Rs 17.00 Vol III No 221 19 Pages Karachi Edition Thursday, 7 February, 2013 Rabiul Awal 25, 1434

STORY ON PAGE 04 STORY ON PAGE 07

STORY ON PAGE 02

In a twist to the Shahzeb Khanmurder case, a fresh medicalexamination conducted onShahrukh Jatoi, the prime accusedin Shahzeb’s murder, has revealedthat the accused is an adult.According to the medical report,Shahrukh is at least 18 years old ashe possesses all 32 teeth, includingfour wisdom teeth. PAGE 02

Shahzeb’s murdererShahrukh ‘is an adult’

The Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP) has decided to liftthe ban on hiring in constitutionalinstitutions, including the SupremeCourt. According to the ECPsecretary, 25 governmentdepartments had sent referencesto them seeking revocation of theban on appointments in the publicsector. He said the ECP wouldreview the references on a case-to-case basis. The ECP has alsodecided to contact the State Bankof Pakistan and Federal Board ofRevenue to scrutinize electoralcandidates. PAGE 24

Only constitutionalinstitutions mayhire: ECP

Questioning the role of the Sindhlawmakers in enforcing law and orderin the violence-stricken province whereat least 2,300 people had been killedin 2012 and criminals were movingabout freely in the city, the SupremeCourt on Wednesday expressed itsconcern over holding of transparentelections in the city. PAGE 24

SC doubts holding of polls in ‘paranoid Karachi’

Not often is the build up to an Indiaversus Pakistan clash – whatever theoccasion – as low-key as the one for theseventh-place playoff at the 2013 ICCWomen's World Cup. With the two teamsfailing to qualify for the Super Sixes, thematch at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack onThursday (February 7) holds very littlesignificance except academic. PAGE 21

Pakistan, India planto end World Cup on a high

Chinese presence atGwadar portannoying India

Pakistan’s decision to hand

over its strategic Gwadar

port to China has become a

matter of “serious concern”

for India, Indian Defence

Minister AK Antony said

on Wednesday. PAGE 18

STORY ON PAGE 02

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:14 AM Page 1

Demand for the reconstitution of the Election Commission is

unconstitutional and unprincipled when the general elections

are just around the corner. — PPP leader Manzoor Wattoo

NThursday, 7 February, 2013

02

nEws

TTP iNviTeS Ji, JUi,PML-N DeLegaTioN ToviSiT TribaL areaSMIRANSHAH/ISLAMABAD: Afterdemanding the PML-N, JUI-F and JI chiefsstand guarantors for the peace talks withthe government, the Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP) has invited theirrepresentative delegation to visit the TribalAreas. Talking to reporters over phone froman undisclosed location, TTP spokesmanIhsanullah Ihsan said the delegation ofpolitical parties would be guaranteed fullsecurity if they it visited the Tribal Areas.He said the purpose of inviting thedelegation to the Tribal Areas was toconvey the Taliban’s point of view. He saidthe Taliban wanted to make talks with thegovernment successful. The TTP spokesmansaid the Taliban did not trust the army,which was why they wanted direct talkswith the government without militaryinvolvement. About ignoring PTI chiefImran Khan for the talks process,Ihsanullah said Imran was not a seriousperson like Rehman Malik. inp

JUi-F aSkS PPP To ForMgovT iN baLochiSTaNor LeT iT rULeISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl(JUI-F) Balochistan chief Mohammad KhanSherani said on Wednesday that his party hadasked the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) toeither form a government in Balochistan or tolet the JUI-F do so. Sherani, who has beeninteracting with the PPP for lifting thegovernor’s rule in Balochistan, said that hewas waiting for President Asif Ali Zardari toreturn to Pakistan. Talking to reporters outsidethe Parliament House, he claimed that as soonas the governor’s rule was lifted, Chief MinisterNawab Aslam Raisani would resign.agencieS

ISLAMABADanweR abbaS

The Pakistan Railways secre-tary on Wednesday revealedthat the Business Express proj-ect did not succeed in fulfillingpeople’s expectations and thatthe Pak-Business Express(PBE) currently owed the Pak-istan Railways Rs 345 million.

This was revealed in ameeting of the Public AccountsCommittee — chaired byNadeem Afzal Gondal – andcalled to review audit parasand objections in connectionwith the Ministry of Railways.

Railways Secretary ArifAzeem informed the membersof the committee that the proj-ect was initiated keeping in

mind the business communityof the country. However, hesaid it failed to perform its dueobjective.

He said the issue wastaken up by the EconomicsCoordination Council (ECC)and following the directionsof the ECC, a third party eval-uation of the project had beencarried out which was pre-sented to the ECC.

Azeem said the reportpresented to the ECC revealedthat the PBE had failed to at-tract consumers and only 63percent of the trains’ seatswere usually occupied.

To a question, he said theprivate company that was inpartnership with the govern-ment in the project had al-

ready incurred losses worthRs 267 million and that it wasnot interested in maintainingthe present conditions of theagreement.

The Railways secretarysaid various recommendationshad been sent to the govern-ment to provide relief to theprivate partner in the project,however, no action was takenon those recommendations.

He said the PBE currentlyowed the Pakistan Railways alarge amount in account ofusing PR services and infra-structure, whereas its manage-ment seldom paid the decidedamount to the Pakistan Rail-ways on a daily basis citinglower than optimum capacityrate as a major reason.

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

PRESIDENT Asif AliZardari will soon give up hispolitical office and the Pres-idency will not be used forpolitical activities of the

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), WasimSajjad, counsel for the federation, toldthe Lahore High Court (LHC) onWednesday.

A full bench headed by Chief Jus-tice Umar Ata Bandial heard the con-tempt of court petition moved by MunirAhmad against President Zardari fornot relinquishing his political office asthe PPP co-chairperson in light of anLHC verdict.

The counsel, Wasim Sajjad, sub-mitted the federation’s viewpoint on thematter in writing, informing the courtthat the president would soon give up

his political office and the President’sHouse would not be used for the polit-ical activities by the PPP.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah en-quired from the counsel whether polit-ical activities would not be held in thePresidency only or in the President’sHouse in Karachi as well?

Sajjad said that the President’sHouse was located in Islamabad, whilethe rest were the president’s personalresidences. To this, LHC CJ Umar AtaBandial said the federation’s counsel’spledge to stop political activities in thePresident’s House augured well.

Sajjad said the issue had been set-tled finally. “The president would soongive up the political office.”

The counsel told the court that thepresident was not the chief of the partyand the slot was occupied byMakhdoom Amin Faheem. Sajjad as-serted that the president was not thehead of the Pakistan People’s PartyParliamentarians (PPP-P).

During the hearing Sajjad and ad-ditional attorney general exchangedheated arguments with the petitioner’scounsel AK Dogar.

Earlier during the hearing, Attor-ney General of Pakistan (AGP) IrfanQadir had requested the court to ad-journ the hearing.

The bench rejected the request andreplied that the case was significant innature and the hearing would carry oneven if the AGP was not available toappear for proceedings.

ISLAMABADagencieS

The Election Commission of Pak-istan (ECP) on Wednesday issuednotices to another 12 members of thePunjab Assembly for allegedly hold-ing dual nationalities.

The notices were sent after ChiefElection Commissioner (CEC)Fakhruddin G Ebrahim presided overa high-level meeting and reviewedvarious matters, including the law-makers’ dual nationalities and delimi-tation of constituencies in Karachi inlight of Supreme Court’s orders.

On Tuesday, the ECP issued no-tices to 23 MPAs of the Punjab As-sembly. Those served notices include21 current and two former members ofthe provincial assembly (MPAs).

Fifteen of the 21 belong to thePML-N and four are from the PPP.

They include former MPAsJameel Ashraf and Tahir Ali Javed andcurrent MPAs Zaeem Qadri, Shaukat

Aziz Bhatti, Rana Babar Hussain, Far-rukh Javed, Raza Ali Gilani, PirKashif Chishti, Imran Shaukat,Muhammad Yar Hiraj, Tahir KhalilSindhu, Makhdoom Muhammad Ir-tiqa, Arfa Khalid Pervez, Maira Malik,Ghulam Sarwar, Imran Khalid, Shah-jahan Ahmed Wattoo, Ali HaiderNoor, Hafiz Mian Noman, MohsinLateef, Tariq Mehmood andShamsheer Haider Wattoo. The SChad ruled in September last year thatMNAs and MPAs holding dual na-tionalities were not eligible to holdany public office and had declaredthem disqualified.

Drone kills three inNorth Waziristan

PESHAWARStaff RepoRt

At least three suspected militants were killed andseveral others were injured when a US dronetargeted a compound near the Pakistan-Afghanborder in North Waziristan on Wednesday.Officials at Miranshah said that a compoundestablished in an abandon house at MatalMountain area in Banngdar area of TehsilGhulam Khan had been targeted and razed to theground at noon. The official said that soon afterthe drone attack, other militants surrounded thesite and shifted the dead bodies and injured tounidentified location, adding that the identity ofthe victims could not be ascertained. Meanwhile,an official said that at least eight militants hadbeen killed when jet fighters bombed theirhideouts in two different places of UpperOrakzai on Wednesday. However, there is noconfirmation from independent sources due tolack of media access.

Medical report saysShahrukh an adult

RAWALPINDIStaff RepoRt

The medical examination conducted on ShahrukhJatoi, prime accused in the Shahzeb murder case,has revealed that the accused is an adult. After amedical examination of his teeth, it has beenproven that Shahrukh is at least 18-year-old as hepossesses all 32 teeth, including four wisdom teeth.According to medical experts, an individual mustbe at least 18 years of age to have a complete set of32 teeth. Earlier in the day, six X-rays shots ofShahrukh were taken by the medical board taskedwith determining his age. Shahzeb was shot deadin the Defence area of Karachi on December 25.Shahrukh is the prime suspect in the case and hadfled the country. He was later extradited to Pakistanfrom Dubai. Sharukh has been identified as thekiller by witnesses during the identificationprocess. An anti-terrorism court had on January 17directed the medical superintendent of ServicesHospital to constitute a medical board to conductShahrukh’s ossification test. The previous medicalreport was rejected as police surgeon Dr Jalil Qadirwas not eligible to pronounce Shahrukh a minor.Dr Qadri was then presented a show-cause noticeand he fled the scene thereafter. It was thenannounced that Professor Junaid Ashraf, Principalof Dow Medical College, would head the board.The medical board comprises two forensicspecialists, including Dr Farhat Mirza, threeradiologists and a dental surgeon.

Zardari to give upparty post ‘soon’

COUNSEL TELLS LHCAMIN FAHIM, NOTZARDARI, IS CHIEF OFTHE RULING PARTY

DUAL NATIONALITY(

(

ECP issues notices to12 more Punjab MPAs

23 MPAS TOAPPEAR BEFORECOMMISSION TODAY

Business Express owes Railways Rs 345m, PAC told

fIle Photo

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:14 AM Page 2

AdvERTisEMEnT Thursday, 7 February, 2013 03

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:14 AM Page 3

Obama must release his own legal memos and not

just a Cliffs Notes version. — Vincent Warren, executive

director of the Center for Constitutional RightsnEwsN

04

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

ISLAMABADapp

THE worldwide inci-dence of cancer is ex-pected to increase 75percent by 2030, with

a projected increase of morethan 90 percent in the poorestnations, a new study reveals.

Rates of certain types ofcancer (such as cervical andstomach cancer) appear to bedeclining in some developingcountries, but these reductionsare likely to be offset by sub-stantial increases in the types ofcancer associated with a “west-ernised” lifestyle, includingbreast, prostate and colorectalcancer, according to the report,The Guardian reported.

For the study, researchersanalysed International

Agency for Research on Can-cer (IARC) data from 184countries in 2008 in order toexamine how current and fu-ture cancer trends vary be-tween countries based on theirlevels of development, asmeasured by their Human De-velopment Index (HDI).

Currently, countries witha low HDI (mainly nations insub-Saharan Africa) have ahigh incidence of cancers as-sociated with infection (par-ticularly cervical cancer), aswell as liver cancer, stomachcancer and Kaposi’s sarcoma.Countries with a higher HDI(such as Australia, Brazil,Russia and the United King-dom) have higher rates ofcancers associated with smok-ing (lung cancer), reproduc-tive risk factors, obesity and

diet (breast, prostate and col-orectal cancer).

Improved living standardsin countries with a lower HDImay lead to a decrease insome infection-related can-cers, but these countries maysee a sharp increase in thetypes of cancer currently seenin higher-development coun-tries, the researchers pointedout in a journal news release.

Cancer incidence ratescould increase by 93 percentin low HDI countries by 2030and by 78 percent in mediumHDI countries (such as SouthAfrica, China and India) overthe same period, according tostudy leader Dr Freddie Bray,of IARC, and colleagues.

The investigators alsofound that rates of prostatecancer and female breast

cancer appear to be rising inmost countries withmedium, high or very highlevels of development, andthat rates of stomach cancerand cervical cancer are gen-erally decreasing in coun-tries with medium, high orvery high levels of HDI.

Lung cancer is currentlynot a leading type of cancer inlow HDI countries, but thatwill change unless smoking iseffectively controlled in thesecountries, the study authorsnoted in the news release.

The researchers alsofound that 40 percent ofworldwide cancer cases in2008 occurred in countrieswith very high HDI levels,even though they had just15 percent of the globalpopulation.

CAIROagencieS

The Iranian people are ready tomarch on Israel to “wipe it out”if the Jewish state attacks the Is-lamic republic, President Mah-moud Ahmadinejad said instatements published Wednes-day by Egypt’s state newsagency. “The people of Iran areready to march on Israel towipe it out if it launches into anadventure against Tehran” andattacks the country, the Iranianpresident told Egyptian news-paper editors, according to ex-cerpts published by MENA.“The Zionists... hope toaggress Iran and attack it, butthey are very afraid of theIranian reaction and of theconsequences of such an at-tack,” he said in the Arabic

transcription of the commentsmade during a visit to Egypt.“Our defence forces are capa-

ble of dissuading any aggres-sor and making him regret hisact,” Ahmadinejad said.

LONDONinp

The US Central IntelligenceAgency (CIA) has been oper-ating a clandestine airbase forunmanned drones in SaudiArabia for the past two years.

The base was estab-lished for the purpose ofhunting down al Qaedamembers in the ArabianPeninsula, reported a UK-based news agency.

A drone took flight fromthis facility in September2011 to kill Anwar alAwlaki, a US-born Muslim

cleric who was suspected tobe the head of al Qaeda Ara-bian Peninsula’s (AQAP)external operations.

The report further assertedthat the American media hadbeen aware of its existencesince then, but had not re-ported on it.

Senior US government of-ficials had stated that theywere concerned that the dis-closure of the secret facilitywould undercut operationsagainst the AQAP and poten-tially damage collaborationefforts with Saudi Arabia inthe war against terrorism.

LONDONonLine

A terrorist convicted for hisrole in the 1997 Luxor mas-sacre and close confidante ofAyman al-Zawahiri, the AlQaeda leader, was killed by adrone strike in Pakistan.

According to intelligenceanalysts, Abd el Kader Mah-moud Mohamed el Sayed wasonce described as Osama binLaden’s ambassador to Italyand his death was the latestblow to the group’s core lead-ership in Afghanistan and Pak-istan. He was believed to havebeen killed in May or June lastyear but details of his deathwere only recently posted on-line by the movement’s prop-aganda unit, leading analyststo conclude that Al Qaeda’sremnants were struggling tokeep track of who was aliveand who was dead.

Rahimullah Yusufzai, oneof Pakistan’s leading expertson Al Qaeda, said, “Thisshows they have a real diffi-culty co-ordinating. They havescattered, gone undergroundand don’t seem to be able to

maintain contact.” The CIA’s covert drone

programme is under intensescrutiny. John Brennan, BarackObama’s nominee for theagency’s director, is expectedto face tough questioning dur-ing his confirmation hearingtoday (Thursday).

It follows the leak of aJustice Department memosetting out the legal basis forkilling American citizensholding senior positions inAl Qaeda. The strikes arouseintense public and politicalanger in Pakistan. However,the military has apparentlynever attempted to preventdrones entering its air spaceand an American diplomaticcable published by Wik-ileaks suggested that Islam-abad had given permissionfor the attacks.

El-Sayed, who was alsoknown as Abu Saleh al-Masri,was the latest high-profile mil-itant death.

He emerged as a senior fig-ure in Egyptian Islamic Jihadand followed Zawahiri whenhe merged the movement withAl Qaeda in the 1990s.

afghans fire 5

mortar shells

into PakistanMIRANSHAH

onLine

At least five mortar shellswere fired from the Afghanside of the border on Wednes-day that landed in GhulamKhan area of North WaziristanAgency, security source said.

The sources said theshelling by unidentified peo-ple, believed to be Afghan se-curity personnel, did not causeany casualties. The shelling,sourced at Tarkhobi area inAfghanistan’s Khost province,continued for half an hour.

Cross-border shelling hasheightened tension betweenPakistan and Afghanistan, as thetwo countries accuse each otherof firing. Islamabad hasprotested and asked Kabul tostop the cross-border attacks.However, Afghan officials denythe charges.

Militants attack

police post in

Nowshera

NOWSHERAonLine

Unidentified militants at-tacked Malangi policecheckpost using heavyweapons in Nowshera onWednesday night. Accordingto reports, the militants at-tacked the police post withrockets and heavy weapons.Retaliation by the policeforce forced the militants toflee the area. Police latercordoned off the area andlaunched a search operationagainst the militants.

blast in Quetta,

no loss of life

QUETTAonLine

A low intensity blast rockedareas adjacent to Baruri Roadin Quetta on Wednesday.Media reports said rescueworkers and police rushed tothe spot and cordoned off thearea. No loss of life wascaused by the explosion.

Worldwide cancer incidencepredicted to rise by 75% by 2030

Iranians can ‘wipe out’ Israelif attacked: Ahmadinejad

SHOE HURLED AT AHMEDINEJAD IN EGYPTCAIRo: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad faced ashoe-hurling episode in Egypt on Wednesday, but the hurlernever got any close to hitting his target. Egypt’s securityarrested four men who were protesting outside a Cairomosque, where the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadwas praying. The men, including a Syrian, belong to theultra-conservative Sunni Salafist movement. one man threwa shoe at Ahmadinejad, a Shia, who was never in any danger.The Al-Hussein Mosque is revered by Shia Muslims, who arewidely disliked by conservative Sunni Muslims, includingmembers of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt’s PresidentMohammed Morsi was previously a member of theBrotherhood. Many Sunni Muslim groups have denounced theIranian president’s visit to Cairo and have called on Egypt’sgovernment to prevent Ahmadinejad from visiting anyreligious sites that are significant to Shia Muslims. inp

CIA operatingsecret dronebase in Saudi

Bin Laden’s ‘ambassadorto Italy’ killed by drone

ISLAMABADapp

Senators from the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N), JamiatUlema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) andBalochistan National Party-Awami(BNP-A) walked out of the Senate onWednesday against the imposition ofgovernor rule in Balochistan and lawand order situation in other parts ofthe country.

Speaking on a point of order, JUI-FChief Whip Abdul Ghafoor Haidri saidreligious scholars and common peoplewere being killed in Quetta, Karachi andKhyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the elected government inBalochistan had been removed follow-ing a bomb blast despite the fact that thelaw and order situation in otherprovinces was not much different.

Haidri said even after governor rule,six mutilated bodies had been recoveredin Kalat, adding some forces had beenstriving to get the elections delayed.

He stressed all political forces to forgeunity to resist any unconstitutional moveas any disagreement in this regard wouldencourage undemocratic forces to intrude.

In response, Hasil Bizenjo said thesacked provincial government had exe-cuted no mega development project in

Balochistan creating a sense of depriva-tion among the people.

