E-paper Pakistantoday KHI 24th January, 2012

pakistantoday.com.pk tuesday, 24 january, 2012 safar 29, 1433rs15.00 vol ii no 208 22 pages Karachi — edition

Zardari doesn’t needto move court for

immunity, says AitzazPAGE 03

Senate resolves toarrest PervezMusharraf on arrival

PAGE 22 PAGE 16

British womanclaims new Antarctic solo record

ISLAMABADMASOOD REHMAN

THE memo drama takes a new turn as thegovernment finally succeeded in scaring awayMansoor Ijaz, who has decided not to appearbefore the three-member judicial commissionprobing the controversy, saying he was ready to

depose before the commission in Zurich or Londoninstead of coming to Pakistan.The counsel for Ijaz, the Pakistani-Americanbusinessman at the centre of the memo controversy,expressed his reservations on the security arrangementsmeant for his client’s appearance before the judicialcommission, saying his client would be ready to recordtestimony before the commission either in London orZurich. The commission had told Ijaz to appear before itpersonally to record his statements on January 24. Hiscounsel, Akram Shaikh, told reporters at the SupremeCourt building that he had held a teleconference with hisclient after meeting the Islamabad Police inspectorgeneral and had briefed him on security arrangementsthat had been made for him for his appearance beforethe commission. The statement from Shaikh endedspeculations about Ijaz’s appearance before thecommission today (Tuesday). Sheikh said his clientunderlined that he had been given no assurance by anyperson on behalf of the Pakistan government towardshis apprehensions about his security. Later on, Shaikhalso filed an application in the judicial commission’ssecretary office to record Ijaz’s testimony outsidePakistan with a plea that the apex court had given a clearmandate in its order to the commission to collectevidence within and outside Pakistan according toprevailing laws on the subject.Prime Minister YousafRaza Gilani had told reporters during his recent visit toLahore that it seemed as if Ijaz was some viceroy whowas coming to Pakistan and the government had toarrange for his security as subservient people, alsomaking it clear that the government would not spendbillions on his security. Gilani categorically stated thatunder the constitution and under the system, it was theduty of the Interior Ministry to provide Ijaz security.Shaikh added that Ijaz’s arrival under protection of astation house officer (SHO) as announced by the primeminister on Sunday was highly deplorable, adding that Ijazhad a concrete fear that electronic evidence in the memocase could be completely destroyed or tampered with.Shaikh added that Ijaz was also concerned that Pakistan’smoney should not be wasted and thus did not want lawenforcement agencies to waste their money on him. “So, hewants to record his statement while sitting in his office inLondon. He is ready to tell the truth and present all graftsto the commission.” Days before Ijaz’s planned visit toPakistan, the Parliamentary Committee on NationalSecurity, which too is investigating the memogate, hadissued summons to Ijaz to appear before it on January 26.Interior Minister Rehman Malik had said if the committeedesired, Ijaz’s name could be included in the Exit ControlList (ECL). “It seems like a well-orchestrated trap to holdMansoor Ijaz indefinitely in Pakistan after his depositionbefore the commission, therefore, Ijaz has decided to makea request to the commission to record his statement instrict compliance with the order of the Supreme Court ofPakistan... in London or Zurich,” said Shaikh. He addedthat his client had decided to file an application to thecommission to record his statement outside Pakistan afterreviewing security arrangements for his planned visit.

No more chancesfor Ijaz please,pleads Haqqani

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

As the main character in the memo case –Mansoor Ijaz – has declined to appearbefore the judicial commission in Pakistandue to security concerns, formerambassador to US Husain Haqqani hasasked the commission to refuse anotheropportunity to the former to appear and gethis statement recorded before thecommission. In a letter submitted byHaqqani’s counsel with the memocommission, Haqqani said: “The attitudeand conduct of Mansoor Ijaz clearly showsthat he is playing with the sentiments of thenation and also wasting the precious timeof this honourable commission, despite thefact that this honourable commission hasacceded all his requests/demands on allissues. Even the High Commission ofLondon granted him visa after office hoursto facilitate his appearance before thishonourable commission.” “Mansoor Ijaz(American national), wanted to record hisstatement before the HonourableCommission, for which, he sought numberof adjournments through his counsel MrAkram Sheikh i.e. 9.1.2012 and 16.1.2012,but today, he has also not attended theproceedings of honourable commissionwithout lawful reason or excuse. It is onthe record that Mr Mansoor Ijaz throughhis counsel requested to the HonourableCommission for his security in Pakistanand grant of visa to enter Pakistan withoutany condition.

ISLAMABADKASHIF ABBASI

The Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP) asserted its inde-pendence on Monday by snub-bing the Supreme Court andtelling it not to interfere in itsconstitutional jurisdiction, andannounced that the electoralrolls could not be completed be-fore May.

Staying several by-elections,the apex court had asked theECP to finalise the electoral listsby February 23. However, theECP also challenged theSupreme Court order, taking aposition that delaying by-elec-tions would be unconstitutional.The ECP also said if the SupremeCourt insisted on delaying by-elections, it would do so but thiswould not be in accordance withthe law and the constitution.

“The outside interference inthe matters of the ECP will beagainst the principle of tri-chotomy,” Chief Election Com-missioner (CEC) Justice (r)

Hamid Ali Mirza said at a consul-tative meeting of the representa-tives of political parties held hereat the ECP. He said Article 224 ofthe constitution clearly made itmandatory for the ECP to holdelections within 60 days of a seatbecoming vacant.

The CEC said if any other in-stitution of the state was to holdelections, as the ECP saw some-times such desire on part ofsome quarters expressedthrough media, then the rightcourse was to amend the consti-tution. He said responsibilities ofevery institutions were chalkedout clearly in the constitutionand unnecessary interference inthe ECP’s matters meant nega-tion of the constitution.

The meeting was attended byrepresentatives of 14 politicalparties. Prominent among theparticipants were Pakistan Mus-lim League-Quaid (PML-Q)President Chaudhry ShujaatHussain, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief FazlurRehman, Pakistan Muslim

League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaderIqbal Zafar Jhagra and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader LiaqatBaloch. A source who attendedthe meeting told Pakistan Todaythat PML-N and JI strongly op-posed the ECP’s stand on elec-toral rolls. Later, addressing apress conference, ECP SecretaryIshtiak Ahmed said it would beunfair to prepare the new voterlists in urgency. He said newelectoral rolls to hold the 2013general elections could not be fi-nalised before May this year. Hesaid the ECP was unable to com-ply with the Supreme Court’s or-ders to finalise the electoral rolls.He said the task of making elec-toral rolls should remain withthe ECP without interferencefrom any institutions. He said theNational Database and Registra-tion Authority (NADRA) wouldprint preliminary lists in Marchthat would be published for threeweeks on at least 65,000 displaycentres across the country.

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

Consumers will be faced with a mas-sive increase in the prices of petro-leum products because of thebrewing crisis between Iran and theUnited States on the Strait of Hor-muz, as the Oil and Gas RegulatoryAuthority (OGRA) has estimated anincrease of Rs 3 to Rs 6.45 per litreon different POL products for themonth of February.

An official source said an in-creasing trend in POL prices waswitnessed during the last few daysbecause of the intensification of

statements between Iran and theUS. He said usually POL prices

started falling from Januarybut this year, an increas-

ing trend was witnessed because ofthe confrontation. He said the initialestimates of OGRA pointed out thatthe price of motor spirit (petrol)would have to be increased by Rs5.45 per litre, High Octane BlendedComponent (HOBC) by Rs 6.45 perlitre, High Speed Diesel (HSD) by Rs3.13 per litre, Light Diesel Oil (LDO)by Rs 3.87 per litre and kerosene byRs 2.98 per litre. OGRA would bemaking its final recommendationsafter a meeting to decide on the in-land freight equalisation marginscheduled to be held on January 27.

OGRA had earlier notified anincrease in petrol price by Rs 1.65per litre to Rs 89.54 per litre andHOBC by Rs 5.13 to Rs 111.91 perlitre with effect from January 1,2012. The prices of HSD, LDO

and kerosene were retained at lastmonth’s level of Rs 98.82, Rs 86.78and Rs 89.24 per litre respectively.To save the people from the nega-tive impact of high inflation result-ing from the increase in POL prices,OGRA had recommended loweringthe Rs 10 per litre petroleum levy(PL) on POL products. However,the Finance Ministry had rejectedthe proposal. The government col-lects Rs 23 billion per month ontaxation of POL products, Rs 16 bil-lion per month in sales tax on POLand another Rs 7 billion as PL.

The source said the PetroleumMinistry was stressing on reducingthe levy on diesel so that its prices

could be brought at par withthe Compressed Natu-

ral Gas (CNG) sectorto reduce the demand

there. Nearly 3.5million vehicles runon CNG in Pakistanwith a consump-tion estimate of290 mmcfd.

US-Iran standoff to send fuelprices through the roofg Massive

increase likelyin POL pricesfrom February

g Petrol price likelyto be increased byRs 5.45 per litre

MansoorIjaz won’tbe comingafter allg Counsel says Ijaz is open to testifying from London or Zurich

ECP snubs SC’s ‘electoral jurisdiction’g Says if SC insists on delaying by-elections, it would beagainst the law and constitution g Secretary says ECP has no Aladdin’s lamp, can’t complete electoral rolls before May

polls on unverified lists will be unjust: sC | page 22

Continued on page 04

Continued on page 04 Continued on page 04

KHI 24-01-2012_Layout 1 1/24/2012 7:44 AM Page 1

02Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

News

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kARACHI

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NeWS

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FoReIGN NeWS

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The Karachi-Bahawalpur connection Nawaz, Zardari playing with country’s future: Imran Islamists take centre stage in Egypt parliament

WB links Pak economic growthwith water, electricity availability

ISLAMABADONlINE

The World Bank has linked the economic growth and development of Pak-istan with the availability of water and electricity and underlined the need ofbetter management, cost recovery and reducing subsidies.According to the World Bank, continued investments in both rehabilitation ofstrategic assets (storage, barrages, irrigation systems) as well as new invest-ments to shift the energy mix towards lower cost sources was essential. “Theimportance of water goes far beyond the development of hydropower. Pak-istan has the world’s largest contiguous water system – the Indus. This IndusBasin Water System (IBWS) is considered the backbone of the country’seconomy and is the sole source of water supply supporting life and liveli-hoods. In addition to providing water for irrigated agriculture, these re-sources also support the development of major cities, industry, and growthcentres. Considering the country’s strategic location at the cross-roads ofSouth Asia, Central Asia, China and the Middle East and its large working agepopulation, this untapped wealth can help unleash the country’s economicpotential,” said the World Bank, adding that the huge development needs ofthe 21st century required a strategic approach to boosting growth and ad-dressing the existing challenges.

Commission to decide further on Mansoor Ijaz testimony: AG


Attorney General for Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq has said that if MansoorIjaz did not appear before the judicial commission on memo probe for record-ing his testimony, it would be the discretion of the commission to decide fur-ther on the issue. He said all arrangements had been finalised for the securityof Mansoor Ijaz and an officer of the police had been deputed, adding that“but in my opinion, he does not want to come”.Talking to reporters at the Supreme Court building, he said Pakistan was asovereign state and the security arrangements for Mansoor Ijaz had beenmade according to the constitution. He said the government had ensuredfoolproof security arrangements for Mansoor Ijaz and the Islamabad inspec-tor general of police had briefed his counsel Akram Sheikh about the arrange-ments on Sunday night. He said Akram Sheikh was expressing dissatisfactionover the security arrangements regarding his client, but he did not spell theshortcomings in the arrangements. The AG said now the commission woulddecide how the statement of Mansoor Ijaz could be recorded. To a questionabout Akram Sheikh, the AG said: “I can only say that he utters words thatcome to his mind and does not think to whom he is talking.” “The govern-ment has finalised all arrangements relating to the security for Mansoor Ijazin pursuance of the judicial commission’s directions as well as under the lim-its of the law,” the AG said.

‘Register treason case against Mansoor’ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

Punjab Opposition Leader Raja Riaz on Monday demanded registering a trea-son case against US national Mansoor Ijaz for his anti Pakistan lobbying, say-ing that by refusing to appear before the memo commission, Mansoor hasproved that he wants to spread anarchy in the country.Talking to journalists at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after submitting hisapplication to the judicial commission, Riaz said that stern action must betaken against Mansoor who had accepted playing a role to topple the PPP-ledgovernment in 1996 and also hatched a conspiracy against the country’sagency by writing against it this time around. “A case of high treason shouldbe registered against Mansoor because he is a liar and conspirator againstPakistan,” Riaz alleged. Replying to a question that the army chief and ISIchief had also submitted affidavits in court testifying the US national’s claim,the Punjab opposition leader said that he did not read their affidavits but Ijazwas surely contriving against the PPP’s democratic government.


THE National Assembly (NA)Standing Committee on Defence onMonday took notice of ‘misreport-ing’ by electronic media on the

issue of ownership of Indus Airlines and con-stituted a sub-committee to probe the issue.

Media has reported repeatedly that Pres-ident Asif Ali Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpurowns the new airline – a claim yet to be con-tradicted either by the PPP or anyone else.

However, the subcommittee tasked toprobe the matter will be chaired by PPP MNANawabzada Malik Amad Khan, despite thefact that he was being linked by media asbeing amongst stakeholders for the new air-line. The committee also discussed and ap-proved the Airport Security Force(Amendment) Bill, 2011 besides being briefed

on the progress of the new Benazir Interna-tional Airport Islamabad.

The committee was informed the totalcost of the project was Rs 63 billion and thefirst phase had been completed while the sec-ond phase will be completed by Septemberthis year. The meeting was informed that theworld’s fourth biggest construction company,a Chinese organisation, was constructing theairport’s terminal.

It was told the cargo operation couldbegin in December, 2012 and the main prob-lem faced by the project was a road networkbeing completed by the National Highway Au-thority (NHA). The committee directed NHAofficials to complete the project urgently andput up a summary under PSDP for approval.The committee was briefed on the current sta-tus of all airport runways. It was told the CAAwas facing problems in moving the heavy ma-chinery from Badin to Mitthi due to a dam-

aged road network for the Thar Airport. TheSaidu Sharif Airport operation can begin on aone-week notice. On a request by committeemembers, the CAA managing director (MD)ensured that two flights to Sehwan Sharif willbe available within thirty days,

The committee condemned and took no-tice of the manhandling by Sindh Police of aPIA official for not delaying a flight for IG Po-lice Sindh on 14/01/2012. The committee de-cided to discuss the issue on February 3. Thecommittee was briefed on security measuresadopted at small airports and the present sta-tus of vehicles brought in by foreign digni-taries through small airports in Pakistan.

The committee was chaired by Dr AiraFazal Peehuho and attended by Shahid KhaqanAbbasi, Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, Dr AbdulWahid Soomro, Shagufta Sadiq, Malik Nau-man Ahmad Langrial, Capt (r) Rai ChulamMujtaba Khural and other officials concerned.

WhO OWnS IndUS AIR?

NA body to investigateIndus Air ownershipg Reports linking president’s sister Faryal Talpur to airline to be investigatedg Committee chair himself linked to soon-to-be-launched airline

HYDERABAD: Scavenger boys

wrestle at a green belt. INP



NewsCoMMeNTPreposterous demands:

Articles on Page 12-13

Is security for Mansoor Ijaz justified?

The right’s wrongs: Votes mean something.

Dr Faisal Bari says:

Syed Hassan Belal Zaidi says:Where’s your nikahnama? But who is Maya Khan?

Rabia Ahmed says:The PM’s trial: ...and the cost of security.

ARTS & eNTeRTAINMeNT

Story on Page 15

SPoRTSAjmal very hard to track, says Adnan

Story on Page 18

Veena Malik’s horror film to release in May

Value-chain issues: Is there a problem somewhere?

Today’s

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Pakistan not being runlike own country: CJ


Hearing a suo motu notice on the illegal allot-ment of 4000 plots amongst Capital Develop-ment Authority (CDA) employees, ChiefJustice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry onMonday remarked that Pakistan was notbeing run like our own country.He said the SC is criticised but no one thinksabout the mentally-retarded child who hadbeen languishing in jail for 12 years. He washeading a three-member bench comprisingJustice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice TariqParvez. He said the illegal allotment of 4,000plots by CDA had caused the national excheq-uer a loss of billion of rupees.CDA counsel Ramzan Chaudhry informed thecourt about the relevant rules and allotmentprocess of plots to employees and officers onthe deputation. The court, however, directedhim to submit the rules related to plot allot-ment to CDA employees. Iftikhar said that itappears Pakistan is a foreign country underour rule. He asked CDA to pursue the case inits own interest. The hearing was adjournedfor one week. According to media reports,CDA illegally allotted 3,192 plots worth Rs 70billion in the settled sectors of Islamabad.

Six missing students recovered from Peshawar

PESHAWARINP

Police recovered six missing students of a pri-vate school of Rawalpindi from Peshawar onMonday. The six students went missing on Jan-uary 19 during a recreational trip to Murree.Sources said that the students were tracedthrough mobile phone data but details andcauses of their disappearance were yet to be dis-closed. The missing students, including threeboys and three girls of 9th and 10th classes,studied at a private school situated at ChaklalaScheme-3 in Valayat Colony.

Four arrested in kotAddu over foreign NGoworkers kidnapping

MULTANREuTERS

Kot Addu police arrested four people in con-nection with last week’s kidnapping of twoWestern aid workers, local police officialssaid on Monday.Gunmen stormed the workers’ residence onJanuary 23 in the town located in Punjabprovince and drove away with the two aidworkers — an Italian national and a Germannational. Punjab IG police Javed Iqbal saidthat the aid workers, who were working on aproject in southern Punjab, are being heldfor ransom.“That is all we can confirm, that they wereabducted for ransom. At the moment, wecannot provide any more details or say any-thing about who is behind it,” Iqbal told re-porters in Lahore.“The four suspects were under observationsince the kidnapping. We traced some callsback to them,” another police official said.Criminal gangs often target foreign aidworkers in Pakistan in hope of securing largeransoms for their release. Pakistani officialssay militant groups such as the Taliban arealso involved in kidnappings.Gunmen kidnapped a British doctor, work-ing with the International Committee of theRed Cross (ICRC), in the southwestern cityof Quetta on January 5.American aid worker Warren Weinstein waskidnapped from the central Pakistani city ofLahore in August last year. Al Qaeda claimedresponsibility for Weinstein’s abduction inDecember. In July, a Swiss couple was kid-napped from the southwestern Baluchistanprovince by the Pakistani Taliban.

Afaq indicted in murder case

KARACHIAPP

Malir Additional District and Sessions JudgeMunawar Sultana framed charges againstMohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H)chief Afaq Ahmed in the Farooq Baig murdercase on Monday. Afaq had pleaded notguilty. The judge ordered issuance of noticesto prosecution witnesses for February 12 andadjourned the hearing. Farooq, a MQM ac-tivist, was shot dead in 2011 and Afaq wasnominated in the case while in jail.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Former Supreme Court Bar Associationpresident and PPP leader BarristerAitzaz Ahsan on Monday said PresidentAsif Ali Zardari enjoyed complete im-munity in criminal cases and he did notneed to approach the court for it.

“The immunity under the constitu-tion is not for the person but for theconstitutional office that the presidentis holding so he has immunity until heis in the office of the president,” Aitzaztold reporters at the Lahore High Court(LHC).

He said Article 248 of the constitu-tion could be objectionable. However,

parliament alone had the authority tochange it through constitutionalamendment. He said the president en-joyed immunity in the Swiss courts aswell, adding that the government hadnot committed any contempt of courtby not writing a letter to the Swiss au-thorities.

Reacting to Justice (r) KhalilurRehman Ramday’s interview with aprivate TV channel against the presi-dential immunity, Aitzaz said it wouldbe better for Ramday to keep mum onthe issue as a Pandora’s Box could beopened against him regarding what hedid as a judge of the LHC. “If I openmy mouth against Ramday, I may ex-pose his past which is not very like-

able,” Aitzaz said.“It is surprising that Justice Ram-

day has started politics before comple-tion of his two years period afterretirement as SC judge,” Aitzaz said,hitting at the political bias of the re-tired judge against President Asif AliZardari.

Aitzaz said the building of the La-hore High Court was witness to Ram-day’s one-sided judgements.

“It is odd on the part of the ex-judge that he is trying to predict whatarguments I will be giving in the SC indefence of the immunity to president,”he said.

Talking about his decision to de-fend the prime minister and the presi-

dent before the Supreme Court, he saidit was everybody’s constitutional rightto hire a counsel of his choice.

Aitzaz said before agreeing to de-fend the prime minister, he had laiddown some conditions including notstaging a rally of party workers to theSC and avoiding giving statementsagainst the SC or its verdicts to themedia.

About member of the lawyerscommunity who were opposing his de-cision of appearing in the court as theprime minister’s lawyer, Aitzaz saidthe lawyers did not yet know the logicof his decision and once the crisis fac-ing the country was averted, alllawyers would approve of his decision.

ISLAMABADMASOOD REHMAN

ExPRESSING annoy-ance over the defencesecretary for not sub-mitting reply on the al-leged occupation of a

land of a citizen in Swat by the secu-rity forces, the Supreme Court onMonday directed the district revenueofficer (DRO) to give the grabbedland to the applicants and submit areport by January 27.

A three-member bench compris-ing Chief Justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussainand Justice Tariq Parvez also orderedthat no concerned authority would in-terfere in the process of retrieving theoccupied land of the citizen.

The court was hearing a petitionfiled by Abdul Ghaffar seeking per-mission to enter his property, al-legedly occupied by the PakistanArmy for the last three years.

The court noted that the defencesecretary did not submit the report tothe petition, which indicated that theDefence Ministry had nothing to sayin its defence, therefore, the peti-tioner was entitled to get relief.

When the court resumed hearingon the petition, instead of the defencesecretary, a section officer of the De-fence Ministry appeared before it,upon which the chief justice ex-pressed severe dismay asking the at-torney general: “We had summonedthe defence secretary, but a sectionofficer has been sent.”

“Is this the respect being given to

the judiciary by the government?” hemaintained. To a court query thatwhat type of terrorism was the peti-tioner involved, the section officercould not reply.

However Sanaullah Zahid, coun-sel for the petitioner, denied that hisclient was a terrorist and claimed thatin December 2011, some of his prop-erty had been leased out through auc-tion. He contended that his client wasnot involved in any illegal or anti-state activity, which he said was alsoacknowledged and conceded beforethe court by the deputy attorney gen-eral. He said his client had been amember of the local chapter of the Ja-maat-e-Islami and had later becomethe president of the Swat KissanBoard. The court adjourned furtherhearing until January 27.


Terming Mansoor Ijaz’s revelations as a ‘publicity stunt’,Interior Minister Senator Rehman Malik on Monday re-butted Mansoor’s lawyer Akram Sheikh’s allegations thatthe US national was being trapped by the federal govern-ment. He was talking to journalists outside the ParliamentHouse. “Mansoor Ijaz himself made statements against thearmy, ISI and about toppling Benazir Bhutto’s government.We (the government) as a stakeholder have the right toform a commission and investigate into these issues,”Malik said. The minister said that the nation was demand-ing an explanation of all claims made by Mansoor. On theUS national’s statements that he was at war with Malik, theminister said that he had been fighting against terroristsand other enemies of Pakistan for the last four years and ifMansoor wanted to join those ranks, he was most welcome.

Malik said that Mansoor had refused to come to Pak-istan because he was scared. “If Ijaz was an honest andbrave man, he would have come to testify in the memocase,” the minister said, adding that he would not allow

anyone to insult Pakistan and its people. He said thatMansoor’s attempt to befool the people had failed.

The minister said that it was his ministry’s responsi-bility to provide security to the US national. He said thatthe Islamabad IG had assured Mansoor’s client of full se-curity. Malik said that army security would be provided toMansoor if needed.

ARMY LAnd GRAB

Mansoor’s revelations area publicity stunt: Malik

g PPP’s legal ace criticises Justice (r) Ramday’s interview on immunity issueg Says it will be better for Ramday to keep mum otherwise Pandora’s box can be opened against him

SC directs Swat DRO to retrieve citizen’s land

Zardari doesn’t need to move court for immunity: Aitzaz



News

In addition to giving a de-tailed response to the US en-quiry report, Pakistan Armyalso said some additional de-tails were required whichshould be provided in orderfor the army to complete itsanalysis and assessment. Itsaid full and complete classi-fied version of the US investi-gation report should be madeavailable to it.

