (US) intelligence official who served in both countries said. “The same anti-Pakistani forces in Afghanistan also shooting at American soldiers are getting support from India. India should close its diplomatic establishments in Afghanistan and get the Christ out of there.” There are signs that India has

stepped up its covert war against Pakistan since the election of the Hindu Nationalist government of Prime Minister Modi. The first sign is the appointment of an anti-Pakistan hawk Ajit Doval as Modi’s National Advisor. As a key part of his

Before writing and promoting an anti-Pakistan book in India, American analyst and author Christine Fair said in 2009: “Having visited the Indian mission in Zahedan, Iran, I can assure you they are not issuing visas as the main activity! Moreover, India has run operations from its mission in Mazar (through which it supported the Northern Alliance) and is likely doing so from the other consulates it has reopened in Jalalabad and Qandahar along the border. Indian officials have told me privately that they are pumping money into Baluchistan” long service to India’s intelligence establishment, Doval says he served as an undercover RAW agent in Pakistan for seven years. Given all the circumstantial

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evidence of Indian support of Baloch insurgents’ and TTP’s war against Pakistan, the Pakistani security and intelligence establishment cannot rely on counterinsurgency operations like Zarb e Azb alone to stop the civilian carnage on Pakistani streets and schools. The overall counterinsurgency strategy must include serious efforts to cut off support and funding for the TTP and the Baloch insurgents from both domestic and external sources, and disruption of the Indian intelligence network operating against Pakistan from Afghanistan. It will require superior intelligence and significant counterintelligence operations, as well as an effective narrative and powerful diplomatic offensive to put pressure on India to stop its covert war being waged on Pakistani soil. Here’s US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel talking about “India financing problems in Pakistan”: https://w w w.youtube.com/ watch?v=PNeKnMbAm8c Here are video clips of Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval talking about his 7 years undercover for RAW in Pakistan: http://www.dailymotion.com/ video/x2c33oq_i-lived-in-pakistan-for-7-years-as-spy-ajit-dovalex-intelligence-officer-now-national-security-advi_news https://w w w.youtube.com/ watch?v=diQu_wPeIeI

now the courts have released 1,964 alleged terrorists, says an official government document. “More serious still is the fact that of those released, 722 have rejoined terrorist groups while 1,197 are still actively involved in anti-state activities, according to the official document available with Dawn…… The provincial breakdown presents even more interesting details. The highest number of those released is from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata (1,308) followed by Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir with 517, Punjab (83), Sindh (47) and Balochistan (9).” It is significant that the statistics in the government document reported by Dawn date from 2007, the very year in which Parvez Musharraf had sought extra-ordinary powers to try and stem the rot. He had the wisdom to recognize that, when the enemy is internally entrenched within the country, there is only so much that the armed forces can do, whose duty is to protect the country from external threats. The internal threats can only be countered by internal means: by an effective police force and by a quick and effective judicial system to grant quick and exemplary punishment. Currently, while the Pakistan Army is dealing with the country’s enemies, the urgent need of the hour on the civilian side is to re-vamp the police force and the judicial system as it applies to terrorists. To show that it means business, the least the PML(N) government can do is to arrest Abdul Aziz, the Lal Masjid cleric who, after the carnage, appeared in a local TV show to rub salt on our wounds, refusing to condemn the carnage. He called it a reaction to an ‘inappropriate’ action, obviously referring to the operation Zarb-e-Azb that is underway in North Waziristan. Since Pakistan is at war with the TTP in North Waziristan, the cleric’s statement is tantamount to high treason! SPACE FROM P11

also for assistance in natural calamities. However, our superior courts have repeatedly stressed that Article 245 only gives limited authority to the armed forces in this respect, i.e. to act in aid of civil power – not supplant it, nor efface it. This is established precedent and is highly unlikely to budge with our resurgent judiciary. Even in the post-Iftikhar Chaudhry phase, the possibility that Article 245, in of itself, presents an opportunity to wrestle power away from the federation is somewhere between slim and none. There is but another unforgettable tale. After suffering heavy losses in the general elections of 1977, the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) cried foul and vigorously protested that the elections had been massively rigged by the PPP. The PNA called for general strikes throughout the country and violence erupted. The police and the notorious Federal Security Force of the time failed to curb the demonstrations. Left with little alternative and one month into the campaign, the federal government directed the armed forces to act in aid of the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab under Article 245. This was April 21, 1977. By July 5, 1977, there was no government and no Article 245, only a Chief Martial Law Administrator. Albeit eerily familiar, the SPACE, P26

OPINION

P10 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

Turkey and the Middle East Quagmire: Learning from Pakistan’s Experience n By Dr Qaisar Abbas

Maryland

tanding at the mausoleum of Moulana Rum in Konya, Turkey, I am thinking about this great Sufi’s message of peace for mankind but the thought that just over 600 kilometers from here the very concept of peace is being threatened, sends a chill to the bones.

This part of my ten-day visit to Turkey seems to be the most exciting and troubling experience at the same time. Exciting because my dream of visiting the resting place of this 13th century poet and peacemaker has finally come true and troubling because a new threat to peace is emerging across the Turkish border in Kobani, Syria which might impact Turkey in important ways in the future. My first impression of Turkey as a nation where modernity and tradition exist side by side, comes from my observation from the architecture, the attire and cultural manifestation in Istanbul, Izmir, Konya and Ankara, the cities I visited. These national emblems represent both a traditional lifestyle and modernity with a great degree of tolerance and tranquility. Modern Turkey as a secular Muslim nation at the crossroads of Europe and Asia is a creation of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, popularly known as Kemal Ataturk after World War I. Analysis of strong sociopolitical and religious dynamics, however, reveals the intense political and cultural struggle that goes on in today’s Turkey. There are indications that religious, not necessarily militant, ten-

dencies have been slowly becoming part of an emerging image of this nation during the last decade or so. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have something to do with it. Erdogan’s popularity rests on his successful vision of reviving the Turkish lackluster economy to an astounding economic power. That’s why he has been at the realms of power for so long first as an elected prime minister and then as powerful president. True, his religious policies have been transforming the nation’s image from secular to a more traditional nation which is so apparent not only from shifting trends in the Turkish culture but also from Erdogan’s geopolitical strategies. From supporting the conservative Ikhwan in Egypt to allowing Muslim fighters to cross the Turkish border into Syria, there are several controversial measures he has taken as part of his vision to deal with the Middle East crisis. Besides the identity of Turkey

as a modern and traditional nation, keeping terrorism out of the border is the third dimension that poses a tremendous challenge to today’s Turkey. In the wake of American pressure to join the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS),

Before engaging itself completely in the Middle East mayhem, however, Turkey might learn from other Muslim nations who are now suffering from terrorism because of their misguided policies in the past. Pakistan’s military dictator, General Ziaul Haq, for instance, al-

With this historical legacy, mixed with its geopolitical realities of today, Turkey offers a promising future as an aspiring Muslim nation that could also become an economic and cultural link between Europe and the rest of the world Erdogan’s reluctance for fully participating in the conflict next door probably demonstrates his strategy to engage with the Syrian crisis vigilantly. His overall goals seem to be ousting Bashar al-Assad from power, sending Syrian refugees back home and circumventing the impact of militancy inside Turkey.

lowed to use the military and its resources to become part of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union in neighboring Afghanistan in the 1980s. With American funding and armaments, a huge fighting force of Mujahedeen was created. The monster of Taliban, a byproduct of this process, has now become an enormous terrorist threat

to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan, as a result, has become a playing ground for widespread terrorism, militancy, sectarian violence, religious intolerance and narcotics smuggling. The recent massacre of 133 school children in Peshawar is just one example in a series of terrorist attacks killing a large number of men, women, children, religious minorities and ethnic groups. Because of its geopolitical location, it seems to be difficult for Turkey to isolate itself from the ongoing chaos in the Middle East, militancy could be checked effectively at this early stage. Coming back from Konya to Istanbul I realize, with its magnificent palaces, splendid churches and glorious mosques, this nation has been home to Byzantine, Roman, Greek, Seljuk and Ottoman empires for centuries. With this historical legacy, mixed with its geopolitical realities of today, Turkey offers a promising future as an aspiring Muslim nation that could also become an economic and cultural link between Europe and the rest of the world. Turkey seems to be at a historical juncture and its decisions today will determine whether the resting place of the great ambassador of human tranquility, Moulana Rum, would remain a peaceful nation or it will be immersed into the folds of militancy tomorrow. (Qaisar Abbas, PhD, is a university professor/administrator, media analyst and political commentator based in Maryland, United States. He has worked as a News Producer for Pakistan TV and Information Officer in the province of Punjab. He can be reached at qaabbas@gmail. com)

High-Tech Startup Investment Opportunities in Pakistan n By Khurram Zafar

Lahore, Pakistan

believe that the technology entrepreneurship ecosystem in Pakistan is at a tipping point! There are a number of factors at play that make Pakistan ripe for both local and international investors looking to invest in the tech space:

• Quickly growing internet adoption currently estimated to be 25 million internet users and 15 million mobile internet users; • Cheap smart phone devices costing under $50; • 3G and 4G rollouts; • Massive amounts of marketing and media spend by companies like Rocket Internet, Schibsted, and Naspers that’s targeted to make Pakistani consumers comfortable transacting online; • Development of platforms like The Foundation at LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship and Plan9 that are supporting passionate entrepreneurs during their formative years; • Slow but steady investments flowing into startups at seed (e.g. Kima Ventures investment into Eyedeus Labs) and early stage (Frontier Digital Venture’s US$3.5 million investment into PakWheels.com) from local and foreign angels as well as early-stage funds; • Tens of millions of dollars being poured into developing perva-

sive electronic and online payment infrastructure in Pakistan (you have to take my word for it, but telcos and major banks will soon start announcing these plays); • Successful entrepreneurs returning from abroad and providing mentoring to startups and building bridges for them outside of Pakistan; • Gradual realization by seasoned businessmen and young aspiring entrepreneurs alike that internet has a massive equalizing power and they can tap into a global market of billions through online channels;

• Low cost of starting a technology business due to easy access to cloud computing platforms; massive distribution channels like the PlayStore, AppStore and Facebook; ability to create very targeted online marketing campaigns; inexpensive outsourcing of development tasks to freelancers; and quick feedback from customers to iterate and improve the products and services; • Ease of doing a tech business in Pakistan compared to the red tape and bureaucracy that has to be dealt with while setting up an industry (in fact, software exports still

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enjoy a complete tax holiday in Pakistan); • Excellent leverage on HR that tech (product) businesses provide compared to any other business and we all know that good HR is a constraint anywhere in the world; • And lastly, because tech businesses are not as widely impacted by security, electric power shortfalls, gas load-shedding and others infrastructure issues plaguing the rest of the industries in Pakistan. You inject a bit of capital to catalyze all this further in the 6th most populous (196 million) country in

the world, and we can have a perfect storm that can turn the Pakistani technology startups of today into the giant global businesses of tomorrow! How long will you keep pumping money in sugar and textile mills? Let me share something that might shed some light on the opportunity that I am ranting about. The following chart compares the annual profit before taxes of a single games company based in Finland, a country with half the population of Lahore, employing only 120 people (which recently took over Nokia’s old R&D facility) with multiple publicly listed companies in Pakistan belonging to various industrial segments. Here are some eye opening inferences in case they are not readily evident: • One mobile gaming company in a country with half the population of Lahore makes more profit before taxes than ten of the largest cement companies in Pakistan • One mobile gaming company in a country with half the population of Lahore makes more profit before taxes than two companies that distribute natural gas to the entire Pakistan • One mobile gaming company in a country with half the population of Lahore makes more profit before taxes than five power generation companies and two oil refineries combined • One mobile gaming STARTUP, P26

PAKISTAN

JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P11

Fire in Lahore Shopping Center Leaves 13 Dead, 2 Injured

Lahore: At least 13 people died and a number of others injured after a building caught fire at Lahore’s Anarkali Bazaar, DawnNews reported. An electrical short circuit in the four-storey building was the likely cause of the fire in the bazaar where electronic items, lighters, and sunglasses were manufactured and sold, officials said. Earlier, the district coordination officer (DCO) confirmed that 12 people had died as a result of the blaze. “Most of the people died as a result of suffocation and not from the blaze itself,” the DCO said. He said the fire enveloped the entire building within “four to five minutes.” The DCO stated the blaze had been brought under control and that the building had been cleared of all people. “The building has been cleared...there is no one left inside,” he said. Officials have launched an investigation regard-

Volunteers rescue a victim after the fire in a four-storey building in Lahore

ing the cause of the fire. Rescue workers said they had pulled out 12 bodies from the building which have been shifted to Mayo Hospital. While speaking to DawnNews, a hospital official said the dead included one woman. The official also said that one injured person was out of danger but had suffered 15 per cent burns on his body.

Rescue services and fire brigade officials said they faced problems owing to low visibility and narrow streets leading to the scene. SP City Asad Sarfraz Khan said he had to use a loud speaker on several occasions to ask the crowd to clear the area outside the affected building so that rescue workers could proceed unhindered.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed grief over the fire in Lahore and extended condolences to the families of those who had lost their lives. He also directed the provincial government to accelerate relief efforts. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of the fire and asked the city district govt. to submit a report within 24 hours.

Article 245: Understanding Why PML-N Is Willing to Cede Public Space n By Furkan Ali Karachi: The armed forces and General Raheel Sharif are riding a notable wave of public sympathy, confidence and admiration since the Peshawar tragedy. A desperate population is anxious to grab at any semblance of leadership and resolve. Then there are the determined, head-scratching politicians, looking for the exit route in Pakistan’s maze of terror. General Sharif ’s quick-fire trip to Afghanistan and immediate military retaliation is currently providing the solution to the first deficiency. The deployment of 10,000 army personnel to counter terrorism in our cities is the grudnorm to the second. That we have vacated such vast public space to the armed forces begs that obscure question again about the army, the government and the Constitution. There was a deafening silence in the Constitution of Pakistan of 1956 and 1962 about the role of the armed forces and the events over that period taught the country some harsh lessons about the power of silence. The PPP government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with army chief Gen Raheel Sharif lays a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shohada during his visit to Quetta. File photo

recognised the danger of this omission and tackled the issue head-on by inserting, highlighting and then underlining that the armed forces would be subservient to the government. In his speech on the passing of the 1973 Constitution, the Law Minister, Mr Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, emphatically rang aloud the words of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in the House: “With the making of the Constitution, the course of Martial Laws, the apprehensions of taking control of the country by usurpers and dictators and exploiters shall be buried once and for all.”