He said efforts were being made toappoint a leader of the opposition of mu-tual consent in the provincial assemblyto form a caretaker government.

Dawood Achakzai of Awami Na-tional Party said the people have startedobserving a hunger strike against gover-nor rule in Balochistan.

He suggested that an in-housechange should be brought there to keepthe ball of democracy rolling.

Kalsoom Perveen of BNP-A, said adecision to impose governor rule shouldhave been taken earlier and that a dem-ocratic government should not havebeen removed at the time when the as-sembly was going to complete its term.

She said it would take some time torefine the political system of theprovince and should have continuedwithout any interruption.

Later, PML-N’s Mushahidullah saidthat opposition’s sit-in before the Parlia-ment House was symbolic and in contin-uation of three sit-ins already held inKarachi for strengthening of the Elec-tion Commission.

He said the party had not given apublic call for a sit-in, adding that creditgoes to the PML-N for letting the PPPgovernment continue its term.

PML-n, JUi-F, BnP-Awalk out of senate

CAIRo: Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad shakeshands with a supporter duringan official visit to Al-Husseinmosque on Wednesday.

Turkey tobuild warshipfor Pakistan

AZERBAIJANonLine

Turkey won a tender announced earlierby the Naval Forces of Pakistan forconstruction of a warship, the Hurriyetnewspaper reported.

Turkish company producing de-fence-related equipment SavunmaTeknolojileri Mühendislik (STM)signed an agreement with the DefenceMinistry of Pakistan. Under the agree-ment, the warship will be constructedat a shipyard in Karachi, and all of theparts of the ship will be manufacturedin Turkey. It is reported that the agree-ment also covers training of ship per-sonnel and its testing. Cost of theagreement and date of starting the con-struction of the ship has not been an-nounced yet.

FILE PHoTo

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:14 AM Page 4

KARACHi

kThursday, 7 February, 2013

Low

high

110C

FrIday satUrday sUnday

27°C I 12°C 27°C I 13°C 27°C I 14°C

pRayeR timingS

Fajr sunrise Zuhr asr Maghrib Isha

5:54 7:11 12:46 3:58 6:21 7:39

sUnny

Weather Updates

250C

05Outgoing consul general of China worked

for furtherance and enhancement of relations

between the two countries. – Qaim Ali Shah

KARACHIaftab channa

WITH anaim toensurenoinfluence ingenera

l elections and comply with electioncommission’s instructions, more than15 top brass of the province includingthe chief secretary and inspectorgeneral of police (IGP) are likely tolose their jobs before the set up ofinterim government.

Moreover, the most influentialofficers that included daughter andson-in-law of the chief minister, QaimAli Shah, will also come under thesharp axe until the new government isformed, reliable sources confided toPakistan Today.

As per the election commission’sguidelines, no officer, who hasremained on a key post for one andhalf an year, is to be removed.

The services and general

administration and coordinationdepartment has already transferred theadditional chief secretary, planningand development department,Malik Israr Ahmed, andthe additional chiefsecretary (finance),Arif Ahmed Khan.Both these officialsare waiting forpostings, thesources said.

After the transferof top two bureaucrats,their boss, the chiefsecretary, has flown theIslamabad to lobby for his job, thesources said, adding three names werebeing considered for the new chief

secretary that included Syed AlamdarHussain Naqvi and Imtiaz Qazi.

Interestingly, it was also underconsideration that Secretary

Education Dr FazalullahPechuho, brother-in-law

of President AsifZardari, be promotedto grade 22 andmade the Sindh chiefsecretary.

Among thosewho will be removed

include the secretaryboard of investment,

daughter of chief minister,Nahid S Durrani, CM’s son-in-

law, Iqbal Durrani, SecretaryAgriculture Aga Jan Akhtar, IG Sindh

Fayyaz Leghari and the principalsecretary to the chief minister.

Besides, senior officer QaziShahid Pervez, who is known for hisgood conduct and honesty, is likely tobe made secretary services before theinterim government is formed, theyadded.

When contacted, a senior officerseeking anonymity told PakistanToday that senior bureaucracy wasconsistently holding meetings withthe top leadership of the governmentso that they could get postings onimportant positions.

“Major reshuffle in thebureaucracy will take place in thedays to come however the officers donot disclose the details”.

hYDeRABAD: Students, teachers and civil society activists hold placards demanding release of funds for

rural education. onLine

SiNDh’S ToP braSSoN The hoT SeaT

IGP, CHIEF SECRETARYAND MANY OTHERSLIKELY TO LOSE JOBSBEFORE CARETAKER SET-UP

SENIOR BUREAUCRACYCONSISTENTLY HOLDINGMEETINGS WITH TOPLEADERSHIP FOR

GETTING POSTINGS ONIMPORTANT POSITIONS

of dharnas and jokes

KARAChI: Sindh Information Minister andDeputy Information Secretary of thePakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Sharjeel InamMemon, in a statement said that the sit-inbeing observed by the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) in Islamabad theother day has become a public joke becauseof the very poor show and the ground forwhich they were protesting in front of theparliament. He said that political observershad failed to understand the logic of theirsit-in because the incumbent Chief ElectionCommissioner was the nominee of the PML-N which was accepted by the PPP in clearmanifestation of the spirit of democraticvalues towards their political opponentswhen they put forward the proposal. Hefurther said that the democratic credentialsof PML-N had been unfortunately tarnisheddue to their resorting to the politics ofdharna in the presence of electedparliament which was the highest electedforum to discuss and resolve the issues ofnational importance in accordance with thebest democratic practices. He said that thePPP and the PML-N were committed to holdfree, fair and impartial elections in thecountry because they firmly believed thatthe forthcoming elections were critical forthe future of democracy, the country andfor the people of Pakistan. Their recent hueand cry was not compatible with thedemocratic process, he added. Sharjeel alsopointed out that the PPP had been badlyhurt by electoral manipulations in the pastmeant to favour the anti-democratic andanti-PPP forces, adding that the PPP wouldnot allow the repetition of such illegal,unconstitutional and immoral practiceswhich deprived the people and the PPP fromtheir legitimate right of representing thepeople and empowering them. Staff RepoRt

Son of MNasent to jail fortorturing PiaofficerKARAChI: A magistrate onWednesday sent Norez Baloch,son of ruling Pakistan Peoples’Party (PPP) MNA SherMuhamamd Baloch, to jail on14-day judicial remand.Per details, Norez was arrestedfor allegedly torturing a seniorPakistan International Airlines(PIA) officer on the airport lateon Monday and for creating ascene at the Jinnah Terminal.Earlier, Nauroz had ended upbeating the national flagshipcarrier’s reservation supervisornamed Allah Dino Jatoi whichhad caused panic among PIAstaff members at the airport,who closed down the reservationoffice in protest. Police investigation officer saidthe accused was presentedbefore the magistrate in Malircourt on Wednesday which sentthe youth to Landhi jail on a 14-day judicial remand. Meanwhile, the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf had flayed themanhandling of a PIA employeeby the son of a sitting MNA. In a statement issued here onWednesday, the PTI said thepresent populist “democratic”political government wereintoxicated by power and hadstarted defying the pre-requisites of democracy, thefirst and the foremost of whichwas adherence to the rule oflaw. inp

DEMOCRATIC CREDENTIALSOF PML-N TARNISHED DUE TO RESORTING TO MOB POLITICS

IGP fayyaz leghari CM’s daughter Nahid S Durrani Chief Secretary Raja M Abbas

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:14 AM Page 5

KARACHiThursday, 7 February, 2013

06

k

KARACHI: Massive traffic jam on Native Jeety Bridge persisted on Wednesday. onLine

KARACHIaamiR maJeed

THE best way to mar-ket your product inviolence-hit city likeKarachi whereeveryday 10 peoplefall prey to the tar-geted violence in

average is to terrorize the residents, Pak-istan Today learnt on Wednesday.

This is what the cable operators aredoing in the city to discourage new com-petitors for maintaining their monopolyby creating a fear in hearts and minds ofthe consumers that there could be a da-coit in the guise of a cable operator.

You may see a slide at your TVscreens that some people have started

looting houses in Karachi in the guise ofnew cable operators. These slides arebeing run by the cable operators warningthe people if a new a cable operatorcomes to your door with offer of lowrates, don’t believe him as he could be adacoit.

However, the law enforcers claimedthey did not receive a single complaintin any part of city wherein dacoits looteda house by impersonating themselves ascable operators.

All Pakistan Cable Operators Associ-ation (APCOA) Chairman Khalid Arainsaid this was just propaganda of oldcable operators to close market for thenew comers.

Some extremists in parts of the citylooted houses in the guise of cable oper-ators by seducing consumers for lowerrates. They warned consumers not to

trust new cable operators and have con-fidence in old cable operators as theyearned well repute over the past many

years. “There are only three authorised

cable operators in DHA which are Mag-

num, Delta and World Call,” said Waqas,a local cable operator in DHA running hisbusiness under Magnum Communicationwith the name of King Multimedia Plus.

“All big cable operators started thiscampaign last year as there is a largenumber of illegal cable service providersworking in the locality. To date, no suchincident has been reported that robbersentered in anyone’s home in DHA andlooted residents.”

APCOA Chairman Khalid Arain con-tradicted his own version as initially hetermed it a propaganda of old cable op-erators but later on he added: “Old oper-ators were compelled to run thiscampaign to avoid loss of number ofconsumers as the new comers are provid-ing best services against low rates”.

Arain, who is also among board ofdirectors of the city’s biggest cable oper-

ators company, Media Plus Communica-tion, when forced to recall that this cam-paign was started by his company, hechanged his statement and said manyyears ago some people looted a house inthe limits of Brigade police in the guiseof new cable operators which forcedthem to run such slides as a securitymeasure.

“After this, no such incident was re-ported in the city and now cable opera-tors use this tool to block market for newcable operators to maintain their monop-oly in their respective areas,” he added.

New Karachi Superintendent of Po-lice (SP) Syed Salman Hassan, said hedid not receive any complaint in histenure. “Cable operators are usuallywell-known in their areas and the resi-dents can identify them easily,” the SPadded.

bUSiNeSS coMeS ThroUgh Terror!

SYED SALMAN HASSANSUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE

Cable operators areusually well known in

their areas and residentscan identify them easily

KARACHIaLi waheed

As the legislature assembly of Sindhnears completion of its five-year tenure,the questions asked by the parliamentar-ian from more than eleven governmentdepartments remain unanswered since thelast three years, it has been learnt.

The departments that had yet to an-swer the queries of parliamentarians in-cluded the Sindh Department ofAntiquities, Supply and Prices, coopera-tion, finance, health, land utilisation, Lawand Parliamentary Affairs, rural develop-ment, Services and General Administra-

tion, police and the human rights depart-ments respectively.

The finance and health departmentswere headed by highly competent, ex-tremely well educated and well-spokenministers, but their presence had not en-couraged anyone to answer even onequestion put forth by parliamentarians inthree out of the last five parliamentaryyears. Moreover, the finance departmenthad only answered a total of 35 questionsover the last five years.

Each year since the Sindh Assemblyfirst met in April 2008; the honorablespeaker of the assembly had issued a re-port on the performance of the membersduring the parliamentary year. This re-port had included bills submitted, ad-journment motions, questions and othermatters. This step taken by the speakerhad been a very positive and commend-able step.

However, just as it was the duty ofthe Members of Provincial Assembly(MPA) to ask questions from the govern-

ment, it was also the duty of the govern-ment to respond to the queries and de-mands of the MPAs representing thepeople of Sindh in the provincial assem-bly. “I have requested the speaker on sev-eral occasions to issue a report on theperformance of each department in the as-sembly, but unfortunately no response hasbeen received by me so far,” MPA ArifMustafa Jatoi said.

Therefore, from my own records andthe data available on the Sindh Assemblywebsite and the library, I have preparedthis report so that the general public couldsee the performance of their governmentin the assembly at least with regard to themany questions that were waiting to beanswered by the departments concerned,he added.

Failing to provide answers to impor-tant questions had poorly reflected on thegovernment’s sincerity towards the dem-ocratic process, the MPA said, adding thatif they were not prepared to answer ques-tions raised by elected representatives,

what hope did the ordinary people had ofholding the government accountable?

Meanwhile, key departments whichwere well known for rampant corruptionhad avoided accountability in the provin-cial assembly and included Land Utilisa-tion department, Revenue department andothers.

Even the department responsible forcontrolling corruption (Anti-CorruptionDepartment) had only answered 17 ques-tions on the floor of the Sindh Assembly

Arif Jatoi also said that in any democ-racy, accountability of the government tothe Parliament was the foundation ofopen and transparent government, whileadding that this government had clearlynot exposed all its departments and min-isters for public scrutiny, which poorly re-flected on the performance of the current“Peoples” government.

I hope in the future, the Sindh Assem-bly would be able to release its own re-ports regarding the performance of thegovernment, he concluded.

Sindh to have

own cultural,

heritage

institute KARAChI: Sindh Culture Minister SassuiPalijo on Wednesday performed thefoundation stone laying ceremony of theSindh Cultural and Heritage Institute at theNational Museum Karachi with a cost of Rs200 million in three years. Whileaddressing the ceremony, Sassui said thatthe provincial culture department withinfive years had largely worked for thepromotion, projection and protection of thecultural heritage and civilization of theprovince, while striving to set unique trendsby initiating various mega projects duringthe tenure of the present government. Shesaid that establishment of cultural centres,public libraries and many developmentprojects under the auspices of the abovementioned department were beingcontinued throughout the province. Work on such institute had been our dreamwhich was now going to be fulfilled, theprovincial culture minister said. Though theproject had been previously delayed due tomany problems, but now developmentworks had been initiated throughout theSindh province. Meanwhile, renownedwriter Amar Jaleel had correctly pointed outon the occasion that Sindh and Karachiwere one. He said that this institute was asimportant for Karachi, as it was for the restof the province. Sassui said that it shouldbe the state’s responsibility to initiate morepeople oriented development programmes.During the martial law periods of Zia andMusharraf, hurdles for social and culturaldevelopment were many, but the presentgovernment, through its visionary policyhad initiated many mega projects and hadalso doubled the budget of archeology andculture department to make things betterin the future.Furthermore, Sassui said that though theculture department had faced fundsproblems in the past, but in spite of all thatthe provincial government had initiatedsuch projects including the formation ofgalleries and corridors on the names ofFaiz, Josh, Latif, Sachal, Sail and manyother important local personalities.Recently the department had inauguratedpublic libraries namely Shamsherul Haideriand Tajal Bewus. Moreover, Secretary Culture Abdul AzizUqaili highlighted the various developmentprojects undertaken by the archeology andculture department, said that for the firsttime in the history of Pakistan, budget ofboth the departments has been doubled.He also said that the culture departmenthad 12 public libraries in 2008 which hadpresently increased to 22 and would furtherincrease up to 42 in the next two years.The culture secretary further said that 20different development schemes were underway and right cultural centres, except atBhit Shah and Sehwan Sharif, would alsobe established, adding that seven differentcentres for Hindu and Christiancommunities would also be established inthe near future. Staff RepoRt

Answerable to none!QUESTIONS FORWARDEDTO 11 DEPARTMENTSREMAIN UNANSWEREDIN SINDH ASSEMBLY’SFIVE-YEAR TENURE

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:14 AM Page 6

07

nEwsThursday, 7 February, 2013

No amount of political

freedom will satisfy the hungry

masses — Vladimir Lenin N

TUNISagencieS

atop Tunisian opposition figure,Shokri Belaid, leader of the left-leaning opposition Democratic Patri-ots party, has been shot dead as he

was leaving his home.He was transported to a hospital in the

suburbs of Tunis on Wednesday, where hedied of his wounds, his bother confirmed.

“My brother was assassinated. I am des-perate and depressed,” Abdelmajid Belaidsaid. The wife of the opposition leader,speaking to Radio Mosaique, said he hadbeen hit by two bullets. Ziad Lakhader, aleader of the Popular Front, the umbrella or-ganisation of the Democratic Patriots, saidBelaid was killed by bullets to the head andchest; “Doctors told us that he has died. Thisis a sad day for Tunisia.”

Belaid had been critical of Tunisia’sleadership, especially the Islamic party En-nahda that dominates the government.

He had accused authorities of not doingenough to stop violence by ultraconserva-tives who have targeted mausoleums, art ex-hibits and other things seen as out of keepingwith their strict interpretation of Islam.

Government spokesperson Samir Diloucalled it an “odious crime”. Tunisian Presi-dent Moncef Marzouki said he would fightthose who opposed the political transition inhis country after the death of Belaid.

Marzouki, who cut short a visit to Franceon Wednesday, told lawmakers at the Euro-pean Parliament in Strasbourg to applause:“We will continue to fight the enemies of therevolution.” The president also cancelled avisit to Egypt scheduled for Thursday after thekilling, which brought thousands of protestersonto the streets outside the Interior Ministry.Chanting for the fall of the Ennahda-led gov-ernment, demonstrators shouted “Shame,shame Shokri died”, “Where is the govern-ment?”, and “The government should fall”.

Omar bin Ali, a member of the TunisianTrade Unions, was present at the demonstrationsite and said “the Islamists were responsible forBelaid’s death”. “This is what they have beencalling for in mosques,” Bin Ali told AlJazeera’s Ahmed Janabi outside of the ministry.

Ruling out the possibility of external fac-tors, Bin Ali said “Tunisia is a friend of all

nations. It is hard to think of anyone fromabroad to do this to us,” adding that “the peo-ple want the whole government out as theyproved to be useless”.WARNINg SHoTS: As the number of pro-testers swelled, security forces fired warningshots and cordoned off the area in the directvicinity of the ministry.

The killing comes as Tunisia is strug-gling to maintain stability and revive itseconomy after its longtime dictator wasoverthrown in an uprising two years ago.

That revolution set off revolts acrossthe Arab world and unleashed new socialand religious tensions. Ennahda won 42percent of seats in the first post-Arab upris-ing elections in October 2011 and formed agovernment in coalition with two secularparties, President Marzouki’s Congress forthe Republic and Ettakatol.

However, the government has facedmany protests over economic hardship.Hampered by declining trade with the crisis-hit eurozone, it has struggled to deliver thebetter living standards that many Tunisianshad hoped for. France condemned the mur-der of Belaid, describing him as a coura-geous fighter for human rights. “This murderrobs Tunisia of one of its most courageousand free voices,” President Francois Hol-lande said hours after Belaid was shot dead.

LONDONagencieS

British legislators have approved gaymarriage despite fierce oppositionfrom members of Prime MinisterDavid Cameron’s Conservative party.Members of the House of Commons- the lower House - voted on Tuesdayby 400 to 175 to approve the draftlaw allowing same-sex couples tomarry in England and Wales.The move puts Britain on track tojoin the ten countries that allow

same-sex couples to marry, butCameron had the embarrassmentof seeing more than half of hisConservative legislators refusing

to back him.Just 127 of 303 Conservatives

voted in favour of the plans, with136 voting against and 40 moreeither formally abstaining or notvoting. “Strong views exist on bothsides but I believe MPs voting forgay people being able to marry too,is a step forward for our country,”Cameron wrote on his Twitter pageafter the vote. The government-proposed bill would enable gaycouples to get married in both civiland religious ceremonies, providedthat the religious institutions consent.The vote was warmly welcomed byCameron’s junior coalition partners,the Liberal Democrats, and by theopposition Labour party, while gayrights group Stonewall called theresult “a truly historic step forward”.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg,the Liberal Democrats leader, calledthe result a “landmark for equality”.“Tonight’s vote shows parliament isvery strongly in favour of equalmarriage,” he said. “Marriage isabout love and commitment, and itshould no longer be denied to peoplejust because they are gay.”Currently, same-sex couples onlyhave the option of a civil partnership,which offers the same legal rightsand protections on issues such asinheritance, pensions, and childmaintenance. During a debate thatlasted more than six hours, manyConservative MPs denounced thelegislation, saying it was morallywrong, not a public priority, andunnecessarily divisive.Conservative lawmaker GeraldHowarth told parliament that thegovernment had no mandate to pushthrough a “massive social andcultural change”.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller, theminister responsible for thelegislation, insisted the bill wouldprotect religious freedoms and “notmarginalise those who believemarriage should be between a manand a woman”. The Church ofEngland, the country’s officialfaith, is barred from performingsuch ceremonies. That provisionaims to ensure that the Church,which opposes gay marriage, isprotected from legal claims that asthe official state religion it mustmarry anyone who requests it. Thebill must next be scrutinised by acommittee of legislators and thengo before the upper chamber theHouse of Lords before becominglaw. While a majority of people inBritain back gay marriage, pollsshow that Cameron’s strongsupport for the issue couldundermine his party’s chances atthe next general election in 2015.