The army also asked forthe provision of intelligencesurveillance and reconnais-sance picture of the completeincident along with all aerialplatform videos and record ofradio transmissions and com-munication between thecrew(s) of the aerial platformsinvolved in the incident.

The army’s detailed per-spective on the US investiga-tion report on Monday ledsome observers to believe thatthe rejection of Washington’senquiry into the NATO airstrikes reflected clearly thatswift resolution of the currentPakistan-US standoff was notlikely, and improvement intheir relations would take along time.

However, diplomatic cir-cles here said the army’s de-tailed response was supposedto be made public, as despiteits desire for improvement ofties with Washington after theUS administration’s assur-ance that Pakistan’s sover-eignty would not be violatedin future, Islamabad wouldstill want to make its pointclear that it still differed withthe findings of the Americanprobe and believed that it wasdevoid of facts.

The US report was re-ceived by General Headquar-ters (GHQ) of the PakistanArmy on the December 24,2011. According to the army’sperspective, the report re-ceived was the same unclassi-fied version as available onthe US Central Command(CENTCOM) Website. “Theanalysis of the ‘US Investiga-tion Report’ has been carriedout by Pakistan Military witha view to reiterate facts andcorrect the perspective,” saidthe Pakistani military.

“The US Investigation Re-port is structured around theargument of ‘self defence’ and‘proportional use of force’, anargument which is contrary tofacts,” it said. “Continued en-gagement by US/ISAF despitebeing informed about the in-cident at multiple levels byPakistan Military within min-utes of initiation of US/ISAFfire, belies the ‘self defence’and ‘proportional use of force’contention. Affixing partialresponsibility of the incidenton Pakistan is, therefore, un-justified and unacceptable,”the army’s statement said.

It said that apart frombeing factually incorrect, theUS enquiry report alsobrought to the fore the largerissue of lack of trust ofUS/ISAF towards the Pak-istani military.

The army said that unfor-tunately, this was not the firstincident of this kind asUS/ISAF/NATO had been in-volved in at least four similarincidents in the past, aftereach of which US/ISAF re-gretted the incident and re-solved to prevent recurrence.“Not only did the recurrenceof incidents continue but asfar as we know, no one wasever actually held account-able,” it said.

“Pakistan has notedUS/ISAF acceptance of itsfailures, which Pakistan be-lieves were deep, varied andsystemic. There have beenseveral similar, though not asgrave, US/ISAF failings in thepast. Despite promises ofthorough investigations,US/ISAF failed to hold any-one accountable after each ofthese incidents,” it said.

“There have clearly beenseveral failures on the part ofUS/ISAF/NATO (as ac-knowledged in the US Inves-tigation Report),” it said. Thearmy’s response said furtherthat “Pakistan expresses itsregret over the mandate andterms of reference given tothe Investigating Team,which was not mandated todetermine or affix responsi-bility for the incident”.

“Establishing positiveidentification of the PakistaniPosts which was lacking and

which has been acknowledgedin the US/ISAF report was thedirect and clear responsibilityof US/ISAF, who were, bytheir own admission, carryingout a near-border operation,”it also said.

“Positive identificationcould very conveniently havebeen done by a simple Intelli-gence Surveillance and Re-connaissance Aircraft sweep,which the US InvestigationReport itself has also recom-mended,” said the army.

It said the US/ISAF vio-lated all mutually agreed pro-cedures with Pakistan fornear-border operations put inplace to avert such uncalledfor actions. “It is increasinglyobvious to Pakistan Militarythat the entire coordinationmechanism has been reducedto an exercise in futility, ismore for the purposes of op-tics and that it has repeatedlybeen undermined,” it said.PENTAGON REJECTS:Meanwhile, the United Statesrejected the findings of a Pak-istani probe into the NATO airstrikes, saying the investiga-tion ignored the fact that“mistakes” were made onboth sides.

At a press briefing, Penta-gon spokesman John Kirbysaid the Pakistani army had of-ficially delivered during theweekend a copy of the reportconducted by Islamabad on theNovember 26 strikes against aPakistani border post.

“The statement that thiswas an unprovoked attack byUS forces is simply false,” saidNavy Captain Kirby. “It wasnot an unprovoked attack,” hesaid. “There were errors madeby both sides here.”

Kirby said the Pentagonwas “100 percent” behind thefindings of the investigationreport released last month bythe US military.

Captain Kirby regrettedthat Islamabad refused toparticipate in the investiga-tion initiated by the US mili-tary. He called on Pakistan toreopen supply routes forNATO troops in Afghanistan,which were closed after thebombing.

“We want to get past allthis and we want to build agood cooperative relationshipwith the Pakistani military,”he said.

Army rejects US enquiry

Shaikh claimed that even Pak-istan Army had backed out onassurances regarding the pro-vision of security to Ijaz.

He claimed that these as-surances were given during ameeting of the army’s corpscommanders held on January12, adding that he had also metthe Islamabad police chief todiscuss the security arrange-ments for Ijaz. Deputy Inspec-tor General of Police MujiburRehman was made the focalperson for these arrangementsand police officials had saidthat they would seek assistancefrom the armed forces only if itwas necessary, Shaikh added.

Referring to these devel-opments, Shaikh said Ijaz was“not willing to fall in the traplaid by the government” andappear before the parliamen-tary panel. He said legal ex-perts had also advised Ijaz thatthe parliamentary committeecould not summon a foreigner,however, he pointed out thatthe parliamentary committeecould record his (Ijaz) state-ment in London or Zurich oruse any testimony he gave tothe judicial commission.

“Ijaz decided in Pakistan’sbest interests that his state-ment should be recorded out-side Pakistan. He is not acriminal that he has to appearbefore a court. He offered tocooperate on a voluntary basisand no court or commissionhas the power to summon aforeigner,” Shaikh asserted. HAQQANI PLEADS:Meanwhile, former ambassa-dor to US Husain Haqqani hasasked the commission to re-fuse another opportunity toMansoor Ijaz to appear and gethis statement recorded beforethe commission.

In a letter submitted byHaqqani’s counsel with thememo commission, Haqqanisaid: “The attitude and con-duct of Mansoor Ijaz clearlyshows that he is playing withthe sentiments of the nationand also wasting the precioustime of this honourable com-mission, despite the fact thatthis honourable commissionhas acceded all hisrequests/demands on all is-

sues. Even the High Commis-sion of London granted himvisa after office hours to facili-tate his appearance before thishonourable commission.”

“Mansoor Ijaz (Americannational), wanted to record hisstatement before the Hon-ourable Commission, forwhich, he sought number ofadjournments through hiscounsel Mr Akram Sheikh i.e.9.1.2012 and 16.1.2012, buttoday, he has also not at-tended the proceedings of ho-nourable commission withoutlawful reason or excuse. It ison the record that Mr Man-soor Ijaz through his counselrequested to the HonourableCommission for his security inPakistan and grant of visa toenter Pakistan without anycondition. On which, hon-ourable commission has ac-cepted all his demands andeven the dates are being fixedon the desire of his counsel MrAkram Sheikh Advocate.Learned Attorney General andgovernment of Pakistan hasarranged fool-proof securityarrangement in compliance ofthe order of this august com-mission dated 9.1.11 and16.1.11,” the letter added.

Haqqani said the act ofnon appearance by MansoorIjaz was based on malafide, ul-terior motives and all his state-ments published innewspapers and aired throughTV channels (national and in-ternational) were fake, bogusand untrue, which were alsoagainst the interests of Pak-istan, which was why he hadnot come to Pakistan toface/attend the proceedings ofthe commission despite orders.

“That in such circum-stances, the justice demands toclose the right of recording thestatement of Mr Mansoor Ijaz,so that further proceedingsmay be conducted accordinglyin order to finalise the pro-ceedings within time framegiven by the HonourableSupreme Court of Pakistan.Under the above said submis-sions, it is most respectfullyprayed that Honourable Com-mission may kindly accept theinstant application and refuseto afford another opportunityto Mr Mansoor Ijaz to appearand get his statement recordedbefore the commission,” theletter concluded.

Mansoor Ijaz Continued from page 22 Continued from page 1

Forex ruckus in Karachi

KARACHI AAMIR MAJEED

PANDEMONIUMbroke out on themain Shahrah-e-Faisal on Mondaywhen plain-

clothed Federal InvestigationAgency (FIA) officials raideda foreign exchange companywithout notice and the pri-vate firm’s security guardsmistook them for bandits.

A seven-member team ofFIA Crime Circle had raidedthe money changer locatednear the Nursery Bus Stop onreports that the company wasinvolved in illegal transfer ofmoney through“hawala/hundi” system.

When the company’sowner asked the FIA team toshow any legal notices, arrestwarrants or any substantialevidence to prove that thecompany is engaged in illegalfinancial transfers, the lawenforcement personnel triedto arrest the owner. However,when the FIA team asked the

money exchange proprietorto surrender for arrest, theprivate guards opened fire atthem, resulting in bullet in-juries to an FIA official, iden-tified as Gulsher Mugheri.

The firing inside themoney exchange firm createdpanic in the surrounding areaand the resulting chaos, leadto a traffic jam on one of thecity’s busiest thoroughfare.

A heavy contingent of po-lice reached the spot and cor-doned off the area. However,the situation calmed downafter the FIA officials intro-duced themselves to the po-lice.

Talking to reporters out-side the foreign exchangecompany, Senior Superinten-dent of Police (SSP) EastKhadim Hussain Rind saidthat there are two issues; oneis whether the FIA team haspermission to launch raidswithout warrants or not; andthe second of the guards’opening fire at the law en-forcement personnel.

“The FIA should explain

why they raided the moneyexchange firm and if their ac-tion is legal or not,” he said.“The police will definitely in-vestigate the firing incidentand the case has been handedover to the Tipu Sultan po-lice.”

“The guards involved inthe firing can be arrested ifthe FIA proves that the actionwas legal and they showedtheir identity,” Rind added.

Talking with PakistanToday, the firm’s owner,Malik Bostan, claimed that asthe FIA team had no notice orwarrants, their action was il-legal. “After the Khanani andKalia case, the FIA has madea business out of harassingmoney exchangers and de-manding extortion.”

“When I asked them toprove their identity, they re-fused and manhandled meand my staffers,” he said.“The guards mistook them forbandits and opened fire atthem.”

Bostan – also the chair-man of Exchange Companies

Association of Pakistan(ECAP) –announced thatagainst the illegal action ofthe FIA, money exchangersall over the country will keeptheir firms closed today(Tuesday). “I have called anemergency meeting of theECAP today (Tuesday) to dis-cuss our future strategy,” headded.

He said that he wouldlodge an FIR against the FIAofficials and go to the courtfor action against them. “Themoney exchangers wouldprotest against the FIA out-side the Parliament House,”he added. Bostan said themoney exchangers would alsoapproach Federal InteriorMinister Rehman Malik andPresident Asif Ali Zardari toapprise them about the high-handedness of the FIA per-sonnel.

Meanwhile, the FIASindh Director assured thataction would be taken againstthe FIA officials involved inraiding at the foreign ex-change company.

gAs plain-clothed FIA officials raid a foreign exchange firm without notice, security guards open fire at them considering them bandits

KABULREuTERS

With snow piled deep in front ofhis small Kabul shop and a bor-der shutdown enforced by Pak-istan driving up food prices andsevering a vital lifeline intoAfghanistan, Asmatullah is hav-ing his own winter of discontent.

Since Pakistan closed sup-ply routes to NATO forces inAfghanistan after the coalitionkilled 24 soldiers in a cross-bor-der air attack in November, or-dinary Afghans and foreignersalike are feeling the impact ofsoaring food costs. “I have lost50 percent of my customers,”Asmatullah says, somehowmanaging a smile as he surveyshis empty shop, surrounded bycartons of eggs and milk, boxesof cigarettes, drinks and cratesof bottled water, now frozensolid on the icy pavement out-side. “Everybody has less in-come now, so people are justnot able to buy. When the bor-der is closed, the prices go up,”he said, huddled in a black hatand leather jacket to try andkeep one of the most bitingwinters for years at bay.

The border shutdown,which Pakistan has promised tolift at a time still to be decided,underscores Afghanistan’s re-

liance on food imports throughits mountainous eastern bor-der, rather than from Iran inthe west and longer, morecostly, routes north through ex-Soviet Central Asia. Most foodimports come from India,Dubai and Pakistan, and aretrucked into the landlockedcountry from Karachi, enteringAfghanistan through turbulentsouthern Kandahar province,in Spin Boldak, and Torkham,in eastern Nangarhar province.

Since the Pakistan borderclosure, the cost of trucking orflying supplies into the countryfor US forces has soared from$17 million a month to $104million, figures from the Penta-gon in US media showed thismonth. At the three-storeyFinest supermarket, popularwith foreigners and locals andthe target of a deadly suicidebomb last year, owner Matiud-din says the cost of importing acontainer of food has soaredfrom $8000 before the borderclosure to around $23,000.

“It’s a huge problem.Everybody is yelling. If theydon’t solve it soon we are goingto have to close our business,”Matiuddin said in his crampedoffice, slamming his hand onan ageing fax machine in frus-tration.

Afghans hit by food price hikes

as Pakistan shutdown bites

Pasha advised

Musharraf not to

return: report

MONITORINg DESK

Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) chief Lt Gen AhmedShuja Pasha held a secretmeeting with former militaryruler Pervez Musharraf inDubai and advised him notto return to the country, ac-cording to Dawn News onMonday. “Gen Pasha, who has re-mained very close to the for-mer president, held ameeting with (Musharraf) inDubai and advised him notto return to the country asthe situation is not conducivefor his return,” a source wasquoted as saying by DawnNews channel. The channel quoted itssources as saying that Pasha“strictly advised” Musharrafnot to return to Pakistanfrom self-exile. The reportsaid it was not clear whetherthe meeting was held on thedirections of the governmentor if it was a private meeting. The report said Musharraf,after meeting Pasha, con-vened a meeting of his AllPakistan Muslim Leagueparty on January 25 for re-viewing his decision to re-turn to Pakistan. The media report coincidedwith a resolution passed bythe Senate that demandedthe arrest of Musharraf onhis return to Pakistan andthe registration of a case ofhigh treason against him forabrogating the Constitution.

He said the ECP was unable tocomply with the SupremeCourt’s orders to finalise theelectoral rolls. He said the taskof making electoral rolls shouldremain with the ECP withoutinterference from any institu-tions. He said the NationalDatabase and Registration Au-thority (NADRA) would printpreliminary lists in March thatwould be published for threeweeks on at least 65,000 dis-play centres across the country.

eCP snubs SCContinued from page 1

NEW DELHINNI

After agreeing in principlelast year to grant MostFavoured Nation (MFN) sta-tus to India, Pakistan shouldnow keep its promise and im-plement the new trade regimesoon, Indian Commerce andIndustry Minister AnandSharma said on Monday.“I am sure that what theyhave said they will be in a po-sition to take it forward anddo it,” Sharma told reportersin the Indian capital whenasked whether Pakistan wasgoing back on its promise togrant India MFN status.Sharma was talking to re-porters on the sidelines of aSAARC Business Summit or-ganised by Federation of In-dian Chambers of Commerceand Industry (FICCI). ThePakistani cabinet, at a meet-ing chaired by Prime Minis-ter Yousuf Raza Gilani onNovember 2, 2011, had de-cided in principle to grantMFN status to India. How-ever, Commerce MinisterMakhdoom Amin Fahim saidlast week the decision wasstill under process and hadnot yet been implemented.Once the MFN status isgranted, Pakistan will have totreat India on par with itsother favoured trading part-ners. India has alreadygranted MFN status to Pak-istan and is treating it on parwith other trading partners.

Ancient Jewishscrolls found innorth Afghanistan

KABULREuTERS

A cache of ancient Jewishscrolls from northernAfghanistan that has only re-cently come to light is creat-ing a storm among scholarswho say the landmark findcould reveal an undiscoveredside of medieval Jewry.The 150 or so documents,dated from the 11th century,were found in Afghanistan’sSamangan province andmost likely smuggled out – asorry but common fate forthe impoverished and war-torn country’s antiquities.Israeli emeritus professorShaul Shaked, who has ex-amined some of the poems,commercial records and judi-cial agreements that make upthe treasure, said while theexistence of ancient AfghanJewry is known, their culturewas still a mystery.“Here, for the first time, wesee evidence and we can ac-tually study the writings ofthis Jewish community. It’svery exciting,” Shaked toldReuters by telephone fromIsrael, where he teaches atthe Comparative Religionand Iranian Studies depart-ment at the Hebrew Univer-sity of Jerusalem.The hoard is currently beingkept by private antique deal-ers in London, who havebeen producing a trickle ofnew documents over thepast two years, which iswhen Shaked believes theywere found and pirated outof Afghanistan in a clandes-tine operation. It is likelythey belonged to Jewishmerchants on the Silk Roadrunning across Central Asia,said T Michael Law, aBritish Academy Postdoc-toral Fellow at Oxford Uni-versity’s Centre for Hebrewand Jewish Studies.

Pakistan will takeforward MFN statuspromise: Sharma


MOOn-SIGhtInG ROW


News

ISlAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani talks to Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who called on him at Prime Minister’s House on Monday. ONLINE

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

PTI Chairman Imran Khan hassaid President Asif AliZardari and PML-N chiefNawaz Sharif have their bankaccounts in foreign countries

and they were playing with the future ofthe nation for their conman interests.

Addressing a press conference at hisZaman Park residence on Monday, hesaid in the current circumstances, hisparty was relying on the Supreme Court(SC), as the SC was the only pledge of sur-vival of the country.

A number of politicians announcedjoining the PTI during the press confer-ence, including Aftab Khichi, Mumtaz

Khichi, Aurangzaib Khichi and Imranul-lah Gujjar.

A group of former nazims and coun-cilors also joined the PTI.

Imran said President Zardari’s 60millions dollars were present in Swissbanks, while Nawaz Sharif also had for-eign bank accounts, adding that once hegot to power, he would bring the moneyback in the country and spend it on theeducation and the health of the people.

He said law and order of the countrywas at its worst and condemned thePML-N rulers for failing to control thecrime rate.

Imran also condemned the Punjabgovernment for the death of innocent cit-izens due to substandard medicines pro-

vided at Punjab Institute of Cardiology(PIC).

He said the PML-N came to powerfive times in the Punjab but it did not giveanything to the people and they were nowdemanding another opportunity.

Imran said those who disappointedthe nation in the past could do nothing inthe future and the leaders who had theirmoney in foreign countries could notchange the fortune of the nation.

He said Punjab’s rulers wasted bil-lions of nation’s money under the sastiroti scheme and also destroyed the edu-cation sector of the province.

The PTI chief said schools across theprovince were sufferings due to a lack offacilities and the Punjab CM wasting

money on Danish schools.Imran also criticised Prime Minister

Yousaf Raza Gilani, saying he wanted todestroy the Supreme Court. He said thenation wanted a decision on the memoscandal as it was a conspiracy against thearmy of our country.

He said his party had always opposedthe presence of NATO forces inAfghanistan, as they were killing inno-cent people.

To a question, Imran said his partywas not a club or any NGO. “It is a dem-ocratic party that is based on an ideologyand anyone can join it, but in the elec-tions his preliminary boards will givetickets to only those peoples who will beneat and clean.”

PM to allure investors at WeFmeeting

ISLAMABADGNI

Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani,who will attend the of the WorldEconomic Forum (WEF) annual meetingin Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, said onMonday that Pakistan was well-placedto convince international investors toinvest in Pakistan, as it was the bestdestination to do business. The PM saidthis in a meeting with Foreign MinisterHina Rabbani Khar. Gilani’s meetingswith other leaders of various countries,including engagements with investors,businessmen and international mediaorganisations were also discussed. Hesaid that the WEF offered a goodopportunity to project Pakistan’seconomy, which had staged a comeback,as most indicators suggested that theeconomy was performing well despitethe global recession. Hina briefed thePM on the overall regional situationwith special reference to relations withAfghanistan and the US. She referred tothe recommendations of the Envoy’sConference and the ParliamentaryCommittee on National Securityregarding formulation of new rules ofengagements with the US and ISAF. ThePM will leave on a five-day visit toSwitzerland from January 25.

kenyan aid worker missing inNaushero Feroz

ISLAMABADAFP

A Kenyan aid worker working for aninternational charity and his Pakistanidriver are missing, feared abducted inflood-hit Naushahro Feroz district inSindh, police said on Monday.Police official Saqib Ismail said theKenyan works for Care International andthat his car was found abandoned inNaushahro Feroz on Sunday, about threehours after he and his driver set out fromthe town of Sukkur. Since then, there hasbeen no news of their whereabouts. Sixforeigners, four of them aid anddevelopment workers, have already beenabducted since July in the country, whereUS forces last year killed Osama binLaden and which stands on the frontlineof a Taliban insurgency. Javed SuharoJaskani, police chief of Naushahro Ferozsaid a foreigner aged around 40 who hadbeen working in Pakistan for about a yearwas missing. “He left (the town of)Sukkur for Dadu (part of the flood-affected areas) yesterday and his car wasfound abandoned at Naushahro Feroz,”said Jaskani. “We believe local banditshave kidnapped him for ransom,” Jaskanisaid. Nothing appeared to have beentaken from the vehicle, with theforeigner’s laptop and bag containing hispersonal effects left behind, he added.“We are hopeful he will be recovered,”Jaskani told AFP by telephone. OsmanIbrahim, Kenya’s acting highcommissioner to Pakistan, told AFP thatthe mission was working to confirmwhether the foreigner is Kenyan.

Senate body decides to draft

Ruet-e-Hilal ConstitutionISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

In a bid to resolve the conflict on Ra-madan and Shawal moon-sightingamong followers of different sects ofIslam, a sub-committee of the SenateStanding Committee on Monday de-cided to draft a constitution for theCentral Ruet-e-Hilal Committee whichhad failed to do so since its establish-ment in 1974.

“Though the Central Ruet-e-HilalCommittee was set up in 1974 under aresolution passed by the National As-sembly, no rules and regulations forthe functioning of the committee hadbeen drafted in writing. Finally, thecommittee has decided to draft a con-stitution to streamline all matters ofthe moon-sighting body. This willhelp evolve a consensus between theclerics of different sects over themoon sighting for Ramadan andShawal,” Senator Dr Khalid MahmoodSoomro, the convener of the commit-tee, said.

He said the focus of the constitu-tion would be to evolve consensus forsighting of moon and to simplify thefasting process besides celebratingEidul Fitr on same day across the

country.The committee would hold talks

with the followers of various sects.The first interaction in thies regardwould be held in Peshawar in whichprominent clerics from KhyberPakhtunkhwa would be invited to sub-mit their recommendations to resolvethe issue amicably, he added.

“It is unfortunate to note that inpast 39 years, neither the ministrynor the committees took any step toremove flaws from the moon sightingprocedure being followed on verbaldirectives of its central chairman,” headded.

The committee members alsogrilled the officials of the Ministry ofReligious Affairs, asking why had thenumber of Ruet-e-Hilal Committeemembers been increased from nine to15. They also observed that most ofthe Ruet-e-Hilal members were notprominent clerics, which was a viola-tion of the 1974 resolution passed byparliament.

The members also objected to theprolonged tenure of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman MuftiMuneebur Rehman, who was presidingfor almost 12 years. “This is also a vio-lation of the minitsry’s decision taken

in 1974 as under the law… a chairmancan be appointed for a period of threeyears only,” Soomro said.

He said a questionnaire would beprepared following the next meeting inconsultation with the clerics whichwould be sent to the central, districtand zonal Ruet-e-Hilal committees,heads of Wafaq-ul-Madaris and promi-nent religious leaders belonging to var-ious schools of thought for theirsuggestions.

“Following their proposals, a con-sensus draft of the constitution wouldbe prepared and sent to the concernedquarters for its approval,” he said. Min-ister for Religious Affairs KhursheedShah and Mufti Rehman could not at-tend the meeting due to their other en-gagements.

Senator Zahid Khan also attendedthe meeting besides Mufti Shahabud-din of Jamia Masjid Qasim Ali Khan,Peshawar, Ministry of Religious AffairsSecretary Shaukat Hayat Durrani, rep-resentatives of the Ministry of Scienceand Technology and the Meteorologi-cal Department attended the meeting.

Shaukat Durrani said the ReligiousAffairs Ministry only facilitated theRuet-e-Hilal committees in holdingmeetings for moon sighting.

