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MQM will be responsible as I am under threat

ZULFILEAKS UPSET MQM

-Lord Nazir Ahmed

Disruption, Chaos by MQM

MQM seeks British govt action against Mirza

Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza has provided more evidence to the Scotland Yard

Pakistanis in UK Love Mirza: Lord

Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, Lord Nazir Ahmed , Habib Jan and Tariq Dar will present a petition to The Prime Minister David Cameron against MQM and Altaf Hussain at 10 Downing Street with details of Terrorism and Crimes Today Thursday 12.45 PM.

Dr Zulfiqar Mirza exclusively speaking to SAT claimed very soon he will expose Altaf Hussain properties worth millions of pounds he said he wants British Authorities to investigate the source of Income and means as its from illegal and criminal means.

Earlier on Tuesday Police was called in due to abusive and rude remarks by MQM supporter said Dr Mirza, and became physical clash during the address at Pakistan Community Center in Willesden.

Continued on page 16-17 >>

Sabir Hussain jailed for child assaults at Keighley mosque He slapped and kicked children A religious teacher who was caught on camera kicking and slapping children in a West Yorkshire mosque has been jailed for 10 weeks.

Sabir Hussain, 60, admitted four charges of assaulting boys

at the Markazi Jamia Mosque in Keighley as they learned the Koran.

He was arrested after secret filming was shown on Channel 4’s Dispatches.

Continued on page 2 >>

MQM Co-ordination Committee Deputy Convener Dr Farooq Sattar has written a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron, drawing his attention towards what he said was a conspiracy being hatched to destablise Pakistan by former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza.

He said that Lord Nazir Ahmed was providing Mirza,( who on his own accepted his criminal activities,) cover in London. Sattar said the activities of Zulfiqar Mirza have become a threat for the stability of Pakistan and Sindh. He hoped that the British prime minister will look into this and not allow British soil to be used for creating instability in Pakistan.

In another letter MQM minster for Commerce Rauf Siddiqui Naming Lord Nazir Ahmed from the House of Lords as Mirza’s accomplice during his UK visit, Siddiqui’s letter highlighted the growing discomfort among MQM’s activists over Mirza’s reiteration during a media conference in London to kill at least 10,000 MQM activists in Karachi to maintain peace. Replying to the MQM letters Continued on page 2 >>

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US rejects destroying chemical weapons

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The United States plans to keep its arsenal of chemical weapons for many years to come, as it seeks to extend the deadline set by the international Chemical Weapons Convention.

The US has asked for a decadelong extension to the convention deadline, which obliges signatory-states to dismantle their chemical weapons by the end of April 2012.

The US is among the few world countries that have refused to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention.

According to the convention, any country found to be in non-compliance will have to be referred to the United Nations Security Council.

The Conference on the

Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will convene at The Hague, the Netherlands, later this month to discuss the matter.

Iran, as one of the main victims of chemical weapons, says the US will be found in noncompliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and has called on Washington to abide by international law.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein extensively used chemical weapons against Iran during the 1980s. Iran has proven that most of Saddam’s WMDs were supplied by the West. The country has launched an international effort to rid the world of all types of weapons of mass destruction.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

MQM will be responsible as I am under threat -Lord Nazir Ahmed Continued from page 01 >> and MQM campaign against him Lord Nazir Ahmed , MQM leadership have no clue of British political system and they think if they will write to British Prime minster they can stop me from questioning any one specially if some person or party is involve in heinous crimes murders and killings. It’s my right as a Lord I can even question Prime minister. Lord Nazir Ahmed said letters from so called political leaders who are involve in killings are nothing but an attempt to hide facts and coming out of pressure which is directly against MQM leadership hiding in London. Lord Nazir Ahmed said he took the issue of 12th May 2007 as MQM was directly involved in that since then they have started writing against me as I am a protector and supporter of human rights and I will never give up my struggle against all those who committed crimes against humanity. MQM is so low in their reaction that I never came across such a low

mindedness during my life time in politics no one including Indian or Israel even due to the core issue of Kashmir or issue of Palestine campaigned what MQM is doing now. Lord Ahmed revealed that he is under immense pressure from Pakistan and from important people of Azad Kashmir to stop supporting what Dr Mirza is doing during his visit to UK. Lord Nazir also admitted that he is under threat and its directly from MQM and if anything happened to me then It will be MQM. Regarding Clashes at Pakistan Community center and prior to that chaos at House of Lords and Oxford union he its MQM who is trying to create a situation so British authorities can cancel visa of Dr Zulfiqar Mirza but the fact is leaders and Pakistani community so vehemently asking him to arrange meetings all over Europe, Lord Ahmed said he experienced such passion and love for Dr Mirza from the Pakistani Community that never happened before even during the time of Benazir or Nawaz Sharif

Sabir Hussain jailed for child assaults at Keighley mosque Continued from page 01 >> Bradford magistrates heard Hussain, of Spencer Street, Keighley, assaulted boys aged between 10 and 13.

The court was shown clips from the TV programme, which was screened in February.

In one, Hussain is seen to walk up behind a line of boys sitting at prayer tables and kick one in the back.

District judge Sue Bouch said she had read a large number of character references about

Hussain, with some referring to him as “firm but fair” and a “pillar of the community”.

She told him: “It can be clearly seen on the footage that the children are flinching away from you.

“That suggests to me, Mr Hussain, that the children were fearful.”

The court was told the assaults happened on 7 and 13 December last year.

Hussain immediately lodged an appeal against his sentence but an application for bail was

Ken Livingstone to ‘bring back zone 2 to 6 travelcard’ Ken Livingstone said he wanted to “right a wrong” Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said he would re-introduce the zone 2-6 day travelcard, to replace the one scrapped by Boris Johnson, if elected.

Since January, people can buy either a zone 1-2, 1-4 or 1-6 day travelcard to use on London’s transport. Travel in zone 1 comes at a premium and the move meant a 74% hike at peak times, from £8.60 to £15. The mayor’s office said the old card was underused and more expensive than an Oyster card.

‘Missing the point’ Mr Livingstone, who is Labour’s candidate for the mayoral election next May, said his ZoneSaver card was

about “righting a wrong” and ending a “stealth tax” on outer London.He said: “Outer London has been hit particularly hard by decisions made by Boris Johnson. Fares have risen steeply under his watch.”A spokeswoman for the mayor of London said the zone 2-6 card was abolished because it

was used for less than 0.2% of the 3.5 million journeys on the Tube every day.She added: “It is far cheaper for Londoners to use Oyster pay-as-yougo. With outside zone 1 fares ranging from £1.30 to £2.50 using Oyster, a passenger needed to make seven peaktime outside zone 1 journeys to justify

purchasing one of the zone 2-6 travel cards.

“Anyone advocating restoring the old cards totally misses the point as to why it was removed.”

Later this week Livingstone will be joined by Labour politicians and union figures at a ‘Fare Deal’ rally.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

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USA uses Australia to make China play by the rules The USA intends to use the ANZUS Treaty (Australia, New Zealand and the USA) against China.

Barack Obama visited Australia’s capital Canberra to mark the 60th anniversary of the alliance. Obama met Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and agreed to considerably strengthen the defense cooperation with the country. Particularly, it goes about a tenfold increase of the US military presence on the green continent.

The leaders of the two countries said that the United States would not have a special army base on the territory of Australia. Nevertheless, they acknowledged that the deployment of US military men in the north of Australia and the increase of the US naval presence in the region will virtually turn Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory, into the center of constant presence of the US Armed Forces in Australia.

The US contingent will increase from 200 to 2,500 people. Strategic bombers B-52, F/A-18 fighter jets, as well as C-17 cargo planes and fuel aircraft will also be deployed on the green continent. All of them are going to be deployed at Australia’s Tindal air base. As a result, the US presence in Australia will become the largest since the end of WWII. The deployment of the US Armed

Forces in Australia will take place gradually, for six years. The first group of 250 US marines will arrive on the green continent already in 2012.

Obama did not conceal the fact that all those measures would be taken to contain China. The US president admitted Washington’s concerns about China’s growing influence in the region. According to Obama, he welcomes China’s growing influence, but says that China must play by the rules.

China reacted immediately to Obama’s remarks. An official spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry stated that such an increase of the military

MCB Holds Inspiring Eid Reception in Whitehall

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) held a reception on 16th November 2011 to mark the Muslim festival of Eid and the conclusion of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Guests comprising of community leaders, Imams, members of London’s diplomatic community, interfaith leaders, businessmen and leaders from civil society and the academic world all gathered at 61 Whitehall for an engaging event.

MCB Secretary General Farooq Murad in his welcome said the messages of Eid and Hajj are inspirational and relevant for us today. Qualities of self-discipline and sacrifice enable and guide us to live proactively for our cherished values of justice, fairness and compassion. They provide inspiration for us at MCB to work for dialogue, mutual respect and common good. He was followed by the Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP, Shadow Lord Chancellor, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, who commended the MCB spirit of ‘working for the common good’ of society as a whole and also noted the particular challenge facing the community in this period of economic crisis and mounting unemployment – a large number of the unemployed were young, while a significant proportion of Muslims were under 25. Former MCB Secretary General Sir Iqbal Sacranie welcomed the returning pilgrims and noted the importance of retaining an official British Hajj Delegation to provide advice and support to British citizens during their stay in Saudi Arabia. He highlighted the work MCB had done to initiate this idea.

presence and the expansion of the defense cooperation did not seem to meet the interest of the countries of the Asian-Pacific region.

Chinese officials stated that China supports the peaceful development and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Other countries should not act differently. “When developing stateto-state relations, one should take into account the interests of other countries as well as the whole region, and peace and stability of the region,” Liu Weimin, an official spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry said.

A week ago, Western media published the concept of the actions of US forces in case of an armed conflict

with China. The concept stipulated a possibility for conducting combat actions on the Chinese territory, including attacks on China’s inland areas, as well as massive cyber attacks and the neutralization of China’s antisatellite weapons. The concept made many US experts draw parallels with the period of the Cold War against the USSR. The document appeared in response to China’s national military strategy of the new period. The strategy stipulates active defense of China’s national interests, even in remote areas of the World ocean.

By 2016, the combat abilities of Chinese Navy will be able to

conduct efficient operations near the territories of Japan, New Guinea and Indonesia. This may touch upon Australia’s sphere of influence. China needs to defend its economy, which largely depends on the shipments of oil from the Middle East. This region is extremely important for the United States as well.

It is worthy of note that Australia is only one of the USA’s strategic partners, with whom Washington intends to contain China’s growing influence. The United States intends to use the Philippines, Japan and India for the same purpose. Maybe Washington will change its relations with Vietnam too.

Supporting Children for a Better Future Muslim Aid is leading one of the biggest measles and polio campaigns in Mogadishu, Somalia to vaccinate 740,000 children Millions of children around the world are living in poverty and denied the most basic necessities required for their development.

On Universal Children’s Day on 20 November 2011, Muslim Aid expressed solidarity with the UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations and NGOs that support and promote welfare of children.

A spokesperson for Muslim Aid said: “Children today face the challenge of growing up in a highly competitive world beset by recurring diseases, disasters, conflicts, rising food prices and lack of access to quality education. It is the collective responsibility of society to give them a secure future and provide early support for their development.

Muslim Aid is committed to the welfare of children ensuring that they receive education, healthcare

and family support, especially in developing countries. We seek to empower children and place a great emphasis on their development, to enable them to have a safe and bright future.”

“On this Day, Muslim Aid calls upon all countries and institutions to uphold and implement the noble ideals proclaimed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989”, added the spokesperson.

This year, has Muslim Aid is leading

one of the biggest measles and polio campaigns in Mogadishu, Somalia to vaccinate 740,000 children. In Bosnia, Muslim Aid’s Molly the Mobile Library supplements the educational needs of children in remote areas by taking books to their schools. Muslim Aid’s Rainbow Family Child Sponsorship Programme supports orphans and destitute children in 17 countries worldwide through the provision of education, healthcare, food and clothing which is vital to the further development of children.

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EDITORIAL “state within a state” Recently in an Interview Imran Khan was asked if he will have the courage and strength to challenge General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the core commanders, Imran said that if he is the Prime Minister then the Army and the ISI will be under him, which means that the ISI will not be able do anything without reporting to him. It’s a fact that Pakistan has a weak government that is still trying to set parameters of co-operation with an army which dominates foreign and strategic policy and controls the ISI, the most powerful political entity in the country. The issue of memo brought the biggest problem of Pakistan as who is real ruler The Brass or Public mandate.

Or is it “state within a state” Justice requires that an enquiry be conducted before removing any important functionary of the state for any commission, omission or indiscretion on his part. This is what was done after the Abbottabad affair which had stunned the entire nation. The demands for the resignation of Hussain Haqqani by certain sections were, thus, indicative of double standards. What needs to be done now is to appoint an enquiry committee comprising members seen by the general public as independent and non-controversial to afford the former ambassador a chance to clear his name.

The appointment of Sherry Rehman sidelined by the PPP government avowedly for her independent views on certain media related issue as the new ambassador would be welcomed by many. Known for her enlightened opinions, Rehman would help project a soft image of Pakistan abroad.

The issue of the memo sent by Mansoor Ijaz to Mike Mullen has already been blown out of proportion. It is time there is respite to the hype. It is surprising that while Mullen didn’t care to touch the memo with a ten foot pole for doubts about the authenticity of the document and reliability of the man who had forwarded it, sections of the opposition and national media went overboard on the matter. Nawaz Sharif threatened that his parliamentarians would no longer sit in the assemblies if an immediate enquiry was not launched into the memo controversy. Some of the lesser lights of his party lost all sense of proportion.

Even before the arrival of Haqqani and a proper enquiry, sections of the media initiated a trial by implication of the president and prime minister. The matter assumed top priority in national politics.

It is time rationality is restored. The country faces highly serious issues, some with existential ramifications. Priority needs to be given to the resolution of these issues, foremost being the national economy and law and order. The issue of the memo must not be allowed to become a red herring.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

Israeli Defense Minister

‘Time Has Come’ To Act On Iran

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srael’s Minister Defence Ehud Barak responds to a reporters question as he takes part in a press conference with Canada’s Minister of Defence Peter MacKay in Ottawa.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak refuses to rule out speculations about a military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, again insisting that the “time has come” to deal with Iran.

A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which concluded Iran was working on nuclear weapons, continues to reverberate internationally. On Sunday, in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak was asked bluntly if Israel would attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“I don’t think that that is a subject for public discussion. But I can tell you that the IAEA report is, has a

sobering impact on many in the world leaders, as well as the publics, and people understand that the time has come. Amano told straightly what he found, unlike Baradei, and it became a major issue that I think duly so, becomes a major issue for sanctions, for intensive diplomacy, with urgency. People understand now that Iran is determined to reach

“Syria is now at a dead end,” Turkey’s Gul says change is inevitable in Syria “Syria is now at a dead end,” says Turkish president, urging action to prevent civil war there.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said neighboring Syria has reached a dead end and change is inevitable, but everything must be done to prevent the country from descending into civil war.

Turkey had been increasingly critical of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s repression of anti-government protests in which thousands have been killed.

“Syria is now at a dead end so change is inevitable,” Gul, who is on a state visit to Britain and is expected to meet Prime Minister David Cameron later on Tuesday, told the Guardian newspaper in an interview.

“But we don’t believe the right way to create change is through external intervention. The people must make that change,” he said. “Civil war is not something that anyone would want to see happen. Everything must be done to prevent it. It is very dangerous.”

Britain has condemned Assad’s actions as “appalling and unacceptable” and held talks on Monday with representatives of Syrian opposition groups.

Gul told the Guardian he had spoken to Assad regularly until a few months ago and advised him to allow free elections, free political prisoners and announce a clear timetable for reforms.

nuclear weapons. No other possible or conceivable explanation for what they have been actually doing. And that should be stopped.”

What Barak is referring to when he talks about ElBaradei is the former head of the IAEA Mohamed El Baradei, who from 1997 to 2009 consistently said the agency found no evidence that Iran was working

on a nuclear bomb.

Tuesday, the editorial board of the Israeli daily Haaretz takes the long view on Barak’s comments. What they say is that a threat to attack Iran would breed disagreement between Israel and the United States, which has said economic sanctions are the way to go for now.

The IAEA Board of Governors on Friday passed a resolution on Iran, drafted by a group of international mediators, by a 32-2 vote with one abstention.

The resolution, sponsored by the Iran Six, including Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany, urges Iran to provide access to its nuclear facilities for UN experts and cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog.

The Iran Six has been trying since 2003 to convince Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment program.

Sanctions will not target trade in Iranian oil UK bans banking links to Iran over nuclear ‘threats’ Britain took the dramatic step of cutting off almost all ties with Iranian banks yesterday amid growing alarm that the country is pursuing an undercover nuclear-weapons programme.

The move was taken in conjunction with the United States and Canada, and the Government said it hoped several European nations would soon follow suit. The issue is due to be discussed

by EU foreign ministers in two weeks.

The attempt to isolate Iran financially and choke off funds that could be used to develop ballistic missiles follows warnings from the UN atomic agency over the country’s nuclear ambitions. But it is not thought that the ban will target the oil trade.

All British credit and financial institutions had to cease trading with Iran’s banks from yesterday afternoon, following an announcement from Chancellor George Osborne.

“We believe the Iranian regime’s actions pose a significant threat to the UK’s national security and the international community,” he said.

“Today’s announcement is a further step to preventing the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

The move by the UK – the first use of new counterterrorism powers to cut off an entire nation’s banking sector – is part of a wider international effort involving the US and Canada. It is likely to have an impact on UK banks, including Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland - which was fined last year for violating US regulations against Iran through business acquired with ABN Amro – and Lloyds Banking Group.

Foreign Secretary William Hague refused earlier to rule out possible military action in future if the stand-off continues.

Under the terms of the crackdown announced

yesterday, all UK credit and financial institutions are required “to cease business relationships and transactions with all Iranian banks, including the Central Bank of Iran, and their branches and subsidiaries”.

The Treasury said banks played a “crucial role” in facilitating Iran’s nuclear programme and denying access to London would strike a blow at Tehran’s ambitions. However, it is believed that the sanctions will not target trade in Iranian oil.

It would also prevent UK institutions being “unknowingly used by Iranian banks for proliferation-related transactions”, a spokesman said.

Mr Osborne said: “I have today taken action to impose further financial restrictions against Iran.

This follows the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report uncovering evidence of Iran’s development of nuclear weapons technology.

