e-paper pakistantoday karachi 13th nov, 2011

pakistantoday.com.pkRs22.00 Vol ii no 138 100 pages islamabad — peshawar edition Sunday, 13 november, 2011 Zul-Haj 16, 1432

MONITORING DESK

WITH a combative op-position accusing himof going soft on theMumbai attack, In-dian Prime Minister

said he was optimistic about the re-sumed with Islamabad and PakistanArmy was fully on board in carryingforward the process, the Times ofIndia said in a report on Saturday.

But the Indian premier stressedthat if another “barbarous” attackwere to happen, it would be a “set-back”. “I did discuss with PrimeMinister (Yousaf Raza) Gilaniwhether the is fully on board tocarry forward with the peaceprocess,” he was quoted as saying.“The sense I got was that after a longtime, Pakistan’s armed forces arefully on board,” he added.

He told reporters on board hisspecial aircraft while returning fromthe in the Maldives: “I did discusswith [Prime Minister ] the Mumbaiterror attack. Those who perpetratedthe barbarous attack must bebrought to justice.”

“I left Prime Minister Gilani inno doubt that if public opinion in

India is not satisfied that justice isbeing done to those responsible tothe barbarous attack, it won’t be pos-sible to move forward with the peaceprocess,” the Times of India quotedSingh as saying. “We both recognisethat if there is another attack likeMumbai, it will be a setback to thenormalization of relations. And thatwas understood by Prime MinisterGilani,” the Indian premier said.VISIT TO PAKISTAN: He said hisvisit to Pakistan would take placeonly when Pakistan took solid stepsagainst the Mumbai terror attack ac-cused. Singh’s clarification came twodays after he held wide-ranging talkswith his Pakistani counterpart on thesidelines of the SAARC summit andamid the Bharatiya Janata Party’saccusation that he had gone soft onterror emanating from Pakistanbarely days before the third anniver-sary of the Mumbai attacks.

Pointing out that the relationsbetween India and Pakistan were“subject to accidents,” Singh tookpositive note of the decision of Pak-istan to grant Most Favoured Nationstatus to India and stressed on en-couraging development in areas suchas trade and the willingness of Pak-

istan to discuss all issues, includingthat of terror.“I told [Prime MinisterGilani] that terror as an instrumentof state policy has no takers in theworld and it has given rise to Pak-istani terrorism. Terror has to bedealt with firmly,” he said.

“Trade and economic relation-ship is one area where progress ispossible,” said Singh. Reacting tocriticism in India about him describ-ing Gilani as “a man of peace”, Singhsaid: “I have met Prime Minister Gi-lani four or five times. He agreed

with me that there is no way but tofind a peaceful resolution of all out-standing issues.”

“In fact, he (Gilani) has goneahead and expressed his reserva-tions that terrorism is a commonenemy, it has not helped advancePakistan’s cause. I tend to believethat Pakistan has a democratic gov-ernment. We would like tostrengthen the hands of the demo-cratic government,” he said.

However, Singh pointed out thathis decision to resume the peaceprocess with Pakistan was not an in-dividual-centric one, said the report.“Our approach to Pakistan is ‘trustbut verify’. We are not putting blindfaith in one individual. I do hope itwill genuinely lead to the normalisa-tion of relations,” he was quoted assaying.“If our government gets solidevidence that terror is continuing(from Pakistan), it will be a negativefactor. If trade relations move posi-tively, it will be a positive factor,”Singh said.“I come back with the ex-pectation that the second round ofresumed dialogue, which will com-mence very soon, will have the ad-vantage of more informed dialogue.I am optimistic,” he added.

SC warnsarmy against ‘illegal actions’

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

Chief Justice ofPakistan (CJP) IftikharMuhammad Chaudhryreminded the country’sarmed forces onSaturday theirfunctions as prescribedin the constitution,saying any action ofthe armed forces takenwithout direction fromthe federal governmentwould beunconstitutional,illegal, void ab initioand consequently of nolegal effect.During his address to

the visiting officers from National Defence University at theSupreme Court (SC), he recalled the SC verdict in the case ofthe Sindh High Court Bar Association vs The Federation ofPakistan to make it clearer that any illegal action of thearmed forces would be unconstitutional and invite the wideand varied application of Article 6 to all who abrogate orattempt to abrogate or subvert the constitution. He addedthat the SC judgement had laid down that the assumption ofpower by an authority not mentioned in the constitutionwould be unconstitutional, illegal and void ab initio and notliable to be recognised by any court, including the apex court. The CJP said the responsibility to interpret the constitutionhad been assigned to the SC. In the same judgement, he said,the SC had also added a new provision to the Code of Conductprescribed for judges of the superior courts, prohibiting themfrom taking fresh oath on any instrument not in consonancewith the constitution.He said keeping in view the importanceof the armed forces, a complete chapter was introduced in theconstitution which contained provisions for the command,oath and functions of the military. He said according toArticle 245 of the constitution, the functions and role of thearmed forces was, under the directions of the federalgovernment, to defend Pakistan against external aggressionor threat of war, and secondly, subject to law, act in aid ofcivil power when called upon to do so.He told the visiting officers that the oath provided in the ThirdSchedule of the constitution bound every member of the armedforces to bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan and upholdthe constitution, which embodied the will of the people.Moreover, they were bound by the oath not to engage inpolitical activities whatsoever and serve the country honestlyand faithfully, as required by and under the law. The CJP saidfurther that the constitution of any country was a supremedocument that defined the composition and powers of variousorgans of the state and harmonised the relations between them.The constitution, he said, provided basic framework forgovernance of a country and its fundamental values. Variousconstitutions of the world provided different schemes fordistribution of powers between the organs of the state, he said,adding that it was important for the state functionaries to beaware of the principles of the constitution and the law. Hequoted an excerpt from Quaid-e-Azam’s address to the officersof Staff College, Quetta in 1948, in which he said: “Theexecutive authority flows from the head of the government ofPakistan and, therefore, any command or orders that may cometo you cannot come without the sanction of the executive head.”

Pakistan Army wantspeace too, says Singhg indian pM says another Mumbai-like attack would be a ‘setback’ g says he willvisit pakistan only when it takes solid steps against Mumbai attack accused

g cJp says action taken by armedforces without direction fromgovt will be unconstitutional

g says assumption of power byauthority not mentioned inconstitution won’t berecognised by any court

LJ terroristskill army major,four security personnelCHAKWAL/JHELUM: Amajor of the Pakistan Armyand four intelligencepersonnel were reportedlyabducted and later killed bymilitants of the bannedLashkar-e-Jhangvi terroristgroup in Jhelum on Saturday.According to the Jhelum DPO,Dr Arshad, a top commanderof the Lashkar-e-Jhanvi andhis men abducted Major Afaqand four other intelligencepersonnel for ransom.Reports from the area saidthat more than 200 police andmilitary personnel launched asearch operation in the areaand killed five militants,including Dr Arshad, in the PirChambal area of Pind DadanKhan tehsil, near theGharibwal cement factory.However, military sourcesclaimed that the operation wasconducted by the police alone.The DPO told a private TVchannel that Dr Arshad hadkilled the security officialsduring the encounter. He saidthat Dr Arshad was alsowanted by police in a murdercase in Mandi BahauddinSaddar Police Station. agencies

Continued on page 04

SHABQADAR: Policemen collect evidence from the site of a bomb explosion in Shabqadar, a town close to Peshawar, on

Saturday. A remote-controlled bomb exploded near a police checkpost, killing one policeman and wounding another. staff photo

Karachi 13-11-2011 pages_Layout 1 11/13/2011 2:03 AM

02Sunday, 13 November, 2011

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Four gunned down at Pindi district courts The nine lives of ‘Karachi’s toughest cop’ The world of Richard Holbrooke

Railways likely to get

Rs 6 billion next weekLAHORE: Pakistan Railways is likely to get a loan of Rs 6 billionnext week from the consortium of nationalised banks to repair its 96locomotives. Railways General Manager (operations) Saeed Akhtar onSaturday said an agreement in this regard might be signed very soon.He said 96 faulty locomotives would be re-inducted to the railwaysfleet with the amount obtained from the banks. Under the plan, fourlocomotives would roll out of workshops within next two to threemonths and all the faulty locomotives would be brought back on trackgradually, Akhtar said. He said freight train operation would also berestarted by next month and would help the organisation earnrevenue. He said all out efforts were being made to restore the glory ofPakistan Railways. Akhtar said business train would start itsoperations by the end of the current moth under public-privateownership. Meanwhile, operations of 116 mail trains were suspendedowing to the shortage of locomotives and only the main trains on theLahore-Karachi, Lahore-Quetta and Lahore-Rawalpindi sections wereoperated. According to sources, railways had a few operationalengines out of total 502, but on Saturday, just 88 locomotives wereleft in a position throughout the country to be operated. On the otherhand, regular payment to the staff, including TA/DA and GP, hasbecome a dream for employees, as railway authorities have used upthe funds of staff for paying salaries and now waiting for the release ofpayment under the bailout package. STAFF REPORT

Sharifs to donate retrieved Rs 110m

to Sharif Medical Trust LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President NawazSharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and their family havedecided to donate the retrieved amount of Rs 110 million to theSharif Medical Trust. The amount retrieved on the orders of theLahore High Court was recovered as penalty from the Sharif familyin the defunct plane high jacking case during former presidentPervez Musharraf’s regime. The announcement was made by thespokesman of the Sharif family on Saturday. He said it was evidentfrom the LHC order that the action of Musharraf’s governmentagainst the Sharif family was based on mere injustice. The familydecided to donate this amount as a token of gratitude to the SharifMedical Trust, the spokesman said. STAFF REPORT

Another 7 succumb to

dengue in Lahore LAHORE: The dengue virus claimed another seven lives in theprovincial capital on Saturday. According to reports, Riffat Bibi,45, died in Jinnah Hospital while Muhammad Aslam, 55, lost hislife owing to complications due the fever in Services Hospital.Meanwhile, INP reported Muhammad Ijaz, 47, a resident ofDavis Road died at the Mayo Hospital late on Friday night.Another dengue victim, 46-year-old Kishwar Khatoon, resident ofSanda, lost her fight against the disease. Muhammad Afzal, 30,resident of Kot Khwaja Saeed died at Ganga Ram Hospital. Twodengue patients from Model Town, Ahsan-ul-Haq andMuhammad Hussain, died at Ittefaq Hospital. The official deathtoll reached 332 in Punjab of which 288 died in the Lahore alonewhereas independent sources claimed that 362 people had diedin the provincial capital alone while there was no system in placefor recording data in other cities. STAFF REPORT

3 injured in attack on police vehicleQUETTA: Three people, including a woman, were wounded in aremote-controlled bomb explosion in Dera Murad Jamali area ofNaseerabad district, some 300 kilometer southeast of Quetta, onSaturday. Police said unknown militants attached explosivedevices to a motorcycle parked in a cattle market in Dera MuradJamali. The explosives went off when a police vehicle passed by.A large blast occurred that injured three people, including awoman, while the police vehicle was partially damaged. However,police personnel remained unhurt. The injured were shifted to ahospital for medical aid, where the condition of two injured,Nasir Ahmed and Bibi Naz Gul, was stated to be serious. Policeofficials said the police vehicle was the main target of the blast.The bomb weighed about one and half kilogram. After the blast,police and Frontier Corps personnel started a search operation tofind the accused involved in the blast. No group has claimedresponsibility for bomb attack. However, police suspected Balochmilitants. STAFF REPORT

LAHOREImRAn ADnAn

The cash-strapped national flag carrier is fac-ing serious hardship in running smooth rou-tine and Haj operations.

On one hand, foreign aviation organisa-tions are fast losing their trust in Pakistan In-ternational Airline (PIA)’s financial health;while on the other, various employee associ-ations are giving tough time to the manage-ment on virtually every issue.

Aviation industry sources have disclosedthat a Saudi Arabian vendor had asked thenational flag carrier to release payment of $4million outstanding fuel bills. PIA waswarned that if it did not clear the outstandingbill in 72 hours, it would stop fuel supply toPIA’s aircraft at Jeddah airport, which couldjeopardise the smooth post-Haj operation.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO-IRI) has already closed its air-space for PIA aircraft over adelayed outstanding paymentof $0.6 million, which re-sulted in that the national flagcarrier is incurring the higher fuelcost for Lahore- and Islamabad-bound return Haj flights as aircrafts haveto take a slightly longer route over Oman’sairspace, sources maintained.

Apart from financial irregularities andmismanagement, the national flag carrier isfacing hard resistance from several staffunions and associations. In a recent episode,

PIA Managing Director Captain NadeemYousufzai had to surrender before the em-ployee associations by scrapping the proposalof wet lease of two aircraft.

The sources said the national flag carrierhad planned to acquire two Airbus A320 onwet lease, which meant PIA had to pay hourlyrent for aircraft, complete crew, maintenanceand insurance (ACMI). However, uponprotest by Pakistan Airline Pilots’ Association(PALPA) and a number of other staff associa-tions, the management scrapped the pro-posal.

As PIA is passing through its most diffi-cult times, PALPA and other PIA unions areof the view that instead of acquiring aircrafton lease, the airline should strive to restoresix grounded aircraft. In a recent meetingwith the PIA MD, union office-bearers askedthe management that if aircraft acquisitionon lease was unavoidable, the airline should

opt for some Boeing variant forwhich PIA had expertise and

overhauling or main-t e n a n c e

facilities. In another move, PIA’s senior man-agement decided to constitute a Counter Cor-ruption Committee to rein in leakages. But,interestingly, PALPA, Society of Aircraft En-gineers PIA (SAEP), Flight Engineers Associ-ation (FENA) and Aircraft TechniciansAssociation of PIA (ATAP) again opposed thedevelopment by withdrawing their namesfrom the committee. Office-bearers of em-ployee associations are of the view that thecommittee is comprised of non-serious rep-resentatives who could not bring any changeby preventing corruption.

Talking to Pakistan Today, a seniorPALPA member said all professional bodies,including PALPA, wanted to ensure trans-parency in the airline’s affairs, but PIA man-agement had to be serious about it.

He said earlier the national flag carrieracquired two air crafts from a Greek companyon wet lease in which millions of dollars werewasted, as none of the two aircraft joined Hajoperation. Despite several attempts, PIA’sspokesman could not be reachedfor a comment.

pia engulfed by financialwoes, unions’ wrath

WELCOME BACK: A florist decorates a car with fresh flowers to

welcome pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia after perform Haj. inp



NewsCoMMeNTSo far so good but...

Articles on Page 12-13

Making the right noises?

Building bridgesSAARC could be a regional power hub.

Humayun Guahar says:

m j Akbar says:The honourable idiot: A dust storm gathers all kinds of specks.

Sarmad Bashir says:The runaway general: And the Balochistan quagmire he created.

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ARTS & eNTeRTAiNMeNTI’m not getting married: Kareena

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SPoRTSAisam-Bopanna in Paris masters final

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Obama to press medvedev, Hu on Iran

The Sting: Of deceit and double-standards.

KARACHITARIQ HABIB

THE Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP) governmenthas raised controversyby ordering governmentofficials to “just keep

quiet” on the matter of the murderof Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) central leader Dr ImranFarooq, Pakistan Today has learnt.

Whereas accused in the ImranFarooq murder case were arrestedin August 2011, the government,Interior and Home Ministers havemaintained their silence on thematter.

On August 27, Pakistan Todayrevealed two ex-students ofKarachi University, linked with astudent organization, had been ar-rested for the murder of Dr ImranFarooq.

However, Interior MinisterRehman Malik denied any arrestfrom Karachi Airport in connectionwith the Imran Farooq murdercase. Subsequently, all governmentpersonnel denied the arrest.

However, on Monday, LondonCommissioner Bernard HoweHougan said two suspects had beenarrested in Pakistan by Pakistaniintelligence agencies for involve-ment in the murder of Dr ImranFarooq.

After the London commis-sioner’s statement, while the mainallies of the PPP government comeup with a strategy to control thedamage, the PPP leadership hasdecided to enforce silence on thesubject.

Talking to media on Saturday,Sindh Home Minister ManzoorWassan said the Federal Investiga-tion Agency (FIA) was investigat-ing the murder of Imran Farooqand he could not comment on thematter.

However, internal sourcesclaimed the PPP leadership hadmet and decided to follow a policyof “wait and see.”

There are issues outstandingamongst the PPP and MQM leader-ships on the Local Government’ssystem and the PPP is trying totake advantage from the pressure

on the MQM after the London com-missioners’ statement.

On the other side, intelligenceagencies are yet to have shown thearrest of the suspects which asksthe question: under what law havethey not revealed the arrests ofpersons after 24 hours of their ar-rest. Sources said it is possible in-telligence agencies had notproduced the suspects as a favourto the governing alliance.

Sources said it appears that theImran Farooq murder case hasbeen solved and the PPP govern-ment is now using it as a pressuretactic.

Sources said the only hope toknow who was involved in ImranFarooq’s murder lies in Londonsince the PPP is using the matter tosave their government.

Sources said the PPP’s silencealso raising questions about the in-terior and home ministries sinceboth ministers were confusing thepeople of Pakistan. Interior Minis-ter Rehman Malik has yet to havecommented on the matter after thestatement issued from London.