Nawaz, Zardari playing with country’s future: Imran

Two arrestedover 2011 Mumbai blasts

MUMBAIAFP

Indian police on Monday said they hadarrested two people in connection withtriple blasts in Mumbai in July lastyear which claimed 27 lives.The two suspects from the easternstate of Bihar are accused of takingorders from the alleged mastermindYasin Bhatkal, who has not beenarrested, and aiding with the attacksin two of the three locations.“They were entrusted with the task ofcollecting the explosives anddetonators used in the blast,”Mumbai’s anti-terrorism police chiefRakesh Maria told reporters, addingthat the financial trail to fund theattack had also been detected.The triple bomb blasts rockedMumbai’s packed gold and jewelleryquarter, a diamond trading hub andthe south central residential andcommercial district of Dadar.No one has claimed responsibility forthe attack. Alleged mastermindBhatkal has been linked by police andthe local media in the past to theIndian extremist outfit the IndianMujahideen, which claimed a series ofattacks across the country in 2008.



News

SIAlKOT: A butcher sells meat in unhygienic conditions on Pasrur Road on Monday. ONLINE

NEW DELHIAFP

Indian navy personnel will take command of thecountry’s first nuclear-powered submarine in twodecades on Monday after collecting the vessel nearthe Russian port of Vladivostok, an official said.

Moscow offered the Russian-built Chakra II tothe Indian navy on a 10-year lease, a move thathas angered Pakistan. The Akula II class craft isthe first nuclear-powered submarine to be oper-ated by India since it decommissioned its last So-viet-built vessel in 1991. “INS Chakra II is beinghanded over to Indian personnel in the east, nearVladivostok,” a senior navy source in India toldAFP, asking not to be named because Russia is toformally announce the transfer. The 8,140-tonnesubmarine, capable of firing a range of torpedoesas well as nuclear-tipped Granat cruise missiles,is to sail under the Indian flag to its base atVisakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal. India is cur-rently completing the development of its own Ar-

ihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic submarinesand the Russian delivery is expected to help crewstrain for the domestic boat’s introduction intoservice next year.

The submarine was originally due to behanded over to India in 2009 but has been hit byvarious problems during testing. During trials inthe Sea of Japan in November 2008, 20 sailorswere killed when a fire extinguisher released adeadly chemical that had been accidentally loadedinto the system. The INS Chakra was commis-sioned by India in 2004 and has seen the SouthAsian giant pay $650 million in constructioncosts. Earlier newspaper reports in India said NewDelhi may end up paying as much as $900 millionunder the terms of the deal. Russia’s RIA Novostinews agency valued the contract at $920 million.

Russia supplies 70 percent of India’s militaryhardware but New Delhi has been unhappy aboutdelays to arms orders from Moscow and haslooked to other suppliers including Israel and theUS in recent years.

US and Afghan

officials flexible on

peace: Hizb-e-IslamiKHOST

REuTERS

US and Afghan officials have shownflexibility in secret talks with one ofAfghanistan’s most notorious insurgentfactions in the hope it will help end thecountry’s long war, a negotiator for theoutlawed Hizb-e-Islami group said onMonday. Ghairat Baheer, the son-in-lawof Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,told Reuters that he had in recent weeksheld exploratory talks with CIA directorDavid Petraeus, the former commanderof coalition forces in Afghanistan.Despite Hekmatyar’s branding as a“terrorist” by the US State Departmenteight years ago for supporting Talibanand al Qaeda attacks, Baheer said he hadalso met face-to-face in the last threeweeks with US Ambassador Ryan Crockerin Kabul, as well as current commanderof NATO forces in Afghanistan, USGeneral John Allen.“We had exchanges of views with thepeople and it was productive. We are fullyopen to any peace efforts and our aim isto bring peace and stability inAfghanistan,” Baheer said by phone fromPakistan. A spokesman for the USembassy in Kabul declined to confirm anyAmerican involvement in the talks.“We have a broad range of contactsacross Afghanistan and the region tosupport Afghan reconciliation efforts. I’mnot going to get into the details of thosecontacts,” he said in response to Baheer’sclaims. The US has been holdingexploratory talks with the Taliban – seenas the best chance of ending the war thatbegan with the US-led invasion of thecountry 10 years ago - for more than ayear. Hizb-e-Islami, which means IslamicParty, is a radical militant group whichshares some of the Taliban’s anti-foreigner, anti-government aims, and haswidespread national support.Hekmatyar, a former Afghan primeminister, is a fierce rival of the Taliban’sone-eyed leader Mullah MohammadOmar, and became a hero to manyAfghans while leading mujahideenfighters against the Soviet occupation ofthe country in the 1980s.PESHAWAR

STAFF REPORT

KHYBER PakhtunkhwaChief Minister AmeerHaidar Khan Hoti has ap-proved the provision ofland for setting up of a

university in Karak and urged the fed-eral government to undertake meas-ures for realising the project.

The chief minister was chairing ameeting at his office on Monday, inwhich matters pertaining to two op-tions – setting up of a sub-campus ofKohat University of Science and Tech-nology and a separate university –were discussed in detail and the optionof a separate university was approved.

The chief minister said his govern-ment was following the policy of gener-alising higher education facilities inevery nook and corner of the province,adding Abdul Wali Khan University inMardan and its sub-campuses in vari-ous districts proved the fact. He as-

sured provision of land for construc-tion of the university in Karak and un-dertaking of the required legislation.

The meeting decided upon the lo-cation of the university. It was told thatpurchase of the land would be providedby the provincial government as well asfrom the royalty of oil and gas equally.

As Karak has emerged as the oiland gas producing zone of KhyberPakhtunkhwa, people from all over thedistrict have unanimously demanded aseparate university.

Hoti said people of Karak and asso-ciated districts would benefit from thehigher education facility and it wouldhelp eradicate illiteracy from the area.

Meanwhile, chairing a separatemeeting regarding the Tanzeem LissailWal-Mahrom, the CM stressed the ex-tension of services of the organisationto more needy people and directed theadaptation of more effective and activeprocedures in this regard.

Project Director Syed Kamran Shahhighlighted the purpose, administra-

tive structure, funding, goals, suc-cesses, expenses and other matters ofthe organisation in detail.

Hoti approves land for university in Karak

Three criminals, two

khasadar personnel

killed in Jamrud raid JAMRUD

AKMAl QADRI

At least two personnel of Khasadar Forceand three alleged criminals were killedduring a clash in Jamrud area of KhyberAgency on Monday.The killed personnel of Khasadar Forceincluded a naib subedar. Four people,including two children, were also injuredas the security forces clashed with thecriminals involved in kidnapping forransom. Per reports, the KhasadarForce, Peshawar Police and FrontierConstabulary launched joint actionagainst criminals, especially thoseinvolved in kidnappings for ransom. Thecriminals offered a stiff resistance andthe clash continued for couple of hours.The criminals also took hostage a policeofficer, Rajab Ali, but the forces latersucceeded in freeing him. The officialssaid that during the clash, two personnelof Khasadar forces, Meer Maat Khan andYousaf, were killed, while four people,including two children, were injured.The officials confirmed killing threecriminals and arresting two others.Meanwhile, four policemen were injuredin an Improvised Explosive Devise (IED)blast targeting a police van inNowshehra on Monday.

Public holiday in Peshawar on Ghaffar’s anniversary

PESHAWARSTAFF REPORT

The Peshawar district coordinationofficer (DCO) announced on Monday thatthere will be a public holiday in the cityon January 26 on Pakhtun leader KhanAbdul Ghaffar Khan alias Bacha Khan’s24th death anniversary. Tocommemorate Bacha Khan’s and KhanAbdul Wali Khan’s death anniversary, theAwami National Party (ANP) hadplanned a public gathering at ShahTehmas Football Stadium in Shahi Bagh,Peshawar on January 26.

g kP chief minister says provincial govt following policy of generalising

higher education facilities across the province

India sails new nuclear submarine home


Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

There was nothing for

Pakistan to cherish in 2011HRW report

08

KARACHIISMAIl DIlAWAR

The Pakistan People’s Party(PPP)-led coalition in the SindhAssembly (SA) was divided onMonday over the 20th Constitu-tional Amendment tabled by theMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) in the National Assem-bly for the creation of newprovinces in the country, as thelawmakers from the parliamen-tary parties other than the PPPand the MQM strongly resistedthe amendment.

The day saw the provinciallegislature being called to orderby SA Speaker Nisar Khuhro at1pm after a three-hour delay be-cause of a long pre-session meet-ing between the coalitionpartners, including the PPP, theMQM and the National People’sParty (NPP).

With the participants keepingmum on the agenda of the meet-ing, subsequent assembly pro-ceedings, however, proved thatthe PPP preferred the MQM overthe NPP and others who wantedto table a resolution calling forthe withdrawal of the MQM-backed constitutional move in thelower house.

The lawmakers from the

NPP, the Awami National Party(ANP), the Pakistan MuslimLeague (PML)-Arbab and thePML-Quaid staged a walkoutfrom the House when the speakerdisallowed NPP’s Masroor Jatoito table his resolution carryingwhat Jatoi and PML-Functional’sJam Madad Ali later told themedia were signatures of at least50 lawmakers belonging to thePPP, the NPP, the ANP, the PML-F and the PML-Q.

Until Friday, the resolutioncarried the signatures of formerSindh information ministerSharjeel Inam Memon, SindhPublic Accounts Committee(PAC) Chairman Jam TamachiUnnar, Munawar Ali Abbasi,Imran Nazir Leghari, MirMuhammad Hasan Talpur, DrAhmed Ali Shah, Agha TaimurTalpur, Imdad Pitafi, Fayaz Butt,Dr Sikandar Shoro, Anwar KhanMaher and Sadiq Memon of thePPP, Ghalib Domki of the PML-Q, Nusrat Saher Abbasi of thePML-F, Amir Nawab Khan of theANP, and Arif Jatoi and MasroorJatoi of the NPP.

Those who signed the draft onMonday included Abdul RazzakRahimoon of the PML-A, RanaAbdul Sattar of the PML-F, Shahar-yar Maher of the PML-Q, and Dr

Abdul Sattar Rajpar, Naeem Kharal,Kulsoom Chandio, Pitanbar Sewani,Rukhsana Shah, Shama Mithani,Humera Alwani, Rainaz Bozdar,Tariq Masood Arain, MuhammadUsman Jalbani and Syed JavedHussain Shah of the PPP.

“Having won the support of atleast 50 members, we expect moresignatures on the resolution onThursday,” Masroor Jatoi and JamMadad Ali told a post-sessionbriefing.

The NPP-backed out-of-turnresolution rejects any changes toArticle 239(4) of the constitutionthat links territorial disintegrationof the provinces to the approval oftwo-thirds majority in the provin-cial assembly concerned.

Also, the NPP submitted anadjournment motion to the SA sec-retary on Monday that said: “Ifthis clause [Article 239(4)] isdeleted, it will be a dire threat tothe integrity of our beloved Sindhand will facilitate its future break-up by non-Sindhis sitting in theNational Assembly and Senate inIslamabad without the say of thepeople of Sindh.”

The PPP sees the move differ-ently as Sindh Law Minister AyazSoomro, in a full-throated speech,blasted the “so-called TabdeeliPasands and Sindhi nationalists”

for scoring political mileage andmaking newspaper headlines.

NPP’s Masroor Jatoi and ArifJatoi were on their feet whenSoomro, amid ear-splitting desk-thumping, declared, “We need nocertificate of Sindhi nationalismfrom anyone.”

Throughout the sitting, theNPP lawmakers kept rising to askfor the chair’s permission to tablethe resolution, but in vain.

Unshaken by Jatoi’s repeatedrequests, the speaker said he, ac-cording to the SA’s Rules of Proce-dure, must take up items on theorders of the day.

Following this, lawmakersfrom the NPP, the ANP, the PML-A and the PML-Q staged a walkoutfrom the assembly.

Previously, PPP legislatorImran Nazir Leghari had also boy-cotted the session after Leader ofthe House/Sindh Chief MinisterSyed Qaim Ali Shah had opposedthe admissibility of his adjourn-ment motion, saying that the movewas “ambiguous” and “against thespirit of the adjournment motion”.The speaker had then disposed ofthe motion.

Earlier, MQM lawmakersFaisal Sabzwari and Sardar Ahmedwere seen huddling with Soomroand Sindh Finance Minister

Murad Ali Shah as soon as thespeaker called the house to order.

After Soomro’s speech, MQMparliamentary leader SardarAhmed rose to endorse the lawminister’s statement, saying thatmajority of the people in Sindhhad opted to come to the province“to live and die in Sindh”.

Quoting MQM chief Altaf Hus-sain, he said the party and all thecoalition partners were deter-mined to protect the “united in-tegrity” of Sindh.

This brought the assemblyproceedings to an end, with thechair calling it a day until 10:00am on Thursday.

Earlier, on a request, Soomro

laid before the house a report per-taining to the appropriation of ac-counts of the Sindh ForestDepartment in 2009-10. The reportwas referred to the PAC for consid-eration.

Introducing the Indus Univer-sity Bill-2011, Soomro requestedand received the consideration ofa government amendment bill onthe establishment of the office ofthe ombudsman in Sindh deferreduntil the next sitting to be held onThursday. The question hour thatcommenced at 1:10 pm could notlast longer than 25 minutes, asmost questions were from theMQM lawmakers who had not ar-rived in the house until then.

Coalition’s fissures over MQM bill grow wider■ NPP, ANP, PML-Arbab and PML-Q walk out of assembly after resolution that rejects changes to Article 239(4) of the constitution not allowed to be tabled

SINDH ASSEMBLY SESSION

The 20thamendment’sclause on deletionof Article 239 (4) isan insult to thisassembly. Since theassembly is notplaying its due role,we would go to themasses. Thespeaker shouldlisten to the viewsof all membersimpartially

JAlAl MEHMOOD SHAHFORMER SINDH ASSEMBlY DEPuTY SPEAKER

We can voice forSindh even if in thegovernment.Soomro’s emotionalspeech wasdeplorable; heshould have let thehouse decide theresolution’s fate.The resolution witharound 50signatures will betaken up onThursday

JAM MADAD AlI PMl-F MEMBER

Leader of the

House Qaim Ali

Shah seems to

have sold out the

Sindh province and

was, seemingly,

trying to share

some jokes with us

in a poetic manner

today

SHAHARYAR MAHER PMl-Q MEMBER

Any move for newprovinces must bebacked by the two-third majority in therespective provincialassembly, but whyshould we devolveour right to createnew provinces to theCentre by abolishingArticle 239(4)? Wesupport thenationalists’ call forstrike.

MASROOR JATOI NPP MEMBER

Attempts are beingmade to take awaythe federating units’authority to dealwith their issuesunder Article239(4). We supportprovincial autonomyand the resolutionalso. Coalition isnot in danger, asdifference ofopinion can arise

AMIR NAWAB KHANANP’S SINDH lABOuR MINISTER

The MQM’s bill hasbeen referred to theStanding Committeeconcerned andwould come back tothe parliamentwhich would finallydecide its fate. It’s aSifarshy(recommendatory)Resolution and hasgone to the massesthrough newspapers

NISAR KHuHROSINDH ASSEMBlY SPEAKER

Text of NPP-backed resolution“This assembly recommends the Sindh government to informthe federal government, the National Assembly and other fed-eral units that it is opposed to any amendment to Article239(4) that was especially included in the constitution by itsfounders and signatories, including Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Ghu-lam Mustafa Jatoi, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Hakim Ali Zardari,Makhdoom Muhammad Zaman Talibul Maula, Atta Muham-mad Marri and Abdul Hafiz Pirzada, to give strong constitu-tional protection to the borders of Sindh and that any stepsthat may facilitate the future break-up of Sindh will never beallowed either by this assembly or the people of Sindh.”

KARACHIAAMIR MAJEED

PANDEMONIUM broke out onthe main Shahrah-e-Faisal onMonday when plainclothesFederal Investigation Agency(FIA) officials raided a foreign

exchange company without notice andthe private firm’s security guards mistookthem for bandits.

A seven-member team of FIA CrimeCircle had raided the money changer lo-cated near the Nursery Bus Stop on re-ports that the company was involved inillegal transfer of money through“hawala/hundi” system.

When the company’s owner asked theFIA team to show any legal notices, arrestwarrants or any substantial evidence toprove that the company is engaged in il-legal financial transfers, the law enforce-ment personnel tried to arrest the owner.However, when the FIA team asked themoney exchange proprietor to surrenderfor arrest, the private guards opened fireat them, resulting in bullet injuries to anFIA official, identified as GulsherMugheri.

The firing inside the money exchangefirm created panic in the surroundingarea and the resulting chaos, lead to atraffic jam on one of the city’s busiestthoroughfare.

A heavy contingent of police reachedthe spot and cordoned off the area. How-ever, the situation calmed down after theFIA officials introduced themselves to thepolice.

Talking to reporters outside the for-eign exchange company, Senior Superin-tendent of Police (SSP) East KhadimHussain Rind said that there are two is-sues; one is whether the FIA team haspermission to launch raids without war-rants or not; and the second of theguards’ opening fire at the law enforce-ment personnel.

“The FIA should explain why theyraided the money exchange firm and iftheir action is legal or not,” he said. “Thepolice will definitely investigate the firingincident and the case has been handedover to the Tipu Sultan police.”

“The guards involved in the firing canbe arrested if the FIA proves that the ac-tion was legal and they showed theiridentity,” Rind added.

Talking with Pakistan Today, thefirm’s owner, Malik Bostan, claimed thatas the FIA team had no notice or war-rants, their action was illegal. “After theKhanani and Kalia case, the FIA hasmade a business out of harassing moneyexchangers and demanding extortion.”

“When I asked them to prove theiridentity, they refused and manhandledme and my staffers,” he said. “The guards

mistook them for bandits and opened fireat them.”

Bostan – also the chairman of Ex-change Companies Association of Pak-istan (ECAP) –announced that againstthe illegal action of the FIA, money ex-changers all over the country will keeptheir firms closed today (Tuesday). “Ihave called an emergency meeting of theECAP today (Tuesday) to discuss our fu-ture strategy,” he added.

He said that he would lodge an FIRagainst the FIA officials and go to the

court for action against them. “Themoney exchangers would protest againstthe FIA outside the Parliament House,”he added.

Bostan said the money exchangerswould also approach Federal InteriorMinister Rehman Malik and PresidentAsif Ali Zardari to apprise them about thehighhandedness of the FIA personnel.

Meanwhile, the FIA Sindh Directorassured that action would be takenagainst the FIA officials involved in raid-ing at the foreign exchange company.

Forex ruckus at Shahrah-e-Faisal!■ As plainclothes FIA officials raid a foreign exchange firm without notice, security guards open fire at

them considering them bandits

A crowd is gathered outside a money changer’s office at Shahrah-e-Faisal, where the

FIA conducted a raid on Monday. IMRAN ALI

‘FIA did not follow properprocedure’

KARAChI: The Federal InvestigationAgency (FIA) and the ExchangeCompanies Association of Pakistan(ECAP) are at loggerheads overuninformed raids by the FIA at moneyexchange companies. On May 13, 2011,the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) hadcalled a meeting over complaints ofmoney exchangers regarding thehighhandedness of the FIA. The agendaof the meeting was anti-moneylaundering and the FIA. It wasdiscussed that the FIA conducts raidswithout any proof and priorinformation. A committee was thenformed and the FIA asked to collaboratewith it before a raid. ECAP ChairmanMalik Bostan said the FIA has neverabided by that decision. He said the FIAdid not inform any committee memberabout the raid and they also did notpossess a warrant for it. On the otherhand, FIA’s legal adviser Israr said theFIA can take action against any moneyexchange company without prior noticeor warrant. He said the FIA can takeaction without prior notice or warrantin cognisable offences like money-laundering. If the FIA issues priornotice, the criminal could escape beforethe agency could take any action, headded. AAMIR MAJEED


KARACHIAMAR GuRIRO

KARACHI experienced anexceptionally high level ofviolence during the yearand around 800 citizenswere killed in the city dur-

ing 2011, disclosed the Human RightsWatch (HRW) Report 2011 issued onMonday.

According to the report preparedby the international group with officesin different countries, the year 2011brought much misery to the nationwith a natural disaster in the shape ofthe monsoon floods in Sindh, the in-creasing disappearances of citizens ofBalochistan and at least six journalistskilled.

It was pointed out in the reportthat the killings in Karachi were per-petrated by armed groups patronisedby the political parties in the city. “AKarachi-based party, with heavilyarmed cadres and a well-documentedhistory of human rights abuse and po-litical violence, was widely viewed asthe major perpetrator of targetedkillings,” it was pointed out in the re-port.

“Despite an October 6 SupremeCourt ruling calling for an end to theviolence in Karachi, the authoritiestook no meaningful measures to holdperpetrators accountable.”

The HRW said suicide bombings,armed attacks, and killings by the Tal-iban, al Qaeda, and their affiliates tar-geted nearly every sector of Pakistanisociety, including journalists and reli-gious minorities, resulting in hun-dreds of deaths.

The report also disclosed the de-tails of the increasing attacks on civil-ians by militant groups, skyrocketingfood and fuel prices, and the assump-tion of near-total control of foreignand security policy by a military thatoperated with complete impunity.

“Religious minorities faced un-precedented insecurity and persecu-tion. Freedom of belief and expressioncame under severe threat as Islamistmilitant groups murdered PunjabGovernor Salmaan Taseer and FederalMinorities Minister Shahbaz Bhattiover their public support for amend-ing the country’s often abused blas-phemy laws. Pakistan’s electedgovernment notably failed to provideprotection to those threatened by ex-tremists, or to hold the extremists ac-countable.”

In August and September, theprovince of Sindh experienced mas-sive flooding for the second year run-ning, displacing some 700,000people. The report also mentionedthat the relations between Pakistanand the US deteriorated markedly in2011, fueled by a diplomatic crisisover a CIA contractor killing two menat a Lahore traffic junction and theUS’s killing of al Qaeda leader Osamabin Laden.

Conditions markedly deterioratedin the mineral-rich province ofBalochistan. Human Rights Watchdocumented continued “disappear-ances” and an upsurge in killings ofsuspected Baloch militants and oppo-sition activists by the military, intelli-gence agencies, and the paramilitaryFrontier Corps.

Baloch nationalists and other mil-itant groups also stepped up attackson non-Baloch civilians, teachers, andeducation facilities, as well as againstsecurity forces in the province. Pak-istan’s military continued to publiclyresist government reconciliation ef-forts and attempts to locate ethnicBaloch who had been subject to “dis-appearances.” The government ap-

peared powerless to rein in the mili-tary’s abuses.

The HRW stated that at least 200Baloch nationalist activists includingAbdul Ghaffar Lango, a prominentBaloch nationalist activist, and HanifBaloch, an activist with the BalochStudents Organisation (Azad) werekilled during the year, as well asdozens of new cases of disappear-ances. The Shia and other vulnerablegroups were also attacked across thecountry.

“In 2001, Aasia Bibi, a Christianfrom Punjab province, became thefirst woman in the country’s history tobe sentenced to death for blasphemy.She continued to languish in prisonafter the Lahore High Court, in a con-troversial move, prevented PresidentAsif Ali Zardari from granting her apardon in November 2010. High-ranking officials of the ruling PakistanPeople’s Party called for her releaseand the amendment of section 295(C)of Pakistan’s penal code, otherwiseknown as the blasphemy law. How-ever, the government succumbed topressure from extremist groups anddropped the proposed amendment.”

The HRW also stated members ofthe Ahmadi community continued tobe a major target for blasphemy pros-ecutions and are subjected to specificanti-Ahmadi laws across the country.

In November, four Hindus, threeof them doctors, were killed in an at-tack by religious extremists in thetown of Shikarpur in Sindh, sending

shockwaves through the minoritycommunity.

Disclosing details on womenrights, the HRW said mistreatment ofwomen - including rape, domestic vi-olence, and forced marriage - remainsa serious problem. Public intimidationof, and threats to, women by religiousextremists increased in major cities in2011.

The human rights group also saidin its report that at least six journal-ists including Saleeem Shahzad, a re-porter for the Hong Kong-based AsiaTimes Online and the Italian newsagency Adnkronos International, GeoTV reporter Wali Khan Babar who wasshot and killed in Karachi shortly aftercovering gang violence in the city andTribal Union of Journalists PresidentNasrullah Khan Afridi, onlinenewsagency reporter Munir Ahmed Shakir,Javed Naseer Rind, a sub-editor withthe Urdu-language Daily Tawar werekilled in 2011.

“Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhryand the provincial high courts effec-tively muzzled media criticism of thejudiciary in 2011 through threats ofcontempt of court proceedings, as hasbeen the case since Pakistan’s inde-pendent judiciary was restored to of-fice in 2009,” it was stated in thereport.

“In a positive development, jour-nalists, who are vocally critical of thegovernment, experienced less inter-ference by elected officials than inprevious years.”

karachi08PakistaN today


There was nothingfor Pakistan to cherish in 2011■ According to Human Rights Watch report, 800 people were killed during 2011 in karachi

Sindh govt formsbody to identifyghost employees

Committee probing karachi murders rejects parties’ lists

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

Deputy Assistant Secretary for the US De-partment of the Treasury, Luke Bronin ar-rived in the city on Monday to meet with hiscounterparts in the governmental and bank-ing sectors.

He discussed the importance of ensuringthat adequate anti-money laundering and

counter-terrorism financing controls are inplace to stem the flow of funds to terroristgroups.

Regulatory and economic issues affect-ing Pakistan-US relations and new US legis-lation on Iran were also discussed.

The deputy assistant secretary’s visit toPakistan is part of the ongoing dialogue be-tween the US and Pakistani governments ona range of mutually important matters.

KARACHIQAZI ASIF

The Sindh governmentformed an assessmentcommittee on Monday toidentify “ghost employees”so that they can be re-moved.

There are thousands ofemployees drawing salariesfrom government depart-

ments, but do not performtheir duties. There aremore than 10,000 of theseghost employees in theSindh Education Depart-ment alone.

The committee wouldascertain the eligibility ofthe government servantsbased on the data providedby NADRA through the de-partments concerned. The

body would then find outthe reasons for the discrep-ancy in finding of the dataprovided by NADRA andthe payroll provided by theSindh accountant general.

The committee wouldthen recommend discipli-nary proceedings for thepeople responsible for thediscrepancies and elimina-tion of ghost employees.

KARACHI

The judicial commissionformed to probe targetedkillings in Karachi has re-jected the lists of mur-dered political activistsprovided by nine politicaland religious parties andordered submission ofpostmortem reports andambulance and graveyardreceipts of every murderedactivist.

The judicial commis-sion headed by Justice(retd) Zahid Qurban Alvihas called the representa-tives of the nine parties –the Muttahida QuamiMovement, the PakistanPeople’s Party, the AwamiNational Party, the Ja-maat-e-Islami, the Moha-jir QuamiMovement-Haqiqi, theAwami Tehreek, the Sunni

Tehreek, the Kachhi Ra-bita Committee and theJafria Alliance - to its of-fice on Tuesday (today).

The commission wasconstituted by the SupremeCourt of Pakistan to probetargeted killings in the city.

The commission ex-pressed dissatisfactionover the lists provided bythe nine parties becausethey only submitted thenames of the murdered ac-tivists and not other de-tails. QAZI ASIF

US official in city to discuss money-laundering,counterterrorism financing


KARACHISTAFF REPORT

THE Karachi ElectricSupply Company(KESC) has offeredvoluntary help to theKarachi Municipal

Corporation (KMC) for switch-ing off streetlights early morn-ing in order to conserve energy.

Both sides deliberated overvarious methods of managingand controlling streetlights. TheKESC also offered free technicalenergy audit of Civic Centre andKMC buildings.

In a meeting with the KMCadministration, a team ofKESC’s Energy Conservation

Department reviewed thestrategic partnership betweenthe two sides.

The KESC also discussedconverting lights along streetsand at parks to the energy effi-cient LED lights that would re-sult in a substantial savings ofup to 70 percent.

The KESC team also empha-sised the need to curtail unduewastage of electricity throughstreetlights during day time, byusing high technology photosensors to control the poweron and off system. By imple-menting this method, around30 percent energy can be con-served.

Presently, the total load of

streetlights as per KESC recordstands at 20.32MW. The KESCteam briefed KMC officialsabout the survey reports alongwith complete details about thestreetlights at Corridor I, II andIII and the underpasses of Li-aquatabad, Gharibabad, Naz-imabad and Sohrab Goth.

The KMCadminis-

tration has started working on afeasibility report for the installa-tion of energy ef-f i c i e n ts t r e e t l i g h t sf r o mH o t e l

Metropole to the Jinnah Termi-nal at Shahrah-e-Faisal.

The participants of themeeting also decided to installenergy-efficient lights as rec-ommended by the KESC atBagh Ibne Qasim, Shaheed Be-nazir Park, Bi-l a w a lChowrangi toSea View andK a r a c h iGymkhana tothe airport.

T h eKESC en-ergy con-s e r v a t i o nteam alsoheld a meet-ing withRussian Con-

sul GeneralAndrey VDemidov at

h i s

consulate tod i s c u s ss h a r i n gtechnol-ogy fore n e r g yconserva-t i o n ,s o l i dw a s t em a n a g e m e n tand mass tran-sit.

Issues relat-ing to globalwarming werealso discussed indetail and bothsides agreed thatactions must betaken in orderto control cli-

m a t e

change.

We will turn off streetlightsin the morning for you,KESC offers KMC

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Sindh High Court Bar Association(SHCBA) has given a month to the govern-ment for immediately appointing judges to thevacant high court posts; otherwise the lawyerswould start a protest campaignsimilar to one launched for thedeposed judges’ restoration.

During a meeting of theSHCBA general body on Monday,SHCBA members Shahab Sarki,Amjad Bukhari, Shuja Abbas andAshiq Ali said there is an acuteshortage of judges and thousandsof petitions, suits and appeals arepending in the high court.

They demanded that retiredjudges should not be appointed tofill government positions.

“Karachi is biggest city of thecountry, but there are only 12judges for it,” they pointed out.

The association’s members also con-demned the threat to the life of SHC judgeMaqbool Baqar and said the government hasfailed to provide security to judges andlawyers.

Separately, Sindh Inspector General of Po-lice (IGP) Mushtaq Ahmed Shah met withSHC Chief Justice Mushir Alam and JusticeMaqbool Baqar on Monday.

Talking to the media, the IGP said policehave made three special cells to probe thekilling of lawyers.

“Three killers have been arrested and theyhave also confessed to their crimes,” he added.

■ Says lawyers will launch

a protest campaign if

the demand is not met

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

The Awami Jamhoori Party has condemnedthe 20th constitutional amendment billmoved by the Muttahida Qaumi Movementin the National Assembly.

In a statement issued on Monday, AJP’scentral leadership including its PresidentAbrar Kazi, Harif Chandio and Wishno Malurged Sindh’s legislators not to vote for thebill regarding the creation of new provincesas it would eventually pave the way for thedivision of Sindh.

“The bill is against the 18th Amend-ment and it would undo the principle ofprovincial autonomy,” they said.

The AJP warned the Sindh governmentnot to fall for the “attempt to divide Sindh inthe name of the reconciliation”.

“The AJP respects the demand for a sep-arate province for the Seraiki people, but itshould come from them. Sindhis should haveno doubts that the MQM’s bill will lay downthe constitutional foundation for breaking upSindh,” they said.

“The National Assembly should not haveany right to change the boundaries of theprovince of Sindh. Pakistan did not createSindh, it is Sindh which created Pakistan.”

The AJP leaders urged the people ofSindh to protest the bill and join hands onJanuary 28t to make the strike called by theSave Sindh Action Committee a success.

More voicesagainst MQM’snew provinces bill

SHCBA gives a month’s

time to government for

appointing SHC judges

karachi 09PakistaN today



karachiPakistaN today

WeATHeR UPDATeS

Low

26°CClear skiesHigh

14°C 28%Humidity

WeDNeSDAy THURSDAy FRIDAy25°C I 16°C 26°C I 15°C 26°C I 14°C

PRAyeR TIMINGS

Starting time in karachi

Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

5:58 7:17 12:44 3:50 6:11 7:30

CITy DIReCToRy

PoLICe 15

BoMB DISPoSAL 15, 99212667

FIRe BRIGADe 16, 99215007, 99215008

eDHI 115, 32310066-2310077

kHIDMAT-e-kHALQ FoUNDATIoN 36333811

ReD CReSCeNT 35833973

GoveRNoR’S HoUSe 136

CHIeF MINISTeR’S HoUSe 99202051

MoToRWAy PoLICe 130

eMeRGeNCy HeLP

HoSPITALS

ABBASI SHAHeeD 99260400-09

CIvIL 99215749, 99215960

JINNAH 99201300-39

NICvD 99201271-6

AGA kHAN 34930051

TABBA 36811841-50

BLooD BANk

HUSSAINI 32238405-8

FATIMID 32225284, 32258656

PWA 99215740, 32735214

CoMPLAINT

keSC 118

PTCL 1218

kWSB 1339

CDGk 134

SUI GAS 1199, 99231603

RAILWAyS

INQUIRy 117, 99213565-6

CITy STATIoN 99213538

CANTT STATIoN 99201118

AIRPoRT

FLIGHT INQUIRy 114

PIA ReSeRvATIoN 111786786

CoLLeGeS / UNIveRSITIeS

kARACHI UNIveRSITy 99261300-06

NeD UNIveRSITy 99261261-8

FUUAST 99244141-9

DUHS 99215754-7

SMIC 99217501-3

FAST-NU 111128128, 34100541-7

SZABIST 111922478

IoBM 35090961-7

IBA 111422422

IvS 35861039-40

The Karachi-Bahawalpur connection■ kU’s ICCBS and IUB sign memorandum of understanding for academic and research cooperation

SHIGAAF

‘The 1971 Diaries: Zambeel Dra-matic Readings Present Shigaaf’at The 2nd Floor. Call 35389033for more information.

PERFORMANCEON JANUARY 24 AT 07:00 PMVENUE: T2F 2.0

PERPETuAl MOTION

Hina Farooqui and Najia Omar’s‘Perpetual Motion’ from January 27to February 7 at The 2nd Floor. Call35389033 for more information

ART EXHIBITIONSTARTS JANUARY 27 AT 05:00 PMVENUE: T2F 2.0

PRIVATE COllECTION

Art exhibition ‘Private Collection’from January 26 to February 11 atthe Grandeur Art Gallery. Call35435744 for more information.

ART EXHIBITIONSTARTS JANUARY 26 AT 05:00 PMVENUE: gRANDEUR gALLERY


KARACHIAPP

THE International Centrefor Chemical and Biologi-cal Sciences (ICCBS) ofthe University of Karachihas inked a pact with the

Islamia University of Bahawalpur(IUB) to strengthen, promote anddevelop academic and research co-operation in various fields of sci-ences between both the institutions,the ICCBS spokesperson announced

on Monday.ICCBS Director Prof Dr M Iqbal

Choudhary, during his visit to IUB,signed the memorandum of under-standing.

IUB vice chancellor Prof DrMuhammad Mukhtar inked the doc-ument on the behalf of his institution.

It was pointed out that as per theagreement, both the institutions willestablish a joint collaborative re-search programme at the ICCBS andIUB, in the fields of medicinal chem-istry and biotechnology.

They may undertake joint re-search projects in the fields of basicchemical and biochemical scienceswith the aim to address scientific,health and industrial problems oflocal, regional, national and interna-tional significance.

Both institutions have agreed todevelop academic exchange in thearea of education and research, andhave agreed to identify team membersto work on joint research projects.

Bi-institutional meeting will beheld annually in the form of work-

shop/seminar /conference, jointlyorganised by the two sides.

The collaborative activities to becovered by this agreement may in-clude faculty and research staff ex-changes, study abroad programme,collaborative research programmes,including the exchange of vouchersamples, and natural product ex-tracts; joint seminars, workshops,and service programmes.

This agreement will be in effectfor a period of five years from thedate of execution.

KARACHIAPP

The 612-page ‘In Search of My Mas-ter’, illustrating Jimmy Engineer’swork carried out during the last fourdecades by means of 500 pictures,was recently launched for the mediaat Abaan a Lebanese restaurant.

Karachi-based writer MarjorieHussain, speaking on the occasion,termed Engineer a social crusaderand said that she was thrilled to beable to participate in the book.

Jimmy’s inclination to find outhistoric buildings around the globeresulted in the Architectural Her-itage Series, as he created a space tocontain them – seeing a world inwhich tolerance was universal.Landscape reflects his love for hiscountry and the natural world is a

source of motivation for him, result-ing in the paintings of the nature’swonders around him. To createawareness for future generationsand the populace overseas, his art-works includes the creation of Pak-istan, the infinite variety of itsregions, its people and their lives.

“The people associated with artand culture are ambassadors, whorepresent their countries in a betterway,” Engineer said.

Recalling his meeting with JavedIqbal, he revealed it was AllamaIqbal’s prediction that whoeverpainted Javed Nama would carve hisname in art history: “Earlier Chugh-tai and Behzad too painted segmentsof Javed Nama,” he added.

The artist said a miracle he hadexperienced at the age of sixchanged his life: “The doctors told

me that I only had three months tolive but when I survived, they wereperplexed as to why I did not die.Both my kidneys had failed, but phe-nomenally, God gave me a chance todo better things in life,” he said.

He said he was a disciple of SufiBarkat Ali, who taught him not to bedisappointed if things went wrong.

During his career, Engineer hascreated thousands of artworks includ-ing calligraphies. Around 200,000prints of his exquisite work are in pri-vate collections in more than 50 coun-tries. Though Jimmy has held over 60art exhibitions around the world, hehas seldom exhibited at commercialgalleries due to his mystic beliefs.

Engineer, 58, was born inBalochistan in a Parsi family, butgrew up to shatter the hurdles of so-cial order, faith and belief. He got his

early education from the St Anthony’sHigh School in Lahore and the For-man Christian College before going tothe National College of Arts. Heturned into a professional painter atthe age of 23. Though he is an artistby profession, his true zeal in life hasbeen a profound concern for fellowhuman beings and their wellbeing.

Numerous walks have taken himacross the length and breadth of thecountry in pursuit of diverse objec-tives, mostly to promote humanrights, enhance the quality of lifeand to create an equitable civil soci-ety in Pakistan. He has led morethan 50 walks for noble causes in ad-dition to arranging 150 awarenessprograms for handicapped, blindand orphan children. The formallaunching of the book is scheduledto take place on January 27.

The 612-page ‘search for his Master’


Editor’s mail 11Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

Too lateArfa Karim Randhawa, the world’s

youngest Microsoft Certified Professionalfrom Pakistan, has left for heavenlyabode. May God rest her soul in peace!After almost two weeks of her death, ourpolitical leaders, including Prime Minis-ter Yousuf Raza Gilani, found time to goto Arfa’s house to pay condolences to herparents. The government has announceda commemorative postal stamp in mem-ory of Arfa. PM Gilani has said that thegovernment was considering awardinglate Arfa the highest civilian award.

All this is nothing but an eyewash.These statements are nothing more thanadding insult to injury of Arfa’s parents.Where were these politicians when Arfawas struggling for her life in a hospitaland that Bill Gates had to come to herrescue? Pakistan has a history of award-ing recognition to its heroes after theirdeaths.

Geniuses like Arfa are born in cen-turies and don’t need commemorativestamps and civilian awards for recogni-tion. Arfa was a star that will keep shin-ing in the sky and the world will watchand remember her. Bill Gates rightlysaid: “Today is the black day of my lifeand same for Pakistan because I lost myprincess colleague and Pakistan lost herPakistani.”

We salute you, Arfa.M RAFIQUE ZAKARIA

Karachi

The new Food StreetThe new Food Street in Lahore on

Fort Road is very beautiful and an attrac-tive spot for tourist from all over theworld. But the thing that is worrisome isthat the PML(N)-led Punjab governmenthas demolished two old Food Streets,launched by the previous government,only for a political score and so that ChiefMinister Punjab Mian Shehbaz Sharifcould say that this is his Food Street.

What a political hypocrisy and com-plete waste of already established re-sources of revenue, tourism andentertainment.

MUBASHIR MAHMOODKarachi

Sanctity of the courtThe sanctity of the Supreme Court of

Pakistan was violated by few lawyers,who raised slogans within premises ofthe court.

These men had no business to bethere, nor can they deny to Aitzaz the ho-nour and prestige he has earned for him-self by standing up to a military dictator,when many others were quietly goingaround their business appearing beforeDogar courts and being handsomely re-warded for such services. It was Aitzazwho dared to defend Mukhtaran Mai, apoor woman raped and humiliated by atribal jirga.

Every citizen of Pakistan has a rightto be represented by a lawyer of hischoice. Those who are raising issues ofmorality questioning Aitzaz for defend-ing this government tainted with allega-tions of corruption, had no hesitation totake up cases defending others, who haddefrauded national exchequer.

The sanctity of Supreme Court wasalso violated by a handful of jiyalas whomanaged to squeeze in and chant slo-gans, as it was grossly violated previouslyby a fake PhD holding controversiallawyer, responsible for pitting thisregime on confrontational path with su-perior judiciary.

If these lawyers’ group who raisedslogans against Aitzaz have no politicalmotives then they must be seen defend-ing common citizens who cannot affordto hire their services, although they havebeen denied their rights by state organi-sations or powerful feudal and traders. Itis time the Supreme Court delivers jus-tice to people of Pakistan, instead ofbeing entangled in technicalities, since italone has jurisdiction to do so and setprecedents for other courts to follow.

MALIK TARIQ ALILahore

Street lightsApart from the energy crisis in the

country it surprising to see bright streetlights turned on during the day hours. Atone hand, we are ready to come to streetsfor the unscheduled loadsheddingwhereas on the other hand we neverbother to close the street lights duringthe morning hours when they are notneeded.

There are many areas where theselights remain turned on all day, like theDHA. Neither the people living here re-alise their responsibility to look after thestreet lights nor the management of DHAcare to monitor them.

A small act of responsibility canbring change to the people facing dis-tress, you never know.

RIZWAN JAMIL JAFFERYKarachi

Defying the rulesSchools all around the world are en-

trusted with the responsibility of teach-ing the children manners and instilling inthem the characteristics of obeying rules,especially state rules. I have studied infour countries and can recall 10 schoolsthat I have attended and in all thoseplaces the schools taught patriotism andinstilled in us the characteristics of obey-ing rules.

This mindset of schools can be attrib-uted to the direct success and progress ofthe countries. We can see India, a nationthat will soon become a superpower, hasa population of a billion patriotic peoplethat are ready to do anything for theprogress of the schools. The school sys-tem there teaches the children the impor-tance of obeying rules be it bad or good,

and makes them love their country.However, the schooling system in our

beloved country Pakistan has become avictim of social disparity that exists inour society.

The majority of the public schoolshere portray an empty look with studentsor teachers being absent on a consistentbasis, and we have private schools withlots of students and teachers but theyteach nothing substantive to help thembecome better citizens.

The private schools here often havewell connected sources to have influenceover the local authorities to expand theirschool and defy the rule at their conven-ience.

One such school that has been at itszenith in terms of defying the rule has

been a new private A-levels school in theposh area of DHA, Karachi. This schoolhas been able to host a multitude of ex-tracurricular activities ranging from afashion show in an Islamic country in-volving students to holding concerts inits vicinity which is in the midst of a resi-dential area.

The school has sort of captured andtaken over the whole area. The residentsaround the school have become helplesswith the local authorities being incapableof stopping the school’s activities in anyway. The school in the name of securityhas barred cars from being parked infront of the houses irrespective of thecars being of the guests coming to visitthe houses nearby.

The school does not even respect the

notices of the government. It stays openeven on the days the government has an-nounced a public holiday, be it ShahAbdul Latif’s Urs or Begum Nusrat Bhut-tos’ funeral, the school stays open. Theschool may be good in imparting knowl-edge to its students but the regular defi-ance of state rules and laws does not givea good impression to the kids. In a coun-try already short of patriotism, such actscan further the problems for the govern-ment.

Schools are there to play a dual role,impart knowledge and make the childrenbetter citizens, and if the school itself isdefying rules, we can imagine what thechildren would do.

AFFANKarachi

The king and his subjectsOn 19 January, 2012, when our PM appeared in the

Supreme Court to defend his case, more than 70 ministers,chief ministers of all provinces and big shots of all the coalitionparties accompanied him.

If someone could calculate the expenditures and wastage ofmoney that they did when by appearing in the court with pompand glory, one could easily see that they have done no favour tothe public; instead, they have just made a mockery of them.

They wasted financial resources, time which they were sup-posed to use in solving the problems facing the public, fuel,electricity, human resources and many other things. Our repre-sentatives must feel ashamed of their behaviour; people of thiscountry do not even have fuel, electricity, bread and basic ne-cessities of life while they go n wasting them without any care.

ZAHID RASHIDRawalakot, Azad Kashmir

The Supreme Court summonedPrime Minister of Pakistan Syed YousufRaza Gilani on 19 January in a con-tempt of court case. Barrister ChaudhryAitzaz Ahsan was the counsel for PMGilani to represent him in contemptcase.

It appears that Chaudhry AitzazAhsan has decided to follow in the foot-steps of Asma Jehangir who was ap-

pointed as counsel to represent Pak-istan's ambassador to United Sates Hu-sain Haqqani in Memogate scandal.Despite knowing that evidence col-lected so far against Husain Haqqanicarried weight, she decided to repre-sent him and finally ended vomitingvenom against the judiciary.

People like Aitzaz Ahsan and AsmaJehangir are respected not only in Pak-

istan but elsewhere in the world fortheir professionalism and honesty.

Why they agree to represent incases of mass corruption of the govern-ment is anybody's guess. Sooner orlater, Aitazaz Ahsan will meet the samefate as that of Asma Jehangir’s. Let’swait and watch.

M RAFIQUE ZAKARIAKarachi

Send your letters to:Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, PakistanFax: +92-42-36298302E-mail: [email protected] Letters may be edited for length and clarity.It would be appreciated if letters were ad-dressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

Pakistan is trying to redefinethe terms of engagementswith the US after last year’s

devastating NATO air attack at aborder outpost in Mohmand tribalagency, killing 24 servicemen. TheParliamentary Committee on Na-tional Security (PCNS) tasked toset the guidelines for future rela-tions with the sole superpower hasfinalised a list of 35 recommenda-tions, which will be implementedas baseline for ties with Americaafter formal approval by the parlia-ment in a joint sitting.

The process adopted forthrashing out the policy principlesfor reengaging with the US are ofimmense political importance forPakistan. It started when the gov-ernment convened a two-dayEnvoy Conference in Islamabad inDecember. Senior military officialslike ISI chief Lieutenant GeneralAhmad Shujaa Pasha also partici-pated in it. The recommendationsof the conference were sent to thePCNS, where all parties sitting inthe parliament are represented, forin-depth discussion. It was for thefirst time in the recent decadesthat elected representatives wereinvolved to formulate the foreignpolicy which was considered an ex-clusive domain of the armed forcesand the intelligence agencies.Though, different stakeholders,like security institutions, weregiven a chance to provide inputand later they also got an opportu-nity to discuss it during the meet-ing of Defence Committee ofCabinet (DCC), they were not es-sentially the sole arbiter of what

should be included or excluded. Iftaken to its logical end, as it ap-pears that the government will en-sure, we will have a trulyhome-made recipe for our ailingties with Washington.

We do not know at this pointin details about the final contoursof the recommendations but themost important aspect of the newpolicy is its emphasis on opennessand transparency in relations,based on written agreements, con-trary to past practices of secret andverbal understandings which theUS officials loved to forge withPakistani dictators. Lack of docu-mented proof about the nature ofcooperation in post-9/11 era withthe United States created a lot oftroubles for Pakistan. In the nameof security the government of mil-itary ruler Pervez Musharraf al-lowed the foreign powers to violatethe sovereignty of Pakistan, creat-ing serious security issues due topresence of CIA contractors andnobody had a clue as how to con-trol them.

The committee has also re-portedly proposed that new re-vised tariffs should be imposed onthe NATO containers carrying sup-plies for Western troops fightingAl-Qaeda and Taliban militants inAfghanistan. The supplies weresuspended after Mohmand inci-dent and the government has re-fused to reopen the route despitedirect and indirect pressure untilthe new policy is approved by theparliament. The seriousness canbe judged from the fact that thegovernment refused to receive Af-Pak envoy Marc Grossman, sayingit was still reviewing the policy to-wards the US. Earlier, the militaryleadership showed clear reluctanceto meet senior US military officialwho wanted to visit Pakistan. Theyeven declined to get a briefingfrom the US side about a probeinto the attack.