Mr Hague said: “The IAEA’s report last week provided further credible and detailed evidence about the possible military dimensions of the Iranian nuclear programme. Today, we have responded resolutely by introducing a set of new sanctions that prohibit all business with Iranian banks. The Chinese, Indians and others will continue to engage, while many western multinationals have already pulled out.”

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

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Einstein’s Theory Challenged Speed of light theory challenged A theory that has been accepted for the past 100 years and has been confirmed by nearly a billion events may be thrown out after scientists in Europe have found a glitch in Einstein’s theory of relativity.

“Events like this happen all of the time in science,” Physics professor Kunal Das said in an interview in his office. “Someone finds an aspect of an existing theory that isn’t right, and they later find that there was in error in the original experiment that was done.”

Relativity states that anything which has mass cannot go as fast as or faster than the speed of light.

“Think of the speed of light as the speed limit, and they discovered a particle called neutrinos, and they arrived earlier than it takes light to cover the same distance,” Das said.

If it is supposed to take something

an hour to get from point A to point B, and the neutrinos get there in 55 minutes then that says something. It could either be that the experiment is wrong, or there is a new breakthrough in science.

According to Discovery News, the experiments took place between the European Center for Nuclear Research in Switzerland and a laboratory in Italy. They found that neutrinos travel at 300,006

kilometers-a-second, which is just past the speed of light.

“If it is, then we have to re-think the last 100 years of physics,” Das said.

For the past 100 years, there has been the assumption, based on Einstein’s theory, that the proper order is cause and effect. Now because something can move a little faster than light, it means that one may be able to determine the effect of something before

making the decision that caused those events.

Das went on to explain that people who aren’t in the scientific community wouldn’t be affected.

“Essentially I could see something before the cause, it would toss our understanding of the physical world.”

“They are putting this out just to say ‘Hey, we couldn’t find anything wrong;’ they aren’t saying they found everything,

but they are just saying that we couldn’t find a mistake.”

According to Discovery News, the scientists who participated in this experiment waited six months to make sure their equipment was working and that nothing went wrong in the experiment.

Because the original scientist who put the neutrinos through the test couldn’t find any mistakes, others will hopefully step up to the challenge to see if they can find an error in the original experiment.

“If I had to put my money on it, I’d say that it was an error in the experiment. In science, it takes more than one experiment.” Das said.

Ultimately, this could be the beginning of a new future, but it is more than likely a mistake that will eventually be corrected; Einstein’s Theory of Relativity will remain tried and tested and will not be knocked off for a new one to take its place.

DG ISI has forensically tested Memo evidence: Mansoor Ijaz

Ijaz also ruled out reports that there was some understanding between President Asif Ali Zardari and Ambassador Husain Haqqani regarding the memo, saying the President had no knowledge of any such document.

US businessman of Pakistani origin Mansoor Ijaz on Sunday said that Director General Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Shuja Pasha had forensically tested the evidence connected to the controversial memo, and deemed it

legitimate on his London visit.

Speaking exclusively in Express News’ show Baat-se-Baat, Ijaz claimed to have met General Pasha in London and provided him the evidence regarding the alleged secret controversial memo by Haqqani, including phone (BlackBerry messenger) records. He said it was irrefutable evidence since it was in his phone and forensically tested by General Pasha.

He claimed that Zardari might have spoken to Haqqani after the May raid about the pressure on him, hence asking the latter to help him out in this regard, leaving the mechanics on how Haqqani went about it to the US ambassador.

Ijaz hit out at Haqqani on challenging the authenticity of the memo and ruled out any missing links in the memo-authenticity chain. He said that he was an ‘ultra wealthy’ individual who handles his own investments

London 2012: Sikhs allowed to carry daggers at Olympics Sikh athletes and spectators will be able to wear ceremonial daggers around the London 2012 Olympic sites, organisers have said.

The International Olympic Committee normally insists that Games facilities are laid on for Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists. However, London 2012 will also cater for Zoroastrians, Jains and followers of the Baha’i faith.

“We want to make sure the Games are accessible to everyone. The kirpan will be presented at security but it will not be unsheathed,” a London 2012 spokeswoman said.

“The policy has been set by our security team, who have liaised with stakeholders, and is part of our multi-faith approach.”

The Sikh faith is the fourth biggest religion in Britain, at 0.6 per cent, according to the 2001 census.

London 2012 organisers have insisted they will not ban ceremonial daggers, carried as articles of faith, at next year’s Olympics.

Sikh sports fan Gurdev Singh was

and would sue anyone for slandering against him using the best of lawyers from London, New York and Switzerland.

Earlier Ijaz had claimed in an article published in the Financial Times that he had, on President Zardari’s instructions and with the help of a top diplomat, drafted and delivered a memo to Admiral Mullen calling for his help in supporting President Zardari in case of a military coup.

Iran blasts new sanctions as reprehensible

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman has denounced Washington’s new set of sanctions against Tehran, predicting the measures will have no effect and dismissing them as “propaganda and psychological warfare”. The remarks on Tuesday by Ramin Mehmanparast were the first from Iran after the Obama administration announced the new measures on Monday in an effort to apply greater pressure to get Tehran to halt its suspected nuclear weapons program.

Memo issue: SC moved to form inquiry body

banned from entering Lord’s cricket ground - venue to 2012 archery events - to watch this week’s Test match between England and India.

Sikhs are allowed to carry a small ceremonial dagger, known as a Kirpan, under provisions set out in the 1988 Criminal Justice Act, although the laws are vaguer about private property.

The sheathed scimitar, which is attached to a cloth belt and normally worn discreetly under clothes, is one of five “articles of faith” that baptised

Sikhs must carry at all times.

Maylebone Cricket Club officials have since admitted their mistake and apologised to Mr Singh and Locog have also clarified their position.

“At Games-time, small symbolic ceremonial daggers, which a maximum blade length of three inches, carried for religious reasons will be allowed,” said a statement.

Security will be tight at all Games venues, with Britain prepared to deploy surface-to-air missiles to protect London during the event,

Supreme Court has been moved to set up a Judicial Commission to probe the issue of memo allegedly written by Mansoor Aijaz to the chief of US armed forces.

A petition in this regard has been filed at the SC’s Lahore Registry pleaded the court to declare Mansoor Aijaz an unfavorable person until the probe into the alleged letter written to US’s top military officer Mike Mullen is completed.

The petition moved by local counsel Barrister Zafarullah argued, “The denial by the government of any such letter signals a conspiracy to pit the government against the military.”

PM would be responsible if Haqqani found involve in memo scandal: Mukhtar Amid raging political storm in the country over secret memogate, Defence minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar Sunday said the prime minister would be responsible if Pakistani ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani found involve in memo scandal.

Talking to media here in Lahore, Mukhtar said that Hussain Haqqani was part of the prime minister team and if the envoy found guilty, the PM house would directly responsible for the conspiracy.

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

Iran: IAEA leaks make our nuclear scientists targets for Israel I

n letter to chief of UN’s nuclear watchdog, Iranian envoy to the IAEA says agency’s report was leaked to Western powers, calling the act a’ clear violation’ of protocol.

A senior Iranian envoy is accusing the head of the United Nations’ nuclear body of security leaks that expose his country’s scientists and their families to the threat of assassination by the U.S. and Israel.

In a letter to by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano, Ali Asghar Soltanieh said the leaks in a recent report have made Iranian scientists “the targets for assassination by ... [the] Israeli regime and United State[s] of

America intelligence services.”

Former French FM says IAEA report on Iran politically-motivated Paris, Former French foreign

minister Roland Dumas said on Saturday that latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iranian nuclear program is politically motivated.

He told IRNA in an exclusive interview that the report is merely political and that it is not professional and has been released to serve the political goals of certain states.

He said that proponents of the report failed to achieve a consensus in IAEA Board of Governors.

‘Russia and China have not accepted the views of the western governments including France, UK and the United States.’

Dumas said that the Middle East is suffering from chronic problems and is currently in critical situation with new issues including US invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and the unrest in Yemen, on the one

hand, and the scenario fabricated by the US officials that Iran attempted to assassinate Saudi ambassador to Washington, on the other, which indicated that the western governments are working on an anti-Iran conspiracy.

On air raids of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Libya, Dumas said that the United Nations Security Council had not authorized invasion of Libya by the western governments, but, they ruined Libyan infrastructure.

Dumas said that the western governments have focused on a conspiracy in the Middle East which will disparage balance of power in the region.

Hypersonic weapon: New US bomb kills long before you hear it U.S. military unveils a hypersonic flying missile that can strike a target anywhere in the world in just 30 minutes.

The Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW), which travels five times the speed of sound, was successfully tested yesterday.

It was launched by rocket from Hawaii at 11.30am, glided south westwards through the upper atmosphere over the Pacific at ‘hypersonic speed’ before hitting its target on the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands – some 2,500 miles away.

It comes hot on the heels of the U.S. Air Force announcement that it has taken delivery of eight, 15-ton bunker buster bombs, called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, that can blow apart 200ft of concrete.

And if it is rolled out by the U.S. military, it will mean America will no longer have to rely on stationing missiles in foreign countries.

The Pentagon did not reveal how fast the AHW, which unlike traditional ballistic missiles can be manoeuvred, reached.

Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Melinda Morgan said the test was aimed at gathering data on ‘aerodynamics, navigation, guidance and control, and thermal protection technologies’.

The U.S. Army’s AHW project is part of the ‘Prompt Global Strike’ program.

It seeks to give the U.S. military

the means to deliver conventional weapons anywhere in the world within an hour.

Scientists classify hypersonic speeds as those that exceed Mach 5 – or five times the speed of sound – 3,728 miles per hour.

On August 11, the Pentagon test flew another hypersonic glider dubbed HTV-2, which is capable of flying

16,776 miles per hour. But it was a failure.

The AHW’s range is less than that of the HTV-2, the Congressional Research Service said in a report, without providing specifics.

Despite half the circumference of the earth at the equator measuring 12,450 miles, the maximum distance travelled by the AHW

Seminar on ‘Savings and Investment goal of over 50 people for their retirement days’ on the 29 November 2011 organised by ETHOS UK. London based charity organisation ETHOS UK organised a seminar on ‘Savings and Investment goal of over 50 people for their retirement days’ on 29 November 2011 at the St George’s Church Halls, Woodford Avenue/Gants Hill Crescent, Gants Hill, Ilford, Essex, IG2 6XG. Investment is the commitment of money or capital to purchase financial instruments or other assets in order to

gain profitable returns in the form of interest, income, or appreciation of the value of the instrument. Investment is related to saving or deferring consumption We want income from investment and appreciation of capital, either or both.

If income only, we would wish to see

our capital not depreciate at least through inflation; and if capital appreciation only we should be aware that it must be at a rate higher than the inflation (true inflation)………

Presentation will start at 14.00 hours and lunch will be served at the courtesy of Ethos UK from 13.15 to 14.00 hours.

The event will be close at 15.30.

will be significantly less, as it will follow a trajectory rising into the upper atmosphere before making its descent.

The Pentagon has invested $239.9 million in the Global Strike program this year, including $69 million for the flying bomb tested yesterday, CRS said.

The news comes the day after the USAF revealed it would now be using the 15-ton bunker busting Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs.

B-2 Stealth Bombers will use the six metre long GPS guided rocket, dubbed the Big Blu and fitted with 2.5 tons of explosives, to smash open underground bunkers and tunnels suspected of containing weapons of mass destruction.

The delivery of the super bomb, and testing of the AHW, is in the same week U.S. President Barack Obama said America would act firmly against any nuclear proliferation activities

by North Korea.

And it comes as an International Atomic Energy Agency report renewed calls for a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Terror suspects remanded in custody

Four men have been remanded in custody after they appeared in court charged with terrorism offences.

Khobaib Hussain, of Evelyn Road, Ishaaq Hussain, of Avondale Road, and Shahid Kasam Khan, of Lea Road, all 19, and Naweed Mahmood Ali, 24, of Evelyn Road, all from Birmingham, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. They are charged with fundraising for terrorist purposes, travelling to Pakistan for terrorist training and travelling abroad to commit acts of terrorism. They were remanded in custody. The men were arrested by officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham last Tuesday.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

NEWS

7

UK YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT – ARE WE BOTHERED? Adrian Felaar “Aspiration, ambition, hope and optimism are always important…but especially in the teenage years”. Taking into account the status quo of the British teenager, ambitions are being suppressed by a malicious indictment of access to higher education; Hope for improvement in the markets and the economy’s performance seems abysmal.

Optimism itself is in short supply as youth unemployment for the UK hit a record high of 1.016 million people. With youth unemployment at nearly 1.02 million, a rise of 15% since last year, and prospective university applicants facing tuition fees of a debt-crippling nature, the Deputy Prime Minister’s quote is a dichotomous remark when the Coalition government is undermining the four things which are “important” in the formative years.

Statistics reveal that 21.09% of the 16-24 demographic is out of work – more than a fifth. The primary question that revolves around unemployment levels is why. The answer is a simple, yet complicated one. Currently, with the country’s growth being recorded as 0.5%, the UK economy is flat lining (no doubt aided by the Shadow Chancellor’s “maniacal gesticulations” in the Commons).

During recessions and their subsequent depressions, as firms experience belt-tightening times and banks become increasingly unwilling to provide credit, firms

Marisa Paulson [Previously: ...Hank nudged me to the floor...he smiled waiting for any reaction...I just stared.

Just stared...and stared and stared...my blood boiled, and boiled...and boiled...I had visions of it looking red...My body did something weird...the bones rumbled about...intestines were being pulled...something fierce, fearful...it happened...spine twisting...crunch... snapped...]

Ambling towards my bed, I sat on the edge feeling relieved from my midnight relief. Dark was the room. It filled me tranquillity and fatigue: couldn’t sleep when the light was on.

Since, I was well off into my remaining days. An early Sat-

must find way to cut payments to keep afloat; normally this objective is achieved through redundancies and a reduction in the size of the workforce, inevitably leading to job losses and higher unemployment rates.

Moreover, fewer jobs are created

and other industries similar to this; the distance between shelfpacker and chief executive officer (CEO) is analogous with climbing Mount Everest. The probability is unlikely that a shelf packer will become the CEO – but not zero.

Furthermore these jobs are likely

an understated part in this whole drama – immigrant workers. In an article from The Sunday Times broadsheet the question is posed: “If the job prospects for Britain’s young are so bad, why do so many migrants flock here to find work?” (Please, sir, can I have a

at an “entry-level” i.e. at a level at which school leavers can operate.

With a greater proportion of young people out of the employment loop since records began in 1992, Britain faces a possible futuristic quandary by having an aged workforce. More must be done by firms and Government alike to expand the job market for teenagers.

However, even if teenagers accomplish the seemingly impossible and find their way into the working world, the conventional placement is in the “netherworld” of supermarkets.

Well there goes ambition and aspiration!

The recurring problem in the supermarket industry is that there is very little upward mobility in the industry

to be temporary to supplement the heavy yoke of university fees of students. At no point is there any chance to progress through the various ranks of management: internalized promotion is stagnant. Consequently, teens are left floundering at the bottom of the economic pile with little hope of moving beyond this barrier.

Alas, hope may be diminished, but it should never be extinguished.

In this systematic failure, apprenticeship schemes play a big role in the redemption of the dire situation.

Although a lack of vacancies in the jobs market is too blame for higher unemployment rates amongst the youth, it is not the only factor which bears the onus.

A much thornier factor is playing

job). The answer was provided

by Johnnie Boden, the boss of a mail order clothing company, who described a recent encounter with a deputation of the British workforce as such: “We…took 15 British staff, and I’m sorry to say they weren’t great. Foreign staff want to work harder and are more motivated”. It is reported that Boden’s statement received an “appreciative murmur”. Research by the Chartered Institute for Personal Development (CIPD) implied that employers are twice as likely to hire migrant workers than British teenagers. It must be stressed that migrant workers are classified as those who are not indigenous to the UK but may have lived here for a while. Yet, we cannot accuse migrant workers of

SORRY FOR YOURSELF urday, perhaps about one or something; I was soon ready to commence my Monday morning. Strangely, a flicker of darkness ‘flew’ from my eastbound to west.

Unaware I hazily blinked, not long before I grimaced, yawned, turning into my bed. Room foreshadowed with a black aura I wasn’t aware of, all I knew was that whatever it planned to do with me was bad. I enveloped the duvet over my head.

Strong air of wind blew to it. I knew then, that something was there. I sat on the edge, I stood up. I whimpered in trepidation.

Shaking...stumbling back into

the side table, hesitantly reaching my moving fingers towards my lamp. In situations like this, I liked the back wall, nothing could get you anywhere except from the front: the only downfall. Picturing where the switch was, I closed my eyes to halt – sweat dipping and mouth salivating in pure terror – lost on whether revealing this shadow was the smartest of ideas.

Vaguely, my body recovered from forceful blows of Worthall, frankly for some reason, I felt that whatever shadow was before me, would inflict an even worse amount of pain. Gasping in what was nothing but echo-

ing silence of the night, gritting my teeth as I closed my eyes and switched on the lamp. That instant I opened my eyes. I was a mute but my eyes widened enough from such bewilderment.

In confusion and fret, my mouth twitched as I gawked upon the black man: he looked so ordinary but what was he doing in my room? I gulped and blinked...he disappeared.

Alerted I pushed myself even further into the table, such that everything dropped off. Light seemingly flickered. Squinting I peered before me, I could make out a moving object. Flicker.

stealing British jobs from British people, as some extremists claim.

In some places, firms such as Abel & Cole (a vegetable delivery service) report that they are not getting “local applicants”.

Migrants are therefore vindicated as many residents still prefer to drain the Welfare state to its kegs.

Youth unemployment continues to rise: there are fewer jobs available and migrant workers are normally preferred over teenagers. Where does the solution to this problem lie? The solution lies in the cooperation between firms, Government and the youth of Great Britain.

The best way to combat these unprecedented unemployment rates is too invest in us – the youth of the Fair Isle, the future economic powerhouse.

Government must make a concerted effort to invest in apprenticeship schemes: not only can teenagers earn money but they are being taught specific skills, not only the transferrable skills garnered from retail.

Moreover, Government NEEDS to tackle the issue of these exorbitant tuition fees! The best economy will be one with a wide skills-base. A greater social issue looms for Britain if the issue of youth unemployment is left unaddressed. British academic Guy Standing summarizes this problem as the four “A’s”: anger, anomie, alienation and anxiety.

Anyone want a repeat of the August riots? Root out those four “A’s”.

Flicker. Flicker. His face before mine as he covered my mouth to prevent yells. He barred his teeth and snapped. I yelled from within and begged to be mistaken.