Enter Articles 243, 244 and 245 of the 1973 Constitution. Article 243(1) of the Constitution is sacrosanct: “The Federal Government shall have control and command of the Armed Forces.” Article 245(1) follows on: “The Armed Forces shall, under the directions of the Federal Government, defend Pakistan against external aggression or threat of war, and, subject to law, act in aid of civil power when called upon to do so.” The constitutional role of the armed forces is thus two-fold. The first, fairly obvious, traditional

one is to defend Pakistan. The second, perhaps more significant in our history, is to assist the government when so called upon. Ostensibly, this second function appears to be premised on the notion that the armed forces possess a capability which the federal government doesn’t, and which it, at some stage, may need. In 1999, the Supreme Court observed that this clause essentially permitted the federal government to call upon the armed forces to perform police functions, for suppressing riots, maintaining law and order and

SPACE, P9

www.PakistanLink.com

Karachi Blaze Razes Hopes of Hundreds into Haze

“If the fire extinguishers had arrived on time and had adequate water, this fire could have been controlled,” said Abdul Qadir, a shopkeeper, who had been running his shop for the past 40 years

Karachi: Shahid was happy with his life

as a laborer. He had recently rented a house for his small family. He was proud of buying a television set, a refrigerator and some furnishings to make the place a home. But the timber market blaze took all that away in front of his very eyes. Shahid is a resident of Jharoo Wali Gali in Gazderabad – one of the several hundred who were rendered homeless overnight after a fire erupted at the timber market. A walk through the street on Sunday morning bespoke the catastrophe that had struck a night earlier, taking in its wake the homes of several hundred families. The residents sat outside what remained of their homes – crying helplessly while consoling each other with whatever courage they could muster. Maybe it was meant to be, some said. At least no one was hurt, said others. Yet others braved the still-hot embers to retrieve what little they could from the houses. “I had rented this house three years ago. The fire took away everything I had procured after saving up for years,” said Shahid in a shaky voice. A few steps ahead of him, Shahid’s wife clad in a burqa was trying to console her daughter with false promises of returning home soon. “We have been out on the street since yesterday night without food or water,” she said. “There is nothing left for us.” The narrow street, adjacent to the timber market, has around one hundred houses, most of them multi-storey, which were inhabited by around two to three hundred families. The fire wreaked havoc on all the houses – most of them were damaged beyond recognition. “This is a lower-middle class neighborhood, inhabited since the time of partition,” said a resident, Amir, standing outside a partially burnt house, with a slab boasting its construction in 1978. “We built these houses through years of struggle. It is still unbelievable that this tragedy has struck us.” The street had a thick of muck courtesy of the water from the fire brigades as people frantically ran around, looking for someone or something that had gone missing. A young boy desperately scoured the street, his eyes wide open with fear as he looked for a loved one. A friend’s father-in-law used to live in the street. As soon as he found who he was looking for, he handed him his mobile phone, asking him to talk to his daughter and son-in-law who were out of the city. The man, who appeared to be in his 50s, burst into tears as soon as he uttered the usual words of salutation. The timber market is surrounded by an unplanned neighborhood of haphazard,

narrow streets. On account of eyewitnesses, one of the reasons why the fire caused so much destruction was that the fire extinguishers could not enter the streets. Next to the Jharoo Wali Gali is Soomra Gali where a main gate opens into the market. Almost all the shopkeepers had congregated at this point. They helplessly looked on as their sources of livelihood perished before their very eyes. “If the fire extinguishers had arrived on time and had adequate water, this fire could have been controlled,” said a shopkeeper, Abdul Qadir, who had been running his shop since the past 40 years. “This is not just our loss. Hundreds of daily-wage laborers have also lost their source of livelihood.” According to a member of the market’s association, Yusuf Kalar, the fire has caused a loss of approximately Rs3 billion. “We will build our businesses again” he said. “But the government should also play its role and compensate the affectees.”

PPP Govt. Was ‘Asleep’ during Karachi Timber Fire: MQM

Karachi: The Muttahida Qaumi Move-

ment’s (MQM)’s Rabita Committee censured the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government in Sindh on Sunday for not acting swiftly enough to deal with a fire that broke out in a timber market in Karachi. “It is unfortunate to say that several hours after the fire broke out, the government of Sindh was asleep, while Karachi burned all night,” Rabita Committee’s caretaker in-charge Qamar Mansoor said. Mansoor went on to add that the fire had broken out in Lyari Town — an area of the city that has a large following of the PPP. “Our leader, Altaf, directed us to assist” in the rescue operations “at the timber market with the help of the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation,” he said, while addressing a press conference. He claimed even female MQM workers were present at the scene of the fire all night, helping the affectees. “The timber market plays a vital role in the market of Sindh,” Mansoor said. MQM leader Farooq Sattar, giving his two cents on the situation, said, “The fire could have spread had MQM workers not reached the scene of the fire.”

PAKISTAN

P12 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

Benazir’s Death Anniversary: PPP Supports Special Courts with a Caveat

Sukkur: While political and legal circles are abuzz with the talk of the proposed special trial courts to try terrorism suspects, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari said his party “supports these courts on the condition that they will not be used for political victimization”. “Military courts are needed but they should not be misused,” Zardari said while addressing a huge gathering at Garhi Khuda Bux organized in connection with the seventh death anniversary of PPP’s slain chairperson Benazir Bhutto on Saturday. “We are supporting these courts conditionally,” he said, adding that his party wanted to bequeath a prosperous and peaceful Pakistan to the coming generations. Zardari blamed former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for the upward spiral of militant violence in the country. “Had he [Musharraf] taken notice of the October 18, 2007 terror attack on PPP workers and launched an operation against terrorists, the Peshawar tragedy could have been averted,” he added. “Although he [Musharraf] is on bail, he is engaged in politics with the army’s help,” Zardari said. “If the army wants to use him in politics, then we are ready to face him the way we faced military dictators since General Ziaul Haq’s era.” The PPP co-chairman said that short-sighted leaders and army generals mixed up the ‘Jihad in Kashmir’ with the Afghan insurgency which not only undermined the Kashmir struggle but also allowed the Jihadis to sneak into our cities and towns. “Due to the [security] establishment’s lack of vision, Jihadis have spread throughout the country and now we are unable to differentiate between ‘good Taliban’ and ‘bad Taliban’,” he added. Zardari also sought to quash ‘rumors’ of differences between him and n By Wajahat S. Khan Islamabad: Like millions of children around the world, Annaseema Peshimam dutifully wrote her letter to Santa Claus in early December, promising she had been a good girl all year. The five-year-old asked for a Mermadia doll, and requested “some things for Shahlale, my sister ... She is too small to write.” And like so many dads, her father Gibran Peshimam mailed a missive addressed to “Santa Claus, North Pole.” Unlike millions of fellow Santa letter-writers, Peshimams are not Christian but Muslim. And they live in Karachi, the teeming megacity in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. They have nevertheless embraced the holiday because it makes sense, Gibran Peshimam said. “The entire process is so perfect for a child,” the 32-year-old online journalist said. “The request to Santa, the anticipation while decorating the tree, the excitement of waking up in the morning to wrapped presents, it is almost like Christmas is made for all children all over the world — regardless of religion or culture.” The Peshimams are not alone. Christmas is embraced in certain parts of Pakistani society, especially among the wealthy and educated. Paradoxically, the country is also seeing an uptick in violence against its nearly 4 million Christians as some

Asif Ali Zardari addresses a PPP gathering in Garhi Khuda Bux

his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. “People often spread rumors about the PPP and its leadership, but despite all these conspiracies and rumors, our party is united and strong,” he said. However, he added that one has to go through the ordeals of prisons before taking over bigger roles. “One has to give tremendous sacrifices and pass through the torturous prisons before shouldering bigger responsibilities,” he added. Claiming to be a political disciple of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Zardari said his late wife, Benazir Bhutto, had taught him the nuances of politics. “When I was released after spending 11 years in jail, she entrusted me with the party’s responsibilities,” he said. Zardari also announced that after his death he would be buried in Garhi Khuda Bux, the hometown of the Bhutto family. “Anyone who leads the PPP is entitled to be buried in Garhi Khuda Bux,” he added. He also dispelled the rumors of

differences between PPPP President Makhdoom Amin Fahim and the party leadership. “He [Fahim] never ditched the party in the past and he will never do that in the future.” Earlier addressing the gathering, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah said Benazir Bhutto had warned against the scourge of terrorism and had returned to Pakistan to save the country – ‘a cause for which she sacrificed her life’. Shah said PPP workers did not flock to Garhi Khuda Bux just to pay homage to the martyrs of the Bhutto family. “We come to seek inspiration from here,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said the PPP would continue its struggle to root out terrorism from the country. “The Sindh government is strong and stable,” he said and claimed that the party would form the federal government after the next elections.

Pakistani Officials Angered at ‘Hellhole’ Depiction of Country in Homeland

“Maligning a country that has been a close partner and ally of the US . . . is a disservice not only to the security interests of the US but also to the people of the US,” Pakistan Embassy spokesperson told The Post

Islamabad: The fourth season

of Homeland, an Emmy-winning show, sparked furor among officials in Pakistan for its depiction of the country as being an undemocratic one, allied with terrorists, and in general just a “hellhole,” the New York Post reported. “Repeated insinuations that an intelligence agency of Pakistan is complicit in protecting the terrorists at the expense of innocent Pakistani civilians is not only absurd, but also an insult to the ultimate sacrifices of the thousands of Pakistani security personnel in the war against terrorism,” a source said. “Maligning a country that has been a close partner and ally of the US . . . is a disservice not only to the security interests of the US but also to the people of the US,” Pakistan Embassy spokesperson Nadeem Hotiana told The Post. Further, in regard to the portrayal of Pakistan being undemocratic, a source said, “Our culture embraces

Christmas Is a Big Hit in Pakistan

use the country’s controversial “Blasphemy Law” to marginalize and oppress their non-Muslim countrymen. Christmas kiosks spring up every holiday season. The Kohsar Market in the capital Islamabad, where the elite can buy everything from non-alcoholic eggnog to Santa masks to 20-feet Christmas trees, sits next to mosques, a paramilitary special forces post and a butcher selling “halal” meat prepared to comply with Muslim dietary laws. The soldiers, who are there to guard against attack on the foreigners who often visit the site, don’t deter Imran Masih, a 35-year-old Christian manning one of the kiosks. Business thrives during the holidays,

he said, which is good given that he doesn’t work much the rest of the time. “We’ve been doing this for years,” Masih said as he fixed decorations onto miniature Christmas trees. “It’s good business in a city where there are people who are exposed to the world.” “Over the last couple of years, we’ve been seeing fewer and fewer foreigners and more and more locals,” said Masih, whose last name means “Christian” in Urdu. “The politics of Osama [bin Laden] have been overtaken by Santa Claus!” he said, referring to the former leader of al Qaeda who hid in Pakistan for years and died during a secret US

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raid in 2011. But while the well-heeled embrace the holidays’ glitz and glitter, the country’s beleaguered Christians are struggling to cling to their traditions. In the yard of a church built in “100 Quarters,” a Christian ghetto that lies hidden behind whitewashed walls next to one of Islamabad’s posh neighborhood, groups of young men huddle around open fires. Stray dogs and abandoned vehicles litter the parameter of the church. There are no decorations or kiosks in 100 Quarters — a single street light illuminates the churchyard. The stench from overflowing half-frozen sewers permeates the small neighborhood.

Western society. Pakistan believes in the democratic system of voting in our presidents.” “Pakistanis never embraced the dictators who, in the past, ruled the country because they took over the presidency through violent means,” the source added. Hotiana, according to The New York Post, said he wished the producers would have “spent more time getting their facts right,” and added, “A little research would have gone a long way.” A source also said that “Homeland makes it seem [as though] Pakistan has contempt for Americans and its values and principles. That is not true.” Diplomats were also annoyed with the misrepresentation of the capital, Islamabad, being displayed as a “grimy hellhole and war zone where shootouts and bombs go off with dead bodies scattered around. Nothing is further from the truth,” a source said. HOMELAND, P29

“Celebrations will be on Christmas Day, in the church,” said Kaisar Maseeh, a local teen as he carried bread home for dinner. “Nobody’s got the extra cash to deck this place up ... Maybe some middle-class families will get some special food, but not all of us [Christians].” Not everyone is deprived of an opulent holiday feast when it comes to Christmas dinner in Pakistan, however. At a black-tie Christmas ball thrown by a Western embassy, wellconnected diplomats and privileged predominately Muslim Pakistanis enjoy a fabulous feast. A singer in a ballgown belts out festive favorites like “All I Want for Christmas” and the tables are decked out with Christmas trees. The menu reads as if an especially corpulent Santa had been providing dinner: Brie and cranberry parcels, roast turkey, gravy, beef, stuffing and mushroom roulade. Spiced pumpkin cheesecake and “Christmas Pie Sundae” complete with orange, almond and whisky sauce cap off dinner. The guests are politely advised by the liveried staff that the pigs-inblankets and Christmas pie sundae are not halal — pork and alcohol are un-Islamic. (Wajahat S.Khan is a correspondent and producer for NBC News based in Islamabad, covering South Asia and. Expand Bio. NBC)

PAKISTAN

JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P13

Extraordinary Circumstances Necessitate Extraordinary Measures

Islamabad: Two days after UN Secre-

tary General Ban Ki-moon called for restoring a moratorium on the death penalty, Pakistan said the extraordinary circumstances it is facing necessitate extraordinary measures. In a statement issued on Saturday, a government spokesperson said Pakistan respected the international community “but the country is passing through extraordinary circumstances which demand that extraordinary measures be taken.” He added that a peaceful Pakistan was in the best interest of the world. The UN chief spoke to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday to express his condolences over the December 16 massacre of 150 people, including 134 children, by Taliban gunmen at the Army Public School in Peshawar. However, during the phone call, Ban pressed Pakistan to end capital punishment and restore the moratorium on the death penalty that the prime minister revoked in terrorismrelated cases following the Peshawar massacre. “While fully recognizing the difficult circumstances, the secretary general urged the government of Pakistan to stop the execution of convicts and re-impose the moratorium on the death penalty,” Ban’s office said in a statement. It added that Premier Nawaz promised that “all legal norms would be respected”. Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson also issued a strong response to the UN chief ’s exhortations. “Pakistan is cognizant of its obligations under United Nations human rights conventions and charters,” Tasnim Aslam said in a short statement. “[But] the execution of terrorists violates no international law,” she added. The deadly Peshawar school rampage triggered a policy review by the government and subsequently the political leadership agreed on a 20-point National Action Plan against terrorism. While announcing the plan on Wednesday, the prime minister said his government would continue to execute convicted terrorists. In the coming weeks, the government plans

The horrifying Peshawar school carnage triggered a policy review by the government and subsequently the political leadership agreed on a 20-point National Action Plan against terrorism

to hang some 500 militants. Follow-up meeting on action plan: Prime Minister Nawaz’s legal team on Saturday presented to him the first draft of constitutional and legal amendments for setting up special trial courts, to be headed by military officers. The draft was presented to the premier at a follow-up meeting on the implementation of the National Action Plan at the Prime Minister House, according to an official statement. It added that the prime minister asked his legal team to share the draft with other political parties and take their input on the matter. Speaking at the meeting, Premier Nawaz said, “The government will give our jawans legal protection in their fight against terrorists.” He directed the inclusion of violence against minorities in the schedule of terrorist offences as well, the statement said. At the follow-up huddle, the premier also instructed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to convene a meeting of the executive committee of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta) on Wednesday in order to make the authority functional. He directed Nisar to furnish recommendations on strengthening

and activating the country’s top antiterror body by December 31, according to the statement. According to sources, Nisar told the premier that all necessary appointments in Nacta had been made and the body was ready to start functioning. Nacta would be the country’s premier platform to counter terrorism and extremism. Of the 20 points of the National Action Plan, 10 directly fall under Nacta’s domain, sources added. Meanwhile, the government on Saturday released details of the composition of committees tasked with implementing various facets of the National Action Plan. According to an official statement, one umbrella committee and 15 subcommittees will prepare a roadmap to implement the government’s anti-terror strategy. The main committee, tasked with oversight, will be headed by the prime minister and comprise the ministers of interior, defense, finance, planning and development, states and frontier regions, and information along with the governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the premier’s adviser on foreign affairs and national security. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Barrister Zafarullah Khan will also be part of the panel.

