South Asia Tribune

Tribune South Asia

KAREENA KAPOOR IN HEROINE See page 18

Year 2



Issue 09



Thursday, 13.09.12



www.satribune.co.uk

FREE

After C4“Untold Story of Islam “ The US film Innocence of Muslims must be banned

‘Blasphemous’ internet film full of Grave Insults, depicts Prophet his wives and Companions If there was ever a propaganda product designed to enrage and incite violence it is The Innocence of Muslims.

Maker of anti-Islamic film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ goes into hiding US ambassador Chris Stevens killed in Benghazi by protesters angry at ‘Innocence of Muslims’ film

US president says he rejects efforts to denigrate religious beliefs but opposes senseless violence; film ridiculing Prophet Mohammad which allegedly sparked mob violence made by Israeli-American.

An Orthodox Israeli rabbi and former cabinet minister on Wednesday condemned as “garbage and slime” a film deemed offensive to Islam that has sparked deadly anti-U.S.

protests in Libya and Egypt more protests might take place in the Muslim world.

“Although freedom of expression and the right to use satire are sacred democratic principles, these freedoms should not be used as an excuse to publish garbage and slime,” Michael Melchior, a long-standing advocate of inter-faith dialogue, wrote in a statement.

“The film of Sam Bacile, who identifies himself as a Jew and an Israeli, published under the guise of the ‘war on terror,’ is in

fact a film that tramples upon the faith and dignity of hundreds of millions of Muslim believers and upon Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, in the most degrading and ugly way,” he added. “As a Jew and an Israeli rabbi, I am ashamed of the demeaning style and language of this film,” said Melchior, a former minister of social affairs and deputy foreign minister.

“It goes against the substance of the Torah of Israel and desecrates the name of God.” Hezbollah blasted as “immoral” a littleknown U.S.-made film insulting the Prophet Mohammad and said it aimed at

dragging Muslims and Egyptian Coptic Christians into conflict. Hezbollah claimed that the film, which is entitled “Innocence of Muslims,” is a translation into action of deliberate U.S. and Zionist policies.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai sharply condemned the film in a statement, calling its making a “devilish act”, saying he was certain those involved in its production represented a very small minority.

The US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans has been killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi Continued on page 7 >>

NEWS

2

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

Channel 4 cancelled screening of documentary

Tom Holland is threatened!!

One message sent to Holland read: “You might be a target in the streets. You may recruit some bodyguards, for your own safety.”

After Pathetic historical Endeavour of Tom Holland, A series of book “Tablighi Jamaat in Britain”

More than Tablighi Jamat writer is worried about the Publisher Salah Bu Khamas (UAE) Sabha Khan (UK) UK Office 10 Courtenay Road, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 7ND UK Phone: +44 20 8904 0619 Fax: +44 20 8181 7575 info@satribune.co.uk India Office Satya Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. C/O Satya Group.

1st Floor, Avenue Appt., Near Sheth. R. J. J. High School, Tithal Road, Valsad - 396001 Gujarat, India United Arab Emirates Office S.K. Group of Companies P.O. Box 9021, Karama Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 2659970, 3359929; Fax: +971 4 2659971, 3341609 www.sk-groupofcompanies.com Managing Editor & CEO Mohammad Shahid Khan Group Editorial Managers Gulzar Khan (India) Abdul Khalique (Pakistan) Editorial Board UK Frances Brunner FYI Tribune team Adrian Fellar Misbah Khan Reema Shah Rohma Khan Keziah-Ann Abakah Marketing & Sales Andrew Klugman (Manager) Art Department UK Ali Ansar (Art Director) Mohammad Reazul Islam

Largest Mosque to be built in London.

Channel 4 has cancelled a repeat screening of a controversial documentary on the history of Islam after its presenter was threatened. Channel 4 has cited concerns over security as the reason for cancelling a planned screening at its headquarters this week of a documentary film questioning the origins of Islam.

Islam: The Untold Story received around 1,200 complaints when it was first broadcast at the end of August, with presenter Tom Holland receiving numerous furious messages on Twitter.

A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: “Having taken security advice, we have reluctantly cancelled a planned screening of the programme Islam: The Untold Story. We remain extremely proud of the film which is still available to view on 4oD.” A Metropolitan police spokesperson said the force had no knowledge of the event or the decision to cancel it.

Holland himself received countless angry message on Twitter, with some of them personally threatening.

One message sent to him read: “You might be a target in the streets.

You may recruit some bodyguards, for your own safety.”

Channel 4 subsequently sought security advice and a decision to pull a repeat screening of the documentary this Thursday was taken.

“This party was cancelled for security reasons, so this means that presumably people’s lives are at risk,” said Taylor, who runs the charity Lapido Media, which seeks to foster better understanding and reporting of religion in the media.

Holland is one of the trustees

of Lapido, which is publishing a series of books on religious affairs, the first of which is about the controversial Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat. Written by Dr Zacharias Pieri.

Lapido claim this series is designed to provide facts on religion for secular readers. ‘ Tom Holland. Author of In the Shadow of the Sword.

Recommended the book as “Very informative and interesting and a great help to journalists, I’d have thought.’ “

Book pages form the web Lapido media.

According to the writer this handbook aims to raise awareness about an emerging religious and social force in British life that is barely known and subject to multiple misrepresentations. It also investigates Tablighi Jamaat’s plans to build its new world centre in London. The evidence used stems from the author’s doctoral research, undertaken at Exeter University under the supervision of Dr Jonathan Githens- Mazer.

A computer image of Tablighi Jamaat’s “mega-mosque” planned for a site next to the Olympic Park in Stratford.

This research included two years’ observation at the Tablighi mosque in West Ham, London, interviews with members of the movement and an analysis of Tablighi Jamaat’s own literature.

Tablighi Jamaat came to prominence in Britain in 2005 when developers announced plans to construct a 70,000-capacity mosque in London comparable to the 90,000-seater Wembley Stadium. This caused some alarm.

It would make it the largest place of worship in Europe, nearly thirty times the size of St Paul’s, which seats 2,500. The 12,000-capacity mosque was first proposed by the Tablighi Jamaat group in 1999 in a bid to build Britain’s biggest place of worship in West Ham . The trustees of the Riverine Centre, which run the Tablighi Jamaat site, submitted another planning application to Newham Council last week to transform their current building The 18-acre site into a huge mosque after missing a previous deadline.

Continued on page 04 >>

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

NEWS

3

Iran: Hezbollah will retaliate in case of Israeli strike

Ayatollah Khamenei’s top military advisor warns that Israeli strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities will trigger massive reaction by its Lebanonbased proxy Hezbollah will retaliate against Israel if the Jewish state launches any steps against the Islamic Republic,

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, added, the agency said.

In June Safavi was quoted by AFP as saying: “Hezbollah has thousands of missiles ... Hassan Nasrallah is a soldier of the supreme leader ... All places in the Zionist entity are within missile range.”

Israeli strike on Iran would invite a strong retaliation from the Islamic Republic, but he played down the possibility such strike would take place, adding that Israeli officials were divided on the issue. UK Calls to Add Hezbollah’s Resistance to EU’s Terror Watch List

military wing of Hezbollah,” UK Foreign Minister William Hague said on his way into an EU foreign ministers meeting in Cyprus.

Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said the European Union should brand Hezbollah a terrorist organization, a move that would

Iran’s Mehr agency quoted Saturday a senior military aide to Iran’s supreme leader as saying. MajorGeneral Yahya Rahim Safavi, who serves as the top military advisor for Iran’s supreme leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Saturday that if Israel were to attack his country’s nuclear facilities, Hezbollah will retaliate.

“If the Zionist entity carried out any steps against us, resistance groups, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon, given their central role in our defensive strategy, will respond against this entity,” the semi-official news agency quoted Maj. Gen. Yahia Safawi as saying.

“The defense of the Palestinian people comes within the framework of our defensive strategy and Lebanon and Syria also constitute the core of our defensive strategy,” Safavi, an aide to

Safavi was until 2007 the commander in chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the force that protects Iran’s Islamic system of governance.

British, Dutch foreign ministers urge EU nations Friday to impose sanctions on the military wing of Hezbollah for providing support to

enable the bloc to freeze the group’s assets in Europe.

“We have for quite some time now argued that effective European

of the Lebanese government.

But other EU member states, which have blacklisted the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, have resisted U.S. and Zionist pressure to do the same to Hezbollah.

The Hezbollah issue has long divided European capitals. When the George W. Bush administration pushed Europe to list Hezbollah in 2005, a number of countries, led by France, opposed it. The issue hasn’t been seriously addressed since then.

Several EU countries have argued that such a move could destabilize the balance of power in Lebanon and add to tensions in the Middle East.

Some European diplomats say it would also be legally difficult to blacklist Hezbollah without a court ruling in an EU state that linked the group to terrorism.

“Until now the Europeans have said that to designate a group as a terrorist organisation you have to have a judicial process under way against this organisation, which is

In a face-to-face interview with Almayadeen television last week, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said a possible

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.

The European Union has long resisted pressure from the Zionist entity and the U.S. to list Hezbollah, with many member states saying it was important to keep lines of contact open to a powerful organization in the Lebanese politics.

“It is necessary to move on that. I think we’ve taken action on that in the U.K. and I would like to see the EU designate and sanction the

measures should be taken against Hezbollah,” Rosenthal said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Cyprus to discuss the EU’s response to the Syrian crisis.

The U.K. lists Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist group. The Netherlands, like the U.S., lists the group but doesn’t distinguish between its military and political wings, despite the party of occupation Resistance is a member

not the case at the present time,” said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese party of resistance, was set up in 1982 to fight Zionist forces which had invaded Lebanon. If it weren’t for the military wing of Hezbollah, the Lebanese land wouldn’t be liberated in May 2000, and Lebanon wouldn’t gain victory in July 2006 war which the Zionist entity launched against it.

Al-Qaeda confirms Abu Yahya al-Libi death

Al-Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri confirmed in a video recording the death of Abu Yahya al-Libi, a veteran militant said to have been a leader of the group’s operations, and who had

blows to the militant group since the raid that killed Osama bin Laden last year.

“I proudly announce to the Muslim umma and to the mujdahideen [holy

survived previous US attacks.

The US government said in June that a drone strike in Pakistan had killed Libi, dealing the biggest in a series of

fighters] the news of the martyrdom of Libya’s lion Sheikh Hassan Mohammed Qaed,” Zawahiri said in the video.

NEWS

4

EDITORIAL

The US film Innocence of Muslims must be banned its gravely ‘Blasphemous’ If there was ever a propaganda product designed to enrage and incite violence it is The Innocence of Muslims.

Recently they came up with C4“Untold Story of Islam and now another ,“ The US film Innocence of Muslims must be banned its gravely ‘Blasphemous’ internet film full of Insults, depicts Prophet his wives and Companions in the worst possible way.

I have just watched a YouTube video of clips from a film which,If there was ever a propaganda product designed to enrage and incite violence it is “The Innocence of Muslims”. Ban the hateful antiMuhammad (pbuh) YouTube clips The material I have viewed, said to be linked to the US embassy attack, is purely and simply an incitement to religious hatred.

The trailer, which is amateurish and offensive, was put online in July, but did not pick up serious steam until a version dubbed in Arabic was added, the New York Times reports in its comprehensive tracing of the video’s origins. Then things got messy. Financed by expatriate members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority group, Promoted by Floridabased Christian Pastor Terry Jones, who burned a Quran in his church.

“It’s Just a Stupid Movie!” the ever-glib New York Post declared on its front page today.

An Orthodox Israeli rabbi and former cabinet minister on Wednesday condemned as “garbage and slime” a film deemed offensive to Islam that has sparked deadly anti-U.S. protests in Libya and Egypt more protests might take place in the Muslim world.

“Although freedom of expression and the right to use satire are sacred democratic principles, these freedoms should not be used as an excuse to publish garbage and slime,” Michael Melchior, a long-standing advocate of inter-faith dialogue, wrote in a statement.

“The film of Sam Bacile, who identifies himself as a Jew and an Israeli, published under the

guise of the ‘war on terror,’ is in fact a film that tramples upon the faith and dignity of hundreds of millions of Muslim believers and upon Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, in the most degrading and ugly way,” he added. “As a Jew and an Israeli rabbi, I am ashamed of the demeaning style and language of this film,” said Melchior, a former minister of social affairs and deputy foreign minister.

“It goes against the substance of the Torah of Israel and desecrates the name of God.” That film portrayed Mohammad as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake. In one clip posted on YouTube Mohammad was shown in a sexual act with a woman. The movie is called Innocence of Muslims, although some Egyptian media have reported its title as Mohammed Nabi al-Muslimin, or Mohammed, Prophet of the Muslims. : ““There is no God but God and Mohammad is the prophet of God.” The protesters warned the US against insulting the prophet, as they demanded that all the churches in Egypt to condemn the film.

“It’s unacceptable insult which the Muslims will not accept by all means,” “Muslims and Christians are taking part in protest in a bid to refuse the insult against the Muslims,” .

Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, has condemned the film and called for “efforts to prevent the release of this insulting film”, he said the production would fan tension, and called for the film to be banned. The Afghan government on Wednesday banned YouTube from the country for the first time to prevent people from watching an anti-Islam film, the block had been ordered “until YouTube removes this abusive film”.

Many churches across Egypt issued statements in which it condemned the film, as well as Egyptian Christian activists across the world who announced the refusal to such acts.

Muslims find it offensive to depict Muhammad in any manner, let alone insult the prophet.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

New office bearers of UKPCCI welcomed at Pakistan High Commission, London

Today, a reception was hosted at Pakistan High Commission in London to welcome the newly elected President of the UK-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (UKPCCI) Mr Razi Khan and Secretary General Mr Kamran Khan and other office bearers of the Chamber.

In his welcome address Pakistan High Commissioner for UK Mr Wajid Shamsul Hasan greeted the new team of the UKPCCI and appreciated the good work done by the organization for the promotion of trade and business ties between the UK and Pakistan. He said that many tangible activities were undertaken by the organization, including establishing a Pakistan Trade Center in 1995 in London and commended the efforts of Mr Ikram Khan for this project. The High Commissioner lauded the hard work done by Commercial Counsellor Ms

Saira Najeeb for promoting trade and investment and stoutly supporting and guiding UKPCCI in its objectives. He also acknowledged the services of former presidents Dr Ashraf Chohan and Mr Naheed Randhawa.

The High Commissioner assured the UKPCCI of the continued support of the High Commission in their efforts to promote community cohesion and raise the profile for Pakistani origin businesses in the UK. Mr Razi Khan also addressed the gathering on the occasion and outlined the salient features of his objectives for the future which included capacity building and financing of the youth who aspire to enter trade and business.

Commercial Counsellor Ms Saira Najeeb welcomed the guests and moderated the event.

Channel 4 cancelled screening of documentary

Tom Holland is threatened!!

Continued from page 02 >>

It will have 40ft minarets, a library, a visitor centre and a 300-space car park at the Canning Road site.

Mosque construction was delayed following opposition to the mosque which started as early as 1999 when the group submitted its first plans.

In 2001, it agreed that worship would only be on a temporary basis.

In 2010, the council issued an enforcement notice but it successfully appealed against it last year and more than 5,000 people a week now worship at the site which houses several prefab buildings.

But the presence of Tablighi Jamaat – and its plans to build a permanent place of worship – have aroused years of intense hostility and opposition. The Muslim Council of Britain said that the group had fallen victim to “unfounded hostility and hysteria”.

However, another Muslim organisation last night welcomed the move. Minhaj-ul-Quran, which advises the Government on how to combat youth radicalisation, said that a mosque should be a “community effort” and not the initiative of one group with extremist links.

On the web site of Lapido Media it says Lapido Media is an internationally networked, Britishbased philanthro-media charity, founded in 2005, that seeks to increase understanding among journalists and opinion formers of the way religion shapes world affairs yet among the advisory there are no Muslims but on board one Islamic scholar

Dr. Irfan Al Alawi who is an expert in Middle East affairs and Tasawwuf (Islamic spirituality), and studied at Al-Azhar University, In an interview on CBN News with a heading “Make Way for the Monster Mosque in Londonistan” Dr Irfan Al-Alawi also part of Lapido Media called Tablighi Jamat a Satanic ideology. Will he support the Channel 4 film on Islam “The Untold Story of Islam”?

A Pakistani journalist Paaras Abbas who is a writer, photographer and artist, and occasional translator for the BBC. A scion of the famous family of Pakistan journalists, she is a contributor to a number of websites including The Samosa. She divides her time between London and Karachi while continuing her studies in anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. And among Trustees is Dr Tom Holland.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

NEWS

5

Fatwa against Terrorism launched in Denmark

Denish Minister cancels appearance at anti-radicalism conference Integration minister says she will not share stage with a Muslim scholar Dr Tahir ul Qadri as he helped create Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy laws.

The Denmark minister for integration and social affairs, Karen Hækkerup (Socialdemokraterne), has pulled out of a conference on religious radicalism next week after she discovered that one of the speakers helped fashion Pakistan’s highly controversial antiblasphemy laws.

The conference’s organisers, the Danish Ethnic Youth Council, had invited the scholar Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri, leader of the Muslim organisation Minhaj-ul-Quran, to speak on tackling religious radicalisation. The head of the domestic intelligence agency PET, Jakob Scharf, was also invited.

While Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is best known for declaring a fatwa, or religious ruling, against terrorism, he also worked as a legal adviser to the Pakistani government in the shaping

On the conference’s event page, the Danish Ethnic Youth Council confirmed that Hækkerup had cancelled.

Jaleh Tavakoli, a blogger for JyllandsPosten newspaper and member of

City Council, wrote on Sunday that the only reason that Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri would be a partner in the fight against religious radicalism,

law and blasphemy laws which could mean death for many Christians, atheists and Muslims.”

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is on a

prominent personalities attending the programme joined hands to express their solidarity and emphasise the urgency and need of promoting peace

European Peace Conference was held in the central part of the Capital city of Copenhagen, Denmark, at the Tivoli Congress Center under the banner of Minhaj-ul-Quran International Denmark on September 09, 2012.

Addressing the conference, Shaykhul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-

of anti-blasphemy laws that were recently used to arrest a mentallychallenged girl for allegedly burning the Quran.

This morning, Hækkerup announced that had she would not have agreed to speak at the Conference for Political and Religious Radicalism, which is being held at Copenhagen Business School on September 11, if she had known that Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri was also planning on attending.

“I am very angry at being connected with something that is so contrary to my views,” Hækkerup told Ritzau.

“Politically, I see no reason to take part in the debate. I think it is deplorable that he is coming.”

is his 2010 fatwa against terrorism.

“The leader of Minhaj-ul-Quran, who spoke at the conference in Copenhagen, is a proponent of, and has actively participated in, the

six-day tour of Denmark that includes speaking at the European Peace Conference at Tivoli Congress Center on Sunday. He was nominated for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize and has taken

and interfaith dialogue in the world.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri waved to cheering crowds to respond their thunderous welcome.

Addressing the Fatwa launching ceremony, Dr Muhammad Tahirul-Qadri said that Islam is a religion of peace, which teaches respect for humanity, socio-economic justice, fair play and welfare irrespective of any discrimination of caste, creed, colour or race. He said that its followers have even been ordained to take care of rights of animals and plants what to speak of those of the humanity.

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri stated in categorical terms that terrorism and extremism had nothing to do with Islam or its teachings. He said that it was

Qadri said that Islam is a religion of peace, which teaches respect for humanity, socio-economic justice, fair play and welfare irrespective of any discrimination of caste, creed, colour or race.

On Tuesday Tahir-ul-Qadri will be speaking to an anti radicalization conference in Copenhagen. But he is already in Denmark, and told yesterday about his views on blasphemy.

Fundamentalism: If you reject a ban on blasphemy, then you are in conflict with both the Bible as the Quran, says controversial professor. According a report his participation in an antiradicalization conference on 11th September was met with criticism.

process of Islamisation that lead to the type of legislation that the girl is being charged under,” Tavakoli wrote. “Simply put, he has been a legal adviser in connection with [Pakistan’s] establishing of Sharia

a prominent stance against the use of the Quran to justify terrorism.

Meanwhile The proceedings of the Conference got underway with the recitation from the Holy Quran followed

by Naat. The faith leaders and other

unfortunate that actions of a select group of people were being ascribed to Islam, which was both unfair and unjustifiable. He said that the tendency to single out Islam as being promoter of terrorism and extremism was flawed in essence and needed to be checked in the interest of global peace, as no religion either sanctions or approves of violence.

European Peace Conference 2012 Denmark

NEWS

6

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

Sky no longer the limit for US national debt

The Outstanding Public Debt as of 08 Sep 2012 at 04:31:45 PM GMT is: The estimated population of the United States is 313,467,610 so each citizen’s share of this debt is $51,209.20.