There are also reports that thenew policy has asked for completecessation of drone attacks as theyare considered as the most promi-nent symbol of violation of na-

tional sovereignty. But this recom-mendation needs re-evaluationabout their efficacy after reportsthat Taliban chief Hakeemullahmight have been killed in one ofthe two drone attacks carried outin North Waziristan after Pakistanasked US to vacate the Shamsiairstrip, supposedly used to flydrone missions in tribal areas.There are also unconfirmed re-ports that one of important Al-Qaeda leaders was also amongthose targeted by drones on Janu-ary 10. Interestingly, no statementagainst these drone attacks was is-sued either by the government orthe military.

Though, the drone attackshave become an emotive issue,courtesy of a ceaseless campaignby the religious right, believed tobe sympathetic to Islamic mili-tants, but the government shouldconsider its impediments to strikeat the heart of militants nearAfghan border before standingagainst the strikes. It would be bet-ter to work out a formula to use

drones as the last resort to take onmilitants considered out of reachof our armed forces. Any such at-tacks should be based on mutualagreements and there should beclarity about the targets and objec-tives.

Pakistan desires that the fu-ture relation with Washingtonshould be based on "mutual re-spect" and should be conducted incooperative atmosphere whichshould be beneficial for both na-tions. The government may not beable to entirely end the "relation-ship of a client state" but the re-en-gagements will not be based on thepresumptions of Musharraf era. AsPrime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilanitold CNN in an interview after theattack: “Business as usual will notbe there, therefore we have to havesomething bigger so as to satisfymy nation, the entire country.”

The writer is an Islamabad-based senior journalist workingfor an international newswireand a PhD scholar at NDU.

Re-engaging with America

By Sajjad Malik

Following in Asma's footsteps


comment12Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

Arif NizamiEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302Karachi – Ph: 021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

votes mean something

The right’s wrongs

In the heyday of Taliban rule in Swat, SufiMuhammad, the obscurant-in-chief of the TNSM,addressed a large gathering at the Grassy Ground.He said that the present political system – he did

not mean just the political parties but the system ofrepresentative democracy itself – was anti-Islamic andwas the calling of infidels. This was a little too much,even for the JI. Even though the latter had been, till then,vocal in support of the TNSM, this shot at anyoneparticipating in the democratic process was too big a slurto let slide by. JI Amir Munawwar Hassan, not otherwiseknown for his sense of humour, quipped that this meantSufi Muhammad – who had once contested,unsuccessfully, for the berth of a councillor – was a bit ofan infidel himself.

It was heartening to know how parties as right wingas the JI accepted their place in the positive frameworkof the state and considered any swipe at the politicalclass as a whole as an aspersion on their own character.Any celebration of that seems to have been unfounded ifone were present at the Difa-e-Pakistan rally inRawalpindi the other day. JI Amir Munawwar Hasantalked about how the political process can only bringabout some cosmetic changes in the lives of people; thatthe real deal is a full-on revolution. The Amir, along withseveral other leaders of the far right, threatened to laysiege to the parliament were the government to reverseits decision on the closure of the Nato supply routes.

Till press-time, this was a democracy and there is noway a non-representative body like the DFC coulddetermine national policy through high-handed arm-twisting. Parties like the Jamaat might be able to bringout an impressive rally or two but fall short of getting anyrepresentation in parliament. They have to respect that.Whatever one might make of the 2002 elections, it gavethe Jamaat its first share of political power in the state-recognised framework sense. One would have thoughtthat experience would have strengthened the party’sresolve in the political process.

True, democracy also means freedom of speech andthe lot at the DFC exercised theirs. But the media, everready to pounce on centrist and centre-left parties,should question the anti-people stance of these partieswith an equal, if not greater, vigour.

Does Mansoor Ijaz deserve it?

Preposterous demands

It is highly irksome to continue to comment on thepreposterous demands of an ordinary Americancitizen, declared as such by the US embassy inPakistan which has declined to provide him any

security. For anyone with courage of conviction that hepretends to possess, Ijaz should have been content withthe type of security promised by the interior minister.The issue has highly significant political implications. Incase Ijaz’s unreasonable plea is accepted, this would raiseseveral disturbing question. Many will question why noarmy battalion was detailed to secure the life of BenazirBhutto, twice Prime Minister of Pakistan? There is needon the part of the tribunal also to ponder over the matter.Several leaders of the PPP and ANP are on the declaredhit list of the militants. The army has never been asked toprovide them security, nor has it ever considered offeringthem the service. Judges sentencing terrorist leaders andbosses of criminal gangs have a stronger case for militaryprotection. Pakistan army doesn’t have enoughbattalions to look after each and every deserving case.Once the precedent is set, the courts would find it hard toadjudicate the cases filed by so many genuine applicantsin need of special security.

While a TV channel has reported the arrival of Ijaz inDubai, his counsel has said he has been advised not tocome to Pakistan in the absence of proper security andthe fear that he might be detained in the country. TheParliamentary Committee on National Security hasdirected Ijaz to send his statement and present himselfbefore the body. This was quite appropriate because theprestigious committee is also probing the issue of thememo. What is wrong with putting Ijaz on the ECL till hepresented himself before the prestigious parliamentarycommittee?

The Defence Committee of Cabinet is meeting todaywith the memo case as one of the items on its agenda. Itis time the committee looks into the grievousimplications of providing the type of guarantees beingsought by a foreign citizen with a seedy reputation.

Pakistan is the fourth or fifth largestproducer of milk in the world. Yet,we import powdered milk and facemilk shortages, while we onlyprocess a small fraction, some esti-

mates put it as low as four percent or so, of themilk we produce in the country. Should wenot have been self-sufficient, if not exportersof milk? Is there a problem somewhere andwhy are markets and/or governments not ableto resolve the problems?

Pakistan produces, according to the bill-boards on the Motorway, some of the best cit-rus of the world, and though the world marketfor orange juice is very large, even for frozenor powdered concentrate, yet we do not figurein any appreciable way in this market. Wehave some of the best mangoes in the world,and while we export some mangoes, the ex-port is not even near where our potential putsus. We have the perfect land for producingsome of the best tomatoes and potatoes thatcan be, and the demand for both, or derivativeproducts, is very large. But we have not beenable to develop these markets either. We havesome of the best rice in the world, and we doexport quite a bit of rice, but we do not get theprice of a brand name or export the volumewe could.

There have been a number of large and/ormultinational players in the milk market for afair number of years in Pakistan now. Andthese players have made efforts to raise milkfrom certain areas of the country, but the factremains that despite the efforts of these com-panies, we still have the bulk of milk produc-tion remaining un-processed and milkmarket, by and large, remains fragmented andlocal. Milk being unprocessed, perishable andbulky to transport, the market cannot be butlocal.

Some of the issues in milk sector are clear.People usually have a few animals each so thatmilk production is not concentrated and milkcollection has to take place over a geographicspread and from many suppliers. This meanstransportation and storage costs. We need ve-

hicles in which milk can be collected and keptsafely for sometime and we need chillers inrural areas where collections from the areacan be kept. These vehicles and chillers needto have basic facilities for checking quality ofmilk and the people operating them needskills as well.

In some places where milk availabilitydensity is high, it is possible for milk compa-nies to either set up their own collection sys-tems and chillers, or they can do longer termcontracting with a local person to set up thesystem for the company (given weak propertyrights and even weaker enforcement, this op-tion will be problematic in Pakistan) but inareas where collection is thinner, setting up achiller and collection mechanism, in the hopethat better prices will eventually elicit a supplyresponse of more production, requires an ini-tial investment which companies might finddifficult to do but have a public good elementand the local governments could consider.

There are other issues in the milk marketthat might require state attention as well. Inareas where milk companies are working, theydo provide support to farmers on animal hus-bandry: it is in their interest to do so to ensurea certain quality and quantity of milk. But theywould have little or no interest in extendingthe services to other areas or people who arenot dealing with the companies as potential oractual suppliers. Furthermore, some areas,such as availability of proper feed, knowledgeon breeding and stock management, and vet-erinary services, especially inoculation anddisease prevention services, require state pro-vision also as there are public good and sunkcost elements here too.

Do these issues explain the relative lack ofdevelopment of the milk sector in the coun-try? The gains from having a more developedmilk sector are clear: in terms of higher in-comes for cattle farmers and for the rural pop-ulation, more jobs in rural areas, higher milksupplies for the entire population, especiallythe urban dwellers, higher profits for the cor-porate sector, possible exportable surplus orat least reduction in imports, and highergrowth and income for the country overall. Ifit is issues given above and/or similar issuesthat are holding the sector back, why have themilk companies, in collaboration withSMEDA and other concerned/responsiblebodies not been able to resolve them?

The saddest part is that the basic ingredi-ents and the potential is all there, and all cansee it and appreciate it as we keep hearing ofthe impending ‘white revolution’, but it hasnot happened for the last many years.

In fruit export, we see similar issues. Fruitexports require cold chains and on-time deliv-ery, they need good quality assurance, grading

and certification mechanisms, and we need toensure compliance with importing country’sregulations regarding pesticide use and otherpractices. But all of these have been done, inpockets, by other developing countries too.Why has it been so hard for us to do it? Simi-larly, the juice markets have not developed, al-most at all. There are many juice producersand retailers in Pakistan but most of them,barring a couple, are small. And even thelarger ones, with locally known brand names,have not been able to break into the main-stream export markets. Where are the bottle-necks in this industry? Some years back theMinistry of Industries had undertaken value-chain studies in a number of industries. Thesestudies, if completed, must have identified thebottlenecks. Why has the state/governmentbeen unable to address them?

We have talked most of those agri-productareas here which seem to have a lot of un-tapped potential and about whom we knowquite a bit already. In these areas, it is not aquestion of ‘developing’ comparative advan-tage as that seems to be already present. Butif we still cannot break into export markets inthese products, it should be of major concernto the finance and industries ministries at fed-eral as well as provincial levels. And given thestate of the economy there should be a senseof urgency in dealing with such issues.

Last, but not least, I do want to mentionanother topic. But I will come back to it an-other day. There are some large consortiumsthat have recently started operating in Pak-istan, for buying the crop straight from thefarm and eliminating the middleman. Thegovernments need to see that these compa-nies do not rip the farmers of their profitsthrough fine print on legal documents andalso that such export be regulated properly inorder to calculate local demand, so that short-ages do not result.

Large multinationals are also pushing forgenetically modified seeds to be used in Pak-istan. The industrialised world, especially Eu-ropean Union and Canada, have verystringent rules against GMO crops. Govern-ment regulators need to ensure that the for-eign consortiums together with local partnersdo not introduce genetically modified crops,because not only will it be counterproductivefor our exports in the long run, they will alsocompromise the quality of crops grown bysustainable farmers and be ruinous for ourenvironment.

The writer is an Associate Professor ofEconomics at LUMS (currently on leave) anda Senior Advisor at Open Society Foundation(OSF). He can be reached [email protected]

By Dr Faisal Bari

Value-chain issuesA lack of structural development policies and practices

Tactical nous seems to be un-derrated, or at least not talkedabout as much, in cricket. Per-

haps even more underrated is theability to man-manage. Tomorrowmight be the second last TestMohsin Hasan Khan will coachTeam Misbah in Tests, but for thetime he’s spent in the dressing room,Pakistan is grateful to Khan.

Pakistan has traditionallyworked well with strong captains,who in turn have advised the boardon the selection of the coach. The ap-pointments of Richard Pybus andGeoff Lawson were both made onrecommendations of the captains ofthe time. In practice, good coacheshave had to take a backseat to theircaptains, much like Bob Woolmerand even Waqar Younis had to. In

the case of the former, Inzi devel-oped into an autocrat of sorts. In thelatter’s case, one of his captains fellto the spot-fixing saga, another toperceived marginalisation fromteam selection matters. Considerthis: of the four Pakistani players tohave ever been found guilty of fixing,two were captains. Their coacheswere assumed to be bystanders.

Khan’s greatest ally throughouthis tenure as interim coach is hisability to keep up the meek coachroutine, though meek is far fromwhat he has been. Khan had run intosquabbles with Shahid Afridi andWaqar Younis over selection mattersin 2010, while he also painted Mis-bah-ul-Haq’s installation as captainas a choice made out of necessitysince Younis was unavailable to leadPakistan. Karachi’s cricket associa-tion accused him of anti-Karachibias while Abdul Razzaq spoke of ananti-senior conspiracy, but Khanrode that pressure out. Perhaps it isbecause of the impermanence of hisposition, perhaps because of the per-sonal confidence reposed in him bya new board chief that Khan man-aged to pull the selectors and thecaptain in the same direction. Arecord of no lost series has becomean outcome borne out of practice,not simply logic or luck.

Assuming that the PCB reinstallsKhan in his role of chief selector –after all, he was interim coach andshould still have his old job – thereis a larger debate over how much in-fluence a captain and coach haveover selection matters. In 2010, be-fore the South Africa series in theUAE, the Pakistan squad was an-nounced without consulting the cap-tain or the coach. At the time, Khanhad argued that while he preferredthat the captain and coach’s inputwere sought, nowhere did it state inthe PCB constitution that the coachand captain “must have a say in theselection of any squad." Afridi andWaqar had protested the decision,while Misbah had simply been toldthat about the squad he was sup-posed to pick a team from.

But along with Misbah, Khanhas managed to create a Pakistanthat is pragmatically exciting. WhileMisbah may lap up the plaudits de-spite his dour style, the core was cre-ated by Khan. IdentifyingMohammad Hafeez and TaufiqUmer as a long-term opening part-nership in Tests, and subsequentlypersisting with them, the elevationof Azhar Ali to No 3 and a chance tolearn from Younis and Misbah, theaxing of Umer Akmal on the pretextof poor temperament, persisting

with Adnan Akmal, and of coursethe three-spinners strategy have allbeen decisions taken together withthe captain. The underperformershave been sent home and a new hun-grier bench has been identified. Let-ting Misbah choose his ownlieutenants (Hafeez and SaeedAjmal) was a masterstroke too; nocaptain wants to be a dummy and in-stead, wants to stamp his own markon the team.

Once Khan returns to his chiefselector post, a liaising link betweenthe incoming coach, captain and se-lectors will have to be created. Whileall seems to be set for Whatmore tobe named as Pakistan’s next coach,the question is how to go forwardwithout rocking the boat and dis-turbing this upward trajectory. TheAustralians, ever on the forefront ofcoaching and technological innova-tion, recently handed their captainand coach great license in team se-lection. Khan’s greatest legacy willbe leaving a settled combination andteam. Whatmore’s mandate will beto improve on this. Perhaps the Aus-tralian solution is a roadmap Pak-istan will need to adhere to.

The writer is a Karachi-basedjournalist. Connect with him onTwitter @ASYusuf

By Ahmed Yusuf

Conidering how he has formulated a winning team

Not a meek coach


comment 13Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

Maya Khan is not the culprit here. She is a puppet in the handsof the rating-mongers. Stop watching this trash and they’ll stopairing it.

Where’s your nikahnama?

In a sprawling metropolisknown to the heathen asKarachi, a new kind of malev-

olent despot has reared her not-so-ugly head. Maya Khan, the hostof SAMAA TV’s flagship morningshow, has stepped up to the plateand become the most notorious TVpersonality in recent memory, al-most overnight. That her descentinto notoriety is swifter even thanher erstwhile counterpart, MeherBukhari’s was, is cause for littleconcern. What does matter is thatthe well-endowed lass is now thetarget of a social media witch-huntand has invoked the ire of white-collar bourgeois individuals fromGilgit to Gadani. The delectabledamsel, whose only crime so farhas been the mobilisation of theConglomerate Of ConcernedKarachiites Bullying Lovers Out ofClifton Karachi’s Enormous Recre-ational Sites, is now being billedan Antichrist.

But who is Maya Khan? Andhow can she make otherwise self-respecting women run full peltthrough a public park, under thewatchful eyes of several cameras,as if this were a taping of anepisode of Baywatch? To answerthis question, we may have to goback to the beginning. A timewhen Nadia Khan, the ‘Happy ToYou’ queen, ruled the airwaves.Many pretenders, such as Juggan,Noor, Sana Tariq etc tried to emu-late her seemingly-inane formula,but to no avail. For every scantily-clad aerobics instructor and ran-dom-segment-host that the othersmanaged to scrape together, Nadiadid one better.

This game of one-up(wo)man-

ship continued until the day thatNadia got her ample posteriorbooted out of the Jeem Group, forgodonlyknowswhat. With thequeen out of the picture, the pre-tenders queued up to replace her.In the battle for morning show su-premacy, there was nothing thatthese women did not try. Live TVweddings, matchmaking, stories ofheartbreak, reuniting lost familymembers and long-lost lovers andeven busting the occasional cuck-old; it was all a no-holds barred af-fair. Then, somewhere in the year2010, Maya Khan Rind, a pleas-antly-attired well-meaning ladyfrom the ranks of the landed gen-try, took to the airwaves at the un-godly hour that is 8:00am.

While I can proudly say thatI’ve never woken up early enoughto catch the show itself, I’ve seenmore than my fair share of repeattelecasts. It also helped that I wasonce employed by the same chan-nel that currently retains Maya’sservices and was, therefore, inti-mately involved with the day-to-day disasters and bloopers thatcomprised this particular morningblend. And to be honest, I foundthe show to be rather mundane:she talked about the same old is-sues that everyone else did. Shelaughed, cried, wailed, shouted,became infuriated and seemedhelpless like all the rest of us. Shewas, and probably still is, quitehuman. This was the charmwhich, in my opinion, lured manya viewer to her show every morn-ing.

Things started to go her wayand in the span of a few shortmonths, ‘Subah Saveray MayaKay Saath’ became the envy ofmorning shows across the countryand everyone wanted a piece of thefair maiden who was serenadingthe people of Pakistan so sweetly.Then, one fine day in the year2011, SAMAA TV ran a news pack-age on couples who go out ondates in public parks. They did notinvent the subject, mind you, asreports on public displays of affec-tion in places such as the Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi and theLawrence Gardens and ModelTown Park in Lahore had beenurban myths since the beginningof time. But nobody bothered.

Mostly because all producers, TVpersonalities and their cameramenhave, at one time or the other, in-dulged in what we affectionatelycall ‘parking’.

However, when this lady, hav-ing led a perfectly sheltered life,brought her rightist upper-classsensibilities to the small screen, itwas a recipe for disaster. You see,contrary to popular opinion, thereis no great oversight on contentwhen it comes to shows of a ‘soft’nature. Morning shows too, areconsidered ‘soft’ viewing, there-fore, nobody on the top rungs ofthe corporate ladder pays much at-tention to their content. As long asthe ratings are coming in and thepeople get what they want, nobodyhas any problems.

The lady in question, appar-ently, also did not have anyqualms about marketing herself asthe siren of SAMAA, dressing upas an Arab dancing girl and ridingmagic carpets as the tune from‘Bewitched’ played in the back-ground. Everyone was cashing inon the Maya bandwagon becauseher formula seemed to work. Sowhen she started going aroundpublic parks, asking people fortheir nikahnamas, you can imag-ine how surprised people were.From being the darling of youngmen and women everywhere (shedid run a matchmaking service onher show for some time), she be-came an evil home-wrecker, out torob parents and children of theirright to privacy and a good time,not to mention a healthy relation-ship.

Why would any sane individ-ual do such a thing? Maybe be-cause in her mind, she is doing theright thing. Right by her employ-ers, that is.

The truth is, you can reportMaya Khan to PEMRA. You couldget 100,000 signatures on a peti-tion calling on SAMAA to kick herout. But that would not accom-plish anything. Like it or not,Maya Khan is not the culprit here.She is a puppet in the hands of therating-mongers. Stop watchingthis trash and they’ll stop airing it.

Follow @mightyobvious onTwitter for more incoherence in160 characters or less

Mighty ObviousBy Syed Hassan Belal Zaidi

Asmall lizard fell into my soup lastnight. As I jumped back the lizardwith a huge effort flopped out

again, leaving a wriggling tail behind.The soup was cold anyway without gas toheat it. As it gurgled down the kitchensink, the electricity went too.

Our stolid prime minister has de-clared that Pakistan’s gas and electricityshortage problems will end within sixmonths. It is possible he knows some-thing the rest of us don’t, being some-thing of a gaseous anomaly himself. Ormaybe he was referring to an ingeniousagreement just entered into with neigh-bouring Afghanistan.

Under the terms of this agreementPakistan, itself in the throes of a crip-pling power shortage, is to developAfghanistan’s water storage and hydro-electric generation systems on the RiverKabul. In a stroke of brilliance it isagreed that any surplus power thus gen-erated is to be re-imported into thiscountry.

There is, however, one glitch: ac-cording to a report in this newspaper,most of the water in the River Kabul isfed into it by the River Kunhar, whichoriginates funnily enough in sada apnaChitral. We appear therefore to be grab-bing our nose by reaching around thehead. Water storage on the River Kabulis also likely to cause water shortage in

the River Indus, leading to afurther drop in Pakistan’s ca-pacity to produce power itself.This capacity is almost solelyreliant on the availability ofwater which is increasinglyscarce as a direct result of theineptitude and failure of suc-cessive governments of Pak-istan in providing – you got it– adequate water storage.

Such masterly examples ofplanning naturally render ex-trinsic enemy plots quite re-dundant.

Meantime, this week sawthe same stolid and longestself-serving democraticallyelected prime minister of Pak-istan in the courts, on chargesof contempt, aided by theinimitable Aitzaz Ahsan.

Jo lawyer bhi hain shaairbhi, dono hi bohat khoob

Long March ka maqtalaikin Ahsan ko na bhaya

The prime minister’s ap-pearance in court seems tohave been a carefully orches-trated affair. He was escortedby a large coterie of chantingfollowers in their cars, speak-

ing evidence of his terrific popularitywhich excused their blocking all trafficfor hours. Also accompanying him wereseveral obligatory hysterical securitymen, bullet proof vehicles, as well as agunship helicopter which flew over andaround the route and Supreme Courtbuilding that whole morning. It was mostimpressive.

The PM, demurely dressed, appeareddriving himself and his barrister in achaste white car. This further evidence ofhis being the people’s representativemust have brought a tear to many a sus-ceptible eye, especially when he beganhis statement by quoting the pioneerShaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s line:“Dukhaan di mari jindri aleel hai.’’ Hewent on to assure the court of his undy-ing devotion to the constitution and thelaw of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

One incongruous detail then: it ap-pears that the license plate on the PM’scar, LRZ 786, once again chosen nodoubt with an eye to its devout over-tones, did not belong to any car ownedby him. It belongs instead to a randomcitizen, now wandering bemusedlyaround the streets of Lahore who has noknown connection whatsoever to theprime minister or his car. Therein lies atale, I’m sure, and it is wriggling to betold.

The country and its people now awaitevents following the arrival (or not) ofMr Mansoor Ijaz. Further evidence, ifany is required, of our government offi-cials being all on the same page has beenprovided as ever by the inimitable MrRehman Malik who has promised to pro-vide complete security for Mr Ijaz, to theextent of a securing a suite for him on thepremises of the Home Ministry. He can-not, however, promise that Mr Ijaz willnot be arrested as soon as he sets foot inthe country. Was he, maybe, referring toa maximum security cell?

The PM, on the other hand, has saidquite firmly that security will not be pro-vided for Mr Ijaz when he visits Pakistanto give evidence in court. It isn’t, he saidsternly, as though Mr Ijaz were a viceroyvisiting the country. In case anyonefailed to understand him he clarified fur-ther that security was worth billions, andwould therefore not be provided for MrIjaz’s person.

Ah, so that must be it then. If secu-rity costs billions, that of course is whymembers of the government down toevery tinpot official moves in those per-petual clouds of bullet proof cars, secu-rity men, ambulances, and even gunshiphelicopters, and why the common man ofPakistan, being a citizen of such a poorcountry, lacks it so utterly.