DAMASCUSagencieS

At least 12 members of Syria’s securityforces have been killed in two suicidecar bombings targeting a military intel-ligence headquarters in the south-centralcity of Palmyra, a watchdog said.

The Syrian Observatory for HumanRights said that more than 20 troopswere also wounded, some in criticalcondition, after Wednesday’s simultane-ous attacks against the intelligencebranch and a nearby security building.It said rebel fighters attacked the build-ings soon after the double blasts, whilethe army deployed security forces in thecity renowned for its Roman ruins andwhich has been designated as a worldheritage site by UNESCO.

A shootout around the intelligencebuildings erupted after the bombingsleaving eight civilians wounded asclashes broke out elsewhere in the cen-tral Homs province city. Heavy fightinghas also erupted in Damascus as rebelslaunched an offensive against PresidentBashar al-Assad’s forces, breaking a lullin the conflict, opposition activists said.Authorities in Damascus closed the main

Abbasid Square and the Fares al-Khourythoroughfare as fighters attacked road-blocks and fortifications with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.

“The areas of Jobar, Zamalka, al-Zab-latani and parts of Qaboun and the ringroad have become a battleground,” ac-tivist Fida Mohammad said from the dis-trict of Qaboun. Another activist said anarmy tank stationed at the main al-Kabbasroadblock on the ring road had been de-stroyed. Residents reported explosionsacross the east and north of the capital. InJobar, a working-class Sunni Muslim areaadjacent to Abbasid Square, mosquespeakers chanted “God is Greatest” insupport of opposition fighters who at-tacked roadblocks in the neighbourhood,activists told the Reuters news agency.

They said tanks stationed on the edgeof the central district of Midan, just outsidethe walls of Old Damascus, shelled south-ern districts of the city. Syrian state televi-sion said: “Our noble army is continuing itsoperations against the fighters in Irbeen, Za-malka and Harasta and Sbeineg, destroyingthe criminal lairs”. Assad’s symbols ofpower came under attack in Palmyra,220km northeast of Damascus, on the mainroad to the oil-producing east of the country.

hezbollah

suspected in

bulgarian bus

bombingSOfIA

agencieS

Bulgaria has pointed an accusing fingerat the Lebanese armed groupHezbollah over a bus bombing last Julythat killed five Israeli tourists. TsvetanTsevtnov, Bulgarian interior minister, saidon Tuesday that two of the suspects had en-tered the country respectively with an Aus-tralian and a Canadian passport. “We haveestablished that the two were members ofthe military wing of Hezbollah,” he said.“They had Canadian and Australian pass-ports ... [and] lived in Lebanon since 2006and 2010.” Speaking after a meeting of thecountry’s National SecurityCouncil, Tsevtnov said Bulgaria expects“the government of Lebanon to assist” inthe investigation. Following his comments,Najib Mikati, Lebanese prime minister,said in a statement: “Lebanon trusts thatthe Bulgarian authorities will undertake aserious evaluation of the results of the in-vestigation, and affirms that it is ready tocooperate with Bulgaria to shed light onthe circumstances” of the attack.

Britain approvessame-sex marriageStrong views exist on

both sides but I believeMPs voting for gaypeople being able tomarry too, is a step

forward for our country

Top Tunisianopposition leadershot dead

‘Many killed’ insyrian car bombings

CARACAS: Venezuelan soldiersattend a military parade tocommemorate the 21st anniversaryof President Hugo Chávez’sattempted coup d’état. agencieS

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:14 AM Page 7

RAIN DEATH TOLL INCREASES TO 40ISlAMABAD: The death toll of citizens killed intorrential rains across the country increased to 40on Wednesday. The worst-hit region was KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) with at least 31 people killedand 65 injured as a result of heavy rainfall. At leastone person was killed in Peshawar, one inNowshera, two in Malakand and a woman and herchild in Landi Kotal, bringing the day’s death toll tosix. Eight people were also injured as a result. Allthe deaths were a result of roof collapses.Moreover, three soldiers were also reported missingafter they were hit by a snow avalanche in thenorthwestern district of Lower Dir. Punjab DisasterManagement Authority spokesman Shahzad Abbasisaid that at least eight people were killed in centralPunjab Furthermore, one person died and anotherwas injured when they were hit by lightning inPakistani-administered Kashmir. onLine

The government is committed to securing the

life and property of citizens at all costs

— Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz AshrafnEwsN

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

08

ISLAMABADapp

PRIME Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf onWednesday urged for greater cooperationand coordination among different law-en-forcement agencies to cope with extrem-ism and terrorism and to improve peace

and security in the country.Addressing the passing-out parade of assistant su-

perintendents of police (ASPs), he said the menace ofterrorism was threatening the society, and its nexus withcrime had made the task of police more challenging.

He said the nature of extremism and terrorismneeded proactive role by the police to rise to the occa-sion to nip this evil in the bud. The prime minister urgedpolice to maintain close relationship with the local com-munity, adding that such interaction would not only pro-vide the police information about anti-social elementsbut also deny criminals any refuge in the locality.

He directed the police to be courteous with thecommunity in order to seek more cooperation fromthem. The prime minister said policing was a dynamicand demanding profession, and keeping in view thechallenges, old concepts must give way to innovativeapproach for crime control.

Expressing concerns over poor state of investiga-

tion, he said those accused were not convicted by thecourts due to poor investigation. “We cannot allow crim-inals and terrorists to get away due to our failure togather information,” he added. He said that outdatedmethods of investigation should be replaced with scien-tific approaches, and “there is a need to strengthen foren-sic capabilities and modernise the investigationprocess.” While referring to the recent passage of fairtrial bill by the parliament, Ashraf expressed the confi-dence that it would help bring culprits to justice.

He expressed the confidence that the newly in-ducted police officials would play their due role inchanging the negative perception about police. He saidthe police service was a public face of the state apparatusand the dreaded “Thana Culture” had cast a dark shadowon its performance. Acknowledging the role of the Po-lice Academy, he said that he was confident that it hadproperly taught the graduating officers. Congratulatingthe newly passed out ASPs, the prime minister said,“You have joined a profession which places a great re-sponsibility on your shoulders and it demands an un-flinching dedication, utmost devotion andcommitment.” Earlier, the Prime Minister was presentedguard of honour by police when he arrived at the Acad-emy. He distributed shields and awards among the offi-cers who had shown best performance during theirtraining at the academy.

PM urges moreproactive anti-terrorrole by police

KABULagencieS

A Taliban spokesman on Wednesday dismissed the out-come of a conference in London between the leaders ofAfghanistan, Pakistan and Britain which aimed to worktowards a peace deal within six months.

But Zabihullah Mujahid, writing on the militia’swebsite, did not appear to reject the possibility ofprogress in other peace talks.

The Taliban have demanded that any negotiationsshould be between themselves and the United States.

The conference and other “horse trading” were “thereal obstacles of effective and fruitful negotiations be-tween the factual sides”, wrote Mujahid in English in anapparent reference to that longstanding demand.

The Islamist militants broke off tentative contacts

with the US in Qatar in March last year after the failureof attempts to negotiate a prisoner exchange as a confi-dence-building measure.

The Taliban have consistently refused to negotiatedirectly with the Western-backed Kabul government,which they have been battling since they were oustedfrom power in a 2001 US-led invasion.

Mujahid accused Western forces of facing militarydefeat and using such conferences as propaganda to con-ceal the deadlock in the country and to “show that someactivity and progress is going on”.

US-led NATO combat forces are due to leaveAfghanistan next year, and efforts to negotiate peacehave gained urgency as they seek to leave with some dig-nity.

Mujahid told AFP by telephone that the views in thelengthy website “article” would be followed soon by an

official Taliban response to the conference.The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan said in Lon-

don on Monday they would work to reach a peace dealwithin six months, while throwing their weight behindmoves for the Taliban to open an office in Doha.

Following talks hosted by British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and hisPakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari also urged the Is-lamists to join the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

But with neither the Taliban nor the United States atthe talks, and the militants refusing to talk to Kabul, an-alysts said the commitment by the three leaders riskedbeing one-sided.

Mujahid indicated that this was indeed the view ofthe Taliban, saying “they are taking propaganda gainfrom the peace slogan and are not trying to take any prac-tical step to fulfill the prerequisites of negotiations”.

LAHOREapp

A group of at least 50 Muftis be-longing to Brelvi school of thoughton Wednesday declared the killingof innocent people, target killingand suicide bombings as un-Is-lamic and forbidden.

According to reports, 50Ulema, under the aegis of theSunni Ittehad Council, an allianceof several religious parties ofBrelvi sect, issued the fatwa(edict) in which they unanimouslycondemned all forms of terrorismin the country.

The decree asked religiousscholars and Khateeb of mosques tohighlight the sanctity of life andblood of innocent human beings asprescribed in Islam so that thekillings of masses could be stopped.

The Ulema condemned dronesattacks in Pakistan and urged thegovernment to seek cooperationfrom the Islamic world and the UNto stop the drone strikes.

The Ulema said that killing ofinnocent people as revenge fromthe US was also a tyranny anddeemed it an un-Islamic act.

The decree said that the Jihadwas a tenet of Islam and also a sa-cred obligation for every Muslim.However, it added that to start

Jihad without fulfilment of all itsprescribed conditions, the act ofanyone in the name of Jihad couldbecome the reason of chaos onland which was a disgrace toIslam and Pakistan.

People attacking mosques,shrines, bazaars, public places, fu-neral gatherings, hospitals, defenceinstitutions and security forces ofPakistan were terrorists and therebels of Islam, the decree added.

In the fatwa, the Ulema termedthe target killings in Karachi andBalochistan, along with sectarian-ism and suicide attacks as forbiddenand against the spirit of Islam,adding that those involved in thekilling of innocent people werecondemned to hell. The fatwa alsoincluded that suicides attacks andrelated violence smeared the nameof Islam and weakened Pakistan.

Those who signed the fatwawere: Allama Muhammad SharifRizvi, Mufti Faiz Rasool Rizvi,Mufti Muhammad Imran Hanfi,Mufti Muhammad Saeed Rizvi, Al-lama Nawaz Bashir Jalali, MuftiMuhammad Haseeb QadriAllamaShamsuddin Bukhari,MuftiMuhammad Karim Khan,MoulanaPeer Atharul Qadri, Moulana BaghAli, Allama Zahid Shah Qadri, Al-lama Syed Fida Hussain Hafiz-abadi, Allama Zulfiqar Mustafa

Hashmi, Maulana SahibzadaMuhammad Dawood, MuftiMuhammad Hussain Siddiqi, Al-lama Hamid Sarfraz Qadri, MuftiRamzan Jami, Mufti MuhammadFarooq Qadri,Mufti Mazhar Saeed,Mufti Muhammad ShoaibMuneer,Mufti Muhammad FarooqAttari, Maulana Ghulam HussainFarooqi, Mufti Masood ur Rehman,Moulana Akbar Naqshbandi,Al-lama Faiz Bakhsh Rizvi,HafizMuhammad Yaqoob Fareedi,MuftiZafar Jabbar Chishti, Maulana Ab-dullah Saqib,Allama Syed KhurramRiaz Shah,Moulana Sabir HussainGardezi, Maulana Muhammad AliNaqashbandi, Maulana MukhtarSiddiqi, Maulana MuhammadAzam Naeemi, Maulana Muham-mad Saleem Hamdi, AllamaMuhammad Ashraf Saeedi,Maulana Qari Feroze Siddiqi,Maulana Qari Nazeer Qadri, Al-lama Syed Saleh MuhammadHashmi, Maulana Pir ZiaulMastafa Haqqani, Maulana SyedZiaul Hassan Mashhadi, MaulanaQari Manzoor Ahmad Asad,Maulana Qari Habib Ur Rehman,Pirzada Riazuddin,Maulana Man-zoor Alam Sialvi, Mufti Ikramul-lah Junaidi,Mufti Ghulam MujtabaGhafoori, Allama Hafiz FarooqKhan Saeedi, Maulana SahibzadaZiaullah Rizvi and others.

Another against targetkillings, suicide attacks

Taliban dismiss London talks

PeShAWAR: A boy looks at the wreckage of his house on Wednesday following two days of

heavy rainfall. INP

hiMaLayaN avaLaNche

kiLLS Five iN iNDiaSHIMLA: An avalanche in theHimalayan region of northern India killedat least five villagers on Wednesday.Officials said that at least give peoplewere killed when their houses wereburied under snow in an avalanchecaused by poor weather conditions.Furthermore, the avalanche trapped eightpeople in the remote Kafnu village in thestate of Himachal Pradesh but three ofthem were later rescued, officials said.“The victims were in two houses. Theother six houses in the village had beenvacated earlier,” an official said. app

Workshop held for

customs, Wildlife officialsISLAMABAD: Falcon FoundationInternational Pakistan organised yet anotherone-day Training Workshop in Islamabad,thus bringing to a country-wide completionthe joint project of Awareness and Capacity-building Workshops held in collaborationwith Federal Board of Revenue, WWF-Pakistan, Ministry of Climate Change andFalcon Foundation International Pakistan. Alarge number of officials of PakistanCustoms and Provincial WildlifeDepartments from Peshawar, Islamabad,Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Multan, Karachi,Hyderabad and Quetta who watch the exitpoints and airports and sea-ports to preventsmuggling of wildlife, most notably falconsand houbara, have been trained. pR

BANGALOREonLine

Pakistan’s decision to hand over its strategic Gwadarport to China is a matter of “serious concern” for India,Defence Minister AK Antony said on Wednesday.

“The Chinese are now constructing that port onPakistan’s request. In one sentence, I can say that it is amatter of concern to us. My answer is simple andstraightforward,” he was quoted as saying by the PressTrust of India (PTI) at the Aero India press conference.The minister was responding to a question if the hand-ing over of Gwadar port in Pakistan to China wouldmake India’s western frontiers more vulnerable. TheGwadar port is situated at a strategic location at the apexof the Arabian Sea and the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

It is also only about 400 kilometres away from the Straitof Hormuz, a key global oil supply route. Pakistan hadrecently approved a deal that transfers operational con-trol of Gwadar port from Singapore’s PSA Internationalto Chinese Overseas Port Holdings Ltd.

Asked about how India is preparing to deal withthe post-2014 situation when American troops pulloutfrom Afghanistan, Antony said, “Even before Afghanpullout, geopolitical situation around us is very criticaland the government is aware of it and we are takingsteps to meet any eventuality.”

“The pullout by US and others from there 2014 on-wards is a matter of serious concern to us. We are takingsufficient steps to safeguard our security. Our armedforces are also confident to face any challenges and weare equipping them for this purpose,” he added.

Chinese presence at Gwadarport annoying india

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:14 AM Page 8

Drone strikes major

stimulant to terrorism.

— Imran KhannEws N

09

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

CAIROapp

THE Contact Group onJammu and Kashmir of theOrganisation of Islamic Con-ference (OIC) which met inCairo on the sidelines of the

12th Islamic Summit Conference reaf-firmed its full support to Kashmir cause.

The meeting coincided with theKashmir Solidarity Day, observed inPakistan on February 5, on which thePakistanis express their solidarity withthe Kashmiris. The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Minister (FM) HinaRabbani Khar and OIC Secretary Gen-eral Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

Addressing the meeting, Khar saidthat Pakistan seeks to resolve the Kash-mir dispute on the basis of UN resolu-tions and aspirations of the Kashmiris.She said that Pakistan has entered into di-alogue process with India and wants tohave meaningful and result-oriented dia-logue for the resolution of the longstand-ing disputes. She also underscored the

need to stop human rights violations inIndian-held Kashmir and requested theOIC secretary general to compile a reporton these violations. It was also attendedby officials of Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Ara-bia and Niger. Azad Jammu and KashmirPresident Sardar Yaqoob Khan, All Par-ties Hurriyat Conference member Ghu-lam Muhammad Safi also attended themeeting. OIC Secretary General Ek-meleddin Ihsanoglu reaffirmed OIC’scommitment and support to the Kash-miris for their struggle to self determina-tion, as enshrined in the UN SecurityCouncil resolutions.

The secretary general said that soona joint team of OIC with representationfrom the Islamic Development Bank, theIslamic Solidarity Fund and ISESCO, ledby Special Representative of OIC Secre-tary General on Kashmir AmbassadorAlim will visit Azad Jammu and Kashmirto assess their needs and find more prac-tical and effective measures to help thepeople of Kashmir. He also shared withthe meeting OIC’s intention to call ameeting of Kashmiri representatives tolook at making OIC’s role more effec-tive. The representatives of Turkey, SaudiArabia, and Niger reiterated their supportfor Kashmiris’ right to self-determinationin accordance with the UN resolutionsand the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

The AJK president highlighted the

human rights violations by Indian secu-rity forces in occupied Kashmir. The rep-resentatives of the Kashmiris gave anupdate on the latest situation in the Indianoccupied Kashmir. They also presented amemorandum to the secretary generalwhich contained proposals for both theOIC member states as well as OIC sec-retary general to peacefully resolve theKashmir dispute in accordance with theUN Security Council Resolutions.

The contact group decided to inviteAzerbaijan to join the group and attend thefuture meetings of the contact group. Thegroup adopted a report and a declarationon Jammu and Kashmir to be presented tothe OIC Summit. Later on, Hina RabbaniKhar met her Iranian counterpart AliAkbar Salehi. Both the leaders discussedmatters of mutual interests. Current situa-tion of Syria and Afghanistan also cameunder discussion.

oic contact group reaffirmssupport to kashmir cause

FM SAYS PAKISTAN WANTSTO RESOLVE KASHMIRDISPUTE ON BASIS OF UNRESOLUTIONS

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ChairmanImran Khan on Wednesday said the PTI’sintra-party polls would be completed byMarch 15 and 80,000 elected office-bearersof the PTI would gather at Minar-e-Pakistanon March 23 to take oath.

“A positive change is taking place andpeople from the working class are beingelected in PTI’s elections. These people, whoare from the working class, can help bringabout a change in the country,” added the PTIchief. “Look at Humayon Chaha who is ahard working man from the working class and

has been elected district president of Kohat.Likewise, many office bearers have beenelected from the working class in PTI polls,”said Khan. He said first the political partiesshould bring change within their own partiesadding that it was the only way to bringchange in the country. He said all the politicalparties should be truly democratic in nature.He further said no party other than the PTI hascourage to hold intra-party elections.