Federal govt alonecan talk aboutdr imran’s murder,says wasan

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

The Sindh government has refused to revealor mention anything about two menarrested in Pakistan in connection with themurder of Dr Imran Farooq in London,saying the federal government alone hadthe authority to talk reveal anythingregarding the incident. The two men werearrested in August at Qauid-e AzamInternational Airport Karachi but they werenot produced in any court for remand norwere their identities and affiliation revealed.Interior Minister Rehman Malik and theBritish High Commissioner had denied anysuch arrest. However, London policecommissioner Bernard Howe-Hogan hadsaid that investigation into the murder ofFarooq was underway. He accepted thattwo men had been arrested in Pakistan infor their alleged involvement in the murder.The reports regarding the arrest werecarried in Pakistani media on August 26and 27 however there no body wasproduced to confirm the reports. Neitherlocal police, nor the FIA or the Britishadministration had accepted the reports.Even after confirmation by the Londonpolice commissioner, the Sindhgovernment was not ready give any detailregarding the men with Sindh HomeMinister Manzoor Wasan closing thechapter altogether saying that federalgovernment alone could talk about theissue. “The federal government alone cantalk about the arrests in connection with themurder of Dr Imran Farooq,” he said.

North waziristan

militant leader

threatens govt MIRANSHAH

REuTERS

The most powerful militant leader in NorthWaziristan has threatened to tear up a peaceaccord and turn his fighters against thegovernment. Hafiz Gul Bahadur has anunofficial non-aggression pact with themilitary, focusing instead on attacking UStroops in Afghanistan. Bahadur is known tohave links with notorious militant groups inNorth Waziristan, including the Haqqaninetwork, which has emerged as the most high-profile threat to US forces in Afghanistan.Bahadur criticised Pakistani leaders forallowing the US to conduct drone missilestrikes in North Waziristan and said the councilof militant groups he heads would no longerhold talks with the government. “We have beenshowing patience because of problems beingfaced by common people but now thegovernment has also resorted to repression onour common people at the behest offoreigners,” Bahadur, who heads a PakistaniTaliban faction, said in a statement distributedin North Waziristan. He accused thegovernment of firing mortar bombs andcannons on civilians and demolishing ahospital and other buildings in NorthWaziristan. Army officials were notimmediately available for comment. Localmilitary officials said “terrorists” had usedpublic buildings to launch rocket attacks atmilitary checkpoints.

ISLAMABADARIF TAj

The Central Executive Committee(CEC) of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is going to hold animportant meeting today (Sun-day), in which the party said de-cisions having far-reachingimpact would be made.

“The important issues beingtaken up tomorrow in the meetingare possible alliance with variousnationalist parties in Sindh andBalochistan, matter pertaining tojoining the party by several politi-cians and establishment of a cell byparty to collect details of the assetsof politicians, including those of thePTI. These are important issues andCEC’s decisions in this regardwould cast far-reaching impact onthe country’s overall political situa-tion,” PTI spokesman ChaudhryRizwan told Pakistan Today on Sat-urday. He said PTI chief ImranKhan had met certain nationalistleaders during his visit to Sindh lastmonth and discussed matters re-lated to alliance. “Now the CECmeeting will take up and discuss thematter in detail,” Rizwan said. Headded that this would be the first

meeting of the CEC after PTI’s suc-cessful public gathering in Lahore.

When questioned about the di-alogue between the PTI and Like-minded Group of the PakistanMuslim League-Q, the spokesmansaid the CEC would decide if thePTI would side with any party orask them to formally join the PTI.He said the PTI was likely to an-nounce the establishment of a cellwhich would collect details ofpoliticians’ assets. “Imran Khansaid in Lahore while addressing thehistoric public gathering that thePTI will establish a cell to collectdetails of the assets of differentpoliticians, including those of thePTI, and formal establishment ofthe cell is likely to be announcedafter the meeting,” the spokesmansaid. Rizwan said a large number ofpeople were aspiring to join thePTI and the CEC would make afinal decision in this regard. “PTI’ssuccessful public rally in Lahore isa watershed in the political historyof the country and new political sit-uation has emerged after it. A largenumber of people are contactingthe PTI to join the party. The CECwill discuss the matter in detail,”the PTI spokesman.

PPP govt using ImranFarooq murder caseas ‘pressure tactic’g officials told to ‘just keep quiet’ when asked about murder

pti cec meetingof ‘far-reachingimpact’ today



News

LAHOREnASIR BuTT

THE PakistanPeople’s Party(PPP) is going totake disciplinaryaction against

two party lawmakers fromMultan division for an-nouncing a forward bloc ofPPP in the Punjab Assemblyand the members would beserved show-cause noticesnext week.

Malik MuhammadAbbas Rana and DoctorMuhammad Akhtar Malikon Saturday warned of de-fection after voicing concernover Prime Minister YousafRaza Gilani’s working.

Rana was elected fromPP-201 (Multan-VIII) onPPP ticket and Malik fromPP-202 (Multan-IX). Ranaon Saturday threatened theparty leadership of making aforward bloc.

Talking to reporters, hesaid that he along with oth-ers 25 MPAs would partways with the PPP if former

foreign minister ShahMehmood Qureshi askedthem to do so.

“I would resign from theHouse along with 15 otherMPAs if Shah Sahib ordersme,” he said. The MPAadded that Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani hadstopped his developmentfunds. Meanwhile, DoctorMuhammad Akhtar Malikaccused the prime ministerof dividing the party.

He said that he would becompelled to form a forwardbloc along with 50 disgrun-tled PPP MPAs. He said Gi-lani was destroying the PPP,as he benefited those whowanted to divide the party.

After the news broke outof party defectors in thePunjab Assembly, the PPPparliamentary party was in ashock, as the announcementexhibited the differenceswithin the party.

However, party sourcessaid that informal contactsbetween party stalwartswere renewed and a parlia-mentary party meeting was

scheduled to be held nextweek under Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani.

The PPP Deputy Parlia-mentary Leader in PunjabAssembly Shaukat Basrasaid the move by the legisla-tors was unexpected, as theywere attached with formerforeign minister ShahMehmood Qureshi, who hadtried all to change the loyal-ties of other PPP lawmakersin Punjab Assembly, butfailed.

Basra said disciplinaryaction against the two MPswould be taken and in thefirst step they would beserved show-cause noticenext week and then a refer-ence against them would beforwarded to Election Com-mission of Pakistan.

He strongly dispelledthe impression the two MPshad the support of 25 otherPPP legislators who wereready to defect. He said thePPP in Punjab Assemblywas completely intact andthere were no chances ofmore defections.

PPP to take disciplinaryaction against 2 PunjabMPs for defection


The Foreign Office on Satur-day denied media reportssuggesting the meeting be-tween Prime MinisterYousuf Raza Gilani andAfghan President HamidKarzai on the sidelines of theSAARC Summit in the Mal-dives was held in a ‘tense’ at-mosphere and did notconclude on a positive note.

Reporting on the meet-ing between the Pakistanand Afghanistan leadersfrom Addu in the Maldives,an English daily had claimedefforts to defuse tensions be-tween Pakistan andAfghanistan appeared to suf-fer a setback on Friday whena meeting between Gilaniand Karzai did not concludeon a positive note.

It said, “According to amember of the Pakistani del-egation, President Karzaiadopted a rather aggressive

posture at the meeting heldat the Shangrila resort inAddu and bombarded uswith a number of demandslaced with accusations.”

Another newspaperquoted a federal ministersaying, “The meeting tookplace in a highly tense at-mosphere as the Afghanpresident was not in a moodto listen to anyone.”

According to report, theminister said, “Franklyspeaking, PM Gilani wastaken aback since he had ex-pected a friendly gesturefrom the Afghan president.”

Commenting on whatshe dubbed “speculativemedia reports” on the meet-ing between PM Gilani andPresident Karzai, ForeignOffice spokespersonTehmina Janjua said the bi-lateral meeting on the side-lines of the SAARC Summitin the Maldives was held in acordial atmosphere and pro-vided a good opportunity for

a frank and in-depth ex-change of views.

She said Gilani re-counted Pakistan’s efforts toimprove relations withAfghanistan and had takenseveral initiatives in this re-gard.

She said, “Pakistan sup-ported an Afghan-led andAfghan-owned process ofreconciliation and peace andwill continue to work tostrengthen relations withAfghanistan.

She said the PM hadasked Afghanistan to specifyand lead the reconciliationand peace process.

She called ProfessorRabbani’s assassination‘tragic’ and a ‘set back.’ Shesaid Karzai had affirmed theimportance Afghanistan at-tached to its relations withPakistan. “Both sides agreeddecisions reached at the re-cent Istanbul TrilateralSummit should be imple-mented,” she said.

fo denies reports gilani,Karzai meeting was ‘tense’

He said further that theconstitution provided for asystem of separation ofpowers between the threeorgans: the legislature, ex-ecutive and judiciary. Eachorgan was required to per-form its functions to thefullest extent and avoid in-tervention in the domainof the other, he added. Hesaid this was how the busi-ness of the state could beconducted in an organisedand coherent manner andpeace and security couldbe maintained in the coun-try.

He said there was aseparate part of the consti-tution dealing with thecomposition and jurisdic-tion of the country’s judi-cature. However, underthe scheme of the constitu-tion, the judiciary had notbeen defined as a part ofthe state, he added.

“The Constitution ofPakistan provides the sys-tem of checks and balancesbetween the organs of thestate. The judiciary hasbeen given the power of ju-dicial review of executiveand legislative actions.The constitution has guar-anteed the protection offundamental rights includ-ing right to life, safeguardas to arrest and detention,protection of property,right to information, rightto education and guaran-tee of freedom of move-ment, association, speech,trade, business or profes-sion. The said object of theconstitution can only beachieved through an inde-pendent judiciary. Theconstitution guaranteesthat the independence ofjudiciary shall be fully se-cured and for this purposeit must be separated fromthe executive,” saidChaudhry.

sc warns armyContinued fRom page 1

KARACHIQAZI ASIF

Though Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) co-chairmanAsif Ali Zardari has askedprovincial ministers not toissue any statements againstDr Zulfiqar Mirza nor replyto his provocations, the dif-ferences between SindhHome Minister Wasan andformer home minister DrZulfiqar Mirza have sur-faced in Badin, where theirsupporters took out ralliesin different towns againsteach other.

The first rally led byPeeroz Shahani was held inGolarchi town of Badin dis-trict, where PPP workerswhile showing support toMirza, chanted slogansagainst Wasan, his brotherand some other ministersalso.

Afterwards, PPP ac-tivists came out to organise

more rallies in differenttowns of Badin, includingMatli, Danbalo, Tando Ghu-lam Muhammad, Khorwah,in favour Wasan and againstthe former Sindh minister.

According to people,these rallies were organisedby PPP Badin chapter to re-move the stance that Badinis supportive of Mirza’s an-

tics. “The district leadershipof PPP wants to show thatthey are committed to partydecisions and not one per-sonality,” they said. Thepeople were of the view thatif a line is drawn betweenPPP and Mirza, the PPP willnot support Mirza and hewill stand alone. With dif-ferences between Mirza and

the PPP-led Sindh govern-ment rising, District PoliceOfficer (DPO) Ashfaq Khanwent on leave for threemonths and DPS Golarchiand Matli tehsils were alsochanged on Saturday. Thesepolice officers were report-edly loyal to the formerhome minister.

Another defining mo-ment was that despite beingpresent in Badin, NationalAssembly Speaker DrFehmida Mirza did not at-tend the video conferenceheld by President Zardari onFriday with elected repre-sentatives and administra-tion of Badin to know aboutrelief and rehabilitation inthe district after recentflooding. However, inde-pendent observers are of theview that if differences be-tween President Zardari andMirza reach a point of no re-turn, the loser will not beMirza only.

Badin rallies against Wasan, then Mirza

PPP Punjab

cancels rallies,

gatherings

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) Punjab chapter onSaturday cancelled all itsrallies and public gatheringsthroughout the province,which were meant to show itspolitical strength.Following the announcementof Prime Minister Syed YousafRaza Gilani, PPP PunjabGeneral Secretary SamiullahKhan said that as the PPP wasin government and keeping inview the critical circumstancesin the country, it was decidedto defer all rallies andmeetings. He said that in thelarger public interest, the PPPwould not hold any publicmeeting or rally on patterns ofthe Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) or thePakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf(PTI). “We are in thegovernment and thegovernment doesn’t need toshow its power or muscles toprove its strength,” he said.

POWER TO THE 99%: Two protesters, one of them wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, hold up banners as they take part in a

demonstration in front of the Reichstag building housing the Bundestag in munich. afp


President of the Jinnah In-stitute and former federalminister Sherry Rehman hasjoined voice with all humanrights organisations in con-demning the murder of threeHindu brothers in Shikarpurdistrict on November 9.

Sherry also moved anadjournment motion in theNational Assembly yesterdayagainst this heinous act.

Three Hindu brothers,Dr Ajeet Kumar, Dr NareshKumar and Dr AshokKumar, were gunned downdue to an altercation withthe Muslim Baban KhanBhayo tribe over a dancinggirl, meters away from the

local police station. The family members of

the victims have expresseddissatisfaction over the FIRregistered against theBhayo clansmen, believingit to be fabricated and pro-viding benefit of doubt tothe accused.

Shots fired nearwhite House

WASHINGTONOnlInE

A shooting incident involving apolice chase near the WhiteHouse has closed streets in theUS capital of Washington,according to initial reports.Shots were reported fired onFriday night between the WhiteHouse and the WashingtonMonument, setting off a flurryof law enforcement activity,CNN reported citing a US ParkPolice spokesman. The incidentwas reported shortly after 9pm,according to Sergeant DavidSchlosser, spokesman for thePark Police. Respondingofficers found an abandonedvehicle in the vicinity of thereported incident and weresearching it “trying to figure outwhat happened”.

6 killed in Khyber

Agency attacks

PESHAWARAFP

Two separate militant attacksleft at least six civilians,including children, and asmany militants dead in KhyberAgency on Saturday, officialssaid. “At least six peopleincluding two children and awoman were killed when amortar fired by militants fellon a house in Tirah valley,” asenior local administrationofficial, Saeed Ahmad Jan, toldAFP. He said the militantsapparently wanted to target anearby check-post of securityforces but missed. And in Baratown a group of 20-25militants from the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) group attacked acheck-post of the paramilitaryFrontier Corps, triggering agunfight. “The exchange of fireleft six militants dead and 10others wounded,” Jan said,adding that troops arrested allthe injured rebels.

sherry slams killing of

three hindu doctors


Sunday, 13 November, 2011

‘Singh-gilani bonhomie

something fresh’

Mani Shankar Aiyar in city

07

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

A teenage boy breathed his last at a private hospital inKarachi on Saturday due to the dengue virus, raising thedengue death toll to 14 in the metropolitan.

Sindh Dengue Surveillance Cell Provincial Focal Per-son/Civil Hospital Karachi Additional Medical Superin-tendent (General) Dr M Shakeel Aamir Mullick informedthe media through a statement that on November 1, 17-year-old HamzaHayat – residentof Block 40, Ce-ment Lane, Kea-mari Town– wastaken to ap r i v a t ehospital wherehe was con-f i r m e ddengue posi-tive, and on Sat-urday, breathedhis last.

KARACHIRAZZAK ABRO

WITH new electionsin its hindsight,the ruling Pak-istan People’sParty (PPP) lead-

ership has given the go-ahead tobring about some necessarychanges in the government as wellas the party structure in theprovince.

The decision was made on Sat-urday at a Bilawal House meetingof the PPP, presided over by its co-chairman and President Asif AliZardari, where some senior lead-ers of the PPP Sindh chapter and

provincial cabinet members em-powered the party co-chairman fortaking decisions in this regard

The president is likely to an-nounce the changes in cabinet andparty’s organisation during hisnext week visit to Sindh.

The meeting – held in twoparts – was attended by SindhChief Minister Qaim Ali Shahamong senior PPP leaders, federaland provincial ministers includingMakhdoom Amin Fahim, RazaRabbani, Naveed Qamar, NisarKhuhro, Ayaz Soomro, FaryalTalpur, Agha Siraj Durani, PirMazharul Haq, Murad Ali Shah,Jam Saifullah Dharejo and MirNadir Magsi.

Regarding PPP’s reorganisa-tion, it was decided to recruit per-sonnel for the vacant positions atdistrict and tehsil levels, motivatethe office-bearers currently inac-tive and take disciplinary actionagainst party leaders and membersinvolved in violating discipline.

According to insiders, theparty leaders also decided to makechanges in the PPP Karachi chap-ter’s structure. “It is likely that for-mer Karachi chapter presidentSenator Faisal Raza Abidi will bereappointed on his position whilesome other office-bearers of thecity may also be changed,” theytold Pakistan Today.

Talking with journalists after

the meeting, provincial Law Min-ister Ayaz Soomro, while not con-firming the decision about changesin the Sindh cabinet, however saidthat some “important” decisionswill be made during the upcomingvisit to Sindh of President Zardari.

“Decisions have been taken forreorganisation of party and actionagainst those violating party disci-pline and filling vacant party of-fices,” he said. “The president hasdirected the provincial governmentto fill vacant posts above 17-Grade indifferent government departmentsand formulate legislation for in-creasing the number of Sindh PublicService Commission members.”

Responding to a question re-

garding a new local governmentsystem, Soomro said the legisla-tion in this regard would be madeafter developing consensus amongall coalition partners. “No legisla-tion would be made against thewishes of the people and interestsof the province.”

Federal Water and Power Min-ister Naveed Qamar told the jour-nalists that issues pertaining to theupcoming Senate elections, gen-eral elections and party issues atprovincial and national levels werediscussed during the meeting.

Answering a query, he saidthat Dr Zulfiqar Mirza’s politicsdid not come under discussion.