...and the cost of security

The PM’s trial

By Rabia Ahmed


LoNDoN: Simon Cowell is reportedlyvisiting an addiction clinic to help beathis 15-plus a day cigarette habit. It hasbeen revealed that the 52-year-old musicmogul, who has admitted he startedsmoking at age eight, is seeking help atthe top London facility after friends andfamily begged him to stop smoking.According to The People, he has a familyhistory of lung cancer. “Simon made ithis New year resolution,” the Daily Mailquoted a source as telling thepublication. “He's been smoking since avery young age and feels the time isnow right to try and stop. He has nomajor health issues at the moment but,as always, he is under a lot of pressurewith his work schedule. Simon's motherand some of his closest friends havebeen nagging him for some time abouttrying to stop smoking. His grandfatherRobert was a heavy smoker who died oflung cancer. His father suffered a heartattack. It's made Simon think long andhard about his own health now,” thesource said. The Tv magnate, who isbusy with 'Britain's Got Talent' auditionsis often pictured aboard his yacht, lazingin the sun with a cigarette in his mouth.“Simon is a very healthy guy who looksafter himself diet-wise very well,”Cowell's spokesman Max Clifford said.“But he has made a New year'sresolution to give up, or at leastsignificantly cut back, on his smoking,”he added. AGENCIES

14 Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

in limelight

NEWS DESK: Ali Zafar’s dream has finallycome true. It looks like Ali Zafar is having agreat time in Bollywood. Last year he had abig role in the Imran-katrina starrer ‘MereBrother ki Dulhan’. He also worked withDavid Dhawan in Chashme Buddoor. Now,the Pakistani actor-singer has anotherfeather in his cap – he is all set to work onan album with katrina kaif. Ali and katrinahit it off well on the sets of ‘Mere Brother kiDulhan’ and rumours were rife that he hadrequested her to collaborate with him on an

album. Now it seems his dreams are finallycoming true. Sources say Ali has alreadycomposed the songs that he wants to dowith kaif. She too has approved them andall that's needed is for her to record thenumbers. Ali had wanted kaif to be part ofthe composing process, but their schedulesdidn't allow it. katrina, when approacheddidn’t comment on her new venture whileAli cleverly put the onus on kat to clarify it.Well, whenever the album is out, we cansay it will be a sure-fire hit!

Ranbir turns stuntman for ‘Barfee’

MUMBAI: Sonam kapoor gestures duringan event for the ‘Hello! Classic Race’. AFP

MUMBAI: US actress and singer Amy Johnson poses with Pratiek Babbarduring a photo shoot for their forthcoming film ‘ek Deewana Tha’. AFP

SÃo PAULo: Ashton kutcher attends the 2012Winter collection fashion show of Colcciduring the Sao Paulo Fashion Week. AFP

PARIS: A model presents a creation by Swedishfashion label Acne as part of his Fall/Winter2012-2013 Men’s ready-to-wear collection. AFP SÃo PAULo: Models present designer creations during the Sao Paulo Fashion Week. AFP

LOS ANgELESBBC

THE Razzies,which honourthe year’sworst films,are to be

given out on 1 April, or-ganisers have announced.The spoof prizes, formallyknown as The GoldenRaspberrys, have tradi-tionally been awarded theday before the Oscars.Nominations will be an-nounced on ‘Oscar Eve’-25February-with the mainawards handed out AprilFools’ Day. Organiserssaid moving the awardswould allow its votingmembers more time “tosee the drek they willeventually nominate”. In astatement, they said:“John Wilson and MoMurphy, co-owners of theRazzies, saw a unique op-portunity to do somethingthey’ve wanted to do sincetheir awards were createdin 1980: emphasise (its)comedic intent by unveil-ing the “winners” of TinselTown’s Tackiest Trophyon April Fools’ Day.” Itadded the new schedule

would also allow for moreinput from the movie-going public before thecontenders are deter-mined. Organisers sug-gested Adam Sandlercould top the list of nomi-nees at this year’s awardsfor his roles in ‘Just GoWith It’, ‘Bucky Larson’and ‘Jack and Jill’. Hecould also be a frontrun-

ner in the worst actresscategory for playing Jill inthe latter film. M NightShyamalan’s ‘The LastAirbender’ won the mostprizes at last year’s awardswith five including worstdirector. Ashton Kutcherwas named worst actor forValentine’s Day while hisco-star Jessica Alba wonworst supporting actress.

Worst films to be ‘honoured’ by

on April Fools’ Day

Razzie awards

Meera ka vivah, for realThe scandal queen of Pakistan, Meera willtie the knot with a Pakistani-Americanpilot Naveed Parvez on 19 February.Meera is hoping to get second time luckywith Parvez after facing a long runcontroversy involving her ex-husbandAtiq-ur-Rehman and then smashingthe hearts of 13 contestants of‘Kaun Banega Meera Pati’. Parvezis an airline pilot. The weddingceremony will take place in Lahorewhere Meera will invite some ofher close friends both fromPakistan and India. Meera andParvez have been friends for threeyears but have now decided to gethitched. Meera says she willcontinue her acting career afterher marriage. NEWS DESK

albumKatrina-Ali to cut an


15

treatment

Simon Cowell starts addiction

NEWS DESK

Kesa which is Lala Textile’s new summercollection brand will be launched onTuesday the 24th January. Kesa isinspired by the richness of Japaneseculture and its name is derived from theJapanese word for Buddhist monk’sprayer robes. The designs reflectJapanese subtleties and designaesthetics. Kesa combines the intricaciesof art and design while retaining thebest in fabric and embellishment, whilerepresenting Islamic and Oriental artdesigns in floral and geometric patternsin a variety of colours accentuated byembellishments, panels andembroideries. Currently the label isavailable nationwide at all stores.

Heidi Klum and Seal

call it quitsLOS ANgELES

ABC

“One day you’re in, the next day you’reout.” Heidi Klum’s catchphrase on herhit reality competition show ‘ProjectRunway’ may now have sad implicationsto her love life, as it has been confirmedthat she is splitting with her husband,pop star Seal. The news that the powercouple’s nearly seven year marriage isofficially over was confirmed in astatement first released to Peoplemagazine. “While we have enjoyedseven very loving, loyal and happy yearsof marriage, after much soul-searchingwe have decided to separate,” the couplesaid in the statement. Together thecouple has two sons, Henry, 6, andJohan, 5 and one daughter Lou, 2. Oneinsider said one of the issues the couplewas facing was that distance was reallytearing them apart, they both have verybusy careers. The couple has so farreleased only a few details on their split,merely stating, “We have had thedeepest respect for one another... butwe have grown apart.”

MUMBAI: Actress Mallika Sherawat

has beaten Vidya Balan to the finish

line of the ‘Sexiest Vegetarian

Female’ poll conducted by PETA. The

announcement has come as quite a

shock as all hopes were pinned on

Vidya Balan - especially after her ‘The

Dirty Picture’ act - to win the coveted

title. However, the representatives of

PETA insist that the verdict is solely

based on the votes collected. Vidya

Balan is known to have re-defined

‘sexy’ and ‘hot’ after her popular

‘dirty act’. But we guess people had

their reasons to vote for the oomphy

Mallika Sherawat. Dhanush

successfully bagged the Sexiest

Vegetarian Male award, a tag

previously enjoyed by Shahid Kapoor.

His ‘Kolaveri Di’ number took the

world by storm. However, the simple

Dhanush says: “I’m anything but

sexy. But if people think I am, I don't

know what to say.” AGENCIES

Shah Rukh and Ajay:

LeBANoN: MrLebanon 2012Rodolphe AbuNader poses

with his trophyafter winning

the beautycontest. AFP

UTAH: Richard Gerespeaks to media duringthe ‘Arbitrage’ Premiere

during the 2012 SundanceFilm Festival. AFP

NEWS DESK

VEENA MALIK, who has beenmaking headlines over thelast few months, is now all setto star in a 3D horror film,‘Mumbai 125 KM’. It’s being

directed by Hemant Madhukar who has tohis credit last year’s superhit Telugu movie,Vastadu Naa Raju. The film is expected thisMay. “After a smashing hit, many ques-tioned my decision to make a Hindi 3Dmovie. But I haven’t forgotten ChotaChetan (1998) that I watched as a kid,” saysMadhukar, who two years ago had directedanother ghost story, ‘A Flat’ (2010) whichproved to be a BO debacle. ‘Mumbai 125KM’ revolves around five friends who arestranded on a highway one dark night. Thedirector refuses to divulge any details be-yond this. All he promises is that it wil be a

“treat” for the audience. The film also starsVedita Pratap Singh and Karanveer Bohra,but Veena is undoubtedly the star. Isn’tMadhukar taking a risk by casting the er-rant actor in his chiller-thriller? The direc-tor admits that when even though Veena fitthe role to the T, he was hesitant aboutsigning her. “But she promised me that shewould give the challenging role her bestshot. And after working with her, I’ve re-alised that she’s a dedicated actor. I’m surepeople’s opinion of her will change after myfilm releases,’ he says. It was recently re-ported that Veena was having problemswith Indian immigration officials, who hadrefused to process her visa following nu-merous controversies. Madhukar is notworried: “When I last spoke to her she saidthat she was returning to India in the firstweek of February. I am confident she willkeep her promise.”

NEWS DESK

Toni&Guy were excited andproud to participate in Gram-mathon 2012 held at LGS 1-A-1 on the 14th January.Grammathon was organised asa fashion show with studentspresenting their original cre-ations and modelling them infront of a panel of expertjudges. The event was billed asa light hearted and fun eventfor students to showcase theircreativity and enjoy an eveningwithout schoolwork in thesedifficult times. Toni&Guy’sstyle director Juju Haider, waspart of the judging panel forthe fashion show. Gram-mathon brought together over50 participants from 47 differ-ent schools, organised into pri-vate teams and school teams.Other judges on the panel in-cluded model and style iconSabina Pasha, dynamic de-signer duo Nickie and Ninaand well known fashion pho-tographer Rizwan (DeeVees).Toni&Guy gave free makeoversto the winners of the best fe-male and male models andalso styled the host school’s

fashion show participants.Under the guidance of ownerand creative director ShammalQureshi, Toni&Guy demon-strated their innovative tech-niques and creative styles. LGS1-A-1 opened the 5 day eventand had Alyzeh Gabol as theirshow stopper. Designer Has-san Shehryar Yasin also held afashion seminar and the fash-ion show ended with a concertby Pakistani band Noori.

Veena Malik’s horror film

to release in May

Toni&Guy showcase their styling prowess in grammathon 2012

MUMBAIAGENCIES

The trailer of this year’s valen-tine release, ‘Ek Main Aur EkkTu’ has been creating quite abuzz as Imran Khan and Ka-reena Kapoor appear togetheron screen for the first time.After recently winning anaward for being the most prof-itable actor, Bebo feels a lot ofresponsibility on her shouldersfor this Karan Johar produc-tion. Whether it’s Amir,Salman or SRK; name her joriwith any Khan and Kareenahas generated revenues over atleast Rs.100 crore. (Not to for-get her real life hero is also aKhan). Now that the actor iscurrently juggling the on-goingpromotions for the ImranKhan-starrer ‘Ek Main AurEkk Tu’ and is working on thepostproduction of AamirKhan’s ‘Talaash’, she has twofold responsibility of living upto the Khan-jori -success repu-tation. Says Kareena, “Theyboth are adorable as co-stars.It’s a pleasure working withthem. I have already workedwith Aamir in ‘3 Idiots’ (2009).

I love both of them equally.”The film looks like an adapta-tion of Hollywood movie ‘WhatHappens In Vegas’ where thecouple gets drunk and marriesunder the effect of alcohol. ButKaran Johar has insisted it'san original script. Still audi-ence are looking forward toseeing the film in cinemas on10th of Februaury as the trailerstarts with the couple in an at-torney office, getting a divorce,not a very usual Bollywoodrom-com beginning. This filmis being distributed in Pakistanby IMGC Global. Encyclome-dia PR is running it’s publicitycampaign for Pakistan.

All eyes on Kareena’s film with a new Khan;

‘Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu’

MuMBAI: The sizzling on-screen chemistrybetween his wife and Shah Rukh khan hasheld viewers in awe for many years now.But there’s no love lost between Ajay Devgnand Shah Rukh khan. The cold warbetween the two is almost on its way tobecoming a full-fledged war. The clashbetween the two biggies of Bollywood hasbeen in the air for quite some time.Rumours, they say, have some truth inthem. This one, apparently, has a bit more.Ajay Devgn has preponed his own homeproduction, ‘Son of Sardar’ in order to takeon Shah Rukh’s yash Chopra film slated torelease this Diwali. Rumours abound thatDevgn is not happy about the release of‘Tezz’, originally scheduled for Decemberlast year, being pushed to April this year,to avoid clashing with king khan’s release.Apart from ‘Tezz’, Ajay’s film has had toaccommodate Hrithik’s and Saif’s releasesas well. And now he is wary ofmeandering around and believes that hisfilm being moved around too many times issending wrong signals in the industry. Ajayhas finally decided that he doesn’t want to

be labelled as the one whose films aretweaked to adjust to the convenience ofothers. So will there actually be a ‘Clashof Titans’ in film industry? or will wehave to settle down with something waymore innocuous? Time, as they say, willreveal all! ZEENEWS

Clash of titans?Mallika Sherawat Vidya Balan



16 Foreign News

SANAAAFP

President Ali Abdullah Saleh was enroute to the United States for medicaltreatment, Yemen’s state news agencysaid on Monday, after delivering adramatic farewell speech that left hisopponents wary.

The announcement came a dayafter Saleh in a televised addressapparently marking the end of his ruleappealed for forgiveness from theYemeni people for “any shortcomings”during his 33 years in power. “The

president ... is on his way to the UnitedStates to continue what is left of hismedical treatment” for woundssustained in a June bomb attack on hiscompound, SABA news agency said onits website. The US State Departmentsaid on Sunday that Washingtonapproved a visit by Saleh for medicaltreatment but stressed it was on theunderstanding that he would stay onlyfor a “limited time.”

Saleh left late on Sunday for Omanwith his five youngest children and hiswife, according to a source close to thenow “honorary president” of Yemen for

the next month. In his speech, Salehsaid he would return to Yemen but notas president, signalling the veteranleader aims to implement a Gulf-brokered transition plan which calls forhis ouster. “I will go to the UnitedStates for treatment and will thenreturn as head of the GPC,” he saidreferring to his General People’sCongress party. After the election, “ourbrother Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi (thevice president) will move into thepresidential residence and Ali AbdullahSaleh will pack up his bag, bid farewell,and go home,” he said implying that his

role as president has come to an end.However, the thousands of

protesters who have been camped outat Sanaa’s Change Square, theepicentre of a pro-democracymovement calling for Saleh’s ousterover the past 12 months, cautioned itwas too early to celebrate. “We are stillconcerned that this latest move mightbe one of Saleh’s games ... We will stayin the square until election day onFebruary 21,” said Walid Ammar, ayouth leader, remaining sceptical.“That is the day that Yemen’s futurewill be decided,” he said.

KANOAFP

NIGERIAN officials andclerics said peaceprayers in Kano Mon-day after a wave ofbomb-and-gun attacks

claimed by Islamists left more than 160dead and raised fresh fears of civil un-rest. Nigerian President GoodluckJonathan, facing his worst crisis sincewinning April polls amid a surge in at-tacks by Islamist sect Boko Haram andmounting social discontent, vowed tobeef up security.

Several bombs were set off and gunbattles raged in coordinated attacksthat were launched after Friday prayersin Nigeria’s second largest city andlasted several hours. Jonathan, aftervisiting the city on Sunday, said thatsome suspects had been arrested andthat his government would track downthe masterminds.

“We will strengthen the security inKano and other parts of the country,”he said, vowing to track down BokoHaram’s sponsors. As the ancient holyMuslim city of about 4.5 million peoplestill reeled from one of Boko Haram’s

bloodiest attacks, some 200 Muslimclerics and political leaders gatheredfor special peace prayers. “I will pray toGod that we should never re-live thecatastrophe that resulted in the deathsand maiming in our city,” Kano Stategovernor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso said.

The emir Ado Bayero told the cler-ics: “I enjoin you to continue prayingfor peace and stability in our city. I callupon you to use any religious fora topray for peace in our land.” A pur-ported spokesman for Boko Haramclaimed responsibility for the attacks,saying it was in response to a refusal bythe authorities to release its membersfrom custody. Some detainees beingheld at a police station in the city werethought to have been freed during theattacks which targeted mainly policebuildings. Senate president DavidMark said he and the speaker of theHouse of Representatives Aminu Tam-buwal, had ignored security to travel toKano. “We want to ensure that a fewmisguided Nigerians who have beenled into this action don’t take this coun-try hostage... it is not about religion,this affects the entire nation,” he toldthe state governor and his officials.Jonathan is battling the worst crisis of

his nine-month tenure as the violencehas raised fears of an all-out civil warin Africa’s most populous nation andtop oil producer.

He has said some of the BokoHaram members have infiltrated gov-ernment — from the security agenciesto the legislature and the executive armof government. Former presidentOlusegun Obasanjo however tried todownplay the crisis. “Even though it isa big challenge to the Nigerian peopleand its government, it is not one that...shakes Nigeria to its foundation,”Obasanjo said in Banjul late Sundayafter meeting Gambian PresidentYahya Jammeh. Jonathan imposedemergency rule in parts of Nigeria’snorth on December 31 after a wave ofviolence blamed on Boko Haram, in-cluding attacks on churches on Christ-mas Day. But Kano, which had escapedthe worst of the violence in recentmonths, was not among the areas cov-ered. Relief workers said the overalldeath toll was at least 166 but a doctorat a major hospital said the toll couldsoar to 250. Around 50 people weregathered outside a main hospitalmorgue awaiting to collect remains ofloved ones for burial on Monday.

British womanclaims newAntarctic solo record

LONDONAFP

A British explorer, Felicity Aston, claimsto have become the first woman to crossAntarctica on her own, after skiing morethan 1,700 kilometres across the ice in 59days. The 33-year-old’s arrival wasannounced with a Twitter messagesaying: !!!Felicity has reached herdestination - Hercules Inlet - after 59days !!!Congratulations to the 1st femaleto traverse Antarctica SOLO. V proud.”Several hours later, she tweeted: “Sittingin my tent in the middle of Hercules Inletwaiting for a plane to come and pick meup. I’ve been promised red wine and a hotshower.” Aston, from Kent in south-eastEngland, began her trek on November 25at the Ross Ice Shelf and, after a stop-offat the South Pole, finally reachedHercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf onJanuary 22 — a distance of 1,744 km. Shebattled freezing temperatures and windsto make the trip, dragging two sledgescontaining her food and equipmentbehind her as she skiied up hills andtowards endless empty horizons. In anemotional message recorded shortlybefore her arrival, she said: “It feelsamazing to be finished but yetoverwhelmingly sad that it’s over at thesame time. “I can’t quite believe that I’mhere, and that I’ve crossed Antarctica.”

Saudi femaledriver defies ban,has fatal accident

JEDDAHAFP

A Saudi woman who defied a driving banin the kingdom was injured and hercompanion killed when their caroverturned in the northern Hael province,a police spokesman said on Monday. “Onewoman was immediately killed and hercompanion who was driving the car washospitalised after she suffered severalinjuries” when their four-wheel-drivevehicle overturned late on Saturday, saidpolice spokesman Abdulaziz al-Zunaidi.Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia is theonly country in the world where womenare not allowed to drive. However, theyget behind the wheel in desert regionsaway from the capital. There have beenseveral incidents reported in recent yearsof women being killed in accidents whiledriving despite the ban, one of a host ofrestrictions imposed on women in thekingdom. In November 2010, a Saudi whodefied the driving ban was killed alongwith three of her 10 female passengerswhen her car overturned in a crash. Agroup of activists launched an Internetcampaign last year urging Saudi womento defy the ban on driving. The icon of thecampaign, Manal al-Sherif, a 32-year-oldcomputer security consultant, wasarrested on May 22 and detained for 10days after posting on YouTube a video ofherself driving her car around the easterncity of Khobar. Since then, womenregularly get behind the wheels of theircars, according to the activists.

Yemen president en route to US, foes remain wary

SHANGHAI: Thousands of people visit a lantern festival to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Dragon on Monday. AFP

Nigeria’s Kano prays forpeace after deadly attacks

Unilateral sanctionson Iran ‘do nothelp’, says Russia

MOSCOWAFP

Russia said Monday it viewed the EuropeanUnion’s oil embargo on Iran ascounterproductive and would continue todefend Tehran against further sanctions overits nuclear programme. “Unilateral sanctionsdo not help matters,” Russian news agenciesquoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assaying in response to the EU decision. “We willrestrain everyone from making harsh moves.We will seek the resumption of negotiations.”Lavrov added he was confident that talksbetween Iran and the Western powers couldbe resumed soon. “Moscow believes that thereare fairly firm prospects for the resumption oftalks in the immediate future,” he said. “Theseopportunities exist despite an entire series ofrecent steps, including those taken by theIAEA director general.” Russia has beenfiercely critical of the United Nations’ nuclearwatchdog for issuing a report in Novemberclaiming it had “credible” intelligence showingTehran’s interest in acquiring nuclearweapons. Lavrov has argued that the reportcontained nothing new and insisted that anysanctions beyond the four rounds approvedalready by the UN Security Council onlythreatened to harm the Iranian people. “Sincewe have already adopted collective sanctionsin the UN Security Council, everyone shouldbe keeping to that line, adding nothing andtaking nothing away from the commonposition,” Lavrov said.


Foreign News 17Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

CAIROAFP

ISLAMIST MPs took centre stageon Monday as Egypt’s parliamentmet for the first time since a pop-ular uprising ousted HosniMubarak, while their supporters

massed outside to cheer the historic event.A year after the uprising, many Egyp-

tians see the new parliament as the firstsign of democratic rule, in sharp contrastto the previous legislature dominated byMubarak’s party. Egypt’s first free parlia-mentary elections, which were held inphases between November and early Jan-uary, saw Islamists clinch nearly three-quarters of the seats. Outside the People’s

Assembly, hundreds of Islamist supportershad greeted the MPs as they entered theparliament, in scenes unimaginable just ayear ago when most Islamist movementswere banned.

And in their first act, the deputies inthe lower house began voting for a speaker,with leading Muslim Brotherhood memberSaad al-Katatni expected to win. But theexact role of parliament remains unclear,with power remaining in the hands of thegenerals who took power from formerpresident Mubarak. “How can we read thisoath when we don’t even know if we will bea presidential system or a parliamentarysystem?” one MP asked during the swear-ing in. Later, protesters set off for parlia-ment from across Cairo to press deputies

to implement the goals of the revolution,including an end to military trials of civil-ians, social justice and the trial of officialsfound guilty of abuse.

They were to join hundreds who were al-ready chanting outside the parliamentagainst the ruling military council and itschief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, whoserved as Mubarak’s defence minister for twodecades. The military has come under in-tense criticism in recent months for rightsabuses and stifling dissent. Activists accusethe generals of seeking to maintain politicalcontrol despite assurances by the army thatit will cede power to civilian rule when apresident is elected in June. The packed andsometimes chaotic first session was chairedby parliament’s most senior member, Mah-

mud al-Saqqa of the liberal Wafd party. Thedeputies were sworn in one by one, pledgingto “preserve the safety of the nation and theinterests of people and to respect the consti-tution and the law.” In a sign of the Islamists’increasing assertiveness, one ultra-conserv-ative Islamist MP insisted on adding a reli-gious reference to the oath. When lawyerMamduh Ismail took the microphone vow-ing to also “abide by the law of God,” he wassharply rebuked by the chair, Saqqa.

“Please stick to the text,” an angrySaqqa urged Ismail, asking him to repeatthe oath several times. “Mr Ismail, myfriend, please stand up and read the oath,and stick to the text.” Others tried to add “toprotect the goals of the revolution” to theoath and received a similar rebuke, during

the animated first session which saw severaldeputies don yellow sashes calling for “anend to military trials of civilians.” The long-banned Muslim Brotherhood won a crush-ing victory with 47.18 percent through itspolitical arm, the Freedom and JusticeParty. The ultra-conservative Salafist Al-Nur party came second with 24.29 percent,with the liberal Wafd party finishing a dis-tant third. The liberal Egyptian Bloc —which includes the Free Egyptians party oftelecom magnate Naguib Sawiris who facestrial on allegations of insulting Islam —came fourth with around seven percent. The508-member assembly was dissolved inFebruary by the Supreme Council of theArmed Forces that took power whenMubarak was forced to step down.

Islamists take centre stage in Egypt parliament

ICC denies dealfor Gaddafi son to

be tried in LibyaTHE HAgUE

AFP

The International Criminal Courtdenied Monday that it had agreed thatSeif al-Islam, slain Libyan dictatorMoamer Gaddafi’s most prominentson, can be tried in Libya. “The ICChas made no decision on this matter,”court spokesman Fadi el-Abdallahtold AFP in response to a claim byLibya’s Justice Minister Ali H’midaAshur that Seif would be judged by aLibyan court. The ICC said earlier in aTwitter message that it had received areply from the Libyan authorities toquestions asked by its judges by aMonday deadline. “The ICC hasaccepted that Seif al-Islam will betried in Libya by the Libyanjudiciary,” Ashur told AFP. “The trialwill take place in Libya. The Libyanjustice is competent and we gave thefile (on Seif) to the ICC on Friday,”Ashur added. Seif, 39, who wasarrested on November 19, is in thecustody of the military council ofZintan, a town 180 kilometres (110miles), southwest of Tripoli. He iswanted by the ICC on charges ofcrimes against humanity allegedlycommitted during the conflict inLibya. Libya’s National TransitionalCouncil had already told the ICC in aletter published on November 24 thatTripoli wanted to try him.