The final flicker revealed smudges of blood across his mouth, with seconds, a throb arising on the wrist of my right hand. It was vague, but, but from what I gathered, my wrist, it, it looked like I could see the BONE! The blood! I could see everything! I yelled from within. Nothing mattered. At the final flicker – light dimming into darkness – I plummeted to the floor, eyes shut – feeling worse than when Worthall beat me – the man only seeming as another one of my imaginations.

NEWS

8

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

ENTERTAINMENT

Gklih{l

He likes him she likes her The Big B is back…

Keziah-Ann Abakah

It should be a common known fact that each and every one of us are extraordinary individuals, but it is not. It should be a common known fact that we each have differing personal preferences, but it is not and it should be a common known fact that we are each special in our own different ways, but it is not. A great number of people choose to overlook common known facts because these facts do not conform or align with what they deem to be common.

So today I ask about a common known fact that many tend to tuck away. What’s wrong with homosexuality?

Religion deems it to be an offence to God. Scientist deem it to be a defect in genetic make up. The ignorant deem it to be an escape goat for those who cannot find love and I deem it to be exactly

what it is Homosexuality. A great number of individuals young and old alike sometimes find themselves attracted to a person of the same gender and because society dictates it to be so they keep these feelings suppressed and hide who they truly are for the convenience of those around them.

If one person is bigger than the people they keep company with are they not different? If one person speaks with an accent unlike the accent of those they speak with are they not different? And if one person’s skin is coloured in a shade others have never seen before are they not different? So why then should it matter if boy likes boy and girl likes girl? It’s just a difference like a difference in weight, accent or skin colour.

What person should be made to feel like they are less of a person because of the colour of their

skin? What person should be made to feel that taking their life is the only solution for them to be at peace and what person should be subjected to criticism and slander for choosing to live a life unlike everyone else’s? The answer if you do not already know it is no one.

No one should be made to feel like they are worthless. No one should be made to feel like they are committing a sin by existing and no one should ashamed to be who they are.

Homosexuality is a part of life, it may not be a prominent part of certain people’s lives but it is a prominent part in others.

It should not be dismissed or looked down upon or deemed to be this or that but simply accepted so that every individual can co exist peacefully. So to you I ask once again... What’s wrong with homosexuality?

E3uk are proud to present the debut solo single from Nav Sidhu in conjunction with Rajeev B. “Hai Soniyeh” continues the trend of a unique yet popular style of music via E3uk Records, which has also gained them UK Asian music chart success.

Rajeev comes off the back of his debut single “Daroo” which was vocalled by renowned lyricist Jelly Manjitpuri. The track was the highest new entry on The Official Asian Downloads Chart Show at No 2 and topped the iTunes World Music Chart in less than 24 hours of it’s release! Now ready for his biggest challenge, Rajeev’s first original studio album ‘The Takeover’ is set for release on E3UK Records later in 2012.

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There’s this guy who I’ve been seeing for over a year and we used to get on extremely well and enjoyed each other’s company but now I really want to focus on my a levels and concentrate in getting good grades so I tried talking to him and telling him this however he didn’t understand and kept trying to convince me that I shouldn’t worry and that he’ll be the provider in the future. This scared me a little as I wasnt thinking of our relationship in the long term so I decided to officially break it off wih him but now he refuses to accept we’re over and won’t leave me alone to the extent that he was outside my house. My parents didn’t know about relationship and now he’s threatening to tell them if I don’t stay with him. What do I do?

S. Dear S,

Dress- £15.00 www.oasis-stores.com Shoes-£60.00 www.riverisland.com

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I think it was right of you too focus on your a levels and make this decision as it is wrong for him to try and make you reliant on him as you need your independence to succeed and make something of yourself in the future. This boy seems as though he’s in denial and a little dangerous so you should make it absolutely clear that you’re moving on and try to distance yourself from him. If he still bothers you and threatens to tell your parents then you should tell them before he does, that way they’ll find out through you and not a stranger and also will be able to protect you if he does try to harm you in away. Be safe!

Miss R.

9

aarc S

Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

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The South Asia Tribune and SAARC International Ltd. assume no liability for any inaccurate, delayed, or incomplete information, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

The full story can be viewed at www.southasianmedia.net

Thursday, 24.11.11

international

Memogate: Ambassador out, but controversy rages on.

Parliamentary committee on National Security to meet on 25th Sherry Rehman appointed Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US

The controversial memo that sought to rein in the country’s military establishment, authentic or not, has taken its first casualty – a civilian.

The Parliamentary Committee on National Security will meet on November 25 under the chairmanship of Senator Raza Rabbani to discuss the latest controversy that sparked after emergence of a an alleged

memo that led to resignation of Pakistan Ambassador to Washington Hussain Haqqani.

Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League –Nawaz senior leader Senator Ishaq Dar sent a letter to the Senator Raza Rabbani over the scandal, suggesting that the secret issue should be discussed in the parliamentary body.

He suggested that Foreign

Secretary Salman Bashir and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Ahemd Shuja Pasha should also be summoned in the meeting to brief the members over the issue Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani resigned from his post on Tuesday following a meeting attended by the president, the

prime minister, and the army and intelligence chiefs.

“I have requested PM Gilani to accept my resignation,” Haqqani, accused of drafting a memo that sought US assistance to rein in Pakistan’s military establishment, said in a Twitter post shortly after the meeting.

Resigned, or asked to resign Continued on page 23 >>

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and MNA Sherry Rehman has been appointed Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States .

The appointment comes after Husain Haqqani was asked to resign by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the wake of the Memogate scandal. Gilani has approved the appointment.

“The prime minister is pleased to appoint Sherry Rehman as the new ambassador to the United States,” said spokesman for the Prime Minister’s office, Akram Shaheedi, Reuters reported.

Media reports circulating late Tuesday night had suggested that Iffat Imran Gardezi would be the temporary replacement for Haqqani. Gardezi is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington and assists the ambassador in the overall functioning of the Embassy.

Rehman, a former journalist, was information minister for Zardari after the restoration of civilian rule following a 2008 election.

But she resigned in March 2009 over a crisis in which the Continued on page 23 >>

NEWS

10

Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

India sees no scope for military takeover in Pakistan I

ndia is “worried” over the fast changing situation in Pakistan in the wake of what has been termed the ‘Mansoor Ijaz Memogate scandal.

India is “worried” over the fast changing situation in Pakistan in the wake of what has been termed the ‘Mansoor Ijaz Memogate scandal,’ in which a Pakistani-American businessman claims to have secretly conveyed to the U.S. the Asif Ali Zardari government’s appeal seeking help to forestall a possible military coup. However, in India’s assessment, at the moment a military takeover to prevent the country slipping into turmoil is highly unlikely.

Senior officials in the government closely monitoring the development in the neighbourhood maintained on Sunday that the latest crisis was yet another serious blow to the Zardari

regime, which is confronted with the ‘steady’ gains on the ground by Imran Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician,

Nawaz demands commission to probe memo issue

Nawaz Sharif said issue of letter to Mike is sensitive and a body should be formed to investigate.

While talking to the media in Lahore, he said that the National Assembly has discussed the issue in detail, adding that Mike Mullen has verified that he has received the letter.

Nawaz said that we would not compromise on sovereignty of the country and said that the letter to US general was an attack on the sovereignty of the motherland.

Commenting on the PML-N

unanimous resignations from the National Assembly, he said that it was personal opinion of Khwaja Sahib. Replying a query regarding any option, he said that he should not be made emotional in this regard.

Nawaz Sharif said that he is ambitious for Shah Mahmood Qureshi to join the PML-N. He is going to have a meeting with Qureshi on November 22 for further discussion. He could not state satisfactory stance on the issue of Hamza Shahbaz and Aesha Ahad.

and fissures within the Pakistan Muslim League led by the former Prime Minister, Nawaz Shariff.

The Zardari government is embroiled in a controversy following the assertion by Mr. Ijaz that he delivered the message, seeking Washington’s intervention on behalf of the civilian government in Islamabad, at the behest of Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S. Husain Haqqani. Since the takeover of the regime in Islamabad by the Pakistan People’s Party, the savvy envoy has been a trusted aide of Mr. Zardari.

The officials noted that the very fact that the military decided to dispatch the ISI chief to London to personally contact Mr. Ijaz in a bid to get to the bottom of the intent of the purported cable is a clear sign of growing distrust between the civilian establishment and the all-powerful military.

“However, we do believe it would

not be easy for the military to wage a coup in the current international environment. When General Pervez Musharraf chose to dismiss the civilian government in 1999 and assume charge, it was a different scenario. It is much more viable for the military to install political elements trusted by it than take over the reins of power,” the officials said.

Asked about the impact of the political situation in Pakistan on India, the officials said India had weathered much tougher situations and there was no reason for concern.

“The ISI has thrown every thing possible at us from 1989 to 1999 beginning with Kashmir to Kargil.

We need to worry only if it gets worse than what we have experienced during the period.”

Delhi, Dhaka to expedite extradition treaty Stepping up their cooperation in security-related matters, India and Bangladesh decide to expedite the signing of an extradition treaty under consideration for some time.

Such a treaty would facilitate the handing over of Anup Chetia, general secretary of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) from Bangladesh.

The ULFA leader has served his sentence in a jail in Dhaka since his arrest there in 1997 on the charge of entering the country without valid documents.

India assured Bangladesh of extending all possible cooperation to track down the killers of the Father of Nation of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is also father of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“The draft [extradition treaty] has been shared and we are going through it. We are scrutinising it,’’ Union Home Secretary

R.K. Singh told a joint press conference with his Bangladesh counterpart Monzur Hossain at the end of the two-day Home Secretary-level talks.

Mr. Hossain said the pact will be signed “at the earliest. That is our position with utmost sincerity.’’

Key pacts A joint statement issued after the talks said the two countries agreed to put into operation a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), transfer of sentenced persons, and Agreement on Combating Organised Crime and Illegal Drug Trafficking.

The three key agreements were signed during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in January last year, setting the stage for the security cooperation.

Asked about the possibility of deportation of Chetia, Mr. Hossain said some legal issues had hampered it. However, he hoped that the matter would

be resolved soon and that the ULFA general secretary would be handed over to India “at the earliest.”

The joint statement said both countries reaffirmed “their commitment not to allow the territory of either country to be used for any activity inimical to each other’s interests.”

Both sides also agreed to implement the coordinated Border Management Plan signed during the visit of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to Bangladesh in July this year.

India appreciated the cooperation extended by Dhaka to prevent smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Notes.

Both sides agreed to develop mechanisms to speed up verification of the nationality status of prisoners lodged in jails of either country, particularly of those who have completed their sentence, to enable their early repatriation.

Afghan team due in Pakistan for Rabbani probe Afghanistan is sending an official delegation to Pakistan “soon” to investigate the killing of Kabul’s peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, a presidential spokesman says.

Pakistan has agreed to accept the delegation, spokesman Aimal Faizi told reporters, adding that it could leave as early as Tuesday.

Rabbani was assassinated by a turban bomber at his Kabul home in

September in a move which stalled efforts to talk peace with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials say the killing was planned in Pakistan and carried out by a Pakistani suicide bomber. They have also previously accused Pakistan of refusing to cooperate in the probe.

But at a conference in Istanbul earlier this month, the two sides agreed to cooperate on an investigation into

the killing.

“The government of Afghanistan, in order to further investigate the assassination of professor Burhanuddin Rabbani... will soon send a delegation to Pakistan.

Pakistan has accepted to receive the delegation,” Faizi said.

“After the pressures that Afghanistan and Turkey put on Pakistan at the Istanbul conference, Pakistan finally

agreed to accept our delegation.”

The delegation will feature officials from Afghanistan’s defence and interior ministries, plus its intelligence service.

The Afghan team’s visit was confirmed by the Pakistani foreign ministry which said a date was being worked out.

“We had offered assistance when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani

went to Kabul after Professor Rabbani’s assassination,” foreign ministry spokesperson Tehmina Janjua told AFP. “This (offer) was reiterated in Istanbul” when President Asif Ali Zardari met his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, she said.

“Schedule of the visit is being worked out by the ministry of interior,” Janjua added.

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Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

WEEKLY REVIEW OF AFGHANISTAN NEWS

Afghan loya jirga: Karzai wins backing for US pact Afghan President Hamid Karzai has won the endorsement of tribal elders and community leaders to negotiate a 10-year strategic partnership with the US. The proposed pact would see the presence of US troops after 2014, the date for foreign troops to leave.

But delegates at the loya jirga, or traditional assembly, in the capital Kabul, set conditions for a pact.

The jirga’s decisions are not legally binding, with parliament having the final say.

While delegates at the four-day loya jirga gave their blessing to the pact, they also imposed conditions which may make it harder for an agreement to be reached, says the BBC’s Orla Guerin in Kabul.

Negotiations have already dragged on for close to a year.

Delegates demanded an end to night raids - which are hated by Afghans, but seen as crucial by US commanders.

They also called for detainees to be placed in Afghan custody, and for US nationals who commit crimes in Afghanistan to be held to account.

The assembly also endorsed peace talks with Taliban members who wish to abandon violence.

After US forces leave Afghanistan, will CIA turn to local mercenaries W

ith his broad cheekbones, hair swept back under a sequined cap, and the gentle manner of a wellto-do Pashtun, Atal Afghanzai might easily pass for a doctor or an engineer.

Instead, his career path led into a cloak-and-dagger world of covert armies and foreign agents, until a rare lethal run-in with an Afghan police chief landed him on death row in Kabul’s most notorious prison.

Young and motivated, Mr. Afghanzai is one of thousands of Afghan mercenaries believed to be working with the CIA to help America battle Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their allies. His story – confirmed by US diplomats, other Western officials, and Afghan authorities – illustrates the military advantages of this secret war. But, with the US poised to ramp up reliance on paramilitaries like Afghanzai as it pulls out frontline troops, the practice is raising the ire of Afghans who accuse the groups of

human rights abuses.

Speaking from Pul-i-Charki prison, where he is appealing a murder conviction, Afghanzai described how the elite group he once led, that was raised by and answered to the CIA, launched raids on Taliban targets at a moment’s notice.

Recruits were cherry-picked from regular Afghan Army units and trained

by US Special Operations Forces at a

place called Camp Gecko, he says.

Blackhawk helicopters would deliver them to targets in neighboring Zabul and Uruzgan provinces, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai even sent the strike force letters of thanks after successful missions.

Known as the “Kandahar Strike Force,” the militia became so effective, says one Taliban commander, that many insurgents came to dread it

more than any other pro-government outfit in Afghanistan.When troops leave, what’s left?

Part of the job description for Americans left behind after 2014, in the words of the US government’s latest counterterrorism strategy document, will be tackling Al Qaeda and its adherents by using covert tactics that go “beyond traditional intelligence, military, and law enforcement

‘Afghanistan drought puts 2 million short of food’ M ore than 2 million people are facing food shortages in northern Afghanistan after a drought and the situation could get even worse if winter snows cut off access to remote regions, a group of aid agencies warned Friday.

The nine agencies, including Oxfam, said in a joint statement that the Afghan government and the international community must ensure that people who require food assistance receive it quickly.

“Time was already running short. With snow falling in the highlands, the situation for many people has now become critical and soon most of the region will be affected by snow,” Manohar Shenoy, country director for Oxfam in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

The statement said a severe drought had affected areas scattered across 14 northern

provinces, while a U.N. appeal for the crisis remained only 7 percent funded.

The U.N. appealed for $142 million in early October. At the time, the international body said that drought conditions had emerged in the north, northeast and west of Afghanistan because of little snowfall last winter. The U.N. said a lack of water led to

crop shortfalls of up to 80 percent in rain-fed wheat crops.

“Donors, the Afghan government and aid agencies need to focus on ensuring assistance will reach the people who need it most, as quickly as possible,” Shenoy said. “Donors and relief agencies must remain vigilant and responsive as more resources will be required if the

situation deteriorates because of a harsh winter.”

Afghanistan also saw more violence on Friday. A roadside bomb exploded near a playground, killing four children and wounding six.

The children were between the ages of 4 and 11, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzia, a spokesman for the governor of eastern Nangarhar province. The bomb exploded in the province’s Behsud district.

Insurgents often plant roadside bombs to target Afghan security forces or international troops.

The devices usually detonate when someone steps or drives over them.

One such device on Friday killed a member of the NATOled military force in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said without providing further details.

So far 18 foreign troops have been killed this month, for a total of 508 since the start of the year.

functions.”

Security analysts say that the practice of raising paramilitary units, trained by US Special Operations Forces, run and funded by the CIA, and working closely with local intelligence officials, fits that bill perfectly.

There is, however, a down side to this light-footprint, low-visibility warfare.Militias are not popular in Afghanistan. They stand accused of murder, rape, and extortion across the country.

In 2009, one of Afghanzai’s comrades was detained. It sparked a shootout that killed Kandahar’s provincial police chief, the head of the province’s criminal investigations department, and several more officers. Afghanzai and 40 of his men were convicted of murder and then imprisoned. It was a rare example of the Afghan judiciary coming down on a US bankrolled mercenary – and likely only happened because Afghanzai and his men killed a well-connected Afghan Police commander in broad daylight.

Other allegations of wrongdoing, such as armed robbery, have been impossible to properly investigate because of the group’s clandestine nature and connections.

“These kinds of forces are the most shadowy and the most unaccountable in the country, and it’s a really serious problem [that] nobody’s quite taking responsibility for it,” says Rachel Reid, a senior policy adviser to the New Yorkbased Open Society Foundation with extensive experience in Afghanistan.

12

Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

WEEKLY REVIEW OF BANGLADESH NEWS

Move on to rearrange city traffic routes The transport authorities are conducting a study on how to redesign the Dhaka city’s routes to ease traffic congestion and provide the commuters with a safe transportation system.

The transport authorities are conducting a study on how to redesign the Dhaka city’s routes to ease traffic congestion and provide the commuters with a safe transportation system.

Officials in the authorities concerned said the plan would be implemented within this year.

On November 17, a meeting of the Regional Transport Committee, headed by Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Benazir Ahmed, was held at the commissioner’s office and

it decided to rationalise the existing routes of the city.

‘Now the DMP will select the routes for the city transports,’ police’s joint commissioner of traffic Mahbubur Rahman, also a member of the

committee, on Sunday told New Age. Earlier, the transport owners would apply for the route permit to the RTC, Mahbubur Rahman added.

‘We are rationalising the city’s about 179 routes,’ he said and added that

they were working for eight months to bring them down to around 20.