Speaking to the media, Sindh

Food Minister Mir Nadir Magsisaid that the PPP co-chairmanmade it clear during the meetingthat nobody [in the party] shouldtry to take a solo flight.

About changes in the Sindhcabinet, he replied that he was un-aware of any such decision.

Meanwhile, President Zardarialso chaired two other meetingsregarding development of Sehwanand the availability of urea for theRabi season.

PML-F leader and SindhAuqaf Minister Dr Rafiq Banbhantold journalists that the presidenthas directed for the establishmentof a hotel and a branch of SindhBank in Sehwan.

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

A minorities group including members from Christian,Hindu, Bahá’í, Ahmedi, Zoroastrian and Sikh among Mus-lim communities has come forward to analyse and proposechanges in the curriculum that are acceptable for studentsof minority communities in Pakistan.

This was decided on Saturday by participants at themeeting of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan(HRCP)’s Working Group on Rights of Communities Vul-nerable Because of their Belief.

The HRCP minorities’ workgroup – launched last year– has decided to give priority to initiatives highlightinghuman rights’ violations and concerns, analysis of discrim-inatory laws and practices, and recommending appropri-ate changes and scrutiny of circumstances that allowadvocacy of hatred based on religious beliefs, which con-stitutes as incitement to discrimination, hostility or vio-lence.

The group will also look into the Hindu marriages act,forced conversations, equal rights and citizenship, andclass differences within the minority communities.

The group was set up in response to the growing vul-nerability of members of minority communities over thepast several years as extremists and militants have in-creasingly resorted to violence and incitement targetingthem.

HRCP chairperson Zohra Yusuf and Secretary GeneralIA Rehman among other members, Kishanchand Parwani,Petambar Kumar, Amarnath Motumal, Akthar HussainBaloch, Pushpa Kumari, attended the meeting.

‘Curriculum needsfixing to stem growing religious intolerance’

Teenager’s death

takes dengue toll to 14KARACHI

AAmIR mAjEED

An investigation into the manhan-dling of a University of Karachi(KU) lecturer at the hands of somestudents on November 3 has taken aU-turn after a witness reported thatthe lecturer, Alam Shah of KU’s De-partment of Philosophy, had pro-voked the students, Pakistan Todayhas learnt.

Moreover, according to sources,the varsity’s management has startedadopting delaying tactics to protectthe students involved in the lecturer’smanhandling because the attackersare believed to be activists of the stu-dent wing of a political party cur-rently part of the government.

Shah, who had reprimandedsome students over reckless driving,was beaten up by those students afteran exchange of heated words. Thestudents then returned with a mobthat attacked the lecturer until the

KU security rescued him.A senior KU employee said when

he had reached the scene of the inci-dent, he found no student there.“Meanwhile, the two students (whowere accused of reckless driving) ar-rived with a mob. One of the studentspointed towards Shah, saying thatthe lecturer had beaten him up. Fol-lowing that, the crowd attackedShah,” he added. He also said, “Thestatement of the two students and thecircumstances suggest that Shahmight have provoked the students.”

Following the incident, the uni-versity’s teachers boycotted classesuntil the KU administration toldthem that the case was pending be-fore the disciplinary committee,which would resolve the case by No-vember 10, causing the teachers toend the boycott. However, sourcessaid, the case was transferred fromthe high-power inquiry committee tothe disciplinary committee on No-vember 11.

The Karachi University Teach-ers Society (KUTS) had called a gen-eral body meeting on November 10and decided to resume academic ac-tivities after the varsity manage-ment assured them that thedisciplinary committee is dealingwith the matter.

KUTS President Dr MuttahirSheikh said the KU management hadsought a week’s time on November 3to resolve the case. He said the dead-line expired on November 10 and theteachers’ meeting was called to re-view the development in Shah’s case.However, he added, the managementtold us that the disciplinary commit-tee needed another week to resolvethe case, so the teachers have post-poned the meeting until the newdeadline expires.

On the other hand, KU Discipli-nary Committee Convener Prof DrAbuzar Wajdi said the case washanded over to the committee on Fri-day, November 11. Wajdi said the

committee met on Saturday to reviewthe case and sought details of thecase from the inquiry committee.

He said the findings of the in-quiry committee would be reviewedand then the medico-legal officer’sreport analysed, following which thecommittee would issue show-causenotices to the students identified.

He also said if the students re-spond to the notices, then the com-mittee would take their written andverbal statements and match themwith the witnesses and victim’s state-ments. He added that if the state-ments of the victim, students andwitnesses clash, then cross-examina-tion would be conducted.

It is pertinent to mention herethat the KU vice chancellor has sus-pended the results of the two stu-dents accused of attacking thelecturer, and barred them from at-tending classes and taking examina-tions until the disciplinary committeeresolves the case.

KU lecturer’s ‘attackers’ likelyto dodge punishment■ ongoing investigation suggests lecturer provoked students ■ varsity management delaying

probe as students involved in incident affiliated with political party currently part of govt

PPP switches to damage-control mode in Sindh■ Keeping the next elections in view, party decides to overhaul Sindh cabinet and party structure

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

Posted on numerous blogs, this pic-ture has become quite a sensationfor the past few days, so much sothat there is a fan page on Facebookfor the person on it.

The picture was first posted onkalam.tv and then on huffington-post.com, later turning into a blog-gers’ favourite.

The billboard in the picture issupposed to be situated along theShahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi.

The billboard carries a pictureof a man and his message in whichhe is apologising to “Princess” forbeing a “dirty, sneaky, immoral,poorly-endowed slimeball” andwants to “make things right”.

“Nabeel Khokhar” also goes onto write at the end that “This is nota public service message”.

There is no confirmation as towhether the billboard really existsor not. The picture might be a Pho-toshop trick, but it has certainlymanaged to flood blogs with com-ments. The manner in which“Khokhar” has expressed his feel-ings have not gone down well with

many who think he has only wastedmoney at a time when floods haveravaged Sindh, thousands lost theirhomes and 1,600 people committed

suicide in the country this yearalone, whereas others find it hilari-ous. There are also those who be-lieve it is a prank, while some even

sympathise with the man. “MrKhokhar” might not even be a realperson, but for now, he is a celebrityon the Internet.

Mr nabeel Khokhar are you for real?


karachi06PakistaN today


AHOy, MAtEyS! this ‘pirate’ steers his‘ship’ at the Drigh Road. asiM RehMani

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

Afemale student was firstraped and then torturedto death before beingthrown away inside aschool building in Orangi

Town on Saturday.Police found the body of the de-

ceased from a private school located inSector-14, Orangi Town shifted it to theAbbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Doctors said the victim had beenraped and tortured to death.

The identity of the deceased couldnot be ascertained until the filing ofthis report.

Separately, a man was shot dead byunidentified assailants in the BilalColony area of Quaidabad.

Police said the attackers sprayedFazal Ameen with bullets while he wasreturning home.

The body of a man was foundnear the People’s Stadium at Mau-ripur Road.

Police said the deceased identifiedas Mehrab Hussain had been shottwice on his chest.

The victim was a resident of BiharColony and owned a shop in the area.

In the Garden area, a man waselectrocuted while trying to hook anillegal connection from the mainline. His body was shifted to the Civil

Hospital.Eyewitnesses said the victim had

lodged several complaints with theKESC for electricity outage but did notget any response and decided to get aconnection for himself.

Three people suffered bullet in-juries in the Mithadar area when al-legedly some policemen opened firein the area. Hammad Ishrat, Faizanand Ghafoor were shifted to the CivilHospital.

The injured persons were at a shopwhen the Mithadar police opened firefor an unknown reason. However, theMithadar Police station duty officersaid that no such incident took place.

A man died and two others were in-jured in a road accident at GuruMandir when a passenger bus collidedwith a taxi. Rescue workers shifted thedeceased and the injured to the JinnahPostgraduate Medical Centre.

A 45-year-old man was killed whena dumper truck crashed into his motor-cycle at the 2-minute chowrangi inNorth Karachi. The body of the de-ceased was shifted to Abbasi ShaheedHospital.

Meanwhile, security forces ar-rested nine suspects allegedly involvedin different crimes on Saturday.

The Darakhshan police arrestedtwo suspects named Tasawor Ali andAshraf, who were wanted in a case ofrobbery, when they had entered a

house and cut the ears and hands of a70-year-old man.

The Anti-Encroachment Cell ar-rested three alleged land grabbers. Thesuspects identified as Sikandar Barohi,Faizullah and Inayat were involved inselling government properties in Gul-shane-e-Raheem, police said.

Four motorcycle snatchers were ar-rested after a brief encounter with po-lice near the Hamdard University onNorthern Bypass. Police claimed tohave recovered two stolen motorcycles,three mobiles and other valuables fromthe suspects.

Two bandits were caught red-handed by police while they were loot-ing a passenger bus.

Police also claimed recoveringweapons from the suspects, identifiedas Khair Muhammad and Asghar, andregistered a case against them.

A 12 year-old boy was recoveredfrom a police check post situated in theClifton area when Sindh Home Minis-ter Manzoor Wasan conducted a sur-prise raid.

The boy was taken into custody bythe law enforcers nine days ago withoutany reason.

Talking to journalists, the boy saidthat police had arrested him and de-clared him a thief but did not registerany case against him. “[Police] weredemanding a bribe for my release,” thechild said.

Female student raped, killed and dumped■ Five more die in violence and mishaps

■ wants work on shrine’s dome and courtyard

completed by January 30

CiNeMA FiLM TiMe

ATRiUM RA.oNe SAT-SUN: 02:00PM

111287486 RA.oNe SAT-SUN: 09:00PM

RA.oNe SAT-SUN: 11:45PM

RoCK STAR SAT-SUN: 10:45PM






PUSS iN THe booTS SAT-SUN: 05:00PM

PUSS iN THe booTS SAT-SUN: 07:00PM

boL SAT-SUN: 10:30AM

LooT SAT-SUN: 07:30PM

ReAL STeeL SAT-SUN: 02:30PM



ReAL STeeL SAT-SUN: 12:30AM

CiNePLeX RA-oNe dAiLy: 2:30PM

35840996-7 RA-oNe dAiLy: 3:00PM

RA-oNe dAiLy: 5:00PM






RA-oNe MoN-THURS: 11:00PM



ReAL STeeL MoN-THURS: 03:30PM



ReAL STeeL FRi-SUN: 03:00PM




RoCK STAR MoN-THURS: 03:30PM



RoCK STAR FRi-SUN: 02:30PM




PUSS iN booTS MoN-THURS: 02:00PM

PUSS iN booTS MoN-THURS: 03:30PM

PUSS iN booTS FRi-SUN: 03:00PM

PUSS iN booTS FRi-SUN: 5:00PM

NiSHAT RoCK STAR dAiLy: 03:00PM

32251535 RoCK STAR dAiLy: 06:00PM

RoCK STAR dAiLy: 09:00PM

RoCK STAR SUNdAyS : 12:00PM

PRiNCe RA-oNe dAiLy: 03:00PM

32254760 RA-oNe dAiLy: 06:00PM


RA-oNe SUNdAyS: 12:00PM

CAPRi LooT dAiLy: 03:00PM

32259904 LooT dAiLy: 06:00PM

LooT dAiLy: 09:00PM

LooT SUNdAyS: 12:00PM

President orders quick renovationof Qalander’s shrine

‘Media can be effective inincreasing public healthawareness’

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

Media can play an effectiverole in increasing awarenessabout public health issues,said Dow University ofHealth Sciences (DUHS)Vice Chancellor Prof Ma-sood Hameed Khan at a cer-tificate distributionceremony of the first Intro-ductory Short Course forHealth Journalists held atthe Dow Medical College(DMC). The introductorycourse is a capacity-buildingprogramme of a series ofshort courses for healthjournalists being offered bythe DUHS in collaborationwith the Association ofHealth Journalists Pakistan.Speaking as the chief gueston the occasion, Khan saidproper understanding ofhealth issues by media per-sonnel is very important. Hesaid the DUHS would pro-vide computer and technicaltraining to the children ofhealth journalists to helpthem develop their futurecareers. As part of its socialresponsibility, he added, theuniversity is already provid-ing computer and technicaltraining to the children ofthe faculty members of theDUHS and other varsities.Khan said for the first timein Pakistan, the DUHS hasintroduced this course forhealth journalists to en-hance their professionalskills of reporting on healthissues. DUHS Pro-ViceChancellor/DMC PrincipalProf M Umer Farooq saidhealth reporting is not aneasy job and the media hasto play its role by creatingawareness among themasses. Farooq said raisingthe quality of public healthand medical reporting is oneof the aims of this coursealong with developing adeeper understanding ofhealth sciences in journal-ists who would be able todevelop the skills to quicklyidentify unreported storiesregarding public health,properly analyse them andthen accurately report theimportant health issues.

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

President Asif Ali Zardari directed the provin-cial government on Saturday to ensure thatthe renovation and extension work of the his-toric shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalander in Se-hwan Sharif is completed as soon as possible.

“The work on the shrine’s dome and thecourtyard should be completed by January30,” he instructed while presiding over ameeting at the Bilawal House.

He also directed the authorities con-cerned to maintain quality and transparencyin the construction work and told theprovincial government to ensure securityand cleanliness in and around the shrine tofacilitate the visitors and uphold the sanctityof the place.

Provincial ministers Pir Mazharul Haq,Murad Ali Shah, Ayaz Soomro, Jam Saiful-lah Dharejo, Sharjeel Memon, MNA FauziaWahab, Sharmila Farooqui and senior offi-cials were present at the meeting.

The president stressed the need for pre-serving cultural monuments for researchersand for those who want to know, learn andexperience the heritage and Sufism.

Zardari also asked the federal and theprovincial governments to ensure release ofthe necessary funds needed for completionof the shrine’s renovation work.

During a meeting held earlier on thesame subject, it was decided that both thefederal and the provincial governmentswould share the cost of the work.


karachi 07PakistaN today


KARACHIAPP

IT was for the first time in thehistory of India and Pakistanthat a sitting Indian primeminister was all praise for hisPakistani counterpart and

termed him “the man of peace”, In-dian parliamentarian Mani ShankarAiyar said on Saturday.

“It was a historic moment for peo-ple of both countries that our PrimeMinister Dr Manmohan Singh praisedyour Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gi-lani for his efforts to bridge the gap be-tween us,” he said while talking to themedia after speaking at an interna-tional conference on “The situation inSouth Asia-Global and Regional

Implications” organised by theShaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Instituteof Science and Technology (SZABIST).

Referring to the recently concluded17th SAARC summit in Maldives, Aiyarsaid that he has always advocated theneed for “uninterrupted dialogue be-tween the two countries”.

“It is a good omen that leadershipfrom both sides are seeking peace forthe people and even your Foreign Min-ister Hina Rabbani Khar advocated thesame cause,” he said while replying tovarious queries.

He said that it was an open mes-sage to ‘non-state elements’ that they

have been exposed and could not hin-der the current peace process betweenPakistan and India.

“We need to achieve the peaceagenda at the earliest,” he maintained.

Aiyar was of the view that Pakistanshould have granted the most favourednation status to India much earlier.

“Instead of trade between Pakistan

and India via Dubai, it would be muchbetter to have direct commercial linksbetween our two countries,” he added.

Earlier the conference was also ad-dressed by former foreign secretaryNajamuddin Shaikh, defence analystDr Ayesha Siddiqa, economist DrKaiser Bengali and scholars fromCanada and France.

‘Singh-Gilani bonhomiesomething fresh’■ indian parliamentarian Mani Shankar Aiyar says he has always advocated

the need for uninterrupted dialogue between india and Pakistan

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

The Sindh Institute of Urology andTransplantation (SIUT) and the PakistanYouth Forum (PYF) organised an eventtitled “Spreading Smiles” on Saturday tomark the Universal Children’s Day, to beheld on November 20, for promoting thewelfare of ailing children being treated atSIUT’s paediatric wards.

The staff and volunteers of SIUT andPYF entrancingly decorated the wardsand thoroughly entertained the bedrid-den children in the institute by arranginga vast array of fun-filled activities, in-cluding, among many others, face/handpainting of multicoloured fancy designsand cartoon images as requested by chil-dren.

Exquisite magic shows were alsoarranged with a variety of spectacularand enthralling tricks that really capti-vated the children, following a fabulousfilm session featuring latest phenomenalblockbuster animated film “Rio”, whichwas displayed at the huge screen of theAgha Hassan Abidi Auditorium to thesheer delight of the children.

Moreover, to invigorate the aestheticskills, different drawing and sketchingexercises were carried out with the provi-sion of plain pencils, coloured pencils,

crayons and paints, etc.To top it all off, sumptuous healthy

refreshments and delightful gifts weredistributed among all the children.

While speaking on the occasion,SIUT’s Prof Dr Anwar Naqvi stressed onthe need of enhanced attention and in-vestment for the children in the form oftime, quality education, good health,value building, etc.

“It shall be immensely beneficial asthese children are the future of our coun-try,” he added.

PYF representatives Sanam Ashraf,Tooba Hatif, Syed Fahad Ali and Syed Ar-salan Ashraf also expressed their views atthe event.

While highlighting the aims, visionsand aspirations of the forum, they reiter-ated their commitment for similar pro-grammes in the future.

SIUT’s Prof Dr Naqi Zafar welcomedthe gathering and especially thanked thePYF members and the SIUT staff for theircontributions in ensuring a high-qualityevent.