United States Congress Notifies $532 Million Assistance Package for Pakistan Islamabad: The United States Con-

gress has notified a $532 million civilian assistance package for Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar Act, said US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard G Olson during a meeting with Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar. An official statement issued here on Monday said that Olson discussed with the minister the breakup of assistance being given for different sectors such as energy, defense against terrorism, economic growth, community building, education and health. The finance minister remarked that the government should spend a large amount of this assistance for the rehabilitation of the temporary displaced persons (TDPs) of North Waziristan Agency. The act was passed in the year 2009 by the US Congress to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to promote an enhanced strategic partnership with Pakistan and its people, and for other

US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard G. Olson meets Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad

purposes. Olson also discussed the agenda for the expected visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry to Pakistan in January 2015. Dar discussed with the ambassador the speedy delivery of Boeing aircraft which PIA has sought to acquire

to upgrade its fleet, which he said was on the priority list of the govt. The minister told the ambassador that they are preparing for giving a briefing to the donors about the rehabilitation work being carried out for the TDPs of North Waziristan and the flood-affected people.

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Maulana Aziz Will Not Seek Pre-Arrest Bail: Spokesperson Islamabad: Lal Masjid cleric Mau-

lana Abdul Aziz will neither surrender to the police nor will he seek a pre-arrest bail, a statement from the mosque’s spokesperson read on Saturday evening. A court in Islamabad had on Friday issued a non-bailable arrest warrants for Maulana Aziz for allegedly threatening members of the civil society who had held protests outside his mosque. The civil society members wanted Maulana Aziz to unequivocally condemn the December 16 attack on the military-run school in Peshawar. Lal Masjid spokesperson Mufti Tehseenullah on Saturday said that the case was “politically motivated” and that a few members of the “so- Maulana Abdul Aziz called civil society” had exerted pres- eration against militants in the North sure on the police to register a “base- Waziristan tribal district. “O rulers, O people in power, if less case” against the cleric. “Maulana Abdul Aziz has decided you will commit such acts, there will in principle that he will neither surren- be a reaction,” he told worshippers in der to the police nor get a pre-arrest a sermon, prompting further protests accusing him of being a Taliban symbail in the baseless case.” He also rejected claims made by pathizer. civil society members about threats by “Police have received the court guards of the mosque and said Mau- order and we are trying our best to imlana Aziz had condemned the attack plement it,” a police official in capital and that there was no justification to Islamabad said, requesting anonymregister a case with the police. ity as he was not authorised to talk to “We will not tolerate if the ad- media. Hafiz Ihtesham Ahmed, a spokesministration takes any action under pressure,” Tehseenullah warned. man for the Red Mosque accused civil Court Issues Arrest Warrant: A society activists of pressuring police to Pakistani court has issued an arrest register a case against Aziz. “This case warrant for a hardline Islamic cleric has no grounds, so we will resist any who refused to condemn the massa- move to arrest Maulana Abdul Aziz,” cre of schoolchildren in the country’s Ahmed said. Pakistan has described the bloody worst ever terror attack, after he allegedly threatened people criticising him. carnage in Peshawar as its own “mini Maulana Abdul Aziz, the head of 9/11”, calling it a game-changer in the the Red Mosque in capital Islamabad, fight against extremism. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has been accused of threatening civil society activists, who last week staged (TTP) claimed the assault as revenge several demonstrations outside the for an ongoing military offensive mosque, a police official and a spokes- against its strongholds in the tribal man for the mosque said. The protests north-west. The Red Mosque, which stands were staged to denounce Aziz, who refused on a television talk show to con- a stone’s throw from the parliament demn the Peshawar massacre, which buildings in the center of the capital, was the scene of a week-long military left around 150 people dead. In a later sermon, Aziz linked the siege against radicals which left more killings to the army’s “un-Islamic” op- than 100 people dead in 2007.

62 Militants Killed in US, Pakistani Strikes

Islamabad: Pakistan’s military says

security forces ambushed “a large assembly of terrorists” near the border with Afghanistan, killing at least 16 of them and wounding 20 others. A brief military statement issued Saturday says an overnight “intense battle” took place in a territory separating the Orakzai and Khyber tribal districts and that at least four soldiers were wounded. Earlier, Pakistani officials said two suspected US drone strikes killed at least seven militant fighters early Friday in the remote North Waziristan region. Those strikes were followed by Pakistani air strikes late Friday targeting compounds of Taliban and Uzbek militants near the Afghan border with what the army called “very effective and precise aerial strikes” that killed at least 39 militants. The attacks in North Waziristan come as Pakistan ramps up its antiterror strategy following a December 16 Pakistani Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar that killed nearly 150 people, most of them chil-

dren. The massacre of 134 children and 16 school staff prompted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to reinstate the death penalty just two days after the attack. Authorities have since hanged six “hard-core terrorists” convicted of previous terrorism charges. Plans are in place to execute hundreds more. Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke by phone with Mr Sharif. A UN statement said Mr Ban urged the Islamabad government to stop the executions and re-impose the country’s moratorium on the death penalty. The two also discussed the rule of law and the need for an independent Pakistani judiciary. On Friday, officials said security forces have killed an alleged facilitator of the Peshawar school massacre. The head of the police in the Khyber tribal region said security forces, acting on intelligence information, conducted a raid late Thursday and fought a gun battle with the militant commander known as Saddam and suspected accomplices. Six alleged cohorts were wounded and arrested.

P14 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

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PAKISTAN

JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P15

Pakistan Becomes Associate Member of European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday for-

mally became an associate member of CERN – European Organization for Nuclear Research. The membership will provide Pakistani scientists and engineers an opportunity to benefit from scientific expertise at the prestigious institution. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif termed the agreement a “landmark moment in the development of science in the country” as he witnessed, along with Director General of CERN Dr Rolf Heuer, the signing of the final accession document leading to CERN’s associate membership at the Prime Minister’s House. The membership will help Pakistan in establishing a sustained and institutionalized relationship with CERN. Potential benefits include training of scientists, engineers and students, getting commercial contracts from CERN for local industry, acquiring of old and used equipment and provision of high profile international science projects. Addressing the signing ceremony, PM Nawaz thanked the DG CERN and CERN Council for recognizing the hard work and capabilities of Pakistani scientists, engineers and technicians, and for allowing Pakistan to become a part of the institution. “Today’s event is also a testimony to the fact that whenever pro-

PM Nawaz Sharif witnesses the signing of the CERN agreement in Islamabad

vided an opportunity, the people of Pakistan are capable of standing up to any international standard,” he said. Nawaz urged Pakistani scientists not to limit the CERN associate membership as a goal, rather take it as a means to pursue and acquire new scientific and engineering knowledge. He asked them to use the opportunity to interact closely with the international community and gain expertise in science and technology. He expressed satisfaction that the contribution and work of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission

(PAEC) and National Centre for Physics had been recognized by CERN and urged Pakistani entrepreneurs to get involved and take advantage of this opportunity. The Pakistan-CERN collaboration, which started in 1994 with the signing of an agreement between Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and CERN, has been growing steadily. Pakistan had applied for the CERN associate membership in February 2013. By 2010, CERN membership was exclusively restricted to European countries. However, it is now open to non-European states as well.

Hanif Quietly Moves on to 80 with a Tinge of Regret

Karachi: Hanif Mohammad, often called the sub-continent’s original Little Master, celebrated his 80th birthday with the complaint that the Pakistan cricket authorities had to this day

not recognized and rewarded him for his triple century against the West Indies in 1957. “The cricket authorities have recognized and rewarded Younis Khan and Inzamam-ulHaq for scoring triple centuries but it still remains one of the saddest moments for me that my feat is yet to be recognized,” Hanif said. He said he had scored his 337 runs at a time when the pitches were not covered and there was no proper gear for players to protect them. “I took blows and also underwent an operation after that innings. But what is disappointing is that until today the authorities have not recognized my triple century or acknowledged my effort,” he complained. Change for the good: Hanif said that cricket had changed a lot from the time he played. “Today I am happy to see the cricketers are so well paid and are well off. I wish professionalism had come into the game in my time as well.”

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Amir Khan in Pakistan to Honor Peshawar Pledge Peshawar: He’s one of the world’s most famous boxers but this could be Amir Khan’s toughest fight yet. Khan landed in Pakistan on Wednesday and promised to help rebuild the school in Peshawar where 132 children were killed by the Taliban in the country’s deadliest-ever terror attack. The British boxer, who has Pakistani roots, announced his intention to set up boxing academies for youngsters in the country, while the sale of his $45,000 shorts will help to rebuild the school. “What has taken place in Peshawar is absolutely horrific and sickening,” the WBC welterweight world champion told a news conference in Islamabad. “After recently becoming a father myself, I can’t imagine how the families of these innocent children are feeling.” “The main reason I came to Pakistan was to show the world that Pakistan is a safe place, and it’s a place I love coming to and you know, we all want to fight against terrorism.” Gunmen stormed the army-run school in the city of Peshawar, which is in the northwest of the country, earlier last month. Khan, 28, announced his intention to help rebuild the school following his successful title defense against Devon Alexander in Las Vegas last month. He became a father last May when his daughter Lamysa was born and wants to help the survivors following the tragic event. Speaking to British media ahead of the trip to Pakistan, Khan revealed the timing of his trip was vitally important.

“Talking about this stuff could be threatening for me, but I just want to speak the truth and tell people what is happening is wrong,” he said. “I think it’s more important now than ever to go over there. I think it will send a statement to a lot of people that Amir Khan is going there to make a difference. “I want it to be a better country. It’s just a shame -- I cannot believe how sick some people are.” Pakistan has seen plenty of violence, much of it involving militants based in South Waziristan, North Waziristan and the Khyber Agency -- all restive regions in northwest Pakistan near Peshawar along its border with Afghanistan. It is the home base of the TTP, an organization that has sought to force its conservative version of Islam in Pakistan. The group has battled Pakistani troops and, on a number of occasions, attacked civilians as well. Peshawar, an ancient city of more than three million people tucked right up against the Khyber Pass, has often found itself in the center of it all. Militants repeatedly targeted the city in AMIR, P29

P16 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

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JANUARY 2, 2015 - PAKISTAN LINK

WOMEN

P18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; PAKISTAN LINK â&#x20AC;&#x201C; JANUARY 2, 2015

By M. Shirazi

he year 2015 is promising to be a fresh start for the beauty industry. Gorgeous hair, fresh makeup and cool nail ideas will rule the year 2015. Get ready as all the beauty trends we have known and adopted will be fading away, making room for new and exciting techniques. This week You! talks to ace beauticians who share their achievements and predict some beauty

1 2015 is the year for looking after your skin. Basically the no makeup look will be quite in. Dewy skin with thick winged eye liner and orange, pink or cherry lip colours is the way to go. For hair, waves, messy textures, thick bangs, choppy bobs, low buns and windblown braids will be in vogue. Hair accessories like bands, ribbons, tussles and jewelled pins will also be popular in 2015. 2 In 2014 I was appointed as the

trends and inspiring looks that will be all the rage in 2015. Read on to find out more... 1 In 2015 what trends - makeup, hairstyles - will rule? 2 In your opinion what were your achievements in the year 2014? 3 What will be the hottest colours in hair, nails, lips, eye-shadows - in the year 2015? 4 Which look did you create for a celebrity in 2014 that you loved the most? And which celebrity would you want to give a drastic make over to in 2015? 5 Any revolutionary makeup product that was launched in 2014 that you love the most and recommend it to your clients? 6 Any plans for 2015? Angie Marshall

Brand Ambassador for Chi and also I am the educator of the brand. Also, I received the Best Makeup Artist of 2014 at the 4th Pakistan Media Awards. 3 Black and shimmery gold is the colour for eyes. And for nails beige, black and red with lots of glitter will be quite popular. For lips plum and fuchsia pinks will be the rage in 2015. Hair colours that will be in vogue include all shades of browns and reds. 4 I did a creative beauty shoot with actor and model Sherry. I really loved that. And I think many of our celebrities need a drastic make over as they don't want to experiment with their looks and want to just look pretty at all times. 5 I just love the entire mineralised range by MAC. Their mineralised shimmer powder is amazing. Also lipsticks by Guerlain are very good.

6 In the future I plan to work harder; I want to train more people and teach them latest techniques in hair and makeup. We need qualified and trained professionals in our beauty industry so in 2015, I will try to do just that. Mona J 1 A glowy and dewy base, rosy pink cream blusher on the cheeks, with silver, gold, grey and bronze metallic shades - on the eyes will be very popular. Double winged eyeliner with lots of mascara and no kajal will also be the it thing. For the lips, pinks, mauves and maroon will very much be in vogue. '60s hairdos with lots of backcombing will be in fashion. 2 I was appointed as the brand ambassador and official educator of L'Oreal Pakistan. And being named as the best cut and colour salon of 2014 is my biggest achievement. 3 Nail art with gold flakes, diamantes and beads will be the rage. For lips burgundy is colour and molten metallic shades for the eyes will be quite in. A combination of hair colours will be popular, which includes 'Blonde on Blonde', 'Chocolate coated Strawberries' and 'Popcorn brown with Hazelnut' 4 I did a creative 'molten metallic' shoot with model Iqra Fayyaz that is my absolute favourite. And another favourite of mine is the bridal look that I did with model Fauzia. I would love to give Kim Kardashian a very different look. She has a beautiful face and creating a look for her would be a dream come true. 5 I am in love with Armani base with real gold shimmer in it, Sephora's Beauty Blender and Orgasm by NARS. All these are amazing illuminisers that give off a very natural glow on the face. 6 Well, that's a surprise and you will have to wait for it a little more. Raana Khan 1 I believe in makeup less will be more and neutral shades will rule. Long hair with hair colour that looks blended and very natural will be the it thing. In hairstyles top messy knot, centre parted hair, backcombing on the crown and angled bob will be very popular. 2 My achievement list includes, opening up my new salon; getting on board as a makeup consultant for an international brand; styling shoots for top leading brands and fashion shows. 3 Pastels will be very in for nails and eye shadows. Lipsticks will be electric stains and tinted balms. Ombre and balayage in browns and ash will be in fashion in 2015. 4 I coloured actress Humaima's hair and she looks amazing. This is her first drastic change in hair. Colour is brown with subtle streaks which look very natural and gives a softer look to her face. I would like to give a makeover to Vidya Balan. 5 I just love chubby sticks for lips in Revlon and Clinique. 6 In 2015 I plan to travel a lot; do beauty workshops; expand my set up and introduce new brands at my salon. Nina Lotia 1 I truly believe that trend is something that you make and I follow the same notion. Year 2015 will be rocking with a lot of hairdos rather than blow dries. And makeup will be very subtle

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with winged eyeliner and lots of mascara. 2 In my opinion my work is my achievement. And I think the success of my new salon has been my biggest achievement in 2014. 3 In hair lots of highlights and lowlights in shades of browns will be in. Natural and subtle eye shadows with nude lips will become popular. Overall makeup will be very natural and classy. 4 The best look I gave was to

Maheen Khan with the most exquisite hair colour and cut. For a makeover I can't think of any name. 5 Inglot cosmetics have great products that give the most amazing results. 6 This is the 3rd year that I am the brand ambassador for Pantene so I plan to work closely with the brand. Also I will be busy in educational trainings in hair so that everyone can benefit from it. Courtesy The News

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JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P19

Friday, January 2, 2015

VOL. 25/1 PAGE 20

Malala among the ‘Most Admired’ by Americans

11 Rabi ‘ul-awwal 1436 H

PAGE PAGE21 17

egum PAGE 20

Statement of Condolence from Chairman Ed Royce

From the Grand Trunk Road to Route 66

For news, updated round the clock, visit

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Muslims Help to Feed the Homeless on Christmas Eve in Sacramento

This was the religion of Islam in action. Our youth certainly made us proud here with their volunteer effort

n By Ras H. Siddiqui

he Sacramento Loaves & Fishes organization (http:// www.sacloaves.org/ ) has many projects catering to the needy in the area since its 1983 founding. They include Advocacy (for housing the homeless), Genesis (a free mental health program), Maryhouse (a daytime shelter for homeless women and children) and a Dining Room open 7 days a week/364 days a year to feed the homeless of the area. These are just a few of the programs that are being operated by them and they are all funded by private donations and not government money.