Syria rejects ArabLeague call for power change

DAMASCUSAFP

Syria on Monday rejected an Arab Leagueplan for President Bashar al-Assad totransfer power to his deputy and clear theway for a national unity government, as theEU slapped new sanctions on Damascus.“Syria rejects the decisions taken which areoutside an Arab working plan, andconsiders them an attack on its nationalsovereignty and a flagrant interference ininternal affairs,” an official said on statetelevision. The Arab League on Sundayasked the United Nations to support a newplan for ending the bloodshed in unrest-swept Syria that would see Assadtransferring power to his deputy and agovernment of national unity formedwithin two months. The plan was detailedin a statement read out by Qatar’s premier,Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, at theend of a meeting of Arab foreign ministersin Cairo to determine the fate of theirobserver mission in Syria. “If this initiativeis not put in place (by Damascus), we willgo to the (UN) Security Council, where thedecisions will be taken,” Sheikh Hamadwarned. Deployed since December 26 tooversee an Arab League peace plan, theobserver mission has been widely criticisedfor its failure to stem the government’sbloody crackdown on pro-democracyprotests. Saudi Arabia said at the Cairotalks that Riyadh was pulling out itsobservers from the mission because theSyrian government had “not respected anyof the clauses” of an Arab peace plan. TheLeague agreed, however, to extend themission and boost the force from itscurrent number of about 165 observers onthe ground, according to the finalstatement of Arab foreign ministers. OnMonday, EU foreign ministers voicedsupport for the Arab monitors and adoptedmore sanctions against Syria’s militarybrass, adding security officials on a new listof people and firms hit by a travel ban andasset freeze. “We call again for the violenceto stop, for the (Arab League) monitors tobe able to do their job unheeded,” said EUforeign policy chief Catherine Ashton,whose bloc is already enforcing an armsembargo and oil imports ban on Syria.

eU adopts new sanctionson Syria’s top brass

BRUSSELSAFP

The European Union adopted freshsanctions against Syria’s military brass onMonday, adding more security officials ona growing list of people and firms hit by atravel ban and asset freeze. EU foreignministers, who renewed their call forPresident Bashar al-Assad to step down,targeted 22 people and eight companies inthis 11th round of EU sanctions to protestthe ongoing repression in Syria. “Today’sdecision will put further pressure on thosewho are responsible for the unacceptableviolence and repression in Syria,” said EUforeign policy chief Catherine Ashton. “Themessage from the European Union is clear:the crackdown must stop immediately. Wewill continue to do all we can to help theSyrian people achieve their legitimatepolitical rights,” she said.

CAIRO: Saad al-Katatni, secretary general of Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), gestures after being nominated by the FJP for the post of the parliament speaker during thenewly elected parliament's first session in Cairo on Monday. AFP

PARISAFP

France appealed for calm after a furi-ous Turkey threatened “permanent”sanctions if French senators pass abill later on Monday to outlaw denialof the Armenian genocide.

The French lower house drew afirst wave of Turkish ire last month,when it approved the bill whichthreatens with jail anyone in Francewho denies that the 1915 massacre ofArmenians by Ottoman Turk forcesamounted to genocide. Ankara frozepolitical and military ties with Franceand has promised further measures ifthe bill is passed by the Senate or isapproved by President NicolasSarkozy, whose right-wing UMP partyput forward the bill.

“We appeal for calm,” said Frenchforeign ministry spokesman BernardValero. “Turkey is a very importantpartner and ally of France,” he said,with senators due to vote on the diplo-matically fraught bill later Monday.Turkish Foreign Minister AhmetDavutoglu, who cancelled talks withEuropean Union foreign ministers inBrussels on Iran’s nuclear drive todeal with the crisis, said that Ankarahad already prepared its response.

“We have previously determined thesteps to be taken if the bill is finallyadopted. No one should doubt it,”state-run Anatolia news agencyquoted Davutoglu as saying.

Davutoglu said on Saturday thatthe law would result in “permanentsanctions” arguining that it goesagainst European values and wouldnot help Turkish-Armenian relations.Trade between France and Turkeywas worth 12 billion euros (15.5 bil-lion dollars) in 2010, with severalhundred French businesses operatingthere. Turkish Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan accused France ofhypocrisy and Sarkozy of pandering tothe vote of France’s estimated400,000 voters of Armenian originthree months ahead of a tough reelec-tion battle.

“I hope the Senate will not makeFrance a country contradicting itsown values,” Erdogan said. “This is adebate which is entirely against thefreedom of thought. This is merely astep taken for the upcoming elec-tions.” Around 15,000 Turks fromFrance, Belgium, The Netherlandsand Luxembourg rallied peacefully onthe streets of Paris on Saturday toprotest the law. Turks and Armeniansbegan gathering to stage demonstra-

tions outside the Senate ahead of thedebate, set for Monday afternoon,with police keeping them some dis-tance apart. In a bid to defuse the cri-sis, Sarkozy sent a conciliatory letterto Erdogan, released by the Frenchembassy in Ankara on Friday.

“I hope we can make reason pre-vail and maintain our dialogue, as be-fits allied and friendly countries,”Sarkozy wrote, adding that the meas-ure “is in no way aimed at any state orpeople in particular.” But the bill hasnot won universal support in the gov-ernment, where some ministers fear itwill hurt diplomatic and trade tieswith a NATO ally and major economicpartner. Even Sarkozy’s Foreign Min-ister Alain Juppe has admitted the billis “untimely.” A Senate Laws Commis-sion on Wednesday rejected the bill,but their vote is not expected to pre-vent it from becoming law.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million oftheir forebears were killed in 1915 and1916 by the forces of Turkey’s formerOttoman Empire. Turkey disputes thefigure, arguing that only 500,000died, and denies this was genocide,ascribing the toll to fighting and star-vation during World War I and accus-ing the Armenians of siding withRussian invaders.

France calls for calmahead of genocide law vote


Page 21


Sharapova battles throughafter Lisicki scare

ABU DHABIAFP

PAKISTAN'S young wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal on Mon-day admitted England'sdestroyer Saeed Ajmal was dif-ficult to judge from behind the

wicket and he needed extra workouts to besuccessful. Ajmal took a career best 7-55 inthe first innings and then 3-42 in the sec-ond to help Pakistan rout England by tenwickets in the first Test in Dubai, givingthem a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.

But despite the difficulty the 26-year-oldAdnan finished with seven catches in thematch and his valuable knock of 61 helpedPakistan gain an important 146-run lead inthe first innings. Adnan, who replaced hismore experienced elder brother KamranAkmal in Pakistan line-up in 2010, saidAjmal was difficult to keep wickets on. "I hadsome trouble keeping on Ajmal's doosra (thesecond one)," Adnan, refering to Ajmal's de-livery which turns the other way than thenormal off-break, said ahead of the secondTest which starts here from Wednesday.

"I worked with Ijaz Ahmed (fieldingcoach) and the work out and the drillshelped me a lot. That came as a great ben-efit for me and helped me in the match,"said Adnan, 26. "It's a bit different and dif-ficult to keep off Ajmal. You know how to

keep wickets on the off-spin that it willcome in and one that goes out, so its diffi-cult. Every time I keep wickets I watch hishand and have practised a lot," said Adnan.

Adnan denied he has set any signalswith Ajmal on which delivery will comenext. "It's only after a lot of practice that Iam doing better on his bowling. I have setno signals because if you set signals thenit's no use being keeper," said Adnan.Adnan, who made his debut against SouthAfrica in 2010, said batting is his plus point."My effort is always to give my best for Pak-istan, for my team so every time I want togive benefit to the team. I enjoy keeping butbatting is my plus point," said Adnan.

When asked about Ajmal's mystery de-livery -- teesra (the third one) -- which thespinner had claimed to unveil against Eng-land -- Adnan said he had found no differ-ent delivery. "I never felt any difference,they were normal deliveries like I havebeen keeping on in the last ten twelvematches, he was bowling in the same man-ner. It may be different for the batsmen butI did not feel any difference," said Adnan.

Adnan said Ajmal's outstanding bowl-ing forced England's batsmen into submis-sion. "I think we bowled very well, they arebetter batsmen than us. I don't know whathappened. It was Allah's blessings andthat's why we won the match. Ajmal wasoutstanding in the match."

Ajmal very hard to track, says Adnan

ABU DHABI: Adnan Akmal (L) warms up as team coach Mohsin khan (C) looks on during a practice session at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. AFP

ABU DHABI: Alastair Cook plays a shot during apractice session at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. AFP

Dilshan quits asSri Lanka skipper

COLOMBOAFP

Tillakaratne Dilshan resigned Monday asthe Sri Lankan cricket captain in all threeforms of the game, following the team's dis-astrous tour of South Africa, officials said.Sri Lanka lost both the Test and one-dayseries in South Africa. Dilshan, 35, took upthe captaincy on a series-to-series basisafter Kumar Sangakkara stepped downafter Sri Lanka's defeat in the 2011 WorldCup final against India. "Dilshan has re-signed as captain in all three formats of thegame," Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said, with-out naming a successor. Under Dilshan, SriLanka lost Test and one-day series againstEngland, Australia, Pakistan and SouthAfrica."Members of the executive commit-tee take this opportunity to thank Dilshanfor his commitment and dedication duringhis tenure as the national captain," theboard said. "We also wish him well as hecontinues to represent Sri Lanka as a na-tional player." While Dilshan's own battingform suffered during his reign, he led theteam to a historic Test win in Durban thisyear, Sri Lanka's first on South Africansoil. There was no immediate commentfrom Dilshan, who has so far scored 4,662runs in Tests and 5,896 runs in one-dayinternationals. Local media have specu-lated that former captain Mahela Jayawar-dene could be Dilshan's replacement.

ABU DHABIAFP

Alastair Cook is hoping he and open-ing partner Andrew Strauss will pro-vide England with a good platformwhen they walk for a 100th time to-gether in the second Test againstPakistan starting here from Wednes-day. Cook and Strauss will becomethe fourth opening pair to complete100 or more innings together in allTests -- behind West Indian GordonGreenidge and Desmond Haynes, SriLanka's Marvan Atapattu and SanathJayasuriya and Australia's MatthewHayden and Justin Langer.

But Cook and Strauss face ahuge challenge from Pakistanbowlers who restricted them tostands of ten and six during theirten wicket annihilation in the firstTest in Dubai last week. Pakistanlead the three-Test series 1-0.Strauss fell to off-spinner SaeedAjmal for 19 and Cook was dis-missed by Mohammad Hafeez forthree in the first innings while pace-man Umar Gul accounted for Eng-

land openers in the second innings.Strauss made six and Cook five.Cook said openers failed to providethe kind of begining the pair areused to giving in the past.

"It's a great thing to work now,I didn't know that it's our 100thtime," Cook said on Monday asEngland prepare to avoid their firstseries defeat since going down 1-0to the West Indies in the Caribbeanin 2009. "He's got a great recordand proved that over a number ofyears, it's our job with top of theorder to lay out the platform, wedidn't do that in Dubai and that'swhy we didn't get good totals," saidCook of England's low scores of 192and 160. "It's always nice to our sta-bility with Strauss at the top oforder. We have had some great mo-ments. We are pretty similar incharacter and we do enjoy battingtogether and hopefully on the 100thtime we will do something special,"said Cook. Cook, who hit a centuryin England's two wins in their lead-up games to the series, blamed poorshot selection by the batsmen.

Cook aims for special 100th with partner Strauss

ADELAIDEAFP

Australia will play spinner Nathan Lyon in-stead of paceman Mitchell Starc in thisweek's fourth and final Test against India,captain Michael Clarke said on Monday.Clarke said Lyon's inclusion for the Ade-laide match would give Australia an im-proved chance of sweeping the series 4-0against India, who suffered heavy losses inthe opening three Tests. "We think that isthe best xI to give us every chance to winthis Test match," Clarke said ahead ofTuesday's match. "I think the experience ofthe other three quicks will play a big part inthese conditions. "The wicket looks reallygood and I think reverse swing is going toplay a huge part in this Test match."

Clarke said the ease of Australia'squick-fire victories inside the scheduledfive days had reduced the workload on hisbowlers and he had no intention of rest-ing leading pacemen Peter Siddle and BenHilfenhaus. "I have said from the startthat we want to win every Test match thatwe play and this series is no different,"Clarke said. "Winning the last two Test

matches in less than five days has helpedeveryone recover as well so all the guysare fighting fit and ready to go."

Lyon, who was left out of the team forthe third Test in Perth, has had minimalimpact in the series to date, taking 2-180off 50.5 overs in his two matches. It willbe Lyon's 10th Test and first at hishome ground, where he is a for-mer groundsman. Australia'sbowlers ran through India'sbig-name batting line-up twiceinside three days in Perth andClarke is expecting a flat bat-ting wicket in Adelaidewith the match likely torun its full five days.India have only wononce in nine Testsat Adelaide Oval.The match in the2007-08 series be-tween the twosides was a high-scoring affair, withIndia racking up 526 intheir first innings and Aus-tralia replying with 563.

Talha out ofengland series

ABU DHABIAFP

Pakistan's fast rising paceman MohammadTalha was Monday ruled out of the re-maining two Tests against England afterdeveloping spinal disc problems. The 23-year-old, who did not feature in Pakistan'sten wicket win in the first Test in Dubailast week, will return home once his painsubsides. "Talha developed back problemsand in the MRI scan it was revealed that hehas a disc problem and when his pain sub-sides in the next two three days he will re-turn home," team manager NaveedCheema told AFP. Cheema said Talhaneeded ten to twelve days rest. Pakistan,who play the second Test here fromWednesday, require no replacement,Cheema said. Talha took four wickets inthe warm-up match against England aspart of the Pakistan Cricket Board xI. Eng-land won that three-day game by 100 runs.Talha has played one Test, against SriLanka in Karachi in 2009 and is regardedas one of the future prospects for Pakistan.

Sehwag rates Australianbowlers the best ADELAIDE: Stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag said Monday he rates Australia's bowl-

ing attack as the best he has faced as India battle to restore some pride in the final Testin Adelaide this week. The tourists face the humiliation of another 4-0 series wipeout

if they lose against Australia in the fourth Test starting at the Adelaide Oval on Tues-day. Sehwag leads the beleaguered tourists after regular skipper M.S. Dhoni wassuspended for slow over rates in India's crushing innings defeat inside three daysin the third Test in Perth. Australia, spearheaded by Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfen-

haus, have dismissed India's big-name batting line-up four times for under 200and have prevented Sachin Tendulkar scoring his elusive 100th internationalcentury. "It's everybody's responsibility to score runs, especially outside India,"Sehwag said. "Unfortunately, on the last two tours the batsmen didn't get thoseruns. "Yes, the openers need to make a good start but other batsmen need toscore too." Sehwag, who has been one of India's worst performing batsmen with118 runs at 19.66, paid tribute to the strength of the Australian bowling attack.

"They are bowling in good areas, they are not giving upeasy balls to hit boundaries," Sehwag said. "I thinkthat's the best bowling attack I've ever seen, espe-cially against Australia. "Generally, when I played the

fast men at Adelaide Oval, I'd get a couple of balls I couldhit for boundaries. But in this attack I hardly get any balls." Sehwag

said hapless India would be playing for pride, out to prevent an eighth con-secutive away Test defeat after last year's 4-0 series drubbing in England. AFP

Spinner Lyon replaces Starc in Australia team


BEnAzIR BhUttO WOMEn’S CRICKEt ChALLEnGE

sports 19Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

PUNJAB, Federal Areas andZTBL won their matches on daytwo in the 1st Shaheed Mo-htarma Benazir BhuttoWomen’s Cricket Challenge

Trophy here on Monday. Punjab GovernorLatif Khosa was the chief guest of the dayand presented the player of the matchaward to Federal team player Mariam Has-san Shah. Mrs Bushra Aitzaz and otherPCB officials were also present on the oc-casion. Punjab beat Khyber PK by five

wickets here at the Gaddafi Stadium whileFederal Areas also registered a win againstKPK. Thus KPK lost both of their matchesof the day and also lost their chance ofmaking to the top.

Punjab allowed KPK just 78 runs andlater achieved the score losing five wickets.Komal Feroz was named the player of thematch while in the other match MariumHasan Shah of Federal Areas not only re-mained not out but was also name theplayer of the match with his 52 runs in-nings that led her team to a big 10 wicketswin over KPK. At Kinnaird College, ZTBLbeat Balochistan by six wickets with major

contribution coming from Nain Abdi. Sheremained unbeaten at 39 for ZTBL.SCORES: khyber Pk 78-8 in 20 overs: (Sukhan Faiz

53*, 62 balls, 6x4s, Hina Azam 2-10, Zeba Manzoor 1-

6) v – Punjab 79-5 in 18.4 overs: (komal Feroz 45*, 60

balls, 7x4s, Uzma younas 3-2).

Player of the match: komal Feroz (Punjab), Result:

Punjab won by 5 wickets, Toss: khyber Pk, Umpires:

Samera Aftab & Riffat Mustafa.

Match referee: Aziz-ur-Rehman, official Scorer:

Zahoor Alam.

khyber Pk – 101-4 In 20 overs: (Arifa Hasan 35*, 52

balls, 3x4s, Sukhan Faiz 21, 25 balls, 3x4s, Zainab khan

18, 20 balls, 3x4s, Hina Shafiq 2-18, Saima Maqsood 2-16)

v Federal – 104-0 in 12.1 overs: (Marium Hasan Shah 52*,

36 balls, 10x4s, Fareeha Mehmood 38, 37 balls, 7x4s).

Player of the Match: Marium Hasan Shah (Federal), Re-

sult: Federal won by 10 wickets, Toss: khyber Pk, Um-

pires: Shakeela Rafiq & Afia Amin, Match Referee:

Sohail khan, official Scorer: Azhar Hussain.

At kinnaird Collage Ground, Balochistan – 109-7 in 20

overs: (Arman khan 49, 43 balls, 4x4s, 3x6s, Naheeda

khan 20, 22 balls, 1x4, 1x6, Sadia yousaf 2-11, Nida Dar

2-17) ZTBL – 113-4 IN 18.4 oveRS: (Nain Abdi 39*, 51

balls, 2x4s, Sana Mir 31, 20 balls, 3x4s, 1x6, Bismah Ma-

roof 20, 25 balls, 2x4s, Sabah Nazir 2-16)

Player of the match: Nain Abdi (ZTBL), Result: ZTBL

won by six wickets, Toss: Balochistan, Umpires: Hu-

maira Farah & kausar Shah, Match Referee: Pervaiz

Akhtar, official Scorer: Muhammad Arif Sr.

LAHoRe: Punjab Governor Latif khosa and Mrs Bushra Aitzaz give the player of the match award to Mariam Hassan Shah of Federal team while (R) ZTBL bowler balls to the Balochistanbatswoman (not in picture) during their Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Cricket Trophy match at the kinnaird College ground. NADEEM IJAZ

Punjab, ZTBL, Federal Areas advance

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Cricketer Kamran Akmal has said thatthe Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) mustsort out its differences with India sothat the country’s players can take partin the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Akmal, who was a member of theRajasthan Royals squad that won theinaugural IPL in 2007, has not featuredin the event since 2008.

Akmal expressed the hope that

cricket between India and Pakistanmwould begin soon and that Pakistancricketers would soon be able to takepart in the IPL.

“Playing for Rajasthan was a won-derful experience. Having the opportu-nity to play under the leadership ofShane Warne was fantastic and it wasa real eye opener. After that first tour-nament, we Pakistani players have notbeen invited back to play in the IPL andI don’t really want to go into the whysand wherefores of that, but I do feel

that sportsmen shouldn’t suffer due to‘outside’ matters and Pakistani crick-eters should be included in the IPL,”Pak Passion quoted him, as Akmal, assaying.

“India and Pakistan should regu-larly play against each other in cricketand that is something that the fans ofboth nations want to see. Indian fanswant to see the Pakistani cricket teamtour India and likewise Pakistanicricket fans want to see the Indianteam tour Pakistan.”

Kamran wants Pakistan players to be part of IPL

Serena loss blowsdraw wide open

MELBOURNEAFP

The Australian Open women's draw wasthrown wide open Monday after Russia'sEkaterina Makarova shocked SerenaWilliams in the fourth round, as Wimble-don champion Petra Kvitova won instraight sets. Makarova, the world number56, reached a grand slam quarter-final forthe first time when she stunned a below-par Williams 6-2, 6-3 and will now faceformer champion Maria Sharapova, whobattled back from a set down to progress.

Stunning Nishikoriinspired by Li Na

MELBOURNEAFP

Kei Nishikori shocked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga tobecome the first Japanese man to reach theAustralian Open quarter-finals for 80 yearsMonday, but defeat for Zheng Jie endedChina's hopes. Nishikori roared back from aset down to stun the powerful 2008 finalistin five sets and set up a last-eight tie withBritain's Andy Murray, showing the formthat has seen him rocket up the rankings.Zheng, however, crashed out in straight setsat the hands of Italy's Sara Errani to endChina's singles interest on Chinese newyear's day -- and a day after last year's run-ner-up, Li Na, went out to Kim Clijsters.

THE unsung hero of Pakistan’s humil-iating defeat of England was theirwicketkeeper Adnan Akmal. He took

seven catches in the match and contributeda resourceful and at times impudent 61 toconvert a slender lead into a substantial onefor Pakistan. He has supplied the glue toPakistan’s outcricket where before there wasonly grease. Irrespective of the adversitythey bring upon themselves, Pakistan al-ways seem to find bowlers who createchances. What they have always craved wasa wicketkeeper who could cling on to them.Now they appear to have found one.

Adnan’s emergence is more than a touchironic since it was his older brother, Kamran,who was one of the culprits of Pakistan’s lam-entable performances in England 18 monthsago. Kamran had cymbals for gloves and hemade such a hash of keeping wicket that hismisses were into double figures by the end ofthat 2010 series. They were crucial misses, too,like the two drops and a missed stumping at theoutset of the fifth-wicket stand between PaulCollingwood and Eoin Morgan at Trent Bridge.They eventually put on 219 and England,helped by more error-prone fielding, securedan easy victory. Such insecurity has a psycho-logical impact on a bowling attack who knowthey will have to generate about 15 chances forevery 10 wickets taken. After this match theywill feel different. Adnan’s impact was imme-diate. In the sixth over of the game, bowled byoff-spinner Mohammad Hafeez, Alastair Cook,who has made permanent occupation of thecrease his vocation, edged an attempted cut.Akmal held the awkward, low chance and Pak-istan had an immediate opening whichwidened when he collected a miscued leg

glance from Jonathan Trott. A sharp catch offIan Bell’s outside edge accounted first ball forthe man who averaged more than 100 last year.Three prized scalps and England were in disar-ray at 43 for five. After his perky fifty on Thurs-day, speckled with carving drives andoutrageous reverse sweeps, he was back inbusiness behind the stumps again, holdingchances from both Cook and Strauss down theleg side, clinging on to a difficult edge fromMorgan, when he was just beginning to looksettled, and finally seeing off the adhesive Trottwith an agile take in front of first slip. All of hisseven victims were of top-order players. ThePakistan bowlers can rest easier now, knowingthey have a gloveman they can trust, but Adnanwill not take anything for granted. In keepingwith the general erratic nature of Pakistancricket, his international career has had asmany twists and turns as a Stieg Larsson novel.

In spite of the late Bob Woolmer first iden-tifying him as the best keeper in the country in2004, brother Kamran was unexpectedly pre-ferred for several years. Adnan owed his even-tual Test debut not to Kamran’s mistakes butto the sudden desertion of his successor,Zulqarnan Haider, seeking political asylum.Then, after taking eight catches in a Test,Adnan was inexplicably dropped, before beingrecalled last year. The fundamental prerequi-site of a Pakistan cricketer is to live in the pres-ent and not look too far ahead. For themoment they can revel in their all-round ex-pertise, particularly in the field. Aside fromAjmal’s wiles, they can also be proud of UmarGul’s forceful bowling, using the bouncer in-telligently, knowing that it will come off thepitch at different heights and speeds if bangedin hard, Abdur Rehman’s subtle, old-fashionedprobing and Misbah ul Haq’s calm and astutecaptaincy. And he will know that England willnot be fooled so easily again. (Telegraph)

Adnan has given Pakistan

security behind the stumps

SIMON HUgHES

Comment


AUStRALIAn OPEn dIARY

sports20Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

WAPDA registered a solitary goal winover NBP to claim the 31st U-21 NationalJunior Hockey Championship that con-cluded on Monday here at the NationalHockey Stadium with SSGC getting thethird position.