The event turned out to be a hugesuccess as the glowing faces and cheerfulsmiles of bedridden children reflectedthe fact that the day was a very memo-rable and special experience for them,one which would be etched in their mem-ories forever.

UniVeRsaL chiLDRen’s DaY on 20th

‘spreading smiles’promotes welfareof ailing children

48 Hindu couples tiethe knot atmass wedding

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

Around four dozen Hinducouples tied the knot at acollective wedding cere-mony held in Karachi onSaturday evening.The event was arranged bythe Pakistan Hindu Council(PHC) – a non-governmen-tal organisation (NGO) ofthe upper-caste merchantclass Hindus of the city –with the help of several cel-lular phone companies,banks and other companies.The mega event was organ-ised at the YMCA Lawnwhere the couples sat in acolourful mandap (tem-porarily erected coveredwedding structure with pil-lars) and a pundit (oneadept in the Sanskrit lan-guage) performed the reli-gious rituals of the wedding.The PHC organises the an-nual event with the help ofdifferent companies, forwhich the NGO collectshuge sums of donationsfrom these companies toprovide the underprivilegedcouples with jewellery, beds,quilts, blankets, clothes,utensils and televisions.

hurry up with thefertilisers please!■ President orders speedy provision of commodity to

flood-affected farmers

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

President Asif Ali Zardari di-rected the Sindh govern-ment and National FertilizerCorporation (NFC) on Sat-urday to ensure that fertilis-ers are supplied to farmersin the rain- and flood-af-fected areas at the earliestfor the scheduled cultivationof Rabi season crops.

“Early supply of fertilis-ers will enable growers tosow their crops in time,” hesaid while chairing a meet-ing at Bilawal House, ac-cording to an officialhandout.

Provincial ministersMurad Ali Shah, Mir NadirKhan Magsi, Jam SaifullahDharejo, Ayaz Soomro,Sharjeel Memon, Secretaryto President Malik AsifHayat, NFC Chairman

Khalid Malik, heads of fer-tiliser companies and seniorgovernment officials werealso present in the meeting.

Zardari demanded swiftimplementation of the ‘RabiAssistance Plan’ in the rain-affected areas without anyfurther delay and instructedspeedy provision of seeds tofarmers so that sowing ofRabi crops in lower andupper parts of the provincecan start in time.

Earlier this week, thepresident had directed theprovincial governmentand NFC to arrange locallyproduced fertilisers forfarmers as the availabilityof imported fertiliserswould take time.

The provincial Agricul-ture Department has pro-posed a package costing Rs4.4 billion for the growers ofrain- and flood-hit districts

that would equally borne bythe federal and provincialgovernments

Under the package,wheat would be cultivatedon an area of 1.100 millionacres whereas wheat seedswould be provided to the af-fected farmers at the rate ofRs 50 per acre with one bagof urea weighing 50 kg.

The Agriculture De-partment estimated thetotal requirement of wheatto be 55,000 metric tonnesto cover the proposed areafor which the Sindh gov-ernment has already re-leased Rs 1 billion from itsshare in the first phase.

It was also informedduring the meeting that 25percent of the wheat seedequalling to 13,750 metrictonnes is initially beingprovided in the affecteddistricts.

Mani Shankar Aiyar


karachiPakistaN today

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PoLiCe 15

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KARACHi UNiveRSiTy 99261300-06

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Country’s medical fraternity

just got better!■ 4 Phds among 317 graduates at AKU’s 24th Convocation


Addressing the audience, the chief guest, Her excellency

dr Suraya dalil, Afghanistan’s acting public health minister.

REKHTE KE uSTAAD

‘Rekhte ke Ustaad: Mir Anis’ withZahra Sabri on November 13 atThe 2nd Floor. Call 35389033 formore information.

STUDY CIRCLEON NOVEMBER 13 AT 03:00 PMVENUE: T2F 2.0

STATE OF BEInG...

‘State of Being So Divided’ isrunning until November 15 atthe VM Art Gallery. Call34940411 for more information.

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KARACHI AmAR GuRIRO

THE 24th Convocation of the AgaKhan University (AKU) on Satur-day marked a special day in thelives of 317 graduates as they wereawarded degrees in recognition of

their hard work and perseverance.Four students were awarded Doctor of

Philosophy degrees this year, one in Educa-tion and three in Health Sciences.

In addition, 313 other degrees werealso conferred during the course of theday-long event. During the morning ses-sion, graduands from two academic enti-ties received their degrees. The Institutefor Educational Development awarded 40Master of Education degrees. The MedicalCollege awarded 95 Bachelor of Medicine,Bachelor of Surgery and 10 Master of Sci-ence degrees in the fields of Epidemiologyand Biostatistics, Health Policy and Man-agement and Clinical Research and 19Master of Bioethics degrees.

Speaking to the audience, the chief guest,the acting public health minister ofAfghanistan Her Excellency Dr Suraya Dalil,highlighted how the AKU has enabled its stu-dents and alumni to soar to academicheights, setting the highest standards of pro-fessional excellence, which are internation-ally recognised and nationally prized.

“Not only has AKU broken new ground inthe delivery of health care and education, butalso by combining education and health de-

livery it has built a synergy that has mutuallyreinforced both disciplines,” she added.

Dr Dalil pointed out there were sixAfghan graduands at the convocation: twowith Master of Education and four withBachelor of Science in Nursing degrees.

The afternoon session belonged to theSchool of Nursing with 149 students graduat-ing; these included 10 Master of Science inNursing, 29 Bachelor of Science in Nursing,50 Post-RN Bachelor of Science in Nursingand 60 Diploma in General Nursing.

Asif Jafferani and Zara Rafiq, recipientsof the Best Graduate Award from the MedicalCollege and School of Nursing, respectively,were greeted with rapturous applause by theentire gathering.

Highlighting the AKU’s commitment tonurturing the leaders of the future, the uni-versity’s president Firoz Rasul highlightedthe professional competence and capacity tosolve problems that the university had in-grained in each of the graduands.

“A shifting global order, like the one weare witnessing today … offers tremendous op-portunities for you, as individual graduates,and for this region of South and Central Asiaoverall. Your ability to reap the benefits fromthese opportunities lies firmly in your will-ingness to invest time and energy to partici-pate in building civil society institutions,governance systems and social structures sothat stability can take root,” he added.

The event was attended by a large num-ber of dignitaries including the delegation ac-companying Dr Dalil.

AKU graduate receiving her degree.

dr Humaira Qureshi, a Phd student receiving her degree.

AKU Medical College’s dr Asif Jafferani receiving best graduate award.

dr Mohsin yakub, a Phd graduate receiving his degree.



News

HOlY PIlGRImAGE: Sikh pilgrims performing religious rituals at Gurdwara Panja Sahab in Hassanabdal. onLine

SRINAGARnnI

CALLING the meeting between theprime ministers of India and Pakistanon the sidelines of the SAARC Summitin Maldives a welcome step, HurriyatConference (M) Chairman Mirwaiz

Umar Farooq has urged both countries to bury pastdifferences and take bold steps for the resolution ofall issues including Kashmir.

Addressing a Friday gathering at the historicJamia Masjid, Mirwaiz said both the countries couldstart a new chapter by demilitarising Jammu andKashmir. He was referring to Indian Prime MinisterManmohan Singh’s statement that time had come towrite a “new chapter in the history of two countries”and leave behind the era of “accusations andcounter-accusations”. “Let both the countries startthis new chapter by demilitarising both parts ofJammu and Kashmir first,” Mirwaiz said, addingthat the process should be extended to the Indo-Pakborder. Mirwaiz said both countries needed to re-duce the trust deficit and demilitarisation by bothsides can give Indo-Pak ties a new direction. He saidif the two countries started the withdrawal of troopsfrom both regions, “black laws like Armed ForcesSpecial Powers Act will automatically go”. In view ofthe “changing global scenario”, Mirwaiz said the twocountries had no option but to take steps to resolveall outstanding issues.

“Instead of conflict management, the two coun-tries will have to now shift their focus on conflict res-olution,” he said.

Mirwaiz reiterated that the dialogue processwould not succeed until the Kashmir issue was “re-solved according to the wishes and aspirations ofKashmiri people”. “Kashmiris will have to be takenon board in any process,” he said. Expressing hisconcern over the conversion of Kashmiri Muslimboys and girls to Christianity, Mirwaiz said he waskeeping an eye on the issue. “As the Mirwaiz ofKashmir, I am aware of my responsibilities. A teamhas been set up to gather information on theissue,” he said, adding that the Awami Majlis Amalhad convened a meeting to chart out the futurecourse of action in this regard. The APHC chair-man maintained that there was hue and cry on re-voking draconian Armed Forces Special PowersAct from some parts of occupied Kashmir. “I feelif the forces are pulled out then these laws wouldbecome redundant,” he added.

SOPOREnnI

REACTING sharply to Pakistan’s deci-sion to confer India with the mostfavoured nation (MFN) status andmove towards a preferential tradeagreement with its neighbour, Hurriyat

(G) Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has said suchpolicies were against the wishes of Kashmiri people.

He warned Pakistan that any step that goesagainst the aspirations of Kashmiris will land thecountry in big trouble.

“Pakistan’s decision to grant MFN status to Indiaand the move towards a preferential trade agreementwith it are against the wishes of Kashmiris. As Kash-miri nation, we will never acknowledge such policies.If Pakistan reaches any agreement with India againstthe wishes of Kashmiri people vis-à-vis Kashmir dis-pute, then Pakistan will not remain safe,” Geelaniwarned while addressing a public gathering in IqbalPark Sopore. He said that as a nation “we are fightingagainst the Indian rule for the past 64 years and arecommitted to fight till freedom”. He said the govern-ment claims that Geelani had no credibility now “butat the same time they keep me under continuoushouse arrest”. “From March 4, I am continuouslyunder house arrest and only on November 8, whenmy brother died, I was allowed to visit my nativeplace. If they claim that peace has prevailed then whyI am not being allowed to move freely and whyyouths are languishing in jails under notoriousPSA?” Geelani questioned. He said two youth fromLal Bazaar Srinagar were put behind bars for 14

years and finally they were declared innocent. “Thisreflects how Kashmiri youths are being treated inIndia,” he said. He warned the people that theyshould not allow “cultural aggression in Kashmir’and termed it ‘more dangerous than occupation”.

He advised people that they should not allowtheir daughters to go on army-sponsored tours. Healso urged youths that they should guard in theirareas and ensure that youths are not falling prey todrug addiction. He said efforts were being made tochange the demography of the state by allowing out-siders to settle in the valley. He urged the people tolodge strong protest when the Bill will be discussedin the assembly. He also demanded the immediateremoval of CRPF camp near the martyrs’ graveyardin Sopore. He said all the waste from this camp wasbeing dumped in the graveyard which is not accept-able to the people.

geelani warns pakistanagainst befriending indiag Hurriyat (g) chairman says such policies against wishes ofKashmiri people

g Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman urges both countries to bury pastdifferences, take bold steps for resolution of all issues including Kashmir

PESHAWARSTAFF REPORT

The grievances of the residents of oil andgas-producing regions in Karak Districtmust be resolved, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(K) Governor Barrister Masood Kausartold OGDCL, SNGPL and MOL repre-sentatives, who are engaged in the oiland gas exploration in Kohat Division.

Masood said the concerns of resi-dents with respect to taking their landson lease and providing gas facilities tothem must be addressed. He said oil andgas companies should work with respec-tive district administrations to ensurethe interests of people are fulfilled.

KP Prisons Minister and MPA KarakNisar Gul Kakakhel told the governor

about the concerns of the residents.Provincial Secretary for Planning & De-velopment, senior divisional and districtofficials from Kohat and Karak were alsopresent.

The KP governor desired to expediteefforts to complete the gas supply proj-ect for 36 villages in Karak District. Hesaid locals must be preferred for jobs inthe projects. Meanwhile, he said a 100kilometer pipeline had been laid to pro-vide Karak residents access to naturalgas. He said another gas supply projectto provide a 14 kilometer gas line will belaunched in 2 days and competed in amonth while another 46 kilometer gaspipeline will be laid before the end of thecurrent financial year.

oil and gas companies must deliver

to Karak locals: Kp governor

Mother andChild weekbegins

PESHAWARSTAFF REPORT

Mother and Child Week launched inPeshawar on Saturday in 24 districts andthree IDP camps with a target to providehealth care and awareness services to 12.2million people, including 1,825,660children aged under-5 and 413,636pregnant women. The speakers includedProvincial Secretary Health Capt (R) MunirAzam, KP Health Services Director GeneralDr Sharif Ahmed Khan, LHW ProgrammeLHW coordinator Dr Ihsanullah Turabi,and UNICEF Health and NutritionSpecialist Dr Abdul Jamil. The Mother andChild Week will be observed from 14 to19November. The purpose is to increaseawareness on the health of mothers andyoung children. Each year 432,000children under-five and 20,000 mothersdie during pregnancy in Pakistan. Amongunder-five deaths two-thirds occur within28 days of birth while the remaining deathsare through pneumonia and diarrhoea. Inthe KP, 100 out of 1,000 children diebefore their fifth birthday, with 76 dyingwithin first year of life due to seasonaland preventable diseases like diarrhea andpneumonia. The lives can be savedthrough basic knowledge about preventionand treatment at home. The Mother andChild week will focus on creatingawareness about pneumonia anddiarrhoea. The week-long campaignincludes a number of activities includingde-worming for children and tetanustoxoid vaccination for pregnant women. Atotal of 13,288 LHWs and 565 Lady HealthSupervisors will participate.

Head constable

killed in Charsadda

bombingPESHAWAR: A police headconstable was killed and another copwas injured when a remote-controlled device exploded in Dandobridge area of Charsadda onSaturday. Sources said the explosivedevice had been planted close to acheckpost near Dando Bridge inShabqadar area. The blast wassevere in intensity and its soundechoed across Shabqadar tehsil.Police officials rushed to the blastsite and cordoned off the area. Theycollected evidence from blast site,saying around a kilogramme ofexplosives had been used in theattack. District Police Officer NesarMarwat told Pakistan Today thatsecurity had been tightened at allentry and exit points in the area,while search operation wasunderway to apprehend thoseresponsible. The deceased wasidentified as Head Constable Ayaz,while Fazal Rahim was injured in theattack. STAFF REPORT

start ‘new chapter’ withdemilitarisation: Mirwaiz



News

ISLAMABADAmER SIAl

THE government has de-cided to approach friendlycountries to expedite theconstruction of 969MWNeelum-Jhelum Hy-

dropower Project (NJHP), whose esti-mated cost has escalated to Rs 333billion from Rs 130 billion.

An official source said the govern-ment was negotiating with the IslamicDevelopment Bank (IDB), Saudi Fundfor Development and Exim Bank ofChina to bridge the huge financial gapdue to the escalation of the projectcost. Pakistan wants to complete the

construction before the completion ofthe 330MW Kishanganga Hydro Elec-tric Project by India in the Indian-held Kashmir.

The project had a foreign ex-change component of $775 million,but due to the escalation in cost, thegovernment decided to seek more fi-nancing from friendly countries forthe project. The government is seek-ing a loan of $1.5 billion from theSaudi Fund for Development and IDB,while a $450 million-loan from EximBank of China is near finalisation.

The source said financing was re-quired for immediate deployment oftunnel boring machines (TBM) thatwould reduce the implementation on

project by at least 18 months. KuwaitFund for Arab Economic Develop-ment has already provided $40 mil-lion for the project. IDB and SaudiFund have already provided $138million and $40 million for the proj-ect, respectively.

The government had imposed asurcharge at the rate of 10 paisa onelectricity bills to provide financingfor the project which generates aboutRs 5 billion every year. The govern-ment had generated more than Rs 18billion during the last few years, butdue to financial constraints, the paceof the project was quite slow.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilanihas also expressed serious concern

over the delay in the project and hadrecently directed the Ministry ofWater and Power and WAPDA to workout financial plan in consultation withthe Ministry of Finance. The projectwas initially approved by ECNCE in1989 at the cost of Rs 15 billion, butconstant delays have raised the cost toRs 333.1 billion. Pakistan and Indiaare separately constructing two hy-dropower projects on Neelum River.The Court of Arbitration in Hague hasalready stopped India from carryingout construction of any permanentworks on or above the KishangangaRiver bed at the Gurez site that mayinhibit the restoration of the flow ofthe river to its natural channel.

GASSED OuT: Workers sleep in a garments factory shut down due to gas load shedding in Faisalabad. onLine

Pakistan to expedite constructionof Neelum-Jhelum project

MONITORING DESK

If the lucky really have nine lives, thenChaudhry Aslam Khan, Karachi’s toughestpolice officer, has exhausted his last.

One morning in September, Aslam wassleeping when powerful shockwaves rippledthrough his house. Falling out of bed, he dis-covered that a Taliban suicide bomber hadrammed a van into his front gate, with dev-astating consequences, The Guardian re-ported. The blast sheared off the entire frontof his palatial home. Windows were shat-tered across Defence, one of the city’s mostpricey neighbourhoods. And eight people laydead: policemen, house guards and a motherand child who had been strolling to school.Stepping through the rubble and blood,Aslam, who had survived eight previous at-tempts on his life, helped load the dead andinjured into ambulances. (Miraculously, hisown family was largely unhurt.) Then heturned to face the media with an extraordi-nary message of defiance.