The U.S. national debt has hit a new record. It has long been clear that no one can handle the problem. Therefore, the term, which the U.S. will need to come close to the legislative ceiling of this indicator, remains the main topic for speculation and forecasts. It is possible that the Americans will make it during the remaining several months of 2012.

The favorite subject of fierce fighting between Republicans and Democrats becomes relevant again. A few days ago, the U.S. Treasury announced that the national debt of the country exceeded $ 16 trillion for the first time. Each taxpayer owes creditors of the United States 140,000 dollars. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are a little more than 314 million people living in the country, and 114 million of them are taxpayers.

The U.S. national debt eclipsed the $16-trillion mark on Friday, August 31, the Treasury Department reported Tuesday, September 4, adding to Republicans’ growing criticisms of President Obama’s purportedly failed economic policies. In the fiscal year ending September 30, the government is estimated to spawn a deficit of more than $1.1 trillion, leaving tax revenue far behind government spending and nudging the national debt closer to its $16.394-trillion borrowing limit.

Despite the common belief that China holds an enormous portion of U.S. debt, two-thirds of the bankrolling comes from the Social Security Trust Fund, American investors and future retirees, and pensions for publicsector workers and military personnel. Meanwhile, China bankrolls less than 8 percent of the U.S. government’s current borrowing.

“It is true that China is the largest foreign owner of our debt,” asserted Josh Gordon, policy director of the Concord Coalition, a debt-watchdog based in Virginia. “But the vast majority of our debt is held by

us.” Fox News explains: Economists differ on when the National Debt actually crested the $16 trillion mark, with some saying it occurred on Friday

diminishing: China has actually decreased its holdings of U.S. debt over the past year, dropping from $1.31 trillion in June 2011 to $1.16

and others saying it happens on Tuesday. But none doubt that the federal government’s tab is immense and growing.

Just under $5 trillion of the national debt is owed to the Social Security Trust Fund and federal pension systems. A little more than $11 trillion is owed to

trillion a year later, according to the Treasury Department. Japan holds nearly as much, at $1.12 trillion. Those countries are by far the biggest foreign holders, but dozens of other nations, including Brazil, Russia, Taiwan, Switzerland and the United Kingdom hold trillions more.

her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) quipped that when it came to our nation’s debt, “Hu’s your daddy,” an allusion to Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Moreover, during his 2008 presidential bid, Obama blasted President Bush for taking “out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents … so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back.”

Naturally, the federal government’s $16-trillion milestone has ignited a flurry of Republican criticism, prompting House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to say, “Instead of working in a bipartisan way to fulfill his promise, the president went on a ‘stimulus’-fueled spending binge. This debt is a drain on our economy and a crushing burden on our kids and grandkids.”

foreign and domestic investors and the Federal Reserve, which buys up treasuries in order to drag down interest rates through quantitative easing.

Moreover, China’s nation’s willingness to bankroll America’s mounting debt burden is only

Private U.S. investors hold around $1 trillion in federal debt, while insurance companies, investment funds, and state and local governments hold about double that amount. Still, China is perceived as a chief creditor of U.S. deficit spending. During

Americans are “worse off than when we took office,” GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney added. “But it’s not just this generation that’s paying the price. The next generation has been saddled with enormous debt because of President

Obama’s policies.”

“We just heard about an hour ago that our government eclipsed the $16 trillion mark in our national debt,” Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan echoed at a rally on September 4. “This is a serious threat to our economy. Of all the broken promises from President Obama, this is probably the worst one because this debt is threatening jobs today, it is threatening prosperity today and it is guaranteeing that our children and grandchildren get a diminished future.”

The president and congressional Democrats counter that the Obama administration inherited a weak economy spurred on by President Bush’s big-spending programs and tax cuts for the wealthy. And their accusation regarding spending is legitimate, as Bush led the nation in to two wars while congressional Republicans followed with costly spending measures — including Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, and a slew of other biggovernment programs.

In February 2009, President Obama pledged to curb the spendthrift mentality of the Bush era, asserting that his predecessor’s spending schemes have left future generations in peril. “We cannot, and will not, sustain deficits like these without end,” Obama affirmed.

“Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years, we cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next administration, or the next generation.”

In turn, the president declared, “And that’s why today I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office.”

Of course, Obama’s promise has not come to fruition, as his fiscal policies have only added to the already mounting pile of debt now plaguing future generations of Americans. Regardless of who holds the debt — China, private investors, public-sector pensions — the nation’s fiscal condition is in jeopardy. And a return to the constitutional principles that founded this great nation is the only viable solution to the pending doom of fiscal collapse.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

7

NEWS

‘Blasphemous’ internet film full of Grave Insults, depicts Prophet his wives and Companions

Continued from page 1 >> by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. That film portrayed Mohammad as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake. In one clip posted on YouTube Mohammad was shown in a sexual act with a woman.

The movie is called Innocence of Muslims, although some Egyptian media have reported its title as Mohammed Nabi al-Muslimin, or Mohammed, Prophet of the Muslims.

A California-based property developer who claims to be responsible for “Innocence of Muslims,” a provocative film about the Prophet Muhammad, which sparked Tuesday’s deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Libya and further protests in Egypt, has gone into hiding, report. The correspondent said that the protesters called for the expulsion of the US ambassador in Cairo, as they held the Islamic flags: ““There is no God but God and Mohammad is the prophet of God.” The protesters warned the US against insulting the prophet, as they demanded that all the churches in Egypt to condemn the film.

“It’s unacceptable insult which the Muslims will not accept by all means,” one protester told our correspondent.

“Muslims and Christians are taking part in this protest in a bid to refuse the insult against the Muslims,” another protester said.

Abaza said that many churches across Egypt issued statements in which it condemned the film, as well as Egyptian Christian activists across the world who announced the refusal

to such acts.

Israeli-American writer and director Sam Bacile, 56, remained defiant, saying that he intended his film to be

a political statement condemning the religion, “Islam is a cancer, period,” the AP quoted him as repeatedly saying. The full film has not been shown yet, he said, and he said he has declined distribution offers for now.

“My plan is to make a series of 200 hours” about the same subject, he said. An English-language 13minute trailer on YouTube shows an amateur cast performing a wooden dialogue of insults disguised as revelations about Muhammad.

Muslims find it offensive to depict Muhammad in any manner, let alone insult the prophet.

The Wall Street Journal reported the film had been promoted by Terry Jones, the Florida pastor whose burning of Qurans previously sparked deadly riots in Pakistan and other Muslim nations.”Innocence of Muslims”, which US media said was produced by an Israeli-American property developer; but clips of another film called “Mohammad, Prophet of Muslims”, had been circulating for weeks before the protest.

That Controversial film portrayed Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake. In one clip posted on YouTube

Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was shown in a sexual act with a woman.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya John Christopher Stevens and at least two other embassy staffers were reported killed Tuesday in an assault on the American consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Wire services and reporters on the ground said Libyan government officials confirmed that Stevens and the others were fleeing the consulate when a rocket-propelled grenade struck their vehicle. Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in Benghazi said the bodies of the dead had been taken to the Benghazi airport.

Stevens, a longtime Middle East hand in the State Department, was named ambassador to Libya in May. He had worked in Libya for a number of years, both before and after the fall of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi. The other dead were not identified in reports by Reuters, CNN, al-Jazeera and others.

“I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi,” Secretary of State Clinton said in an earlier statement. She said she had called Libyan President Mohamed Yusuf al-Magariaf “to coordinate additional support to protect

Americans in Libya.”

The violence in Benghazi followed protests in neighboring Egypt, where a group of protesters scaled the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday evening and entered its outer grounds, pulled down an American flag, then tried to burn it outside the embassy walls, according to witnesses. On Wednesday morning, a sit-in of several dozen protesters continued outside the Cairo embassy.

A 14-minute trailer for the Englishlanguage film, which was posted on YouTube in July, attracted little attention until last week, when a version dubbed into Arabic was posted on the same YouTube channel and then copied and viewed tens of thousands of times more.

Although there was initial confusion about who made the film, The Wall Street Journal reported that the drama, titled “Innocence of Muslims,” was produced and directed by an Israeli-American, Sam Bacile, a California real-estate developer

who called Islam “a cancer,” in an interview. Mr. Bacile told The Journal that he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors and shot the twohour movie in California last year.

Last week, an Egyptian-American Copt known for his broadsides against Muslims drew attention to the trailer in an Arabic-language blog post and an e-mail newsletter in English publicizing the latest publicity stunt of the Florida pastor Terry Jones, reviled in the Muslim world for burning copies of the Quran.

The same day, a scene from the film — in which an actor playing a foolish caricature of the prophet Muhammad calls a donkey “the first Muslim animal” — was broadcast on the Egyptian television channel Al-Nas by the host Sheikh Khaled Abdalla.

The Egyptian news media reports appear to have drawn much more attention to the obscure film trailer, which was posted on YouTube by someone using the name Sam Bacile who failed to respond to a request for

Pakistan High Commissioner for UK Mr Wajid Shamsul Hasan (in middle) standing with Mr Tariq Mustafa President of Pakistan Paralympic Association (second from left) and official media consultants of the Association.

Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner in London Syed Zulfiqar Gardezi with Mr Tariq Mustafa during the visit of two Pakistani paralympic athletes Haider Ali and Naeem Masih .

NEWS

8

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

Jews, Muslims, Christians protest circumcision ban 300 demonstrators appeared in Berlin to demonstrate for religious freedom and decriminalization of circumcision.

Hundreds of German Jews and Muslims held a joint rally in Berlin on Sunday demanding

that their “freedom of religion” be respected, in a rare show of unity to protest against a court order that banned ritual circumcisions.

Police officials said 500 demonstrators appeared at Bebelplatz in the Mitte district in eastern Berlin.

The June ruling by a court in Cologne has sparked an emotive debate about religious freedom in a country which is sensitive to any accusations of intolerance because of its Nazi past.

Although the ban applied only to the Cologne region, doctors across the country have refused to carry out operations because of what they say is a risk of legal action.

Some 300 Muslim and Jewish protestors and their supporters gathered together at Berlin’s Bebelplatz square, known as the site of the infamous Nazi book burning ceremony.

They waved banners reading “Foreskin? No Thank you”, or “Finally, Germany is a colonial power again” against a cartoon image of a boy whose foreskin

was the colours of the German flag. Some came wrapped in the Israeli flag.

“We were getting sick and tired of all the heated and incompetent gibberish on circumcisions,” Lala Suesskind, the former head of Berlin’s Jewish community, told Reuters.

“So today, we want to clarify a few things through our rabbi ... what circumcision really is and what circumcision means to our religion,” she added.

Jewish religious practice requires boys to be circumcised from eight days old, while for Muslims, the age at which it is carried out varies according to family, country and branch of Islam.

Berlin last week became the first of Germany’s 16 states to protect the practice, saying that doctors could legally circumcise infant boys for religious reasons.

The national government is working on a new law to legalise the operation across the country in order to overrule the Cologne decision.

“The German government must introduce a law which will result in circumcisions remaining exempt from punishment,” said the head of Germany’s Turkish

community, Kenan Kolat.

“For years, we have had the abortion debate. Abortion too is a physical intervention and there too, laws have been passed which make certain acts exempt from punishment, combined with counselling. Here too,

there can be counselling so that people get informed,” Kolat said.

The speed with which national lawmakers agreed in July to pass a new law underscored their sensitivity to charges of intolerance and discrimination,

especially against Jews because of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis during World War Two. Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany risked becoming a “laughing stock” if Jews were not allowed to practise their rituals.

About 120,000 Jews are registered as living in Germany along with around 4 million Muslims, many of whom are from Turkey.

Ruling in the case of a Muslim boy who suffered bleeding after circumcision, the Cologne court said the practice inflicted bodily harm and should not be carried out on young boys, though could be practised on older males with consent.

About four million Muslims and more than 200,000 Jews live in Germany.

The city of Dubai is built on foundations that are steeped in history and tradition. From the evocative Dubai Museum to the spectacular Jumeirah Mosque, and from the breathtaking Bastakiya to the imperious Heritage Village.

There are many mysteries waiting to be unravelled. Explore Dubai at your pace and relive great traditions from day gone by.

DEFINITELYDUBAI.COM

NEWS

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

09

‘Family feud’ clue to Alps killing

‘Alps massacre family killed with one gun’: Revelation over weapon used to slay victims as bomb squad leaves Al-Halli’s home.

Older daughter of slain British-Iraqi couple out of coma POLICE are investigating if a family feud over money is why a British-Iraqi family were executed in the French Alps.

British army bomb disposal experts on Monday left the house in Surrey in southern England belonging to the family killed in the French Alps after examining a number of suspicious items.

Police had earlier evacuated neighbouring homes and cordoned off two roads while the bomb squad checked the house of Iraqi-born Saad al-Hilli in Claygate in Surrey, southwest of London.

Police said the experts were called in “due to concerns around items found at the address” and added that an “assessment of items found at the address is currently being carried out as a precaution”.

But after nearly three hours, the Royal Logistics Corps bomb disposal van left the scene along with another police vehicle and police reopened the road.

A Surrey Police spokeswoman said they would issue a statement later but had no immediate details on the results of the search. The murdered father of Saad al-Hilli (50) developing for a defense contractor satellites, which are used for espionage purposes.

British media reports said the search focused on a shed at the bottom of the garden.

Meanwhile, the seven-year-old survivor of the massacre in the French Alps remains under sedation Monday, unable to speak to investigators who are trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the attack. The younger daughter has returned to Britain, while her badly wounded older sister has come out of an artificial coma, authorities said Sunday.

Zainab al-Hilli is recovering from a fractured skull and a bullet wound in the shoulder which she incurred in the September 5 shooting in which her Iraq-born parents, Saad and Ikbal, her 74-year-old grandmother and Frenchman Sylvain Mollier were killed.

“When the doctors give us authorisation we will be able to

interview her in hospital butfor the moment they are not allowing it,” said Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud.

“She was in an induced coma which she was brought out of on Sunday but

Zainab owes her life to the quick reactions of a British RAF veteran who cycled into the car park minutes after the shooting.

He discovered the girl outside the Most handguns of that calibre would have to be reloaded for an assailant to fire 25 times, as police have said happened in this case.

Prosecutor Eric Maillaud said British police told French authorities of a financial dispute between the murdered British man and his brother, but he cautioned against drawing early conclusions. as a sign that there was probably more she remains under sedation. It is a maroon BMW in which her parents than one person shooting. normal process.” and grandmother were shot and There has been no official confirmation Depending on what she remembers, placed her in the recovery position of unsourced reports in British media the 7-year-old could prove crucial before phoning emergency services that analysis of bullets retrieved from to the investigation. Her four-year- who arranged for her to be flown by the corpses had led investigators to believe that there were two killers.

The quadruple murder has been perpetrated with only one weapon.

The results of a survey of the cartridge cases were found at the scene.

Because so many shots had been given, the investigators had initially suspected that multiple killers were at work. But apparently made only a single perpetrator.

Thus becomes more likely: The murderer is a professional killer!

Family friends weep outside the al-Hilli family home in Claygate, England.

old sister Zeena survived the attack unscathed after hiding in the back of the family car but she has not been able to provide any significant information about what happened.

helicopter to the University Hospital in nearby Grenoble.

Maillaud has confirmed that 25 spent cartridges were found at the scene and the large number has been interpreted

A source close to the investigation told AFP that preliminary analysis of the bullets used in the attack suggests only one weapon, a 7.65mm automatic pistol, was used.

The medium calibre pistol is considered relatively old-fashioned by arms experts.

An aunt and uncle of the girls travelled back to London on Sunday with Zeena, who is currently at a secret location in the London area.

Security remains extremely tight around the Grenoble University Hospital, where Zainab is guarded by around 12 police at all times.

As the only witnesses to the bloodbath, the girls would be an obvious target for those responsible for carrying it out.

Confirming that Zainab’s interview will take place as soon as medics ‘give the green light’, Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud said: ‘We hope she will provide lots of information, but the interview will be an extremely delicate one.’

Balsam Hilli-Xanthis, 59, a cousin of Iraq-born Mr Al-Hilli, has offered to help the orphaned children financially.

A family source said: ‘Balsam called Surrey Police. She is in Iraq at the moment. She has made no official request for custody, she was offering to help, most likely in a financial way.’

As police try to hunt for a motive, the astonishing extent of the bitter feud at the heart of the Al-Hilli family was revealed yesterday.

In a letter written last year, murdered Saad Al-Hilli, 50, said his brother Zaid, 53, was a ‘control freak’ and he wanted to ‘wipe him out of my life’.

The aeronautical engineer told a childhood friend he had cut off his older brother after ‘underhand things’ took place over their late father’s assets.

His candid comments will interest detectives in Britain and France as they widen their investigation and examine potential tensions in the sprawling family of Iraqi refugees.

The letter was written by Saad Al-Hilli last September and appears to confirm previous suggestions of a possible inheritance dispute between himself and his brother Zaid.

For his part, Zaid has strenuously denied there was any feud between them and is said to be ‘devastated’.

Saad told old friend Mae Faisal ElWailly, who lives in Arizona and described the family as ‘wealthy and Continued on page 10 >>

NEWS

10

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

Protesters block main West Bank highway

Dozens of protesters blocked the main road connecting the south and north West Bank on Sunday morning, witnesses told Ma’an.

The Wadi al-Nar road was jammed with burning tires and rocks, they

Attacks on Palestinian infrastructure and other vandalism “will leads to chaos all over Palestine,” Bassam al-Salhi, the secretary general of the leftist Palestinian People’s Party, warned.

by Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas to push through the request, which comes as the Palestinian Authority is struggling to handle a growing wave of social unrest over the spiralling cost of

the Palestinian people within this difficult economic situation,” Sheikh said.

The move came after a week of angry demonstrations across the West Bank, where thousands of people

it as “unfair.”

The Paris Protocol, which was signed in April 1994 and is still in force, governs economic ties between the two sides in four areas: trade relations, fiscal issues, monetary

said, as protests against economic hardship continue across the West Bank.

Several students told Ma’an they were not able to travel to schools and universities because of the protest.

During the first intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation in the late

Palestinians eye changes to key eco accord with Israel The Palestinian Authority has formally asked Israel for talks on changing the Paris Protocol governing economic ties between the two sides, a minister told AFP on Sunday.

“I made a request to the Israeli

living.

“The president told me.. to give the Israelis an official request to reopen the Paris Protocol -- to re-examine it, to adjust it and to change it as soon as possible,” he explained.

“We are waiting for the Israeli response,” he said.

took to the streets to protest against the soaring cost of living, rising petrol prices and unemployment, many demanding the resignation of prime minister Salam Fayyad.

On Sunday, some 60 trucks and lorries blocked roads in the centre of Ramallah for more than an hour in

arrangements and labour.

In terms of bilateral trade, it provides for duty- and tariff-free access for goods traded between the two sides, while for all external trade, Israel’s policy serves for the Palestinians, meaning they cannot set tariffs lower than in Israel.

1980s, Palestinians regularly blocked the road to prevent the passage of Israeli soldiers.

Several political figures told Ma’an they were concerned the protests should stay peaceful and not erupt into violence and attacks on property.

government through the defence ministry... that the Palestinian Authority officially requests the reopening of the Paris Protocol which is not compatible with the current economic situation,” said civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh.

Sheikh said he had been advised

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli defence ministry.

The Paris Protocol was a framework set up in 1994 which laid out the terms for the economic relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

“The goal of this is to provide for

protest at rising petrol prices, an AFP correspondent said.

Transport union officials said they were considering a general strike on Monday, depending on the outcome of a ministerial meeting later on Sunday to discuss the crisis with business leaders, the private sector and representatives of civil society.

Further north, around 200 people gathered in Nablus calling for Fayyad’s resignation, shouting slogans like: “The (Israeli) invasion didn’t leave us hungry, but Fayyad has!” an AFP correspondent said.

In scenes reminiscent of the Arab Spring protests which swept the Middle East last year, protesters have taken to the streets in their thousands to demand lower prices, with many demanding Fayyad’s government tear up the Paris Protocol.

In September 2011, Abbas said he wanted to amend the Paris Protocol which “contains restrictions that affect the Palestinian economy and hinder its development,” describing

Although they have some flexibility in terms of sales tax, the margin for deviation from the Israeli rate is very slight. The price of petrol is also pegged and cannot fall short by more 15 per cent of the maximum price in Israel.

The Palestinian Authority is currently going through its worstever financial crisis due to continued Israeli restrictions and declining international aid, especially from Arab countries.