Responding to a question, Khan said thePTI was consulting all political forces, eventhose that had no representation in the incum-bent assemblies but no alliance had beenmade by the PTI with any political force, in-cluding the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

He added that the PTI would soon hold nego-tiations with political leaders including Pir Pa-gara, Ayaz Latif Paleejo and also theleadership of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

About PTI’s reservations on the ECP’sperformance, Khan said it had been clearlymentioned in the 1973 constitution that theElection Commission of Pakistan (ECP)should be neutral but the members of theincumbent ECP, he alleged, were not im-partial. He said Tahirul Qadri wanted todissolve assemblies through the longmarch but PTI wants to bring changethrough constitutional means.

“We have conveyed our reservations tothe ECP with evidence but they paid no

heed towards them,” said Khan. Hesaid the PTI wants free, fair and im-partial elections because the up-coming elections are crucial forthe country.

Khan said Asma Jahangirhad claimed on several occasionsthat PTI had the support of estab-lishment, which is a major allega-tion, adding that the caretakerprime minister should be aneutral person. “I will quitpolitics if Asma comes upwith proof that the estab-lishment has supported myparty,” said the PTI chief.

“If both the PPP and PML-Nwant to conspire against PTI,

they can do so, but our onlydemand is that the ECP

should be neutral,” Khansaid. He said there shouldbe a proper consultationon the name of caretakerPM and all political par-

ties should be taken onboard regarding

the matter.

80,000 elected office-bearers to take oath on March 23 at Minar-e-Pakistan: imran

Provincial assemblieshave powers to makelaws, says cJ

ISLAMABAD inp

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) IftikharChaudhry on Wednesday said the provincialassemblies have the powers to make laws. Healso said the court was only concerned thatnothing should be done in violation of theconstitution. He said this while heading a three-member bench to hear petitions against theSindh Local Government Act. The Sindhadvocate general could not appear before thecourt due to simultaneous Karachi law andorder case hearing. Petitioners’ lawyer AbdulRauf requested the court to declare the SindhLocal Government Act void. The CJP askedhim to cite any reference to a case where thecourt had undone a law made by the assemblyand added that the court was not concernedwhat was happening in the assembly. Raufcontended that the court had declared NROvoid. Justice Chaudhry said two months weregiven to the government to get the NROapproved by the assembly, which, thereafter,was thrown out of the assembly. Later, thehearing was adjourned until February 12.

Zardari to inauguratebilawal housein Lahore

LAHORE onLine

President Asif Ali Zardari will inaugurateBilawal House in Lahore on Saturday, February9. During his three-day trip to Lahore,President Zardari would also meet PML-Nchief Nawaz Sharif at Raiwind to condole thedeath of his brother Abbas Sharif. According toa private TV channel, Zardari would bearriving in Lahore on Saturday directly fromLondon. During his visit he would inauguratethe Bilawal House in Bahria Town. PPPsources have confirmed that Zardari would bevisiting Raiwind but no confirmation in thisregard has been made by PML-N.

Muhammad aliDurrani joins PML-F

KARACHIinp

Former federal minister Muhammad AliDurrani has joined the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Functional (PML-F) on Wednesday.According to a PML-F spokesman, Pir Pagarohas nominated Durrani as senior vice presidentof the party.

MUltAN: Young doctors sit at their hunger strike camp in front of Nishtar hospital on Wednesday. INP

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:14 AM Page 9

If the current Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP)-led coalitiongovernment had ever been se-rious about the creation of anew province in the Punjab,

the rushed proposal to create the Ba-hawalpur-Janoobi Punjab provinceappears to have rid us of any suchpretensions.

How the coalition partners imag-ined it would not be opposed by Pun-jab’s government party, the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), ifpresented on the eve of the next gen-eral election is outside comprehen-sion.

The proposal itself, presented bythe National Assembly Committee onNew Provinces in Punjab, has at-tempted to placate two contradictorydemands: to either create one Seraikiprovince or create two provinces,Southern Punjab and Bahawalpur.The earlier demand has been seen asadvantageous for the PPP, which cansee itself forming government andtaking key from such a province. Thelatter demand is seen as to advanta-geous for the PML-N, whose supportin Bahawalpur has traditionally beenmore than the rest of Southern Pun-jab, and it could find itself in the rul-ing coalition in such a regional block.

With the PPP controlling the Na-tional Assembly and the PML-N con-trolling the Punjab Assembly, both areseeing the division of the province ofPunjab through the narrow lens ofconsolidating their control in bothcentre and region. Some of the criti-cism for the emergence of such a sit-uation must be driven at those pushingthe Seraiki national movement forhaving let mainstream political partiescontrol public opinion around theissue of the new province.

No dissenting opinions have beenheard as the Gilanis, the Durranis andthe Abbasis debate the future of theSeraiki people. The raison d'être ofthe demand for the Seraiki provincewas three-fold: to get rid of the‘crown of Lahore’ (or Takht-e-La-hore), to consolidate the culturalethos of the Seraiki people (whichhas much to share with the peoples ofthe Indus Valley) and to let the toiling

people of theSouthern partof the Punjabto concentratetheir struggleagainst thelocal feudalsetup.

The cur-rent proposalto create ap r o v i n c ecalled Ba-h a w a l p u rSouth Punjabappears toonly promisethe deliver-ance of thefirst whilestrengtheningthe position ofexisting feu-dal powers.The campaignfor the cre-ation of theBahawalpurprovince, inparticular, hasrevived thedwindling in-

fluence of the family of the formerNawab of Bahawalpur. The campaignhas continued to centre itself aroundthe Nawab Salahuddin and giving himnew political life by making him chiefof the Bahawalpur National AwamiParty and thus a ‘stakeholder’ beingreached out to by both the PPP andPML-N.

The unfortunate part is that therehas been no notable mass mobilisa-tion against the growing power of tra-ditional power holders in theSouthern Punjab under the guise ofSeraiki or regional nationalism. Theneed to decentralise political powerand recognise the cultural and eco-nomic rights of the Seraiki peoplenotwithstanding, it is the fact that thepowers that be are using it to consol-idate local fiefdoms that is most trou-bling.

The potential of the idea of theSeraiki Wasaib and the powerful re-articulation of the ecological, eco-nomic and cultural life of the peoplesof the province amongst Seraiki intel-lectuals and poets has been unable tospill over into the logos behind thenew province proposal. The failurehas been its inability to translate intothe everyday of Seraiki politics. Thehistory of the emergence of theSeraiki identity appears to be one ofmaterial deprivation consolidating it-self into a cultural contradiction.However, the debate on material dep-rivation appears to now be confinedto the role of central Punjab and La-hore in creating regional deprivation.

That said, the fundamental pro-posal to create a Seraiki province, isa progressive one. That industrialzones, education and health care fa-cilities continue to be better in centralPunjab is a fact. The Punjab govern-ment has continued to spend need-lessly on Lahore – the most recentexample of which is the Rs 32 billionspent out of the provincial coffers onthe chief minister’s pet project: theMetro Bus Service. The ruling partyof Punjab has all but forgotten thatsouthern Punjab was inundated byfloods only two summers ago and thecurrent deadly measles outbreak inthe region is a consequence of suchneglect. Some of Pakistan’s mostneglected and impoverished districtsremain in Punjab’s south. Separatingthe region and creating a provincewould mean such neglect shall haveboth immediate and electoral conse-quences for ruling elites which fail todeliver.

The other progressive possibilityin the demand to create the Seraikiprovince was of a departure from theadministrative logic imposed duringthe colonial period and continued bythe Pakistani state. This logic wasseen in action in the division and re-unification of Bengal and the divisionof Sindh in the early 1900s, the divi-sion of Punjab in 1947 and theproclamation of the ‘One Unit’ in1955. However, the hope that Pak-istan’s ruling elites would recognisethe need to depart from self-inter-ested, short-term measures has beenbanished in the current PPP-PML-Ntussle over the shape and contours ofthe southern province. Moreover,their continued refusal to acceptSeraiki cultural identity reeks of thesame mentality of denying local tra-ditions that led to the independencemovement in East Pakistan.

The Seraiki area is in itself cultur-

ally diverse. The settlement of Balochtribes began 200 years ago whilefarmers from eastern Punjab began tosettle a hundred years ago. UnlikeSindh, these settlers integrated cultur-ally with the local populations. Someregions included in the Punjab duringthe colonial period, especially DeraGhazi Khan, remained dominated bythe Baloch ethnicity. Once the ques-tion of re-demarcating boundariescame about, political elites shouldhave calmly began to examine exist-ing boundaries and begun consultinglocal populations on the new bound-aries to be drawn. However, perhapsfor lack of experience, the processhas produced more antagonism thanreconciliation amongst the diversepopulations of the region. An MNAfrom Mianwali told the National As-sembly, “Mianwali should not bemade a colony of South Punjab.”While one may ask the gentlemen inquestion as to why Mianwali washappy at being a colony of (Western)Punjab, the real point is that theprocess has been mismanaged to theextreme.

Especially cynical is the promiseby Abdur Qadir Gilani to start a longmarch to Lahore if the PML-N op-poses the creation of the BJPprovince. The Gilani family may bebest advised to drive to their familyhome in DHA, Lahore, where theyoung Gilani was schooled. The movemay be to ensure the political familieswho have moved to Lahore that theyare still able to win elections in theMultan and Mianwali belt. The Gilanifamily, the Qureshi family, the Khosafamily and Imran Khan, all now livein Lahore. This could produce astrange situation if a member of oneof these families is elected chief min-ister or governor of the new province.

While one has to accept and beopen to the fact that the boundaries ofthe Punjab have continued to shiftacross history and that there is a need,both administrative and more funda-mental, to create a new province inthe Punjab, one fails to see how thecurrent attempt to rush through theproposal shall deliver the promisedprovince.

While the current PPP-led pro-posal attempts to make both Multanand Bahawalpur centres of power inthe new province, the PML-N’s deci-sion to boycott the NA committee inthe first place does not bode well forthe possibility that a new province isactually carved out before the currentassemblies are dissolved within thenext month and a week.

If nothing else: the March 15 dead-line for dissolving the National As-sembly is an indicator that the currentproposal is merely an attempt to usethe Seraiki province issue as an elec-toral gambit. On one side, there is norealistic possibility of the creation ofa new province before the deadline; onthe other, if elected assemblies are se-rious about attempting to split Punjabas their way of saying ‘goodbye’, thenit is certainly a recipe for disaster.

With the genuine need for aSeraiki province being trivialised onthe eve of the next general elections,it appears best that it be left asideuntil the electoral storm withers.

The writer is the general secretary(Lahore) of the Awami Workers Party.He is also a journalist and a re-searcher.

CoMMEnT

Arif NizamiEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287273Web:www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

C

Govt should swiftly settle election related issuesDelay dangerous for democracy

The bJP provinceproposal

resigned

The Balochistan government’s performance in the last five years canbe described in a single word: pathetic. The manner, though, inwhich it has been run is full of so much drama and farce that it is

hard to explain in an easy way. The absentee former chief minister, whowas disgracefully booted out of his post by the federal government, hassent in his resignation from the UAE. He was perhaps a unique case of allthe planted politicians in a way that he never tried to learn the ropes ofpolitics or at least present a semblance of electoral democracy by livingand working among those who he ruled over.

Most of his time was spent in the federal capital or Gulf states, mainlyenjoying luxury rides and hunting rare birds. And yet he claimed he waswrongfully dethroned. With a feudal mindset, he ran the province as hisfiefdom, often absent yet so demanding. The law and order situation furtherlends credence to his government being an incompetent dispensation.However, it is Reko Diq copper and gold mines project that takes the veil offtheir twisted use of the word democracy. Posing as the elected members ofprovincial parliament, they have worked in unison in manipulating deals,getting kickbacks, embezzling huge amounts of funds in the name ofdevelopment funds, or other grants. With virtually no one in the opposition inBalochistan Assembly, all the MPAs worked as a figurative pack of wolves.

Now the man who was chiefly, if not entirely, responsible for all thisfarce has tendered his resignation to JUI-F and BNP leaders in theBalochistan Assembly in an attempt to defuse the tension and help in asmooth democratic transition. JUI-F has already given a three-point agendato the PPP-led coalition government for a democratic transition. The PPPand its allies have, however, rejected the proposal though after theresignation one might think that they are considering giving it a shot.

Whether the PPP does decide to go ahead with the JUI-F’s proposal orbrings along one of its own, either way it has to end Governor’s rule andrestore democratic setup in the province. JUI-F’s Secretary GeneralSenator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri’s claim on Tuesday that theRaisani-led coalition government would be restored within a week, hints ata backdoor understanding between the provincial and federal governments.It is up to the federal government now to tread the waters carefully andinstall a democratic setup before the elections.

Important PPP leaders had already warned of anti-democracy forces,who they maintained were out to derail the system. Now Mian NawazSharif has sounded a similar warning. Tahirul Qadri’s entry on the

political scene combined with a long march aimed at postponing theelections was bound to set the alarm bells ringing. Many think theannouncement by Qadri of the so- called ‘second phase of revolution’ is apart of the conspiracy. Building on the neglect of the common man by theincumbent dispensation, Qadri announced a series of ‘rallies of therevolution” to highlight “the anti-poor system of the country” that he saysneeds to be replaced as it violates Articles 3 and 38 of the Constitution.Qadri could have left the matter for the SC, but wary of the apex court’sinsistence on holding the elections on time he decided to resort to populisttactics to keep the court also under pressure.

Imran Khan whose ratings have continued to decline over the last fewmonths has joined hands with Qadri now. He has put up a demand for theresignation of the president, which has no constitutional support. WithZardari willing to relinquish the party post soon and assuring the LahoreHigh Court that the presidency would not be used for any politicalactivities, little justification is left for seeking his resignation. Like TahirulQadri, the PTI chief too wants the four provincial members of the ECP tobe appointed afresh. The PTI has criticized the poor performance of the ECin implementation of the apex court orders, a perceived failure to check themisuse of state resources by the federal and Punjab governments and laxityshown in the implementation of the ban on new jobs. Interestingly thegovernment has approached the EC to seek lifting of ban on new jobs anddiversion of funds maintaining that the EC cannot enforce the ban beforethe announcement of the election date. The matter is bound to land in theSC. One hopes the issue would be resolved at the earliest in line with thecourt’s stand about timely elections.

Delay on the part of the government to settle the election related issuespromptly has provided an opportunity to those who want to upset thesystem. While it is not mandatory to consult those outside parliament onthe caretaker set up, one hopes that all significant parties will be consultedbefore the new caretakers are announced. Hopefully the matter would besettled at the expected meeting between Zardari and Nawaz Sharif soon.

After being booted out of the post

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

10

The legitimate demand for a Seraiki province is being trivialised

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by

moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the

dawn before the rest of the world. –Oscar Wilde

comradely SpeakinghaShim bin RaShid

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:15 AM Page 10

As our government mulls over thequestionable fate of the Seraikiprovince, protests have erupted allover the country with calls for all

kinds of provinces – provinces based on eth-nicities, provinces based on “administrativegrounds”, provinces based on linguistic differ-ences. So while there are calls to permanentlydamage Pakistan’s already-frayed map, hereare my two cents on a concern Maula FazalurRehman raised at the meeting where the com-mission came up with recommendations forthe new province.

A brief history of Dera Ghazi Khan is inorder. The city goes back as far as 1476 whenBaloch chieftain Nawab Ghazi Khan Miranideclared independence from the Langah Dy-nasty of Multan. Along with two other deras(encampments) – Dera Ismail Khan and DeraFateh Khan – Derajat was born.

Derajat eventually came into the posses-sion of the British rule after the Sikh War of1849. It was then divided into two districts,Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan. A lit-tle known fact about this division is that thetribal leaders were presented the option ofgoing with Balochistan or Punjab. The Balochleaders of DG Khan, under an agreement withthe British rulers, chose to side with Punjab.While the exact terms of the agreement are notknown, the general principles of the agreementwere that the tribal leaders would be allowedto continue to uphold their Jirga traditions andlargely remain separate from direct govern-ment intervention in their affairs. This is, ofcourse, largely conjecture but a layman in DGKhan today would tell you the same story.There is also a widely held view that another

agreement was signed at the time of the parti-tion with similar conditions.

Naturally, both these agreements do notstand anymore. However, the Baloch presencein Southern Punjab is still there. The popula-tion of DG Khan today roughly comprises of80 percent Baloch. This is largely due to theproximity of Balochistan to the city – DeraGhazi Khan is nestled right at the tail ofSuleiman Range that opens in Punjab. Theseare not the Seraiki speaking Baloch, as is thewidely-held belief. Instead, Balochi is thecommonly spoken language of the area. An-other reason for the large number of theBaloch in the city is the presence of the Balochtribal families and their landholdings sur-rounding the region.

So, if this new province is being createdalong ethnic lines, it is surprising that no onehas taken into account the presence of theBaloch in the new Seraiki province. Who isgoing to speak for them? There has been nosurvey conducted to see if the people of South-ern Punjab actually want the new province, letalone a referendum, giving a choice to theBaloch of the province to side with Balochis-tan if they so wanted.

Naturally, one would ask why DG Khanwould want to go over to Balochistan. Thatprovince, after all, is in deep turmoil itself.There is little economic growth and develop-ment, poor law and order situation and a gen-erally volatile ethnic balance.

It is precisely for this very reason that DGKhan going under the provincial control ofBalochistan might just end up benefittingBalochistan and DG Khan.

While Balochistan is the largest provinceof Pakistan in terms of area, it is also the poor-est. Balochistan has the lowest literacy rateamong all of Pakistan’s provinces. Accordingto National Economic Survey, the provincealso has the least number of educational insti-tutions, the lowest literacy rate among bothmales and females, the lowest ranking in theGender Parity Index (GPI) and the smallestpresence of private educational institutes inthe country. Furthermore, about six percent ofthe schools in Balochistan do not have build-ings, nine percent lack electricity, 12 percentare devoid of clean drinking water and 11 per-cent are without proper latrine.

So now imagine a city, a relatively poorcity of Punjab, entering Balochistan’s sphere.This city has a literacy rate of 60 percent –quite a feat for such a small, poor district.

There are at least 15 different institutes in thecity. There is a medical school, a college ofagriculture, several law institutes, colleges ofcommerce and colleges of education. Further-more, there are a number of public and privatesector primary education institutes functioningin the area.

Similarly, the economy in Dera GhaziKhan is relatively rich for such a small city. Itis located in rich agricultural land with cotton,wheat, sugarcane, rice, tobacco being the majorcrops being grown. The city is also famous forits dates. Furthermore, the city has access toother parts of the country via railway, includ-ing Multan, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta.

One cannot, as well, forget the all-impor-tant DG Khan Cement Company Limited, Pak-istan Atomic Energy Commission, theAl-Ghazi Tractors and Rahim Bux TextileMills. A commonly held, if also commonlyforgotten, belief is that these companies alongwith several other flour, cotton, chemical andrice mills in the area form the backbone ofPunjab.

Balochistan, as a province, could do wellwith a city that boasts of educational and eco-nomic development. And DG Khan, similarly,could do well with Balochistan as its vital city,bustling with economic growth and educa-tional strength (yes, I am hinting as DG Khanbeing the capital city of Balochistan). Onemust not forget that Balochistan also has a vastsupply of natural gas, coal and other minerals.Other untapped aspects of Balochistan’s econ-omy are fisheries, mining, manufacturing in-dustries and trade. With a close proximity toPunjab via DG Khan, and with the benefits ofDG Khan pouring in to Balochistan, theBaloch on either side of the Suleiman Rangecould do well together.

DG Khan also has a relatively balancedethnic ratio. It is a safer and more stable city.Balochistan, as a province, needs a city likethat under its sphere. And DG Khan, as a city,needs a stronger recognition and a presence ina province that would actually benefit from it.

So while our leaders mull and debate andwhile our intellectuals tweet and argue, thequestion remains, who will speak for theBaloch of DG Khan? What is their place in thenew Seraiki province, when they, after all, notSeraiki?