The Dining Room is of great importance to the region because there is always an immediate need to feed the homeless, people down on their luck or even the working poor of the area. It is ironic that we have the need for such services in one of the richest countries in the world but it is a fact. And being homeless

and poor around Christmas time especially hits people quite hard. Christmas Eve is supposed to be about bounty, blessings, high expectations and joy for Christians worldwide, so when followers of Islam like the American Muslim Voice Foundation (AMV) announced their desire to pitch in and help them with a 1000 meals effort here at Loaves & Fishes the day before Christmas, this became newsworthy. Not only did Muslims fund this effort but they helped in the preparation and the serving of the food here. Approximately 15 volunteers worked between 6:30 and 9:30 am to help prepare the meals. A second shift of 25 more helped to serve the food between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. I saw the second group in action, predominantly our Muslim youth getting directions on how to handle and distribute food and the necessary attire (Health Department Regulations). Some worked both shifts and that is additionally commendable.

The prayer leader of the Downtown Sacramento Muslim Mosque Imam Mumtaz Qasmi made a special trip here to bless the efforts of all the volunteers. He said that on the Day of Judgment people who cared for poor people will earn a place for themselves in paradise. He said that by serving people we are serving Allah (SWT), especially those people in need. He also said a prayer for Dr Shahid Khan, an active participant in last year’s event here who

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passed away recently. Mo Mohanna, a long-time Sacramento resident and supporter of meals at Loaves & Fishes and other projects, also came in and talked to the event organizers and volunteers. Once the food serving started, people trickled in to partake in a main course of chicken and many side dishes. Dessert appeared in the shape of Donut holes. The fact that our Musllm youth including girls in Hijab served Christians and people

of other faiths on Christmas Eve did not escape notice. Local TV Channels covered the event. The AMV Foundation Executive Director and founder Samina Sundas who often drives quite a distance to Sacramento from the Bay Area said that she was very proud of the Sacramento Chapter for hosting and feeding the guests who are close to God, the needy. She said that she would travel every day to MUSLIMS, P20

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P20 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

Statement of Condolence from Chairman Edward Royce

Our hearts go out to the families of the innocent students who were murdered in Peshawar. I have visited Peshawar and have seen schools in the region during our delegations visits. When I close my eyes I can remember the expressions on those young faces -- excited to learn. My hope is that the armed forces of Pakistan are successful in securing the peace. The people of Pakistan do not deserve the specter of terrorism in their country.. All of us around the world who care about Pakistan and its people wish for peace and justice, economic prosperity, and opportunity for the future of Pakistan. May all the leaders do the right thing for justice and peace for all people of Pakistan. Congressman Ed Royce Chairman Of US House Committee On Foreign Relations

Malala among Women ‘Most Admired’ by Americans Wa s h i n g t o n ,

DC: Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai is the third most admired woman by Americans, polling agency Gallup said on Monday. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton remains the woman most admired by US citizens, followed by television icon Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey garnered eight per cent, while five per cent chose 17-year-old Yousafzai, who survived being shot by the Taliban and went on to win the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for promoting child education rights. Clinton, a likely 2016 US presidential candidate, won the honor for the 13th year in a row, earning 12 per cent of the votes. President Barack Obama was the most admired man, earning 19 per cent of votes, followed by Pope Francis on six per cent. For the last seven decades Gallup has asked Americans who the men and women are that they admire most, anywhere in the world. The question is open, a polling technique that appears to reward the long-standing fame of public figures such as Queen Elizabeth. Hillary Clinton, who has been in the public eye since the early 1990s, has won the honor a total of 19 times since 1993.

Muslim Community of Folsom Holds Fundraiser n By Ras H. Siddiqui

he Muslim Community of Folsom (MCF) is a relative newcomer to the Sacramento Islamic groupings in terms of having their own place of worship. This congregation which has its roots in the I-50 Technology Corridor outside Sacramento, California in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains can attribute its existence to employment at companies like Intel Corporation which has a huge presence in the Folsom area and remains its largest employer.

And where there is Intel there are South Asian and Middle Eastern origin engineers. The dominating segment of this grouping is the immigrant population from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh along with Palestinians and people from other Arab countries. And they seem like people in a hurry because not too long ago they completed the purchase of their Masjid building which they have now occupied at 391 S Lexington Drive, Folsom CA 95630. And they are already in Phase 2 of the project and in the process of buying the building next door to expand their Islamic School. The MCF congregation is led by Imam Aamir Nazir, an articulate and popular figure in the community. It is not often that one meets someone like him here in the US. He is from South Africa; from a family of South-Asian origin and someone who has played some serious soccer and cricket in his life and has many trophies to share from his sporting life. In my conversation with him I discovered that he has even played cricket with Hashim Amla of the South African national team who is a devout Muslim and one of the finest cricketers in the game today. Imam Nazir has been leading the prayers at MCF now for about 10 years and is a firm believer in Muslim outreach to the mainstream community in the area.

The evening fundraising event started with a simple and delicious dinner catered by Kabab Corner Restaurant in West Sacramento. During the meal I had a chance to speak with three senior citizens from India, all parents of Intel engineers. The talked about setting up a senior citizens club a MCF so that the community could benefit from experience and have a place where retired people can gather. We also joked that this congregation at MCF was so confident of the community fundraising skills that it served dinner first. Many of our Muslim fundraising events keep the dinner last so that they can have a more captive attendance! After prayers the main focus of this fundraising gathering was explained by Imam Nazir. The building adjacent to the Mosque was currently

Remembering Rabbi Leonard Beerman n By Dr Maher Hathout MPAC Senior Adviser

Today, we pause to mourn the passing of our dear friend and a great man, Rabbi Leonard Beerman, a fearless interfaith advocate whose inspirational legacy will live on forever. I recall my first encounter with Rabbi Beerman when we both spoke about the Middle East at a bookstore. Both of us were viciously criticized, but I knew that from that point onward, my destiny would be tied with this rabbi in the struggle for sanity and justice in the Middle East. Few people stand bigger than themselves, but Rabbi Beerman became a symbol for justice and at moments of despair, he embodies empowerment to me. To me, he is my brother. Rabbi Beerman has always stood up against anti-Muslim speech and Islamophobia. He helped lead an interfaith group in defense of the Islamic Center of Southern California when it was targeted with hate speech and hate crimes. When MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati and myself were attacked by those within the Jewish community who wanted to marginalize and stigmatize Muslims, he spoke out in defense of justice and truth for the cause of what was right and the in-

Late Rabbi Beerman (left) with Dr Hathout

tegration of Muslims. Rabbi Beerman was a member of Rabbis for Human Rights in North America and following Rep. Peter King’s (R-NY) 2011 hearing on the “Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community,” he helped issue an electronic campaign of Rabbi video testimonies speaking out against the King hearings called “Stand Together: Rabbis Speak Out Against Islamophobia.” In 1991, Rabbi Beerman, along with my late brother Dr Hassan Hathout and Rev George F. Regas, founded an interfaith coalition against war in the Persian Gulf. In 2006, Rabbi Beerman, Rev George Regas, and I met with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to discuss the crisis in the Middle East and BEERMAN, P29

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used for a full-time Islamic Elementary School, Folsom Educational Academy (http://www.feaschool. com/) and for parking, both of which were being rented. This 2nd Phase of the project was to carry out an option to purchase agreed upon earlier while the Masjid was being purchased. The price of the adjacent facility is just over 1 million dollars and with its purchase both the school and parking could become a permanent part of MCF and its future vision. A substantial savings was possible through this building purchase. Nadim Muhammad provided additional details to me here. The guest speaker for the evening was Sheikh Alauddin El-Bakri from Saratoga who also conducted the fundraising. A dynamic speaker, Sheikh Alauddin presented a strong

case for a holistic role of Islamic education here in America. He said that he visits many communities and that there was strong competition for resources out there. He added that donating money to Mosques and setting up Islamic centers was a great way to earn our blessings from Allah (SWT) but for a school and spreading of education there was a potential for even more. He explained the current situation which the Muslim community faces in America and the need of schools which can teach values and Deen. He added that we can afford to lose some money but we cannot afford to lose a son or daughter. He stressed the need for parents to spend more time with their children. He said that building schools was very important. He added that

MUSLIMS FROM P19

Sacramento Chapter, a man of few words let this great effort do all the talking for him. But after my insistence he said that since Christmas Eve is a day when all the Christian community is busy celebrating their biggest annual event, it is an excellent opportunity for us to participate in the joy with them by helping poor people and the homeless around us. He added that this is the reason that AMV has booked December 24th here for next five years, to serve the needy of Sacramento. To conclude, this was the religion of Islam in action, not the politics of some really misguided individuals or groups who somehow always grab the headlines. Our youth certainly made us proud here with their volunteer effort. For the vast majority of America’s Muslims no matter what their backgrounds; African American, South Asian, other Asian, Middle Easterners etc., for all America is a permanent home. And any effort that we can undertake to make our home more beautiful must remain a part of our faith. Please contact the AMV Foundation at (www.amuslimvoice. org or at 650-387-1994) if you wish to participate in sharing Islam in practice and in making your country and neighborhood more beautiful. Happy New Year!

Sacramento (no matter how tired she was) for these kind of events. May Allah accept all of their hard work, she added. She was especially thankful and proud of our youth for being there and providing service with a smile. Samina had hosted a very successful “Neighborly” Eid Festival on December 12th in Palo Alto and these kinds of activities are part and parcel of the AMV Foundation vision today. I also asked the AMV National President Khalid Saeed to share some of his thoughts. He said that from the beginning American Muslim Voice Foundation has been working hard to build interfaith relations on the grassroots level. There is so much misinformation and disinformation floating around about our religion and Muslims which is causing fear in people’s mind about us. AMV provides education with social interaction to enhance better understanding of Muslims and Islam and to cultivate personal relationships. The secret of our success has been being comfortable with ourselves and being proud of our beautiful faith and practice it in mainstream with confidence, he said. And last but not least Mohammad Sattar, of the AMV Foundation

FUNDRAISER, P29

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JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P21

From the Grand Trunk Road to Route 66 - Truck Art from Pakistan

n By Durainaz Faruqi Pictures by Annie Athar

he essence, soul and spirit of Pakistan were vividly brought to life at a Truck Art Festival organized by the Pakistan Arts Council of the USC Pacific Asia Museum. Entitled “ From the Grand Truck Road to Route 66 “ it showcased the talent of Haider Ali, a young master truck artist from Karachi, who was the artist in residence for three weeks in October. Over the course of this period he transformed a non-descript white Ford van into a vibrant artistic narrative of the folk art of his country. This mobile canvas travelled throughout venues in the Southland including the Artesia International Street Fair and Diversity Festival, the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, the USC campus and the Pacific Asia Museum parking lot. Everywhere the

eye-catching psychedelic palette of colors brought a smile to passersby and encouraged questions and conversations as all art should.

The journey for Haider Ali began as an exacting apprenticeship when he was seven under the supervision of his father, himself a truck artist. Finally in 2002 his accomplishment reached new heights when the Bedford tuck he

decorated became part of the Smithsonian Museum’s permanent collection. Over the years he learned to reflect the demands of his clients in creating advertisements on wheels for their truck companies along with depictions of local flora, fauna, regional monuments and landscapes all spiced with humorous Urdu sayings. In California his hosts asked to incorporate the Hol-

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lywood Sign, the California Bear and ocean sunsets. Haider Ali, promoting his message of peace and amity, added the US and Pakistani flags exchanging a bouquet. He wished local government here would collaborate with artists to decorate public transit and that truck art could be offered as a course at community colleges. At a reception held at the Pacific

Asia Museum Mrs Hina Abidi, President of the Pakistan Arts Council, moderated a discussion about the similarity between painting low rider cars in East LA by Mexican Americans and truck art painting in Pakistan. Both are conceptually the same: the need to declare identity, a motivation to stand out and apart but in the end to be understood.

COMMENTARY

P22 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015 n By Dr Tahir Andrabi CA

hen 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Wednesday, the accompanying pomp and press coverage helped rekindle a global fascination with the fearless young Pakistani activist who was shot and wounded after speaking out against Taliban attacks on girls’ schools.

Back home in Pakistan, the international attention has only fed the polarized opinion surrounding Ms. Yousafzai, beloved by some and derided as a pawn of the West by others. But to single out Ms. Yousafzai as either a national hero or tool of foreign influence is to miss the real story. After working as a field researcher in Pakistan for a decade, it has become clear to me that Ms. Yousafzai represents a new generation in Pakistan, where an estimated 50 million children are of primary-school age. For the first time in the nation’s history, more girls—63%—of primary-school age are in school than not, even as they face Taliban and other extremist threats, and even amidst an ongoing national crisis of leadership. Girls in every corner of Pakistan, including those bordering the tribal areas and in Ms. Yousafzai’s northwest home district of Swat, are not only passing high-school exit exams at a higher rate than boys, they also consistently rank among the top students in these exams. In the most recent rounds of admissions to medical and dental schools, Pakistani girls made up 70% of the successful candidates. The most striking change in the educational landscape feeding this phenomenon is the tremendous growth in low-cost private schools and not, as is commonly believed, in religious schools, or madrassas. This is confirmed by surveys, by government data and now by an increasing body of my own team’s field research. Their growth is fastest in the rural areas, including the Pashtun belt, and their numbers increased to more than

n By Syed Atiq ul Hassan

Sydney, Australia

n event of siege, terror and killing carried out by Haron Monis in the heart of Sydney has been an eyeopener for the Muslim community in Australia.Haron killed two innocent persons, a lawyer and manager of the Café, before he was shot dead by the police.