Despite the growing protests, analysts say the government has very little room for manoeuvre, largely as a result of its commitments under the Protocol.

Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority requests talks with Israel aimed at modifying Paris Protocol, which regulates economic ties between two sides, following West Bank demos against inflation, unemployment Protest at Ofer and Jerusalem in support of Palestine’s prisoners | Sept 8, 2012.

‘Family feud’ clue to Alps killing

Continued from page 31 >>

well-travelled’, that they are no longer speaking. He wrote: ‘Zaid and I do not communicate any more as he is another control freak and tried a lot of underhand things, even when my father was alive.

‘He tried to take control of my father’s assets and demanded control. Anyway it is a long story and now I have just had to wipe him out of my life. ‘Sad but I need to concentrate now on my wife and two lovely girls.’

It has also emerged that Saad was so angry about the will published after Kadhem Al-Hilli’s death in Spain last year that he made a legal application for it to be put on hold.

The ‘caveat’, a formal notice or warning, halted Zaid’s claim over their father’s estate while the dispute was resolved.

Detectives continue to hunt for a motive to the murder of Mr Al-Hilli, his wife, mother-in-law Suhaila Al-Allaf, and

a passing local cyclist in Chevaline, on Lake Annecy, last Wednesday.

It is believed detectives are looking into Mr al-Hilli’s professional life for possible clues. He worked as a contractor for a satellite technology company in Surrey.

Police in Sweden were last night preparing to enter the spacious Stockholm flat owned by the 74-year-old motherin-law in the hope of finding further clues to the mystery.

The country’s secret service has been formally approached by the French police to begin assisting with the inquiry.

There was no sign of Zaid Al-Hilli yesterday at two properties linked to him in the Chessington and Waltonon-Thames areas of Surrey.

The former public relations executive, who denies any link to the killings, has been interviewed by detectives over the weekend as a matter of routine.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

NEWS

11

The Ultimate show of Cricket!

World T20 2012 in Sri Lanka Matches of Group stage: 18 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) Group C : Sri Lanka vs. Zimbabwe.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo 19 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) Group A : India vs. Afganistan.Venue R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo 19 September 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) Group B : Australia vs. Ireland .Venue R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo 20 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) Group C : South Africa vs Zimbabwe .Venue -Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium Hambantota 21 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) Group A : England vs Afganistan.Venue -R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo 21 September 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) Group D : New Zealand vs Bangladesh.

Venue - Pallekele International Cricket Stadium Pallekele 22 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) Group B : Australia vs West Indies.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo 22 September 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) Group C : Sri Lanka vs South Africa.Venue - Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium Hambantota 23 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) Group A : England vs India.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo 23 September 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) Group D : Pakistan vs New Zealand.

Venue - Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele 24 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) Group B : West Indies vs Ireland.Venue R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo 25 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) Group D : Pakistan vs Bangladesh.

Venue - Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele Super 8 Matches: 27 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) : C1 vs D2.Venue - Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka 27 September 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) : A1 vs B2.Venue - Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka 28 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) : D1 vs C2.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 28 September 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) : B1 vs A2.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 29 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) : A1 vs D2.Venue - Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka 29 September 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) : C1 vs B2.Venue - Pallekele International

Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka 30 September 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) : B1 vs C2.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 30 September 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) : D1 vs A2.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 1 October 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) : B2 vs D2.Venue - Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka 1 October 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) : A1 vs C1.Venue - Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka 2 October 2012 (D/N - 10:00 GMT) : B1 vs D1.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium,

quite embrace the Twenty20 format when it was first introduced. They went into the inaugural edition of the ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 on the back of just one international match in South Africa, a good 10 months preceding the tournament. Virender Sehwag captained the team in a game in which India emerged winners, where the match was set up by the bowlers who restricted a strong South African batting line-up to 120. It is a common belief that Sri Lankan conditions are more suited to spinners. However, if statistics during the current year is any indication, it

(SLPL). Dilshan is hopeful Sri Lanka will produce a series-winning performance at home.

Hafeez optimistic for Pakistan’s World Twenty20 challenge Hafeez has been in charge for four T20s, three of which have been won and will be the man to lead Pakistan’s campaign in Sri Lanka.

Expectations have suddenly been raised by the Australia result, but Hafeez has been around long enough to know expectations are always to be played down.

“The last year, or the last 15-18 months

Colombo, Sri Lanka 2 October 2012 (D/N - 14:00 GMT) : A2 vs C2.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka Matches of Semi Finals : 4 October 2012 (D/N - 13:30 GMT) : TBC vs TBC.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Srilanka

is far from the only truth. During the limited-overs series between India and Sri Lanka, it was the pacers from both sides that did bulk of the damage. While for India, it was Irfan and Zaheer, who hogged the limelight in the ODIs, Ashok Dinda bagged four wickets in the oneoff T20. On paper at least, this looks the

our T20 record has not been that good,” .

“But from this side, I have a lot of hope. They’re very talented and what was needed was to get them together, to mould them in to a unit, give them confidence. The board chairman has played a role in that as well as the team

5 October 2012 (D/N - 13:30 GMT) : TBC vs TBC.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Srilanka !! Final Match !!

7 October 2012 (D/N - 13:30 GMT) : TBC vs TBC.Venue - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Srilanka For the 12 teams which would be contesting in the ICC World T20 of 2012 ,The tournament begins on September 18.

India will win T20 World Cup, says Srikkanth Outgoing chief cricket selector Krish Srikkanth on Monday predicted an Indian triumph in the World T20, starting in Sri Lanka on September 18.

It is now well known that India did not

best bowling combination India has put together for a World T20 event. The two warm-up matches in Colombo against Sri Lanka and Pakistan ahead of their tournament opener against Afghanistan on September 19, should provide a further platform to test the bowling strength and pick the right combination.

West Indies may be one of the strong contenders for this year’s World T20 to be played in Sri Lanka later this month, but the team from the Caribbean won’t have it easy, feels Tillakaratne Dilshan.

One of the most destructive openers in world cricket, the Sri Lankan all-rounder feels the hosts have a good team for the ICC event and are in fine form after playing in the Sri Lankan Premier League

management and coaches.

Pakistan will do well in World Twenty20: Shahid Afridi Flamboyant allrounder Shahid Afridi has called on the people of Pakistan to support and pray for the success of the national team in the ICC World Twenty20, to be held later this month in Sri Lanka. Pakistan’s former captain and now director-general cricket in the PCB, Javed Miandad has been given the task of assisting the national team’s batsmen ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. Miandad confirmed that he will be travelling to Sri Lanka this week to join the Pakistan team, but dismissed media reports that he was going there in the capacity of a batting coach. Pakistan

captain Mohammad Hafeez Tuesday urged his team to improve while chasing ahead of next week’s World Twenty20, saying it was a concern despite winning against Australia.

Pakistan clinched the three-match Twenty20 series 2-1 but were humiliated by 94 runs in the third and final match on Monday, shot out for their lowest Twenty20 score of 74.

“There is a concern in chasing a target but I am confident that we will improve and do well in the World Twenty20,” said Hafeez of the 12-team competition which begins in Sri Lanka from September 18.

Pakistan are placed in Group D of the World Twenty20 along with New Zealand and Bangladesh. Australia, losing finalists in the last World Twenty20 in 2010 held in the West Indies, slid to tenth in Twenty20 rankings after the series defeat. Both teams flew to Sri Lanka early on Tuesday.

Gibson optimistic about West Indies’ World T20 chances West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has expressed confidence in his side`s chances in the World Twenty20 Tournament beginning Sep 18 in Sri Lanka.

Gibson said the composition of the team struck the right balance between experience and talent, and he expected the West Indies to live up to his belief that they can win the title.

The 15 man squad flew out of the Caribbean Sunday enroute to Sri Lanka for the 12 team tournament from Sep 18 to Oct 7.

The defeat against Trinidad & Tobago in the last match of the quadrangular series was the worst possible way to end the Tigers’ preparation for the T20 world cup.

The tournament -- won by Afghanistan -- has reaffirmed the fact that, on a given day, any team can emerge victorious in this format of the game.

Mixed buildup for Bengal Tigers Despite the series loss, chief selector Akram Khan remained positive about Bangladesh’s performance.

The Tigers, who’ll reach Colombo on Wednesday, will be playing two more warm-up games before the start of the tournament. They’ll face Zimbabwe on September 15 and Ireland on the 17th.The cricketers will then play their group matches against New Zealand and Pakistan -- at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium -- on September 21 and 25 respectively.

The second Twenty20 international between world champions England and South Africa in Manchester on Monday was abandoned due to persistent rain.

NEWS

12

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

First China to attack USA than Iran to USA and Now “Israel Plan to Send Iran Back to ’Stone Age’ with Electromagnetic Pulses”

Israel might attack Iran by using electromagnetic impulses (EMP) which could send the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Age.” First it was claimed China is gearing up for war against the United States and their top weapon is a super electromagnetic pulse bomb that can blanket the U.S. and send America back to the dark ages in less than one second.

Then it was also propagated that Iran’s plans to launch an ElectroMagnetic Pulse Nuclear war against the USA and Europe, crippling the West in the War on terror. Iran armed their first wave of missiles with EMP warheads designed to unleash a devastating shockwave that destroyed all electronics as soon as they were shot down by the missile defense system. As the nation’s capital dark within a milliseconds the military realized that an Electromagnetic Pulse had just

taken everything offline and realized that the city would be reduced rubble in just a matter of moments as more missiles screamed through the sky toward Tel-Aviv.

A report first published in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, a weekly, online, premium, intelligence newsletter affiliated with WND, revealed last week that Iran has been seriously considering an unconventional preemptive nuclear strike against the U.S. An Iranian military journal publicly floated the idea of launching an electromagnetic pulse attack as the key to defeating the U.S. In an article titled, “Electronics to Determine Fate of Future Wars,” the Iranian Military journal explains how an EMP attack on America’s electronic infrastructure, caused by the detonation of a nuclear weapon high above the U.S., would bring the

country to its knees.

“Once you confuse the enemy communication network you can

triggered a chain reaction, allegedly influencing U.S. intelligence sources who have since been quoted in

also disrupt the work of the enemy command- and decision-making center,” the article states.

And now >……

An August 6 opinion article by Dr. Joe Tuzara on Arutz Sheva (Israel

National News) regarding Israel’s possible use of an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) bomb against Iran has

several publications, including the New York Post. The latest in the chain of news outlets to quote the report is the London Sunday Times.

The intelligence sources reportedly believe that the Arutz Sheva article

about a possible preemptive response to Iran’s expected emergence as a nuclear weapons state in the near future.” This, according to the Washington Free Beacon’s Bill Gertz, who reported on the U.S. intelligence agencies’ concerns August 29.

“It was the first time the issue of a nuclear EMP attack by Israel had appeared in a mainstream Israeli press outlet,” wrote the Beacon.

“U.S. officials also suspect the article was written by someone in the Israeli government who favors such a strike.

Another theory among analysts is that the Israeli government, at a minimum, encouraged publication of the article,” it reported.

Bill Gertz, editor of the conservative Washington Free Beacon, says US intelligence agencies have “growing concerns that Israel will conduct a strike on Iran using a high-altitude nuclear burst aimed at disrupting all electronics in the country.”

The technology behind electromagnetic impulses, known as EMP, involves making nonlethal gamma energy react with the Earth’s magnetic field.

The gamma flashes produce a

out Iran’s power grid and communications systems for transport and financial services, leading to economic collapse.

The “back to the Stone Age” tactic was proposed in the right-wing publication Israel National News by Joe Tuzara, a US writer who said signs that Iran was speeding up development of nuclear weapons should be met with a pre-emptive EMP strike.

British newspaper Sunday Times and other papers are describing just one of Israel Defense Force’s capabilities that it would deploy during a military strike in Iran electromagnetic pulses that would take the nation off grid.

As part of an assault on Iran’s quickly developing nuclear program, Israelis could hobble the Islamic Republic’s electric and electronic power sources which could “send Iran back to the Stone Age,” according to ynewsnet. com.

British newspaper Sunday Times described one of Israeli occupation forces’ ‘surprises’ it would deploy in case of a military strike in Iran electromagnetic pulses that would

was more than an innocent op-ed by a physician, and that it “reflects official Israeli government thinking

powerful electromagnetic shock wave that can fry electronic devices.

The shock wave would knock

take the nation off grid According to the Sunday morning Continued on page 14 >>

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

NEWS

13

China quake: Toll rises to 80

At least 80 people have been confirmed dead and more than 700 were reported injured after multiple earthquakes struck a mountainous region in southwest China’s Yunnan province on Friday, authorities said on Saturday.

Two quakes measuring 5.7 and 5.6 on the Richter scale jolted the province, Xinhua reported. Around 740,000 people were affected by the quakes, officials said.

The disaster has so far caused losses worth 3.5 billion yuan (around $551 million), said the civil affairs department in Yunnan.

The quakes cut off electricity and triggered landslides that blocked roads, creating complications for rescuers.

Around 6,650 houses were destroyed and 430,000 partially

damaged. More than 100,000 residents were evacuated and

Officials said 28,000 people were affected in Weining county. At

100,000 others are in need of relocation.

Authorities are also taking epidemic control measures after shed collapses killed more than 4,300 cattle in Yunnan. Over 153 hectares of farmlands were damaged.

least 18 houses were toppled and more than 10,000 houses were partially damaged.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is in Russia for the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, has called for immediate efforts to help with

disaster relief work.

Bangladesh PM shocked at loss of

lives in China quakes.

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Friday expressed deep shock at the loss of lives and property in a series of earthquakes in China.

In a condolence message to the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, Hasina said, ‘The people of Bangladesh and its government are shocked at the loss of lives and property in a series of earthquakes in south-western China.’

She expressed the hope that the Chinese government would soon be able to overcome the losses caused by the tremors, PM’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told the news agency.

The prime minister prayed for salvation of the departed souls and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved families of the victims.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits quake-hit area in SW China

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited the earthquake-hit area in Yunnan early Saturday morning. Premier Wen

waiting for more aid to arrive as jolting aftershocks are keeping fears high and are hindering rescue efforts.

More than 820 people were hurt and the area was still being jolted by aftershocks on Sunday, raising fears

evacuated but many had no shelter and needed tents and quilts.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency

More than 11 thousand tents, 11 thousand quilts, 6 thousand coats and other relief materials have been

first went to Maoping Village, which suffered the most in the quake.

Later, Wen Jiabao visited the injured people in the Hospital in Yiliang County. He also went to the Yiliang County Square where some of those affected have been temporarily relocated. Premier Wen also attended a meeting held at the earthquake relief headquarters, listened to the report on the latest situation and arranged the next steps for relief work.

Survivors of two earthquakes which killed 80 people in a mountainous area of southwest China are desperately

The quakes struck on Friday in a region of small farms and mines near the border between Guizhou and Yunnan provinces.

of more injuries.

An official in Jiaokui town in Yunnan’s Yiliang county said almost all of the town’s 110,000 people had been

said on Saturday that more than 11,000 tents and 8500 quilts had been delivered to Yiliang county and more were on their way.

delivered to the hardest-hit areas, and more are on the way.

The Red Cross Society of China and its branch in Yunnan Province have also allocated relief materials worth more than 1.5 million yuan, or nearly 24 thousand US dollars.

In the hardest-hit Yiliang County in Zhaotong City, local governments have earmarked a 10 thousand yuan pension, or nearly 16 hundred US dollars, to each of the victim’s families.

More than 32 hundred soldiers and four thousand militiamen are taking part in the rescue work.

NEWS

14

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

Taliban ‘open’ to a ceasefire and ‘willing to accept NATO Copter Destroyed US military presence’ in Afghanistan up to 2024

by Taliban at Base

The Taliban, led by Mullah Mohammad Omar, are open to a general ceasefire and/or political agreement which could lead to a US military presence in Afghanistan after 2014, but will not negotiate with President Karzai or his administration, who the organisation considers corrupt and weak, according to a new Briefing Paper from King’s College London, published today by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Academics who conducted private talks with Taliban say senior figures believe war in Afghanistan is not winnable.

A belief that the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable and fear of a future civil war has persuaded Taliban leaders of the merits of a ceasefire, powersharing and a political deal, according to a group of experts and academics who conducted private talks with senior Taliban figures.

Two former Taliban ministers, a former mujahideen commander and an Afghan mediator with experience of negotiating with the Taliban spent between three and five hours in individual discussions with professors Anatol Lieven, Theo Farrell and Rudra Chaudhuri of King’s College London and Michael Semple of Harvard.

Separately, Matt Waldman, a former key UN official in Kabul involved in promoting dialogue and reconciliation in Afghanistan, has told the Guardian: “It would be a grave mistake to assume the Taliban would settle for nothing less than absolute power.”

At a press briefing on Monday on their report published by the Royal United Services Institute, Lieven and his colleagues painted a picture of a pragmatic Taliban leadership around Mullah Omar.

Three of his group’s four interlocutors said they could imagine a “long-term US military role in Afghanistan … so long as the US military presence contributed to Afghan security”, Farrell said. But it could be used to attack Afghan’s neighbours, including Iran, the Taliban leaders insisted.

Semple said the Taliban figures they spoke to were driven by the belief that “war was not winnable” and by “fear of precipitating civil war”. Lieven described “real disillusionment and anger with al-Qaida” within the Taliban leadership.

However, he said their Taliban interlocutors were “very silent” on the question of the Haqqani network, which has attacked US and Afghan forces

Guardian. “They know that even coming close would reinvigorate, potentially augment, the coalition of forces ranged against them. That could trigger a civil war, which they are anxious to avoid.”

He continues: “Antediluvian theocracy has had its day and thinking Talibs know it,” and adds: “Most Taliban leaders deeply resent their dependence on, and manipulation by, Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI … They yearn to be taken seriously as a credible, national political force.”

So far no Taliban leader has publicly endorsed the idea of a ceasefire.

Another of the main findings to emerge is that the Taliban leadership and ‘base’ deeply regret their past association with Al-Qa’ida; so much that once a general ceasefire and/or political agreement are decided they would obey a command to completely renounce Al-Qa’ida, if this call came from Mullah Omar. These views have been made apparent before, but until now there had been little clarity over how this might happen.

According to the paper, renunciation of Al-Qa’ida, seen as a process rather

from their base in Pakistan. Originally encouraged by the CIA during the war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan, the group has just been proscribed by the US as a terrorist organisation.

“Pakistan’s influence would be crucial,” Lieven described one of their Taliban interlocutors as saying, because Pakistan could undermine a peace agreement.

“Taliban leaders know they stand no chance of seizing power now or in the near future,” writes Waldman in the

than an end in itself, would need to be built into a larger comprehensive peace settlement agreement in exchange for some form of political recognition. The Taliban propose they would then act, with ISAF and Afghan Government representatives on a Joint Monitoring Commission to ensure that Al-Qa’ida is no longer able to operate on Afghan soil. One interviewee noted that any renunciation process would be used ‘as a lever to negotiate something substantial.’

3 Afghans killed,

A coalition heavy-transport helicopter parked inside the sprawling Bagram Air Base was hit and destroyed by insurgent fire late Monday, killing three Afghan service members who were on board, NATO said Tuesday.

NATO service members also on

said the three Afghans died and an unspecified number of coalition troops were injured in the attack, but NATO policy prevented him from disclosing details about their injuries.

An Afghan government official in Parwan province where the base

the helicopter, a Chinook CH47, at the time of the attack were wounded, but there were no other fatalities, said Lt. Col. Hagen Messer, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. An attack on a U.S. military base killed three Afghan intelligence employees and destroyed a NATO helicopter, Afghan and coalition officials said Tuesday.

Separately, a teenage suicide bomber on Tuesday walked into a shop in western Afghanistan and blew himself up, killing five people.

The attack on Bagram Air Field, a sprawling American base north of Kabul, occurred around 10 p.m.

Monday. Militants occasionally fire mortars or rockets at Bagram, but the attacks usually cause little or no damage.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the base.

“Four rounds hit,” coalition spokesman Army Maj. Adam Wojack said, adding that it was unclear whether rockets or mortars landed on the base. “One of the rounds hit the helicopter and started a fire, which destroyed it.”

Both Afghan and coalition forces were inside the Chinook CH47 when it was hit, he said. Wojack

is located confirmed that three Afghan intelligence employees were killed. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose information to the media, said two Afghan policemen were injured in the attack.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that the rockets fired by the group’s fighters killed nine Afghan intelligence workers and four Americans at the base. However, the insurgents often exaggerate the death toll of their attacks.

In an attack last month on Bagram, an insurgent rocket damaged a top U.S. general’s plane that was parked on the tarmac. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for that attack, saying they had fired rockets that landed near the C-17 transport plane, which had flown U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Bagram.