The writer is a research analyst at Spear-head Research and tweets at @aimamk. This ar-ticle was also carried by Spearhead Research

viewingeach other

As part of their workexamining theEast-West divide,my students at

New York University's AbuDhabi campus designed a sur-vey to be administered in the USand an Arab country in order tobetter understand how Ameri-cans and people in the ArabWorld understand themselvesand each other. Last year we ex-amined the perceptions thatAmericans and Egyptians had ofeach other. This year we focusedour study on the US and the UAE. The survey, conducted online by“jzanalytics”, a New York-based polling company, found a strikinggap in understanding between the two peoples.

There were a few caveats that had to be considered in conductingthese two surveys and in evaluating the results. Both countries havenear universal internet penetration and jzanalytics' extensive workin conducting online surveys in the US has demonstrated that thisapproach can provide an accurate measure of US public opinion. Butbecause we have not yet tested the reliability of online methodologyin the UAE, we cannot be as certain about the accuracy of our resultsin that country. And given the enormous diversity of the populationin the UAE, where Emirati citizens represent only about 20 percentof the overall population, the results for the UAE, of necessity, rep-resent all residents in the country, including its large non-EmiratiArab and Asian communities. Nevertheless, even with these consid-erations, the findings of the two surveys can provide a useful measureof the different perceptions both societies have of each other.

Firstly, while residents of the UAE demonstrate very favourableattitudes toward the US (a 64 percent positive rating), only 19 percentof Americans have a positive view of the UAE. Thirty-eight percentof Americans give the UAE a negative rating, while a substantial 43percent say they are "not sure" and "do not know enough" about thecountry. In a pattern that repeats throughout the survey findings,African Americans have significantly more favourable attitudes (al-most 3 to 1 favourable) while a majority of women report being "notsure". It is also important to note that while there is a very high per-centage of Americans who say they are "not sure" or "do not haveenough information" to give an assessment about the UAE, that does-n't appear to stop them from making negative assessments about theculture and values of the UAE.

Fifty-one percent of the UAE residents agree that the US is anally or friend of the UAE, while only 14 percent of Americans feelthat the same can be said about the UAE. At the same time, one-thirdof Americans describe the UAE as a "country with whom we do busi-ness, but not a friend" and another 38 percent say they are "not sure".

When asked to describe which society is "more respectful ofthe rights of others" and in which society is it "more possible toenjoy life" 60 percent of Americans chose the US, while in bothinstances, a plurality of residents of the UAE chose the UAE.Again, 64 percent of Americans feel that the US is "more gener-ous", while 57 percent of people in the UAE say that the UAE isthe more generous country.

There are some areas where American attitudes appear to be lesscertain. When asked which country is "more violent", 67 percent inthe Emirates say the US is more violent country, but only 39 percentof Americans point to the UAE as being more violent. And again,while 75 percent of people in the UAE say that UAE is "more re-spectful of families and traditions", only 38 percent of Americanssay that the US leads in this area.

The bottom line is that while Americans appear to be supremelyconfident in their cultural superiority as the society that is more gen-erous and more respectful of individual rights, they are less sureabout whether their society is less violent and more respectful offamilies, tradition, religion and values.

Other real differences appear when residents in both countriesare asked to identify "the most important aspect of living in yourcountry" and "what do you expect from the government" in yourcountry? Fifty-five percent of Americans point to "the freedom tolive life as I choose" as the most import aspect of living in the US,with "economic opportunity" receiving 13 percent, "freedom of re-ligion" receiving 11 percent, and other options like "respect for di-versity" and "our history and culture" each receiving only scantmention. In the UAE, on the other hand, a plurality of 40 percentpoint to "economic opportunity" as the most important aspect of lifein that country, followed by 21 percent who identify the "freedom tolive life as I choose" and 14 percent saying "respect for diversity".

Forty-one percent of Americans say that "protecting my rightsand freedoms" is what they most expect from government, with be-tween 16 percent to 13 percent choosing "keeping me safe", "pro-viding needed services", and "providing economic opportunity". Onthe other side, what 31 percent of residents in the UAE "most expectfrom government" is "keeping me safe", followed by 27 percent whopoint to "protecting my rights and freedoms" and 22 percent who saythat "providing economic opportunity" is the most important thinggovernment does for them.

What we can conclude is that there appears to be a real gap inperception and understanding between people in the UAE and theUS, with Americans not fully appreciating or reciprocating thefavourable feelings residents in the UAE have toward the US Nordo Americans fully understand how positively people in the UAEfeel about the culture of the country or the quality of life and oppor-tunities provided for them by the government in the UAE.

The writer is President of the Arab-American Institute.

CoMMEnT CThursday, 7 February, 2013

Who speaks for thebaloch of Dg khan?

11

aima KhoSa

Courage is what it takes to stand up and

speak; courage is also what it takes to

sit down and listen. –Winston Churchill

washington watchdR JameS J Zogby

The US and UAE

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:16 AM Page 11

I find television very educating. Every time

somebody turns on the set, I go into the other

room and read a book — Groucho Marx

i WaNT beyoNce To

be The MoTher oF

My chiLDreN: LiveLy

Everyone wasraving aboutBeyonce’sincredibleperformanceduringSunday’sSuper Bowlhalftime show,but it sounds like noone loved it quite as much as BlakeLively. The “Gossip Girl” star discussedher obsession with Beyonce whilepromoting the launch of Gucci’sPremiere fragrance in NYC yesterday(Feb. 4), gushing about thebootylicious singer’s untouchabletalent. “oh, my gosh! I just wantBeyonce to be the mother of mychildren,” the 26-year-old newlywedjoked to E! News, adding, “She wasamazing! I can’t ... I can’t even. Idon’t even have words for her.” Andalthough she was at a loss for words,Lively — who has been keeping a lowprofile with her hubby, Ryan Reynolds,since “Gossip Girl” wrapped its finalseason — couldn’t stop talking abouthow incredible Jay-Z’s wife was onstage. “She just stood there and shesang and she danced and there wereno big crazy stunts,” the blond beautycontinued. newS deSK

ARTS

AThursday, 7 February, 2013

12

NEWS DESK

Over the decades India and Pakistan have sparred overa variety of issues. The decades-old conflict inKashmir, accusations of sponsoring terrorism and adispute over water supply all come to mind. However,a recent bone of contention between the two nuclear-armed neighbours should also be a cause ofutmost concern for the internationalcommunity. Caustic statements weregiven by Pakistan’s Interior MinisterRehman Malik and the Indian HomeSecretary RK Singh, wars havebeen fought on social media, andanalysts (including yours truly)have been queuing to offer theirown two cents. So what is it thathas irked the two neighbours?Was it a border dispute or athreat of nuclear war? Was itsome new long-range missiletested by the Indian military? Orthe code name for a Pakistani spycaught red-handed in Delhi? Infact, it was none of the above; itwas Bollywood superstar Shah RukhKhan. Recently the actor - known tohis fans as ‘SRK’ - wrote an article inwhich he mentioned some of his viewson religion, identity and terrorism. Init he referenced the problems hehas faced travelling aboard, asa result of his

religious background - problems which also inspiredhis hit film My Name is Khan, and its tagline “...And Iam not a terrorist.” He wrote: “Ironically, I wasinterrogated at the airport for hours about my last namewhen I was going to present the film in America for thefirst time. I wonder, at times, whether the same

treatment is given to everyone whose lastname just happens to be McVeigh (as in

Timothy)” However, where thearticle attracted most

controversy was overtroubles the actor faced

closer to home. “Isometimes become theinadvertent object ofpolitical leaders whochoose to make me a

symbol of all that theythink is wrong and

unpatriotic aboutMuslims in India,” he

wrote. “There have beenoccasions when I have been

accused of bearingallegiance to our neighboring

nation rather than my owncountry – this even though I

am an Indian whose fatherfought for the freedom of India.

Rallies have been held whereleaders have exhorted me to leavemy home and return to what they

refer to as my ‘originalhomeland’.” The

controversygained

momentum when Hafiz Saeed, chief of extremistgroup Jamaatud Dawa, advised Khan to move toPakistan, if he feels unsafe in India. “Shah Rukh willbe welcome here”, he said. Then, at a reception hostedby the Indian High Commission, Pakistan’s InteriorMinister also waded into the controversy, saying “Hewas born Indian and would like to remain Indian, but Iwill request the government of India to please providehim [with] security. I would like to request all Indianbrothers and sisters and all those who are talking in anegative way about Shah Rukh that they should knowhe is a movie star.” These comments irked many inIndia. The Home Secretary RK Singh commented:“We are capable of looking at the security of our owncitizens. Let him (Rehman Malik) worry about hisown,” Singh said. Frankly, he is correct. Pakistan hasits own Pandora’s box full of problems with minorities,including discrimination against the Hindu community,some of whom have migrated to India as a result. Onehas to wonder what the Interior Minister was thinkingby making such a statement? Malik later tried to coolmatters down. He tweeted “Shahrukh Khan is equallyfamous in Pakistan and India. I am sure that threats toMr.S. Khan are being handled as per the relevantIndian law.” And Khan himself clarified: “I would liketo tell all those who are offering me unsolicited advicethat we in India are extremely safe and happy. We havean amazing democratic, free and secular way of life.”Yet the question arises why there was a need for thetwo countries to engage in such a childish squabbleover some comments by a celebrity? Why was there aneed to try and turn Khan into a disputed territory?Some people spend a lifetime looking for externalenemies, and playing the victim card. However thebiggest enemy is often the one which lurks within.Pakistan and India have enough of their own problemswith endless poverty, environmental degradation andmammoth corruption. Relations have already beentense between the two countries in recent weeks. Totop it by indulging in such petty spats is a useful wayfor politicians to play to the gallery and keep thepeople distracted from their ineptitude. That is theonly lesson, if there was one, to have come out fromthis unfortunate episode.

NEWS DESK

WHAT IS IT ABouT?

It is a series of short thoughts, personalessays, criticism about books, reading andwriting.

WHy ARe We TALkINg ABouT

IT?

As Books Editors, how could we helpreading about reading? Also, Shields is astunning, acclaimed writer.

WHo WRoTe IT?

David Shields is the author of 13 previousbooks. Reality Hunger was named one ofthe best books of 2010 by more than 30different publications. He has alsopublished articles and stories in numerouspublications, such as The New YorkTimes Magazine, Harper’s, and Slate.

WHo WILL ReAD IT?

People who understand the magicalpower of reading.

WHAT Do THe

RevIeWeRS SAy?

NeW yoRk TIMeS:

“There are good sentencesthroughout HowLiterature Saved MyLife, about Mr.Shields’s stutteringand about his manic-depressive father,who went throughseveral bouts ofelectroshocktherapy. (“I’llnever forget hisrunning backand forth in theliving room andrepeating, ‘I need

the juice,’ while my third-grade friendsand I tried to play indoor miniature golf.”)But these moments don’t amount to much.Forswearing traditional storytelling, Mr.Shields doesn’t allow himself to dwell onany subject long enough to say muchthat’s meaningful about it.”SLATe: “In his latest effort, Shieldscontinues the crusade for a “bleeding edgebetween genres” and against narrativefiction, but less effectively.”BoSToN gLoBe: “Does HowLiterature Saved My Life live up toShields’s expectations? In a word: yes. Inthis wonderful, vastly entertaining book,he weaves together literary criticism,quotations, and his own fragmentaryrecollections to illustrate, in form andcontent, how art — real art, the kind thatengages and reflects the world around it— has made his life meaningful as bothcreator and beholder.”IMpReSS youR fRIeNDS: DavidShields graduated from Brown University.He is certainly NOT the only author to doso. Other famous writer grads includeJeffrey Eugenides, Edwidge Danticat,Meg Wolitzer, and Marilynn Robinson,among others.

opeNINg LINe: “All criticismis a form of autobiography.”

TypIcAL pASSAge:

“Yeats said that we can’tarticulate the truth, but

we can embody it. Ithink that’s wrong or

at least beside thepoint. What’s ofinterest to me is

exactly how we tryto articulate the

truth, and what it saysabout us, and about

‘truth.’”

How shah Rukh Khan brought indiaand Pakistan to the brink of war

abhishek bachchanto do dad’s remakefor the first timeNEWS DESK

There have beeninnumerable offersasking AbhishekBachchan to do arole that has beenmade famous by hisfather AmitabhBachchan. But AB Jrhas steered clear of thetemptation until nowas he rightfully feltthat no actor,including him, coulddo justice to a roledone by Big B.However, it seems thatproducer Kunal Kohli hasmanaged to convince him, asword is, for the first time,Abhishek will reprise a roleplayed by Big B. Almost 33 yearsafter the release Do Aur Do Paanch(1980), he will step into his dad’s shoes inthe remake of the yesteryear fun caperthat also had Shashi Kapoor. BobbyDeol will play Shashi’s role and thegirls, originally played by HemaMalini and Parveen Babi, are stillbeing finalised. The filmmaker says,“It’s too early to reveal anything, wewill make a formal announcementas soon as we are ready with alldetails.” The film will bedirected by newcomer AkshayePuri, who is a maternal cousinof designer Manish Malhotraand actor Varun Dhawan.

children’simprint launchedwith Pakistaniauthor’s novel

NEWS DESK

A children’s novelin English byacclaimedPakistani authorMusharraf AliFarooqi figuresamong two bookslaunched by RupaPublications India aspart of its exclusive kidsand young adult imprint. From fiction to non-fiction, short story and poetry collections to quizbooks and illustrated books, the Red Turtleimprint will publish for children from age eightupwards and for teenagers. The first two booksin the imprint are “Tik-Tik, The Master ofTime” by the award-winning Farooqi and“Speak Up, Speak Out; My Favourite ElocutionPieces and How to Deliver Them” by quizmaster-politician Derek O’Brien. The authorslist also includes the likes of Ruskin Bond,Gulzar, Paro Anand, Samit Basu and SubhadraSen Gupta. “Children’s publishing in India ispoised for greater growth, and it made perfectsense for us to enter this space with a well-thought-out publishing programme. Year on yearwe are seeing imported and Indian children’sbooks and authors gain popularity, and we wantedRed Turtle to be part of the story backed by ourpublishing and sales experience,” says KapishMehra, managing director of Rupa Publications.“Our list is an eclectic mix of genres, where themain criteria for selecting the titles were theirreadability, appeal to children, and their relevance.We are combining these with high design andproduction standards, so that Red Turtle willbecome a name that is synonymous with the bestof children’s publishing in India,” says SudeshnaShome Ghosh, publisher of Red Turtle.

‘How literature saved my life’ by

dAvid sHiELds

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:16 AM Page 12

There are worse crimes than burning

books. One of them is not reading

them. — Ray Bradbury

13ARTsThursday, 7 February, 2013

A

BILAL KHAN Producing a song is likearranging furniture in yourhouse.

ADEEL HASHMI Someone sent this to me:“Real eyes realize the reallies”Main nay guzarish kiiss jumlay ko Angraizonkay rickshayy k peechaylikhva dein.

RAZA RUMI(Just so that) you know#Fountainhead wasrendered as Teesra Kinaraon TV

ROWAN ATKINSON Did you know if youscream “Bloody marry” 3times in the mirror at 3AM,your mom will tell you toshut up and go to bed.

STEVE MARTIN Super Bowl 47 joinsmoon landing as fakegovernment TVbroadcast.

NOTABLE TWEETS

NEWS DESK

Priyanka Chopra’s family has found theperfect match for her in the form of TVactor Mohit Raina who plays Mahadev inthe popular mythological series. PriyankaChopra had been avoiding the question ofmarriage stating that she is eagerlywaiting for her Dulhe Miya. However,things seem to have changed and herfamily has taken keen interest in findingher an appropriate partner.Recently zoOmfound out that PC’s maasi has found asuitable man for her niece. No it’s not aBollywood star or a business man! zoOmcaught up with Priyanka to find out whois the lucky guy. A blushing Piggy Chopsrevealed that it’s none other than the king

of small screen, the most adoredMahadev himself! Priyanka’s maasiis smitten by the omniscient yogiand considers him to be a well-behaved, honest young man who isalso an exceptionally good actor. Onthe other hand when zoOm informedactor Mohit Raina aka Mahadev aboutthe same, he was left speechless! Hewas at loss of words to express hisfeelings. All he managed to mumblewas that he was grateful to PC’smaasi for considering him as anappropriate life partner for thereigning Bollywwod Diva! Whatremains to be seen is whetherPC will take her maasi’schoice seriously.

PriyaNka choPra’Sfamily finds a match for her

NEWS DESK

Flying Sikh Milkha Singh tookjust one rupee from RakeyshOmprakash Mehra to allow himto make a film on his life.What’s special about thecurrency note is that itwas printed in 1958,the year when theathlete won thefirst gold medalfor independentIndia in the

Commonwealth Games.The biopic titled “ BhaagMilkha Bhaag” featuresactor Farhan Akhtar inthe lead role and isslated for a Julyrelease. “We wanted togive a priceless tokenof appreciation toMilkhaji for letting ustell his story throughour film. We looked forthat something specialfor a very long time.Then we finally ended upsourcing a special Re.1currency note that wasprinted in 1958,” Rajiv

Tandon, CEO, RakeyshOmprakash Mehra PicturesPvt. Ltd, said in astatement. The relevance ofthe note is that “in 1958independent India won its

first gold medal inCommonwealth Games

because of Milkhajiand he also wontwo gold medals inAsian Games”,added Tandon.

Money was notMilkha’spriority — heonly wantedMehra tomake thefilm. The

legendaryathlete

wantedthat “itshould be

made insuch a way that itinspires more youngsters

to earn medals inathletics”, said Tandon. Asource close to Singh said:“The legend (MilkhaSingh) was extremelymoved. It (Re.one note)was like a souvenir forhim.”

Milkha Singhcharged onerupee for biopic!

america’s youngestfemale billionairerevealed

NEWS DESK

Lynsi Torres, the 30-year-old president and owner of In-N-Out Burger, is the youngest female billionaire in theU.S., Bloomberg reports. Her grandparents Harry andEsther Snyder founded the hamburger chain. Torres doesnot have a college degree or much formal managementtraining, Bloomberg reports. Thanks to In-N-Out’s largefan base at its nearly 280 restaurants in five states, thechain is now worth roughly $1.1 billion, according toestimates — 19,298 times more than the median U.S.household in 2010. Bloomberg has uncovered othersecret billionaires over the past year. It reported inSeptember that the private ElaineMarshall, 70, is the fourth-richestwoman in the United States,thanks to her 15 percent stake inKoch Industries. Bloombergrevealed in August that DirceNavarro de Camargo is Brazil’srichest woman. AndBloomberg reported last weekthat four step-grandchildren offormer Nazi propagandaminister JosephGoebbels arebillionaires.Bloomberg founderMichaelBloomberg,currently mayor ofNew York City,is a prominentbillionaire. Heis the 11th-richestperson inthe U.S.and 20th-richestperson inthe world,according toForbes, with anestimated worth of $22 billion.

sUnnyLEonE

NEWS DESK

SUNNY Leone lashes out at Kamaal R Khan for attributingcomments on rape to her Sunny Leone lodged a complaint with theCyber Crime Investigation Cell of Mumbai Police against KamaalR Khan on Monday evening for falsely attributing controversialcomments on rape to her on his microblogging page. A fewdays back, Kamaal had written, “Ye lo... Sunny Leone says— Rape is not a Crime, It’s just a Surprise Sex.”However, the actress tells us that she never saidanything like that. She says, “This whole issue isquite sad. I never made this statement at all. Nowoman in this entire world would. He has writtenit and tagged me on it. He has not ‘retweeted’ mycomment. I believe rapists need psychologicalhelp. They need to be institutionalised.” She furthersays, “This is a silly comment made by some idiot. Ididn’t want to encourage him by responding to suchthings, but it’s a sensitive issue, especially after whathappened in Delhi. Questions should be turned to him.If he thinks the comment was ok, his ethics should bequestioned. The world that I come from may or may notbe accepted here, but I am someone’s wife and daughter.I don’t care what people think about me. Call me everyname in the book, but don’t associate me with acriminal act.” Sunny says her husbandrecollected that Kamaal wanted to make afilm with her. “We couldn’t do it as I wasshooting for other films. We don’t wantpeople to be offended because wecannot work with them,” she says. Onher next course of action, the actresssays, “Post the incident, my web teamhas been diligently blocking peoplewho have been retweeting hiscomments.”