Haron Monis had a bizarre criminal history with over 40 charges including sending abusive and threatening letters to Australian soldiers, murdering his own former wife, and many sexual assaults on women in the name of spiritual healing. He called himself a ‘Sheikh’ (an Islamic leader) and many might have been following him. Obviously, he was not a psyche or a mentally sick person; on the contrary, he was a smart man who knew how to use religion, his own community and (Australian) national issues for his personal popularity and thus getting prominence in the Muslim community. The incident left two very critical issues: one relates to the Muslim community and the second is about the Australian Judicial System. How come the community had been so ignorant about him despite the fact that he had over 40 serious charges against him? How come he used to participate in community/ public gatherings by presenting himself as a leader or spokesperson of the community? How come he continued his activities as a spiritual healer when he was charged with molesting women? The incident must be a lesson for members of the community and they should now look at the profiles of people who are self-acclaimed leaders. For example; what were they doing before they came to Australia? How did they come and become permanent residents? If they called themselves ‘Sheikh’ then what is their religious and academmic qualifications/

The Promise of Pakistan’s Private Schools

70,000 in 2011 from 36,000 in 1999—with no signs of a slowdown. Today they account for almost 40% of enrollment of the country’s youth. In fact, Ms. Yousafzai’s father started one such school—the Khushal School and College—in Swat in the 1990s.

these schools. Today these mom-and-poprun schools are market-driven, fiercely competitive and teach a mainstream curriculum focusing on languages and math. Staffed overwhelmingly with local female teachers and bereft of any organized support from

The growing number of educated girls and young women are critical to Pakistan’s hopes for a successful future, and they will not willingly turn back to the past. Today, as girls finally get the chance to advance through education, there are truly millions of Malalas This phenomenon first began after the denationalization of schools and colleges in the 1980s, allowing a critical mass of modestly educated young women, which had emerged due to government investments in secondary schooling, to serve as teachers in

foreign-aid donors or the Pakistani government, these schools outperform their public counterparts (admittedly a low bar) on learning outcomes by a wide margin—equivalent to one year’s worth of learning by grade five. And tuition is only about $2 a month, mak-

An Eye-opener for the Islamic Community in Australia

professional attainments, and so on. Having a beard, turban and traditional dress should not automatically make them a sheikh or community/religious leader. Monis arrived in Australia as a refugee

acted as a representative of the community. On his personal website, Haron called himself as Sheikh Haron and Mohammad Hassan Manteghi. He posted an anti-Australian rant on the website just a day before he staged

On his personal website, Haron called himself as Sheikh Haron and Mohammad Hassan Manteghi. He posted an anti-Australian rant on the website just a day before he staged this horrifying act of terror from Iran in 1996. His entire history in Australia is a matter of shame for the community. He was convicted for sending offensive letters to families of Australian soldiers who had died in Iraq and Afghanistan. At that time, he tried to win sympathies of the community for being a true sympathizer of the Iraqi victims. Since then he had been calling himself a Sheikh and

this horrifying act of terror. Haron’s intention was clear: he wanted publicity on the national media by using religious slogans. He used an Islamic inscription (Kalma) on a black flag and forced a hostage to project it on a window. Basically, he wanted to get attention of the national and international media. As soon as the live coverage of the incident began viewers re-

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ing the schools affordable to many families dependent on daily wage labor of about $2 per day—the nation’s poverty line. In surveys conducted in poor rural areas by the research team to which I belong, Pakistani parents exhibit little gender bias in their belief in girls’ abilities to succeed academically. In carefully conducted field experiments, rural families tend to show high aspirations for their girls when told of the increasing performance of girls in urban areas. What also stands out in these surveys is how the aspirations of Pakistani parents are indistinguishable from those in similarly developed countries across Asia and Africa. Pakistan is a large, complex country, and there is danger in pushing any single narrative too far. Having focused mainly on providing basic education to the poorer segments of society, the private-school market now faces the challenge of providing quality education to the upper grades while keeping costs low. The need is there: Publicschool governance remains in a shambles, and dropout rates are high in low-achieving schools. But long-term transformation will require a shift in the state’s orientation from security and patronage toward focusing on providing jobs and educational opportunities for this emerging generation. Strong norms against women in the workplace and social pressures on girls to marry early still exist. The country’s leadership, consisting primarily of older men, may resist change. And I know all too well Pakistan’s history: Benazir Bhutto, the other iconic female figure from Pakistan, was assassinated by extremists in 2007. But the growing number of educated girls and young women are critical to Pakistan’s hopes for a successful future, and they will not willingly turn back to the past. Today, as girls finally get the chance to advance through education, there are truly millions of Malalas. (Dr Andrabi is the Stedman-Sumner professor of economics at Pomona College in Claremont, California. Wall Street Journal) lated the incident with ISIS or Islamic terrorism. Media anchors and commentators started to talk about Islamic terrorism, Caliphate in Australia, etc and the people, especially those belonging to the community, were shattered when they saw these images. This is what happens when a community makes leaders without merit and proper scrutiny. Now the members of the community have to look into their own backyard and find out how many Haron still exist among them. This is the time for the community to look into the profile of the people who claim themselves as Islamic and/or religious leaders. Most of them have assumed the role of a leader on their own. The Australian public was shocked when it came to know the charges against Haron - murder, sexual assault and threatening of armed forces. There is a big question mark on the Australian judicial system. How can anyone repeatedly commit crimes and get away on bail from a court of law? If Haron Monis had been refused bail for his offences this incident wouldn’t have taken place and two innocent lives wouldn’t have been lost. Furthermore, people like Haron come to Australia on humanitarian or asylum grounds by manipulating the incentives. Therefore, without discriminating against the people of any particular country or religion, the Australian government has to make the process of scrutiny of applicants fool-proof rather than reducing or outlawing asylum seekers. Coming back to the incident, it is good to see that there has been high level of bonding demonstrated by the people of Islamic and non-Islamic communities with everyone remaining calm. Leaders of Christian and Jewish faiths are reported to have met with the Imam at Lakemba Mosque. This should be welcomed. We need more of such activities and initiatives in our multicultural and multi-faith society.

COMMENTARY

JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P23

Pakistan Must Return to the Vision of Jinnah

n By Nayyer Ali MD

he horrific massacre of over a hundred school children should be a wake-up call to the people of Pakistan, and to the Pakistani elites, that the Taliban must be destroyed. However, Pakistan has had many wake-up calls in the last eight years where terrible killings and terror acts have occurred and yet the army and the politicians look the other way and pretend this has nothing to do with Pakistan’s own misguided policies of the last 20 years.

It stretches even further back than that. This whole mess stems from the failure to follow the guidance of the Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, whose goal was never to create an Islamic state, but rather a state in which being Muslim would not be held against you. The fact that the Muslims of India, in spite of a handful of high profile exceptions, have done so poorly in socioeconomic terms since 1947, falling behind even the Dalits, proves how prescient Jinnah was. But he was also aware that the state of Pakistan had to be a state that served its people, not one that supported one religion or a particular sect of that religion. It was that great liberal secularist Zulfikar Ali Bhutto that first poisoned the well by trying to mollify the mullahs by inserting a clause in the 1973 Constitution declaring the Ahmadiyyas to be non-Muslims. Rather than satisfying the mullahs, it just whetted their appetite, and General Zia al-Haq, who overthrew Bhutto and had him hanged, then imposed his version of Islam on the nation. It was during the 1980’s, while Zia was in power, that Pakistan got mixed up in the Afghan war with the Soviets. Instead of making it a national cause, the Pakistanis and Saudis and

Americans decided to make it a religious cause, turning it into a Jihad, and drawing in Muslims from across the Arab world to fight the Soviets. The Soviet defeat gave the Pakistani establishment, both military and civilian, the notion

helped it to overrun almost all of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, other groups were formed to carry out guerrilla attacks in Indian-held Kashmir in an attempt to get India to give up the province. At its height, India had to deploy 500,000 se-

The fact that the Muslims of India, in spite of a handful of high profile exceptions, have done so poorly in socioeconomic terms since 1947, falling behind even the Dalits, proves how prescient Jinnah was. But he was also aware that the state of Pakistan had to be a state that served its people, not one that supported one religion or a particular sect of that religion that religious fanatics could make good proxies to fight Pakistan’s enemies and help it achieve its foreign policy goals. After the Soviets left, Pakistan, under Benazir Bhutto, threw its support to the newly formed Taliban in 1994, and

curity forces to keep its grip on Kashmir, and in the process carried out awful human rights abuses against the Muslim civilians. But after 9/11, Pakistan was forced to give up its blatant support for the Taliban in

Afghanistan, and US dislodged them turning over the country to Karzai and the forces that made up the Northern Alliance. But Pakistan was not ready to give up its strategy. While supporting the US on the one hand, it continued to nurture the remnants of the Taliban that had fled to Pakistan, and by 2006 the insurgency in Afghanistan had begun to take off again. It was about that time that some of the Pashtuns in Pakistan in the Tribal areas began to coalesce as a Taliban group, but as a Pakistani Taliban whose goal was not to take power in Kabul, but rather in Islamabad. They briefly took hold of Swat Valley before being driven out, then have been in the Tribal areas where they have taken refuge. The problem is that the Pakistani army and politicians want to hold onto and support the “good” bloodthirsty fanatics that do Pakistan’s bidding in Afghanistan or Kashmir, but they want the “bad” bloodthirsty fanatics to stop terrorizing the people of Pakistan. This can’t work. The policy of supporting extremism is a total failure, both in practical and moral terms. It has led to the deaths of thousands of Pakistanis, and kept a senseless war going in Afghanistan. Does anyone seriously think the people of Afghanistan would be better off if the Taliban somehow regained power? There is only one answer to this scourge. Those who oppose the state of Pakistan must be destroyed, unless they renounce violence and lay down their arms. But the Pakistani elite must realize that will only work if all extremists are treated the same. The Taliban must be dissolved, whether they are Afghan or Pakistani. No other route will end this carnage. The people of Pakistan must understand that this terrorism is not coming from the CIA or the RAW, but has sprouted from the common source of religious fanaticism that has been hurting Pakistan for decades. Pakistan must return to the vision of Jinnah, a modern nation-state that treats all its citizens as equals, and protects their human rights and provides for their dignity.

Jinnah’s London Abode: No. 35, Russell Road n By Sanam Maher

London

he Indians get India House. And a serene cross-legged Gandhi in Tavistock Square. And Chicken Tikka Masala, now one of Britain’s favourite national meals. And Bollywood premieres in Leicester Square. When I asked some friends living in London what comes to mind when I said ‘Pakistan’, I got ‘Im-run Kahn’ (New Zealand), ‘houses in the middle of the desert and sand everywhere’ (Brazil), ‘your terrorists’ (Belgium) and ‘no clue’ (Ireland).

So when, during the course of research for my MA dissertation, I read the following sentence in Stanley Wolpert’s biography of Quaid-eAzam, I thought it might help me feel a little more rooted in London, to allow me to feel as if I could have a foot in both my Pakistani and British worlds: “His father deposited money enough to his account in a British bank to allow Jinnah to live in London for three years. There is no record of precisely how many hotel rooms or ‘bed and breakfast’ stops he rented before moving into the modest three-story house at 35 Russell Road in Kensington…” He was seventeen when he first arrived in London in 1893 to study law, and still Mohammed Ali Jinnahbhai. It was from this address that he sent a letter to Lincoln’s Inn requesting that his surname be shortened to just ‘Jinnah’, according to Maddy Wall, a spokesperson for

Pakistan’s most famous and respected man once stayed here, but few signs remain. Photo by Tooba Masood

the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, also known as English Heritage. In 1955, the London County Council received a request to install a blue heritage plaque on the house, denoting the historic significance of the site. According to Wall, 35 Rus-

sell Road is now a private property, and a quick search online reveals that while the 14-bedroom house was up for sale in 2003, the Pakistani High Commission was unable to rustle up the asking price of 1.25 million pounds. This place, I thought, could show you another

www.PakistanLink.com

side to Jinnah — the young lawyer in London, as opposed to Jinnah the iconic, mythical leader (who is perfectly preserved in a somber portrait at Lincoln’s Inn). A short walk from Kensington Olympia tube station, past the Irani cornershops and Lahore Karhai Res-

taurant, the house lies at the intersection of Russell Road and Holland Gardens and has been divided into two sections, with seven flats in each section. (There are no rules preventing the restructuring or renovation of these private properties, despite their historic status). Were it not for the ink-blue circular plaque that lies between what is now Nos 35-A and 35-B, you would have never guessed that ‘Quaid i Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah founder of Pakistan stayed here in 1895’. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but the house, with its row of silver garbage cans lining the front porch, a lime green tennis ball among the plants and the whine of construction taking place in No 35-A did not conjure any particularly patriotic feelings. I’d read that the house’s banister had been painted green and the halls inside festooned with paper flags, a Pakistani flag draped over the window and Jinnah’s chair, wardrobe and some mirrors preserved in the firstfloor room he had occupied. But there was no answer when I buzzed the intercom for the seven flats (at this point I was pretty determined to feel something, even if it meant dealing with a cranky tenant). The blinds on all the windows remained firmly pulled down. And so my friend and I gave up, walked down the street towards a Japanese restaurant where we ate duck pancakes as Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga played on the music system. The Express Tribune

COMMENTARY

P24 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

Novaira Masood – The Software Genius Earning Her Wings in Hollywood

Novaira Masood

n By Mahjabeen Mankani

o you remember Angelina Jolie as the fabulous Disney villain in this year’s Maleficent? Do you also remember the three fairies Princess Aurora was sent to live with until her 16th birthday?