A RTC sub-committee, headed by himself, was running a study on how to bring all city routes under three main types — circular, acrossthe-city and periphery to centre, he informed.

‘The study on the routes was almost in the last phase. We will implement this plan within this year,’ he said, adding that before implementing the plan they will talk to different stakeholders such as transport owners.

‘We want to talk with them not to keep them in dark about this plan. We are trying to motivate and regulate them and want to assure them that we are not against them,’ he said.

Tipai Dam threatens extensive ecological damage The Tipaimukh Dam will decrease water flow in the Barak river during the monsoon, reduce the navigability of the Surma and the Kushiyara, dry up some beels and haors and increase riverbank erosion 100-150km downstream.

The impact of the dam, like reduced water flow during the monsoon, will be visible immediately after the dam is operational; but the impact on ecology will continue for the next few centuries, a hydrological impact study has noted.

If India builds the dam on the Barak at Tipaimukh in Monipur, around 26 per cent of haors in Sylhet and around 11 per cent in Moulvibazar will become dry, the study claims.

The Barak enters Bangladesh territory and splits into two tributaries, the

Surma and the Kushiyara.

The study says that the water inflow during monsoon will be reduced up to 10 per cent in June, 23 per cent in July, 16 per cent in August and 15 per cent in September at Amalshid point

on the Kushiyara.

At Kanairghat and Sylhet station on the Surma, average water level will drop by 0.75 metre and 0.25 metre, in those months, the study titled ‘Hydrological Impact Study of Tipaimukh Dam

Govt has to act first, says Khaleda BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said the government will have to take initiative to resolve the current political standoff over the caretaker government issue.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said the government will have to take initiative to resolve the current political standoff over the caretaker government issue.

She said this when asked to comment on the suggestion put forth by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that political parties should end their differences through dialogue.

“It is the responsibility of the government. They’ll have to decide what they’ll do. We’ve already cleared our position to the people,” Khaleda told UNB at her Gulshan office.

During his recent official visit to

Dhaka, the UN secretary general had meetings on November 14 with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda, the Leader of the Opposition.

At his pre-departure press conference, Ban said the UN is ready to provide technical and logistical support to conduct credible and transparent general elections in Bangladesh.

The BNP-led four-party alliance, headed by Khaleda, has been

carrying out movement to restore the provision of caretaker government that was scrapped through the 15th amendment on June 30 this year.

About joining the upcoming Comilla City Corporation polls, Khaleda said the decision would come out at a meeting of the party forum.

In the Narayanganj City Corporation elections last month, BNP pulled out from the mayoral race at the last moment in protest against non-deployment of army in the election.

Replying to a question, Khaleda said apart from the road march she would visit different districts to address public rallies.

Asked when her party’s acting secretary general will be made a full-fledged secretary general, the BNP chairperson said it would happen at an appropriate time.

Project’ has said.

The study was conducted by the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) Bangladesh in 2005.

The report summarised the overall nature of impact in six categories, including hydrological impact, impact on flooding patterns and on riverfloodplain-wetland ecosystem, impact on morphology, impact on water quality, dam-break and overall in general.

The study says that during a drier monsoon season when Bangladesh will be needing water for fish and cultivation, the dam authorities will hold 27 per cent more water in June, 16 per cent in July, 14 per cent in August and 4 per cent in September than an average monsoon year.

Govt in full control of economy, says Muhith

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has said the government is in full control of the economy but a section of economists and media had been persistently projecting a negative image of it.

He made the comment while talking to reporters after a meeting on the country’s macro-economic situation.

The meeting presided over by the finance minister decided to streamline the remittance inflow by curbing hundi racketeering to prevent its adverse impact on the country’s balance of payments.

The decision was taken as the growth in remittance inflow has been slowing down recently due to a rise in use of hundi, an illegal way of fund remittance, meeting sources said.

The also asked the National Board of Revenue to increase further the pace of revenue generation growth and the Economic Relations Division to expedite the release of foreign aids in the pipeline.

The meeting was told that the revenue earned by the NBR was satisfactory but the disbursement of foreign aid was poor.

Salaries of PM, ministers to be taxed

The cabinet on Thursday approved amendment to two laws to make mandatory for prime minister and her cabinet colleagues to pay tax on their remuneration.

The laws are ‘The Prime Minister’s (Remuneration and Privileges) Act, 1975’ and ‘The Ministers, Ministers for

State and Deputy Ministers (Remuneration and Privileges) Act, 1973’.

The approval came at a weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Cabinet Division placed the amendment proposals before the meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat.

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Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

WEEKLY REVIEW OF BHUTAN NEWS

Royal couple visit Kyoto H

is Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen visited Kyoto, the old capital city of Japan, on Saturday. The royal couple visited the Rokuon-je golden temple.

The royal couple also visited the Traditional Arts School of Kyoto. Established in 1995, the school offers vocational training in traditional arts like ceramics, woodcarving and lacquer and metal craft.

It has about three thousand students pursuing training in different fields.

Thousands of people from Kyoto braved heavy rain to greet the visiting royal couple, waiting along the road patiently.

The royal visit also attracted hundreds of Japanese journalists.

In the afternoon, the royal couple visited the Taktsumura textile factory.

The factory produces world class silk used mainly for making Kimono, the Japanese traditional

Glaciers shrinking fast

G

oing by a recent study on decadal change of glacier in Bhutan that the international centre for integrated mountain development (ICIMOD) conducted, the melting of glacier led to a growing number of smaller glaciers by 2.9 percent.

It is a fall by 7.3 percent, compared with 860sqkm in 1980, which, when recorded in 2010, dropped to 671sqkm.

In 1990, the total area of the glacier was 746sqkm and 695sqkm in 2000, although how many smaller ones they split into remaains to be ascertained.

ICIMOD’s remote sensing specialist Samjawal Bajrachary said it was likely that, by 2100, the glacier coverage of the northern parts of the countrywould be only 436sqkm.

That is a drop by 235sqkm from 671sqkm in 2010.

“More the area of glacier cover, more will be water reserve,” Bajrachary said, adding that, when the size shrank, the water volume decreased. “Imagine what would happen in future when

the glaciers decreased in size as Bhutanese population grew?”

Obvious as it might be, Mr Bajrachary said, glacier melt occurred because of rise in temperature.

According to an intergovernmental panel of climate change, the global temperature has increased by 0.75 degree celsius in 100 years.

Mr Bajrachary said, in Bhutan and Nepal, the warming increased by about 0.15 to 0.6 degree celsius a decade.

He fears the shrinking of glacier would likely affect the country’s economy that completely leaned on it many glacial-fed rivers to generate electricity through the mega hydropower projects.

Punatsagchu that has the capacity to generate 2,090MW has glacier reserve of 357.22sqkm at its source, a slump from 464sqkm in 1980.

Manas basin, which consists of Mangdichu, Kurichu, Drangmechu and Chamkharchu that collectively has an installed capacity of 2,050MW has witnessed fall in the glacier reserve from 352sqkm in 1890 to 262sqkm in 2010.

dress.

Following the visit to the textile factory, the royal couple witnessed a demonstration of traditional art of Japanese flower arrangement.

Their Majesties also participated in the demonstration.

In the evening, the Governor and the Mayor of Kyoto prefecture hosted a banquet in honor of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen.

Bhutan needs about 300 specialised nurses F or, over the last nine months, 94 nursing professionals comprising clinicians and educators were trained in Singapore on specialised nursing care programs at the Nanyang Polytechnic International.

The first nursing training collaboration between Singapore and Bhutan, the program was funded by an $880,000 grant from Temasek Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Singapore.

Nurses who attended the training programs in nursing management, emergency, critical care, pedagogy and paediatric care said the work ethics of professionals like them in Singapore was very impressive.

With a system that’s founded on primary health care, Bhutan is today facing a shortage of specialised health care professionals at the secondary and tertiary levels.

There are today about 600 nurses in Bhutan said health officials and needs abut 300 specialised nurses. By 2013, the country plans to have 1,500 nurses in Bhutan.

“Health besides being the most human resource intensive sector also needs to update its skills,” health ministry’s director general Dr Dorji Wangchuk said.

Apart from enhancing skills, the health ministry also hopes that the nurses bring with them the “right attitude” to nursing. That nurses have often been criticised for their rudeness while dealing with patients is not new to health officials.

14 Malaysia’s annual Islamic Fashion Festival (IFF) is currently underway, from November 14 to 18 this year.

With ‘Oriental Charm’ as the theme this year, the demure outfits still managed to exude an exotic charm; more than 60 designers belonging to different ethnic and religious backgrounds from across the world are participating. Seen here is a model strutting her stuff in a creation from the

FASHION

Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

‘Contemporient Ale’ collection by Itang Yunasz of Indonesia, consisting of headscarf, pretty pink floral salwar kameez and a string of pearls to glam things up.

Bid to make Malaysia a global hub of Islamic fashion KUALA LUMPUR: The Tourism Ministry aims to make Malaysia the Islamic fashion centre of the world.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said the industry could go far.

“Besides shopping, we also want to focus on introducing uniquely Malaysian fashion events,” she said after attending the Islamic Fashion Festival 2011 (IFF) high-tea and fashion showcase at a hotel here yesterday.

She said the number of visitors from the Middle East had increased from about 20,000 in the 1990s to 320,000 last year.

“They come here to enjoy our natural environment, shopping and also fashion, which is why we want to hold more Islamic fashion events,” she said, adding that

the ministry was targeting 500,000 tourists from the region by 2020.

“Since Islamic fashion events are quite new here, we have no statistics, but we are collecting data,” Dr Ng said.

Guests were treated to a showcase of local and foreign designers featuring the IFF theme, Oriental Charm.

Tengku Puan Pahang Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah Sultan Iskandar and IFF founder and chairman Datuk Raja Rezza Shah were among the guests.

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Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

WEEKLY REVIEW OF INDIA NEWS

Major fire breaks out in East Delhi; 15 dead The first intimation of the fire at the park in Nand Nagri’s E2 block, where the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Kinnara Samaj Sarvdharma Mahasammelan started Sunday, was received around 6.50 p.m., a fire brigade official said.

At least 15 people were killed and more than 34 injured in a fire at a congregation of eunuchs at a community park in east Delhi on Sunday, fire brigade officials said.

However, Delhi Health Minister A.K. Walia, who visited the injured in hospital, put the number of dead at 12, while police said 10 people were killed.

Walia, who visited the Guru Tegh Bahadur hospital where most of the injured were taken, announced compensation for the victims but did not specify the amount.

The minister also ordered a thorough probe into the incident. “The deputy commissioner (revenue) of east Delhi (J.P. Sharma) has been asked to

investigate the incident and file his report to the state government at the earliest,” he told reporters.

The first intimation of the fire at the park in Nand Nagri’s E2 block, where the three-day

Akhil Bharatiya Kinnara Samaj Sarvdharma Mahasammelan started Sunday, was received around 6.50 p.m., a fire brigade official said.

According to officials, the blaze started after a tent caught fire following suspected electrical

short-circuit. As many as 2,000 to 2,500 people were understood to have been present inside the community centre when the tent burst into flames, police said. The tents erected on the grounds of the community hall were completely gutted.

As the fire spread, people ran helter-skelter searching for a safe area but many got trapped in the fire and lost their lives, police said.

The approach road to the park was narrow, which hampered rescue operations as the big fire tenders could not reach the spot to fight the blaze.

However, smaller fire tenders were able to get in and battle the flames.

Meanwhile, the eunuchs themselves, aided by personnel of the National Disaster Response Force, the Delhi government’s civil defence, locals and the Nirankari Sevak Samaj, started rescue operations, bringing out the injured and bodies and clearing the debris.

Mayawati may dissolve UP assembly to avoid no-confidence motion The Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday reduced the duration of the winter session of the state assembly, scheduled to start on Monday, fuelling rumours that the chief minister may dissolve the assembly and push for mid-term polls in the politically-crucial state.

In an all party meeting on Sunday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Lalji Verma said the house will have two sittings in the winter session, instead of the earlier decided duration of over a week. The move comes close on the heels of the Samajwadi Party and the BJP mulling to move a no-confidence motion against the government.

Shivpal Singh Yadav, leader of the Opposition and senior Samajwadi Party

leader, said, “The CM may dissolve the House. But before she forces mid-term polls, we will try to prove that she is heading a minority government.”

When it comes to numbers, the BSP

leads way ahead of its rivals. The ruling party has 219 legislators in the 403-member house. The nearest rival, Samajwadi Party, has 88, the BJP 48, the Congress 20 and Rashtriya Lok Dal

Assertive India firm on its South China Sea stand

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Mr Wen Jiabo had a 55-minute meeting on the sidelines of the summit.

Manmohan Singh’s oft-repeated mantra that there is “enough space” for both India and China in the world took on a new spatial dimension on Friday, with the Prime Minister telling his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, that Indian exploration activity in the South China Sea was “purely commercial” and the issue of sovereignty over seawaters should be resolved according to international law and practice.

India’s commercial prospecting was raised by Dr. Singh in the context of Chinese misgivings over a recent pact between India and Vietnam on oil exploration. Jurisdiction over the territorial waters of the Sea is a bone of contention between China and several south-east Asian nations, including Vietnam.

Without getting involved in rival sovereignty claims, India stressed the importance of freedom of navigation in these waters, a vital trade route. But the Chinese, who fear that Washington is trying to tilt the regional scales against Beijing on this issue, used the ongoing Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) summit platform to deliver a blunt message to the U.S. The South China Sea dispute concerns China and the littoral states alone, and “outside forces should not get involved under any excuse,” Mr. Wen said in his address.

Dr. Singh and Mr. Wen had a 55-minute meeting here on the sidelines of the summit, though the fact that each came in to the room accompanied by more than two dozen officials meant the interaction was purely formal and scripted.

If the South China Sea and border management issues had generated negative vibes between India and China in recent weeks, the two leaders used their meeting to reiterate a shared commitment to develop the “best of relations,” Indian officials said later.

10. There are 10 independents and 8 seats are vacant. Treading cautiously, the BSP chief revoked suspension of some of her MLAs on Sunday so that she should no fall short of numbers in the House.

The Samajwadi Party’s confidence that it could put Mayawati on the mat in the house stems from the fact that the party believes that those BSP MLAs who have been denied tickets would like to join it. Shivpal Yadav reiterated the same. “They will stand with us if needed,” he claimed.

A delegation of the party met Governor B.L. Joshi on Sunday, demanding an extension of the duration of the winter session. Ambika Chaudhary, Samajwadi Party’s chief whip, said:

“Mayawati may dissolve the House on November 27, after her Dalit workers’ rally in Lucknow. We have come to know that she has indicated the same in her meeting with her party leaders on Sunday.” Even he claimed support of 70 BSP MLAs. The BJP, which is also planning to move a vote of no-confidence in the House, is also apprehending that the BSP supremo may dissolve the assembly.

“I will not be surprised if the CM opts to dissolve the House after getting the vote on account and the Bill to split the state passed,” Laxmi Kant Bajpai, a former BJP MLA, said. He added that the CM may claim sympathy votes on account of the “Opposition conspiracy against a Dalit CM”.

Air fares may go up by 25pc in Dec If you have travel plans for December, be prepared to shell out more for your air tickets. Hoping to make the most of the holiday rush, cash-strapped airlines are said to be planning to hike fares by 20-25% in the Christmas-New Year period.

“Airfare for shorter distances, tier 2 and tier 3 cities, will go up the most.

We see an across-the-board jump of about 20% as some companies could reach an understanding about increasing fares simultaneously,” said an aviation analyst with an international consultancy firm, on condition of anonymity.

“Ideally, fares should go up when oil import costs go up. That is not happening and that’s why airlines are in this situation,” M Shivkumar, senior vice-president (finance), Jet Airways was quoted as saying by Bloomberg News.

“If we want to remain in the market, we can’t sell tickets below the cost of production. Fuel cost, which is 50%

of our total cost, has gone up 43% in the last one year. So, fares should increase by at least 20%,” Go Air CEO Giorgio De Roni told HT. However, on Thursday, regulator Director General of Civil Aviation had expressed concern over rising fares and said it was keeping an eye on the situation.

While Kingfisher has not made any profits since its inception in 2005, Jet Airways started booking losses after fuel prices started increasing last year. Even budget airlines SpiceJet and Go Air slipped into the red this quarter.

In the past, competition kept air fare hikes away. “When we increase the price on a particular route, other companies often don’t, so we are left with no option but to reduce the price,” said Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya.

But with all airlines all on the same page now, this might change.

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

Pakistan Community centre meeting

Pakistan Journalist Association

Dr, Zulfiqar showing letter from Scotland Yeard

House of Lords Meeting

Pakistan Community centre meeting Continued from page 01 >>

Police had to intervene and MQM supporters were removed from the hall. MQM Rabita Committee said terrorists of Mirza tortured some attendees when they raised their voice on his objectionable speech and asked questions. MQM demanded of the British government to take notice of Mirza’s terrorism and take appropriate measures to stop this.

One community leader said it seemed all planned as same time from Pakistan Rabita committee issued a statement and looks as they needed a reason for letter or statement so they are disrupting a public gathering of Dr Mirza which was peaceful.

Mirza was talking about the role of residents of Sindh in division of Indian Sub-Continent when an attendee started criticizing. After this fight erupted between the supporters of MQM and public . Later, supporters of MQM protested against Dr. Mirza outside the community hall.

ZULFILEAKS UPSET MQM

Earlier former Sindh home minister Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza has provided more evidence to the Scotland Yard during a meeting with its officials in murder case of Dr. Imran Farooq . This was the second meeting of Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza with the Scotland Yard authorities in London which lasted for more than an hour. Members of the legal team of Dr. Mirza were present during the meeting. Another such meeting is expected in the next few days.

Earlier last week after House of Lord meeting of Dr Mirza organised

by Lord Nazir Ahmed MQM suppoerters tried to create chaos and tried to disrupt the meeting asking at Oxford University (OU) during the lecture being delivered by Dr Zulfiqar Mirza Unknown people triggered chaos at and were thrown out of the hall shortly. According to the details, during the lecture, some attendees started shouting, reacting to Mirza’s MQM bashing. They demanded Mirza to retract allegations against MQM chief Altaf Hussain. Responding over the incident, Zulfiqar Mirza said

troublemakers were deliberately sent to taint the decorum of the event.

He said that Scotland Yard police was desirable of his stay to be longer.

MQM Co-ordination Committee Deputy Convener Dr Farooq Sattar has written a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron, drawing his attention towards what he said was a conspiracy being hatched to destablise Pakistan by former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza.