“I will bury the attackers right here,” hetold the cameras, pointing to the two-metre-deep bomb crater, and vowing to launch hisown “jihad” against his assailants. “I didn’tknow the terrorists were such cowards. Whydon’t they attack me in the open?” Then,sleepless and smeared in dust, he turned onhis heel and went back to work.A WITCH’S bREW: Few know the dark

streets as well as Aslam, a grizzled police vet-eran of 27 years’ experience. Profane, chain-smoking and usually armed with a Glockpistol, he has earned a controversial reputa-tion as Karachi’s version of Dirty Harry — thecop who will do whatever it takes to keep thepeace.

He has fought on the frontline of the tan-gled conflicts that have bedevilled Pakistan’scommercial capital since the 1980s. He cuthis teeth during the vicious street warfare ofthe 1990s, when police and soldiers foughtstreet battles with militants from the Mut-tahida Qaumi Movement, a powerful party.

Later, Aslam turned his guns on thecity’s mobsters: racketeers, extortionists andkidnappers, several of whom perished inmurky circumstances after being appre-hended by Aslam’s men. Last year, theykilled Rehman Dakait, a legendary Balochgangster, in self defence in what was de-scribed as a shootout on the city limits. Thedead man’s relatives have another version:that he was arrested, tortured and shot incold blood — circumstances Pakistanis eu-phemistically refer to as an “encounter.” Itwas not the first such accusation against Mr.Aslam: he spent 18 months in jail in 2006after being accused of killing an innocentman; a superior court later cleared him.

Working from an unmarked compoundwith military-style defences, Aslam roamsKarachi at night in an armoured jeep. Pro-

tection comes from a team of heavily armedofficers, many of whom resemble the gang-sters they are pursuing: like their boss, theydo not wear uniforms.

He typically works through the night be-cause, he says, “that’s when the criminals areout and about”. He is proud of his gunsling-ing reputation. He has earned 45 million ru-pees in government rewards over the years,he says, producing copies of the cheques.

That has made him prey as well ashunter: he has been shot five times duringeight assassination attempts, he says. But, headded, God is behind him. “I’ve seen somuch that nothing scares me,” he said. “As a

Muslim, my faith tells everyone has to dieone day. I’m not afraid of it.” Although flam-boyant, Aslam is by no means unique amongPakistani police. A 2008 report by the Inter-national Crisis Group said they had “a well-deserved reputation for corruption,high-handedness and abuse of humanrights”. Officers retort that they are under-resourced (Karachi has 26,000 officers forperhaps 18 million people) and labour undera sickly criminal justice system with a con-viction rate of five to 10 per cent.

And, in a city where crime, politics andethnicity are inter-connected, police sufferfrom massive interference: even junior ap-

pointments are controlled by politicians whopressure officers to go easy on their favouritegangsters. After September’s attack on Aslam,a Taliban spokesman named five senior offi-cers on its hit list. Since then, senior officershave taken new measures to outrun the sui-cide bombers: bulletproof cars, moving officewithout warning, sending out decoy convoys.Still, few doubt the Taliban will strike again.“We are worried,” said Raja Umer Khattab, asenior officer who recently erected a six-metre-high wall around his home. The mili-tant violence has also bred tensions with thewider community. Aslam’s neighbours in De-fence have launched a court petition to forcehim to move to another area.

“Our police are not like the English ones:when you see them, it means trouble,” saidSami Mustafa, principal of an expensive pri-vate school across the street, pointing toclassroom windows that had been shattered.“It would be no big loss if he moves.” The pe-tition has elicited a furious reaction. “Peopleshould think about the work we do,” saidKhattab. “If our children are being targeted,it is because we are protecting those people.”Aslam, meanwhile, is back on the beat, un-bowed by the threats from militants orneighbours. “I will fight till the last drop ofmy blood,” he said, pulling on a fresh ciga-rette. “When these people are killing chil-dren, I think it is right for us to kill them.They shouldn’t even be called Muslims.”

the nine lives of ‘Karachi’s toughest cop’g Karachi version of dirty Harry, who has been shot five times, makes pledge after suicide attack blows the front off his home

Clerics urged to

promote religious

harmonyGUJRANWALASTAFF REPORT

Clerics from all sects should contribute inpromoting religious harmony, RegionalPolice Officer Ahmed Mubarik said in ameeting held in his office on Saturday.He said different sects should be toleranttowards each other, adding thatMuharram is approaching and Clericsshould play their role in spreading themessage of peace and tolerance. Ahmedsaid that the ban on loud speaker usageand wall chalking should be implementedeffectively, adding that hateful literatureand sermons should also be checked.

Rickshaw driver

commits suicideMIRPURKHASSTAFF REPORT

A rickshaw driver committed suicide inHirabad on Saturday. According tosources, 35-year-old rickshaw driverMohammad Abid drank a pesticide anddied on his way to the Civil Hospital. Heis said to have killed himself over adomestic issue.

Mother ‘accidentally’

kills childGUJRANWALASTAFF REPORT

A child died on Saturday as his mothertried to commit suicide along with herchildren after quarreling with herhusband. The First Information Report(FIR) revealed that Irfan and Raziamarried five years ago and had two sons,4-year-old Faizan and 15-month-old Azan.Razia threatened to kill herself and herchildren after she quarreled with Irfan athis brother’s wedding. She attemptedsuicide by pouring petrol over herself andher children. While she was lighting thematch stick, Irfan’s brother tried to stopher and accidentally the match stick fellover Azan. Azan received severe burninjuries and died of them in a hospital inLahore. Irfan told Pakistan Today thatRazia had been demanding a divorce buthe had ignored it. He demanded thatRazia be tried for murder.


Editor’s mail 11Sunday, 13 November, 2011

Hidden powerWe have seen many leaders claiming

to bring peace, prosperity and progress tothis troubled land but we they have al-ways disappointed us. I think the timehas come that we should not only try newfaces but also the people with admiringagendas and policies.

Apart from looking into our internalsectarian, ethnic and caste differences,we should focus on the hidden power ofour collective vote bank which can actu-ally make a difference. A sensible andproper use of it can change the future ofour beloved homeland.

ANUM AFROZKarachi

Friends foreverThe chairperson of Pakistan Tehrik-i-

Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan had a great jalsaon 30 October at Minar-e-Pakistan in La-hore. No doubt he has a great numbers ofsupporters with him, especially the youthwho are the future of Pakistan.

In the coming elections, the PakistanTehrik-i-Insaf will have many votes but Idon't think the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insafcan win without the support of PML(N)because in Punjab it is the most popularparty and. Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf andPML(N) should be together because wedon't want a corrupt party again inpower.

Imran Khan has said to PML(N)Chairperson Mian Nawaz Shareef that ifhe declares his real assets, he will thenshake hands with them. We, the commonpeople, request both parties that theyshould be together to save Pakistan andchange its future to a brighter one.

HINA KHAWAJAKarachi

our blind dolphinsBlind dolphins are found in the

muddy river waters of Indus where theylose their eyesight due to difficulty inseeing through muddy waters. There is aparallel case of our blind politicians ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh whohave muddied the waters over KalabaghDam (KBD) so much that they have losttheir vision to see the benefits of the damthat are so obvious to people in general.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would neverget their share of 14 percent of waterfrom any other dam other than from theright bank canal off KBD. They have atpresent only five percent area of Pakistanunder irrigation. Sindh would never getenough water for Rabi crops unless wateris stored in a mega dam upstream whileBhasha Basha dam would need 12 yearsto build with only six years needed forKBD. Central Punjab, that is the grainbasket of Pakistan, would never getenough water other than from KBD froma left bank canal. The conclusion is clear.Would we allow our blind dolphins orblind politicians to sacrifice future of 180million people of Pakistan for theirvested interests?

DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTILahore

Computerised FiRComputer has become a slave-ma-

chine in every walk of life in the devel-oped countries. But in the developingcountries, like Pakistan, we still lag be-hind others in computerising our routinebusiness system though the governmenthas introduced a system of serving to thegeneral public by computerising therecord of various departments includingbanks, revenue and excise etc in a befit-ting manner.

Police is an utmost important part ofjustice system of a country. There is adire need that our police system techno-logically should be advanced. The FirstInformation Report (FIR) of an incidentis the base on which civil or criminal pro-ceedings initialize. It is such an impor-tant document that on its basis, a mancan be hanged or acquitted. It is very im-portant for the cause of justice that theperson, whose fate is being decided,must know himself all aspects of the casein which he is being tried.

Normally, the police record is so il-legible, especially because of hand writ-ten documents of the police personnel.In order to circumvent such problemsthe FIR should be computerised so as tobe clear and self-speaking not only forthe accused but also for the judge of thecase. In many of the foreign countries,computer technology has facilitated thepublic to lodge FIR just on a click byemail.

MUHAMMAD NAEEM SIDDIQUELahore

why is US mad at iran?Why is US so angry and upset with

Iran? What leads US to think that Iran isan irresponsible state that threatens theworld’s peace? Is the “Iran threat” only apretext for US to yet again undertake an-other military adventure against a Mus-lim state after it is almost finishedaccomplishing its agenda in Iraq andAfghanistan? Or is it time for again aMuslim country to become a ladder,climbing which US Presidents normallyrun for re-elections?

Consider what the world looks like toIran. It is surrounded by nuclear powers(Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel)and across two of its borders sit tens ofthousands of US troops (in Iraq andAfghanistan). Is Iran not being encircledby US troops’ deployment? For what elseis the objective of the aggressive US pol-icy towards Iran if not to eliminate Iran’spotential as a rival power in the region aswell as in the Middle East? If you were in

Tehran, would this make you feel likegiving up your nuclear programme? Iguess not.

Iranians are proud people with an-cient culture and history. The US accusesit of sabotaging peace process in MiddleEast. Alright, but has US pumped anyoxygen in the dead peace process that re-mains at the mercy of Israel? Iran is ac-cused of supporting internationalterrorism. Can’t the US see the brutalpolicies of the Israelis against the Pales-tinians? And why shouldn’t the Iraniansprotect their interest in Afghanistan?Northern Alliance fighters may havetrained in camps in Eastern Iran but hasthe US, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan nottrained and supported Taliban when itsuited them?

Even if Iran’s nuclear technology isfor military purposes and it wishes tomake a nuclear bomb why would it wantto use it? It is more likely to turn out as

an insurance policy against the joint USand Israeli military threat rather than aweapon threatening world’s peace.Surely, the chances of a military conflictbetween US and Iran would minimise ifIran goes nuclear. Israel may also realisethat it’s time it resolved the Palestinianissue. If ‘balance of power’ is a guaranteeof peace then acquiring nuclear capabil-ity is what Iran needs to balance againstthe joint threat posed by US and Israel.

Israel never carried out hot nucleartests to demonstrate its nuclear capabil-ity. If the whole world including Arabscould live with its nuclear blackmail thenthe US and the world must learn to livewith a nuclear capable Iran as well.

Half of the 75 million people in Irantoday were born after the revolution andare not older than 32 years. These youngpeople form part of a proud nation state.US cannot impose its will on themthrough threats (military action, sanc-

tions), insults (Iran termed part of axis ofevil) or doctrine of preemption. What theUS needs to do is not to condemn andisolate Iran but respect a nation that rep-resents an old civilisation that wants tosurvive and progress.

It would do well to help Iran comeout of ‘international isolation’ and openitself to the West. This will not be possi-ble through military threats. Iran hasdemonstrated in the past that it couldsacrifice a million soldiers (Iran-IraqWar 1980-1988) if it comes to resolvingissues through conflict. It is hoped thatthis region will not witness yet anotherconflict and the US ‘war appetite’ is overafter its stint in Iraq and Afghanistan.Wars are never short, and they hardlyfollow the paths that are anticipated bythe actors in war, that is one lesson theUS must have learnt by now.LT COL (retd) MUHAMMAD ALI EHSAN

Karachi

“If the world were an egg,Hurmuz would be its yolk”says a historian few cen-

turies back. Even today in thisspeedy world of communication,90 percent of global trade and 65percent of oil, travel by sea.Globalisation has been madepossible by the cheap and easyshipping of containers ontankers, and the Indian Oceanaccounts for half the world’s con-tainer traffic.

Moreover, 70 percent of totaltraffic of petroleum productspasses through the IndianOcean, on its way from the Mid-dle East to the Pacific, slitheringthrough the world’s principal oilshipping lanes, including theGulf of Aden and Oman, as wellas some of world commerce’smain chokepoints, the straits ofHurmuz, and Malacca. Some 40percent out of all traded crudeoil passes through the Strait ofHurmuz.

Throughout history, searoutes have mattered more thanland routes; India’s trade withthe Arab countries of the Persian

Gulf and Iran, with which Indiahad long enjoyed close economicand cultural ties, is flourishing.Approximately 3.5 million Indi-ans work in the six Arab states ofthe Gulf Cooperation Counciland send home $4 billion in re-mittances annually.

As India’s economy continueto grow, so will its trade withIran and it is also looking for-ward with Iraq once the countryrecovers. Afghanistan has beenmade a strategic rear base forIndia against Pakistan. That wayblocking all trade routes by landfrom Pakistan to Central Asianstates, realising Pakistan’sstrategic importance as the mainoverseer, having a capacity tomonitor all the traffic comingout from the Strait of Hurmuz.

Mohan Malik, a scholar atthe Asia-Pacific Centre for Secu-rity Studies in Hawaii, raised hisconcerns over India’s depend-ence on imports passing throughthe straits close to the Pakistan’sMakran coast at Gwadar, wherethe Chinese are helping Pakistandevelop deep water ports, as‘Hurmuz Dilemma’.

This is unnerving for India,with China building deep waterports to its west and east, India

fears being encircled by Chinaunless it expands its own sphereof influence. The United States isquietly encouraging India to bal-ance against China, whereas it isseeking greater cooperation withChina.

Aware of how much the in-ternational economy depends onsea traffic the US admirals arethinking beyond the fighting andwinning of wars to responsibili-ties such as policing global trad-ing arrangements. Indian Oceanand its adjacent waters are goingto be a central theatre of globalconflict and competition. Thiswas the conclusion made in adocument, ‘Marine Corps Visionand strategy 2025’. If oil exportsfrom the Persian Gulf were sig-nificantly reduced, the effects onAmerica’s well-being would beprofound. To prevent this, theUnited States shall keep on pre-venting any local power from es-tablishing hegemony in the gulf.

United States, India and Iranare doing the right thing: formu-lating a foreign policy whose goalis to ensure the safety and pros-perity of their own people. Itsounds incongruous when ourpolitical elite expects or de-mands world powers to watch

our economic interests, insteadof working for their own people.

Foreign Minister Hina Rab-bani Khar, in an interview airedon Sunday, said Pakistan wasdoing more than its share infighting the Frankenstein of ter-ror created jointly by manyworld powers including theUnited States. She is right, buthave we ever realised, why thisFrankenstein was created? A for-eign minister is supposed to ad-dress the cause, effect and thesolution to combat this Franken-stein. Why are we petrified oftalking to the world powers,looking into their eyes andtelling them that this Franken-stein was created by them fortheir long term vilified objec-tives, and that they should nowstop meddling in our homeland?

In the presence of so manyunsolved bilateral issues be-tween Pakistan and India, it wasa horrible idea to give a directrole to India in Afghanistan bythe US. The strategy sends astrong signal to Islamabad aboutthe US foreign policy vision inthis region for the 21st century,where India clearly holds a keyposition. Pakistan is entitled toits strategic objectives and US is

being unappreciative in ignoringthese objectives. We have al-ready committed a miscalcula-tion by giving up to the Americandemands in the Soviet-Afghanwar as well as in 2001, withoutspelling out our strategic objec-tives and then extending any co-operation.

We are now paying a pricefor our faulty policies inBalochistan where all our‘friends’ and foes are squander-ing money, arms, and all perti-nent support to make theprovince unruly. Balochistan isstrategically the most importantprovince of Pakistan and willplay a very important role, espe-cially in the country’s economicfuture. What needs to be ad-dressed is to define the real issueof Balochistan? Gwadar’s prox-imity to the Strait of Hurmuz isthe main reason of the unrest inBalochistan. Robert Kaplan’sstatement can easily help us indetermining the mindset of ourallies, who pronounces thatGwadar’s development wouldunlock the riches of Central Asia.

However, we have to pro-mote our national interests andto turn this strategic port into aglobal economic hub. For this we

will have to tell between thecovert enemies and the realfriends, domestically as wellacross the frontiers. There areconcealed hands that support in-surgency in Balochistan throughsafe havens provided to the rad-ical elements in different coun-tries to destabilise Pakistan.

The ban on jihadi organisa-tions and their resources beingfrozen are common internationalphenomena. This creates a feel-ing of fretfulness and cynicismamongst the Pakistani intelli-gentsia.

Our political leadership,writers and media need to recap-ture the souls and minds of ourBaloch brethren, revise strate-gies based on lessons learnt fromour past crises, place pro-grammes that help Baloch peo-ple to build robustness, achieveresourcefulness, enhance theirability to recover swiftly so thatthey turn into an insurmount-able impediment for the plentifulforeign intelligence agencies whoare working fervidly to makePakistan a failed state and un-dermining its strategic muscle.

The writer is an architectand a freelancer.

the game designBy Ubeid Kamran

Fight for the white stripeThe growing acts of intolerance against the minorities in

Pakistan should be cause for great concern for everybody in thecountry.

We keep harping on about why this country was created butit is undeniable that it was envisaged as a place where people ofevery creed and religion would have the freedom to practicetheir religion.

Many Hindus, Christian and minority Muslim sects call thisplace home where there fellows treat them like second-class cit-izens. There can be no tolerance of such heinous crimes and it

falls on the government to activate the law apparatus to nab thecriminals and award them exemplary punishments. Intolerancehas no place in a civilised democratic society and each citizen istheir fellow citizen’s keeper.