Dempsey was in his staff quarters when the rockets landed and was not hurt in the attack, but the damage to his plane forced him to use another aircraft for his ongoing flight to Iraq.

Two aircraft maintenance workers were lightly wounded by shrapnel, and a nearby helicopter was damaged.

First China to attack USA than Iran to USA and Now

Continued from page 12

report, the Zionist entity could ‘cripple’ the Islamic Republic’s power grid with electromagnetic pulses as part of a concerted attack to halt Iran’s military nuclear program, which could “send Iran back to the Stone Age.” “As part of an assault on Iran’s quickly developing nuclear program, Israelis could hobble the Islamic Republic’s electric and electronic power sources which could ‘send Iran back to the Stone Age,’” according to ynewsnet.com.

American defense specialist Bill Gertz is quoted as saying that US intelligence agencies have reported “growing concerns that Israel will

conduct a strike on Iran using a high-altitude nuclear burst aimed at disrupting all electronics in the country.”

However, a pulse can also be produced by non-nuclear means more specifically by deploying military versions of microwave generators, the report claimed.

Uzi Rubin, who helped engineer Israel’s anti-missile shield, is quoted in the newspaper as saying “the use of a nuclear device even for nonlethal use such as EMP is out of the question. There are methods to operate EMP from the ground.”

The WorldNetDaily reported three weeks ago, “Israelis have not ruled

out a Jericho III missile launch to detonate a single electromagnetic pulse warhead at high altitude over central Iran.”

Amid constant reports of Israel’s preparing to take direct action to stop or at least halt Iran’s presumed race to manufacture a nuclear warhead aimed at Israel, Canada increased diplomatic pressure on Iran Friday by announcing it is closing its embassy in Tehran.

It called the Islamic regimen “the greatest threat to security and peace in the world.”

Foreign Minister John Baird said that “the Iranian regime refuses to fall in line with UN demands

regarding Iran’s nuclear program, and making repeated threats to Israel’s existence.”

A report first published in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, a weekly, online, premium, intelligence newsletter affiliated with WND, revealed last week that Iran has been seriously considering an unconventional pre-emptive nuclear strike against the U.S. An Iranian military journal publicly floated the idea of launching an electromagnetic pulse attack as the key to defeating the U.S. Congress was warned of Iran’s plans last month by Peter Pry, a senior staffer with the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United

States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack in a hearing of Sen. John Kyl’s subcommittee on terrorism, technology and homeland security.

In an article titled, “Electronics to Determine Fate of Future Wars,” the Iranian Military journal explains how an EMP attack on America’s electronic infrastructure, caused by the detonation of a nuclear weapon high above the U.S., would bring the country to its knees.

WND reported the Iranian threat last Monday, explaining Tehran is not only covertly developing nuclear weapons, it is already testing ballistic missiles

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

NEWS

15

Chinese, Pakistani PMs reaffirm strengthening traditional friendship

The prime ministers of China and Pakistan on Tuesday reaffirmed that they will strengthen the two countries’ traditional friendship and cooperation in all areas.

“China and Pakistan’s traditional friendship, which is deeply rooted among the two peoples, is our most valuable treasure,” Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said while meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on the sidelines of the Summer Davos Forum slated for opening in north China’s Tianjin Municipality Tuesday afternoon.

Wen said China firmly supports Pakistan on its efforts to safeguard its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, maintain national solidarity and stability, and strive for an environment featuring good relationship with neighboring countries.

He called on the two countries to maintain close communication and coordination, jointly cope with challenges, and promote cooperation in various areas, including energy, transportation and security.

Ashraf said the Pakistan-China

India, China reach consensus over maintaining peace in Asia-Pacific region

In a significant decision, India and China have agreed to “work together to maintain peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region”.

The “consensus” was reached during the recent visit of the Chinese defence

minister General Liang Guanglie to India, the first such visit since 1976.

A little noticed joint communique issued at the end of the visit said the two sides had agreed to cooperate in the Asia-Pacific region. The decision, which was greeted by silence on both sides, is the first clear indication that India has a role to play in the strategically important Asia-Pacific region, where, until recently, New Delhi wasn’t considered to be a power to contend with.

The agreement, though, has raised a

flurry of questions from India’s other strategic partners in the region, chiefly the US. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who was in Beijing around the time Gen Liang was here, said, “As I have said before, our two nations are trying to do something that has never been done in history, which is to write a new answer to the question of what happens when an established power and a rising power meet.”

If China and India can at least agree to work in the Asia-Pacific region, it could mean an opening for New Delhi in the South China Sea, where Indian oil companies are prospecting for energy off Vietnam. Although ONGC, the Indian oil major, had decided to give up an oil block there, a request by Vietnam has kept India in the region. This could not have gone unnoticed. India has also agreed to do joint anti-piracy patrols off Somalia in the Indian Ocean Region, which India regards as its strategic backyard.

friendship has a solid foundation, and Pakistan thanks China for its longterm support and assistance.

He also pledged to continue cooperation with China in all areas as well as to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.

The 6th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, will open on Tuesday afternoon. Wen will address the opening ceremony.

Raja in China for WEF’s New Champions meeting * Over 1,500 executives from

world’s top companies, government, corporate leaders from 90 countries gather for WEF TIANJIN: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf arrived in China’s port city Tianjin on Monday to represent the country at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting of the New Champions.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez will be the main speaker in a session titled ‘An insight, An idea’ on Wednesday, where he will deliver a speech on the topic ‘Regional situation: Pakistan’s perspective’. He will also deliberate on

the geopolitical and economic matters affecting the South Asia region.

Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf met with Prime Minister of Denmark Helle Thorning Schmidt in Tianjin, China.

This is Thorning-Schmidt’s first visit to China since becoming Denmark’s first female prime minister in September 2011.

During the visit, she will meet with Chinese leaders and entrepreneurs from China and Denmark, and attend the World Economic Forum in Tianjin.

South Asian summit to plan inclusive, sustainable growth

* Theme of summit is ‘Making Growth Inclusive and Sustainable in South Asia’ The fifth South Asia Economic Summit begins in Islamabad today as hopes fly high that the eight-nation regional bloc can get a significant boost from the successful culmination of Indian foreign minister’s visit to Pakistan.

The summit will frame the recommendations for the 18th Summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), to be held in Nepal and attended by the heads of the regional governments.

The meeting coincides with gathering of world leaders in China at the platform of the World Economic Forum.

The timing of the conference provides an ideal opportunity where formal diplomacy will now be supplemented by the diplomacy through wider participation of all the stakeholders, said Dr Vaqar Ahmad, Head of Economic Growth Unit of Sustainable Development Policy Institute Pakistan (SDPI). The SDPI is the secretariat for the fifth Economic Summit.

The theme of the summit is making growth inclusive and sustainable in the South Asian region and chalk out comprehensive set of recommendations for heads of the governments. The participants will set the priorities with a background of global financial crisis that has started impacting the South Asian region.

The forecasts show that the South Asian region’s growth will decline at least for next two quarters.

The first day session will outline the ‘Development Agenda for a New South Asia’. It will discuss what the

agenda calls the new opportunities for South Asia given the normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan.

The participants also aimed at taking up the thorny issue of nontraditional security threats to the region that include governance, food security, conflict-led and disaster-led migrations, health epidemics, cross border terrorism and environmental security. The stakeholders will try to find out solutions to the problem of black carbon emissions emitted by India causing melting of Pakistan’s glaciers.

As Pakistan and India gradually make progress towards normalisation of trade ties, the participants will review regional trade agreements and propose a way forward with a broader aim of seamless regional integration. The recent patterns of Pak-India trade ties will become the base for future recommendations.

The regional free trade agreements will also be reviewed.

Key leaders in this year’s summit include Indian Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh,

Sri Lankan Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Sarath Amunugama, Minister and Senior Adviser for Economic Affairs to President of Afghanistan Sham L Bathija, Adviser International Affairs to Prime Minister of Bangladesh Gowher Rizvi, Central Bank of Nepal Governor Yuba Raj Khatiwada, former Indian foreign secretary and SACEPS Co-Chairman Muchkund Dubey, Human Development Report, United Nations, New York, Director Khalid Malik, Division for Sustainable Development, United Nations, New York, former director Tariq Banuri, SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, India President Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Sri Lankan Institute of Policy Studies Executive Director Saman Kelegama, Bangladesh former finance minister Syeduzzaman, International Food Policy Research Institute Senior Research Fellow Shahidur Rashid, Afghanistan Civil Society’s Coordination Centre Mirwais Rahimzai and World Bank South Asia Chief Economist Kalpana Kochhar besides a large number of other delegates.

16

NEWS

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

Cartoonist Trivedi gets bail, refuses to be freed till charges dropped

Aseem Trivedi accepts bail, to be released today

Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, in custody on sedition charges, agreed to accept bail late on Tuesday night after Maharashtra Home Minster R.R. Patil’s assurance that he would examine the case against him, and also respecting the views of the Bombay High Court, according to a statement

by India Against Corruption (IAC) spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon.

Mr. Trivedi will be released from the Arthur Road Jail on Wednesday.

In a setback to the Maharashtra government, the Bombay High Court granted bail to jailed cartoonist Aseem Trivedi here late Tuesday. However, he refused to be freed till the sedition charges against him were dropped, an activist said.

A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar granted the bail, following a public interest litigation filed by lawyer Sanskar Marathe.

According to India Against Corruption (IAC) activist Preeti Menon, the bail was granted at a sum of Rs.5,000.

However, Trivedi has declined to be released until the sedition charge, slapped by Mumbai Police on him, is withdrawn, said IAC’s Mayank Gandhi, adding that efforts were on to persuade him.

The development came barely

Trivedi was arrested last Saturday

by Mumbai Police which charged him, among other things, with sedition for insulting national emblems and the Constitution during the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare

prison if all charges against Trivedi were not dropped by Friday.

“Either you release Aseem or arrest us. Aseem had fought in support of Lokpal and against corruption but he has been described as a traitor.

However those stealing coal are

hours after Home Minister R.R. Patil said that police and state law department’s opinions would be sought on the charge of sedition against Trivedi.

“After getting the details, we shall decide on withdrawing the sedition charge on the cartoonist,” Patil told media persons, sticking to the government stand on the issue.

He also met and assured a delegation of IAC activists that the government was in the process of expediting Trivedi’s release.

here December 2011.

The Mumbai Police’s action created outrage in media and public circles with all-round condemnation from various quarters in India and abroad.

IAC leader Arvind Kejriwal arrived here from New Delhi and visited Trivedi in the high-security Arthur Road Central Jail where Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who is awaiting the noose, is lodged.

Issuing an ultimatum to the state government, Kejriwal threatened to sit on a protest outside the

termed as patriots. This will not be tolerated by the countrymen,” he told media persons this evening.

More support came in for Trivedi.

Throwing their weight behind the cartoonist, Bollywood personality Mahesh Bhatt, along with Gandhi and Mumbai Press Club chief Gurbir Singh demanded that the section of sedition should be deleted from the Indian Penal Code.

Challenging the government to lodge sedition cases against them, the trio displayed copies of Trivedi’s

alleged seditious cartoons.

Justice (retd) Hosbet Suresh also said that the sedition law is a British act which is “outdated and must be scrapped”. Comparing it to another former draconian law TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, he said that the sedition law has been scrapped even in Britain but retained in India.

Gandhi also said that they would request Trivedi to accept the bail granted by the Bombay High Court and fight for the bigger cause to “abolish sedition.”

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray also lashed out at the government for booking Trivedi under sedition laws while the real traitors were out in the open.

Under intense pressure since the past three days, the Mumbai Police attempted to wriggle out of the situation by completing Trivedi’s interrogation and producing him before a Mumbai court, barely 24 hours after he was sent to seven days’ police custody last Sunday.

Trivedi was Monday sent to judicial custody till Sep. 24.

A writ petition filed by Marathe, contending that the sedition charge against Trivedi was illegal and he should be released forthwith Tuesday came up before the division bench which granted bail to the cartoonist.

Pakistan releases all Won’t allow Pakistani cricketers Indian fishermen to play in Mumbai: Bal Thackeray

Thackeray: I won’t tolerate Pakistani, Bangladeshi Muslims”

Pakistan on Saturday released all Indian fishermen in its jails as a goodwill gesture for External Affairs Minister S M Krishna’s visit here.

“All Indian fishermen have been released -- those who have completed their jail terms and those who are still serving,” Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said at a joint press conference with her visiting Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna.

Mr. Krishna thanked the Pakistan

government for the “wonderful gesture” of releasing all Indian fishermen. “I hope their boats and trawlers are also released,” he said.

Threatening ‘communal Muslims’, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray also vowed to not allow India-Pakistan cricket matches to be held.

Days after his nephew Raj opposed -albeit briefly -- a TV show featuring Pakistani artistes, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Saturday said he would not allow Pakistani cricketers to play in India.

“I won’t allow them to play here. I have not reneged on my words and will not do so,” Thackeray said, in the second part of a marathon interview published in the party mouthpiece Saamna.

The Sena patriarch also claimed that if he was given charge of the military, he would perform a miracle and set things right in the country within a month.

The Azad Maidan violence on August 11, during a protest to oppose the alleged attacks on Muslims in

Myanmar and the riots in Assam, was “pre-planned,” Thackeray said.

Shiv Sena and the Raj Thackerayled Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had condemned the Azad Maidan violence, Thackeray said, but “Where were the people who paralysed Parliament,” he asked.

Thackeray also warned that he would not “spare” Muslim fundamentalists who fomented trouble in the country.

“I will not allow a single fanatic Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim to live in Maharashtra and right up

to Jammu and Kashmir where we have branches,” said the 86-year-old leader.

Asked about the political situation in Delhi, Thackeray said, “I have been saying for a long time that anarchy is imminent. We are on the brink of anarchy. I feel (general) elections will happen before 2014. This is my prediction.

Issuing a stern warning to extremist elements in the wake of the August 11 rioting near Azad Maidan here, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said he would not tolerate Muslims from Pakistan and Bangladesh inside Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena is firm on not letting cricket relations resume with Pakistan, he said in an interview in his party mouthpiece Saamna.

Mr. Thackeray’s solution to root out Pakistan-sponsored terror is that he be given charge of the Indian Army.

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

17

NEWS

Pakistan visit ‘fruitful’: Krishna

Concluding his much-anticipated and closely-watched three-day trip to Pakistan on a high note, Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna termed his interactions “very fruitful”.

“After seven years, we had a joint commission meeting of India and Pakistan with the Pakistani foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar … it was a very fruitful visit,” Krishna said while addressing the media at Lahore airport.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the people of India would like to see a stable and peaceful Pakistan, Krishna said.

The foreign minister said he had discussions with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in Islamabad.

“We were able to make a few decisions; we signed the visa liberalisation pact and a cultural pact. All this is going to help foster a much more cordial relationship between the two

countries,” he said.

Visiting Lahore Earlier in the day, Krishna paid his respects at Data Darbar and Gurdwara Dera Sahib and visited Minar-e-Pakistan.

He also dined with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and met Governor Latif Khan Khosa.

During his meeting with Governor Khosa, Krishna candidly said that all problems could not be resolved in one meeting.

India and Pakistan must strive to

maintain the trust between the two countries, he said.

The governor seconded Krishna, adding that all issues, including Kashmir, should be resolved through dialogue.

Luncheon Shahbaz

with

Progress and prosperity for the people of Pakistan and India lies in the time-honoured principle of peaceful co-existence, for which meaningful dialogue

must continue between the two countries, said the Punjab chief minister at the luncheon in Krishna’s honour.

Shahbaz said that Pakistan and India have already fought wars, which proved to be quite useless.

Both countries, instead, can benefit from each other’s experiences in commerce, industry, education, health, technology and other sectors, he said.

It is time to quit the arms race

and compete in the fields of transfer of technology, tourism, productivity and cultural exchange.

He lauded the new, liberalised visa regime and cited the example of European countries that were at loggerheads for centuries but are now cooperating as part of a European Union.

He threw his weight behind the normalisation of ties at the federal level, and emphasised that the process was initiated during the government of his brother, Nawaz Sharif.

Krishna acknowledged Nawaz’s role in the peace process and called him the “biggest flag-bearer for betterment of relationship between Pakistan and India”.

India and Pakistan are moving towards better relations which will strengthen the process of confidence-building, he said, adding that Indian premier Singh is also interested in strengthening relations with Pakistan.

Guarded optimism as India, Pakistan hold talks

India and Pakistan prepare for the foreign ministerial engagement, capping the second round of the resumed dialogue process which till date has had little to show by way of results on the ground except a concerted effort to avoid hostile rhetoric.

Guarded optimism was the dominant mood here on Friday as India and Pakistan prepared for the foreign ministerial engagement on Saturday, capping the second round of the resumed dialogue process which till date has had little to show by way of results on the ground except a concerted effort on both sides to avoid hostile rhetoric.

But the improved atmospherics in which these talks are taking place is itself being flagged as an improvement in a relationship that is evolving on a slow burn mode; inching forward to dismantle the mechanisms of distrust built over six decades.

Though both Foreign Ministers were careful enough not to raise expectations in their interactions with the media, Interior Minister Rehman Malik in the evening announced that the visa agreement would be signed on Saturday. As of

now, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna is scheduled to go to the Interior Ministry on Saturday to sign the agreement.

Ahead of the engagement, Pakistan

Krishna’s arrival. During his meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari, the Minister urged him to consider Sarabjit Singh’s mercy petition.

Another agreement on the cards

group tourism permits across the LoC. Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, in a series of interactions with the media, stressed

also facilitated consular access to Sarabjit Singh, death row inmate in Punjab’s Kot Lakpat Jail. Amid

pertains to cross-Line of Control confidence building measures. These include facilitating cross-LoC trade

the need for India to have a more practical approach vis-à-vis the progress of the Mumbai terror attacks

reports suggesting that his life was under threat on the jail premises, he was granted consular access on Thursday; a day ahead of Mr.

and travel, multiple entry permits, strengthening infrastructure in both Kashmirs, better communication links between the two sides and

case trial here as the matter was now in court. And, to persistent references to the Mumbai terror attack trial, she flagged the Samjhauta Express blast

issue, trying to once again draw a similarity between the two.

Maintaining that Pakistan had a region-first approach in foreign relations, she said a better and deeper relationship would eventually lead the two countries to ways and means to resolve all bilateral disputes, including the status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Upon arrival, Mr. Krishna reiterated India’s desire to see a stable and prosperous Pakistan living in peace with itself and the world. “That would be in the best interest of everyone,” he said. “We are committed to finding solutions for all issues that have beset our relationship through peaceful bilateral dialogue, while we look to the future where our two countries are able to live together in an atmosphere of friendliness and all-round cooperation, free from terror and violence.”

Mr. Krishna also called on Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf and met leaders of all constituents of the ruling coalition. During the meeting with the premier, both sides acknowledged that no country could afford to choose its neighbours and peaceful coexistence was the only option.

18

ENTERTAINMENT

KAREENA KAPOOR IN HEROINE render a tune.

Actress Kareena Kapoor looked radiant in a sky-blue summery dress at the promotion of her upcoming film ‘Heroine’. Recently, actress Karisma Kapoor said that ‘Heroine’ would be her sister, Kareena’s best film till date. Afer several hiccups, the journey of Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine has finally taken off. Excited and nervous Kareena Kapoor shared her excitement on Day 1 of the shoot.

Seen in a video posted by UTV Kareena Kapoor says, “Welcome it’s day one of Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine. As you all know, I’m part of this movie now. I’m obviously nervous and super-excited. This would be a milestone in my career and I aim to make it my career best performance, with Madhur Bhandarkar’s help and your love and support.”

First look: Kareena Kapoor starts shooting for Heroine Kareena also promises to upload

IANS at the red carpet of Airtel Super Star Awards.

“Heroine is basically a journey in a heroine’s life in the contemporary world. It’s going to portray how an actress reaches the top and how her life goes through ups and downs. There are lot of catharsis and traumas shown in the film,” Bhandarkar adds.

Arjun Rampal would play lead in the film opposite Kareena Kapoor.

Kareena plays superstar Mahi Khanna, who becomes schizophrenic as her stardom starts to fade.

QUICK TAKE: Kareena has described the film as one where ‘the camera is tracking the mind and heart of a super successful actress who is on the edge’. The film has been in the news ever since it was announced.

First, Madhur signed Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan and did an elaborate photo-op at Cannes last year to launch the film. However, Ash got pregnant after shooting for a few

It is a sad song, and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has done full justice to the myriad emotions the protagonist or the Heroine Kareena Kapoor is undergoing.

Rahat has given us a variety in this song- with altering his voice to suit the hopelessness and heartbreak in the song.