NEWS DESK

It’s time for some celebration in Oberoihousehold as actor Vivek Oberoi andwife Priyanka have been blessed with ababy boy, today. Vivek revealed thegood news on twitter: “Today is themost special day of my life! Priyankaand I welcomed our little angel into ourworld, a beautiful, healthy,divine babyboy!”. Since then congratulatorymessages and tweets have been pouringin for the couple. He further tweeted: “Ithank all of u frm the bottom of myheart for all the love, duas, blessings,prayers & aashirwaad u have sent us!Our son is truly blessed!” TheBollywood fraternity too sent their bestwishes to the couple through Twitter.“Congratulations Vivek Oberoi and

Priyanka, I am sure its the most specialday ever, can’t wait to see the little one.Big hugg,” posted actress GeneliaD’Souza. Her husband, actor RiteishDeshmukh posted: “Vivek Oberoicongratulationssssssssssss brother- loveto Priyanka and the entire family.”“Congratulations Vivek Oberoi onarrival of chota Vivek... god blessmother, little one, you and entire Oberoifamily,” posted filmmaker KumarTaurani, while director Sangeeth Sivanwrote: “Vivek Oberoi congrats.” Theactor who is remembered for his iconicperformances in Saathiya and Company,has two films; Jayantabhai Ki LoveStory and Zilla Ghaziabad lined up forrelease in February. Our heartiestcongratulations to the couple onembracing parenthood.

It’s a baby boy for Vivek and Priyanka Oberoi

files complaint againstKamaal R Khan

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:17 AM Page 13

Next king to be dugup: alfred the great?

NoW that Richard III’s skeletonhas been found in a parking lot,archaeologists are turning their

attention to Alfred the Great. The Anglo-Saxon king, who ruled from 871 to 899,is believed to be buried in an unmarkedgrave at England’s St. Bartholomew’sChurch, and researchers are applying forpermission to dig up the spot in question.But it could prove to be a harder job thanidentifying Richard III, the Telegraphreports, citing an article in the Times.Whereas Richard still has two livingrelatives, in Alfred’s case, anarchaeologist explains: “The problem is,where would we get a comparativesample from? It’s a hell of a lot further togo back to trace a living descendant.” Butthe team believes their evidence that theremains might belong to Alfred is evengreater than the evidence the Richard IIIteam had. Their plan is to radiocarbon-date the bones, and if they’re from thecorrect era, start a search for livingrelatives. newS deSK

holocaustsurvivors to liveon... as holograms

hoLoCAUST survivors’estimated average age is 79,but researchers and activists

are making sure they’ll be telling theirstories two decades from now, andbeyond—in person. Well, almost. TheUniversity of Southern California’sShoah Foundation is working with theschool’s Institute for CreativeTechnologies (whose resumé includeswinning an oscar and working onAvatar) to create some pretty amazingholograms of survivors: ones that areprojected into space, not onto a screen,and that are able to answer questions.The USC teams have spent 18 monthsdeveloping 3D holograms of almost adozen people, the AP reports, and one,of Pinchus Gutter, could be ready forvisitors to the Holocaust Museum inWashington as soon as next year. The80-year-old spent five days beingfilmed about his experience—he saw hisparents and 10-year-old twin sisterbeing led to the gas chambers—andanswering questions in front of a greenscreen. Those answers will be editedand paired with voice-recognitionsoftware that will allow his hologram toboth tell his story and recognize andanswer questions. Being able to do thatoften required asking as many as 50follow-up questions to one of theoriginal ones, the AP notes. newS deSK

Rule number one: Never lose money.

Rule number two never forget rule

number one — Warren Buffet

INFOTAINMENTThursday, 7 February, 2013

I14

THE Great Internet Mersenne PrimeSearch (GIMPS) project has scoredits 14th consecutive victory,discovering the largest prime

number so far.The number, 2 to the power of

57,885,161 minus 1, is a digit that’s17,425,170 digits long. That’s big enough thatif you want to see the full text, you’ll have tobrace yourself for a 22.5MB download.GIMPS, a cooperative project splitting thesearch across thousands of independentcomputers, announced the find yesterdayafter it had been confirmed by other checks.At present, there are 98,980 people and 574teams involved in the GIMPS project; their730,562 processors perform about 129 trillioncalculations per second.

The project has a lock on the market formongo new prime numbers. The discovererof this particular prime is Curtis Cooper, aprofessor at the University of CentralMissouri who runs the prime-huntingsoftware on a network of computers andwho’s found record primes in 2005 and2006. It’s not just his effort that’s important,though; it relied also on others’ machinesruling out other candidates.

A prime number is divisible only by

itself and the number 1. Once amathematical curiosity, primes now arecrucial to encrypted communications.Mersenne primes are named after MarinMersenne, a French monk born in 1588who investigated a particular type of primenumber: 2 to the power of “p” minus one,in which “p” is an ordinary prime number.

Cooper’s find is the 48th Mersenneprime so far discovered. GIMPS has foundthe 14 largest Mersenne primes, theorganization said.

Discovering Mersenne primes is not a

get-rich-quick scheme, though Cooperwon a $3,000 prize. It could be morelucrative at some point: An ElectronicFrontier Foundation award of $150,000will go to the discoverer of the first primenumber with at least 100 million digits. It’salready awarded prizes for primes 1-million and 10-million digits, and it’s gota $250,000 prize queued up for a billion-digit prime. GIMPS is steadily advancingon the bigger numbers.

In 1998, the project found 2^3021377-1, a number 909,526 digits long. By 2001,

GIMPS found the 39th Mersenne prime, anumber 4,053,946 digits long. The 43rdMersenne prime, which Cooper’s effortfound, is a 9,152,052-digit numeral.

Searching for prime numbers is aproject that can easily be split acrosscountless computers through an ideacalled distributed computing. Not allcomputing chores are so amenable tocooperation, though.

Some, such fluid dynamics researchthat can be used to model nuclear weaponsexplosions or car aerodynamics, can be runon closely independent computing nodesconnected by a high-speed network.

Other computing chores can’t bebroken down into parallel tasks at all, aproblem given that power-consumptionlimits stalled processor clock speedincreases in recent years.

A computer-science idea calledAmdahl’s Law, named after mainframecomputer designer Gene Amdahl, showsthe limits of parallel computation. If someportion of a computer program can’t besped up by parallel processing, at a certainpoint throwing more processors at theproblem will stop producing any speedupin the computation.

amateur effort finds newlargest prime number

G ETTING a cortisoneinjection won’t curetennis elbow any

better than a drug-free salineshot, according to a newstudy - and it might actuallyslow recovery.Researchers found that a fewweeks after receiving thesteroid shots, people reportedless pain and disability thanthose who’d been givenplacebo injections. But ayear later, the same patientslagged behind the placebogroup in their likelihood ofcomplete recovery.“This absolutely confirmsthat steroid injections are nota good idea,” said Dr. AllanMishra, an orthopedicsurgeon at StanfordUniversity in Menlo Park,California. “This isimportant, because peoplethink that it’s okay to get acortisone injection (fortennis elbow), and it’s notokay. It puts you at adisadvantage long term interms of getting better,”Mishra, who has studiedtennis elbow treatment butwasn’t involved in the new

study, told Reuters Health.The condition is caused byoveruse of tendons in theelbow and typically treatedwith non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, physicaltherapy and steroid shots.Last month, a study fromDenmark found neithersteroid nor platelet injectionsimproved pain andfunctioning among peoplewith tennis elbow any betterthan saline shots, over aperiod of three months (seeReuters Health story ofJanuary 22, 2013 here:reut.rs/Wl9Ckw).Researchers at the timecautioned that the study’sfollow-up period was shortand the results might lookdifferent at six months or ayear post-injections.By following patients longer,the new report shines a lighton the possible long-termtendon damage that can becaused by cortisone shots,Mishra said.Bill Vicenzino from theUniversity of Queensland inAustralia and his colleaguesrandomly assigned 165

adults with tennis elbow toone of four treatment groups:cortisone shots with physicaltherapy, placebo shots withphysical therapy, cortisoneshots without physicaltherapy and placebo shotswithout physical therapy.After one year, there was nodifference in people’simprovement in pain orfunctioning based on whetherthey’d had the eight sessionsof prescribed therapy.Among those who’d receiveda cortisone shot, 83 percentreported they had completelyrecovered from tennis elbowby one year. That comparedto 96 percent of those who’dreceived a placebo injection,according to findingspublished Tuesday in theJournal of the AmericanMedical Association.Symptoms were also morelikely to come back after acortisone injection. The research team calculatedthat one more person wouldhave a recurrence for everytwo or three treated withsteroids instead of a salineshot. newS deSK

steroid shots for tenniselbow may hurt, not help

PEOPLE with mentalillness are 70 percentmore likely to smoke

cigarettes than people withoutmental illness, two federal healthagencies reported Tuesday.

New data from the Centersfor Disease Control andPrevention and the SubstanceAbuse and Mental HealthServices Administration showthat one of every three adults withmental illness smokes, comparedwith one in five adults withoutmental illness.

Adults with mental illnesssmoke about a third of all thecigarettes in the United States,and they smoke more cigarettesper month and are significantlyless likely to quit than peoplewithout mental illness, thereport said. There are nearly 46million adults with mentalillness in the United States,about a fifth of the population.

“Many people with mentalillness are at greater risk of dyingearly from smoking than of dyingfrom their mental healthconditions,” said Dr. Thomas R.Frieden, director of the Centersfor Disease Control, during apress briefing.

The report is based oninformation from the NationalSurvey on Drug Use and Health,

which interviewed 138,000adults in their homes from 2009to 2011. People were asked 14questions to assess psychologicaldistress and disability, and weredeemed to have mental illness iftheir responses indicated theyhad a mental, behavior oremotional disorder in the past 12months. Those with substanceabuse or developmental disorderswere not considered people withmental illness. The report did notinclude patients in psychiatrichospitals or individuals servingin the military.

People who reportedsmoking all or part of a cigarettein the previous 30 days werecounted as smokers.

The study found that smokingrates for people with mentalillness were generally higher instates where overall smokingrates were high. Utah had thelowest rate of smoking amongpeople with mental illness —18.1 percent — while WestVirginia had the highest rate, at48.7 percent. Smoking amongpeople with mental illness washigher among the poor and lesseducated, and among AmericanIndians and Alaska Natives,although every ethnic group hadsignificant percentages ofsmokers. newS deSK

People with mentalillness more likelyto be smokers

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:17 AM Page 14

WILLINGTONagencieS

Sir Richard Hadlee has questioned RossTaylor's response to his sacking as NewZealand captain and believes he shouldhave played on after the fall-out ratherthan take time away from the game. Tay-lor, who was relieved of the captaincyafter the Sri Lanka tour despite drawingthe Test series 1-1, opted out of the fol-lowing trip to South Africa saying heneeded a break from the internationalgame. He will return to the New Zealandside for the Twenty20 series againstEngland which starts on Saturday andis also in the one-day squad. Barringany dramatic change in events, he willresume his Test career next month.

In Taylor's absence, New Zealandwere crushed in the Tests against SouthAfrica, including being bowled out for45 in Cape Town, and also lost theTwenty20 series, although they foughtback impressively to take the one-daycontest.

Hadlee, while sympathising with thepoor handling of the situation, would havepreferred to see Taylor move on quicklyfrom losing the leadership and return tothe ranks immediately. "I find it very in-teresting how Taylor reacted. In someways I'm a little disappointed that Taylor

decided to exile himself for a period oftime," Hadlee told ESPNcricinfo. "If youfall off the horse you get back on it, and Ican't imagine an All Black rugby playerwho was captain then was replaced notmake himself available to play again assoon as possible. "Clearly Taylor had been

affected in some way and needed to gethis mind right. It was his call, but I'm notsure it was good thing because when hegets back into the side it's going to bequite an uneasy period for him, and otherteam-mates, knowing that he walkedaway." Hadlee, though, added his voiceto those unimpressed by the handling ofthe whole situation, which saw Mike Hes-son, the New Zealand coach, tell Taylorbefore the Test series in Sri Lanka hewanted a change of captain but, it lateremerged, only in the limited-oversformats. Taylor has recentlymet with Hesson for the firsttime since losing his posi-tion and is ready to move on,though he admitted that the re-lationship will take time to de-velop. "There were clearlymixed messages, which havebeen well documented," Hadleesaid. "Taylor had clearly beenhurt and offended, perhaps

not so much by the

decision but how it came about becauseit was done before the first Test. That de-cision should have been made in the re-view after the tour." Hadlee would havebeen comfortable if New Zealand hadgone down the split-captaincy route nowused by England, Australia, South Africa,Sri Lanka and Pakistan. But, despite thecircumstances of the change, he seesBrendon McCullum as someone with theright qualities to lead New Zealand anddoes not think he should be judged tooharshly on the Test performances. "At the

moment Brendon McCullum is doingall forms and clearly struggling inthe Test team, but I think that ismore to do with resources avail-able rather than issues with himpersonally," he said. "He hasshown his true colours, espe-cially as a leader, in the one-day

format so that is pretty encourag-ing." Of greater concern for Mc-

Cullum, according to Hadlee, is thathe works out what sort of batsman he

wants to be in the longer format. Afterbeing elevated to opener, partly due tothe lack of other options as much as hissuitability for the position, he has largelyshelved his natural attacking game totry and set a more cautious tone for histeam-mates but that may not be makingbest use of his ability.

CAPE TOWNcRicinfo

NOT rotating their Test bowlersis South Africa's main focusas they look ahead to back-to-back Tests against Pakistan.

The squad dispersed after their 211-run winin Johannesburg and will reconvene onMonday, with the bowlers ordered to takea few days off to prepare for the Cape Townand Centurion Tests, which are only threedays apart later in the month.

Bowling workloads are a worldwideconcern and have resulted in player rota-tion in other countries, most notably Aus-tralia. South Africa's coach Gary Kirstensaid management understand the need tomonitor game time but they do not wantto swap players in the Test side and wouldprefer that to happen in limited-oversmatches. As a result, Dale Steyn andMorne Morkel do not feature in all SouthAfrica's ODI and T20 games so they arekept fit for Test cricket. They are, however,likely to play in all the Tests and so it isrequired that they are managed carefullyto achieve that aim. Robin Peterson doesnot face the same physical demands butplays in all formats for South Africa whileVernon Philander has played largely as aTest specialist but has had niggles in recenttimes that will benefit from a break.

"Sunday and Monday, to a certainextent, were heavy bowling days so it isimportant for us to give them the ade-quate recovery periods but enough timeto prepare properly for the upcomingback-to-backTest matches,"Rob Walter,strength andcondi t ion ingcoach, said."The tricky partis that we don'tknow whetheror not the Testin Cape Townwill go fivedays and if itdoes, we need the bowlers fresh enoughto deal with the short turnaround in time."

South Africa spent 100.4 overs in thefield in Pakistan's second innings fromthe first session on day three to just afterlunch on day four. They had a light load

earlier in the match,when they bowled Pak-istan out for 49 inside30 overs.

The entire squad could theoreticallyplay in the final round of first-classmatches, which take place from Thurs-day, but only those who were not part ofthe starting XI will. Rory Kleinveldt andJacques Rudolph will play for the Cobras

and Titans respectively while ImranTahir, who was added to the squad ascover for Peterson, will turn out for theLions, as he did last weekend when Pe-terson was declared fit.

The playing XI "have been given spe-cific schedules for the week," Walter said."The bowlers have been given a few daysoff and will begin bowling on Thursdayand Friday. The rest of the players in the

squad have been given gym strength andconditioning programmes to follow."

Contrastingly, Pakistan hope to putin as much practice as possible in theten-day break before the second Test.They will play a two-day match againsta Western Province XI in Cape Townfrom Sunday but have practices sched-uled in the city from tomorrow, whenthey are due to arrive there.

sPoRTs

SThursday, 7 February, 2013

15I have pleaded my innocence all along

these last two years which have been terrible

for me and my family. – Salman Butt

No roTaTioN For SoUThaFrica TeST

DALE STEYN'SWORKLOAD ISMANAGED TO HELPKEEP HIM FIT FORSOUTH AFRICA'S TESTCOMMITMENTS

akhtar termsPakistanicricketers as‘chicken-hearted’

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan speedster,is extremely disappointed with the nationalteam’s performance in the first Test of thethree-match series against South Africa andhas labeled the Pakistani cricketers as‘chicken-hearted’. The Proteas defeated theGreen Shirts by a massive margin of 211 runsin the est, taking an important lead of 1-0 inthe series and look favourites to outclass thevisitors in the remaining two encounters aswell. There was always a doubt aboutPakistan’s ability to cope with the threatposed by one of the most lethal bowlingattacks of the globe in the presence of DaleSteyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel.Having done well to restrict the hosts to 253in their first innings, Pakistan’s batting line-up collapsed like ‘a house of cards ‘on daytwo of the match, being bowled out formerely 49 runs in their first innings. The‘Rawalpindi Express’ was all praise forSteyn, who grabbed 11 wickets in the matchto secure a handsome victory for his country.Akhtar predicts a sterner test of Pakistan’sinexperienced batting line-up in the secondTest at Cape Town and feels that the pitchwill be more in favour of the seam bowlers.“Pakistan players are chicken-hearted. DaleSteyn bowled his heart out. His intention wascommendable,” the former pacer added. “Thepitch in Newlands will be even harder anddon’t expect any spin on it. We lack stalwarts.We don’t have brave batsmen like Inzamam,Miandad, Yousuf or Saeed Anwar. Ourbatsmen can’t even bat out a session or seeoff the new ball.” Akhtar slammed the sloppydismissal of Nasir Jamshed in the secondinnings, after the left-hander had scored animpressive 46. The former cricketer is of theview that in order to be a regarded as aworld-class player, Jamshed needs to deliverthe goods in the longer format of the game,which is the ultimate test of a player’s ability.don’t become a star by getting runs in limitedovers’ cricket. Test cricket is the real deal,”he added.

injured harrisout of Sa tour

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

Pakistan lost a second injured player ontheir tour of South Africa when uncappedbatsman Haris Sohail was sent home onTuesday without playing a match. "Harishas developed a strain in his left ankle andrequires four to five weeks to recover sohe is returning home," Pakistan CricketBoard official Nadeem Sarwar reported tohave said. The visitors had already lostexperienced test opener Taufiq Umarbecause of a leg injury and hisreplacement, Imran Farhat has yet to jointhe squad in South Africa. South Africawon the first test by 211 runs inJohannesburg. The second match in CapeTown starts on Feb. 14.

Tough for Taylor to return: Hadlee

boWLerS

Ross Taylor’sabsence fromthe Test team

was sorely feltby n Zealand

in s Africa

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:17 AM Page 16

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

Pakistan’s former captain and one of the greatest fastbowlers Waqar Younus will conduct a bowling clinic atthe Sharjah Cricket Stadium from Friday.

According to Gulf News, Mazhar Khan, secretary ofthe Sharjah Cricket Council, said: “We will conduct athree-day clinic with Waqar (Younus). It would be alifetime opportunity for budding pacers in the UAE tolearn the art of bowling from a legendary pacer like him.”