Everyone has a duty to their fellow citizens to raise a voicewhen they are persecuted. Otherwise, one will have no excusewhen the bigots come for oneself. And if they are allowed toperpetuate their hatred, it is inevitable that one day they will.

NAJAM NIZAMHyderabad


comment12Sunday, 13 November, 2011

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

The SAARC summit

building bridges

More promises, more pledges. That’s how onecan sum up the SAARC summit thatconcluded the other day in Maldives. Theregional organisation has never been known

for its efficiency but has been considered a mereformality. This however may change with the conclusionof its 12th summit in Addu. Major stakeholders of theregion – India, Pakistan and Afghanistan – are seenopening new chapters in their bilateral and multilateralrelations, among many other important measures topromote regional cooperation, stability and trade.

One of the nagging issues that have kept theorganisation from delivering optimally is a lack of propereconomic relations framework that visualises free tradeand does away with non-tariff barriers. A silver lining isthough visible as the two largest economies of the region,Pakistan and India, have agreed to open up to each otheron this front. Terrorism and security are also a weak linkin this chain. None of the member countries can developunless it has peaceful relations with the other. Afghanand Pakistani authorities need to overcome theirdifferences soon in order to make the region a trueregional power hub on the line of Euro zone.

For economic and political clout, China wants toupgrade its observer status to dialogue partner. Thedemand does carry some weight as China has investedheavily in many of the member countries. Moreover, itsinclusion would boost the clout of the organisation at theinternational level. With two of the world’s fastestgrowing economies in this organisation, the issues oftrade, finance, investment, and capital flow can behandled in a much better and comprehensive manner.

Other such regional entities, such as SCO and ECO,also make a case study for the SAARC as to how it canimprove and perform better. While Pakistan and Indiawield influence in the region, no progress is possiblewithout peace between the both. Same is true forterrorism and trade related issues. The Addu Declarationis a step in the right direction as it can help build bridgesbetween member states for a South Asia that is truly apower hub, economically and politically.

Can he walk the talk?

So far so good but…

The views expressed by Imran Khan about civil-military relations would help dispel a growingperception regarding his being the army’sprotégé. He says he stands for the supremacy of

the civil authority over military and with him as thecountry’s prime minister, the army and ISI would not beallowed to act without his permission. He argues thatweak-kneed governments have been responsible for theerosion of civil authority, encouraging the army andintelligence agencies to create an autonomous niche forthemselves. The promise to have the army’s budgetaudited by a civilian setup would institutionalise amodicum of civilian oversight ensuring transparency inmilitary spending. One fails however to understand whyImran stopped short of promising to bring the defencebudget to parliament to examine military demands in thecontext of overall national priorities.

Imran’s commitment not to allow anyone to usePakistan’s territory to commit acts of terrorism abroad isequally welcome. Imran inexplicably chose an interviewwith CNN-IBN to express views on these vital issuesinstead of saying all this at Minar-e-Pakistan. The viewswere aired while answering pointed questions that leftlittle room for ambivalence. Combined with his earlierinteraction with the BBC Urdu where he claimed that hewas a liberal and did not support the terrorists, the CNN-IBN interview would be used by a section of his critics tomaintain that, like the leaders of the two majormainstream parties, Imran was also cozying up to theWest. Happily though the expression of the views wouldrelieve Imran of some of the extremist ballast he has beencarrying with him all along. One hopes Imran would nowget rid of the notion that talks alone are the way to rein inthe terrorists.

Imran’s statement that he would resign if he failed toestablish the supremacy of the civilian authority may gowell with the West but would dishearten some of hispotential voters. A politician is not supposed to give inwhen confronted with problems. This is what neitherJinnah nor ZAB, the two leaders mentioned by Imran,would have ever done. “I will never allow this to happen,”would have been a more defiant and inspiring response.

the sting

We live in a very convolutedworld where thieving is fineas long as you can get awaywith it. The ‘crime’ is to getcaught. The biggest crime of

our cricketers was to get caught.Fast bowlers Mohammed Asif and young

Mohammed Amir took bribes to deliberatelybowl predetermined ‘no balls’ with captainSalman Butt part of the scam. It was called‘fancy fixing’ once, now it is ‘spot fixing’. Theywere found guilty by a British Crown Courtand got what they had coming. They thoughtthey were enabling some punters to make oo-dles of money, not knowing that they hadbeing inveigled by an even more corrupt news-paper to get a juicy story, helped along by theirgreedy agent. That was their second big mis-take.

An honest writer, however, must have bal-ance even if justice does not. Justice is single-minded, its methodology limited. It isimperative to go behind the media frenzy andpious comments to see how far the malaisehas spread in world cricket establishments,governments, rulers and society at large. Themalaise infects the weakest link in the illegalbetting chain for which the undoubtedly guiltycricketers took a convenient fall. Convenientbecause they unwittingly took the spotlightaway from the sources of the crime – the ille-gal betting syndicates and their rich, powerfulpatrons.

Problem is, there are many more crick-eters and athletes who should be punishedtoo, but not many are or get away with a mildrap on the knuckles. This includes match andspot fixing in lesser domestic matches theworld over, in nearly every sport. Why? One:because the culprits are ‘superstars’ that pullthe crowds and big bucks TV. Two: becausethe possibility that punished cricketers mightsing and sink them all is a nightmare. If thathappens they would have to be silenced some-how, even killed, which is a messy business.Recall how South Africa’s captain HansieCronje paid for it with his life, killed in a pri-vate plane crash that conventional wisdom re-gards as deliberate. Or how one of Pakistan’smost famous bookies, ‘Hanif Cadbury’ waskilled in South Africa and his body hacked topieces?

Sure some athletes have taken the fall, butnot many. A few have been banned for life, butonly when it became inevitable. Corruptsportsmen have existed before, exist now andwill continue to exist given human nature andthe attraction of the Golden Calf. But thatdoesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try and kill thedisease instead of just its symptoms.

If the biggest mistake of our cricketers wasto get caught, their other big mistakes were to

trust their agent, get caught virtually red-handed leaving a trail of video evidence, getcaught in the wrong place where justice is‘blinder’ than in most countries, and committhe crime in a country where its media havebeen itching to ‘get’ Pakistani cricketers sinceWaseem and Waqar humiliated England inEngland in the eighties with their reverseswing. Media there are so ‘free’ that immoral‘sting’ operations are not only allowed but alsocondoned, even if done by an odious newspa-per that has since bitten the dust because of il-legal phone hacking.

Yes, when it comes to phone and socialmedia hacking, justice takes an about turn:how pray is phone hacking any worse thansting operations in which they exploit theweaknesses of people, in this case one whohad not even achieved majority, and seducingthem into doing wrong? They overlook the ob-vious, that every person has a price tag; theonly question is how much and what form ofpayment will seduce him – the poorer andmore uneducated, the cheaper. For example,even the most moral person will break if hischild is kidnapped for ransom and pay theprice to obtain its release. In this convolutedworld, kidnapping for ransom is illegal, phonehacking is illegal but immoral seduction thatgoes by the name of ‘sting operation’ is not?Some justice.

The foregoing in no way mitigates thecrime of the three cricketers. But what it criesout for is a comprehensive investigation intocricket’s officialdom – the ICC, cricket boardsand their personnel, managers and assistantmanagers, coaches and assistant coaches, thebetting syndicate’s headquarters in Bombaywith branches the world over. Investigate par-liamentarians, ministers, businessmen,lawyers and even some sports journalistseverywhere to get to the bottom of themalaise. Investigate the impotence of the ICCin the face of undue Indian ingress and influ-ence. How, for example, did the ‘purists’ of theICC legitimise the ridiculous IPL that is betterknown as ‘Indian Paisa Laundering’, custom-

made for illegal betting and ruining tech-niques? I’m told it raised $50 billion last year?Second only to the scams of banks, what? Youwill never eradicate corruption by so doing,but you will certainly lessen it.

Those that speak the truth are trashed.When a star like Sarfraz Nawaz raises alarms,he is labelled a ‘nut’ because he speaks Urdu(and English) in Bhati Gate Punjabi. Surpris-ing how Rashid Latif, Basit Ali and Aamir So-hail have been crying wolf for years but havenot yet been labelled ‘conspiracy theorists’ likeall truth tellers are. Why was the JusticeQayyum Commission report ignored? Henamed certain superstars who should never beallowed near a cricket field yet the PakistanCricket Board gives most of them lucrativejobs that put them in such close proximity toyoung, impressionable cricketers in awe ofthem that they are in danger of being polluted.What lessons do young cricketers learn then:that if superstars can get away with it, whycan’t they; if the country’s leadership can becorrupt top down and yet gets crowned againand again, why can’t they? The whole thing isridiculous and criminal. It seems that themost important item on the agendas of all na-tional and international cricket authorities isto somehow ensure that money keeps flowingvia the illegal betting syndicates.

Once when my friend Izzat Majeed wasflying PIA from London to Lahore, nothing onthe plane was working. When the food tray ofthe Pakistani-British passenger sitting next tohim fell on his lap, he turned to Izzat and de-clared plaintively, “Vaat is airline, that is coun-try.” Similarly, “Vaat is cricket, that is country”– not just Pakistani but the whole jing-banglot. The quick buck culture has overtakeneverything, which is why the world’s economicand political systems are in meltdown. Whynot cricket, once a ‘gentlemen’s game’ that hasnow become a casino? Money, big money, hashijacked the people’s game.

The writer is a political analyst. He can becontacted at [email protected]

By Humayun Gauhar

Of money, morals and mortals

Like other parts of the country, electricity and its availability (orlack thereof) is of much concern to the province of KhyberPakhtunkhwa. The thinking prevalent here is that despite being a

production region for power generation in the country, the province isfaced with its curse of loadshedding more than any other federating unit.

The recently held All Parties Conference at the Chief Minister House,Peshawar was attended by the leadership of several political parties aswell as that of the incumbent provincial government. It has demandedof the central government that while keeping the suffering of the peoplein the province due to power cuts in mind, it should help by giving awaythe due profit in lieu of electricity to the province. It was maintainedduring the APC that they demanded the handing over of the due shareof profit in lieu of power urgently.

The provincial government also expressed the intent to start work

promptly on certain power projects. The leadership of various politicalparties on the occasion stressed on the central government to fulfil theirpromises and take substantive steps in removing hurdles in the way ofsolving this crisis. Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hus-sain maintained that the provincial government seeks the support of themasses on every matter that poses a challenge to them but the onus ofsolving the problems falls on the government and it should use its re-sources in ameliorating the conditions of the people. He said that thefederal government should honour the promises made to KhyberPakhtunkhwa.

These demands on the part of participants of APC reveal that theprovincial government in support with other political parties wants totake emergency steps to initiate work on several projects of power gen-eration in various parts of the province to help meet the growing needof electricity in future.

– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur Rauf Khattak

APC in PeshawarDaily Pakhtun Post

Regional Press


comment 13Sunday, 13 November, 2011

Balochistan still seething from his sins

the runaway generalthe honourable idiotsEvery campaign has its good, bad and ugly

Musharraf would have us believethat the people literally weptwhen he resigned from the pres-

idency in 2008. The people of which partof the world is he referring to? They can’tbe the generalissimo’s fellow countrymenfor he was and will continue to be a sym-bol of hatred for them.

In an interview on BBC HardTalkearly this week, he was subjected to toughquestioning by presenter Stephen Sackurwho asked him about the existence ofQuetta Shura, Osama bin Laden’s discov-ery from Abbottabad despite his constantdenial of Al-Qaeda Chief’s presence in thecountry, his double-crossing the Bush Ad-ministration and his plan to launch a po-litical comeback when his popularityremains at the lowest ebb. But what wasneither asked nor answered was thesource from which he was getting enoughfunds to pay a staggering 25000 dollars amonth to an American lobbying firm.

The interview was aired at a timewhen his arrest warrants along with thoseof Shaukat Aziz and Jam Yousaf have al-ready been issued on the orders of theBalochistan High Court in connectionwith Nawab Akbar Bugti’s murder. Thereare cynics who are trying to tarnish the

late Nawab’s reputation and be-lieve that the vacuum created byhis death will not be hard to fill.This is tantamount to discreditnot only the departed soul butalso the entire Baloch nationwhich hasn’t recovered from theshock of the gruesome murder.

Former Governor Balochis-tan Owais Ahmad Ghani musthave realised with hindsight thathe was wrong to claim that theBaloch youth was fed up with thesardars and wanted to liberatethemselves from their tyranny.Bugti was a father figure who in-spired a great deal of admirationamong the younger generation.It would always remember himfor his endeavour to strengthenthe federation and, while he wasalive, Talal Bugti would not haveeven thought of talking about hisprovince being on the verge ofbreak-up.

By ordering the Nawab’s as-sassination, Musharraf had ac-tually lent strength to theelements nursing separatist ten-dencies. During his nine years ofmilitary rule he had committedcountless crimes but the one forwhich he deserves the harshestpunishment was his having sub-jected the people of Balochistanto the worst kind of repression.

Military’s intelligence agencies had beengiven a free rein to kill and kidnap inno-cent citizens on the mere suspicion oftheir links with the terrorist networks.Many of them were handed over to theAmericans for questioning at Guan-tanamo Bay. The whereabouts of thosewho disappeared under mysterious cir-cumstances remain unknown despite re-peated court orders for their recovery.

Deceit being the inherent characteris-tic of his personality, Musharraf had con-stituted a two-member troubleshootingcommittee with master mumbler Ch Shu-jaat Hussain as its chairman. But whilethe committee kept shuttling between thefederal capital and Balochistan trying toengage the “rebellious” sardars he gave ago ahead to the spy agencies to eliminateBugti then hiding far away from his an-cestral home in Dera Bugti. The civilianleadership had been kept out of the loopof the secret mission. It was in no way apartner in crime. So there’s no point inShaukat Aziz writing a letter to IGBalochistan and passing the buck on tothe provincial government. He simplypanicked; he could have simply taken acue from Ch Shujaat who is on recordhaving told the National Assembly that“certain hands” were trying to createroadblocks in the away of restoring peaceto the restive province.

Musharraf has been consigned to thepages of history but it is unfortunate thatthe current democratic dispensation hasnot so far been able to do anything to mit-igate the accentuated sense of deprivationamong the Baloch. That Interior MinisterRehman Malik and PPP’s enfant terribleBabar Awan were tasked to engage the en-raged Baloch youth and the insurgentsfighting against the government forceswas a clear manifestation of the lack of se-riousness on the part of the federal gov-ernment to give a boost to the peaceinitiative of Senator Lashkari Raisani whomanaged to bring some insurgent groupsto the negotiation table after hectic ef-forts.

Those who keep basking in the glow ofthe so-called Aghaz-i-Huqooq-i-Balochis-tan can ignore criticism from them for nottaking any interest in resolving the crisisprevalent in their province. But they haveto be receptive to the calls from theirdiehard supporters voicing serious con-cerns about the victimisation of their fel-low citizens. Senator Raisani is perturbedhe sees no let up in the incidents of forceddisappearance; those involved in kidnap-ping and killing the people continue com-mitting the crime with impunity.

The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today.

Politics BazaarBy Sarmad Bashir

Hazrat-e-buddhu bhi Gandhike saath hain.

Zarra-e-khaq hain magaraandhi ke saath hain.

There is little justice in trans-lation. Akbar Allahabadi, theiconic 19th-20th century satirist,would have been especiallyamused at any transition of hisUrdu into English. How do youconvey to an alien culture thatHazrat, an honoured title for aholy man, can also become anacerbic appendage for any holier-than-thou hypocrite? I hope thistransliteration will serve: Even theHonourable Idiot is with Gandhi;He may be a mere speck of ash, buthe is with an aandhi (storm).

Allahabadi wrote this duringGandhi’s first great mass move-ment, for swaraj, between 1919and 1922, the wonder of its age. Anastonished British Raj watched theMuslim clergy, led by Imam-e-Hind Maulana Azad and MaulanaAbdul Bari, gladly cede leadershipof its Khilafat jihad to a frail Gu-jarati Bania. For a century theBritish had played off Hinduagainst Muslim with the impunityof an umpire who can change therules to suit his decision. Commu-nal violence lay at the deadly edgeof this game. As the perceptive Jin-nah told the viceroy Lord Chelms-ford in 1918, “I know very well thatin the Indian states you hardlyever hear of any Hindu-Muslimriots.” (We should make a compar-ative study of riots under Britishrule and Indian princely statespart of our curriculum).

For those three shining years,Gandhi inspired the magnificentpower of Hindu-Muslim unity. Hiscall for swaraj rose from a welterof intermeshed whispers to astorm that shook the impregnableoak of British rule till it trembled

like a leaf. But an aandhi does notpick and choose each speck of dustthat collectively turns it into a his-toric force. It diminishes differ-ences of character or ideology, andeases contradictions because it ispropelled by a single purpose thatis far higher than individual or sec-tarian interest. And so the JamiatUlema-e-Hind mobilised Muslimsfor Gandhi while the Hindu Ma-hasabha worked its field since bothwanted India’s liberation fromcolonial rule.