Whether you enjoyed the film or not, there is no denying that some groundbreaking animation and visual effects were used in the making of the film – and it was no other than a Pakistani software engineer, Novaira Masood, and her team, who were behind the stunning, innovative production. Not only this, but Novaira has also worked on visual effects for some popular Hollywood films, like A Christmas Carol, Mars needs Moms, Thor, Transformers 3 and Jack the Giant Slayer. Novaira studied software engineering from Fast-NU, Islamabad, before she went to the US to pursue her Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota. Following her friends and also her parents’ advice, Novaira entered the field of Computer Science and only developed interest in Computer Graphics in her final year at college. “I really like writing code that has instant visual feedback and I liked making things look better and more realistic,” said Novaira, who is currently based in Seattle in the US. Having been in the field for six years, Novaira has worked in multiple areas of visual effects, but her main focus has been on performance capture software, a technique used to capture live human body and facial

Motion/performance capture of the fairy. Photo courtesy of Novaira Masood

data to apply onto animated characters in order to make the animations look more lifelike and realistic. This technology was also used on the fairies in her most recent project, Maleficent. “I was part of the R&D (Research and Development) software team for Maleficent. I was involved with the team that developed the facial motion capture tools to drive the facial animation of the fairies,” Novaira elucidates. “I also worked on some hair tools that helped generate curly hair for the fairies.” Novaira also worked on the software that allowed the artists to lay out the feathers on Maleficent’s wings in such a way that they would not intersect with one another. The feather solution, however, was not used on the final character. “As part of a research team, the goal is to come up with innovative solutions to a problem. Not all the solutions end up being used in the final production,” she admits. Talking about the team, Novaira said the software team develops the back-end software, and there are usually four to five software developers per software. “Once we develop the software, the artists use it to achieve the look that the director wants,” explains Novaira. “This involves multiple disciplines like modeling, layout, rigging, animation, lighting and effects etc. There are many people involved in putting the final images on the screen.” Novaira states that the process was a great experience and that she learnt a lot of new things that she did

not have experience with before. But of course, every project comes with a number of challenges. For the facial animation, Novaira shares that the team had to iterate and improve their existing facial system that they had previously developed for other movies like Tron and Jack the Giant Slayer. “The goal was to make the fairies look like real miniature versions of the actors that were portraying them, so we had to go back and forth a lot with the art department to get the facial expressions right.” Elaborating on the process and its duration, Novaira said usually visual effects on a movie take about eight months to a year to complete, depending on the number of shots and the complexity of the project. “The software development process is usually done at the beginning of the cycle,” said Novaira. “The production team works closely with software; they tell the effects that they are trying to achieve in the movie and we come up with solutions that work for them. There is a lot of back and forth iteration before a software is finalized and used in production.” How does it feel to see a film you’ve worked on? “I feel very proud. I still like seeing my name in the credits and I usually force all my friends to go see the movies I’ve worked on and ask them to stay till the end to see my name in the credits!” In Novaira’s opinion, institutions in Pakistan are equipped to produce competitive software developers, but she adds that there is room for improvement in areas like career counseling and exposure to opportu-

nities, which would help guide recent graduates and have more communication between the industry and academia. The scale of Maleficent was huge, and even if the education sector improves, there aren’t any companies in Pakistan that can currently support a project of such scope. “We have smaller companies working on commercials, games and TV shows and that’s a great start,” said the optimistic software developer. “Once we start creating smallscale content, that will generate interest in the field, we can start training artists and software developers to create more of this type of work.” Novaira explains that having a market that can drive the development is the first step that could really help in the growth of software development for films in Pakistan. “Children’s shows are a great way to start. Shows like Burka Avenger are really setting a great example of how we can create a market and a following for animated content. Once that takes off, I am sure films will also start using special effects.” She adds that colleges in Pakistan can also offer specialized degrees to get people interested in fields like animation, 3D modeling, computer graphics etc. Having worked in a male-dominated industry for so many years, Novaira feels people are now gradually becoming aware of the problem. “Even in the US majority of the people working in the software industry are men. It is an industrywide problem and everyone is now becoming aware of it and working to

attract more females into this field.” The biggest challenge for Novaira, however, was to get into the industry. Even though she had graphics software experience and degree, having prior contacts is also essential. “I had no prior contacts in the industry so finding out about the companies that worked on visual effects and how I could contribute as a software developer in those companies took some time,” shares Novaira and adds: “Once in the industry, it becomes a lot easier to move around and find opportunities.” Even though Novaira worked in the industry for six years and added that she “enjoyed every bit of it”, the industry’s instability required her to switch fields. “The film industry is quite unstable and companies go out of business all the time. I decided that I still want to work on cutting edge technology, but in a more stable environment.” With a lot of research now happening in various companies, Novaira feels that the scope of graphics development is no longer limited to games and movies. She now works for Microsoft in Seattle in their XBox division on an “unannounced project”. “I felt like I would get the opportunity to work on some really exciting technologies at Microsoft and have access to world-class research here.” However, she admits that she does miss working on films and the thrill of seeing her name in the credits: “So who knows, maybe after a few years I might switch back to movies.” Dawn

How Women Can Protect Their Children & Their Bodies (Hint: Don’t OD on Calcium!)

e’re paying a hefty price on our health for the conventional wisdom we hold to be true – especially women and their children – says Robert Thompson, MD, an OB/ GYN and integrative medicine specialist deemed by his peers to be in the top 5 percent of US physicians.

The conventional wisdom, more accurately described as ignorance, is that we need an abundance of prescription drugs and vitamin supplements, including calcium, to have strong bones and overall good health. “Bones are composed of at least a dozen minerals and we need all of them in perfect proportions in order

to have healthy bones and healthy bodies; osteoporosis is caused by a loss of minerals from the bones, not just calcium, and we cannot possibly replace minerals with calcium alone, which hardens concrete!” says Thompson, author of “The Calcium Lie II: What Your Doctor Still Doesn’t Know,” (calciumliebook.com), a new book, coauthored by health journalist Kathleen Barnes, that details the roles minerals play in overall health and how to identify and correct deficiencies and imbalances. Too much calcium, through food sources or by taking supplements, set individuals up for an array of negative health consequences, including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, Type 2 hypothyroidism, hyperten-

sion, depression, problem pregnancies, dementia, heart disease, kidney stones, gallstones and more. Mineral deficiencies are responsible for a host of health problems, and trying to compensate with flavor-of-the-month drugs or vitamins compounds the problem. Thompson reviews how this affects women, children and women who are experiencing menopause, and what they can do about it. • The mineral cost of pregnancy … Women become very vigilant, and sometimes hyper-vigilant, about their health during pregnancy, because they know it affects their babies. Depending on a woman’s beliefs about health, this could lead her on one of several directions. The

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bottom line is that pregnant women lose about 10 percent of their total mineral supply to their babies, which means the average woman loses nearly four pounds of minerals to her baby with each pregnancy. • Embrace the farmer way. Skilled and experienced farmers know that unrefined sea salt is essential to the health of his animals. For more than 50 years, farmers have known that sea salt, or rock salt, is essential for their stock to remain healthy and to breed without birth defects. This data refers to farm mammals; since we’re mammals and all mammals have similar physiology, minerals gained from unrefined salt, which is the best source of sodium and ionic minerals, has similar

health benefits for pregnant women and their children. • The problems women experience with menopause. It’s estimated that up to 40 percent of perimenopausal (nearly menopausal) women have low thyroid function that adds to their symptoms when their hormones begin to fluctuate, “but I believe this is far too conservative of a figure,” Thompson says. “More realistically, it’s near 90 percent or more, and hypothyroidism is probably near 95 percent, especially if a woman is more than 20 percent above her ideal body weight. Excessive calcium contributes to this and other menopausal problems.” • Consider bioidentical WOMEN, P29

SPORTS SPORTS

JANUARY 2015â&#x20AC;&#x201C; -PAKISTAN PAKISTAN JANUARY 2, 2, 2015 LINKLINK â&#x20AC;&#x201C; P25

Muhammad Hafeez Leaves for Chennai

KARACHI: All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez will leave for Chennai tonight to have his bowling action unofficially tested at the ICC-accredited facility on January 3, 2015. After spin maestro Saeed Ajmal has pulled out of the World Cup 2015, PCB is keen to have Hafeez cleared for bowling before the mega tournament. Saeed and Hafeez are Pakistan's top ranked bowlers, as they are the only bowlers for Pakistan to be in the world top 10 list. But both have faced suspension from ICC after their bowling actions were found illegal. Pakistan's former spin maestros Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed have both worked with Hafeez and his action would now be tested. Although, Hafeez is an effective opener, but if he is not cleared for bowling, selectors would find it difficult to place him in the squad for the World Cup, as he is struggling with his form with the bat. The last date of announcement

for the final squad for World Cup is January 7 and Hafeez is likely to find a place in the squad though his prospects of bowling Down Under

is in limbo. PCB might later, if not cleared for bowling, pull his name out of the final squad and announce a replacement. J

PCB Announces Teams and Officials for Pentangular Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently announced the names players and officials of five teams of Pentangular Cup tournament 2014-15 scheduled to start from December 31 in Karachi. The name players and officials of five teams are as follows, Punjab Badshahs Imran Butt, Umer Siddiq, Nasir Jamshed, Shahid Yousuf, Ali Waqas, Haris Sohail (Captain), Abdul Rehman, Muzammil, Imad Wasim, Saad Nasim, Raza Hasan, Umer Akmal (V.Captain),Bilawal Bhatti, Mohammad Talha, Wahab Riaz, Waqas Maqsood. Balochistan

Warriors Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali (Captain), Mohammad Waqas, Sohaib Maqsood, Ayaz Tassawar, Usman Salahuddin, Ramiz Aziz, Ali Asad, Bismillah Khan (V.Captain), Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Zia ul Haq, Ehsan Adil, Zulfiqar Babar, Kashif Bhatti. Sindh Knights Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeel Khan, Fazal Subhan, Khalid Latif, Fawad Alam (Captain), Saad Ali, Faisal Iqbal, Asad Shafiq, Anwer Ali (V.Captain), Mohammad Hasan, Mir Hamza, Tabish Khan, Sohail Khan, Junaid Ilyas, Shahzeb Ahmed. Federal United

Imran Farhat, Awais Zia, Shan Masood, Umer Amin (Captain), Babar Azam, Umer Waheed, Sarmad Bhatti, Ali Sarfraz, Abdur Rehman, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Zohaib Ahmed (V.Captain), Umar Gul, Hamza Nadeem, Ahmed Jamal. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fighters Iftikhar Ahmed, Naeemuddin, Mukhtar Ahmed, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Mubashir, Adnan Raees, Israrullah, Adil Amin, Mohammad Rizwan, Imran Khan (V.Captain), Junaid Khan (Captain), Taj Wali, Azizullah, Zafar Gohar, Yasir Shah. J

Australia Run Out of Time, But Win Series SYDNEY: Australia did not need to win, and India never really thought seriously about doing so. A curiously muted final day of the Boxing Day Test petered out with four overs still to bowl; on recent evidence more than enough time to winkle out the visitors' last four wickets. A draw was enough for Australia

to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy under the stand-in captaincy of Steven Smith, and also enough for MS Dhoni's India to avoid a series whitewash. So hands were shaken, backs slapped and stumps drawn. Despite the odd moment of rancour Virat Kohli versus Brad Haddin - or transcendence - Mitchell Johnson's

ripping cutter to bowl Cheteshwar Pujara - this always seemed the most likely result. Australia need seven wickets and India a less likely 280 runs to win the Boxing Day Test after an eventful and bad tempered afternoon session on the final day at the MCG. Set a distant 384 from 70 overs by Australia's captain Steven Smith, the visitors slid quickly to 3 for 19 before their first innings saviours Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane steadied the innings. Kohli was involved in several confrontations with the Australians, but maintained his serene batting form to slow their progress, though was close to being run out in the final over of the session. Shaun Marsh had been run out for 99 in the morning as the hosts made it clear they were intent on making sure India would not be presented with too amenable a target on what remains a friendly batting surface. India's captain MS Dhoni seemed to be hoping for a closure early in the session, affording his batsmen the chance to pursue a target in the region of 350. But the hosts pushed on, Marsh advancing to the cusp of a third Test century when he chanced a quick single to mid-off and was thrown out by Kohli's direct hit. Smith called his men in to leave India with 70 overs to reach their distant target. Ryan Harris struck with his second ball, finding late swing to pin Shikhar Dhawan in front of the stumps. J

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New Zealand Complete Best Ever Test Year

COLOMBO: It had to be black magic. Tim Southee and Trent Boult were swinging a 70-over old ball on the fourth morning. Both ways. Their skill accounted for 13 of the 20 Sri Lankan wickets and confirmed Brendon McCullum's Boxing Day assault as match winning. Christchurch witnessed New Zealand's fifth victory in 2014, marking it their best year in Test history. A target of 105 appeared straightforward, but Sri Lanka created a few nervous moments for New Zealand along the way. A fluent Tom Latham was undone by a ripping turner from debutant offspinner Tharindu Kaushal and Hamish Rutherford was surprised by Shaminda Eranga's extra bounce and lobbed a catch to gully. Sri Lanka strived hard for further inroads. Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson, though, were resolute and secured the Test in the seventh over after tea on the fourth day. The visitors had begun the day 10 runs behind and with five wickets in hand, and their best chance was if their captain Angelo Mathews could shepherd the tail. But even he was unprepared for the bouncer from Southee, feathering an edge to the keeper off a front-foot pull early in

the morning. Kaushal, the night-watchman, managed a couple of pleasing strokes through square leg and cover off the front foot before a short ball in the off-stump corridor did him. He was caught in two minds and before he could pull the bat away, the edge flew to Mark Craig at second slip to give Southee his first strike of the morning. Dhammika Prasad was reluctant to get in line for most of his 17 balls and was not ready when Southee sprung the trap with the fuller length - twice. Ross Taylor grassed an absolute dolly, but before his face could grow red another came his way and he caught it. Sri Lanka did well to bat until lunch and their final-wicket pair even forced the umpires to take a half hour's extension. The lead was 17 when Mathews was dismissed, but Eranga and Suranga Lakmal conjured 59 runs off 57 balls. Their clear-the-front-leg-and-swing tactic frustrated New Zealand as they either watched the ball skirt past the outside edge or skim to the cow-corner boundary. Boult broke through and earned himself and his fellow bowlers some well-deserved rest after 196 testing overs across the two innings. J

Only Hafeez to go to India for Unofficial Testing, Ajmal Declines to Participate World Cup ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board decided recently to send only one of its two suspended offspinners, Mohammad Hafeez, to India next week for unofficial testing of his bowling action, while Saeed Ajmal will stay in Pakistan and will not play world cup. Former Test spinners Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed, who have worked with Hafeez, agreed that the offspinner should now be tested at an ICC-accredited laboratory in Chennai, India, before going to the world's governing body for official testing. Ajmal will continue to work on his remodeled bowling action with Saqlain and a bio-mechanist at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. Ajmal was suspended in September by the ICC while Hafeez was banned from bowling in international cricket earlier this month after his action was found to be illegal during the first Test against New Zealand. Time is fast running out for Ajmal to get into Pakistan's World Cup squad which is due to be named by Jan. 7. The PCB believes the offspinner needs more time to bowl within the allowed elbow extension of 15 degrees. Ajmal has been unofficially test-

ed three times at the ICC-accredited laboratory at Loughborough University in England since being suspended, but is yet to bowl within the allowed parameters. PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said Friday that if the 37-year-old Ajmal undergoes official ICC testing - and his bowling action is found illegal - the offspinner faces a ban of two years which means the end of his international career. "The PCB fully supports Ajmal in his attempt to regularize his action and to return to cricket as Pakistan's top performer in the future," the board said in a statement recently. The PCB also announced that Naveed Akram Cheema has been recalled as team manager for the World Cup. He will replace Moin Khan, who had been both team manager and chief selector, and will still accompany the team to Australia and New Zealand. Pakistan's players underwent fitness tests Saturday though injured captain Misbah-ul-Haq, fast bowler Junaid Khan and middleorder batsman Sohaib Maqsood did not participate. Misbah is yet to recover from a hamstring injury while Junaid is nursing a knee injury and Maqsood has a fracture of a small bone in his left wrist. J