Younus, who grew up in Sharjah and learned the basicsof the game here during his school days, has expressedhis delight in sharing his knowledge and experience to theyoungsters here. Younus was also the former Pakistanteam coach and one of the leading commentators in theworld today. His yorkers, known as toe-crushers, hadtrapped even the best of batsmen in the world.

The clinic is being conducted by Sharjah CricketAcademy under the auspices of Sharjah Cricket Council.“Younus will hold two sessions each day from February8 to 10 and provide valuable tips to strengthen as a bowlerwith the participants. The first session will be held from3pm to 5pm, and the second session will commence from6pm to 8pm,” said Khan. Younus has played in 87 Testsand 262 One-day internationals for Pakistan. Players whoare above 15 years of age are eligible to apply.

sPoRTs SThursday, 7 February, 2013

16Good luck to the Protea ladies at the World

Cup. They’re playing in the Super Sixes

which starts Thursday!– AB de Villiers

CANBERRAagencieS

Shane Watson celebrated his return to in-ternational cricket with a sparkling inningsof 122 to drive Australia to a 39-run victoryover West Indies in the third one-dayer andan unassailable 3-0 series lead. The 31-year-old opener's 111-ball knock on Wednesday

helped Australia to 329 for seven in their50 overs and West Indies flirted with reach-ing the big victory target before JamesFaulkner (4-48) polished them off for 290with 15 balls to spare. Darren Bravo topscored with 86 for West Indies, who will beplaying only for pride in the remaining twomatches in Sydney and Melbourne after athird emphatic defeat. It was the first one-day international ever played in the nation'scapital and the Manuka Oval track certainlygave the batsmen plenty of opportunity toscore runs. Watson, who missed much ofthe domestic season through injury, reachedhis seventh ODI century in 102 balls andthen conjured up two fours and two sixes inthe next nine balls before holing out toKieron Pollard at backward square leg.

"I've been dreaming of that for the lastfour weeks," Watson, one of whose sixeswas measured at 114 metres, said in a tele-vised interview. "It was one of those daysthat you dream of when even from the firstball it feels like everything's coming off themiddle of your bat. I'm just so excited to beout here and playing." Phil Hughes offeredable support with 86 runs before beingcaught behind off the bowling of DarrenSammy, while the innings of Glenn Maxwell(4) and George Bailey (44) were both endedby stunning leaping catches from Pollard on

the boundary. West Indies started their run-chase at a slow pace but soon picked up withtypical flourish to match Australia's run rateat around the 30 over mark. Left-arm seamerFaulkner made two crucial interventions,however, the first when he bowled danger-

man Chris Gayle (2) and Darren Bravo inthe space of four balls to leave West Indiesat 215-5. He returned to end the match byclaiming the wickets of Sunil Narine (1) andDarren Sammy (8) in three deliveries. Allfour of his victims in the match were bowled.

Watson ton drives Australia to Canberra winauStRaLia inningS

S. watson c pollard b Roach 122

a. finch c thomas b Sammy 38

p. hughes c thomas b Sammy 86

m. clarke c & b pollard 15

g. bailey c pollard b narine 44

g. maxwell c pollard b narine 4

m. wade not out 4

J. faulkner b dwayne bravo 2

m. Johnson not out 8

extras (b-1, w-3, nb-2) 6

total (for seven wickets, 50 overs) 329

did not bat: m. Starc, c. mcKay

fall of wickets: 1-89 2-201 3-242 4-284 5-299 6-317 7-321

bowling: Roach 9-1-72-1 (1w), Russell 5-0-41-0, Sammy 8-0-

49-2 (2nb), dwayne bravo 7-0-39-1, narine 10-0-55-2 (1w),

gayle 5-0-36-0 (1w), pollard 6-0-36-1

weSt indieS inningS

K. powell c wade b maxwell 47

d. thomas c hughes b mcKay 19

darren bravo b faulkner 86

dwayne bravo b Starc 51

c. gayle b faulkner 2

K. pollard run out 9

a. Russell c wade b mcKay 43

R. Sarwan b Johnson 12

d. Sammy b faulkner 8

S. narine b faulkner 1

K. Roach not out 1

extras (lb-4, w-6, nb-1) 11

total (all out, 47.3 overs) 290

fall of wickets: 1-54 2-81 3-195 4-214 5-215 6-234 7-264 8-281

9-289

bowling: mcKay 10-1-62-2, Starc 7-0-50-1 (1nb, 1w), Johnson 9-

1-59-1 (1w), faulkner 8.3-1-48-4, maxwell 10-0-44-1 (2w), clarke

3-0-23-0 (2w)

australia won the toss and elected to bat

australia won by 39 runs.

australia lead the five-match series 3-0.

ScoReboaRd

Lorgat tryingto convincecSa for players’participation

MUMBAIbipin dani

Haroon Lorgat, thePCB's consultantfor the PakistanSuper League(PSL) is trying toconvince theCricket SouthAfrica (CSA) boardmembers to issue"No ObjectionCertificates" to

their players to play in Pakistan, it islearnt. It was believed that CricketAustralia and CSA have denied theirplayers to participate in PSL for thesecurity reason. However, according tothe new CSA president, Chris Nenzani,no decision has been taken in this regardyet. Speaking exclusively over telephonefrom SA, he said, "at this stage I am notaware of any approach / request byPakistan Cricket Board to Cricket SouthAfrica regarding the possibility of SouthAfrican players playing in Pakistan.When such a request is received we willdeal with it having due regard to allrelevant factors." Haroon Lorgat, theformer ICC CEO is believed to be one ofthe candidates for the similar post withCSA board. "The process of theappointment of a CEO for CSA is at itsinfancy stage and the closing date wasFebruary 5, 2013. Whether or not Lorgatis one of the applicants is something Icannot confirm at this stage". "The newBoard will apply its mind and make thenecessary announcements at theappropriate time", Nenzani added. Thereseems to be a possibility of shifting thePSL out of Pakistan. Though no officialword has been out in this regard,however, one of the venues in UAE(Sharjah, Dubai or Abu Dhabi) is notruled out either. UAE has been a most-common hunting venue for the PCB asinternational matches have not beenplayed in Pakistan after the Lahore Testattack on Sri Lankan players four yearsago. Syed B. Refaie, the executivedirector and the man behind the show forthe PSL has been approaching players allover the world and is also hopeful ofsigning IPL's non-sold players soon.

CUTTACKagencieS

NOT often is the build up toan India versus Pakistanclash – whatever the occa-sion – as low-key as the one

for the seventh-place playoff at the 2013ICC Women's World Cup. With the twoteams failing to qualify for the SuperSixes, the match at Barabati Stadium inCuttack on Thursday (February 7) holdsvery little significance except academic.

India's 139-run loss to Sri Lanka notonly knocked it out of the tournament,but also meant the team has to now gothrough the qualifiers for the next editionin 2017, which is why it stands to losemore than it could gain against a sidecoming off three straightforward defeats.What could come as a silver lining forIndia, though, is an opportunity to changeguard at the top and provide a platformfor the younger players to express them-selves as a means of keeping an eye onthe future.

After India's loss to England in itssecond league match, Mithali Raj, thecaptain, went to the extent of billing theSri Lanka game a 'perform or perish'contest. While that has now been sortedout, it remains to be seen how India ap-proaches its final game in the tourna-ment.

While expecting a quick turnaroundto its fortunes any time in the near futuremay be too far-fetched, India will stillfancy its chances of overcoming Pakistan

purely going by its superior battingstrength. But a long travel day meansthat the team heads into the gameafter very little time to intro-spect on the loss to SriLanka. From India’spoint of view, the talenton display in the firstthree games was hard toignore. ThirushKamini, making acomeback to the squadafter nearly three years,set the tone with a magnif-icent century in the win overWest Indies. In the next gameagainst England, Harmanpreet Kaur

showed why she is the next big thing inthe Indian batting department, when she

smashed an unbeaten century, albeitin a losing cause. But while

the batting showed promisein patches, the bowling,with the exception of Jhu-lan Goswami, waslargely unimpressive,conceding 250-plus inconsecutive games. Thepace attack, against Sri

Lanka in particular, lookedpedestrian and in the ab-

sence of Niranjana Nagarajan,there was hardly any penetration.

Pakistan's familiarity with the conditions

at Barabati Stadium, where it has beenlodged since its arrival in India, will def-initely play to its advantage. While thepitches have tended to be on the slowerside, its bowling line-up has adjustedvery well to the conditions, often causinga bit of a flutter, like it did against Aus-tralia, who was bowled out for 175.Qanita Jalil and Asmavia Khokhar havetroubled sides with their accuracy, andthe fielding too has looked quite sharp.

The worry lies in its batting. With ahighest team total of 104 in three outings,there is very little to be optimistic about,but Sana Mir, the captain, and NainAbidi, touted to be the best batter in theteam, would hope to set things straight.

Pakistan will approach the game asanother opportunity to get one over Indiaand end its campaign on a winning note.And for inspiration, all it needs to do isgo back five months to the ICC WorldTwenty20 where it beat India. A repeatof that would be the perfect way to endwhat has been a very difficult tour onvarious fronts.teAMS (fRoM):

PAKIStAN: Sana Mir (capt), Bismah Maroof,

Nain Abidi, Sidra Amin, Diana Baig, Elizebath

Barkat, Nahida Bibi, Qanita Jalil, Asmavia Iqbal

Khokhar, Syeda Batool Fatima Naqvi, Nida

Rashid, Rabiya Shah, Sumaiya Siddiqui, Jave-

ria Wadood, Sadia Yousaf.

INDIA: Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur,

Ekta Bisht, Karu Jain, Jhulan Goswami, Reema

Malhotra, Mona Meshram, Sulakshana Naik,

Nagarajan Niranjana, Rasanara Parwin,

Poonam Raut, Amita Sharma, Shubhlakshmi

Sharma, Thirush Kamini, Gouher Sultana.

PakiSTaN, iNDia PLaN ToeND WorLD cUP oN a high

Pakistan willapproach the

game as anotheropportunity

to get oneover india

Waqar to conduct bowling clinic at SharjahFORMER PAKISTAN CAPTAIN TO SHARETIPS WITH UPCOMING BOWLERS

WHEN SUCH A REQUESTIS RECEIVED WE’LL DEALIT HAVING DUE REGARDTO ALL RELEVANT FACTORS

CENTURY OF SIXES IN ONE-DAYERSShane Watson became the fourth Australian and 22nd batsman overall to

smash 100 or more sixes in one-day internationals. The right-hand openingbatsman from Ipswich, reached this milestone, in the 135th innings of 155thmatch, by hitting the first six off Chris Gayle during his 122-run knock in thethird one-day international match against West Indies at Manuka oval,Canberra on Wednesday (February 6). Watson, smashed 18 sixes in 38 inningsof 46 matches at home while he hit 83 sixes in 97 innings of 109 matchesoutside Australia. The 31-year old batsman, smashed 15 sixes during hisunbeaten 185-run knock against Bangladesh at Dhaka on April 11,2011 whichis a world record of most sixes in an innings in one-day international cricket.Pakistan's Shahid Afridi who hit 298 sixes in 323 innings of 349 matches, holdsthe record of hitting the highest number of sixes in one-day internationalswhile Ricky Ponting's 162 sixes in 365 innings of 376 matches is the Australianrecord of most sixes in instant cricket. S.peRveZ QaiSeR

MoSt SIXeS foR AUStRAlIA IN oNe DAYeRS:

Batsman M I N.o Runs AVG h.S 100 50 0 4s 6s

Picky Ponting 375 365 39 13704 42.03 164 30 82 20 1231 162

Adam Gilchrist 287 279 11 9619 35.89 172 16 55 19 1162 149

Andrew Symonds 198 161 33 5088 39.75 156 6 30 15 449 103

Shane Watson 155 135 24 4685 42.20 185* 7 28 8 462 101

Matthew Hayden 161 155 15 6133 43.80 181* 10 36 9 636 87

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:17 AM Page 17

sPoRTsS

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

17England are a good team with very good players,

but I don't look at them as one of our main

rivals for the World Cup. – Brazil striker Neymar

Nadal winsdoubles match onchilean comeback

VINA DEL MARagencieS

Rafa Nadal made a successful comebackafter a seven-month injury absence withvictory in the first round of the ChileanOpen doubles on Tuesday. The formerworld number one and Argentine partnerJuan Monaco overpowered second-seededCzechs Frantisek Cermak and LukasDlouhy 6-3 6-2 in 65 minutes at thePacific coastal city of Vina del Mar.Spanish left-hander Nadal had been outwith a knee problem since losing to CzechLukas Rosol in the second round atWimbledon in June. "It's a good feeling tobe back. We'll see how the knee reacts,"Nadal told a news conference. "Themoment and the surfaces were the rightones and playing for the first time in thiscountry was a great opportunity. "Playingdoubles is less aggressive, so we'll seehow things go tomorrow in singles," headded after he and Monaco had takenadvantage of four of their seven chancesto break the Czechs' service. The 26-year-old's planned return at the end of last yearwas delayed due to illness but he willcompete on his favourite clay surface atthree Latin American events this month.

Teen christiangarin impressesin chile

VINA DEL MARagencieS

Sixteen-year-old Christian Garin producedan assured display to move into the secondround of the VTR Open in Vina del Mar,Chile. The world number 920 showed nosigns of nerves on his ATP Tour debut infront of his home crowd and claimed a 6-36-4 win over Serbian qualifier DusanLajovic. Garin faced just two break pointsand wrapped up the win after 84 minutes toseal a clash with French third seed JeremyChardy. Federico Delbonis set up ameeting with top seed Rafael Nadal afterbattling back to see off fellow ArgentineGuido Pella 2-6 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (7/1). Nadalmade his return to competitive tennis onTuesday after eight months out throughinjury and illness when he partnered JuanMonaco to a straight sets doubles victoryover second seeds Frantisek Cermak andLukas Dlouhy. Eighth seed Carlos Berlocqwas in imperious form as he blitzed pastRussia's Andrey Kuznetsov 6-2 6-1, whileformer world number five Tommy Robredoeased to a 6-2 6-2 win over Spanishcompatriot Pere Riba. Albert Montanesedged out Nicolas Massu 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 6-4,while there were also wins for HoracioZeballos and Guillaume Rufin.

LONDONagencieS

Judy Murray is confident progressmade by Laura Robson and HeatherWatson gives her Fed Cup team achance of advancing to the WorldGroup. Great Britain open their 2013campaign on Wednesday in Eilat,Israel with a Europe/Africa Pool Bfixture against Bosnia-Herzegovinabefore clashes with Portugal andHungary.

Should they top the pool and thencome through a weekend meeting withthe winners of Pool D, they will moveinto a World Group II play-off in April.

They got to that stage last year only tolose 4-1 to Sweden. Fast forward 10months and team captain Murraybelieves they are well placed to go onebetter and take their place in the top 16nations in the world. She said: "Elena(Baltacha) and Annie (Keothavong)headed up the singles last year and didan unbelievable job out here to get usout of the group.

"The younger members of thesquad - Laura and Heather - have hada very exciting 12 months, they havepushed their ranking inside the top 50and they are getting towards the top 40which is a fabulous achievement. "Itmeans there is a slightly different

dynamic in the team with regards thesingles rankings. "It puts us in a verystrong position, the team is fighting fitand I think we are ready to fight for aplace in the World Group.

"We have a great blend of youthand experience. It's a great platformand opportunity for us to moveforward." Murray was also delightedby a draw which means not only haveher side avoided Poland - and worldnumber four Agnieszka Radwanska -in the pool phase but also a possibleweekend play-off. She added: "Thedraw has probably been quite kind tous. "There are a number of teams wehad hoped to avoid and we have

avoided them. Not just in the poolphase. "With the format being just twosingles and one doubles, if you comeup against a team with a very strongnumber one like Poland it is a veryhard obstacle to overcome."

Another boost is the schedulewhich means Britain will play theirmatches in the morning calm - unlikelast year. "The conditions are quitedifferent in the morning compared tothe afternoon," Murray said.

"In the morning it is relativelycalm and pretty warm. Later in theafternoon is when the wind gets up alittle bit - it's very strong between 5pmand 6pm and it can also get cold.

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

In what is tantamount to a ringing endorse-ment of the Pakistan Olympic Association(POA) and negation of the recent resolutionpassed by some rogue organisations and in-dividuals, the International Olympic Com-mittee (IOC) has in a letter duly counter-signed by the Olympic Council of Asia(OCA) reaffirmed the status of POA headedby the elected President Lt. Gen. (retd) SyedArif Hasan as the legitimate NationalOlympic Committee of Pakistan.

The letter, issued under the subject ‘Towhom it may concern’, has been copied tothe IOC President, Jacques Rogge and theOCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad AlSabah, the POA President and the IOC Mem-ber from Pakistan, Syed Shahid Ali, said aspokesman of POA here on Wednesday.“This not only reflects the highest global andcontinental bodies concern on the eventshappening in Pakistan against the POA andthe Olympic Movement, but also that these

have been noticed with some unease at thesummit level,” he added. The letter makes ita point to mention that the February 4, 2012elections were held in the presence of theIOC and the OCA observers, who gave it aclean bill of health with regards to havingbeen “duly and democraticallyelected” and specifically itsPresident. The letter at thevery outset specificallynotes: “This is to confirmthat the Pakistan OlympicAssociation (POA) cur-rently headed by its Presi-dent, Lt Gen. (Retd) SyedArif Hasan, and the office-bearers duly and democrati-cally elected by the General As-sembly of the POA on 4 February2012, in the presence of observers fromthe International Olympic Committee (IOC)and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), isthe sole and unique legitimate body recog-nised by the IOC (and affiliated to the OCA)to act as a National Olympic Committee

(NOC) in Pakistan.” The grim tone adoptedwhile enunciating the POA’s status and sub-sequently warning the elements involved intrying to create a parallel body is also needsto be noted: “As per the Olympic Charter,

the IOC is the sole body that is entitledto recognise a National Olympic

Committee (in this case thePakistan Olympic Associa-

tion currently headed by itsPresident, Arif Hasan andto authorise such organi-sation to designate, iden-tify or refer to itself as a"National Olympic Com-

mittee" In essence the exis-tence of an NOC, as such, is

therefore derived from its recog-nition by the IOC.

“Consequently, no organisation otherthan the POA, currently headed by its Pres-ident, Arif Hasan, can claim to represent thePOA or act on its behalf or play the role ofan "NOC" in Pakistan. In particular, the IOCand OCA will not recognise any decision,

resolution or action of any body or so-called"interim committee" claiming to act on be-half of the POA Any such decision, resolu-tion or action would indeed violate theOlympic Charter and would therefore beautomatically null and void.

“It is regrettable to note that the repeatedattempts of a number of individuals/bodiesto act against the Olympic Charter and todestabilise the legitimate POA currentlyheaded by its President Arif Hasan, do notserve at all the interests of the OlympicMovement and the athletes in Pakistan. Onthe contrary, this affects negatively the de-velopment of the Olympic Movement inPakistan and has no effect but to expose un-necessarily the POA to protective measuresfrom the IOC Executive Board, for whichthese individuals/bodies should be held re-sponsible.”

“This is about time the miscreants sawthe drift and the gravity of the situation anddesisted from taking Pakistan Sports to aperilous point of no return”, commentedGen. Arif.

Judy Murray targets Fed Cup progress

ioC shows concern overgovt’s interest in PoA

it reflects thehighest global

and continentalbodies concernon the events

in Pakistan

VINA Del MAR:

Rafa Nadal hits

the ball in his

return from injury

doubles match of

the Chilean open.