All mass movements have thisability to step over internal hur-dles. The CPI(M) was on the leftflank of the anti-Emergency up-surge between 1975 and 1977 andJana Sangh on the right, and nei-ther saw the other as a problem for

their larger cause. In 1989, after atleast two years of coordination inParliament, the CPI(M) and BJPnot only supported the minoritygovernment of V P Singh but ateweekly dinners with their PrimeMinister while Singh said gracewith as much grace as he couldmuster. No one called Singh com-munal; at least no one in his sensesdid. The Bofors bribery scandalhad created space for competingideologies to cultivate commonground, and control an electionthat catapulted V P Singh to thejob he coveted: Prime Minister.

So did this mean that everyonein Singh’s Cabinet possessed a cer-tificate of honesty from MotherTeresa? I could name half a dozenministers who took money withone hand and another six whoraked it in with both. Every cam-paign is a mix of the good, the badand the ugly; even Khilafat leaderslike the famous Ali brothers,Muhammad and Shaukat, were ac-cused of putting their hands in thedonation till in the name of ex-penses. Did this matter to the peo-

ple? If it did, then it mattered farless than the common cause.

Those who believe they can di-lute Anna Hazare’s impact throughpinpricks at his associates under-stand neither him nor India. Hedoes not really have associates; hehas an issue, corruption. He wouldhave remained a fringe figure ifthis cancer had not aroused thedoctor in him. He does not run apolitical party. He does not aspireto become President or PrimeMinister. It is immaterial whatstand he took on the Babrimosque, as some Urdu newspa-pers have been inspired to write inthe hope of deflecting Muslim sen-timent away from him. He is notthe guardian of secularism, orwhatever passes for it currently. It

makes absolutely no differencewhether there is saffron in his au-dience or green. It is immaterialwhether there is a cat watchinghim or a queen; he wants both tobe honest with public money. Thecontroversies over his core team,or outer ring, or the net on his pe-riphery are unimportant to thevoter, who is only interested in acure that will keep this cancer inremission.

The establishment believesthat it can deflect Anna Hazare bygenerating contempt for someHazrat-e-Buddhu among thespecks of dust. Waste of time.Anger against corruption rages inbursts, and then falls silent. A treewill tell you that the only way tosurvive a hurricane is to bend. Weshall soon learn if Delhi under-stands nature, and human nature.

The columnist is editor of TheSunday Guardian, published fromDelhi, India on Sunday, publishedfrom London and EditorialDirector, India Today andHeadlines Today.

Third EyeBy M J Akbar

Those who believe they can dilute

Anna Hazare’s impact through

pinpricks at his associates

understand neither him nor India.

He does not really have associates;

he has an issue, corruption.


Last night, I was watchingAfghanistan’s President HamidKarzai’s interview on TV. He

speaks in an American accent! Twoyears ago when I went to Karachi,every cool dude I met in T2F wasspeaking in an American accent. Theartsy place in Delhi where I live –Hauz Khas Village – too has become a‘Yankee hang out’. Artist types stillcome but the ageless rich have infil-trated in large numbers. These peoplelook successful, cocky and aggressively

happy as if they are resi-dents of Los Angeles, thecity of eternal sunshine.These people have greatbodies and they are plushlyunderdressed; they speakaccented English amongthemselves and brokenHindi with the auto-rick-shaw drivers; their bicepsare tattooed with slogans inHebrew; they always haveat least one white friend;they are constantly laughingand screaming and ex-changing hugs. They seemto be in a state of perma-nent vacation.

I’m only slightly exag-gerating.

Recently, a new nightclub opened near my home.Three bulky bouncers inblack would stand outside,their eyes scanning everyvisitor. Each time I triedgoing in, my courage failed.Feeling seedy, I feared whatif I was refused entry? Idon’t have an iPhone, myjeans brand is of Indian ori-gin and I can’t speak Eng-lish with an accent.

Two years ago, I’d set-

tled in the village hoping to be in-spired by its quiet loveliness. I havewritten about this place in these pagesearlier too. Snuggled towards the deepend of a semi-wild park, the villageused to be visited by those who wereinto monuments, or who were taken inby its listless boutiques, curio storesand restaurants. The villagers rentedout their rooms for cheap. This was aghetto of kurta-wearing painters,longhaired guitarists and aspiringnovelists – many spoke in Hindustaniand that was no judgment on theircool quotient. Trying to build the per-sona of a starving writer (actually I al-ways had money for food), I felt athome in the village.

But now, I feel out of place. Thevillage’s easygoing bohemian charac-ter is being beaten black and blue. Onepainter who has a lake-facing studiohas been asked to leave. The landlordis giving it to a restaurant chain at arent that is four times higher. The vil-lage’s sole secondhand bookstore has-n’t opened for months. Themonument-facing apartments are fur-nished for foreigners, Non ResidentIndians and anybody else who can paya fortune and can speak accented Eng-lish.

Meanwhile, my landlord hascalled me in the evening. Is somewhite American eyeing my monu-ment-facing room? Am I being servedwith an eviction notice? Will I have tomove to a ghetto where no one speaksEnglish? May be I could shift to DrUbaidul Aleem’s neighbourhood. Imet him a few days ago. He needs me.

Dr Aleem was watching TV placedbeside his desk in his medical clinicwhen he told me, “My dream is tospeak fluent English” – a pause fol-lowed here – “… and correct English.”

Dr Aleem, 40, is a bachelor of

Unani medicine and surgery from thecity’s Jamia Hamdard University. Hisclinic is in Chiniot Basti, behind SheilaCinema in Paharganj, central Delhi.Named after a district in present-dayPakistan, the basti was started by Par-tition refugees. Today, it has migrantlabourers from Bihar who makeleather bags and footwear in the area’ssweatshops. When they fall ill, theycome to Dr Aleem’s clinic.

Dr Aleem, whose forefathers havebeen in Delhi for centuries, speaksflawless Urdu. A man of literary incli-nations, he quotes Urdu couplets inordinary conversations. Isn’t it enoughto excel in that language alone? Whyis he obsessed with English?

“Besides doctor, I’m also in legalprofession.” Hearing Dr Aleem’sflawed English gives a sense of thatlanguage’s elusiveness in a land whereit is highly esteemed but is not the firstlanguage of its people. “Every morningI sit in Delhi High Court and work forcauses pertaining to Muslim commu-nity. There, majority of problem solv-ing authorities belong to upper classwho speaks only English and that iswhy English speaking is very muchnecessary to take your problemssolved.”

Framed photos decked the clinic’swalls: Dr Aleem with Punjabi singerDaler Mehndi; Dr Aleem with Delhichief minister Sheila Dikshit. A largeposter of the Swiss countryside waspasted on the wall behind his desk.

“You can say that I want to learnEnglish to hide my inferiority com-plex. It is the tendency of every Indianthat he wants to be a good Englishspeaker. If I’m not a good Englishspeaker, then the inferiority complexis there. This inferiority complex is be-cause of our system.”

Pointing to the television, Dr

Aleem said, “Very big example of infe-riority complex is in front of your eyes.You see a idiot box and see the cover-age of the programmes hosted byBarkha Dutt and Karan Thapar.” DrAleem is referring to two of India’smost influential television newscast-ers who conduct interviews and talkshows in English. “On the other hand,see the Hindi news anchors. Differ-ence is always there. The gentry thatwatches the English news pro-grammes is always top class. I was in-vited twice to be a part of the audiencein Barkha Dutt’s show but I did not go.My English is bad. What if I was in-sult?”

Dr Aleem who went to Anglo Ara-bic Senior Secondary School, Delhi’soldest educational institution, hasbeen winning debating competitionsin Urdu since he was in 3rd standard.“My problem is I think in Urdu andHindi, not in English. In 2006, I go toBritish Council and do a 3-month cap-sule course in spoken English. Theclasses were two times a week. The

fees was Rs 7,000. In the end of thecourse, I was still same.”

What, according to Dr Aleem, iswrong with his English?

“First, I can’t explain myself whatI want to say according to my wish inEnglish. But if it comes to explainingmyself in my language, then I can ex-plain myself better than millions ofpeople.”

Coming back to his dream, DrAleem said, “I think I can achieve it. Ineed some good friends who speakgood English and I need some timewith them. I can learn from them.” DrAleem, don’t worry. My Hauz Khasdays are numbered; I’m coming nearyour place. I will teach you tip-topEnglish.

Mayank Austen Soofi lives in alibrary. He has one website and fourblogs. The website address:thedelhiwalla.com. The blogs:Pakistan Paindabad, Ruined ByReading, Reading Arundhati Roy andMayank Austen Soofi Photos.

Delhi CallingBy Mayank Austen Soofi

comment14Sunday, 13 November, 2011

the election cycles are hereHow will it impact the Afghan endgame?

on tip-top englishno urdu, no Hindi, accented Angrezi only

As the search for endgame inAfghanistan picks steam,the election cycle of Pak-

istan is also picking pace, just as itis in US. The attention of Pak-istan’s politicians is shifting to pol-iticking at a time when it should beon dealing with the Afghan transi-tion and worsening economicprospects. Presidential electionsare slated for November 2012 inUS, for 2013 in Pakistan, and for2014 in Afghanistan. The politicalstrategies that President Karzai,Zardari and Obama develop todeal with their domestic chal-lenges would significantly influ-ence the Afghan reconciliation.

The future of President HamidKarzai is most threatened from thepeace process and US withdrawalfrom Afghanistan. Although his re-lation with the US has been a fluc-tuating affair, it’s no secret thatKarzai would not have survivedwithout the protection and patron-age of the US. The charges of cor-ruption and controversysurrounding the results of lastAfghan election diminish his cred-ibility. Many would comment thathis continuing as the presidentperhaps is most attributable to the

lack of a viable alternative. How-ever, that would be underestimat-ing his strengths.

Skilfully navigating the com-plex regional tribal and ethniclandscape has been Karzai’sstrongest ability. Moreover, pre-venting the rise of a competitor isas much a tradition in tribal poli-tics as it is in the modern day poli-tics, and he has successfullymanaged that. Additionally, he hasmasterfully exploited the sensitiv-ities of Pakistan’s relations withIndia and the US. The recentlyagreed Afghanistan-India strategicdeal is a case in point. When itcomes to connecting with Afghans,Karzai has consistently projectedPakistan as desiring to dominatethem and has raised the issue ofcivilian causalities when it comesto NATO. In short, Karzai benefitsfrom prolonging the endgame, asoppose to quickening the peaceprocess that can potentially endhis political career as well.

On the otherhand, there wouldbe no qualmsabout how globaleconomic realitiesare pushing Eu-rope and US for anearly resolution ofthe Afghan situa-tion. As the elec-tions approach inUS, the public at-tention would be-come more attunedto matters of jobsand less to foreignwars. Since theelimination ofOsama bin Laden,it has becomeharder and harderto justify the hikein defence spend-

ing that had followed 911. Thesepressures are pushing US to re-duce its foreign spending andshrink American military presenceabroad. The US Congress has al-ready warned to cut foreign aid toEgypt, Palestinian Authority andPakistan because these countrieshave lately failed to look after theforeign policy interests of the US.

In October, US Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton had threat-ened to veto the UN reform billproposed by House Foreign AffairsCommittee, Chairwoman IleanaRos-Lehtinen. In a letter to thechairwoman, Clinton said the" billmandates actions that would se-verely limit the United States' par-ticipation in the United Nations,damaging longstanding treatycommitments under the UnitedNations Charter and gravely harm-ing US national interests.” It isclear that differences are growingbetween the Administration andthe Congress as ‘isolationist’ ten-

dencies gain. Under these circum-stances, it’s the domestic economicrealities that will shape PresidentObama’s re-election strategy.

As these economic and politi-cal realities force US to seekspeedy settlement in Afghanistan,its reliance on Pakistan has in-creased but its leverage has de-creased. Prime Minister Gilanirecently commented that his gov-ernment needs political breathingspace to cooperate further withUS. The political and military se-tups no longer have this room tocontinue with the kinetic ap-proach, especially after the Ray-mond Davis incident and theOsama operation. This probably isone of the other stark facts push-ing US towards a political solution.

For President Zardari andPakistan Peoples Party, a winingre-election strategy would mean tofocus more on transforming theeconomic prospects of the country,battered acutely by the nations

fight against terrorism, energyshortages and floods. The im-provement in Pakistan-India rela-tions and granting of the MFNstatus to India is a step in that di-rection. However, it’s unlikely thedividends from the agreementwould start trickling in fast enoughto improve the public opinion, andcounter the negative perceptioncaused by accusations of rampantcorruption. These dynamics, inturn, would stress on US to bemore accommodating towards theleading contenders in the emerg-ing political landscape of Pakistan,and attempt to influence the posi-tion of these players as it relates tothe war against extremists. This isgoing to be a hard sell, especiallywhen these emerging players willlikely excel by exploiting the nega-tive perceptions created by Amer-ican policies in the region.

Furthermore, as the electioncycle gets going in Pakistan, thepoliticians are increasingly dis-

tracted with poli-ticking and‘horse-trading’.Just as the USwould like Pak-istan to focus onAfghanistan andthe extremists, itwould be least in-clined to do so.This would inad-vertently increasereliance on themilitary, to pro-vide continuityduring this crucialphase of theAfghan conflict.

As the electiontimeframe nearsin the US, Presi-dent Obama findshimself with the

daunting task of finding the rightbalance between economic and na-tional security. He went with thehardliners early on by allowing asurge, and this makes it easier forhim to now take the route of a po-litical solution and to focus on im-proving the economy. At the timeof the unveiling of new AfghanStrategy, in December 2010, Pres-ident Obama had commented:

"Over the past several years,we have lost that balance. We'vefailed to appreciate the connectionbetween our national security andour economy. In the wake of aneconomic crisis, too many of ourneighbors and friends are out ofwork and struggle to pay the bills…So we can't simply afford to ignorethe price of these wars."

However, while the US is mov-ing to a political solution, its clos-est allies may not be in a positionto fully support this shift mainlydue their domestic realities. Presi-dent Karzai does not necessarilybenefit from speeding up the polit-ical solution; therefore, his strat-egy is likely to be overtlycooperative but covertly resistant.Zardari, on the other hand, lackspolitical capital to be any morehelpful than his administrationhas already been in the fightagainst extremists.

These dismal prospects arelikely to cause Zardari to becomemore supportive towards US goals,as compared to the military, inhopes that this works in his favour.Although it’s clear, his ability todeliver on any of the promises isminimal.

The writer is the chief analystfor PoliTact (www.PoliTact.comand http:twitter.com/politact)and can be reached [email protected].

He speaks in an American accent! Twoyears ago when I went to Karachi,every cool dude I met in T2F wasspeaking in an American accent. Theartsy place in Delhi where I live –Hauz Khas Village – too has become a‘Yankee hang out’. Artist types stillcome but the ageless rich haveinfiltrated in large numbers.

PoliTactBy Arif Ansar


bANgKoK: People make their way through floodwater on Saturday. The Thai government says that 533 people have died in the country's worst floods in half a century, with the slowly

advancing waters now threatening the heart of bangkok, a city of 12 million people. afp


15 Foreign NewsQaeda-linkedmilitants lash fiveyemenis for drug use

ADENAFP

Suspected Al-Qaeda militants inYemen handed out 80 lashes each tofive youths they said had takennarcotic pills in the latest show ofsummary justice in the restive south,witnesses said on Saturday.The punishment was carried out in alarge field in front of dozens ofwitnesses summoned to watch in themilitant-controlled town of Jaar inAbyan province on Friday night.The five young men were given 80lashes each and then set free, thewitnesses said. Since May, Al-Qaeda-linked militants have taken control ofseveral towns in Abyan, including theprovincial capital Zinjibar, as 10straight months of protests againstveteran President Ali AbdullahSaleh's regime have weakened centralgovernment control.In recent weeks, the militants of thePartisans of Sharia (Islamic law)group have enforced their own verystrict interpretation of Islamic justice. On September 25, the militantssevered the hand of a 15-year-old aspunishment for stealing electricalcables. He later died from blood loss.

15 dead in iranmilitary base blast

TEHRANAFP

A massive explosion hit aRevolutionary Guards base in the westof the Iranian capital on Saturday,killing 15 people, a spokesman for theelite unit told state television."The number of martyrs in today'sexplosion in one of our ammunitiondepots stands at 15," commanderRamezan Sharif was quoted as saying.The explosion hit the base in BidGaneh, near the town of Malard on thewestern outskirts of Tehran, some 20kilometres (12 miles) west of the citycentre, according to media reports.

Roadside bomb kills eight Afghan civilians

ASADABADAFP

Eight civilians including a newly-wedgroom were killed by a roadside bombin Afghanistan Saturday, the latestinnocent victims to die despite aTaliban call to limit their deaths.The victims, which also included awoman and a child, were killed in theeastern province of Laghman whentheir car was blown up as theyreturned home after the man'swedding party late Friday.Laghman province is located towardsthe border with Pakistan. It has longbeen troubled by insurgents,particularly the Hezb-e-Islami factionled by former prime ministerGulbuddin Hekmatyar.

HONOLULUAFP

PRESIDENT Barack Obamawill personally impressupon the leaders of Russiaand China deep US con-cerns over a UN watchdog's

report that Iran has worked on nuclearweapons systems. But Moscow and Bei-jing are cool to a US call for more sanc-tions on Tehran following the release ofthe International Atomic Energy Agencyreport which heightened fears of Israelimilitary action against Iranian nuclearsites. Obama will get his first chance todiscuss the report with PresidentDmitry Medvedev of Russia and China'sPresident Hu Jintao in his native Hawaiiin bilateral meetings on the eve of anAsia-Pacific economic summit.

Ben Rhodes, a deputy US nationalsecurity advisor, said Friday that thepresident would seek international con-sensus on new action against Tehran.