Also Sindh Commerce Minister Rauf Siddiqui has written a letter to British Prime Minister and Foreign Minister asking British government to keep check on suspicious activities of former home minister Zulfiqar Mirza in London. According to the statement issued in Karachi by Rauf Siddiqui, in his letter threatened if violence erupted in Karachi or any other part of the Sindh then Zulfiqar Mirza would be held responsible.

Meanwhile The Sindh High court directed the Interior Ministry Pakistan on Tuesday to obtain information from the Scotland Yard on Khalid as the London police commissioner had reportedly admitted

Pakistan Community Centre

Pakistan Community Centre

Pakistan Community Centre

that some people had been arrested in the murder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s leader Imran Farooq. A two-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Musheer Alam, issued these orders on a petition of Bina Khalid whose husband, Khalid Shamim, an employee of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), had been missing since June this year and is believed to have been arrested in the Imran Farooq murder case.

In her petition, she stated that her husband had gone to a nearby ATM on June 5 when personnel of some agencies, driving two cars bearing official registration number plates, picked him up and took him to some undisclosed location.

She said that she had sought help from some patrolling law enforcers but they did not pay any heed to her call. In the previous hearing, the police had submitted in the court that Khalid Shamim belonged to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and he was wanted in a murder case registered with the Model Colony police station.

Police at Pakistan Community Centre

Police Commissioner The police told the court that Khalid often travelled abroad during the last couple of years and they had sent requests to the airlines for his travel records. When the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, the legal officer of the police department informed the court that two letters had been sent to the director Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the director general Airport Security Force (ASF), seeking CCTV footage.

However, the agencies denied having the footage of Khalid travelling abroad. The division bench bound the federal law officer to obtain an affidavit from the secretary Interior Ministry that Khalid was not handed over to any other agency within or outside Pakistan.

It also directed the DAG to summon senior officers from the ASF and the CAA to determine which of the two agencies was responsible for maintaining CCTV footage. Both the agencies were directed to submit affidavits that they did not have the footage. The hearing was adjourned till November 30.

Pictures by Waquar Zaidi

House of Lords Meeting

18

NEWS

Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

Interview With Iranian Foreign Minister

‘We Are Prepared for Everything’ In an interview with SPIEGEL, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, 62, dismisses accusations that Iran is building a nuclear bomb as Western propaganda and accuses Tehran’s enemies of waging a secret war against it.

SPIEGEL: Anyone reading the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report can’t help but wonder how long it will be until Iran completes its first nuclear bomb.

Salehi: Our revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa, a ruling according to religious law, describing nuclear weapons as unIslamic. They are “haram,” forbidden, which means these weapons of mass destruction play no role in our defense strategy. That’s the truth, and anything else is propaganda.

SPIEGEL: Evidence indicating a secret nuclear program is overwhelming. The IAEA report includes a 12-page appendix laying out substantial evidence that makes it impossible to draw any other conclusion: Iran wants the bomb.

Salehi: That allegation is unfair and unjustified. The report seems to be interpreting many things, which is dangerous. The IAEA risks its credibility by making such interpretations.

SPIEGEL: IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano stresses in the report his “serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.”

Salehi: The IAEA is acting under pressure from certain countries ...

SPIEGEL: ... You mean Israel and its ally, the United States ...

Salehi: ... so we are prepared for everything. But we have no fear of the discussion at the IAEA concerning this document. Mr. Amano is facing difficult times. We will hold him and the IAEA accountable for their conclusions.

SPIEGEL: The report says its information is drawn from multiple, independent sources, including evidence provided by more than 10 member states, as well as the IAEA’s own information.

Salehi: These so-called facts are nothing new. Amano’s predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, knew the basic facts as well.

We previously responded in a 117-page statement, but ElBaradei didn’t draw the same conclusions as Amano now. The IAEA has let go of its former objectivity.

SPIEGEL: The international community has good reason to mistrust Iran, considering how often your government has provided false information concerning its nuclear program.

Salehi: We have never provided false information. We have always cooperated with the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the IAEA treaty. But if more is demanded of us than the international treaties stipulate, then we refuse.

SPIEGEL: Your criticism notwithstanding, this report threatens to bring about another round of sanctions.

Do you really expect the people of your

country to put up with an intensified economic boycott?

Salehi: These are inconveniences we’re willing to accept. With 3,000 years of history behind us, 30 or even 50 years spent under an embargo are a mere footnote. We won’t give up our independence and we will continue our civilian nuclear program. There is great unanimity on this point both within our government and among the people.

SPIEGEL: Instead of criticizing the nuclear weapons inspectors’ report, you might do better to offer your suggestions on how to solve this conflict.

Salehi: Several countries, including

uranium.

Salehi: It’s good we’re talking about abuse. What is it that gives some nations the right to use computer viruses against us and murder our nuclear scientists, while still claiming to work for human rights?

SPIEGEL: Israel’s government fears nothing more than a nuclear bomb in your government’s hands, and appears to be preparing an attack on your nuclear facilities.

Salehi: We don’t anticipate an attack.

Israel knows how delicate the situation is. As proof that our nuclear program is peaceful in nature, we have established

Iran, have proposed approaches that could have led to a satisfactory solution.

There was, for example, Turkey and Brazil’s initiative for the removal of enriched material, which was initially well received by US President Barack Obama, but then never came to pass.

A suggestion from Russia was likewise ignored. We also discontinued uranium enrichment as a trust-building measure, but were never thanked for doing so. Do you honestly believe further suggestions will yield results? I believe there’s no longer any point in making additional concessions. The nuclear question is simply a pretense for weakening us by any means possible.

SPIEGEL: And you want to use any means possible to gain time in which to continue enriching uranium, bringing yourselves a step closer to building a bomb.

Salehi: As a nuclear scientist, I can’t conceive what uranium enrichment for civilian purposes is meant to have to do with building a bomb. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty expressly allows us to enrich uranium. We even signed the treaty’s Additional Protocol to satisfy skeptics.

SPIEGEL: You can’t dispel the suspicions that you’re abusing your right to enrich

the conditions necessary for the required IAEA monitoring. I’d also like to point out here that no other country has worked as intensively with the IAEA in this area as the Islamic Republic of Iran.

SPIEGEL: So you claim.

Salehi: During the most recent visit from Herman Nackaerts, the IAEA’s head of nuclear inspections, we cooperated with the inspectors beyond the scope of our obligations. Mr. Nackaerts and his boss, Mr. Amano, even thanked us for our cooperation.

SPIEGEL: The United States and Europe are determined to keep Iran from carrying out further uranium enrichment. You’ll have to come around eventually.

Salehi: No, we won’t have to, and I’d like to point you to our history as proof.

From its creation to the present day, the Islamic Republic of Iran has never given in to those who wanted to force it to do something. But those who met the country with logic and fair-mindedness instead of a double standard have always been able to count on Iran’s cooperation.

SPIEGEL: On the contrary, your unwillingness to cooperate suggests you’re very much looking for the situation to escalate. There are certainly radical elements in Iran for whom an attack on their own country would be a convenient development.

Salehi: Those beating the drums of war are the same people who want to slow our progress. Iraq under Saddam Hussein forced us into an eight-year war. We don’t want another war. Every politician in our country shares this opinion. But if we are attacked, we do know how to defend ourselves. Every attack, of any kind, will meet with retaliation. Immediately, without a second’s hesitation.

SPIEGEL: You have also had to face accusations of state-sponsored terrorism. Just a few weeks ago, the US accused your Quds Force, an elite unit of Revolutionary Guards, of planning an assassination attempt on Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in Washington, Adel alJubeir.

Salehi: Not a single document supports that claim. The entire thing was staged

by Washington. It’s a farce with an unemployed loser as the supposed hit man, and it provides the US with a diversionary tactic to distract from the financial crisis. The US government is presumably also hoping to destroy relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, two brother nations in Islam.

Don’t forget, the US also justified its war against Iraq with falsified evidence.

SPIEGEL: After the plot was uncovered in mid-October, you promised to investigate the accusations. Where are the results?

Salehi: So far, our investigations have shown only that all of it must be a completely invented story. The main suspect in the affair has denied all accusations in court in the US. Why would we commit such a pointless act?

In fact, we insist that the US apologize.

SPIEGEL: Accusations of statesponsored terrorism in Iran are nothing new. Your intelligence services have been involved in assassinations outside your country several times.

Salehi: The Islamic Republic of Iran itself has been the victim of terrorism in the past three decades and has suffered many losses in combating it.

We recently held a conference in Tehran on combating terrorism. All of these are illogical accusations.

SPIEGEL: Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have repeatedly confirmed the accusations concerning the planned assassination. Are you claiming both of them have been deceived by their own intelligence agents?

Salehi: All of these measures are part of an American strategy of tacit warfare against Iran. They want to present us to the world as evildoers, while distracting people in the West from their own terrorist activities, such as murdering our scientists and waging cyberwar. We have submitted a complaint with the United Nations over these unjustified accusations.

SPIEGEL: The US president has written a letter asking Iranian leaders to extradite Gholam Shakuri, a Quds Force officer in Tehran and the individual allegedly behind the attempt, to the US, along with another suspect living in Iran.

Salehi: We have not received sufficient evidence from the US giving us precise information about the true identity of this alleged suspect. Why is he supposed to be in Iran? And where is he supposed to be there? There are thousands of people in Iran named Shakuri. Besides, there is no extradition agreement between Iran and the US. Such treaties exist only between nations that are friends.

Interview conducted by Dieter Bednarz

Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

NEWS

19

WILL AN ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAN PROVOKE THE EMERGENCE OF ANOTHER FALSE MAHDI?

Prophet Muhammad prophesied the advent of an Imām who would emerge by Divine decree to lead the world of Islam at that time when the true Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon them all), was about to return. The Prophet declared of that end-time Imām that he would arise from within the ranks of the Muslims: “How would you be”, he said, “when the son of Mary descends amongst you and your Imām would be from your own ranks!” (Sahīh Bukhāri).

This prophecy anticipated the present sorry status quo in which the Islamic Khilāfah (Caliphate) has been replaced by republican so-called Islamic States based on petty tribal nationalisms – Egyptian, Saudi, Pakistani, Arab, Malay, Punjabi, Bengali, Persian (Iranian) etc.

African-American Muslims have even embraced Louis Farrakhan’s ‘black Muslim nationalism’.

Some of them, such as Turkey and Bangladesh have even imposed secular constitutional bans preventing Islam from playing any political role in the affairs of the State. “Even if only a day remains for Qiyāmah to come, yet Allah will surely send a man from my family who will fill this world with such justice and fairness, just as it initially was filled with oppression.”(Abu Dawud). The advent of Imām al-Mahdi will herald the restoration of the Islamic Khilāfah (Caliphate) and a Pax Islamica in which power in the world would rest on foundations of faith (in Islam) and would be used to punish the oppressor and come to the aid of the oppressed.

Even though Jesus has not as yet returned,

and indeed cannot return until Dajjāl the false Messiah or Anti-Christ has completed his mission of impersonation of the true Messiah, Since Allah Most High created Dajjāl the false Messiah or Anti-Christ and programmed him to impersonate the true Messiah, it follows that Dajjāl would not successfully complete

his mission of impersonation until he rules the world in person from Jerusalem. It is only at that time when he has successfully completed his mission of impersonation that he can make a declaration to the effect that he is the true Messiah, and only then can he hope that members of the Zionist Judeo-Christian alliance

would accept his fraudulent claim. It is only at that time - and not a moment before - that Jesus will return. And since Prophet Muhammad has informed us that that the advent of Imam al-Mahdi will be contemporaneous with the return of Jesus it follows that the Imam can emerge only shortly before the return of Jesus. the members of the Zionist Judeo-Christian alliance are well aware about the prophecy concerning Imām al-Mahdi. Hence if the Imām were to emerge before Dajjāl makes his claim to be the true Messiah, the implication would be that such Jews and Christians could experience such a crisis of faith as could deter them from embracing Dajjāl as the true Messiah. The fact is that Dajjāl has not as yet even emerged as ruler of Israel, and that Pax Judaica about to replace Pax Americana.

When Israel does launch an attack on Iran’s and Pakistan’s nuclear plants, it is certain that the Judeo-Christian Zionists would respond by placing unbearable pressure on USA, UK and NATO to join in the war in support of Israel.

That war, as well as other possible wars to follow, would ultimately realize for Israel the status of ruling state in the world. Israel is ready to impose Pax Judaica upon mankind. Once that has been achieved - can we expect Dajjāl to appear in person in our world of space and time.

In our 17th issue of South Asia Tribune we warned and about Ultimate target of Israel and in the current issue of Israel Today this article is also a warning to all Muslims. About False Messiah…so be ready any day…..

An article published in Israel Today, which is considered to be very close to Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu,”.

Jewish prophecy suggests Messiah may be coming soon A medieval Jewish prophecy regarding the coming of Israel’s Messiah appears to correspond to the current situation in the Middle East, Israel National News reported at the weekend.

A piece of rabbinic literature known as the Yalkut Shimoni touches on many future scenarios both for the nation of Israel and for the world. In its section on the biblical Book of Isaiah and the prophecies contained therein, a rabbi cited by the Yalkut Shimoni states: “In the year in which the Messiah-King appears, all the nations of the world are provoking each other. The King of Persia provokes an Arab king and the Arab king turns to Aram for advice.”

That description closely

mirrors Iran’s defiant nuclear program and the tension it is creating with Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia.

But what happens

next? According to the Yalkut Shimoni: “The King of Persia goes back and destroys the entire world.

And all the nations of the world are in panic and distress and they fall upon their faces and are seized with pains like those of a woman giving birth...”

A recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran is working on nuclear weapons and that it could probably field such weapons in no more than a year’s time.

That means diplomatic efforts have failed, and barring a dangerous preemptive strike

by Israel and/or America, Iran will obtain nuclear weapons.

Many in the West are now focusing their efforts on

downplaying the dangers of a nuclear Iran. They argue that just as the Soviet Union did not use its nuclear weapons against the West, so, too, will Iran show restraint. But such commentaries fail to take into account the deeply ingrained religious ideology of those who rule Iran, who see themselves as the instruments of Allah in ushering in a new golden age for Islam.

What does all this mean for Israel, assuming the Yalkut Shimoni is accurate? The text reads: “...and Israel are in panic and distress and asking ‘where shall we go? Where shall we go?,’ and He says to them ‘my sons, do not fear; all that I have done, I have done only for you. Why are you afraid? Do not fear, your time of redemption has come, and the final redemption is not like the first redemption, because the first redemption was followed by sorrow and servitude

under other kingdoms, but the final redemption is not followed by sorrow and servitude under other kingdoms.”

Israel is indeed already showing signs of that panic and distress. Over the past month, Israel has been engaged in tense public debate over whether or not to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, and newspaper spreads have detailed what could happen to the Jewish state both if it attacks and if it does not. Meanwhile, Israel’s Home Front Command has been practicing for a massive unconventional missile barrage on Tel Aviv.

It is not known who exactly compiled the Yalkut Shimoni, but the oldest surviving copy dates to around 1310 AD. Many of the rabbis quoted in the Yalkut Shimoni lived far earlier, during the Talmudic era in the first and second centuries AD.

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Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

WEEKLY REVIEW OF PAKISTAN NEWS

Nawaz to offer Qureshi key party slot Sensing an opportunity to gain significant ground in south Punjab and upper Sindh, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Nawaz Sharif is likely to offer former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi a “key slot” in his party when the two meet this week.

A PML-N insider told reporters on Sunday that Nawaz Sharif and other key leaders of the main opposition party were “desperate” for an opening in the remote southern parts of Punjab and upper Sindh and they believed that Qureshi was their best bet.

“Mian Sahib and the people he trusts have realised that an opportunity has come their way in the person of Qureshi … it looks like they will go to any lengths to grab it,” he said.

It is not clear what position Sharif would offer Qureshi. The PML-N is due to choose new office bearers for its Punjab chapter in a couple of weeks.

Qureshi belongs to Multan district in south Punjab, the so-called ‘Seraiki belt’ where the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has

long overshadowed the PML-N. He quit both the PPP and his National Assembly seat a week ago, citing differences he had with President Asif Zardari earlier this year.

The former foreign minister is being wooed by both the PML-N and Imran Khan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

But while Sharif is to meet directly with Qureshi on November 22, Khan is not scheduled to meet him before the former minister announces his political future at a public rally in Ghotki, Sindh, on November 27.

An associate of Qureshi told The Express Tribune that his meeting

with Sharif would likely take place in Multan on Tuesday. MPA Abbas Raan said Nawaz’s youngest son Hassan Nawaz, had conveyed to family members of Qureshi his father’s desire to meet Sharif at the family residence in Multan, known as Bab-ul-Qureshi, Daulat Gate.

Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, a senior PML-N leader from Multan, backs Qureshi’s entry to the party, said a PML-N colleague of his. He said that Hashmi had opposed Qureshi quitting the PPP, but believed he would be an important leader for the PML-N. Another associate of Nawaz Sharif said Hashmi had conveyed his support for Qureshi joining the party to the top PML-N leadership.

However, sources in the party said that there was still one hurdle to Qureshi being offered a significant position.

They said that the Khosa family of Dera Ghazi Khan, who have been allied with the Sharifs for a long time, would not like to see another major leader from the south Punjab region in a key position in the PML-N.

Pakistan: 15 Soldiers Killed in Baluch Ambush

An army major and 14 paramilitary soldiers were killed Monday when they were ambushed by Baluch nationalist militants in Baluchistan Province, a military spokesman said. The attack took place in the coal-rich Chamalang district, where clashes occurred in recent days.

The army says that separatist rebels are behind the attack.

Baloch rebels have been waging an

insurgency for decades, fighting for greater political autonomy and a share of the province’s natural resources.

The attack, the worst suffered by the Pakistani military in the province in several years, occurred in Kohlu district, a stronghold of the Marri tribe, which has been at the forefront of the Baluch armed resistance movement.

Memogate: Zardari terms memo conspiracy against PPP govt All the names are out in the open. The secret memo is secret no more.

Now, all that remains to be seen is how Pakistan’s civilian leadership will handle the consequences of the allegations being levelled against it.

The first part of this remaining chapter was written in the Presidency on Friday, with President Asif Ali Zardari meeting his close associates – better known as the core committee.

The president is being quoted as telling the meeting that the controversy surrounding the memo, purportedly secretly sent on his behalf to now retired chairman US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, was part of a concerted effort against his party’s government – that it is a conspiracy.