COMMENTARY

P26 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

Stock Markets’ Wild Ride n By Saghir Aslam Rawalpindi, Pakistan

(The following information is provided solely to educate the Muslim community about investing and financial planning. It is hoped that the Ummah will benefit from this effort through greater financial empowerment, enabling the community to live in security and dignity and fulfill their religious and moral obligations towards charitable activities) Big up and down moves in the stock markets understandably make many investors wary and uncertain. What should we do in such volatile times? • Take a Long-Term View. First, put market volatility in perspective. Swings in the stock market over a few months or even a few years should not affect a longterm investment strategy. Historically, investing over the long term has tended to smooth out the bumpy rides that have occurred over the shorter periods of time. • It has often been said that two emotions, fear and greed, are what determine such of the trading in the market. When stocks rise in a bull market, many investors may develop a false sense of security that nothing can stop this continued upward trend. They mistakenly believe that large gains made over a short period of time can be projected into the future indefinitely. The “flip side” of false optimism is the disappointment that may set in when the market drops STARTUP FROM P10

company in a country with half the population of Lahore makes more profit before taxes than nine of the top textile mills, five automobile companies and 5 sugar mills combined Here is another chart to drive home the point. • One mobile gaming company in a country with half the population of Lahore makes more profit before taxes than any one of the largest banks in Pakistan • One mobile gaming company in a country with half the population of Lahore makes 6 times more profit before taxes than National Bank of Pakistan Alright, so I have used one of the most successful games development companies for comparison, but that is besides the point. The point is, the next big games development company could be Mindstorm Studios based right here, in Lahore. The fact that it’s based in Pakistan does not minimize its chances of success. It’s as good an investment opportunity as Supercell of Finland! One of the incubated companies at the LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship, interaCta, has developed tech to make all TV and radio broadcast interactive without the need of additional hardware, just requiring smart phones. Imagine the implications! It can disrupt the TV, Radio, Advertisement, Ratings industries just to name a few. A potential acquirer wouldn’t care whether the tech was developed at Xerox or LUMS. Eyedeus Labs, another team of LUMS students, recently raised money from Kima Ventures. They

sharply in one day. In a bear market, many investors ay panic as they imagine their nest eggs vanishing before their eyes. Some may even sell when the market has gone down on the fear that it could go even lower. In either of these cases, it’s important to keep your longterm perspective in mind. Stay Focused on your Objectives • A steady course, somewhere between the extremes of bull market euphoria and bear market despair is the approach that longterm investors take toward investment, always keeping their future financial objectives in mind. As a long-term investor, don’t let yourself get caught up in predictions of what will happen tomorrow or next month. Even stock market professionals cannot always accurately predict the future of the market. In addition, be sure you understand what report in the newspapers and on television mean before reacting to them. Discuss it with your financial advisor. He can provide insight and play a valuable role in helping you maintain your focus on your focus overall investment strategy, which is extremely important. Have a well thought out, written are looking to disrupt online video advertisement market by introducing non-intrusive advertisement methods in the videos that do not distract the viewer. Then there is Savaree, BizClout, Burq Solutions, JewelryDesignPro, P for Plan and the list goes on. All of these are great investment opportunities seeking capital. And these are just a few of the seed stage investment opportunities. I repeat. This is a great time to enter Pakistan. Equity in technology companies is relatively cheap, assets are portable (predominantly intellectual property) in case one gives too much weight to country risk, operations are already on cloud platforms outside of Pakistan for many, and exit opportunities exist globally. The fundamentals of the on-ground businesses are already very strong. The Karachi Stock Market index has been growing north of 40% for the past few years (30%+ in $ terms) and broke the highest ever 32,000 KSE 100 index points barrier a few days ago. Most of that is driven by foreign investment into rock solid businesses by investors who can see past the FOX news propaganda and realize that the nation, that is often deemed to be on the brink of extinction since its founding in 1947, is as resilient as it is resourceful! It is time local investors join the party as well. Pakistan is a gold mine of opportunities for the truly visionary, local investors with large balls and an appetite for risk looking for big rewards – people who can consider and invest in the opportunities lurking underneath the veil of ‘mostly perception based’

plan, follow it and stay on course. The key to keeping shortterm volatility in perspective is to review your overall asset allocation strategy periodically, including your long-term savings goals. A proper asset allocation strategy, which takes into account your time horizon and risk tolerance, should factor in periods of market volatility. Bear markets and bull markets are part of the overall history of the markets. If you have a plan in place and learn to expect both kinds of markets, you can take the good and the bad in stride and know that you are indeed an investor for the long term. Furthermore, learn the difference between an investor, trader or speculator. I am discussing investing for the long-term. InshaAllah by following a sound investment plan you will come out ahead in the long run. May the Almighty God place Barakah on your life and on your investments.

Marriage Support Hidaya Foundation supports impoverished families who are trying to get their daughters married by providing basic items necessary for newlywed girls, including dresses, shoes, utensils, bedding, fans, sewing machines, and more, along with some financial assistance to offset marriage expenses. Depending on the region, it costs approximately $200 to $300 to support the marriage of one young woman.

Donate Zakat & Sadaqah for Marriage Support.

Hidaya Foundation

(Saghir A. Aslam only explains strategies and formulas that he has been using. He is merely providing information, and NO ADVICE is given. Mr Aslam does not endorse or recommend any broker, brokerage firm, or any investment at all, nor does he suggest that anyone will earn a profit when or if they purchase stocks, bonds or any other investments. All stocks or investment vehicles mentioned are for illustrative purposes only. Mr Aslam is not an attorney, accountant, real estate broker, stockbroker, investment advisor, or certified financial planner. Mr Aslam does not have anything for sale.) geo-political and security issues. If you are it, sign up as an investor at http://lce.lums.edu.pk/contact-form for starters. Disclaimer: The author advises, mentors or has some sort of a noncompensatory advisory relationship with almost all the local startups listed in this article. This post reflects the author’s assessment of the tech startup scene and the investment opportunities he sees in Pakistan. The owner of this blog does not necessarily agree with the contents of this guest post. The author is Executive Director, LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship. This post was first published on techies.pk,www.riazhaq.com SPACE FROM P9

events in 1977 shouldn’t be taken in isolation. Much has happened since. Some more martial law, some more democracy. The armed forces have been called to act in aid of constitutional organs on several occasions and have done so without clipping civilian power, be it for relief work after earthquakes and monsoon or in the conduct of elections. There is a broad consensus now that army personnel are required to assist our police force in major cities. The police are neither trained nor equipped to deal with terror threats. In his recent presser, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also warned the provincial governments of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that army personnel from their cities would be withdrawn unless called for SPACE, P29

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866.2.HIDAYA | www.hidaya.org Hidaya Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) charitable organization with Tax ID # 77-0502583

Exchange Rates for Currency Notes* Countries

USA UK S.Arabia Japan Euro UAE

Buying Rs.

Selling Rs.

100.30 155.67 26.72 0.8329 121.73 27.31

100.50 155.98 26.78 0.8346 121.98 27.36

(*December 30, 2014)

US VISA AVAILABILITY JANUARY 2015 For Pakistan, Bangladesh & India Compiled by Hasan Chishti FAMILY SPONSORED PREFERENCES

Pakistan/Bangladesh

1st Unmarried sons & daughters of U.S. Citizens

July 8, 2007

2-A Spouses and unmarried children of permanent residents

April 15, 2013

2-B Unmarried sons & daughters (21 years of age or older) of permanent residents

April 1, 2008

3rd Married sons & daughters of US citizens Dec., 22, 2003 4

Brothers & sisters of adult U.S. citizens

March 22, 2002

India

Dec., 22, 2003 March 22, 2002

EMPLOYMENT BASED CATEGORY 1st Priority workers

Current

Feb., 15, 2005

3rd Skilled workers Other workers

June 1, 2013 June 1, 2013

Dec., 15, 2003 Dec., 15, 2003

4th Certain special immigrants Certain religious workers

Current Current

Current

Members of the professions holding advanced degree or persons of exceptional ability

5th Employment creation Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers and Pilot Programs UNLIMITED FAMILY-BASED

Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens (IR): The spouse, widow(er) and unmarried children under 21 of a U.S citizen, and the parent of a U.S. citizen who is 21 or older. Returning Residents (SB): Immigrants who lived in the United States previously as lawful permanent residents and are returning to live in the U.S. after a temporary visit of more than one year abroad.

RELIGION

JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P27

Issues and Questions

Hajj Akbar, Qurbani, Taharah and Zakat

Gems from the Holy Qur’an

n By Dr Muzammil H. Siddiqi

1. Many people have mentioned that Hajj on Friday is considered Hajj Akbar and it is worth seven Hajj at another time. Is this true? What do you say about Hajj Akbar?

A 1. Among the masses of Muslims it has become famous that if the Day of ‘Arafah occurs on Friday, then it is Hajj Akbar (Great Hajj) and it has more blessings. There is no verse in the Qur’an or Hadith of the Prophet peace upon him - to support this claim. In the Qur’an, Allah called the day of Hajj, every Hajj, Yam al-Hajj al-Akbar (al-Tawbah 9:3). Of course Friday is a great day of blessings and the Day of Hajj is even a greater day, but it is not right to say that the reward of Hajj is seven times more if it occurs on Friday. Only Allah and His Messenger know the amount of reward and blessings in our worship and good deeds, we have no right to speculate and make our own claims in these matters. Q 2. When does Qurbani become Fard (obligatory) on a person (both male and female) and if it’s not Fard on someone and that someone still wants to have it done in his name then does it become Sadaqa or is it treated as Qurbani in Allah’s eye? A 2. The Qurbani (sacrifice) of animals during the day of Eidul Adha is obligatory (wajib) upon every Muslim male or female who owns the Nisab of Zakat (i.e., about 3 ounces of gold or its equivalent in cash value). It becomes obligatory when a person owns the Nisab. So if a person has in his/her possession about 1200 US dollars beyond his/her personal needs, then he/she should make a sacrifice. The jurists are unanimous on its obligation on the adults. Allah says in the Qur’an, “So pray unto your Lord and sacrifice,” (al-Kawthar 108:2). It is reported in al-Bukhari (Hadith no. 912) that the Prophet - peace be upon him - said in his Eid Khutbah, “The first thing that we do today is that we pray and then we make sacrifice. So whosoever makes sacrifice after the prayer he followed our Sunnah…” There are many other Ayat and Aha-

From the translation by Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) (Recently, a media talk show host, well known for his anti-Muslim bias, saw it fit to make scornful remarks against the Qur’an on TV. In these columns, selections from this Holy Book will be published, so that unacquainted readers of the Pakistan Link may be able to judge for themselves.)

dith on this subject. The jurists differ on the obligation of Zakat on the minors. Some say that like Zakat it is also obligatory on the minors, if they possess the Nisab, but their guardians should perform it. The sacrifice should be done any time after the Eid prayer until before sunset on the 12th of Dhul Hijjah. Those who do not own the Nisab can also perform sacrifice, if they wish. Q 3. My question is regarding Taharah. Usually I come with Taharah and Wudu from my home, and avoid using the bathroom till Friday Prayer, but sometimes I cannot resist, and I have to use the bathroom, and clean myself with paper instead of water, as there is generally no water available in the toilets in America. Personally, I think no matter how hard you try, you cannot be as clean without using water as you can be with using water. I miss my Friday prayer thinking that I am not with Taharah. Do you think I will be able to attend the prayers after Wudu or I have to take a complete shower and change clothes? A 3. Cleaning oneself after the natural urges is called Istinja in the terminology of Fiqh. The use of wa-

ter is highly emphasized for Istinja, but it is not compulsory. If one can clean oneself with other absorbents, it also permissible. Thus the use of toilet paper as well as dry clods of earth (Jimar or what we call in Urdu Dhelas), stones, rags or other clean absorbents is permissible. You can use toilet paper or you can wet some toilet paper and use it to cleanse yourself and then use dry paper. You should not miss your Friday prayer or any prayer for this reason. Prayers on times are obligatory and they should not be missed for any excuse. There is also no need for taking a shower or to change clothes after the use of toilet. We should observe cleanliness, but exaggeration (ifrat and ghuluww) in any matter is not in the nature of Islamic teachings. Q 4. We are involved in projects in the fields of education, health and poverty alleviation. Instead of giving money to people we are interested in long-term solutions like establishing hospitals, schools and training institutions in an integrated manner in rural areas. Can we use Zakat money for establishing such institutions? A4.Majority of Muslim jurists of the past were of the opinion that Zakat money should be given to the poor and needy. They should be made owners of this money (tamlik alZakat) and it should not be used in public and social welfare projects. Thus you will find in the books of Fiqh statements e mphas i z i ng that the money should not be used to build schools, hospitals, hostels, mosques, etc., because this money belongs to the poor and it should be

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given to them. There are some jurists who still hold the same opinion in a very strict manner. However, there were some earlier jurists and there are a number of modern jurists, such as Muhammad ‘Abduh, Rashid Rida, Maulana Mawdudi, Amin Ahsan Islahi, Yusuf al-Qaradawi and some Fatwa organizations in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt, who are of the opinion that Zakat money can be used to finance public welfare programs in poor areas. They argue that in the past Muslim governments used to finance such projects from ‘Ushr, Ghanimah, Khiraj, etc. Now these sources are not available and also many governments are negligent in this matter. Many Muslims are living in areas where there are no Muslim governments. Furthermore the financial needs of the people have become so enormous and diverse that earlier rules and restrictions cannot be applied and may not be very useful. This issue is controversial but I am inclined to accept the position of modern scholars in this matter. It seems to me that the best way to alleviate poverty among the Muslims is to develop financial institutions. There will be always some need for cash disbursement of Zakat, but some Zakat should be used for the social welfare of Muslims. It is important to keep in mind that Zakat is only for those categories of people who are specified in Surah al-Tawbah, verse 60. One must be very careful that this money is not misused and it should not become a means to enrich the rich and to neglect the poor. The schools and hospitals that are built from this money should be primarily for the poor and in poor areas. The rich people, if they use them, should be charged a reasonable fee and it should go back to such charitable institutions. Q 5. Since we are administering Zakat donations from donors to recipients, how much can we keep for our expenses? Can we keep a fixed amount (like 5% or 10 %) or has it to be determined each time based on total expenses? A5. According to the Qur’an (alTawbah 9:60) one of the eight RELIGION, P29

About the translator: Muhammad Asad, Leopold Weiss, was born of Jewish parents in Livow, Austria (later Poland) in 1900, and at the age of 22 made his first visit to the Middle East. He later became an outstanding foreign correspondent for the Franfurter Zeitung, and after his conversion to Islam travelled and worked throughout the Muslim world, from North Africa to as far East as Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. After years of devoted study he became one of the leading Muslim scholars of our age. His translation of the Holy Qur’an is one of the most lucid and well-referenced works in this category. Chapter 20, Verses 132-133 And bid thy people to pray, and persevere therein. [But remember:] We do not ask thee to provide sustenance [for Us]: [ 1 ] it is We who provide sustenance for thee. And the future belongs to the God-conscious. Now they [who are blind to the truth] are wont to say, “If [Muhammad] would but produce for us a miracle from his Sustainer!” [But] has there not come unto them a clear evidence [of the truth of this divine writ] in what is [to be found] in the earlier scriptures? [ 2 ] Chapter 21, Verses 1 - 4 Closer draws unto men their reckoning: and yet they remain stubbornly heedless [of its approach]. Whenever there comes unto them any new reminder from their Sustainer, they but listen to it with playful amusement, their hearts set on passing delights; yet they who are [thus] bent on wrongdoing conceal their innermost thoughts [when they say to one another], “is this [Muhammad] anything but a mortal like yourselves? Will you, then, yield to [his] spellbinding eloquence with your eyes open?” Say: “My Sustainer knows whatever is spoken in heaven and on earth; and He alone is all hearing, all-knowing.” ____________ Translator’s Notes [ 1 ] My interpolation of the words “for Us” is based on Razi’s interpretation of the above sentence: “God makes it clear that He has enjoined this [i.e., prayer] upon men for their own benefit alone, inasmuch as He Himself is sublimely exalted above any [need of] benefits”. In other words, prayer must not be conceived as a kind of tribute to a “jealous God” – as the Old GEMS, P29