Complete with difficult notes sung effortlessly by the talented singer, this song will become the anthem of broken hearts.

The music is by the duo SalimSulaiman and they have done justice to the grandiose expectations from the music of Heroine.

Use of multiple instruments, perfectly blended with a good voice and ryhtmic lyrics work well for the listener. The chorus of the song is lightly reminiscent of the movie Dor’s Ye Haunsla, but in a good way. The lyrics penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, are simple and effective. He has given words to the complex feelings of being lost, and finally surrendering yourself to destiny, or a higher power.

Some of the phrases are common , like dil sheeshe ka toota aashiyaan re. But then he immediately gives us, ab kis disha jaoon, kit mai basera paaun, tu jo thaame sambhal jaoon and surprises us with the simplicity and meaning of his words.

The video of the song is its another plus point. The song, in a matter of about two minutes, conveys the emotional journey of Kareena, or the Heroine.

She is shown falling in love with Arjun Rampal, then ignored by him

more stuff about the film. “We will keep updating more stuff on Twitter and more pics, pretty ones and I will keep talking to you on this particular website.”

Now that the jinx seems to be over, Madhur Bhandarkar is also excited about the movie. “She (Kareena) is a great star. We have always talked about working together and even discussed a lot of films but nothing materialized. But Heroine is a great script and a great story. I am sure it will be a landmark cinema in Kareena’s career,” Bhandarkar told

days, and Madhur was left with no lead star. Kareena took over. The film promises to expose a few scandals in the film industry.

Heroine’s first song Halkat Jawani is already creating waves with its catchy tune and racy picturisation. With the Halkat fever still continuing, a new song from Heroine, Saaiyaan has been released and is steadily gripping us with effortless singing, complimentary music and sad lyrics.

The song is beautifully sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, in a melancholic and mighty way in which only Rahat can

and again getting involved with Randeep Hooda. She has portrayed the turmoil of the loss of love extremely well.

Often, she is looking at herself in the mirror, as if metaphorically reflecting upon her own life, thinking about what all she has lost and looking deep within herself.

From the looks of the song, Heroine will be one visual delight.

With the good looks of Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Randeep Hooda- this movie will be a treat for the eyes.

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

India’s new Hindi films a bold step away from Bollywood The success of both parts of Gangs of Wasseypur is spurring a new era for the independent Hindi film scene. All of a sudden, it’s not just Bollywood films made in Mumbai by big studios starring the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh

Michael Winterbottom was a big inspiration for these filmmakers to pick up a camera and shoot the films they wanted to make.

Bala worked on Winterbottom’s Trishna and saw that films could be made without

The new generation of Hindi films boldly deals with taboo subjects that break away from mainstream Bollywood.

Kaleem Aftab talks to two directors whose movies premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Bachchan and Katrina Kaif that are making headlines.

At Cannes this year, all the Hindi films showing were from the independent sector: there were both parts of Anurag Kashyap’s tale of revenge, Gangs of Wasseypur; Vasan Bala’s essay on destitute drug addicts The Peddlers; and Ashim Ahluwalia’s look at the era of 1970s B-rated movies with Miss Lovely.

They’re all part of a revolution taking place in Hindi cinema: Bollywood, with its traditional studio system, is no longer the only player in town. More and more films are appearing without song-anddance sequences, and genres now include everything from horror to sci-fi to cater for a new, wider audience.

The change has affected the studios, and they’ve started to bring out broader comedies, such as Vicky Donor, to target audiences. Multiplexes are looking for different content, too. One size no longer fits all.

Vasan Bala is a typical example of the new breed of Indian filmmaker. He was raised in a conservative family to be an engineer or a doctor and started his work life by getting jobs in advertising and in a bank. Then, when he was 28, his parents asked him to pick a career and stick to it.

He told them he wanted to try being a film director.

Bala started to communicate with the Gangs of Wasseypur director Kashyap.

“We met on an online portal called Passion for Cinema and then he called me and said: ‘Start writing the script’ and I said: ‘I’m not a writer’ and he said: ‘Just try to do it’. Then he started making films and I joined him.”

When Bala describes their office and working environment, it evokes memories of the fabled meetings between the New Hollywood directors - Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese among them - that took place in Los Angeles in the 1970s.

“Anurag’s office is in Andheri [a Mumbai suburb]. There is barely any money to run the office and no salary structure so you get paid as and when something happens.

I’m glad that I have a house in Mumbai, otherwise it would be difficult to survive.

You need a lot of will power.”

a big crew and budget. Winterbottom showed that there are many ways to make a movie.

The other advantage of working outside of the mainstream is that the director has more power to make the film he wants without worrying about the budget or offending the audience. The result is the freedom to deal with subjects that are taboo, Kashyap says.

“Sometimes I see all these young filmmakers and I envy them. I made The Girl in the Yellow Boots and it premiered in Venice. The German director Fatih Akin saw it and told me that my problem was I didn’t go far enough. I told him that if he came to India he would see that people think I kick the door down on subjects and that I’m nasty and immoral. It’s all relative. These new boys are fearless.

They go and make films as they want. I say it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work.

You are answerable only to yourself.”

If the advantage of being independent is that taboo subjects can be met head on, the big disadvantage is that there is very little financial support for filmmakers working outside of the mainstream.

The Miss Lovely director Ahluwalia says: “I mean, there is no independent scene in India. You have to start from scratch.

There is no state funding such as in France or Germany or England. In India, if you want to make an independent film, you are in trouble, essentially.”

But the passion of the filmmakers means it’s not a lost cause.

“I have to say that the independent scene in India is small, but it’s going to happen because there are enough mad people out there, like me, who are going to do it anyway,” says Ahluwalia. “But right now, from the point of view of finance and distribution, it’s very negligible. From a filmmaking point of view, there are more filmmakers, and I think it’s very exciting.

Traditional Bollywood is breaking down.

Big budget films are not doing very well and they have a crisis of identity because the films resemble Hollywood. If the film doesn’t have songs in it anymore, is it still a Bollywood movie?”

It’s time to throw those preconceived notions of Indian cinema to the dustbin.

A revolution is taking place.

aarc S

19

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

Work displayed in saarc int. are a review of southasianmedia.net.

The information on this page is for information purposes only.

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, 13.09.12

international

Pakistan Double Blaze Tragedy

Sharifs on TTP hit list, secret report

Several leading politicians, including PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, are on the potential hitlist of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to an intelligence report circulated among law enforcement agencies.

Hundreds die in two factory fires 314+ Karachi and 25 in Lahore The death toll from a garment factory fire in Karachi’s SITE area rose to 314 as more bodies were recovered from the gutted building, the city’s top administration

flouting of basic safety regulations.

People were killed after becoming trapped in an underwear factory that caught fire on Tuesday evening. Many others were

the four-storey building’s single exit many could do so only by jumping from the windows. At least 65 employees are reported to have suffered from broken

official said Wednesday.

More dead bodies expected in Factory Basement The death toll from a garment factory fire in Karachi’s SITE area rose to 314 as more bodies were recovered from the gutted building, the city’s top administration official said Wednesday.

Factory fires in Pakistan’s two biggest cities have killed more than 314 people in a disaster blamed on barred windows, shoddy building standards and the

injured after trying to escape by jumping out of high windows of the five-floor building, including a pregnant woman.

Workers had little time to escape from

bones. As the full horror of the blaze unfolded, shouting and sobbing relatives of trapped workers scuffled with police while rescuers battled to gain access to the roof and the basement.

Workers spoke of panic and confusion as the fire spread.

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf expressed his shock and grief after news of the first fire emerged. Talking to the media outside the parliament house,

spoke of terror plots being hatched by the group in Punjab. For instance, it warned of a possible suicide attack on the police force in order to free their jailed comrades who were implicated in the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009.

One of the suspects in the attack, Qari Waqas, who is imprisoned in Kot Lakhpat Jail, is said to be in constant touch with the

Continued on page 20 >>

Continued on page 20 >>

Also appearing on the list are Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Fakhar Imam and the head of the Shia Ulema Council Pakistan Allama Sajid Naqvi. The report, citing plans of TTP Punjab’s commander Matiur Rehman and his associates, also

SAARC

20

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

Zardari has taken Sarabjit’s case very seriously: Krishna

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has taken “very seriously” the case of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who has been in a jail for two decades, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said.

Krishna raised 49-year-old Sarabjit’s case with Zardari during a meeting here on Friday.

“The President has taken it very seriously and he instructed his office to look into the details,” Krishna told Indian reporters during an interaction here last evening.

“Our approach is on a humanitarian basis, especially the fact that he has spent almost 20 years in a Pakistani jail,” he said. The Pakistan government will have to consider factors like Sarabjit’s age and health while deciding on the issue, Krishna said.

Sarabjit was convicted for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in 1990 that killed 14 people. His family says he is a farmer and the victim of mistaken identity.

Sarabjit’s relatives said he strayed into Pakistan in an inebriated state three months after the bombings.

Following the intervention of the Pakistan People’s Party-led government, Sarabjit’s execution was put off indefinitely. He is currently being held at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore and recently submitted a fresh mercy petition to President Zardari.

PM visit to Pak still uncertain

Action against 26/11 plotters key to improved ties

The visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan is unlikely to come up, at least in the

chaired by external affairs minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar, that it would be difficult for the prime minister to plan a visit before

three months before elections when an interim government takes over.

In the nearly hour-long interaction with media, Khar did not mention

near future, as India on Saturday was understood to have strongly insisted Islamabad to take action against perpetrators of the

credible actions were taken. It is learnt that India expressed serious reservations over the current pace of trial and other issues.

terror even once. According to the joint statement at the end of their talks, the ministers noted the “ commitment given by

Mumbai terror carnage for the trip to materialize.

Even as Pakistan insisted that it had not attached conditions in improving relations, New Delhi maintained at the delegation-level meeting between the two sides

Pakistan is keen to host Singh in November, time for the Guru Purab, birth anniversary of Sikh guru Guru Nanak. Also, the current regime of the Pakistan People’s Party government is expected to come to an end by early December,

Pakistan during home/interior secretary-level talks in May, 2012 to bring all the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice expeditiously in accordance with due process of law.”

Krishna, asked about the prime

SAFMA, Pakistan editors want multipleentry visa for India, Pakistan journalists

Reporters from India and Pakistan should be granted multiple-entry, whole-country visas similar to the ones being given to businessmen, journalists’ bodies demand ahead of talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries.

The organisations, including the South Asian Free Media Association and Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, demanded that the foreign ministers should implement promises made by successive government of India and Pakistan to allow the free movement of reporters.

Addressing a news conference here, SAFMA secretary general Imtiaz Alam expressed serious apprehensions about an agreement for a liberalised visa regime that is expected to be signed during External Affairs Minister S M Krishna’s visit to Islamabad, saying it may not have any concessions

for journalists.

Alam said successive foreign ministers of both countries had made assurances while addressing meetings organised by SAFMA that the visa regime would be liberalised for reporters, including the grant of SAARC visas for travel across South Asia.

The Council of Ministers of SAARC twice decided to issue SAARC visas

to journalists of the region but the decision was not implemented by the Indian and Pakistani governments, he said.

“To our sheer disappointment, nothing has moved and the proposed visa regime is frustrating,” he said.

The journalists’ organisations of both countries issued a joint statement calling on the

governments of India and Pakistan to grant multiple-entry, wholecountry visas valid for a year for reporters, who should be exempted from reporting to police.

There should not be any restrictions on the entry and exit points for journalists, the joint statement said.

“Free flow of information and free movement of journalists is a prerequisite for any kind of confidence-building, conflict resolution and meaningful regional cooperation.

“It is essential to overcome information and trust deficits between India and Pakistan for improved regional cooperation to the benefit of all countries,” the statement said.

Initially, the two countries could issue visas under a relaxed regime to 100 reporters each of India and Pakistan, Alam said.

minister’s visit, said for that to happen, “atmosphere has to be ripe and something worthwhile should come out from such a trip.” Krishna asserted that his leader was “not shying away” from making a trip to Pakistan.

Further, he quipped: “In every conceivable opportunity which came in his way, he has been dealing with the Prime Minister and President of Pakistan.”

Krishna said he cannot speak about the prime minister’s schedule which is planned months in advance. “I will not be able to say when he will be coming.”

Observing that India and Pakistan have brought relationship between the neighbours much closer especially in the last one year, Khar stressed that the two countries should move forward and should not be “hostage to the past.”

Khar said: “We will build on convergences and will not brood on divergences... We must not be held hostage by history... We must learn from missed opportunities and must commit to not lose further opportunities.”

Asked why there was no concrete decisions on key disputes such as Siachen, Sir Creek etc, Krishna quipped: “ We should go step by step which will take us forward. We have seen several challenges in the last six decades. You cannot expect to resolve all those in a four-hour meeting. That’s what India has been saying for the last two years.”

Sharifs on TTP hit list, secret report Continued from page 19 >> TTP, providing them with the dates of the court hearings. The alleged attack is likely to be carried out while the police would be taking him to the court hearing.

The report stated that the group was also involved in kidnapping wealthy businessmen, in particular those from the Ahmadi community in Lahore.

Another intelligence report revealed that members of the TTP were planning attacks on prominent Shia leaders residing in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and surrounding areas.

Prominent hotels, VIPs, foreigners and other sensitive locations in the twin cities and Lahore are also on the targeted list.

Terrorists are also alleged to be preparing for a strike in retaliation for any military operation launched in North Waziristan Agency.

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

SAARC

21

WEEKLY REVIEW OF AFGHANISTAN NEWS

Dividing Afghanistan into eight separate “Kingdoms” – Plan C

Afghanistan could be carved into eight separate “kingdoms” – with some of them potentially ruled by the Taliban – according to a controversial plan under discussion in London and Washington.

Code-named “Plan C”, the radical blueprint for the future of Afghanistan sets out reforms that would relegate President Hamid Karzai to a figurehead role.

Devised by the Conservative MP and Foreign Office aide Tobias Ellwood, it warns that the country faces a “bleak” future when it is left to fend for itself.

Mr Ellwood claims that a “regionalised” state under a powerful new prime minister would tackle the weak government, tribal disputes and corruption which many fear could plunge Afghanistan into chaos when the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) withdraws at the end of 2014.

Senior government sources confirmed that Plan C – Finding a political solution to Afghanistan had been presented to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, and discussed with officials at the White House.

Mr Ellwood, a former captain in the Royal Green Jackets, has also discussed the plan with Pakistani government officials in London.

But experts criticised the attempt

sitting in London and deciding for Afghanistan?

It should be us, the people of this country, deciding if we want to divide into states or collapse as a

– was necessary to guarantee Afghanistan’s long-term stability.

“Isaf may be confident that its revised security strategy is finally working, but the insurgent threat

to “impose” a democratic system on Afghanistan, and insisted that coalition leaders should be concentrating on a military exit strategy that would enable them to withdraw their forces by the 2014 deadline.

Wazhma Frogh, executive director of Afghanistan’s Research Institute for Women, Peace and Security, said: “Who is the British MP

nation. I am surprised to see an MP of a democratic country creating the future and showing solutions for a country in which he doesn’t have to live and where his children will not have to live.”

Mr Ellwood, who now works as a parliamentary aide to the Foreign Office minister David Lidington, claimed a political settlement – even one that includes the Taliban

will not be removed by force alone,” he said in the report, seen by The Independent on Sunday.

“The Taliban will not enter into a meaningful dialogue if there is no feasible political strategy within which they can participate... An alternative solution [offers] a less centralised political structure that better reflects the ethnic makeup of the country, the already

established economic hubs and the regional interest of the Taliban, who might then be encouraged towards a political settlement.”

The plan divides Afghanistan into eight zones, based around the “economic hubs” of Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-iSharif, Kunduz, Jalalabad, Khost and Bamyan. The areas would be administered by a council representing different ethnic groups and overseen by one or more foreign countries.

Mr Ellwood also claims that creating a post of prime minister, with many of the “disproportionate” powers currently held by the President, would help allay concerns over the man who has been in charge of the country for almost eight years.

But Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said: “Splitting the country into such regions will result in the empowerment of what we have started calling ‘local (or regional) power brokers’ and what was known as ‘warlords’ before, whose misrule between 1992 and 1996 caused the rise of the Taliban in the first place.”

Captive US soldier safe, says Haqqani commander A US soldier held by Afghan militants will not be harmed despite the Obama administration’s decision to declare his alleged captors a terrorist group, a senior member of the Pakistanbased Haqqani network told The Associated Press on Saturday.

However, the United States and Nato can expect stepped up attacks, he said.

The commander, who spoke by telephone from an undisclosed location, denied that the Haqqanis held the only American prisoner of war of the Afghan conflict, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, as the US believes.

He did however say that Bergdahl was a captive of another branch of the Taliban, and denied earlier reports that the 26-year-old soldier from Hailey, Idaho, was in danger. ”I deny the remarks . . . that this will endanger the life of the American soldier,” the commander said, speaking on condition he not be identified because field commanders fear being targeted if their identities are known. ”We are not cowards and we

consider it as coward to harm prisoners,” he said.

The US says that Bergdahl has been held by the Pakistan-based Haqqanis since 2009. However, the commander suggested he was with militants on the other side of

Haqqani network, not to harm prisoners.

From his home in Idaho, the soldier’s father Bob Bergdahl welcomed the assurances but was cautious. ”That’s great news, but we’re very

Yet the Haqqani commander said the network is planning a series of retaliatory attacks against US and Nato soldiers in Afghanistan.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the organization’s military commander, is seeking permission

the Afghan-Pakistan border. ”The American soldier is with the Emirate center (a reference to Taliban based inside Afghanistan) . . . The Americans also know it.”

He said the Taliban leadership council previously issued instructions to its commanders, including those belonging to the

careful about the information we digest,” he told the AP. ”I’ll have to validate that and check that.”

The elder Bergdahl said the commander’s promise not to mistreat prisoners ”was the position of the Emirate even before my son was taken prisoner.”

from Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to stage a blitzkrieg of attacks against US forces in Afghanistan, he said. ”He (Sirajuddin Haqqani) wants to carry out 80 to 100 attacks on US forces in Afghanistan and 20 attacks on other Nato members,” said the commander in retaliation

for the designation. He repeated earlier statements that the Haqqani network answered to Mullah Omar and was not separate from the Taliban organization.

But once Mullah Omar signs off on the actions, the commander said, ”we have our consultative and military council which plans attacks.”

The commander claimed that the Obama administration had been in touch with the Haqqani network last year as part of its efforts to broker a peace deal ahead of the withdrawal of US military troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. ”(US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham) Clinton should have the courage to tell the Americans about their contacts and even talks with us,” he said.

Congress insisted Clinton deliver a report on whether the Haqqanis should be designated a terrorist organization by Sunday after a string of high profile attacks on US and Nato troops.

The US had resisted the terrorist designation because of fears it

SAARC

22

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF BANGLADESH NEWS

Conspiracy on to kill Khaleda: Fakhrul

BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday claimed that a conspiracy is being hatched to murder party Chairperson Khaleda Zia. Citing an online magazine published from a foreign country, Mirza Fakhrul said that Khaleda’s life is in danger, reports Prothom

Alo. It was not a baseless claim, the BNP leader said while addressing a discussion at Jatiya Press Club.

Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal organised the programme on the occasion of the jail-release day of Khaleda and her elder son Tarique Rahman, also the senior vice chairman of BNP. Critising the government’s decision to amend the Grameen Bank Ordinance, Mirza Fakhrul said the government wants to take the Grameen Bank to the level of Sonali Bank.

The BNP leader also condemned Bangladesh Chhatra League’s attack on Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leaders at Dhaka University.

He mentioned that the JCD men came under the attack when they were waiting to meet the DU vice-chancellor on Monday.

As the VC has failed to create a congenial atmosphere on the campus, he should resign, Mirza Fakhrul said.

Many involved in HallMark scam: Muhith

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday said not only people from Sonali Bank were involved in the scam, many others from outside are involved in it and stern action is being taken against them.

He said much investigation has been conducted into the crime and those involved have been identified. He said cases will be filed in this regard very soon. He also said many involved in the scam

have been looking for ways to leave the country but their attempts will be foiled.

Muhith told this to reporters at his secretariat office before his leaving for China Sunday night on a 10-day tour to join the World Economic Forum meeting.

The finance minister replied to journalists’ queries on different issues including Sonali Bank scam, Padma Bridge and Mashiur’s and his own resignations.

Muhith said Sonali Bank scam involving Hall-Mark Group is a grave incident. He said such a serious thing happened but it escaped the eyes of all in that bank, it cannot be so.

The finance minister said the Sonali Bank board will be reconstructed and decision in this regard will be taken after his return from China.