“When I have direct access to the US president, why should I be using intermediaries,” Zardari told the core committee.

The meeting was held in the wake of increasing pressure on the government following Mullen’s confirmation that he had received such a memo asking for US support in reining in Pakistan’s powerful military and intelligence apparatus.

The president told participants that the man who has put forward the claims, Mansoor Ijaz, had contacted him twice when he was in New York after release from jail during Gen. Musharraf’s regime – but Zardari declined to meet him. “BB (Benazir Bhutto) had warned me to stay away from this man. We will see on whose behest Mansoor Ijaz was playing this game,” a participant of the meeting quoted Zardari as saying.

The president’s spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting decided that Ambassador Hussain Haqqani will be given a fair chance to give his version before decisions are reached.

PM tries to calm things down Over in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani did his utmost to calm a fiery opposition that was calling for treason charges against those involved in the controversy.

“Be patient. Don’t panic. The country is not disintegrating … we will resolve this issue,” Gilani calmly said.

Some lawmakers called for a parliamentary probe, but Gilani did not agree with the demand and

insisted that the government had already initiated action by summoning Haqqani to Islamabad to explain his position. “Let him (ambassador) come back. He will give an explanation to the Pakistani leadership,” Gilani added in a brief speech after which he left the house to attend the PPP core committee meeting.

Gilani said the government had defended the military and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) whenever there was crisis in the past and will continue to do so in the future as well.

Haqqani denies he drafted memo Ambassador Haqqani, meanwhile, vehemently defended himself, reiterating that neither did he draft the memo, nor did he ask anyone else to.

The ambassador said he was due to board a flight to Pakistan late Friday evening. “I do not have my itinerary in front of me, but I am scheduled to board a flight later tonight, I may adjust my flight due to some reasons, but I will be returning to Pakistan,” Haqqani said, adding that he was

suffering from high blood pressure.

Speaking to Express News from Washington, Haqqani did not deny that there was a memo delivered to Mullen. “Ijaz is a very rich, influential man; he has drafted the memo and managed to deliver it to Admiral Mullen.”

In reference to an exchange of messages between him and Ijaz printed in a newspaper on Friday, Haqqani said that the Pakistani press does not verify facts. The only verifiable element in the conversation was the date on which the ambassador was in London. “Yes, I was in London on an official visit, however anyone could have given that information out,” the ambassador said.

Haqqani said that he had stood for Pakistan and the army in the most difficult of times especially during the Kerry-Lugar bill. “[Even] After the Abbottabad incident, I defended the Pakistan army in front of the whole world,” he said.Haqqani also alluded to possible threat against his life citing what he termed incitement by media as had happened in the murder of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer.

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Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

WEEKLY REVIEW OF MALDIVE NEWS

Parties oppose introducing electronic voting Most of the political parties have opposed the plan of introducing an electronic voting system in the Maldives, Elections Commission said Sunday.

Commissioner Fuad Thaufeeq said the parties made their remarks at the meeting held yesterday with the visiting International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) delegation to discuss on establishing an electronic voting system for future elections.

“Some noted that it’s wise to continue how voting takes place in the Maldives now while we noticed that most of them still need more information about how the system works. For

instance, Adhaalath Party admitted that going along the technological advancements is an option but said they needed more information about the system,” he said.

Education Minister’s car petrol-bombed Education Minister Shifa Mohamed’s car was petrol bombed Thursday, police said yesterday.

Police spokesperson, SubInspector Ahmed Shiyam said a “petrol bomb” exploded under the minster’s car and another in Jamaaluddin School compound while she was in the school.

“We’re investigating the case.

The petrol bomb was probably thrown into the compound from outside,”he said.

Minister Shifa’s car was inside the school compound when the bomb exploded.

The petrol bomb was made by filling an empty bottle with explosives.

Fuad said Gaumee Itthihaad Party proposed to go for a public referendum on the matter.

“But I don’t think it’s a good proposal.

The parliament takes decisions as

in case of questionable matters in the election,” he said.

The Commissioner, however, stressed that the system can be established after the parliament decides to amend the election laws.

Chief opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader Dr Abdulla Mausoom cited the lack of trust in the system as the main reason for the opposition rejecting the plan.

“The problem is that the commission is trying to execute a plan that was rejected by the parties early this year when the Elections Commission sought suggestions to draft its master plan,” he said.

Sri Lankan monument in Addu destroyed A

group of people have destroyed the Sri Lankan monument erected in Maradhoo for the SAARC Summit that wrapped up in Addu last week.

The head of the monument, which represents the Sri Lankan national symbol of lion, was cut off last night and debris still lay on the ground near the monument.

A police officer who was on duty near the monument last evening said it was damaged after 12am as an officer was standing guard near the monument until the time.

Heavy rain floods Male

Heavy rain flooded most of the areas of capital Male this morning with water level reaching a foot in some streets.

An official from Maldives Meteorological Services (MET) said the 92-milimetre rainfall recorded from 3-5am in Hulhule is unusually high.

“The heavy rainfall was experienced because of the fact that rain clouds are formed over the northern region and are

it consists of representatives of the people,” he said.

The Commissioner noted that the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supported establishing the system.

“They said that they were in supportive of the new technology and its efficiency. So we don’t think that they’ve any problem with the system,” he said.

Fuad noted that the Commission wants to establish an electronic voting system, which would allow officials to manually check printed result sheets if necessary.

“We also want the system to allow us to print and double check the results

moving very slowly due to the low wind speed,” the official said.

The heavy rain completely flooded Ameenee Magu, Medhuziyaaraiy Magu and parts of Majeedee Magu.

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) spokesperson Lieutenant Abdulla Ali said the armed forces are pumping out the water from the streets since 4am.

“Earlier the water level will recede when we pump out the water from the area near IGMH [Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital] and Ghiyaasuddin School. But we’re pumping out the water from several areas of Male since early morning,” he said.

Reports say the water entered into shops and some houses damaging goods and belongings. Haveeru, however, could not independently confirm the reports.

MET said heavy rain is experienced during the transition of monsoons every year.

Heavy rain is expected to continue in the northern region of the country.

“The monument was destroyed after the police officer who was on duty left the area,” the officer said.

“Police are not guarding the monuments all day long but are guarding them at times.”

Patrols resumed Wednesday after the Pakistan monument in Hithadhoo island was set on fire as it allegedly depicted “worship idols” banned in Maldives. Part of the structure “disappeared” Monday night. The Sri Lankan monument was also doused in crude oil Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Islamic Ministry yesterday ordered the relevant government authorities to remove the irreligious SAARC monuments, which it said, breach the nation’s law and religion.

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Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

WEEKLY REVIEW OF NEPAL NEWS

Congress protests land seizure Nepali Congress cadres today staged a demonstration in Kalikot headquarters Manma protesting the recent seizure of land of their Kalikot district president Kali Bahadur Sahakari and the gherao of his house by the Baidhya faction of Unified CPN-Maoist.

NC cadres protested saying the police had just been mute spectators when Maoist cadres started seizing land and threatened to chase the

SC issues stay order on official’s dismissal The Supreme Court today stayed the dismissal of Vice-Chair of National Welfare Council (NWC) Dataram Khanal. A single bench of Supreme Court Justice Tahir Ali Ansari took the move in response to a writ petition that Khanal had filed challenging the Cabinet decision.

The apex court has summoned the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare to attend a hearing on November 27 on extension of the stay order on the Cabinet decisio.

On Friday, the Supreme Court had stayed the dismissal of Social Welfare Council General Secretary Chhewang Namgel Lama Sherpa and Treasurer Ratna Bahadur Gaha Magar, directing the government authorities to attend a hearing on the stay order extension on November 23.

family out of their house.

“The Maoist act of preventing

anyone from using their property and living peacefully is a violation

of human rights.With such acts, they have not only resorted to their wartime modus operandi but also terrorised commoners,” said Sahakari at a corner meeting held after the demonstration, and added that more than a dozen Baidhya faction cadres had threatened his family members at his home telling them not to cultivate the field and to leave their homes immediately.

Meanwhile, the Baidhya faction

Office Secretary Dhruba Bogati said they had gone to Sahakari’s house just to ask the family half of the paddy harvest that the family had seized and taken to their home after ‘people’ had cultivated it.

“We did not issue any threat to the family,” he said.

Chief District Officer Durgadatta Dhakal said the police had been sent to the incident site to learn about the case in detail.

Dahal takes faction fight to Bardiya

M

aoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s symbolic gesture may not have lost on hardline senior leader Mohan Baidhya as he landed in Bardiya — the location of highest number of seized properties — to personally facilitate the return of land seized during the insurgency.

The Maoist leader today directed the party line to return the seized properties at the earliest, saying a three-party mechanism, comprising the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and his own party, would be formed in the district to this effect.

Dahal had reached the district with NC General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula and UML vice-chairperson Bamdev Gautam.

The Maoist party is finding it hard to honour its deal with other parties after Baidhya protested it saying the seized properties would not be returned at any cost.

In Bardiya, around 1,190 bighas of land is under Maoist control. After holding separate talks with NC, UML and UCPN-M, Dahal also held a meeting with all parties at DDC hall.

The Maoist Chairman also met cadres of Tharuwan State Committee and the district-level leaders separately. During the discussion, Dahal urged the district-level leaders of his party to form a task force to

expedite the land handover process.

According to a source, Dahal had said that properties seized and distributed among the squatters would be immediately returned.

He assured all that some alternative would be found to compensate the farmers through Squatters’ Commission and Land Reform Commission in the future.

Prachanda also took a dig at

Baidhya faction, saying that the return of land would not stop due to disruption from a faction.

During the discussion, NC General Secretary Sitaula called on the Maoists to abide by its commitment for the conclusion of the peace process.

Similarly, UML vice-chairperson Gautam demanded that the seized property be returned soon. After the discussions, all three leaders went to Nepalgunj.

Meanwhile, the hardline faction led by Baidhya today held separate discussion on the issue of return of seized land.

According to a leader close to Baidhya, the faction will adopt a different strategy to prevent the return of land in Banke and Bardiya.

“We would retaliate if the return of seized land started,” said IP Kharel, Banke district in-charge of UCPN-M.

British national to raise funds 450 police inspectors transferred for needy Nepali children A British national, Douglas Maclagan, is participating in an international ultramarathon scheduled to begin on November 20 in Pokhara, to raise funds for the needy children.

A statement issued by Children’s Welfare Project (CWP), to which Maclagan is associated with, said preparations for the adventure have been complete. Maclagan has been living in Pokhara and working in the field of children’s welfare for the past 16 years.

The seven-day marathon is organised by Racing The Planate, an international organisation, where more than 220 participants from 38 countries will complete 250-km race from Mardikhola to Pokhara.

Established in 2002, the Planate has already organised such competitions in Vietnam, Namibia and Australia.

According to the organiser, the participants are entitled to carry

clothes, food and snacks during the journey and each participant has to pay US$ 3,500 to take part in the competition. “It is not easy to complete the 250 km risky distance.

However, the hardship I may face during the journey is far less than the difficulties children of Nepal are facing,” Maclagan said. “I hope the amount collected from the event will make significant contribution to the lives of needy children.” Maclagan, who collected US$ 42,000 in such competitions in Australia last year for the same purpose, said he hopes to collect around US$ 65,000 from the competition. He will also be assisted by seven other participants.

The CWP said the funds collected from the event would be used in reducing child mortality rate, protecting poor and helpless children and their unification with their parents.

The police headquarters has transferred as many as 450 inspectors in what is known to be the largest number of transfers at one go in the documented history of Nepal Police.

According to police regulations, the transfers of the officers were pending for the last two and a half years. An Inspector of the Nepal Police is deputed to serve at a place for a year.

While most of the senior officers,

including Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP) and Deputy Inspector Generals (DIG), were transferred during the tenure of recent home ministers, no progress was made in the transfer of inspectors.

Immediately after Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar joined the Home Ministry, 30 SSPs including 14 zonal chiefs were transferred.

The DIGs were transferred when Narayan Kaji Shrestha led the ministry.

Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar was widely tipped to accomplish the task since he joined the office.

The last time the transfer of inspectors occurred was during the tenure of Home Minister Bamdev Gautam.

It is understood that around 300 transfers of other inspectors are still due while the organisational works for their transfer have already been accomplished.

Bundu Khan Restaurant 43 Commercial Street, London E1 6BD Telephone: 020 7375 2595 Fax: 020 7375 2494 Email Us: info@bundukhan.com

23

Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

WEEKLY REVIEW OF SRILANKA NEWS

Lanka war commission hands over report to President

T

he Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) , appointed by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to probe the three-decade long armed conflict with the Tamil Tiger terrorists, handed over its final report to the President Sunday.

The Chairman of the LLRC former attorney general Chitta Ranjan de Silva handed over the 400page report to the President in the presence of the other Commission members and the secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga at the Temple Trees today.

The President has said that he will present the much-awaited report of the Commission to the parliament making it a public document.

The Sunday Times today reported that the LLRC will ask the government to investigate certain incidents that may have occurred during the final stages of the war.

The President in a recent interview to Indian media said the government will take actions without shielding anyone if the LLRC finds any human rights violations during the war which ended in May 2009.

The eight-member Commission

commenced its sessions last year and has recorded thousands of oral and written submissions from a cross section of society on the period between 2002 and 2009.

The LLRC held its first sittings on August 11, 2010. In November 2010, the President extended its mandate till May 15, 2011. The Commission wrapped up its work on November 15, 2011.

During the hearings conducted in Colombo and field locations in the Northern and Eastern provinces, the LLRC recorded testimonies from over 1,000 people from all walks of life including military personnel, general public, war victims, scholars, religious leaders and civil society leaders. In addition, the Commission received over 5,000 written submissions.

International human rights organizations Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch have questioned the credibility of the Commission saying that Sri Lankan government’s inquiry into the country’s civil war is fundamentally flawed and provides no accountability for atrocities.

Govt telling ten lies to cover one lie

T

he main opposition United National Party (UNP) today said hell had broken loose after the passing of the controversial Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Under-utilised Assets Bill, forcing govt to come up with different

that were to be taken over under the Bill may remain, although the manner in which the business was run may be changed.

UNP National List MP Dr. Harsha De Silva who made this point at a news conference today said the statement made by the

tunes from time to time.

The properties of the private enterprises that were to be taken over under the Bill may remain unchanged.

This was in response to the statement made by the Central Bank Governor that present properties of private enterprises

Central Bank governor came after hell had broken loose with the stance taken by the Moody’s and Fitch Rating Statements in this regard. Moody’s and Fitch Ratings recently warned against the Bill stating that government control of businesses would hinder investment.

Continued from page 9 >>

Memogate: Ambassador out, but controversy rages on.

Haqqani’s implicit claim of submitting a resignation voluntarily was promptly contradicted by the Prime Minister House.

A statement issued by the premier’s office shortly afterwards said Haqqani was asked to submit his resignation, in order to pave the way for proper investigation.

Meanwhile, in an apparent attempt to defuse tensions between the civilian and military leadership, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani ordered a detailed investigation “at an appropriate level”.

The statement, however, did not elaborate which forum would probe this matter.

“All concerned would be afforded sufficient and fair opportunity to present their views,” the premier’s spokesperson said. No timeframe, however, was given regarding the investigations.

Out, but not down Despite submitting his resignation, Haqqani remained adamant that he had nothing to do with the memo.

“I have resigned to bring closure to this meaningless controversy threatening our fledgling

democracy,” Haqqani said in a statement released after his resignation.

“I still maintain that I did not conceive, write or distribute the memo,” Haqqani said, adding that the resignation was “not about the memo … this is about bigger things.”

Sources close to Haqqani claim he put a strong fight when quizzed jointly by the civilian and military leadership.

He raised several questions in his defence at the meeting, particularly regarding the meeting between Director General ISI Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha and Mansoor Ijaz in London, sources added.

The ISI chief, however, brought out ‘evidence’ and findings of the investigation the agency conducted to prove the authenticity of the memo, and the role played by Haqqani, sources said.

Venue raises eyebrows Unlike the previous sittings of the troika at the presidency, the meeting of the top civil and military leadership on Tuesday took place at the Prime Minister House.

It was the first time that President

Asif Ali Zardari went to the PM House for a formal meeting of the country’s top leadership, despite being the supreme commander of the armed forces.

The venue change set the capital’s speculation mill in motion, with some terming it ominous due to the president’s alleged role in the controversy, that may also have been in question. When Ijaz cited Haqqani as his source for the memo, he claimed it was drafted with the president’s ‘blessings’.

“I do not believe today that Zardari had any knowledge of the specifics of the memo … I do believe he gave a blanket approval to Haqqani,” Ijaz had claimed earlier in an interview.

Ijaz ‘welcomes’ resignation Ijaz, in his reaction on Haqqani’s resignation, said he respected the decision of its acceptance, a television channel reported.

He also welcomed the announcement of launching a high-level investigation.

In a statement, Ijaz said that Pakistani agencies had asked him to cooperate “in order to dig out the truth”. He said he would extend his help, if contacted by the government of Pakistan.

Sources added that Ijaz may be

arriving in Pakistan late Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, sources said the government is considering several candidates as Haqqani’s successor, including former ISI chief General (retd) Ahsaan, former envoy to US Abida Hussain, Pakistan’s permanent representative to UN Hussain Haroon and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir.

Opposition prepares petition Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) is likely to file a petition in the Supreme Court on the issue of secrete memo today (Wednesday).

Sources told The Express Tribune that the party’s legal team has compiled the petition which is likely to be filed today. When contacted for confirmation, PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal confirmed completion of the petition. It has been compiled following PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif’s announcement at the Faisalabad rally, Iqbal said. Nawaz had said that his party would approach the court if there is no impartial inquiry into the event.

Sherry Rehman appointed Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US government was refusing to reinstate judges sacked under the military regime of President Pervez Musharraf.

Her appointment was a surprise, with many analysts and media pundits expecting someone seen as closer to the military.

Rehman has been a strong advocate of women’s and minority rights and faced death threats for her calls to reform the country’s harsh blasphemy laws.

But she is also the author, through her role as president of the Jinnah Institute, of a report on Pakistan’s foreign policy goals in Afghanistan, staking out views widely seen in Pakistan as dovetailing with those of the powerful military establishment.

Rehman had recently assumed the charge of Chairperson Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), for a period of three years. She was appointed by Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the society’s president.

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NEWS

Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

Benetton launches latest shock campaign – Unhate • Benetton withdraws ad campaign image of Pope kissing Egyptian imam after Vatican complains it is disrespectful • Where is the reaction from Muslims!!!