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:17 AM Page 18

sPoRTs SThursday, 7 February, 2013

18

wAtCh It LIveESPNBangladesh League: SylhetRoyals v Rangpur Riders07:00PM

STAR SPORTSFIELD HOCKEY:Mumbai v Ranchi08:00PM

The past two seasons in GP2 have been

all about proving that I have what it takes

and that I'm ready. – Brazilian Luiz Razia

Pakistan get slender

margin win over

Nepal in a friendly

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

The Pakistan football team opened its tourof Nepal on a victorious note beating thehome side 1-0 in its first friendly match atDasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmanduon Wednesday. Pakistan team is on a tour ofNeal and Maldives to gain useful practicefor its coming international assignments,said the message received here. StrikerHassan Bashir scored the all important goalin the last minute of the game after crowingsolo efforts. Pakistan were made to workhard by the hosts who enjoyed the homeconditions and the large supporting crowd,whilst Pakistan took their time to settle intothe game. Pakistan team showed itsexpertise in the game of football byexhibiting a formidable offensive anddefensive line. This match was equallyimportant for Nepal whose team stuck tothe defensive formation. Though Nepalteam is consider a favorite team but wasbulldozed in this match by a better planningand offensive strategy of the Pakistani teamunder the expert coaching of Zavisa.

i’d rather have ribery

than ronaldo: Lahm

MADRIDagencieS

Bayern Munichskipper PhilippLahm has revealedthat he would ratherplay alongsideFrank Ribery thanCristiano Ronaldo.The formerMarseille attackerhas been in splendidform this season,notching four goalsand seven assists inBayern Munich's charge up the Bundesligatable. Speaking to Kicker, Lahm expressedhis delight at having the Frenchman as histeam-mate in the Bavarian club.

WaPDa-NbPin final ofU-21 hockey

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

WAPDA and National Bank of Pakistanscored identical 2-1 victories againsttheir respective rivals ,Sui Southern GasCompany and PIA to set a clash in thefinal of National at Faisalabad hockeystadium on Wednesday. WAPDA played a full time 1-1 withSSGC which caused panic for them byending the first half 1-0. Wapdademonstrated a higher level of mid fieldplay to infuse life in the attacks andstruck the match winning goal in theextra time.Scorers,WAPDA:Waseem Abbas 62ndminute (PC) & Mohammad Suleman80thminute (FG). SSGC:Sohail34thminute (PC). In a match marred byugly incident of mis conduct , NBP andPIA were locked in a 1-1 draw at halftime and the same score was seen at theend of the full time. NBP struck betterperformance in the extra time to scorethe match winning goal.Scorers,NBP:Mohammad Dilber 2 Goals 7th &71st minutes (FG).PIA:Ammad Butt 20thminute(FG).After the match the tournamentdirector , Muhammad Farooqannounced the disciplinary actionagainst the players PIA Hockey Teamand Managers/Coaches of both theteams. Players Ammad Shakeel Buttand Afsar Yaqoob were banned for onemonth and Mohammad Sultan Amir forsixth months. Managers of both theteams Qamar Ibrahim (PIA) andMuhammad Arshad (NBP) have beenwarned to be careful in their futureconduct. Whereas Coaches of both theteams Muhammad Akhlaq (NBP) andMuhammad Irfan Mehmood (PIA) havebeen banned for the next five matches.The final will be played between NBPand Wapda tomorrow, Thursday at1430hrs and SSGC will take on PIA ina classification match for the 3rd and4thplace.

JEREZagencieS

Lewis Hamilton's first day behind thewheel of his Mercedes resulted in a crashinto a tyre barrier.

Team-mate Nico Rosberg on Tuesdaycompleted just 14 laps following anelectrical fault which led to a small, shortfire and the replacement of the wiringloom on the W02. Following lengthyrepairs by the team, Hamilton was at leastable to make his debut on time for thesecond day of the opening pre-season testat the Circuito de Jerez.

But after 15 laps, the 28-year-oldlocked up at the turn-six hairpin knownas 'Dry Sack' at 170mph beforeploughing through a wide expanse ofgravel and eventually pushing his frontwing into the tyres. Given the tyre markson the asphalt on approach to the corner,and the fact Hamilton's car simplycareered straight on for 70 metres, theearly diagnosis is a fault to the frontsuspension.

Hamilton emerged unscathed from acar that was soon recovered from thebarrier, covered with a black tarpaulinand craned on to the back of a flatbedtruck before being taken back to thegarage. It means Mercedes face anotherinvestigation into their second successive

testing incident, and with more repairsrequired, it remains to be seen whetherHamilton will make it back out on tracklater Wednesday. Mercedes later

diagnosed the issue on Hamilton's car asa loss of rear brake pressure. A teamspokesperson said; "The front brakesenabled him to slow the car but he

couldn't avoid the barrier. "There isobvious damage to the front wing andnose; we are checking the car over now.Lewis himself is fine."

Hamilton crashes his new Mercedes

LONDONagencieS

FORMER U.S.Masters and BritishOpen championSandy Lyle can

once again dream of leadingEurope's Ryder Cup team,having given up two years agoon the prospect of beingnamed skipper. Lyle, the onlymember of 'big five' in the1980s to miss out on thecaptaincy, had the bouncerestored to his 54-year-old stepfollowing a phone call lastmonth from Players'Committee chairman ThomasBjorn. Bjorn told the Scot,who sat at the top of Europe'sgolfing tree along with NickFaldo, Seve Ballesteros,Bernhard Langer and IanWoosnam three decades ago,he was one of five candidatesdiscussed before Ireland's PaulMcGinley got the vote as 2014skipper.

"That was very nice tohear," Lyle told Reuters in aninterview. "At least I'm stillbeing considered because twoyears ago I thought that was it

and I was regarded as too oldfor the captaincy."

Lyle said it came as asurprise to learn he wasmentioned in dispatches alongwith McGinley, ColinMontgomerie, Paul Lawrieand Miguel Angel Jimenez forthe next Ryder Cup againstUnited States at Gleneagles

next year."They never told me I was

under consideration for thecaptaincy," said the 1985British Open winner and 1988U.S. Masters champion. "Itwas only when I got a phonecall from Thomas the verynight they made their decisionthat I knew.

"They seem to havedeleted the unwritten rule thatsays when you reach 50 it isthe end of your Ryder Cupchances. "We live in hope andI shall keep my ears and eyesopen from now on. TomWatson being chosen to leadthe U.S. has opened the doorfor us oldies," said Lyle. "Tomwill be 65 in 2014. Maybe Icould be considered now for aRyder Cup in the States,especially with my experienceof playing over there."

One thing the amiableScot will not be doing,though, is entering into thesort of unseemlyelectioneering that went onbefore McGinley wasannounced as skipper. "I'mnot going to campaign for it,"said Lyle.

"If they want me it'll bemost welcome but I'm notgoing to cry about it or loseany sleep if they don't." Lylemay have been overlooked asskipper for the next RyderCup in his native land but hehas not given up hope ofgetting the nod as one ofMcGinley's vice-captains.

LyLe’S DreaMcoULD be back oN

RYDER CUP (

(

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

Amir Khan, British-Pakistaniboxer, is busy shopping inLahore for his wedding withPakistani-American FaryalMakhdoom in May.

Khan visited the DataDarbar shrine on Tuesday. Hewas accompanied by hisparents, uncle and brother. Thefamily laid a floral wreath atthe shrine. They also prayedfor Khan’s success.

Khan said the weddingceremony would take place inNew York and valima wouldbe held in London.

The boxer said that hisidentity is Pakistan whereverhe lives in the world. He saidthat Pakistani cricketer ShahidAfridi is his friend and heinvited him to his wedding. Healso said that he wanted tomake Pakistan proud bywinning.

In 2011, Khan visitedPakistan and participated in the

second Benazir BhuttoInternational BoxingTournament as a chief guest.

Khan urged the Pakistanigovernment to providefacilities to Pakistani boxers.

Khan is the youngestBritish Olympic boxingmedalist. He won silver at the2004 Athens Olympics at theage of 17. He is also one of theyoungest British worldchampions ever, who won theWBA light-welterweight titlewhen he was 22.

Amir Khan busy shopping for wedding in Lahore

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:17 AM Page 19

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 79, Sector 24, Korangi Industrial Area Karachi. Editor: Arif Nizami

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

KARACHIiSmaiL diLawaR

THE Supreme Court on Wednesdaysaid there remained serious questionover the possibility of holding trans-parent election in Karachi where the

masses had been rendered “paranoid” bycontinued violence.

Hearing the implementation case of itssuo motu notice of law and order in Karachiat the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry,the bench of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja,Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice SarmadJalal Osmany and Justice Amir Hani Mus-lim questioned the role of legislature inSindh after police told the court that around2,300 people were killed in the port city in

2012, while about 22,000 declared abscon-ders and criminals were still at large in theviolence-hit financial capital.

To the utter surprise of judges, senior po-lice officials came up with highly contradic-tory figures when the court asked them to tellthe number of investigation officers (IOs)currently working in the metropolis.

The bench also rejected a compliancereport submitted by Sindh Advocate Gen-eral Abdul Fattah Malik and sought a “para-wise” clarification of the court’s ordersissued last year. The clarification is to bemade in today (Thursday’s) hearing.

The bench questioned the role of theSindh Assembly when SSP Niaz Khoso saidthe city’s law and order could improve withina month’s time if the long-pending laws on

arms control and witness protection werepromulgated. Sindh Additional Chief Secre-tary (ACS) Wasim Ahmed told the bench thathis department had sent a summary to the fed-eral law secretary in this regard.

The bench said after the 18th Amend-ment, the provinces were enjoying autonomyand could therefore legislate themselves. TheACS, however, said the government wantedto introduce a uniform law across the countryto protect witnesses and discourage arms.

Sindh AG Abdul Fattah Malik told thecourt that he had attended a meeting at theSindh CM House where it was observedthat the legislation on arms control in thecity had become a political issue.

Justice Khilji asked if Malik meant thatthe Sindh Assembly was not ready to legis-

late on what he (AG) and the court wouldorder. Justice Khawaja said the masses maythen decide, through balloting, the fate oftheir elected representatives who were reluc-tant to make laws for their protection.

Earlier, Sindh Additional InspectorGeneral (AIG) Iqbal Mehmood told thebench that during 2012, at least 2,300 peo-ple fell victim to targeted killings in the city,while 22,000 declared criminals were wan-dering with impunity. He said 105 incidentsof kidnapping for ransom had been reportedduring the past year. Justice Khawaja ex-pressed his concern about the possibility of afree and fair election in a city like Karachiwhere the voters were highly paranoid. SindhSSP Niaz Khoso said the situation would nottake more than a month to improve if wit-

nesses were protected through promulgatingthe relevant laws. He said no one in the citywas ready to register a case against criminalsor at least become a state witness in a case.

Calling the strength of police departmentinadequate for maintaining peace in the city,the bench asked how many IOs were there inthe metropolis. The IGP said around 2,000,the additional IGP said 700 to 800, while theDIG investigation quoted the number at 250.Justice Hani, however, said only 159 inves-tigation officers were present in the city cur-rently. The bench was told that norecruitments in police department could bemade in view of ECP’s ban on the same. Thebench reminded the government officials thatwhile the ban was recently imposed, thecourt’s order dated back a year.

ISLAMABADStaff RepoRt

Rejecting the government’s request of lifting banon recruitments in all government departmentsand diversion of funds, the Election Commissionof Pakistan (EC) on Wednesday allowed onlyconstitutional bodies to make fresh hiring.

However, the commission decided to reviewreferences filed by 25 government organisationsseeking revocation of the ban.

“On Thursday, the commission will reviewthe request of government organisations for re-cruitments on a case-to-case basis. We will alsoconsider some requests of diversion of funds.There will be no issue of diversion of funds forstrategically important projects,” said ECP Sec-retary Ishtiak Ahmed Khan in a press conference.He said the commission would also consider re-quests made by some donor agencies of diversionof funds. The Election Commission on Wednes-day met with Chief Election Commissioner Jus-tice (r) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim in the chair. In themeeting, the commission thoroughly discussedthe government’s request of lifting ban on recruit-ments. However, after a detailed briefing, thecommission decided to lift ban on recruitmentsin constitutional bodies like the Supreme Court,high courts, district courts, ombudsman officeand provincial assemblies.

Khan said the departments that advertised va-cant positions before August 31, 2012 were al-lowed to fill positions. The commission alsorejected the government’s request of allowing itto divert funds that were originally allocated forsome other projects. The secretary said 25 gov-ernment departments had sent references to theECP seeking lifting of ban on fresh hiring and it

was decided that the commission would reviewtheir request on a case-to-case basis.

Earlier in the meeting, the commission dis-cussed a letter sent by Federal Tax Ombudsman’soffice, in which the ECP was apprised that 70 per-cent of the parliamentarians had failed to file theirtax return in 2011. The letter requested the ECPto make it mandatory that tax documents be sub-mitted together with nomination papers.

The secretary said in order to conduct freeand transparent elections, the ECP had decided tostop tax evaders and bank defaulting candidatesfrom contesting elections. “We have forward arequest for making legislation, in which ECP re-quests one month period for scrutinising the can-didates. If a new law is passed, we will have onemonth to scrutinise the candidates,” Khan said.

He said the ECP also decided to contact theState Bank of Pakistan and Federal Board of Rev-enue to help ECP scrutinise electoral candidates.

Khan said after holding a meeting with FBRand State Bank, the ECP would chalk out a mech-anism to stop tax evaders and bank defaulters.

To a query, the secretary said fake degree-holders who contested last elections on thebasis of fake degrees would not be allowed totake part in elections. The meeting also re-viewed ineligibility of parliaments and imple-mentation of Articles 62 and 63 of theconstitutions. The commission will also holda meeting with opposition parties today(Thursday) to discuss charter of demands sub-mitted by them on Monday. The oppositionparties have requested the ECP to conductingfresh delimitation of constituencies and veri-fication of voters’ list in Karachi and removalof 27 bureaucrats from important positions be-fore the general elections.

ISLAMABADStaff RepoRt

A former head of the Intelligence Bureau onWednesday told the Supreme Court that theforces behind the no-confidence voteagainst the elected government of BenazirBhutto in 1989 were not political.

Submitting a detailed reply in the secretfunds case, former IB chief Masood SharifKhattak said that late President GhulamIshaq Khan and former Chief of the ArmyStaff Gen Mirza Aslam Baig wanted tokeep late Benazir Bhutto out of powerthrough their pre-polls efforts in the 1988elections, which started with the formationof Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI).

He said that being head of the IB, it washis duty to keep a watch over all such ac-tivities that were aimed at destabilising thethen constitutionally elected government.He maintained that they knew about such amove ahead of its tabling in the parliament.

“I must say here in very unambiguousterms, that even if any government of Pak-istan when placed under extreme unconsti-tutional pressures, does spend any funds toward off unconstitutional steps aimed atdismantling that government there wouldbe nothing illegal about,” he said.

He said that he was on the right side ofthe Constitution against extra-constitutionalefforts and had to suffer extensively for thatreason. Refuting claims made by AsadKharal, a reporter of a local English daily,

Khattak said that he had denied the asper-sions that the amounts during his period asIB chief were distributed right, left and cen-ter with ulterior motives. He said that hehad appeared before the Lahore High Courtduring February 1992 and maintained thatthose funds were indeed spent towards fur-thering national interest.

During the hearing, former DG IB TariqLodhi admitted that the amount was with-drawn from the IB’s accounts during histenure. The court sought a detailed replyfrom him within two days, and directed theSC registrar to seek the Lahore High Court’sdecision on a reference filed by former pres-ident Ghulam Ishaq Khan in connection withthe disqualification of Benazir Bhutto in1992, and present it before the apex court.Lodhi filed a brief but sealed reply in thecourt, while Masood Sharif filed a detailedreply. However, the incumbent DGIB filed aquestionnaire containing three legal points inthe court rather than furnishing a reply.

The court said the questionnaire wouldbe seen later and he should first file thereply, which has sought by the court.

The court asked Masood Sharif if hewanted to keep his reply secret. Masood Sharifsaid the contents of his reply had already ap-peared before the LHC, therefore, it would befutile to keep it secret. “I have already filed allthe details with the Lahore High Court whenformer president Ghulam Ishaq Khan had fileda reference seeking the disqualification of Be-nazir Bhutto’s government,” he stated.

The court directed him to provide his doc-uments to the SC registrar, and the matter re-lated to him would be reviewed in chambers.Attorney General (AG) Irfan Qadir appearedin the court on behalf of the incumbent DGIBand told the court that he had sent three legalpoints in the form of questions, asking thecourt to decide about them first.

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

Expressing strong reservations over the perform-ance of the Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) andthe Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) have de-manded that the commission be reformed to en-sure free and fair elections. Top leaders of thePTI met PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri in Lahoreon Wednesday to discuss their reservations overthe current ECP. Talking to reporters, PTI Presi-dent Javed Hashmi said that his party was not sat-isfied with the present ECP and the suggestedcaretaker setup. Hashmi said that only the reserva-tions had been discussed during the meeting, buthis party was yet to decide on whether it wanted tofile a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) with Qadrior not, adding that his party would support every-

one working to change the destiny of the people.PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that

free and fair elections were the only way to bringchange in the country, adding that without an au-tonomous ECP, transparent elections could notbe held. He said the government was claimingthat it could not dissolve the ECP under Article209, but that its argument was invalid. “We willraise the question of composition and constitu-tion of the ECP,” he said, adding that he had notgiven any comments against Qadri since peace-ful protests were part of democracy. Speaking onthe occasion, Qadri said the parliament had failedto deliver and resolve the problems of the peopleand stressed the need for ensuring a completeneutral caretaker setup to ensure free and fairelection. He said that after a long time, two in-stitutions in the country – the judiciary and thearmy – were working in favour of democracy.

16 defenceinstallationsattackedsince 2009

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The National Assembly’s Stand-ing Committee on Defence hasbeen informed that defence in-stallations have been attacked 16times in the country since 2009.The meeting of the standingcommittee was chaired by AzraFazal Pechuho on Wednesday.Defence Secretary LieutenantGeneral (r) Asif Yasin Malik in-formed the committee that de-fence installations have beenattacked 16 times since 2009,adding that the last attacks werein Peshawar and the Kamra air-base. The defence secretary saidthat in the attack on the Kamraairbase an Airborne Warningand Control System (AWACS)plane was destroyed, while tenattackers were also killed. Ter-rorists attacked Peshawar AirBase from all four sides, but for-tunately all defence installationsremained safe, Malik told thecommittee. The secretary saidthat after back to back attacksArmy personnel have been de-ployed at all defensive facilitiesof the country. He also told thatintelligence officials who sup-ported the terrorists were alsocharged. He said further that allfour sides were attacked in Pe-shawar but fortunately all instal-lations remained safe. In hisbriefing, the defence secretaryinformed the committee thatrapid response forces had beendeployed at all defence installa-tions while action had beentaken against army personnel in-volved in these attacks.

Sc doubts impartial polls in ‘paranoid’ karachi

Only constitutional institutions may hire: ECP

TO REVIEW REFERENCESFILED BY 25 GOVTORGANISATIONS ONCASE-TO-CASE BASIS

REJECTS REQUEST FORALLOWING DIVERSIONOF FUNDS TO OTHERPROJECTS

PTI, Qadri on same pageon reforming ECP

Forces behind Benazirgovt’s ouster in 1989were not political, SC told

SC SEEKS DETAILEDREPLY FROM IB CHIEF ONUSE OF SECRET FUNDS TOTOPPLE PUNJAB GOVT

lAhoRe: Minhajul Quran chiefDr Tahirul Qadri talks to PTIleaders Javed Hashmi andShah Mehmood Qureshi duringa meeting on Wednesday. inp

KHI 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:17 AM Page 20