PM for united efforts of Muslim countries to ensure peace

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday emphasised on the united efforts of the Muslim countries to ensure the welfare of people and establish peace around the world.

The prime minister came up with the view when Director General of Islamic World Academy of Sciences (IAS) Dr Moneef R Zou’bi met her at the Prime minister’s office.

PM’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed reporters after the meeting.

During the meeting, Azad said the prime minister and the IAS DG discussed issues relating to development of the Muslim Ummah.

Moneef invited the Prime Minister to attend the 19th Conference of Islamic World Academy of Sciences scheduled to be held in Dhaka in May next as the chief guest.

The IAS DG said 56 OIC member states would participate in the conference.

Sheikh Hasina accepted the invitation.

The prime minister said Bangladesh is committed to the promotion of Islamic

solidarity and cooperation among the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in economic, social, cultural and scientific fields.

She mentioned that science can be an important vehicle for the Muslim world to transform itself from the backwardness towards modernity.

Sheikh Hasina lauded the IAS’ contributions to the OIC countries in achieving socioeconomic advancement through the prudent use of science and technology.

Ambassador at-Large M Ziauddin was also present during the meeting.

Khaleda’s ‘mass contact’ programme announced

BNP has announced the programme of its chairperson Khaleda month-long ‘mass contact’ tour of districts and opinion exchange meetings to mobilise support for the opposition’s key demand for holding of the next general election under a ‘non-party’ govt.

She would address a public meeting in Dinajpur town on 20 September, in Rajbari on September 29, in Habiganj on October 6 and in Barisal on October 9.

BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programme at a press conference at the party central office in the city on Friday.

Khaleda would start opinion exchange meetings with various professional groups and leaders and activists of her party of 11 districts from September 8.

On September 8, she would exchange views with teachers of universities, with Gazipur district unit of BNP

on September 9, with engineers on September 10, Munshiganj district BNP on September 11, physicians on September 12, Tangail district BNP on September 13, journalists and writers on September 15, Jamalpur district BNP on September 16, agriculturalists on September 17, diploma agriculturists on September 18, with diploma engineers and medical assistants on September 22, Comilla BNP on September, with lawyers on September 24 , Brahmanbaria district BNP on

September 26, Sirajganj district BNP on September 27, Lalmonirhat district BNP on October 1, Bogra district BNP on October 2, Pabna district BNP on October 3 and wit Thakurgaon district BNP on October 4.

The opinion exchange meetings would be held at the BNP chairperson’s office at Gulshan in the city.

BNP leaders Abdul Latif Jony, Aasdul Karim Shahin, Masud Ahmed Talukder and ABM Mosharraf Hossain, among others, attended the press conference.

On a short visit to Bangladesh, Prue also expressed concern about the prevailing disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh.

Around 12,000 expatriate Bangladeshis live in Prue’s constituency.

Six out of 12 convicted killers of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are still on the run, four of them at unidentified locations, as the country is set to observe 37th national mourning day.

“We know the current locations of two of the absconding Mujib murder trial convicts - former lieutenant colonel SHMB Noor Chowdhury is staying in Canada and Lt Col Rashed Chowdhury in the United States,” Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said in August.

He said, “We are trying our best to bring

the two back home” as legal initiatives have been launched by appointing lawyers alongside diplomatic efforts for their extradition from the Canada and the US. Chowdhury is the man who shot dead Mujib along with already executed major Bazlul Huda on August 15, 1975.

Ahmed, however, said the Bangladesh government is yet to confirm the exact whereabouts of the four others “but security and intelligence campaign has been intensified to track them down.”

Canada constitution disallows Nur’s extradition

Nur Chowdhury, a convicted fugitive killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, could not be deported from Canada as the country’s constitution does not allow extradition of a recipient of capital punishment.

Michael Prue, member of a provincial parliament in the Beaches in Toronto, Ontario reaffirmed this at a meet-thepress at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital on Sunday.

“Charter 12 of our constitution says

everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment of punishment,” said Prue.

“We do not, have not and cannot extradite any person who is awarded with capital punishment,” said Prue.

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

SAARC

23

WEEKLY REVIEW OF BHUTAN NEWS

Humans becoming economic entity: Bhutan PM Observing that people had become less of human beings and more of economic entities, Bhutan PM Jigmi Y Thinley on Sunday said it had become necessary to pull society out of market forces to achieve happiness.

“We have become less of human being, and more of economic entity. We need to reclaim our society from market forces,” Thinley said while gracing the 8th Annual Convocation of KIIT

brought our environment and civilisation to the brink, the Bhutanese Prime Minister said, while emphasising that the world is in need of change. He was also conferred the Degree of D Litt, Honoris Causa.

Offering a new perspective of life -- pursuit of happiness -- he advised students to serve society and exhorted them to make a beginning by serving their parents and protecting the institution of

University here as chief guest.

Happiness comes from balancing needs of the body with those of mind and it thrives only when people around are also happy, said Thinley, who has won appreciation for proposing Gross National Happiness as an alternative development paradigm and advocated its inclusion as the ninth millennium development goal.

Obsession with growth has

Bhutan expels illegal Indian immigrants

The Centre may be dithering over expelling illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, but neighbouring Bhutan issued expulsion orders to 31 illegal Indian immigrants last year, despite pressures from New Delhi.

India could draw lessons from the neighbouring Himalayan country when it comes to acting tough on immigrants working illegally in the country. Notwithstanding pressures from India to go easy on the illegal Indian immigrants, they were issued with repatriation orders.

The Royal Government of Bhutan has informed India that during a routine inspection by the immigration officials in September, last year, in Gelephu, 31 illegal Indian immigrants were detected.

These illegal immigrants were issued with repatriation orders, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi said in a Lok Sabha reply.

The Indian Mission has strongly intervened with the Royal Government through several notes verbale, aides-memoire and personal interactions with

senior functionaries. The Royal Government has informed that it has no intention to cause inconvenience to Indian nationals working with proper permits and operating their own business with valid trade licence, Ravi said.

The only concern is with those expatriates working without valid work permits and operating illegally, the Minister added.

There are no inputs though to suggest that Indians are being displaced in Bhutan, Ravi added.

However, instances have come to notice where foreigners have been asked to leave the country, if their stay is not in accordance with the Labour and Employment Act 2007 of the Royal Government of Bhutan, Ravi pointed out.

The law does not allow illegal immigrants to work or reside in the country. According to law, if an employer employs a worker illegally, a monetary penalty of Nu. 10,000 per day is imposed on him, the Minister said.

As reported by this newspaper, Assam Government during the last two years managed to deport only 134 illegal migrants.

Continued from page 27 >>

Pakistan take unassailable 2-0 lead in Twenty20 series after beating Australia in Super Over thriller

those heroics when he put down Hafeez shortly after, when the captain was on 43. That spill was less damaging: Hafeez only made two more before departing.

The Akmal brothers, Umar and Kamran, then shared an alliance worth 46 to lift Pakistan to 151, which seemed likely to prove a stiff benchmark given Pakistan’s nominal bowling resources.

Australia would have coasted to the target if David Warner had stuck around much longer than he managed at the start of the reply. He blazed 31 in 19 deliveries but then went the way

it feels like every Australian batsman has at least once over the past two weeks - bowled by Saeed Ajmal. George Bailey, the uncharacteristically timid captain of Australia, exhibited some typically Australian grit as he guided his side to the brink of victory with 43 from 27 balls.

However, when he skied a long hop from Razzaq to Yasir Arafat at the start of the final over with 10 needed, his side seemed sunk.

They managed to scramble to the single over play-off, but Akmal and Razzaq were good enough to clinch the win as the clock ticked over into the early hours of today.

marriage.

Ghulam Farooq Wardak, Minister of Education of Afghanistan (D Litt), Dr Kee Sun Ham, President of Hanseo University in South Korea (D Sc) and Prof Baidyanath Mishra, Economist of Bhubaneswar, received Honorary Degress.

Altogether 2,216 graduates were awarded graduate and postgraduate degrees in various disciplines.

Humans becoming economic entity: Bhutan PM Bhubaneswar: Observing that people had become less of human beings and more of economic entities, Bhutan PM Jigmi Y Thinley on Sunday said it had become necessary to pull society out of market forces to achieve happiness.

“We have become less of human being, and more of economic entity. We need to reclaim our society from market forces,” Thinley said while gracing the 8th Annual Convocation of KIIT University here as chief guest.

Happiness comes from balancing needs of the body with those of mind and it thrives only when people around are also happy, said Thinley, who has won appreciation for proposing Gross National Happiness as an alternative development paradigm and advocated its inclusion as the ninth millennium development goal.

Obsession with growth has brought our environment and civilisation to the brink, the Bhutanese Prime Minister said, while emphasising that the world is in need of change.

He was also conferred the Degree of D Litt, Honoris Causa.

Offering a new perspective of

life -- pursuit of happiness -- he advised students to serve society and exhorted them to make a beginning by serving their parents and protecting the institution of marriage.

Ghulam Farooq Wardak, Minister of Education of Afghanistan (D Litt), Dr Kee Sun Ham, President of Hanseo University in South Korea (D Sc) and Prof Baidyanath Mishra, Economist of Bhubaneswar, received Honorary Degress.

Altogether 2,216 graduates were awarded graduate and postgraduate degrees in various disciplines.

Yuvraj Singh’s comeback steals spotlight amid rains

after 10 months, reading ‘Goodbye Cancer, Welcome Back Sixer’ summed up the mood at the venue of the first T20 International between India and New Zealand even as heavy rains lashed the Dr YSR Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium.

Amid the depressing weather, it was Yuvraj, sporting a bright smile and a badge that read ‘YouWeCan’, who stole the limelight of the full-house turnout at the 27,000 capacity stadium.

Heavy rains lashed the stadium more than an hour before the start of the match but the crowd -- and the cricket fans all over the world -- waited patiently to see Yuvraj back again, after conquering a rare germ cell cancer.

Even amid the bad weather, the official broadcaster kept showing highlights of the India-England 2007 Twenty20 World Cup, when Yuvraj had hit six sixes in a Stuart Broad over.

Yuvraj reciprocated the gesture, saying, “Dawa se dua bahut hoti hai (sometimes prayers work wonders than medicine).

SAARC

24

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF INDIA NEWS

40 youth missing from Maharashtra; suspected to have joined Indian Mujahideen1 At least 40 residents of Maharashtra, all suspected to be members of terrorist group Indian Mujahideen, have been missing for last several months, raising fear that they might have gone to Pakistan or waiting for opportunities to carry out terror strikes.

Intelligence agencies have found that the youth went missing from their respective homes for months and all of them were having some contacts with known underground

activists of IM before their disappearance, official sources said.

The youth were radicalised to join IM and intelligence agencies believe that some of them sneaked into Pakistan for undergoing terror training while some are suspected to be hiding within the country, they said.

Sources said there have been strong suspicion that many youth from states like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and

Bihar too might have joined IM and disappeared from their homes. However, a detailed estimate about disappearance of youth from other states is yet to

be made.

Apprehensions about IM and its growing activities forced the authorities to hold a special discussion on the banned outfit

Rahul Gandhi meets victims of Assam violence

Security personnel carry an injured after a blast at Paltan Bazar area in Guwahati Security personnel carry an injured after a blast at Paltan Bazar area in Guwahati, Assam on Saturday.

Blast in Manipur: Ten Assam Rifles jawans injured An Assam Rifles jawan was today killed and six others were injured, two of them seriously, when a powerful bomb allegedly planted by insurgents exploded in Manipur’s interior Bishenpur district.

Official sources said the explosion occurred when a group personnel belonging to 33rd Assam Rifles battalion were jogging at Kumbi area, about 45 km south east of here.

The para military forces posted at Moirang and Sendra used to jog in the area almost daily.

The sources said seven personnel were wounded in the explosion and one of them - Naik subedar Nivesh Rao - succumbed to his injuries at the army hospital at Leimakhong.

Six others sustained splinter injuries and the condition of two of them was stated to be critical.

The area was surrounded and all its exit points were blocked by a police contingent aided by security forces

before a search operation was launched to nab the insurgents, they said. With no arrest made so far, the sources said the insurgents might have escaped to nearby thick jungles after planting the bomb at the roadside in the early hours. No individual or insurgent group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.

The banned Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) had earlier announced that it would intensify its strikes against security personnel in near future. No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the incident so far. The banned Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) had earlier announced that it would intensify its strikes against security personnel in near future.

Activists of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), armed wing of the RPF, had yesterday blasted a bomb at Tiddim area in Imphal West district injuring an jawan and a civilian.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met victims of ethnic violence in relief camps and held discussions with Bodoland Territorial Council leaders on the prevailing situation in Assam.

Mr. Gandhi, who arrived in Kokrajhar on a day-long visit to violence-affected areas of Bodoland Territorial Administered District (BTAD) and Dhubri, visited Kathalguri and Gambaribeel relief camps.

He would later go to Salakati in Kokrajhar besides two relief camps in Dhubri district.

Mr. Gandhi met the relief camp inmates and also held discussions with Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) leaders and representatives of other civil organisations in the district regarding the prevailing situation along with relief and rehabilitation being provided to the affected people.

He was accompanied by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Bhubaneswar Kalita.

“AICC is very concerned about the situation as the affected areas are yet to return to total normalcy even after nearly two months of the violence which rocked Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts in July,” a senior Congress leader said here.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had earlier visited the affected areas.

at the just concluded DGPs/IGPs conference here.

This was for the first time that such a high-level meeting especially focused on home-grown terrorists who are receiving active support from across the border.

Investigators probing the activities of recently busted terror module in Karnataka have found that the handlers of the arrested ‘terrorists’ were based in Saudi Arabia and most of them were Indians and members of IM, sources added.

Air India Needs to Add More Planes : Ajit Singh National carrier Air India Ltd. will need to add more planes to expand its share in the local market as well as internationally, India’s aviation minister said Wednesday. The staterun airline has set up a committee headed by its chairman, Rohit Nandan, to look into its future requirement for planes, Ajit Singh told reporters. He didn’t elaborate.

Mr. Singh was speaking at an event to announce the induction of Air India’s first Boeing Dreamliner plane.

Inducting the Dreamliners will almost complete the airline’s current aircraftacquiring process which started in 2005-2006 with orders of 111 planes to Boeing and its European rival, Airbus . The airline still has to get 26 Dreamliners and three Boeing 777 planes.

Air India is expected to take the delivery of five more Dreamliner planes this year and the rest by 2016.

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

SAARC

25

WEEKLY REVIEW OF PAKISTAN NEWS

Rain, flash floods kill 78 in Pakistan: officials

At least 78 people have died and dozens more injured in torrential rains and flash floods that have wreaked havoc in Pakistan over the past three days, a government spokesman said Monday.

Heavy monsoon rains which began falling last week have destroyed more than 1,600 houses and damaged a further 5,000, Irshad Bhatti, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) told AFP. “A total of 78 people have died and 68 injured in rains and flash floods in the country so far,” he said, adding that the casualties were caused mostly by houses collapsing and people being caught in floods.

The worst-hit region was Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where 32 people have died and 26 injured in several districts, he said, adding that 83 houses were totally destroyed and another 4,200 were partially damaged.

In the northwestern district of Swabi

eight Afghan refugees were killed when the roof of their mud house collapsed overnight, police official Mohammad Ali said. The dead, who were members of the same family, included two women and six children aged between one and 12 years he said.

In Azad Kashmir flash floods killed

at least 31 people, Bhatti said, just a month after heavy rains led to the deaths of at least 26 people in the same region.

At least four people were killed in central Punjab province where more than 200 houses were damaged, officials said.

Details were not given for where the other deaths occurred but the toll was expected to rise considerably with unconfirmed reports of more than 30 killed in Sindh province.

Heavy monsoon rain plays havoc in upper Sindh districts The heavy monsoon rains have played havoc in entire Sindh, especially in Jacobabad, adjoining districts Shikarpur, Kashmore-Kandhkot and other districts where the rain, which continues since last 24 hours, has broken hundred-year record inundating the towns and fields damaging houses, collapsing electric poles, destroying crops and causing loss of human life.

Pakistan: Christian ‘Blasphemy’ Girl Freed

Rimsha released from Adiala Jail, flown to unknown location Christian ‘Down’s Syndrome’ girl accused of Quran burning is granted bail - but she could face mob justice and death if freed • Rimsha Masih to go free if one million rupee payment is made to court • Youngster still in mortal danger from religious vigilantes baying for blood • Mere allegation of causing offence to Islam could mean death for accused • She may be reunited with family at secret location in bid to keep her safe

told the court that Khalid Jadoon, the cleric who had been accused of tampering evidence, had deliberately added pages of the holy Quran to the plastic bag that the minor girl, who belonged to the Christian community, was carrying.

The prosecution lawyer alleged that

of the accused girl whose case has made headlines in the international and local media.

The girl has been in custody since she was arrested in a poor Islamabad suburb more than two weeks ago after being accused of burning papers containing verses from the holy Quran.

Earlier on Monday, the case was adjourned until Sept 7 because of a lawyers’ strike, following a request from the lawyer for the girl’s neighbour Hammad Malik, who had filed the original complaint against her.

HRW welcomes Rimsha’s bail

A Pakistani court granted bail and released a minor Christian girl Rimsha Masih, who had been accused of blasphemy, DawnNews reported on Saturday.

Rimsha was released from Adiala Jail, where she had been kept under detention for more than two weeks, and flown to an unknown location in a government helicopter.

Rimsha was brought from the jail in an armoured vehicle to the nearest helipad, where the government chopper was waiting to fly her out. A large number of security personnel, along with members of the Christian community, were present outside Adiala Jail.

Paul Bhatti, Pakistan’s minister for national harmony, told AFP that Rimsha was flown by helicopter to be reunited with her family.

“She has been freed from the jail and was transported by a helicopter to a safe place. Her family members received her,” he said.

Pakistan private TV channels broadcast footage of the girl wearing a traditional baggy green shirt and

dark green trousers stepping out of an armoured vehicle and sitting in a helicopter.

Rimsha’s lawyer, Tahir Naveed

accepted against two sureties of 500,000 rupees each.”

Earlier, the court had reserved its ruling after hearing the arguments

Chaudhry, confirmed her release after two guarantors submitted a surety bond guaranteeing that the girl would reappear before court at the court’s choosing.

Earlier, on Friday, the teenage girl was granted bail by the court of additional sessions against two sureties of Rs.500,000 each.

“I accept her bail application,” Judge Mohammad Azam Khan had announced to a packed courtroom.

“The bail application has been

made by the counsels of both the complainant and the defendant.

The lawyer for the accused girl had submitted before the court that the girl was entitled to bail as she was a minor and that the FIR lodged by the police did not say that she desecrated a copy of the holy Quran.

On the contrary, the complainant’s counsel alleged that the girl had confessed to her guilt and hence was not entitled for bail.

The officer investigating the case

the police, including the investigating officer, and doctors were manipulating the case to get the girl freed under international pressure, adding that,

The Human Rights Watch welcomed the court decision to release Rimsha on bail and urged the government to ensure her security and safety upon release.

“The fact is that this child should

they feared the accused would be immediately sent abroad if bail was granted and that then the case would come to an end.

Moreover, the district attorney told the court that the blasphemy accused girl had stated her age to the magistrate as 16 years, adding that, the complainant in the case was receiving threats.

A large number of security personnel, members of civil society and international media persons were present outside the court as Judge Azam Khan heard the bail application

not have been behind bars at all. All charges against her should be dropped and Pakistan’s criminal justice system should instead concentrate on holding her accuser accountable for inciting violence against the child and members of the local Christian community,” the HRCP said. The commission hoped “the blatant abuse that has come to light will lead to a considered re-examination of the law” and all stake-holders will seek to end frequent abuses perpetrated under cover of blasphemy allegations.

SAARC

26

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF MALDIVE NEWS

Antony visits Maldives as Chinese influence looms

Defense Minister A.K. Antony heads to the Maldives this week for a series of visits with the Maldivian military.

The trip comes as a result of increased Chinese activity in the area.

Against the backdrop of increasing influence of China in Maldives, Defence Minister A K Antony will be on a three-day visit to Male where he is scheduled to attend two programmes including the foundation stone laying ceremony of a military academy.

“On invitation of Maldivian Defence Minister Col Mohamed Nazim, the Defence Minister will be in Male from Saturday where he will participate in the inauguration of a military hospital

and foundation stone laying ceremony of the training academy of the Maldivian National Defence Forces,” the Defence Ministry said in a release.

Both the projects are part of ongoing co-operation between the defence establishments of the two neighbouring countries.

In the first state visit by an Indian Minister to Maldives after the regime change there, Antony is also expected to call on President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik also.

The visit comes at a time when Maldives is seen to be moving close to China which opened its embassy there in November last year.