• Italian clothing firm’s ad also featured Obama kissing Hugo Chavez and Angela Merkel kissing Nicolas Sarkozy

Fashion brand Benetton has launched a new shock poster campaign to tempt shoppers through its doors during the crucial Christmas build-up.

The retailer has chosen a political message for the campaign, photo-shopping various world leaders in a series of posed smooches which it claims have been inspired by Buddhist philosophy.

The firm stated: “This profound and humane concept of tolerance sums up the principles inspiring the UNHATE CAMPAIGN, which Benetton has created with the aim of contrasting the culture of hatred and promoting closeness between peoples, faiths, cultures, and the peaceful understanding of each other’s motivations, using a global call to action and the latest communication tools.”

The worldwide campaign coincides with the launch of the UNHATE Foundation.

Vatican Calls in the Lawyers to Snuff Out Kiss Campaign The Vatican is promising legal action to stop the distribution of a photo of Pope Benedict kissing an imam on the mouth. The photo is fake, by the way, and is part of a shockfactor advertising campaign by Italian fashion company Benetton that features world leaders getting fresh.

Benedict’s inamorata in the photo is Ahmed Tayeb, leader of Al Azhar in Cairo, Sunni Islam’s most influential institution. Another ad shows President Obama kissing Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Saarc international I Thursday 24 November 2011

ENTERTAINMENT

25

“Rahat Fateh Ali Khan live in concert in prayer For Peace Pakistan on 21st Nov,2011.

W

ith food buffet with round table seating Price: Rs 10,000/per person and Rupees 4000 ! (single person) a really expensive show for Pakistan but what will be your reaction if Rahat turns up one hour late and if he is tired .For the management it was Most amazing event ever.. First time in the history of Pakistan, entire cabinet along with the Speaker National Assembly attended and enjoyed the show. But according to comments on face

book it was THE pathetic and mismanaged show. One

spectator wrote Mahrukh Qureshi

Absolutely pathetic!

everyone was sooo disappointed! Rahat will lose his charm soon if he is going to

do a concert every day and get tired and simply lose it!

Such mismanaged concert and zero disciplined audience!! total waste of time n

money!

Another Erum Tahir wrote

the worst event ever, total waste of money rahat fateh ali khan is an extremely unprofessional guy and strangely there were no fill in singers to entertain the crowd more than three hours of wait on wet carpet I have never ever suffered like this. Iss se behtar thaa ticket kay paise eidhi yaa shaukat kha num ko de daiti Hassan Khan Blamed Rahat, for the event. Showed up so late for only 1hr.

Never going to attend any of his concert in future. His late arrival made the crowd go crazy. My sympathies with the event organizers.

You did a great job. You guys had to suffer because of Rahat.

You should sue him for that.

Don 2’s music could fare much better if the composers ShankarEhsaan-and Loy had tried to step out of the prequel’s shadow, Mere dushman samajh rahe the mein ab kabhi laut ke na aaonga.

Ek gumnami ka samundar hai, usmein hi jaake doob jaaonga.

Abhi baaki meri kahani hai, Poori duniya ko jo sunani hai. ‘ Is that meant for all the Ra.One haters out there? If only. Although the dual texture of the declaration is hard to miss as Shah Rukh Khan fresh from a lukewarm response to his mega-budgeted superhero flick, stakes another claim to supremacy with his return as Don. The afore-mentioned intimidating tone, penned by Javed Akhtar opens the much awaited soundtrack of son Farhan’s sequel, Don 2: The Chase Continues.

Being a carry-over franchise, it retains majority of its original cast -- SRK , Priyanka Chopra , Boman Irani , Om Puri with a couple of additions like Lara Dutta and Kunal Kapoor .

Will the new, upscale Don with its sleek visuals, wicked attitude and ruthless SRK, put the superstar back in charge?

Who knows?

Friday has an unstoppable proclivity to surprise or soothe.

Meanwhile, his imposing aura looms large as he introduces us to the pitch of his character as well as the film.

that embellished many a James Bonds.

Better known for their restrained

Farhan favourites Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are at the helm of the music, which kick starts with the retro,

floor-scorching beats of Zara dil ko thaam lo. Other than displaying an unmistakable Aaj ki raat (from Don: The Chase Begins) hangover, Zara, sung in the vibrant voices of Vishal Dadlani and Anusha Mani, has no other failing.

If the idea is to make the sound among both films look unified, it works. In terms of novelty, this is a mere reworking albeit a spunky one at that.

Usha Uthup gets in the Shirley Bassey mode with her dynamic rendition of Hai ye maya, a John Barryesque brand of ditty

arrangement, S-E-L opts for a mash-up of various genres ranging from recurring fragments of the core Don theme to noir and electronic. The remix by DJ Shane Mendonsa packs in elements of rave and exaggerated rhythm to rock a club.

If S-E-L had an obvious reference point in Kalyanji-Anandji’s grand score from the 1978 original, which worked fabulously for the remake, Don 2 labors to construct a similar sense of seduction and swagger with the follow-up. Ultimately, they have no alternative but rake in the merits of its source as binding agents that holds it all together. Get an earful of the tries-so-hard Dushman mera and you will know exactly what I mean.

Bollywood is all about massaging Kingsized egos and playing up larger-than-life epithets. SRK gets a massive one at that with the custom-creation, The King is back. While it nowhere comes near the uber sophistication of Don Revisited (by

Midivial Pundtiz) from the previous OST, The King’s homecoming rendered by Sunitha Sarathy is adequately stylish and dramatic.

If only this peppedup Kalyanji-Anandji reworking wouldn’t slow down, every now and then, to hit a jarringly maudlin note.

And it may start out like a David Holmes creation but Mujhko pehchanlo is strictly a reconstructed cousin of Main hoon doon interjected with iconic Don quotes in SRK’s baritone. Staid KK steps into snazzy Shaan’s shoes to resonate the same but doesn’t have the instantly infectious quality of the latter. Its remixed, discordant avatar maintains a one-note, dull climate all through.

Electronic sounds dominate this action thriller’s score for most part and so the entry of Don Waltz, with its classical hues and refined decorum, is most abrupt and conflicting. Presumably the Waltz sits perfectly in the narrative’s context but as a part of the Don compilation, it’s almost inappropriate.

With the pressure of comparisons with the original off them, Don 2 offered the composer troika an ideal opportunity to go wild and inventive. Instead they submit a safe, self-conscious and, at the most, serviceable album when the words I would have liked to confer been rocking and rebellious.

NEWS

26

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi may face death penalty in Libya Saif Gaddafi must face justice for role in ‘barbaric’ reign of terror in Libya, David Cameron says Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam will be put on trial in Libya on the charges that potentially carry the death penalty, Libya’s interim justice minister Mohammed al-Alagy told Reuters.

Saif has been arrested in southern Libya earlier on Saturday.

The minister said that among other

and judicial procedures to ensure a fair trial for him,” the minister concluded.

Libya’s prime minister has insisted that the fugitive son of the late Libyan leader will face a fair trial. He promised “justice and transparency” in handling the case.

attempting to flee to Niger.

Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou did confirm last Saturday that his country would grant asylum to Saif should he request it.

The National Transitional Council (NTC) has released a photo they claim was taken after the Saif al-

Sirte, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against the Libyan people.

The ICC issued a warrant for him on June 27 over charges of crimes against humanity in crushing antiregime protests – the charges that Saif vehemently denies.

Libyan people and must now become a victory for international justice too.

“He could have contributed to a more open and decent future for his country, but instead chose to lead a bloody and barbaric campaign against his own people. The fate of

crimes, Saif “has instigated others to kill, has misused public funds, threatened and instigated and even took part in recruiting and bringing in mercenaries.”

“This is just a small account of the crimes that the Libyan Prosecutor General is going to bring against him,”al-Alagy added, assuring that Libya “is ready to prosecute Saif alIslam.”

“We have adopted enough legal

¬An NTC commander said Saif was arrested 30 miles west of the town of Ubari along with two of his aides.

Mohammed al-Alagy said Saif alIslam was captured while traveling in a convoy and was taken to the Western mountain town of Zintan, which is under the control of a powerful faction of armed groups known as the Zintan brigades.

Their spokesman, Bashir al-Tlayeb, claimed Saif had been captured while

Islam was captured. He appears to have received injuries to his hand in the firefight that ensued when fighters maneuvered to detain him.

And while for the time being Gaddafi’s son has avoided the fate of his father, who was killed shortly after being capture, Saif’s fate may still be no less brutal.

Saif, who was long expected to succeed Muammar Gaddafi and vowed to fight on after his death in

Britain has pledged “every assistance” to the International Criminal Court as prosecutors prepare to travel to Libya for talks with the country’s new leaders over the trial of captured fugitive Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

The Prime Minister said: “The Libyan government’s announcement of Saif al Islam’s arrest shows we are near the end of the final chapter of the Gaddafi regime.

“It is a great achievement for the

the Gaddafis should act as a warning to brutal dictators everywhere.

“Britain will offer every assistance to the Libyan government and the International Criminal Court to bring him to face full accountability and justice for what he has done.

“The Libyan government has told us again today that he will receive a trial in line with international standards, and it is important that this happens.”

Kenya: Cholera outbreak in refugee camps The death toll is on the rise in a refugee camp in Kenya, where an outbreak of cholera has been reported by the United Nations, along with an increase in violence from outside forces.

The Dadaab camp is the largest refugee camp in the world home to Somalis escaping famine and conflict.

A s if life was not already exasperatingly difficult for the Somali refugees, fleeing their war-torn and drought-stricken nation, now a cholera outbreak is spreading among those living in the overcrowded Dadaab complex of camps in Kenya.

To compound the problem, efforts to deliver aid are hampered by insecurity.

Overcrowding in the camps, the ensuing breakdown in sanitary conditions and now, heavy rains, have provided a nightmare scenario in the Dadaab complex of refuges camps in Kenya, where ten cases of cholera have been confirmed by

laboratory tests and a further sixty cases are suspected, according to Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“Rains and flooding had affected the trucking of water to parts of the camps, and we fear some refugees resorted to using unsafe water from flooded areas,” he stated yesterday in Geneva.

Around 400,000 refugees live in the

Dadaab complex, the vast majority of these people having fled from Somalia, many of them women and children (the men stayed behind to protect the homes and whatever livestock have survived the drought and violence), 70,000 of whom arrived in recent months.

Cholera treatment centres have been set up to treat the worst cases and health workers have been instructed

to help deal with the outbreak. Extra chlorine has been added to the water supply in the camps to kill the bacteria and basic hygienic practices are being divulged to the refugees.

Meanwhile conditions are hampered by the heavy rains and the increased levels of insecurity - three aid workers were recently kidnapped from the camps. These are described by the UNHCR as “continued incidents”.

Torrential rains in the Dollo Ado area have caused flash floods and have rendered the airstrip unusable for the past four days, so aid cannot be easily transported to where it is most needed.

With many of the children under five years of age showing high levels of malnutrition, the notion appears that humanity is starting at another timebomb. Where is this story?

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

BUSINESS

27

David Cameron: our plan to cut debt is failing David Cameron and his senior ministers have admitted for the first time that there is a danger they will not be able to tackle borrowing on time.

The warning comes as the global economy stands on the brink of a “chronic” debt-driven recession.

David Cameron has served notice that Britain faces a long and slow road to economic recovery, admitting that tackling high levels of debt is proving harder than he had imagined.

In a speech to the CBI conference, the prime minister indicated that the government is prepared for grim growth forecasts next week when he said that Britain is recovering from a debt crisis rather than a traditional recession.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is expected to downgrade its forecast again next week when George Osborne delivers his autumn statement. The OBR is also expected to say that the recession was caused by such a serious financial crisis that some of the slow growth over the past year is “structural” – that the slowdown has created a bigger dent in the economy than had been feared.

The Prime Minister on Monday conceded that tackling Britain’s debts was “proving harder than anyone

envisaged”, raising the prospect that the Coalition would be unable to close the deficit by 2014-15.

That would rule out any significant tax cuts before the next election.

It also raises questions about the Coalition’s fundamental purpose.

Departing from the deficit-reduction timetable could raise fears that Britain will face rising borrowing costs as bond markets take fright.

Debt is “a drag on growth”, Mr Cameron told business leaders. “We are well behind where we need to be,” he said.

Debt Crisis Contagion The Euro Zone’s Deadly Domino Effect, A Commentary by Wolfgang Münchau The euro zone may experience a fatal domino effect.

The euro-zone debt crisis is spreading to more and more countries. And politicians are reacting more helplessly than ever.

Europe’s leaders are underestimating the impact that a Greek exit from the common currency will have -- and are failing to learn from their own and others’ mistakes.

Remember Henry Kissinger’s domino theory? The former US secretary of state feared that the neighbors of a state that was under the control of the Soviet Union would also fall into Moscow’s sphere of influence. Today, the theory that used to be applied to communism can be seen on the bond markets of Europe. The sovereign bonds of more and more eurozone countries are coming under attack.

Soon, one country after another might topple.

The reason for this desperate situation is the catastrophic crisis management in Europe. The German statesman Otto von Bismarck once said that only fools learned from their own mistakes -- he preferred to learn from the mistakes of others. At the moment, no politician or adviser in Europe has bothered to learn the lessons of the Argentine or Asian debt crises. Indeed, in Europe, they aren’t even learning from their own mistakes.

The public chatter about a possible Greek exit from the euro zone is one example of how they are repeating their mistakes. In the summer, the impact of the participation of private investors in a debt restructuring was recklessly underestimated. Now, they are underestimating the consequences of Greece’s leaving the common currency.

Broken Promises Back in March, European leaders promised that all investments in Greek government bonds would be guaranteed until 2013. But, in July, they went ahead

and negotiated the involvement of private investors in a Greek debt restructuring.

The economic situation in the country had worsened, and the political mood in Germany had shifted. At the time, the European Central Bank (ECB) urged caution. It argued that once you go down that road, you make investors nervous. As a compromise, euro-zone leaders agreed on the following formula: The terms of the participation of private investors in a so-called debt “haircut” would not be renegotiated, and it would certainly not be extended to other states.

In July, European leaders broke their promises from March. In October, they broke their promises from July. The participation of private investors would now be much higher, they decided.

Following that summit, investors came to the logical conclusion that politicians have basically been lying at euro summits.

They surmised that, if the economic situation in Greece and the political mood in Germany changed, then the owners of Portuguese and Italian sovereign bonds would also be asked to contribute. In the meantime, even normal individuals

In the following weeks, exactly what the ECB had feared happened. The interest rates on 10-year Italian bonds rose to 5 percent. And there was worse to come.

are now withdrawing their savings from banks across southern Europe.

Exit Scenarios In recent days, the crisis has expanded

to France. The difference in interest rates between French sovereign bonds and benchmark German bonds -- the socalled spread -- has risen to record levels.

France could soon be in same position that Italy is in today. Meanwhile, interest rates on Spanish 10-year bonds have hit their highest level since 1997. European bond markets are experiencing the domino effect.

Now ask yourself the following question: What will most likely happen if Greece leaves the euro zone? The answer is clear: We will see a domino effect in that respect, too. SPIEGEL reported earlier this week that the German Finance Ministry has come up with a number of scenarios to simulate what would happen were that to transpire. Those models make it clear to me that the German government still doesn’t understand the mechanisms and momentum of this crisis.

The main problem of a Greek exit from the euro zone is not necessarily the direct impact on banks. I believe our government when they say that they would be able to get that under control. The real problem is the next domino. The crisis will spread unchecked to Italy. If Greece leaves the euro zone, then owners of Greek bonds will lose their entire investment. At best, the Greeks would pay them back a small part of their investment -- in almost worthless drachmas.

Crises Must Be Solved Quickly and Decisively So what kind of investor in his or her right mind would purchase Portuguese, Spanish or Italian sovereign bonds in this kind of situation? Not even a yield of 7 percent can make up for all the risk that Italy won’t be able to pay back its debt. As things now stand, Italy’s debt accounts for 120 percent of its annual GDP, growth is close to zero and the country is currently slipping into a deep recession. In fact, it’s

a matter of mathematical inevitability that Italy won’t be able to service its loans if interest rates on its sovereign debt don’t fall. Granted, there have to be reforms.

But reforms don’t resolve an acute debt crisis. We’ve already learned that lesson from other crises.

In the future, we will be forced to adjust our Greece program to a continuously worsening reality. At some point, this strategy of lying to ourselves will end in catastrophe: Greece’s exit from the euro zone. There’s no plan in place for such an eventuality. No one knows how a protective surge wall can be erected around the rest of the euro zone. If we are not sufficiently prepared, then we’ll suddenly discover that Portugal is the next domino to fall.

In Germany, these matters will continue to be debated, commented upon and processed. Meanwhile the dominos will continue toppling. And that’s the point when there will no longer be any alternative in Germany but to accept the unpopular euro bonds as well as the much more unpopular price guarantees via the ECB. Indeed, one of the most important lessons to be drawn from the policies that Argentina followed during its currency crisis at the turn of the millennium is that -- one way or another -- crises have to be solved early and decisively. The longer one waits, the more expensive things get for everyone involved. But this lesson doesn’t seem to be one that has been internalized by the German government, the European Union or the ECB. In fact, Chancellor Merkel and her colleagues only take action when the markets have already started to panic.

When that happens, all of the entreaties and pledges don’t help a bit.

And, once the last domino falls, we can all kiss the euro goodbye.

COMMENT

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

Summary of The Bhutto Murder Trail : From Waziristan To GHQ

About the Book ‘It is no longer important if I become the prime minister for the third time. What is important is that my country is in danger.

So I had to return even if it meant risking my life...’—Benazir Bhutto, hours before she was assassinated in Rawalpindi. Drawing on personal anecdotes, meetings, off-therecord conversations with Benazir Bhutto, and the emails that he exchanged with her just before her death, Amir Mir brings us a carefully documented reconstruction of the assassination that rocked the world, the events leading to it, and its aftermath.

His meticulously researched book is also a chilling exposé of the symbiotic relationship between Pakistan’s formidable military and intelligence agencies, and the radical Islamic terrorist groups entrenched there. From the murky details of the ‘election rigging cells’ that Bhutto was on the brink of exposing, inside information about her ‘designated killers’, the dubious security cover, the wanton destruction of evidence at the crime scene, the cover-up

that began soon after the murder, the scapegoats, the arbitrary arrests and the compromised investigations, to the outright deceptions of various military top brass and even members of her own party, the book reveals it all.