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PAKISTAN WOMEN FROM P24

hormones for treatment. There is overwhelming biological evidence that bioidentical hormone replacement is not only natural and safe, but it also improves the quality of life and reduces breast cancer incidence, heart disease, stroke, dementia, osteoporosis, high cholesterol and nearly all known chronic illness associated with aging. Balanced physiologic transmucosal bioidentical hormone replacement is the specific method to consider. About Robert Thompson, MD: Dr. Robert Thompson is a boardcertified obstetrician and gynecologist, and a nutrition specialist who helps patients get long-term relief from chronic disease, including obesity, diabetes, hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue. His newest book, “The Calcium Lie II,” is available at calciumliebook.com. Dr Thompson received his medical training at the University of Kentucky and has been a leader in medical advances for more than 30 years. HEART FROM P7

policy change on the horizon? I will believe it when I see it. However, Peshawar cannot have its heart ripped out again. In the words of Dr Sajjad Buneri: “Nan zama da sheikh sara khabara speenawoma Pekhawar de raa ta prezhdi, jannat warta prezhdama” (I will go talk plainly to the cleric today Let me keep my Peshawar and the heaven he may) PS: ANSF has now said that LeT men are fighting alongside the Taliban against it in the Afghan northeast. (The writer can be reached at mazdaki@me.com and he tweets @ mazdaki)

JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P29 GEMS FROM P27

Testament, in its present corrupted form, frequently describes Him – but solely as a spiritual benefit for the person who prays. [ 2 ] I.e., “Does not the Qur’an express the same fundamental truth as were expressed in the revelations granted to the earlier prophets?” Beyond this, the above rhetorical question contains an allusion to the predictions of the advent of Muhammad to be found in the earlier scriptures, e.g., in Deuteronomy xviii, 15 and 18 or in John xiv, 16, xv, 26 and xvi, 7, where Jesus speaks of the “Comforter” who is to come after him. __________ RELIGION FROM P27

categories of people who can take Zakat are “those who are employed to collect it” (al-’amilin ‘alayha). Those who collect the Zakat are allowed to take their reasonable expenses from the Zakat charity. These expenses may include office expenses, employees’ salaries, travel expenses, postage and bank expenses, etc. However, the expenses have to be actual expenses, you are not allowed to take more than what you spend. However, to make a long-term plan to establish a Zakat agency you may need a sure amount of funds for your annual budget. You have to keep some money for office rent, for the salary of employees and other related expenses. Thus it will be permissible to withdraw from Zakat funds a fixed amount such as 5% or 10% or more for this purpose, but you are only entitled to keep the actual expenses. At the end of a year whatever is left after meeting the expenses should be returned to the Zakat fund and should be disbursed among the recipients of Zakat. (Repeated) HOMELAND FROM P12

PAIN FROM P8

have I failed? I have no answer. I request your readers, the Pakistani diaspora, to help me understand why have we let our country bleed? Why as expatriate Pakistanis we have not done more in the past and what we could do now? I am at a loss, I am overwhelmed, I am dumbfounded, I have no answers. I have no way of alleviating my pain, I have no way of lessening my angst. I am writing this in the hope that someone would help me.

In truth, “Islamabad is a quiet, picturesque city with beautiful mountains and lush greenery,” the source added. Diplomats complained to the producers of the hit TV show, but to no avail. They also spoke out against the misrepresentation of Urdu in the show, saying “the [Urdu] accent is far from the local accent”. “And the connotations of some of the Urdu words that are used are out of place.”

WE FROM P8

AMIR FROM P15

if he had killed all mankind;” this incident really shows how careless the Taliban can be about their beliefs. This is not humanity and this is not Islam. We all know this, but sadly it is being misused as a vehicle for spreading extremism and causing harm to those who could do so much for this world! Social media sites everywhere have dubbed December 16th as “Black Day.” And a black day it was indeed. But the students will forever be remembered as martyrs working for the progress of their nation. The world will not forget you. May you all rest in peace. TRAGEDY FROM P4

have brought nothing but untold suffering, tears and toil to the people of Pakistan. If we can do it, those martyrs of Peshawar will be resting in peace in Heaven, happy and contented that their heroic sacrifices weren’t in vain. K_K_ghori@hotmail.com (The author is a former ambassador and career diplomat)

response to Pakistani military offensives, like a 2009 truck bombing of a popular marketplace frequented by women and children that killed more than 100 people. And the Taliban haven’t hesitated to go after schoolchildren. Their most notable target is Malala Yousafzai, who was singled out and shot on October 9, 2012 as she rode to school in a van with other girls. SPACE FROM P26

assistance under Article 245. That PML-N, having had such a tumultuous relationship with the army recently, is prepared to give such public space and trust to the armed forces is telling. Perhaps we have finally come to accept that we are in a state of war and these are extraordinary times. The Constitution provides adequate measures under Article 245 and the federal and provincial governments can make effective use of this provision by issuing meaningful directions to the armed forces which are specific and limited to the terror threat that Pakistan today faces.

Such measures will go some way in ensuring that our terrorism crisis is addressed, and in doing so, we don’t invite a constitutional one too. (The writer is a lawyer at Ebrahim

Hosain. He was an advisor to Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim during his tenure as CEC from July 2012 to July 2013. Courtesy Dawn)

FUNDRAISER FROM P20

it was not rocket science because what happens at 1) Home 2) School and 3) The Public Square is what shapes the lives of our children. There were approximately 200 people at this fundraiser and one can vouch both for their level of commitment to acquiring the school building and Sheikh Alauddin El-Bakri’s persuasiveness as over $270,000 was raised (direct donations and pledges) during this event which is a substantial sum. BEERMAN FROM P20

express our commitment to peace and human rights. This year, on Yom Kippur, Rabbi Beerman courageously gave a sermon at Leo Baeck Temple addressing Israel’s aggression in Gaza this past summer that killed nearly 500 Palestinian children. He said, “Another Yom Kippur. Another 500 children of Gaza killed by the Israel Defense Forces, with callous disregard for their lives.” Our hearts and sincerest prayers go out to Rabbi Beerman and his family. RESOLVE FROM P1

reports and that these are being implemented. The premier also said he is personally reviewing the progress on a daily basis. He said the government has prepared the sketch of the amendment needed in the Constitution to establish military courts in the country. The premier said that the government will present the sketch of the constitutional amendment in the upcoming session of the National Assembly while parliamentarians belonging to opposition and treasury benches will pass the amendment in this regard. “It was decided on December 24 that the government will establish military courts and military courts will only hear cases related to terrorism while the government will fix a time period regarding the working of military courts,” Nawaz said. PTI FROM P1

the PTI to back off from its basic demand for an allencompassing probe through which the proposed judicial commission could determine whether the elections were held in a free and fair manner or not. Talking to a TV channel, he said it appeared from the meeting’s proceedings as if the government had made up its mind not to listen to the PTI’s demands. Therefore, “I will ask my leadership to start preparing its next plan of action.”

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ULEMA FROM P1

involved in militancy. He demanded that the minister name the seminaries instead of talking in terms of percentages. He announced observing 2015 as the year of peace and love and free from terrorism. He also announced launching a campaign for the respect of female children. A conference of clerics from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Egypt would also be convened to find a solution to extremist behaviors, while 5,000 teachers, clerics and students of various seminaries would also be trained during 2015, he added. He lamented that those blaming the religious people for abusing minorities were not courageous enough to name the feudal lords who were kidnapping girls of Sindh. He claimed that clerics never issued any decree for the murder of Ahmadis and said “we are abiding by the Constitution while the Ahmadi community should also follow suit.” SEMINARIES FROM P1

one day remaining for the end of 2014, the minister informed the participants that the pilot project would be launched for three years - from 2014 to 2017. The project would be launched in 100 seminaries across the country under which one teacher would be hired at each madressah for a monthly salary of Rs13,000 to teach subjects of modern education. It was also decided that a working group would be formed to streamline the madressah curriculum, so that the students could easily adjust with the routine schools if they wished to attend them. The working group to be formed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs would have representatives from the

religious boards, Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. A copy of the proposed pilot project was distributed among the representatives of the religious boards who promised to respond after consulting their respective members. ACT FROM P1

“This will also help keep the constitution alive without curbing the fundamental rights available to the citizens in the constitution or changing its basic features,” he said. Legal experts were of the opinion that the establishment of military courts would require a constitutional amendment because the Supreme Court had in the past struck them down on the grounds that they violated the constitution. Mr Ahsan’s statement seems to suggest that the PPP is not willing to support such courts unconditionally, and especially when it requires an amendment to the constitution. Mr Ahsan said he and others had rejected the proposed amendment presented by Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt and instead suggested a simple amendment to the relevant law which would allow constitutional guarantees and fundamental rights to remain untouched. The PPP is not the only party with such ideas in mind. Senior PTI leader and MNA Dr Arif Alvi told Dawn that his party had a detailed in-house deliberation on the issue of military courts. The meeting presided over by PTI chief Imran Khan was also attended by Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Hamid Khan, who is the party’s legal wizard. Dr Alvi claimed that the meeting unanimously agreed that the constitution should not be touched. He said that the meeting decided that the party would suggest an amendment to the Pakistan Army Act.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

JANUARY 2, 2015 - PAKISTAN LINK

ENTERTAINMENT

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t a little past the halfway point, Jackson Heights has picked up on the story as well as the pacing. Its look at these interwoven lives in the diaspora and tales of hardship in the minute mundane details of living offer a respite from the usual fare of mazloomiat we are fed in the name of dramas. Jackson Heights is enjoying the novelty of telling well-integrated stories with a seasoned ensemble cast, backed by good writing and solid direction. It also however waxes and wanes presenting complexity of ideas and performances on one hand and one-dimensional sketches on the other. The part that is smooth sailing, although it is a bumpy ride, has to be the Jamshed-Michelle track. Jamshed (Adeel Husain) has the right amount of easy charm and depth of life experience to make Michelle (Marina Khan) wonder about him. He pays compliments and backtracks with enough ambiguity

to keep her (and us) guessing. With each interaction you see Michelle stand a little taller, see herself a little different, dare to wear brighter colours and even make up. Slow transformations that solidify into a decisive moment for her and here even the pacing is just right. Mostly this works also because of the actors playing these roles. Though we suspect Jamshed of less than noble intentions, Adeel Husain injects such believability into his character that we want to be proved otherwise. His initial refusal of Michelle's offers of help and his clever manipulations are subtle and little things such as still wearing Asma's gift and that heated exchange with Nadir let on to his true feeling and intentions. Though she has built a wall around herself, Michelle's steely exterior, actually conceals a softer and an unfortunately gullible person. After so many years of being in a position to truly make a difference to someone's life and feeling

wanted as a woman once again, Marina Khan's internal performance is so revealing of the subtle changes that watching her is a real pleasure. Also nicely done was that homage to Dhoop Kinarey with Anji's advice to Zara presented here as Rizwan's advice to Michelle to "think with your heart". While this might backfire for Rizwan (again) it is what Michelle needs to hear. For now, this unlikely couple has stirred things up. The other hornet's nest being stirred up is Salma (Aamina Sheikh) and Sikander (Ali Kazmi). They share a complicated relationship with cycles of abuse and periods of calm. Salma is on tenterhooks awaiting that one event that will incite violence. Domestic violence in the desi community is a serious issue that usually gets brushed under the carpet comes as it does with financial dependence, emotional scarring and often denial. Even though Salma is the bread winner, her maternal ties to Iman make her a prisoner of her own hope. Though she has a confidant in her employer Alia, Alia's (and the audience's) constant questioning of why Salma just doesn't get up and leave is too simplistic an understanding of domestic violence. Worse, it shifts the blame unintentionally back to Salma. Salma's situation is a realistic portrayal of women stuck in abusive relationships and though she is slowly but surely standing up to Sikander's demands, she is still trapped. Kudos to writer Vasay Chaudry and director Mehreen Jabbar for giving room for those thorny ideas to prick us a little and explore the complexity of her situation rather than merely dialing

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911, packing her bags and thumbing her nose at Tai-ji. Ali Kazmi as Sikander has that unpredictability in his performance that you are never certain when he is likely to fly off the handle. He

dishevelled, jumpy and raw and later understanding where this nervous energy stems from would have been far more revealing of Salma's character. Also lost is a virtual visual playground of images of a woman's salon. Especially one in Jackson Heights. While there is an attempt at sound design with the fun (often Nazia Hassan) soundtracks they could have so nicely tied into that era that most desi parlours are still stuck in. I still peg this down to their attempt to upscale a working class story. Finally, playing the western and eastern clash of ideas are Kathy and Imran Bhatti (Noman Ijaz). Kathy is often reduced to a fireball of rage constantly counting her pennies, ignoring her kids and decreeing Imran to cough up his share. Imran also gets annoyed at his wife and stands up to her time and again - often on moral grounds. This is unfortunate as far as representations of desis marrying Americans goes not to mention mere one note depiction of Americans. More often than not these marriages are relationships of mutual respect and cultural understanding. Their underlying green-card marriage is alluded to and seems to be a controlling measure for Kathy and the hidden truth that hurts Imran. While Kathy's insecurities of Imran packing his bags and leaving

even seems genuinely remorseful, making breakfast and buying chocolates even though there is gharelu sazish in the air. And here is where things take a more expected turn into the land of the zalim shohar and saas tag team. His poker-playing lazy-layabout characterisation and scheming mother neatly box both characters into the bad category with little redeeming features. As for Aamina Sheikh, maybe it's just that she is too good looking, but she appears miscast. Her placidity, calm and not a hair out of place don't lend themselves to a character supposedly on the edge. Whenever she does 'involuntarily flinch' you see her acting. Also not helping is her drab clothing and hairstyle (the 1980s called and they want that side plait back). Imagine seeing her a tad

once his green card comes through surface, perhaps a more nuanced depiction of their marriage (not to mention a stronger actor in Kathy) would have lent some credibility to her fears. Right now she too is boxed into the bad/serves her right category. Halfway through the series we have a fair sense of each of the characters' motivations and back stories and see all of them beginning to come full circle. While there were tantalising hints of exploring other issues that working class desis face, I think it is safe to say at this point that they were merely that hints and nothing more. As far as resolution goes, let's hope that each character is able to come to peace with their decisions and that it ends well for all of us involved. Courtesy Dawn

JANUARY 2, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P31

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1180 Olympic Drive, Suite 106 Corona, CA 92881 Ph: (714) 356-8674 • Fax: (714) 242-1488 info@frontierdefenseservices.com

SAM AWAN

www.PakistanLink.com

P32 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 2, 2015

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