Antony had last visited Maldives in August, 2009 which was followed by high-level visits including those by its Defence Minister and senior officers of its defence forces.

“There have been regular exchanges and interactions between the armed forces of both sides, including

conduct of joint exercises and training programmes. Both countries have also been cooperating for regular EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) surveillance,” the release said.

During the talks, both the Defence Ministers are expected to review ongoing defence exchanges and discuss ways to enhance military cooperation.

Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, Western Naval Commander Vice-Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Director General Military Training Lt Gen SP Tanwar and DGAFMS Air Marshal D P Joshi will be accompanying Antony during the visit.

Amnesty accuses Maldives exposed - paradise Maldives regime of lost overtaken by violence human rights abuses

by Abbas Faiz Rights group Amnesty International on Wednesday accused the Maldivian regime of carrying out a campaign of violent repression, and said there

They were taken from the streets, their hospital beds and from their homes. Almost one third of the detainees were women. They were ill-treated at the time of their

would not be any meaningful reconciliation in the unrest-hit country without an end to abuses.

In a report issued today, Amnesty said that a campaign of violent repression this year has shattered the idyllic image of the Maldives, “exposing a human rights crisis that has gripped the country since President Mohamed Nasheed’s ousting in February 2012”.

The report said that AI interviews since the February 7 events when Nasheed resigned the presidency had revealed that many members of Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) were targeted by security forces.

The London-based rights watch group slammed the regime of President Mohamed Waheed for shrugging off its responsibility to human rights violations and contended that without an end to the rights abuses there would not be any meaningful reconciliation in the archipelago.

“Hundreds of people were arrested, most of them injured by the police, on 8 February.

arrest and on their way to police stations,” the report said.

The report asks the Waheed administration to ensure prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigations into allegations of violence by officials, and instruct security forces against attacking demonstrators.

It said security forces must act without prejudice, and without taking sides politically, and the criminal justice system should be reformed so that it develops into an independent and impartial power capable of providing justice to survivors of human rights violations.

The rights body also calls on the UN, the Commonwealth, the EU and foreign governments to closely monitor the human rights situation in the Maldives, and to provide assistance to authorities to carry out human rights training to judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials, to ensure the criminal justice system is in line with international human rights law and standards.

A campaign of violent repression has shattered this idyllic image, exposing a human rights crisis that has gripped the country since President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation in February – says campaigner To many, the Maldives are a paradise on earth. Tourists arrive in their droves – at least two for every Maldivian in the country – escaping to the islands’ unspoilt beaches and temperate waters.

But a campaign of violent repression this year has shattered this idyllic image, exposing a human rights crisis that has gripped the country since President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation in February.

The televised resignation of Mohamed Nasheed, the Maldives’ first democratically elected president, threw the country into deep political turmoil.

Alarmed by this development, the international community began to get closely involved in efforts to resolve the political crisis. While these efforts were underway, the country plunged into a deep human rights crisis that threatened to derail it from its hard-earned gains of the recent past. It had held its first democratic elections as recently as 2008.

The streets of the capital island Malé and a far away island city, Addu, became the scene of almost daily protests rallies by Nasheed supporters - which were quelled using unnecessary, excessive force by the police and military.

Earlier this year, I visited the Maldives, arriving less than two weeks after these events. The streets were calm, but I soon sensed the underlying tension and the fears of the people on both sides of the crisis who were afraid that things might get worse. I met with the former President, Mohamed Nasheed and I also met with the new President

Dr Mohammed Waheed, the minister of home affairs, the minister of foreign affairs, the Speaker of the parliament, the chief justice, civil society activists, lawyers, journalists and many victims of human rights violations. While the authorities claimed they were committed to human rights protection, not a single person from the police or the army has to date been brought to account for the violations committed.

The violations were horrific, and included the beating of peaceful demonstrators, arbitrary detentions,

when they were beating me and one of them shouted: ‘Is she still not dead?’”

In Addu, a city at the furthest southern part of the Maldives, I met other people who had been tortured. I also visited detainees in police lock-ups and met people who had been attacked while rallying peacefully. More than 20 people said military officers had attacked them during peaceful protests, forced them to open their eyes and sprayed their eyes with pepper spray. They told me how officers had then forced them to open their mouths and sprayed pepper spray

attacks on the injured in hospitals and torture. News spread quickly that Amnesty International had arrived. A protester and former detainee told me how important it was for them to have Amnesty there. “They are behaving themselves now”, she said, “they know they are being watched.” Several MPs from Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party told me how they were beaten on their legs, arms and backs in the streets of Malé on February 7-8.

Maldivian Member of Parliament Mariya Ahmed Didi described her brutal treatment by security forces after she was detained at an opposition rally in February: “Police and military officers forcefully opened my eyelids. They went for the eye that had been injured the day before. They sprayed pepper spray directly into my eye. Then they did the same with the other eye. At one point,

into their mouths. People told me that this had become standard practice for the police and the military.

The report we have published paints a picture, which is a long way from anyone’s conception of paradise. Amnesty is calling on the Maldivian authorities to ensure prompt, independent and impartial investigations into allegations of violence by officials and reparations to survivors. All security forces must be instructed not to attack demonstrators and be given adequate training to ensure they comply with international law enforcement, and human rights standards. The criminal justice system must be reformed to guarantee its independence and impartiality. I hope our calls are heeded as a matter of urgency.

Abbas Faiz is a Maldives researcher at the Amnesty International campaign group

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

SAARC

27

WEEKLY REVIEW OF NEPAL NEWS

CPN-UML dissident factions fail to reconcile

The internal differences within the disgruntled Janajati and Madhesi leaders of the CPN-UML have ratcheted up with a section of dissident leaders opting for continuation of intra-party struggle against preparation to form a party.

In an informal meeting of former lawmakers of the party, influential leaders including Prithvi Subba Gurung, Kiran Gurung and Dal Bahadur Rana, among others, advocated for an intra-party struggle, while a group led by Vice-chairman Ashok Rai are laying groundwork to form a new party. They argued an intra-party struggle is the best option to ensure their political rights.

In order to take a decision on whether to form a new party or continue intraparty struggle, former lawmakers gathered at a hotel in Thamel on

Saturday. The Rai faction also sent their supporters to the meeting but its key leaders deliberately skipped the meeting.

“Those comrades who want to form a new party are free to decide on their own. But we should not abandon intra-party struggle to have our demands addressed,” said Gurung in the meeting. A majority of 17 former

lawmakers present in the meeting were in support of intra-party struggle.

The Rai-led group has proposed federal socialism as the guiding principle and is finalising manifesto and statute for the new party.He is busy conducting orientation programmes for cadres under the banner of progressive idealist group

in Tarai districts along with Madhesi leader Ram Chandra Jha. The dissident leaders are sharply divided over forming a new party after the establishment reiterated its multiple identity-based federalism and fresh elections in response to a nine-point demand four days ago.

The Gurung faction argued that they should establish their agenda within the party instead of forming a new one as the best option. However, Janajati leaders—Pasang Sherpa, Raj Kumar Rai, Ranadhwoj Kanangdawa—were against the idea of intra-party struggle.

They vowed to form a new party “even if a handful of leaders leave them.” UML leader Ajambar Rai Kangmang, a Rai confidante, said his group waited long enough for three leaders—Prithvi Subba, Kiran and Dal Bahadur—but now they will go ahead with their mission.

PM threatens stir over ordinances

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has threatened to launch a struggle if President Ram Baran Yadav does not endorse the four ordinances forwarded to him recently.

“The Cabinet unanimously decided to forward the ordinances that political parties had agreed before the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.

These ordinances are closely linked with the peace process. Why has the President refused to endorse the ordinances forwarded to him two weeks ago?”

Bhattarai questioned. Speaking at a programme organised by the UCPN (Maoist) at Aappipal in the district on Saturday, PM Bhattarai said the government, in support of the families of the disappeared and the martyrs, would launch a struggle if those ordinances were not promulgated.

The programme was organised to commemorate

Maoist leader Suresh Wagle who was killed during the insurgency.

“Why have those ordinances not been approved? We are ready to take any steps if need arises. I urge you people to be prepared for the same,” said Bhattarai.

He claimed that the government was unable to work effectively due to delay in the endorsement of the ordinances. The government forwarded ordinances each on education, health, civil servants and one concerning commissions on enforced disappearance, and truth and reconciliation to the President’s Office for approval on August 27.

PM Bhattarai said the government would resend those ordinances if the President’s Office rejected them.” The government will forward other ordinances as well for approval,” he said, referring to global practice of issuing ordinances by the government in the absence of parliament.

The PM also said that the government was set to bring in various pro-public programmes targeting the poor and unemployed youths if it could present a full budget.

New Nepal Army chief takes oath of office

President Ram Baran Yadav administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new army chief General Gaurav SJB Rana today. The ceremony took place at the office of the President in Maharjgunj. President Yadav is the Supreme Commander of the Nepal Army.The President also presented insignia to the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff (CoAS).

General Gaurav SJB Rana worked as the acting chief from August 9 to September 8 as the former CoAS General Chhatra Man Singh Gurung took a month-long customary leave. General Rana will assume office as the new head of the Nepal Army from today.

General Rana is the son of late Aditya SJB Rana who served as a major general of the Nepal Army.

Rana is also the great-grandson of former Rana Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher. General Rana joined the Nepal Army as a second lieutenant in the Purano Gorakh Battalion in 1974. Rana will serve as the army chief for three years.

Uncertainty looms over upcoming elections

Nepal’s prime minister deflected criticism when the nation’s interim parliament collapsed in May by promising to hold new elections in November.

But less than three months from the announced poll date, even Baburam Bhattarai’s own advisers acknowledge there won’t be elections this year.

The delay is certain to increase the already high levels of political turmoil in a country struggling to recover from a bloody civil war and trying to transform itself into a republic after the overthrow of its monarchy.

For now, the poor Himalayan nation is left with no legislature, a prime minister who opponents say has illegally taken power and an uncooperative president who, while largely ceremonial, is crucial

to holding new elections. Opposition parties say they won’t even participate in new polls unless Bhattarai resigns in favor of a national coalition.

“The present government has lost the trust of all the parties, and we will not allow this government to conduct the elections,” said Dilendra Badu, a spokesman for the Nepali Congress party. “We will take part in the polls, but not under this one.”

The problems stem from Nepal’s inability to write a new constitution following the overthrow of the monarchy. A Constituent Assembly was elected to a two-year term in 2008 to write the document, but riven by political battles and distrust for the former Maoist rebels, it failed even after its term was repeatedly extended.

When the parties couldn’t agree to another extension, Bhattarai, a Maoist leader, announced he would stay in charge and lead a caretaker administration — a move with no basis in the interim constitution — and called for Nov. 22 elections.

But before polls can be held, the

government needs to amend the interim constitution to allow for the election of another Constituent Assembly and to change a faulty voting age clause. There is no parliament to do that.

The only way laws can be amended is by ordinances issued by the president.

President Ram Baran Yadav, who is

from the opposition Nepali Congress Party, could issue ordinances to help, but he has refused.

Nil Kantha Upreti, who heads Nepal’s Election Commission, said even if the amendments are passed, the body would still need four more months to prepare for the polls. Upreti said April would be the earliest he could conceive of holding elections, and the prime minister’s adviser, Devendra Poudel, said that is roughly the government’s new target.

“We are initiating new rounds of talks with the political parties to fix a new poll date and also amend the laws,” Poudel said.

The opposition parties, however, are adamant in demanding Bhattarai resign first.

SAARC

28

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF SRILANKA NEWS

Sri Lankan President invites Commonwealth members to see post-war developm

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Tuesday invited the Commonwealth members to see for themselves the post-war development in the country.

The President welcoming the delegates of 54 Commonwealth nations declared open the 58th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapakse Theatre today.

Addressing the delegates the President said their presence in the country gives them a good opportunity to see for themselves the progress of democracy in Sri Lanka, after the major threat the country faced under terrorism.

He added that the conference is extremely important to show the international community the manner democracy has been established in the country after defeating terrorism.

He urged the delegates to make use of this opportunity to learn of the real Sri Lanka, in its post-conflict

“These people while slandering the country from their shelters abroad,do not bother to contribute to

era, when the highest priority is given to nation building through reconciliation.

The President criticized the Sri Lankans, who have been settled in other countries and claim to speak for the country or a section of the country’s people, for spreading misinformation and slandering the country.

the reconciliation and development taking place here. But worse, they do not even contribute to the progress of the people whose cause they claim to champion, from their activities abroad,” the President said.

“You can now see the truth and return to your countries with a deeper and richer understanding of Sri Lanka,” the President told the participants.

Sri Lankan President to meet Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh during his visit to India

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his private visit to the country next week, against the backdrop of attacks on pilgrims from this country in Tamil Nadu.

Rajapaksa is set to meet the two leaders on September 20, External Affairs Minister G L Peiris told reporters here today.

Rajapaksa is travelling to Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh on September 19 to lay the foundation stone for the construction of a Centre for Buddhist Studies.

The meeting with the Indian Prime Minister would be the first for Rajapaksa since India voted in favour of the antiSri Lanka resolution that censured the nation over its human rights record at the UNHRC sessions in Geneva in March.

The resolution said that Sri Lankan troops deliberately targeted civilians during the last phase of the civil war with the LTTE which ended in 2009.

Although Sri Lanka-India relations have

been rekindled since the passage of resolution with a number of high-profile visits to country by Indian dignitaries, the recent events which reflected antiSinhala sentiments in Tamil Nadu have muddied the waters.

A parliamentary delegation led by Sushma Swaraj, the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, visited the country in April. External Affairs minister S M Krishna visited Colombo prior to Swaraj’s delegation.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has been urging the Centre to curtail training for visiting Sri Lankan defence officials in the state. She also ordered the return of a Sri Lankan football team.

Following attacks against a group of Sri Lankan Catholic pilgrims in Chennai, Sri Lanka issued a travel advisory warning against travel to the Indian state. Last week, Rajapaksa had said the Indian government responded positively to his country’s request to guarantee the safety of its citizens and only a small, politically-motivated group was responsible for the harassment.

Noting that among the first things done after the defeat of terrorism, first in the Eastern Province, and later in the entire country, was to quickly hold local government, provincial and national elections to obtain a proper mandate from the people, the President said the Northern Provincial Council election will be held next year.

Speaking of reconciliation after the end of the war, the President asserted that the recommendations of the LLRC are already being implemented, according to a well worked out Plan of Action that has been presented to the nation and the world.

President Rajapakse also appreciated the measures being taken by the CPA to establish democracy in the member states and to conduct studies on parliamentary affairs.

He especially acknowledged the work of the Commonwealth Women

Parliamentarians to increase female representations in Parliament recognizing the importance of gender considerations in all activities of the CPA. Pointing out that Sri Lanka achieved 6 to 7 percent economic growth even during the battle against terrorism, the President emphasized that it is government’s strong belief that there cannot be peace without development while the reverse is also true.

The Sri Lankan government says holding such a large event since the country hosted the Non-Aligners Movement summit in 1976 is indicative of the new climate of peace and normalcy prevailing in the country and is a sign of the international confidence in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is scheduled to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) next year.

Sri Lankan ‘diamond swallow theft was a bluff’

A Chinese man accused of swallowing a diamond worth £8,500 at a gem show in Sri Lanka actually ingested a fake stone in an elaborate bluff to allow the real thief to escape, police said on Tuesday.

swallow a tiny 1.5-carat diamond -- creating a distraction as the stall owner shouted to nearby police who arrested him.

The accused man was taken to Colombo National Hospital where X-rays showed a stone lodged in his stomach before

AFP last week how the two Chinese men approached his stall and asked to examine some diamonds closely.

De Silva then saw one man put something in his mouth.

“When I shouted, one ran away and we managed to catch the man who

A Chinese man accused of swallowing a diamond worth $13,600 at a gem show in Sri Lanka actually ingested a fake stone in an elaborate bluff to allow the real thief to escape, police said Tuesday.

Detectives discovered the ruse after waiting until the man, 32, passed the fake stone that he had swallowed at the Facets Sri Lanka annual jewellery exhibition in Colombo last week.

“The man with the real stone vanished while all the attention was on the man who was seen swallowing a stone that turned out to be fake,” police spokesman Ajith Rohana told AFP. “Investigations are now underway to track down the accomplice and recover the stolen diamond. We think both of them were involved in a racket.”

Police said the man appeared to

a dose of laxatives brought it out on Saturday. Police said the man had been constantly monitored by armed guards to ensure the stone was not lost.

Suresh de Silva, director of the Belgrade International gem store, told

swallowed the stone,” de Silva said.

Photographs showed the captured man, dressed in a black shirt and jeans with his head bowed, being escorted from the exhibition centre by uniformed policemen.

Sri Lankan doctors to strike from September 19 Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) says that the doctors of the Sabaragamuwa Province will strike work from September 19.

The GMOA demands that the Ministry of Health to immediately implement the transfers of the Provincial Directors of Health of the North Central, Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva Provinces.

The Chairman of the GMOA Dr.

Anuruddha Padeniya said the GMOA will mobilize the doctors of the other provinces as well for the strike step by step unless the Ministry heeds their demand. GMOA executive committee is also to meet on September 19.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Health Director of the Central Province has filed a fundamental rights petition in Supreme Court against the transfer of the official to the North Central Province.

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

SAARC

29

International Literacy Day: Little to celebrate, lot to worry about

Little to celebrate and a lot to worry about. Like every year International Literacy Day, that was held across the globe on Saturday, served as a grim reminder that not much is being done to make education accessible for all and sundry in the country.

To raise awareness about this issue and highlight the importance of sending children to schools, a walk was held at the Pakistan Sports Complex.

The participants walked a few hundred yards in the rain, carrying banners and placards inscribed with the importance of literacy in socio-economic development and promoting peace. The slogans were in consonance with the theme of this year’s literacy day, “Literacy and Peace”.

Students and teachers from public and private schools, boy scouts, civil society members and officials of the education ministry took part in the walk.

A majority of Pakistan’s children remain deprived of education.

Based on the data available on the National Commission of Human Development (NCHD) website, only 12 per cent of 19 million primary school age children study beyond fifth grade. In other words, 22 out of every 25 primary school-age children are expected to fail or drop out of school before fifth grade.

Every Pakistani child should attend school as peace and progress in the country cannot be achieved without literacy and education, said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Shahnaz Wazir Ali, addressing the participants.

“We have gathered here to send out a message to our leaders and our citizens to send all our children to school,” Ali said, during a literacy

walk that was organised by the NCHD. Ali added, “Through Article 25(a) of the 18th amendment, elected representatives have endorsed the

a new project to improve the literacy rate by 10 per cent in the next three years.

NCHD is running its universal primary education programme in

number of out-of-school children in South Asia, totalling 25 million, the One Million Signature Campaign for Right to Education aims to enrol the same number of out-of-school

idea that every child between the ages of 5 and 16 years should be provided quality education by the state.”

Sadly, apart from the legislation there is little on-ground work that has been done in this regard, added another participant, on condition of anonymity.

134 districts nationwide, establishing feeder schools in areas with no schools within a two-kilometre of their radius.

Campaign to enrol children launched The second phase of a campaign to solicit signatures from one million out-of-school children was

children by the end of the second phase of the campaign.

Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) launched phase-II of the campaign so that it can ask the government to implement Article 25-A, which guarantees education as a fundamental right of every child aged five to 16. Though the article was

citizens from various occupations, ages and classes and now the phase II aims at getting one million signatures from only out-of-school children,” shared ITA representative, Aisha Bilal at the event.

Chief guest Rubina Qaimkhani, secretary Parliamentary Commission for Child Protection, regretted that Pakistan has little to celebrate on International Literacy Day. “While providing education to every child is the government’s duty, given the dire state of the country, everybody should pitch in to promote education in any way they can.” Qaimkhani shared she would present a resolution in the parliament to demand all university graduates to serve one to two months educating children in rural areas.

“The education should not only be free, it should be of quality,” said Union of Journalists General Secretary Bilal Dar. Some 80 out-of-school children from the twin cities inaugurated phase II of the campaign with Qaimkhani and

After the walk, Iqbalur Rehman Sharif, director of education at NCHD, said 57 districts across the country had been selected as part of

also launched to coincide with International Literacy Day at the National Press Club.

In a country that has the highest

made part of the constitution after the 18th amendment in 2010, its implementation remains a far cry.

“Phase-I garnered signatures from

recited a dua to pray the government delivers on its commitment.

Phase-I of the programme was launch on 6th March 2012 by ITA.

Bangladesh media reports SAARC summit uncertainty following regional unrest

Political unrest in the Maldives and Nepal during 2012 has set back preparations for the 18th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Bangladesh-based media has reported .