Other highlights include excerpts from the reports of high-level investigations carried out by different organisations, rare pictures related to the suicide attack on Bhutto’s convoy, her last speech delivered minutes before she was killed, and her hand-written ‘political will’ which her party released after her death. The richly textured narrative is supported by exclusive information that sheds fresh light on various conspiracy theories, and will almost certainly evoke controversy and debate. Considering a history of political violence in the subcontinent – Liaquat Ali Khan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, Mujibur Rehman have all fallen prey to violence – was Benazir Bhutto’s decision to come back to Pakistan and contest elections more reckless than brave?

No, I don’t think her comeback decision was a reckless one. To

tell the truth, she was a woman of immense personal courage and bravery. Knowing well the threats to her life, she risked her life to win democracy in Pakistan.

Hardly 24 hours before she was assassinated in Rawalpindi, her

husband, Asif Zardari, had begged her on the phone from the U.A.E. to stop holding election rallies and let him take her place. Zardari had called her after a suicide bomber was caught at the venue of the Peshawar public meeting she had addressed on 26 December 2007.

‘I told her, “For God’s sake, be careful,” but she said, “What can I do? I have to go and meet my

people.”

Exactly a year after her murder, her husband Asif Zardari went on record saying that he knew who were responsible for the killing.

What has prevented him from revealing the names?

What is the ‘appropriate time’ he is waiting for?

I have raised this question in my book.

I seriously doubt if her killers will ever be brought to book.

Although the United Nation Inquiry Commission’s report into her assassination, released in April 2010, stopped short of naming Musharraf as the Bhutto killer, it did go much further than anyone could have imagined in blaming him and giving broad hints about his role in the security lapses that paved the way for her assassination.

Will the masterminds of Benazir Bhutto’s murder be ever brought to justice?

The three year extension granted to Army chief is a reminder of the limits of the civilian government.

Kayani continues to call the shots since Musharraf’s exit, and will continue to do so for the next three years. Therefore, the PPP government won’t be able to proceed against either Musharraf or any of his former associates

who are suspected of involvement in the Bhutto murder. Currently living in self-imposed exile in London, Musharraf is already well beyond the reach of the Pakistani authorities.

Finally, will actual democracy ever have a fair run in the country where military and military dictators are still powerful?

I believe democracy can surely work in Pakistan and I am certain about it.

About the Author Amir Mir, the former editor of Weekly Independent, is among Pakistan’s foremost investigative journalists whose insightful writings on terrorism, Islamic militant groups and their links with the country’s military and intelligence establishment have drawn widespread attention.

Having started his journalistic career in 1988 with the The Frontier Post, Lahore, he has worked with several newspapers, news agencies and magazines in Pakistan and abroad includingThe News, The Nation, The Post, The Friday Times, Dawn, Newsline, Reuters, Spanish News Agency, Gulf News, Arab News, Outlook magazine, Tehelka and Daily News & Analysis (DNA). With a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Punjab, Lahore, Amir Mir has authored three books on the subject of militant Islam and terrorism, The True Face of Jehadis, The Fluttering Flag of Jehad and Talibanization of Pakistan: From 9/11 to 26/11 and Beyond. Earlier, Amir Mir had co-authored Most Wanted: Profiles of Terror in addition to writing a Foreword to A to Z of the Jehadi Organizations, published in 2004.

DIANA WAS MURDERED: RUSSELL GRANT RUSSELL Grant has told how he foresaw Princess Diana’s death – just 21 days before her fatal car crash Daily Express reported.

He claims he warned her to end her relationship with Dodi Fayed.

And the former breakfast television astrologer, who was one of Diana’s secret confidants, reveals today that he believes the Princess was murdered.

Grant, 60, gave more detail than ever before about his friendship with the Princess, a relationship that was only revealed after her death by her former butler Paul Burrell.

Russell Grant has said Princess Diana was murdered He first met Diana backstage at the Royal Variety Show in London in 1984. She was a wonderful, fabulous, glorious person Strictly Come Dancing star Russell Grant on Princess Diana

Asked in an interview whether he was Diana’s confidant, he said: “Yes, and I loved it. She was a wonderful, fabulous, glorious person.”

Pausing dramatically, he added: “A pity she was murdered.” Reported

Daily Express.

Grant said he predicted the deaths of Diana and Dodi in a newspaper column.

“If you look back on August 10, 1997, I basically said their relationship was

so fated it was going to end in tears.

And she died August 31,” he said.

Bottom of Form Russell Grant has said he begged Princess Diana not to go to Paris with Dodi Al Fayed Asked if he told the Princess, he

replied: “Oh yes, I warned her. I said, ‘Don’t go there love. Just don’t go anywhere with him. You’ve got to knock this on the head.’ It was starcrossed lovers. It was bad.”

But in the interview he seemed unclear about who might have murdered her.

“Who knows?” he said. “I think there are questions still to be answered, but don’t ask me. I sought closure on that, and I’ve got it,” he told the Radio Times.

Grant had always remained discreet about his friendship with Diana until it was revealed by Burrell.

Russell Grant was a confidant of Princess Diana The butler was asked whether the Princess ever consulted astrologers.

“She saw many but the only one she ever trusted was Russell Grant,” he said.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

COMMENT

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The Women of Islam in The House of Allah T

here is no doubt whatsoever that this essay is going to provoke both positive and negative responses from readers. But our purpose in writing it is to provoke enlightened responses from our intelligent readers — responses that would dispel complacency over (what this writer perceives as) unfortunate instances of misguided tradition.

Let us at the outset remind the Muslim reader of the prophecy of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) concerning the Day of Judgment: “Narrated Anas ibn Malik: One day when the Messenger of Allah was sitting amongst us, he dozed off. He then raised his head, smiling.

We asked: What makes you smile, Oh Messenger of Allah?

He said: A Surah has just been revealed to me, and then recited: ‘In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Verily We have given thee al-Kawthar (fountain of abundance). Therefore turn to thy Lord for prayer and offer sacrifice, and surely thy enemy is cut off (from the good).’ Then he (the Holy Prophet) asked: Do you know what al-Kawthar is? We said: Allah and His Messenger know best. The Holy Prophet said: It (Kawthar) is a fountain (spring or river) which my Lord, the Exalted and Glorious, has promised me, and there is an abundance of good in it. It is a cistern and my people will come to it on the Day of Resurrection, and cups there (for drinking) would be equal to the number of stars. A servant will be turned away from (among those gathered there). Upon this I shall say: My Lord, he is one of my people. He (the Lord) will say: You do not know that he created new things (in Islam) after you. Ibn Hujr made this addition in the Hadith: “ He (the Holy Prophet) was sitting amongst us in the mosque, and He (Allah) said: (You don’t know) what he innovated after you.”

(Sahih Muslim) The implication of this Hadith is that those who change the religion that was left by Prophet Muhammad would pay a very bitter price for such misguided conduct. It should not be difficult for anyone to realize that the most dangerous place of all in which to effect any change in the religion of Islam as established by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) is in the House of Allah (Masjid).

Let us also recall another prophecy concerning the alarming extent to which Muslims would deviate from the original religion of Islam.

The Prophet prophesied that Muslims could be divided into seventy-three sects and that in such an event all but

one would enter into Hell: “Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr: Allah’s Messenger said: There will befall my Ummah exactly (all those) evils which befell the people of Israel, so much so that if there was one amongst them who openly committed fornication with his mother, there will be among my Ummah one who will do that, and if the people of Israel were

Shiekh Imran Hossein

Tribune Comment fragmented into seventy-two sects my Ummah would be fragmented into seventy-three sects. All of them will be in Hell-Fire except one sect. They (the Companions) said: Allah’s Messenger, which is that? Whereupon he said: It is one to which I and my companions belong.” (Sunan Tirmidhi) What should we do if we Muslims are to protect ourselves and our religion at that time of abandonment of the religion left by the blessed Prophet? He was very clear and precise in his response that we should hold fast to the Qur’an: “Narrated Ali ibn Abi Talib: Al-Harith al-A’war: While passing through the Masjid I found the people engrossed in (prohibited) talk, so I went to Ali and told him. He asked if that was really so, and when I assured him that it was, he said: I heard Allah’s Messenger say, ‘Dissension will certainly come.’ I asked him what is the way out of it, to which he replied, “Allah’s Book is the way (out), for it contains information of what has happened before you, news of what will happen after you, and a decision regarding matters which occur among you. It is the distinguisher and is not jesting. If any overweening person abandons it Allah will break him, and if anyone seeks guidance elsewhere Allah will lead him astray. It is Allah’s strong cord, it is the wise reminder, it is the straight path, it is that by which the desires do not swerve nor the tongues become confused, and even the learned cannot grasp it completely. It does not become worn out by repetition and its wonders do not come to an end. It is that concerning which the Jinn did not hesitate to declare, when they heard it, We have heard a wonderful recital which guides to what is right, and we believe in it. He who utters it speaks

the truth, he who acts according to it is rewarded, he who pronounces judgment according to it is just, and he who invites people to it guides to a straight path.’”

(Sunan Tirmidhi) The Qur’an, in turn, has asked us to hold fast to the Sunnah (way) of the Prophet: “You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah an excellent model (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the praise of Allah.

(Qur’an, al-Ahzab, 33:21) And so, it is with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger that we must respond to all trials. And this brings us to the subject of “the greatest of all trials that mankind would experience from the time of Adam to the Last Day”, i.e., the fitnah (trials) of Dajjal the false Messiah or Anti-Christ. It was in connection with that attack of Dajjal that the Prophet warned that “the last people to come out to Dajjal would be women, and that a man would have to return to his home and tie down his wife, sister and daughter to protect them from being seduced by Dajjal.”

It is clear that Prophet Muhammad anticipated, in the above prophecy, the modern feminist revolution that has deceptively misled and corrupted so many women in the modern age.

We write this essay to warn that the feminist revolution will exploit to its advantage every mistake that Muslims make concerning their women. And we direct attention to one grave mistake that has already been made, and which is likely to explode in the face of this Ummah with devastating effect in the not-too-distant future as Dajjal moves to exploit that mistake to his advantage. What is that mistake?

A DANGEROUS MISTAKE FOR WHICH WE WILL PAY DEARLY Prophet Muhammad warned his followers: “Do not prevent women from coming to the Masjid (for prayer)”. If Allah Most High, or His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him), were to give an order, then Muslims have a religious obligation to submit to that order and to obey it. No one has the authority to cancel an order which has come from Allah or His Messenger. An order can be suspended in consequence of an abnormal situation having arisen (such as a suspension of the divine law of cutting of the hand of the thief in consequence of an abnormal situation created by drought and famine). But neither can an order be cancelled, nor can it be permanently suspended.

And yet, despite the clear orders of the Prophet concerning the rights of Muslim women in the house of Allah it is a quite common sight around

the world of Islam today to witness Masajid (plural of Masjid) from which women have been permanently excluded. Such a flagrant violation of women’s rights is sure to provoke a bitter response from the feminist revolution. Indeed we are eventually likely to witness that revolution so exploiting this matter as to eventually succeed in having women give the Juma Khutbah (sermon) from the Mimbar (pulpit) of the Masjid. Already one such profoundly misguided woman has blindly led the way in a New York City church that was used as a Masjid, to open the gates for that evil destructive storm.

But the deprivation of Muslim women’s rights is not limited to their exclusion from the House of Allah.

Even when they are allowed to come to the Masjid they are often not allowed to pray in the same space with the men. Rather, a separate space is allocated to them. This can even be in a separate building, an annex, an upstairs gallery, a basement, etc. And finally, when they are allowed to pray on the same floor with the men, two separate spaces are created through the imposition of a barrier (of bricks, wood, cloth etc.) which has the effect of creating two separate spaces for prayer – one for men and the other for women. Sometimes the separate space created for women is at the back of the men; but sometimes, and alarmingly so, it is at the side of the men. In addition to creating a separate space for women, the barrier also has the effect of reducing women to praying congregational prayers with their ears alone, and not their eyes. Women cannot see the congregation (Jama’ah) at prayer. They can only hear!

But Prophet Muhammad very clearly placed men and women in the Masjid to pray ‘in the same space’ with women behind the men, and gave men and women the right to pray with both their ears and their eyes. Consider the following: Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said: “The best row for the men (in the Masjid) is the first (row) and the worst or most dangerous is the last; and the best row for woman (in the Masjid) is the last, and the worst (or most dangerous) is the first.”

(Sahih Muslim) It is quite clear from the above Hadith that men are supposed to first fill the front row in the Masjid, and then proceed after that to fill row after row in the direction away from the Mimbar (pulpit). If and when women choose to attend Salat in the Masjid, they are supposed to first fill the last row, and then proceed after that to fill row after row in the direction towards the Mimbar (pulpit). As the Masjid fills up the back row of men would draw

closer and yet closer to the front row of women. And it is that close physical proximity of men and women, with no barriers in between them, which creates the situation that is pregnant with danger. Among the dangers described by the Prophet himself was that a man may not have enough cloth to cover his private parts when he prostrates. And so the Prophet ordered women to keep their heads down on the ground in prostration (Sijdah) until the men (in front of them) had a chance to sit up: “Narrated Asma’ daughter of Abu Bakr: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: One of you who believes in Allah and in the Last Day should not raise her head until the men raise their heads (after prostration) lest they should see the private parts of men.”

(Sunan Abu Daud) The inescapable implication of both the above Ahadith is that women prayed in the Prophet’s Masjid in the same space with the men, but behind them, and that they prayed with both their ears and eyes since a woman who raised her head too soon could see the private parts of the man in front of her (if he was not adequately clothed).

This possibility also indicated that there was no barrier in the Prophet’s Masjid between men and women as would obstruct women’s vision. If women choose to perform their Salat at home, on the grounds that such is preferable, it still would not solve the problem faced by those women who choose to visit the Masjid for Salat, and are denied rights mentioned above. Indeed they are forced into such situations of prayer (such as praying at the side, rather than behind the men) in which their Salat would be in manifest conflict with the Sunnah and hence of dubious validity.

The remedy for the present situation in which women are deprived of their rights, even in the house of Allah, is quite evident. It is that Muslims must now insist that women be allowed to come to the Masjid; that they be allowed to pray in the same space with the men but behind them; and that they be allowed to pray with both eyes and ears, and hence with no barrier between men and woman as would obstruct women’s vision of the men in front of them.

Nothing less than that can save Muslims from the grave charge of having changed the religion left by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) even in the Masjid itself! And nothing less than that can save Muslims from the evil feminist storm that is sure to sweep the world of Islam in the not-toodistant future, and sure to exploit this mistake of the Ummah to reap evil capital from it.

NEWS

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

World’s largest Holy Book of all Muslims

T

he world’s largest Holy Quran, the book for all Muslims, has arrived in Kazan the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. The huge book sized 1.5x2 meters weighs 800 kilos.

The book has 632 pages, made

from Scottish paper. The cover of the book is encrusted with semiprecious stones, malachite, fianites, jasper, as well as gold and silver leafs.

The book has already made a Guinness Book entry as the largest edition of the holy Muslim

book. Before the summer of 2012, the world’s largest Quran will be kept at Kazan’s QolSharif Mosque. Afterwards, the book will be taken to Bulgary for celebrations of the 1,122 years of Islam in Russia’s Povolzhye region.

In Bulgary, the world’s largest Quran will stay forever. The book will be stored in a special sarcophagus. The building for the book is about to be finished - it will be a museum of only one exhibit.

The book was made and

printed in Italy on the order from Vozrozhdenie (Revival) Republican Foundation of Tatarstan, Tatar-Inform news agency said.

The book became possible to make owing to 1.5 million euros of donations.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 24 November 2011

SAT

Sports

King Khan declared British boxer of the year Pakistani origin boxer Amir Khan has been declared British boxer of the year.

The title was awarded at the annual awards ceremony held by the

British Boxing Board of Control.

The contenders for the title included Ricky Burns, Fury Tyson, George Groves and others. Khan was unable to make it to the event

as he is currently in training ahead of his December 10 showdown with Lamont Peterson in Washington, but he thanked to his fans and trainers in a statement.

We’re in the World Cup & World Twenty20 P

akistan Women produced a dominant display in their International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Qualifier play-off against Netherlands by 193 runs to ease into the semi-finals and also secure a berth at the 2013 World Cup as well as next year’s World Twenty20.

Opting to bat first, Pakistan lost Qanita Jalil with just 17 runs on the board. Nida Dar, who had scored a century in the previous outing against Japan Women, combined with captain Sana Mir in a 97run second-wicket partnership.

After Mir was dismissed for 49, Bismah Maroof stepped in to continue the good work along with Dar who was eventually dismissed for 57, while Maroof remained unbeaten with 66. Javeria Khan scored a quick-fire 67 off 53 balls to take Pakistan to an imposing 277 for four.

In reply, Netherlands lost wickets at regular intervals and only two batters reached double figures. Jalil took two early wickets, while Maroof and Dar also claimed three wickets apiece. Netherlands were eventually bowled out for 84. Maroof was declared player of the match.

Pakistan now take on South Africa in the first semi-final tomorrow. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by six wickets to also confirm their place in the semis where they will face West Indies.

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in fifth one-day Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in the fifth and final day-night international at Abu Dhabi stadium here on Wednesday, taking the series 4-1.

Kumar Sangakkara hit 78 and Angelo Mathews chipped in with 61 as Sri Lanka made 218-9 in their allotted 50 overs.

Pakistan chased down the target in 47.2 overs with captain Misbah-ul Haq scoring 66 and Umar Akmal 61 not out.

Pakistan won the first, third and fourth match of the series, while Sri Lanka won the second encounter.

Both teams will play a Twenty20 international here on Friday.

Windies batsmen keep India at bay All four batsmen score 50s on first day Darren Bravo century puts West Indies in strong position against India on day two of third Test Third Test, day two (stumps): West Indies (575-9) v India West Indies’ top four made the most of ideal batting conditions at Wankhede Stadium and put their team on course for a big first innings total at the close of the first day in the third and final Test against India.

Openers Kraigg Brathwaite (68) and Adrian Barath (62) gave the visitors an ideal start with a 137-run stand after captain Darren Sammy won the toss and opted to bat first on an easy-paced pitch in the hope

of avoiding a 3-0 series whitewash.

Kirk Edwards (65 not out) and Darren Bravo (57 not out) then scripted an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 117 runs to further consolidate West Indies’ position and took the team to 267/2 at the close of today.

“Early on with the new ball it was doing a bit but nothing significant. It’s a good pitch. I will say it is the best pitch out of the all we have played on this tour,” Brathwaite told reporters.

“It was spinning but it was spinning very slow. So we had time to adjust. There was not much turn.”

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