On Monday, final and classificationmatches were played and WAPDA andNBP remained locked on an even gameuntil the former got their winning goal inthe 43rd minute of the match. SSGC got3-2 win over Punjab Colours to earn thethird position. The final started with thepace it should have been and despite sev-

eral attempts none of the teams’ playerscould find an open house to get the goal.The first half passed by without a scoreand as the match entered the second half,WAPDA got a penalty corner in the 43rdminute and Asad ensured that his teamgets a lead. That one goal lead remainedin tact till the final whistle was blown.

However, the third position matchbetween SSGC and Punjab went intoextra time after the teams played a two-all draw in the given time and it wasHammad Butt who scored the goldengoal in the 73rd minute of the match.

Punjab got ahead in the secondminute of the match when Nohaiz Zahidwho converted both the goals of his team,

found an opening. But that was leadshort-lived when Mohammad Zahid re-sponded for SSGC in the same fashion inthe 13th minute. Nohaiz took Punjabahead once again in the 42nd minute butWaseem Abas responded for SSGC topush the match into extra time whereHammad produced the golden goal to getWAPDA the third place.

Secretary General Pakistan HockeyFederation Olympian Muhammad AsifBajwa was the chief guest of the final.Tournament Director Saghir Ahmed,Arshad Ali Chawdhry member PHF Na-tional Selection Committee, OlympianZaka-ud-Din, Manager national teamKhawaja Junaid, Olympian Tauqeer

Ahmed Dar, Miss. Parveen SikandarGill, Olympian Muhammad Sarwar andofficials of DHA Lahore were also pres-ent on the occasion.

The winners WAPDA pocketed thepurse of Rs 50,000 and the trophy whileNBP received runner up trophy andcash prize Rs 30,000 and SSGC got thethird position Trophy and Cash Prize Rs20,000. RESulTS: (3rd & 4th Position)SSGC beat Punjab (C) 3-2 (extra Time), 2-2 (FullTime), 1-1 (Half Time)SSGC: M. Zahid 13th minute (FG), Waseem Abbas56th minute (PC) & Hammad Butt 79th minute (FG).Punjab (C): Nohaiz Zahid 2 Goals 26th & 42nd minute (FG).Final: WAPDA beat NBP 1-0 (Full Time), 0-0 (Half Time)WAPDA: Asad 43rd minute (PC).

ABU DHABI: Pakistan’s cricketer

Junaid Khan (2nd R) delivers the ball

as coach Mohsin Khan (2nd L) looks

on during a practice session. AFP

WAPDA down NBP in National Junior Hockey final

FROM ALI AKBAR IN MELBOURNE

IT was a mixedday for Pak-istan's Aisam

Qureshi at the Aus-tralian Open on

Monday. He and hispartner Jean Julien

Rojer crashed out of themen's doubles in the round of 16.

Later in the day, on MargaretCourt Arena, Aisam and partner

Andrea Hvalackova advanced inthe mixed doubles against Bernard

Tomic and Jelena Jancovic, winningdecisively, in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.

Aisam and Rojer were outclassed bythe American Brazilian combination of

Eric Butorac and Bruno Soares. Rojer'sserve was particularly vulnerable as he was bro-

ken three of the four times he served. Aisam held onto all of his service games. Although the team per-formed creditably, winning the first two matchescomfortably, the pairing did not look strong enoughto trouble the top teams and win a major title. The

IndoPak Express was good enough to do that andhad reached the US Open final. Aisam will have tokeep his eyes open for a partner who can help takehim to the very top of the doubles game.

Aisam's Czech partner in the mixed doubles playeda very good supporting role as the pairing completelyoutclassed the highly touted Tomic and Jancovic.Tomic looked listless and played as if he did not care.Perhaps the previous night's lesson by Roger Federerhad exposed some of the weaknesses in his repertoire.Tomic has a big future and should reach top ten in acouple of years. He has an instinct for dismantling hisopponent's games by subtle off speed balls, but Fed-erer, after he had figured things out, was much toogood and the result was never in question.

Thomas Berdych was involved in a controversywhere he did not shake his opponent Nicolas Alma-gro's hand following their titanic battle on theHisense Arena. Berdych had hit a drop shot and thenwas camped at the net. Seeing no way out, Almagroaimed the ball at Berdych, hitting him on the arm.Berdych fell and did not respond to Almagro's apolo-gies. After the match, Berdych completely ignored Al-magro. The booing that ensued was so loud that itcompletely drowned out his interview. Tennis playershit the ball directly at each other many times, espe-

cially in doubles. WhenBerdych had shut off allopportunities for Alma-gro by moving in closebehind the dropshot, then Alma-gro had everyright to hit theball throughhis opponent.Berdych is anice enough fel-low, but will certainly regrethis actions. Juan Martin DelPotro booked hi place in thequarter finals with an impressivedisplay and will play Federer for aplace in the semis. Berdych takes onNadal, another player with whom he hashad problems in the past. Lleyton Hewitttakes on Novak Djokovic, a task that willsurely prove beyond him, but Hewittis one of the really great com-petitors and will leaveeverything out onthe court.

Shoukat winsMr Pakistan title,WAPDA lift trophy

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Shoukat Shahzad was declared the MrPakistan while Ruh Ullah was ad-judged Junior Mr Pakistan after the60th competition was held here at Al-hamra. WAPDA won the National Champi-onship winning eight gold medals andRailways were placed second whilePunjab secured third position.The Pakistan Bodybuilding Federationorganised the 60th Junior Mr and MrPakistan contest and the NationalBodybuilding Championships andafter the two days competition, RuhUllah from Balochistan won the JuniorMr Pakistan trophy and Rs 25000 cashaward while Shoukat Shahzadachieved the title of national championMr Pakistan 2012 out of 10 weight cat-egories and was awarded Rs 50000with champion trophy.Overall WAPDA gave excellent per-formance during the Championshipand got 1st Position in team trophywith 195 points winning 8 gold, 5 sil-ver and 3 bronze medals, the secondposition went to Railways with 67points and Punjab secured the thirdPosition with 61 points.President POA, Lt. Gen (R) Syed ArifHasan, was the chief guest on the oc-casion. He distributed medals amongthe 1st, 2nd and 3rd position holdersand the team. Other guests of honourwere Ch. Mahboob Alam, CEO GEPCO,Chaudhary Guftar Ahmed PresidentWapda Sports Board, MuhammadKhalid Mehmood, DG WAPDA SportsBoard, Muhamamd Jhangeer, Presi-dent PKF, Ch. M. Asghar SecretaryGeneral, PWF, President of SindhBodybuilding Association Mr. SohailAnwar, Secretaries of KP and Baloshic-tan Bodybuilding Associations andother formers Mr. Pakistan and Secre-tary General, Pakistan BodybuildingFederation Sh. Farooq Iqbal.

FINAl THREE SEEDING

WT CT 1ST WAPDA 2ND RAIlWAY 3RD PuNJAB

55 kG 19 6 13

60 kG 15 12 4

65 kG 22 6 10

70 kG 12 21 1

75 kG 31 6 -

80 kG 25 5 -

85 kG 16 6 15

90 kG 25 4 2

100 kG 15 1 6

ABove 100 kG 15 - 10

TOTAl 195 67 61

MEDAlS TABlE

uNI G S B

WAPDA 8 5 3

RAILWAy 1 1 2

PUNJAB 1 2 1

HeC 0 1 2

kPk 0 1 0

BALoCHISTAN 0 0 1

Mixed day for Aisam as he crashed out of doubles


sports 21Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

wATch IT LIve

ESPNSports Center08:00PM

STAR SPORTS AustralianOpen Tennis05:30AM

MELBOURNE REuTERS

LOCAL hero Lleyton He-witt's surprising run to thelast 16 of the AustralianOpen looks certain to cometo an end when the 31-

year-old meets world number oneNovak Djokovic on Monday. Defend-ing champion Djokovic will not letsentimentality stand in the way of aplace in the quarter-finals and thecrowd on Rod Laver Arena are likelyto leave disappointed as they did onSunday when Roger Federer un-manned Bernard Tomic.

Former world number one He-witt fought his way past young gunMilos Raonic in the third round butDjokovic, coming off the season of hislife and in ruthless form in the firstweek, is an altogether tougher propo-sition. Women's second seed andbookmaker's favorite Petra Kvitovakicks off the second week of the year'sfirst grand slam in an intriguing clashagainst a resurgent 2008 FrenchOpen champion Ana Ivanovic.

Five-times champion SerenaWilliams is also in action against un-seeded Ekaterina Makarova, whileanother Russian in fourth seed MariaSharapova meets German SabineLisicki in the first match of theevening session.

Men's fourth seed Andy Murrayis likely to already be in the quarter-finals by then as he meets worldnumber 92 Mikhail Kukushkin, theKazakh one of two Asian men aimingto get into the last eight.

The other is Japan's KeiNishikori, who faces in-form sixthseeded Frenchman Jo-WilfriedTsonga - losing finalist here in 2008when Djokovic won his first grandslam title.

Djokovic roadblockin Hewitt’s path

MElBOuRNE: Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a shot against Lleyton Hewitt ofAustralia in their match. AFP

MELBOURNE REuTERS

Maria Sharapova hammered her way intothe quarter-finals of the Australian Openon Monday but only after some tense mo-ments in a third-set decider when Ger-many's Sabine Lisicki had her hanging onby her finger nails. The fourth-seededRussian had to blunt the powerful groundstrokes and blistering service returns of the14th seeded Lisicki and fought off five breakpoints in the third game of the final set toturn the match her way. The Russian's con-fidence grew enough for her to breakLisicki's serve in the sixth game of the set,which essentially sealed the victory and sheran out a 3-6 6-2 6-3 winner.

The 24-year-old had walked onto RodLaver Arena a heavy favourite having con-ceded just five games in her previousthree matches and spent only three hours,29 minutes on court. In contrast, Lisicki

had been hampered by an abdominal in-jury that forced her to withdraw from theAuckland Classic quarter-finals and out ofSydney altogether. Knowing that old rival

Serena Williams would not be waiting forher in the quarter-finals after the Ameri-can was bundled out earlier by EkaterinaMakarova, Sharapova raced out to a 3-0

lead and seemed destined for anotherearly night. Lisicki, however, finally foundher range and reeled off six successivegames to win the first set when Sharapovablasted a backhand service return wellover the baseline.

A nervous looking Sharapova, wellaware that if she did not stop the momen-tum she would be joining Williams on anearly flight home, was in danger of losingher first service game of the second set be-fore she attacked the net twice and man-aged to fight off the German and hold serve.

She then began to control the pace ofthe match, stopping Lisicki's high-pacedgame to seal the second set in 42 minutes."She's a really solid player," Sharapovasaid of Lisicki, who she beat in last year'sWimbledon semi-finals. "If you play toher strengths, if you give her time that'swhat she really does best, she gets a goodstrike on the ball and can hit a good win-ner from any side of the court.

Sharapova battles through after Lisicki scare

MeLBoURNe: Maria Sharapova returns a shot to Sabine Lisicki of Germany. REUTERS

MELBOURNEREuTERS

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova stoodhead bowed, red faced, praying for theground to open up and swallow her. There'snowhere to hide when you hit the worst shotof a tennis grand slam. The world numbertwo had her racquet raised and ready tosnash home a winner against Ana Ivanovicin the fourth round of the Australian Openon Monday and as the ball dipped closer theCzech coiled in anticipation.

What should have been a routine smashwill undoubtedly become an Internet sen-sation as Kvitova slashed into thin air, theball slapped off her hip, hit the ground andbounced over the net. "I really don't knowhow I missed it," she told Reuters in an in-terview. "I stood on the spot, saw the balland it just missed my racquet. But this is

tennis, this can happen. "I'm not the firstand won't be the last to miss a shot. It's notreally that horrible." The Czech recoveredfrom the embarassment to win 6-2 7-6 butsmiled sheepishly when asked if she couldremember hitting a worse shot.

"I don't know if it's the worst (shot) ofmy career," Kvitova said, shaking herhead. "I know that it looked really strangewhen I missed it. But anyway ... I won,that's the important thing." The 21-year-old returned to her chair after the miss,wrapped her head in a towel and tried tofocus on her next service game but was sorattled she dropped it to love, givingIvanovic the sniff of an upset. However,Kvitova pulled herself together to win theset in a tiebreak and secure her place inthe last eight. Kvitova's role model Mar-tina Navratilova said the fact that she didnot fall apart completely after the clanger

showed that she could cement her place asone of the top women in the world.

"Today she hit a whiff on the overhead,embarrassed as heck," Navratilova said."Shanked like six balls in a row, but got ittogether, held serve. In years past, and evenlast year, she would lose those matches orlose her concentration. "But now she gets itback together. She's tough. I'm glad I'm notthe on the other side of the net.

"With the absence of Serena(Williams) playing enough, we need somesuperstars that you really feel like they'reholding their own. I think Petra has thatpossibility." Kvitova says she is flattered tobe compared with Navartilova, who won18 grand slam singles titles. "She is a leg-end. She won many grand slams and wasoriginally from the Czech Republic. Shewas my idol growing up and it's nice tohave that (comparison)," she added.

Kvitova makes a hash of smash

Hassan clinchesMobilink IndigoGolf title

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Dr. Hassan clinched the 5th Mobilink An-nual Club Indigo Golf Invitational Tourna-ment trophy after an exciting golfing eventorganised at the Islamabad Golf Club. The day saw some sterling performancesfrom the golfers, making for a well com-peted event. The winners for the ladies’tournament were Ami Qin (Gross) andSadia Afsar (Net), while Dr. Hassanbagged the trophy for the men’s round inthe Gross category and Maj. Gen. TahirMasood won the trophy for Net. Irfan Akram, Vice President CustomerCare at Mobilink said, “We are glad to havebeen able to end the tournament on a highnote in Islamabad. We are indeed thankfulfor the support of Club Indigo’s golf enthu-siasts in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabadfor making it a truly enjoyable event. Onour part, Mobilink will continue to nurturegolfing talent in Pakistan through suchtangible efforts in the years to come.” The Club Indigo Golf Invitational has beenorganised nationwide since 2007, and hasbecome one of the most prestigious corpo-rate golf tournaments in Pakistan, with the18-hole tournament attracting golfing en-thusiasts from across the Mobilink Indigocustomer base. The Tournament is a con-tinuation of Mobilink’s commitment to-wards supporting healthy recreationalactivities and sports events in Pakistan.Mobilink has taken this initiative to raiseawareness about golf in Pakistan, and en-hance the quality of golfing in the country.

Stunning Nishikoriinspired by Li Na

MELBOURNEAFP

Kei Nishikori shocked Jo-WilfriedTsonga to become the first Japaneseman to reach the Australian Open quar-ter-finals for 80 years Monday, but de-feat for Zheng Jie ended China's hopes.Nishikori roared back from a set downto stun the powerful 2008 finalist infive sets and set up a last-eight tie withBritain's Andy Murray, showing theform that has seen him rocket up therankings. Zheng, however, crashed outin straight sets at the hands of Italy'sSara Errani to end China's singles in-terest on Chinese new year's day -- anda day after last year's runner-up, Li Na,went out to Kim Clijsters.

MeLBoURNe: Sabine Lisicki plays a shot duringher fourth round women's singles matchagainst Maria Sharapova. AFP

MeLBoURNe: Petra kvitova of the CzechRepublic waves to celebrate her victoryover Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. AFP


Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad.


22

ISLAMABAD TAHIR NIAZ

THE Senate frustrated formerpresident General (r) PervezMusharraf’s dream to returnhome as the government-dominated Upper House of

parliament on Monday unanimouslypassed a resolution asking the governmentto arrest General Musharraf immediatelyupon arrival in Pakistan and the federalgovernment institute a case against himunder Article 6 of the constitution for twiceholding the constitution in abeyance andbringing disrepute to the judiciary.

The resolution moved by Senator RazaRabbani said Musharraf removed,ridiculed and arrested judges of thesupreme judiciary. He aided, abetted andwas an accomplice in the murders of Be-nazir Bhutto and Akbar Bugti, the resolu-tion said. It said Musharraf committednumerous crimes. His policies and use ofstate force in Balochistan led to the loss ofinnocent lives and further sponsored dis-

appearances of its citizens, the resolutionsaid, adding that he also compromisedvital national security interests throughclandestine deals and unwritten agree-ments with foreign governments. URDU: Earlier, the senators discussed aresolution, which suggested the govern-ment take immediate steps to declare Urduthe official language of the country in pur-suance of Article 251 (1) of the constitution.Professor Khurshid Ahmad moved the res-olution in the House.

Though the resolution asked the gov-ernment to take immediate steps to declareUrdu as the official language of the countrybut most of the senators, including NaeemHussain Chattha, Prof Ibrahim Khan,Khalid Soomro, Dr Abdul Malik, AbdurRahim Mandokhel and Hasil Bazenjo weremore concerned about the regional andmother tongues. They lacked clarity ofviews as they built up their arguments, si-multaneously supporting the regional lan-guages to be declared as official languagesand also advocating for Urdu to be used asa medium of interaction at the national

level. Soomro was of the view that mothertongues should be declared national lan-guages. Dr Malik said Urdu, as a language,was not facing any existential threat,pleading at the same time that English was“required by the people of the country”.

Mandokhel said the medium of in-struction should be the mother tongue butat the same time said Urdu should be theofficial language. However, Senator SMZafar asked the senators to approach therespective provincial assemblies if theywanted promotion of regional languagesas has been prescribed in the constitution.He said the senators could not apprehendthe resolution properly and told his col-leagues that it only demanded the govern-ment take immediate steps to declareUrdu the official language of the countryand nothing more. He said there was nobar on the provincial governments in pro-moting regional languages. Senator AbdulKhaliq Pirzada and Sajid Hussain Zaidialso endorsed the view point of Zafar.Pirzada said Urdu came into beingafter “conquering” over

450 other languages. He said, “Urdu is thedaughter of Arabic” and asked his col-leagues to raise their voice in theprovinces if they wanted pro-motion of regional andother languages. SenatorHasil Bazenjo said hedid not oppose theresolution, addingthat Urdu was madecontroversial byUrdu-speakers whomigrated from India.On the other hand,he said, Bengalishad also declinedto speak Urdu.Later, the resolu-tion was de-ferred as themover wantedsome amend-ments in it.

Senate resolves to arrest Musharraf on arrivalg Senators also want govt to institute case against former president under Article 6 g Discuss resolution suggestinggovernment take immediate steps to declare Urdu as official language

ISLAMABADSHAIQ HuSSAIN

Pakistan Army rejected on Monday the find-ings of a US probe into the NATO air strikeson border posts in Mohmand Agency in No-vember last year, saying it did not agree withseveral portions and findings of the investiga-tion report as they were factually incorrect.

The army also expressed its annoyancethat in its enquiry report, the US military hadconsidered Pakistani military in an “adversar-ial role” and not as a friend. “Pakistan does notagree with several portions and findings of theInvestigation Report as these are factually notcorrect,” said the army, in its “Perspective onthe US Investigation Report”, released here tothe media by Inter-Services Public Relations(ISPR). Noting that the US investigatingteam’s mandate was to “conduct an opera-tionally focused fact-finding investigation intothe circumstances surrounding the engage-ment between friendly forces and PAKMIL(Pakistan Military)”, the statement said it wasimplicit in this mandate that “Pakistan wasconsidered in an adversarial role and not partof friendly forces”.

“The fundamental cause of the incident of

26th November 2011 was the failure ofUS/ISAF to share its near-border operationwith Pakistan at any level. This obviously wasa major omission, as were several others, likethe complicated chain of command, complexcommand and control structure and unimag-inative/intricate Rules of Engagement as wellas lack of unified military command inAfghanistan,” it said. Contrary to PakistanArmy’s response, the US enquiry report re-leased on December 22 last year had foundthat both American and Pakistani troops wereto be blamed for the strikes on Pakistani out-posts. Pakistan had responded to the NATOstrikes by blocking supplies for US led NATOforces in Afghanistan and forced the UnitedStates to vacate an air base that was used tolaunch drone attacks in the tribal areas.

The army said in its response: “In additionto the foregoing, US/ISAF violated all mutu-ally agreed procedures with Pakistan for near-border operations put in place to avert suchuncalled for actions. It also carried out unpro-voked engagement of Pakistani Posts locatedinside Pakistan violating the US/ISAF man-date which is limited to Afghanistan alone.”


In response to a statement by the chiefelection commissioner (CEC) and theElection Commission of Pakistan (ECP)secretary, the Supreme Court on Mondaysaid elections on basis of unverified voterlists could not be termed just, fair and inaccordance with the law, as requiredunder Article 218(3) of the constitution.

A statement issued by Supreme CourtRegistrar Dr Faqir Hussain said the ECPwas free to hold by-elections subject towhat had been observed by the SupremeCourt. However, he clarified that an erro-neous impression was created during themeeting of the CEC with political partiesas well as by the statement of the ECP sec-retary, giving an impression as if theSupreme Court had stayed the holding ofby-elections in the country.

He said the relevant para of theSupreme Court’s January 19, 2012 ordershowed that the court directed the ECPnot to hold by-election on the basis of pol-luted/unverified voter lists, after deleting37,185,998 unverified voters by NADRAper their statement before the SupremeCourt on July 4, 2011, in the case of ImranKhan vs ECP. He said the court orderadded that the ultimate focus should beon verified/valid electoral list in order tomeet the requirement of the constitutionunder Article 218 (3) which stipulatedthat elections should be conducted hon-

estly, fairly and justly in accordance withthe law. To fully explain the matter, thecourt reproduced the relevant para of theorder, which says: “It has been informedthat the ECP has announced by-electionsin some of the constituencies on the basisof prevailing/uncorrected/un-amendedelectoral lists. It may not be out of contextto note that on 4th of July, 2011 NADRAreported before this court that 37,185,998unverified voters have been removedfrom the database and thereafter thecourt directed on the same day to the ECPto expedite the correction of the electorallist and a schedule for the same was alsogiven by it but the ECP failed to do so.”

However, the court said that the date ofFebruary 23, 2012 had been fixed. “There-fore, we direct the ECP and NADRA not tohold by-elections against the casual vacan-cies on the basis of polluted voter list, hav-ing 37,185,998 unverified voters as theelections of these constituencies are neces-sary to be held under the constitution.Therefore, ultimate focus should be on theverified/valid electoral list for the purposeof holding the said elections and electionsshould be held on the basis of the same inorder to meet the requirement of the con-stitution given under Article 218(3) thereof,which commands that the elections shall bearranged by the ECP honestly, justly, fairlyand in accordance with the law. The de-mand of the constitution can only be ful-filled if there is a verified voters list freefrom any bogus votes,” the court noted.

dronekills fivein nWA

PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

At least five suspectedmilitants were killed andseveral others were injuredwhen a US drones firedmissiles at two differenttargets in Datakhel, NorthWaziristan on Monday. Thedrones targeted a vehicle inthe Deegan area and acompound in theMohammadkhel area ofDatakhel Tehsil with twomissiles eachsimultaneously. Officials inMiranshah, the headquartersof North Waziristan Agency,told Pakistan Today that fivesuspected militants werekilled in the strikes,however, some tribesmensaid the number ofcasualties could increasedas a number of suspectedmilitants were grievouslyinjured. The identity ofthose killed and injuredcould not be immediatelyascertained but tribesmenbelieved they includedseveral foreign fightersassociated with al Qaedaand its affiliated militantgroups from Central Asia.

Polls on unverifiedlists will be unjust: SC

Army rejects US enquiry report as ‘factually incorrect’g Resents affixation of partial responsibility on Pakistani forces

CAIRO: Egyptian members of Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party celebrate as they arrive to the parliament

on Monday. Egypt’s lower house of parliament held its first session since a popular uprising ousted veteran president

Hosni Mubarak, with Islamists dominating the assembly for the first time. AFP | ANOTHER PICTURE & STORY ON PAGE 17

Continued on page 04


Documents

E-paper Pakistantoday KHI 24th January, 2012