According to The Daily Star newspaper, the next summit meeting for the heads of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Maldives had been scheduled to be held in Kathmandu during May 2013.

However, the chances of meeting such a date are now alleged to be unlikely over reports that no preparatory work has been undertaken by Nepalese authorities.

Citing unnamed “diplomatic sources”, the Daily Star has claimed that the postponement of an inter-summit session of the organisation’s council of ministers by the Maldives – in its position of current SAARC Chair – had further set back Nepal’s own preparations.

“The Maldives, the current SAARC Chair, is also in serious political crisis following the alleged ouster of Mohamed Nasheed as president of the country in February last,” wrote the newspaper.

The inter-summit session is reported to have been required under the SAARC Charter to be held six months after the organisation’s previous summit in order to finalise the dates, venue, and agenda of its next meeting.

Foreign Minister Dr Abdul Samad Abdulla and President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza were not responding to calls from Minivan News at the time of press. The previous SAARC summit meeting was held back in Addu Atoll in November 2010.

During the summit, former President Mohamed Nasheed identified several key issues to be addressed including trade, transport, economic investment, security against piracy, climate change and good governance.

NEWS

30

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

PM’s assets around Rs 10.73 crore, cabinet colleagues richer

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assets worth around Rs 10.73 crore, double that of last year, but a number of his cabinet colleagues are much richer than him.

Among the richer cabinet ministers are Praful Patel with assets of approximately Rs 52 crore and Sharad Pawar with property worth around Rs 22 crore, according to the updated list of assets of the ministers posted on the PMO website.

Defence Minister A K Antony has assets worth Rs 55 lakh, the lowest in the list of the cabinet Ministers. Manmohan Singh has shown residential properties, bank deposits and a Maruti 800 car as his assets.

While the total worth of Singh’s two flats- in Chandigarh and Delhiis Rs 7.27 crore, Singh has bank deposits and investments worth Rs 3.46 crore approximately in various State Bank of India (ASBI) accounts.

He has declared total assets of worth Rs 10,73,88,730.81 (Rs 10.73 crore approximately). Last year, the Prime Minister had declared total assets worth Rs 5.11 crore approximately. The flats owned by him in Chandigarh and Vasant Kunj here were then valued at a total of Rs 1.78 crore and he owned 150.80 gm of gold jewelery worth Rs 2.75 lakh.

Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said though the assets with Singh have remained the same, the valuation has gone up as the assessment has been done by a government- approved valuator.

The depreciated value of his Maruti 800 car has been shown as Rs

21,033. Singh also owns 150.80 grams of gold jewellery but its value has not been shown in his declaration of assets and liabilities.

Singh also owns a bank account in Dispur in Assam where he has a deposit of Rs 6,515.78 only.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and his

wife Promila have total assets of Rs 45.33 crore, including 8.11 crore of his wife. Of the Rs 37.22 crore assets owned by Sibal, he has at least 12 properties worth Rs 29.35 crore and cash and bank deposits

upto Rs 11.96 crore approximately.

Chidambaram also has assets and liabilities as part of Hindu Undivided Family. His total assets as part of HUF are Rs 94.04 lakh and liabilities worth Rs 75.52 Lakh.

crore. Rest of the pieces of land are in Aligarh, Ghaziabad and other nearby areas. He also owns three flats - two in Delhi and one in Gurgaon--worth Rs 3.75 crore.

Rural Development Minister

along with shares and debentures worth Rs 2.82 crore, 3 kilograms of jewellery worth Rs 35.33 lakh and loans and advances of Rs 4.63 crore.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has a house whose present worth is Rs 50 Lakh, two flats worth Rs 1.99 crore and Rs 1.25 crore, agricultural land worth Rs 19.76 Lakh, guest house worth Rs 8.22 Lakh, land worth Rs 1.11 Crore.

Shinde also owns a Mitsubhishi tractor worth Rs 1.90 lakh He owes a loan of Rs 10 Lakh to one Raj Shroff. His wife Ujjwala Shinde owns a flat worth Rs 2.15 crore, two pieces of land worth Rs 15.38 crore and Rs 84 lakh. She also owes a loan of Rs 27 Lakh to one Raj Shroff.

External Affairs minister S M Krishna has assets worth Rs 1.89 crore, including immovable properties of Rs 31.44 lakh. He owns half share in a residential house at Bangalore and agriculture

Hence, his net assets here add upto Rs 18.52 Lakh approximately.

His wife Nalini has immovable assets worth Rs 4.82 crore and the total assets add upto Rs 17.81 crore approx. Her liabilities are Rs 1.22 lakh which makes her net assets worth about Rs 17.80.

Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers M K Azhagiri has assets worth Rs 9.50 crore. Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy owns a house in Hyderabad and has 43 acres of agricultural land in Andhra Pradesh. His wife S Laxmi owns property in the form of office space in Secunderabad. She also owns jewellery worth Rs 7.5 lakhs and cash savings of over Rs 9 lakh. She also has a Toyota Qualis registered in her name.

Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs Vyalar Ravi has a two-bedroom flat in Ernakulam, Kerala, worth Rs 20 lakh. He declared inherited land worth Rs

Jairam Ramesh has assets worth over Rs 56 lakhs. More than a half of its share are jointly owned by Ramesh and his mother. Last year, his wife K R Jayashree had assets worth Rs 14,79148 which included bank balance, fixed deposits, jewellery, silverware and shares.

In the year 2011-12, Ramesh’s asset rose to over Rs 4.16 crore after his mother declared him a nominee of her bank deposits worth over Rs 3 crore due to the sale of the house of his parents in Bangalore in September 2011.

New And Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah has over Rs 98 lakh deposited in bank accounts and has shares in ancestral properties in Jammu and Kashmir. The value of some of the properties within the share and in possession of Abdullah is over Rs 2.25 crore. Abdullah also earned over Rs 26 lakhs from the sale of family land in Srinagar.

land in Mandya district and Somanahalli, besides owning a farm house at Somanahalli and a site at Viswapriya Greeneries, Begur. He owns a Sonata and a Lancer car.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s total assets, including bank accounts and current assets, add

90 lakh in Ernakulam district. Ravi also declared a Ford car and 900 grams of gold jewellery.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh owns six agricultural lands in Durg (Chhattisgarh) and West Uttar Pradesh having a total worth of nearly Rs 13 crore. His land in Chhattisgarh is worth Rs 5.64

Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay and his wife Rekha Sahay have declared assets worth Rs 70.74 lakh and Rs 1.24 crore, respectively. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has total assets worth Rs 6.65 crore, including Rs 95.15 lakh of his wife Madhu.

While Bansal has cash and bank deposits worth Rs 62.4 lakh, he owns a share in agricultural land in Mehrauli, Delhi worth Rs five lakh and half-share in a two kanal house in Chandigarh valued at Rs five crore. He also owns a Maruti Esteem car and jewellery worth Rs two lakh.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni has declared a flat in Delhi valued at nearly Rs 3.5 crore in addition to jewellery worth Rs 16 lakh and silver utensils worth over Rs 11 lakh in addition to an Optra car. She has also mentioned a farmhouse owned by her husband in Gurgaon.

Railway Minister Mukul Roy has shown Rs 6 lakh as total income in the Income Tax return and Rs 5.08 lakh in his wife Krishna’s name.

He has declared Rs 20.07 lakh in his name and Rs 14.97 lakh in his wife’s name as total movable assets for the last fiscal.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has total assets of Rs 68.59 lakh, including land in Maharashtra worth Rs 5.5 lakh and the remaining in cash and bank balances. His wife Shameed Azad owns a house and land in Srinagar worth Rs 55 lakh besides a residential flat in Delhi.

She has bank deposits and jewellery worth Rs 2.62 crore.

The net worth of Azad and his family as on July 2012 is Rs 3.42 crore along with a flat in Delhi which is not valued. He has a total net worth of Rs 2.22 crore in cash and deposits alongwith a flat in Delhi.

Power Minister M Veerappa Moily has total assets of Rs 30.47 lakh and liabilities of Rs 12.85 lakh, netting total assets of Rs 17.61 lakh, including two cars (Toyota Etios and Opel Astra). His net assets

were Rs 13.34 lakh last year.

His wife Malathi, who is stated to have independent source of income from agriculture, has total assets of Rs 3.71 crore and liabilities of Rs 60 lakh, netting total assets of Rs 3.11 crore. This includes 26 acres of agriculture land, a building in Continued on page 31 >>

Saarc international I Thursday 13 September 2012

PM’s assets around Rs 10.73 crore, cabinet colleagues richer Continued from page 30 >>

Bangalore and 50 tolas of jewellery and a Honda Accord car. She had total assets of Rs 3 crore last year.

Law and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has an agricultural land in the name of his family in Gautam Buddha Nagar of Uttar Pradesh worth over Rs 1.30 crore.

While Khurshid himself has cash worth Rs 74.48 lakh, the combined cash holdings of his family - including bank deposits - stand at over Rs 1.22 crore. He has a flat in Jamia Nagar, Delhi worth Rs 5 lakh, his wife Louie owns two flats in Goa gifted by her father.

The Law Minister also owns an agricultural land worth Rs 32 lakh in Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh and a barren, non-agricultural land worth over Rs 10 lakh in the same place.

Besides a Mahindra jeep and a Toyota Innova, Khurshid owns a “very old” imported car. The total worth of immovable property owned by Minister of Urban Poverty Alleviation and Housing Kumari Selja is Rs 12.25 crore approximately.

She owns agricultural and nonagricultural land as well as a residential house owned in partnership with others. The Minister, who hails from Haryana, also has movable assets worth Rs 9,91,101. She owns a Maruti Esteem car, jewellery (worth Rs 8.61 lakh approximately) and bonds, shares and fixed deposits. Selja’s total net worth is Rs 12.34 crore and the total tax and interest paid by her for 201112 is Rs 12,04,661.

The net assets of Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath has been

declared at Rs 8.85 crore as on March 31 this year while his wife Alka Nath owns assets worth Rs 4.48 crore approximately.

The figure though formidable may seem paltry in comparison to the over Rs 200 crore declaration made

by Nath an year earlier. As per the previous year’s declarations, Nath was the richest of all Cabinet Ministers.

Nath has also explained the reduction of figures in his declaration. “In the previous year’s declaration, the assets of Shri Nakul Nath, Shri Bakul Nath & Smt Simran Nath were shown. Since they are not dependent family members, it is not required to include their assets. They have therefore, been excluded this year,” Nath’s declaration said.

The declaration also said the assets of a private trust for the benefit of Nakul Nath and Bakul Nath, who are non-dependent family members, had also been excluded this year.

SAARC

31

Thakerays are ‘infiltrators’ in Maharashtra from Bihar: Lalu Prasad

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Sunday said Bal Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray were originally Bihari, and that they were “infiltrators” in Maharashtra.

“Thackeray’s family are originally from Bihar and now settled in Maharashtra. They are infiltrators in Mumbai, they should leave Maharashtra as soon as possible,” Lalu told newspersons here while reacting sarcastically to Raj

Thackeray’s remarks over the issue of Bihari “infiltrators”.

Lalu, former chief minister and central minister, said this country belongs to all and every one is free to visit, stay and work anywhere within the country, whether Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or Bangalore.

“Biharis are contributing to building Maharashtra by working hard. They are neither harming its interest not creating any trouble, they have full right to stay there,” Lalu said.

Lalu said the Thackerays have always been indulging in a campaign against North Indians, mostly Biharis. He added that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had failed to counter the Thackerays.

“Nitish Kumar is like a parrot of the Thackeray family,” Lalu said, taking a dig at the chief minister.

Lalu recalled that when Nitish Kumar went to Mumbai to address the Bihar Diwas celebrations in April this year, he hardly spoke about Bihar, although he praised Maharashtra. Last week, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh took on the Thackerays, quoting from a book authored

by Raj Thackeray’s grandfather, Prabodhankar Thackeray, to show that the Thackeray family had its origins in Magadh, Bihar, and later moved to different cities in search of livelihood, like many modern migrants.

Indian town of Jawhar plagued by loud noises and ‘tremors’ The Thane district additional collector Ashok Shingare told PTI that told that the intensity of loud sounds were on the rise, causing concern among citizens. Meanwhile, geological experts visited Jawhar on Monday to study the so called ‘tremors’ in the area and submit their report to the collector directly. Seismologists from IMB Mumbai and Pune, as well other experts, will also be visiting Jawhar on Tuesday to study the situation, he said. For the past ten days, Jawhar town’s residents have been running out of their houses after hearing mysterious loud sounds like ‘tremors’ throughout the day on Monday. The Jawhar municipal council

Continued from page 19 >> Rahman Malik said that it has to been seen if there was any wrongdoing in the fire incidents in Lahore and Karachi.

In Lahore, medical officials said some people had died of suffocation while others were burned alive as the fire took hold.

The fire broke out as people in the building tried to start their generator after the electricity went out, igniting chemicals in the factory.

One of the workers who managed to escape said that all the chemicals and the generator were in the garage, which was also the only way out of the building.

That fire came just hours after a similar tragedy in an illegally built shoe factory in Pakistan’s second largest city, Lahore, which killed 25.

Pakistani television broadcast harrowing footage of the worst industrial disaster to hit Karachi in decades.

Rescue workers said the factory was a death-trap, with many of the 200 overtime workers thought to be inside at the time having no chance to escape the flames and toxic fumes.

Commissioner Karachi, Roshan Ali Skeikh while speaking to reporters said the condition of the factory had deteriorated to such a point that it could collapse at any moment. Roshan added that the investigation report of the incident would be completed in three days.

“The death toll is 289. This is not final, search for more bodies continues,” commissioner Karachi Roshan Shaikh told reporters.

Karachi city’s police chief Iqbal Mahmood also said

also announced that there was no cause for fear and people should not panic, after they complained of their cots, vessels and even the walls, windows, tables and chairs were shaken badly due to ‘tremors;’ though walls have not developed any cracks. The Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) state unit secretary Advocate Rajaram Mukne told PTI that there were at least seven tremors reported, accompanied by loud sounds. Jawhar MLA Chintaman Wanga, who represents the area also told PTI that locals are of the opinion that these were ‘tremors.’

Pakistan Double Blaze Tragedy rescue teams were still trying to gain access to parts of the factory, which caught fire late on Tuesday, and the death toll could rise. Pakistan’s prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf expressed shock and grief over the deaths in both cities. Talking to the media outside the parliament house, Rahman Malik said that it has to been seen if there was any wrongdoing in the fire incidents in Lahore and Karachi.

“We found dozens of people dead in a large room of the factory’s basement. It was totally burnt and parts of it were smouldering, which we put out before shifting the bodies to hospitals,” Karachi fire chief Ehtesham Salim told reporters.

“Our firemen are searching every nook and corner of the factory despite having limited resources to cope with such a grave situation,” Salim said.

He added that the blaze was Karachi’s “biggest fire in terms of deaths in decades”.

Factory workers said that they made plastic utensils and under garments.

The death toll was revised sharply upwards after police earlier said the fire, which erupted late Tuesday, had killed nine workers.

Some shouting and sobbing relatives of trapped workers, desperate to get inside the building, scuffled with police during the night, an photographer said.

Rescuers used arc lights to work through the night. A steady stream of bodies were stretchered out, covered by white sheets.

Abdus Salam, a doctor at Karachi’s Civil Hospital, said 10 women were among the dead garment workers.

“The bodies are badly charred,” Salam told reporters, adding that at least 65 other workers had suffered broken bones after jumping out of windows to escape the fire.

Firefighters on crane lifts reached through the gutted building’s windows to rescue some trapped survivors, who were taken to local hospitals suffering from burns and smoke inhalation.

The blaze was still smouldering early on Wednesday.

Mohammad Saleem, 32, who broke a leg after jumping out of the second floor, said he and his colleagues were hard at work late on Tuesday when flames suddenly reached their section.

“It was terrible, suddenly the entire floor filled with fire and smoke and the heat was so intense that we rushed towards the windows, broke its steel grille and glass and jumped out,” Saleem told reporters in hospital.

“I fell on the ground and it was extremely painful, I saw many people jumping out of windows and crying in pain for help,” he said.

Officials said the cause of the Karachi fire was not yet known but Rauf Siddiqui, the industry minister for Sindh province, said the factory owner was under investigation for negligence.

“We have ordered an inquiry into how the fire erupted and why proper emergency exits were not provided at the factory so that the workers could escape,” Siddiqui

said.

According to DawnNews, Interior Minister Rehman Malik directed IG Sindh to investigate the incident and include the name of factory’s owner in the Exit Control List (ECL).

Earlier on Tuesday, at least 21 people were killed at a shoe factory in Lahore.

The fires could raise fresh questions about Pakistan’s industrial safety.

Critics say the government is too corrupt and ineffective to tackle an array of problems, from struggling industries to suicide bombings in the South Asian nation.

The Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court on Wednesday issued notices to concerned officials and departments over a huge fire that has so far killed at least 314 people at a garment factory in Karachi.

The blaze, which engulfed the factory in Karachi’s SITE area, has been termed as the city’s “biggest fire in terms of deaths in decades”.

A petition was filed in the SHC on Tuesday over the incident after which Chief Justice Mushir Alam issued notices to several authorities, including the Advocate General (AG) Sindh, the Secretary for Industries, Director General (DG) Rangers Sindh and the Inspector General (IG) of Sindh Police.

The CJ has also sought a reply within ten days from the officials.

The petitioner has filed the application for the incident’s investigation and possible negligence by authorities. The petitioner has also pleaded to the court to compensate relatives of the victims of the tragedy.

32

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 13 September 2012

Yuvraj Singh’s comeback steals spotlight amid rains

Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh is likely to play in Twenty20 match against New Zealand in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam on Saturday. The hype over Yuvraj Singh’s return to cricket is something which has never been seen before in Indian sport. Ten days

ago, when I had gone to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for the Arjuna Awards presentation ceremony, Yuvraj was being chased by the media.

A giant banner welcoming Yuvraj Singh back to international cricket Continued on page 23 >>

SAT

Sports

Pakistan take unassailable 2-0 lead in Twenty20 series after beating Australia in Super Over thriller were early signs the pressure was getting to them.

Mike Hussey, who is usually so safe under the high ball, dropped Nasir Jamshed when he was on 13.

It was relatively costly. Jamshed made it to 45 when his luck run out, undone by an unbelievable one-handed diving catch by Dan Christian, running backwards at mid-on. Find it on YouTube now: it will be time well spent.

Shane Watson could not repeat Continued on page 23 >>

The lesser-spotted Abdul Razzaq emerged from the sidings to help Pakistanto a thrilling win at Sports City last night, and thus clinch the Twenty20 series with one match still to play.

The seasoned all-rounder had spent virtually all of the preceding 79 overs of this series as a spectator.

However, with Australia requiring 10 to win off the final over, Mohammed Hafeez gave Razzaq his belated introduction.

Last night’s game was a sell-out, and the atmosphere was the sort of raucous, pulsating fare that you take as a given when Pakistan play.

It took a while for every seat to be filled, and for most of the Pakistan innings, the aisles and gangways in the stands nearest the main entrance had to pass for makeshift seats.

The frenzy bubbled over a few times. On three occasions, lone Pakistan supporters hurdled the barriers and invaded the playing area.

Figures of one over, two wickets for nine runs were good enough to force the first ever Superover to be seen in Dubai.

Razzaq then became the hero with the bat as he and Umar Akmal saw Pakistan to victory in the Superover, successfully passing Australia’s score of 11 for one off their six balls.

He and Akmal both hit one boundary each as Pakistan scored 12 without loss to clinch the victory.

Officialdom went easy on the first two miscreants.

A security guard even helped the young boy who had run on when Razzaq came to the wicket back over the fence. Why spoil a party in such jolly swing? Enough was enough when a third went running on, and was unceremoniously ambushed by a gang of security men.

Australia were not necessarily enjoying the carnival at that point.

They have been out of sorts since the 50 over series ended, and there

Dubai Airport Free Zone P.O. Box 293674 - Dubai, UAE T: +971 4 2533028 | F: +971 4 2533029

Airport Road Tong Ping P.O. Box 572 - Juba, South Sudan T: +211 99 9000 099 | F: +211 99 9000 098

info@questqualitas.com | www.questqualitas.com

Quest Qualitas is Atlas Copco and Dynapac Authorized Distributor in South Sudan

Published by Saarc International Ltd, Suite 101, 10 Courtenay Road, London HA9 7ND. UK Telephone:020 8904 0619 Fax: 020 8181 7575 E-mail: info@satribune.co.uk www.satribune.co.uk, www.saarc.co.uk. Printed at Webprint UK Ltd, Unit B1 Eastern Approach, Alfred Way, Barking, IG11 0AG