"I think the report just recentlycame out. I think everybody needs totake the time to review the report," hesaid, when asked about vehement Russ-ian criticism of the study. "We will wantto communicate directly with the Rus-sians about our concerns with the re-port," said Rhodes, who told reportersaboard Air Force One that Obama wouldalso bring up the issue in talks with Hu.

Rhodes also signaled however thatshould UN Security Council permanentmembers Russia and China oppose fur-ther multi-lateral sanctions on Iran,Washington would seek to build supportfor sanctions elsewhere. He said Wash-ington would work with "likeminded

states" to tighten a sanctions regimewhich US officials believe has broughtthe Iranian economy to a near standstill.

Earlier Friday, US Secretary of StateHillary Clinton discussed the nucleartensions with Asia Pacific Ministers.

"Iran has a long history of deceptionand denial regarding its nuclear pro-gram and in the coming days we expectIran to answer the serious questionsraised by this report," she said.

Tehran denies its program is meantto produce nuclear weapons. The IAEAreport however said there was "credible"evidence to doubt its denials. Russia'sforeign ministry said on Tuesday itwould take its time assessing the report.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Gen-nady Gatilov made clear that Moscowwould resist the tougher sanctions no

matter what the UN report said. "Anyadditional sanctions against Iran will beinterpreted by the international com-munity as a means of changing theregime in Tehran," Gatilov told Interfax.

"This approach is unacceptable tous, and Russia does not intend to reviewthis proposal," he said. Russia has pre-viously backed four rounds of UN Secu-rity Council restrictions on Iran whileresisting the most crippling measuresthat could directly impact the two sides'military and energy ties. Medvedev hasalso condemned Israel's warning that itwas getting closer to launching a mili-tary strike on Iran for its suspected ef-forts to develop a nuclear bomb, withMedvedev slamming "extremely danger-ous rhetoric." Winning Russia's cooper-ation for deepening the isolation of Iran

was a centerpiece of the "reset" of rela-tions engineered with Moscow by theObama administration. The policy alsoproduced a new nuclear disarmamentpact between the two old War foes andresulted in the United States reconfigur-ing its plans for missile defense in Eu-rope which have angered Russia.

But some observers are now ques-tioning whether the policy has peaked,given that Medvedev, with whomObama established a personal rapport,is expected to step aside next year toallow hardline Prime Minister VladimirPutin to return to the presidency.

China also appears to be reluctant topermit further UN sanctions on Iran,after foreign ministry spokesman HongLei said Thursday such measures "can-not fundamentally solve the Iran issue."

Obama to press Medvedev, Hu on Irang Hillary Clinton says iran has long history of deception and denial regarding its nuclear programme

israeli strike would ‘ensure’

iran seeks bomb, warns BlixVIENNA: An Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities will only strengthenTehran's resolve to develop atomic weapons, Hans Blix, a former head of the UNatomic watchdog, warned in a new interview. "I don't think you can convinceanyone to give up an atomic programme through the threat of violence," Blix saidin an interview with the Austrian news weekly Profil to be published on Monday."Rather, it will cause them to move even faster on it, in order to defendthemselves," he added, according to a short transcript in German of the interview.Speculation has been rife that Israel may launch a strike on Iran with PresidentShimon Peres warning last weekend that an attack was becoming "more and morelikely." "I think that would be really foolish," Blix reacted in the Profil interview."First of all, nobody knows where all the atomic facilities are located. Secondly, Iwould be really surprised if Iran did not have prototypes and construction plansthat it could fall back on after an attack." "Thirdly, if the decision to build a bombhas not yet been taken, a military strike would ensure more than ever that it is." AFP

RABATAFP

Morocco opened its campaign forNovember 25 legislative electionsSaturday, with moderate Islamistsseen as possible winners and fearsof a low turnout in the country'ssecond vote this year.

In the last parliamentary elec-tions in 2007 turnout was a mere37 percent, a sign of Moroccans'lack of interest in public affairs.

"Turnout - the great fear," rana headline in L'Economiste aheadof the start of the campaign. Thenewspaper said the issue was "keyfor the success of dynamic re-forms". The election comes lessthan five months after a July 1 ref-

erendum on a new constitutionwhich had been proposed by KingMohamed VI as regimes in neigh-bouring Arab countries were beingswept away by public anger.

The amended constitution wasto make the kingdom more demo-cratic, strengthen parliament andthe prime minister while leavingthe outstanding role of themonarch untouched.

Under the new constitution theking will appoint the prime minis-ter from among the party whichgarners the most votes.

Morocco's February 20 reformmovement of mainly youthful in-dependent protesters, left-wing ac-tivists and Islamic fundamentalistshas called for a boycott of the up-

coming vote. For the first time ex-perts believe that the moderate Is-lamist Justice and Developmentparty (PJD) -- the main oppositionparty with currently 47 deputies --has a real chance of winning.

If so, its victory would matchthat of Tunisia's long banned En-nahda party which won 90 seats ina 217-member constituent assem-bly last month, and before elec-tions in Egypt where Islamists arealso popular.

The PJD's main rivals are eightparties grouped around the liberalNational Rally of Independents(RNI) which seek to counter the Is-lamists' influence.

Overall around 30 parties arevying for the 395 seats in parlia-

ment -- 70 more than in 2007, allof which are reserved for womenand younger deputies in a bid togive an assembly so far dominatedby ranking public figures a moremodern look.

Of 13 million Moroccans elegi-ble for voting 57 percent are 35 oryounger.

Their vote is therefore seenas decisive as the governmenthas so far pretty much ignoreddemands to fight high unemploy-ment, illiteracy, inequality andcorruption in a country wherepoverty is pervasive.

Unemployment is staggeringamong people under 35, hitting31.4 percent in the third quarter of2011, according to official figures.

Morocco gears up for poll with eyes on islamists, turnoutfive dead in blast,shooting in Kazakhstan

ALMATYAFP

Five people, including an ap-parent suicide bomber, werekilled on Saturday in a com-bined shooting and bomb at-tack in the southern Kazakhcity of Taraz, the Interfaxnews agency reported.

An unknown individualattacked a weapons shop,stealing two Saiga rifles andkilling a security guard, the in-terior ministry said in a state-ment quoted by the agency.

He then escaped in a vehi-cle, shooting dead two police

officers on his way. When fi-nally apprehended, the gun-man detonated his charge,killing himself and a trafficpoliceman.

"After being arrested, thewounded criminal blew him-self up and as a result amember of the traffic policewas killed," the interior min-istry said. Kazakhstan, whichthis month passed a new lawtightening control over reli-gious organisations, has seenan unprecedented spate ofsmall-scale attacks over thelast year blamed on Islamistextremists.


Foreign News 16Sunday, 13 November, 2011

Abnormal radioactivityalso in Hungary, no risk seen

BUDAPESTAFP

Hungary was the latest European countryon Saturday to confirm higher than usuallevels of radioactivity in the air, althoughlike others it maintained that this did notpose any health risks."In Hungary, a higher-than-usualconcentration of iodine-131 particles wasregistered in Budapest and Miskolc (inthe northeast)," Geza Safrany, the head ofthe national research institute forradiology OSSKI, said in a statement.He added that the increase was very slightand did not pose any health risk.What lay behind this elevatedradioactivity is still unclear, he also said.On Friday, the UN atomic watchdog inVienna said it had received informationfrom Czech authorities that "very low levelsof iodine-131" had been detected in recentdays in the air in the Czech Republic and inother countries. Poland, Slovakia andAustria quickly confirmed they too haddetected abnormal levels in the last fewweeks. The International Atomic EnergyAgency (IAEA) said however it did notbelieve this presented any risk to humanhealth nor that it was caused by the nucleardisaster at Japan's Fukushima plant earlierthis year. In Poland, a spokesman for theatomic energy agency told AFP that thecause may lie in Pakistan, where officialswere forced to repair a leak at the nearly 40-year-old Karachi Nuclear Power Plant(KANUPP) on October 19. After theincident, an official from KANUPP had toldAFP that no radioactivity had been recordedand none of their staff had been affected.

Japan opensFukushima reactorsto outside eyes

FUKUSHIMAAFP

Japan took a group of journalists inside itscrippled nuclear plant for the first time onSaturday, stepping up efforts to prove to theworld it is on top of the disaster. More than30 members of the press, wearing protectivemasks and anti-radiation suits and confinedto buses, saw the devastated buildingshousing the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi,the scene of the planet's worst atomic disastersince Chernobyl a quarter century earlier. Onejournalist reported how four reactor buildingswere in varying states of destruction, with theone around reactor number 3 largelycollapsed. He said the bases of the buildings,which stood on ground just 10 metres (30feet) above sea level, were filled withcrumpled trucks, twisted metal fences andlarge buckled water tanks. Other buildings inthe compound also showed signs of thedestruction wrought by the 14-metre-hightsunami. Crows and dragonflies could be seenaround the reactors, in an area the reporter'sdosimeter recorded radiation at 50microsieverts per hour. Nearer to the reactorsthe reading rose to 300 microsieverts (0.3millisieverts), the highest of the trip. TheJapanese government-set threshold forevacuation from a normal area is accumulatedradiation of 20 millisieverts per year. Thetour, in which just four representatives fromforeign media were allowed to participate, ispart of efforts by TEPCO to show they areclose to solving the problem.oKUMA: The crippled Fukushima dai-ichi nuclear power station is seen through a bus window on Saturday. afp

32 dead in freshTurkey quake

ISTANBULAFP

The death toll from a 5.6 magnitudeearthquake that struck eastern Turkey roseto 32 on Saturday, including twojournalists, authorities said. Announcingthe new toll, which stood at 27 earlierSaturday, the emergency unit of the primeminister's office said on its website that 30people had been rescued since the quake onWednesday. Rescuer workers overnightretrieved the bodies of two reporters fromthe private Dogan news agency -- 26-year-old Cem Emir and 58-year-old SebahattinYilmaz -- from the debris of a hotel whichwas toppled by the earthquake. Thejournalists were in the area to report on lastmonth's much deadlier earthquake, whichkilled more than 600 people. Wednesday'squake hit Edremit town, some 15 kilometres(nine miles) from Van province, accordingto the Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory.

BRUSSELSAFP

THE European Unionplants its flag inLibya on Saturdaywhen EU foreign pol-icy chief Catherine

Ashton officially opens a new del-egation and heads into talks withthe interim authorities.

Heralding the bloc's commit-ment to assist recovery from the

conflict and "build a new Libyabased on the rule of law, democ-racy and human rights," Ashton isto meet the country's interimleaders after the noon opening.

But she will also address thefirst Libyan Women's RightsForum, a significant move on theheels of announcements of the in-troduction of sharia law in Libya.

Asked for comment on the im-pact on Libyan women ofpolygamy and a ban on divorce,

Ashton's spokeswoman lastmonth said that "we expect thenew Libya to be based on respectfor human rights and democraticprinciples." In a statement Satur-day, Ashton said the 27-nationbloc would continue to supportcivil society in Libya, "in particu-lar women and young people, whohave a major role to play in shap-ing Libya's future."

"Opening a fully fledged EUDelegation in Tripoli underlines

the EU's commitment to our closerelationship with the Libyan peo-ple, both during the political tran-sition and in the long term,"Ashton stated. In Tripoli, she willmeet National Transitional Coun-cil (NTC) chairman MustafaAbdul Jalil and Prime MinisterAbdel Rahim al-Kib.

The interim premier, who hasuntil November 23 to form a gov-ernment, said Friday that Libya'stransitional post-Gaddafi govern-

ment will be transparent and willnot include anyone from the latestrongman's regime.

"We will be frank and trans-parent", he said, warning Libyans"not to expect miracles".

Ashton's visit comes 48 hoursahead of a meeting of the EU's 27foreign ministers, who Mondaywill look at means of helpingLibya recover from the months-long conflict. Diplomatic sourcessaid the ministers were likely to

call for an inclusive transitionprocess and express concernabout reports of human rights vi-olations, such as revenge attacksand summary executions.

They would also confirm thebloc's readiness to assist Libya ina range of sectors. The EU is tak-ing part in an UN-headed assess-ment of Libya's needs, includingborder management, civil societyand women's rights as well ascommunications and media.

EU commits to Libya as Ashton opens Tripoli missiong Ashton says 27-nation bloc would continue to support civil society in Libya, particularly women and young people

New deLHi: An indian kite-flying enthusiast flies a hundred kites on a single string during a kite-flying festival on the india gate

lawns on Saturday. afp

SANAAAFP

Fierce clashes erupted in Yemen's sec-ond city Saturday as protesters in thecapital Sanaa condemned internationalsilence in the face of a governmentcrackdown that left more than 15 deadthe previous day.

"Oh world, the children and

women of Taez are being killed...whereis your conscience?" chanted tens ofthousands of protesters in Sanaa whofor 10 months now have been callingfor President Ali Abdullah Saleh tostep down. "To the world and the (UN)Security Council, don't you see Saleh isshelling Taez?" they chanted.

On Friday, government forcesshelled a protest site in the flashpoint

city of Taez, south of the capital, killing15 civilians, including at least threewomen and three children, medics said.

Friday's violence, which also left atleast 40 people wounded, eruptedwhen security forces loyal to Salehbegan shelling areas around FreedomSquare, the epicentre of the protestmovement in Taez. Witnesses blamedthe violence on the Republican Guard,

an elite unit commanded by Saleh's sonAhmed, accusing it of firing tank andartillery rounds into a crowd of protest-ing civilians. The violence continuedSaturday as armed tribesmen who havethrown their support behind theprotest movement clashed with govern-ment troops in the Hassab district ofTaez, witnesses said. There were no im-mediate reports of casualties.

clashes and protests erupt in Yemen for second day


17 Sunday, 13 November, 2011

FASHION

visitAngelina’s Pax to Billy

Crystal

GENEVAAGEnCIES

Aselection of iconic jewellerybelonging to late Hollywoodstar Elizabeth Taylor went ondisplay in Geneva ahead ofits auction in New York in

December. Among the pieces were a dia-mond tiara gifted to her by one of herseven ex-husbands, the producer MikeTodd, a diamond and platinum braceletfrom her friend Michael Jackson and sev-eral necklace and earing sets decked withemeralds, diamonds, sapphires and rubies.

The most spectacular piece, a gift fromRichard Burton, who Taylor married twice,is the Peregrina, a 16th century pearl wornby a succession of Spanish and Austrianqueens which Burton bought for $37,000at an auction in 1969 and became the cen-trepiece of a pearl, diamond and rubynecklace. When sold by Christie’s on De-cember 13, the Peregrina is expected to

fetch between $2-3 million.A ring inlaid with diamonds and a huge

ruby, said by Burton to be “the perfect red”is valued at between $1-1.5 million.

Another gift from the actor to his wife,a hulking 33.19-carat diamond ring Tayloralways wore, is worth an estimated $2.5-3.5 million. Francois Curiel, internationalhead of jewellery and president ofChristie’s in Asia, said he was “amazed” bythe depth of the film star’s jewellery knowl-edge when he met her in 1998 in Los An-geles to asses her collection.

The jewellery is being sold at the re-quest of Taylor’s family and will be fol-lowed the next day by an auction of 269other items. The total value of the salecould reach $30 million, Christie’s said.

About 400 dresses, lavish accessoriesand other mementoes were previously soldat the Rockefeller Center in New York follow-ing Taylor’s death in March. A percentageof the money raised will go to charity, no-tably the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation.

geNevA: ‘The Taj Mahal diamond,’ a heart-shaped diamond believed to have been a gift to the

great emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666) and offered by Richard burton to elizabeth Taylor at her

40th birthday. The jewel will go under the hammer in New york on december 2011 and is

expecting to fetch about 300,000 to 500,000 US dollars. afp

MUMBAI AGEnCIES

With all the reportsof her and Saif’s bigfat shaadi, Kareenais most amused...

Actress KareenaKapoor, who is onlytoo happy, to havebeen the first to staropposite all the Khans and is on cloud ninethat her movies are doing well at the boxoffice, says she is in a happy phase of life.

After all the actress is all set to tie theknot in February 2012, right? “Wrong!” says

the Bebo! “It’s great that people have set mywedding date, have designed my weddingdress and planned my honeymoon withoutme being aware of it! It’s flattering, but no,I’m not getting married, yet!” On furtherpushing, Kareena said, “Saif and I are hap-pily in love and happy with each other; Weare taking our time. And I assure you, noth-ing - absolutely nothing - is fixed as yet: nomarriage date, no marriage dress, nothing!”Kareena says the next big thing she is lookingforward to is Agent Vinod. “It’s a special film.The movie is made on a huge canvas. I amhoping it’ll be my next hit. Our fingers arecrossed. We have worked so hard on it. Let’shope the effort is worth it,” she signs off.

i’m not getting married: Kareena

lOS AnGElES: We’re officially aweek away from the release of“Breaking Dawn - Part I,” but thosein los Angeles are focusing first onmonday’s premiere. Fans havepitched their tents in front of thenokia Theater in downtown l.A. tosecure prime R.Patz/K.Stew/Taylorlautner-sighting real estate.According toDeadline, more than700 Twihards have been rallying

and waiting for the fourthinstallment of the “Twilight”

saga to premiere sinceThursday. Cnn’s

cameras even spotteda fan or two arrivingdressed as brides, sothat they could takea picture with acutout of “Edward”(played by RobertPattinson) dressedfor a wedding,complete withcake. (Hey, we allhave our fantasies.)

Deadline reports that“Breaking Dawn - Part

I” is alreadycontributing to 72

percent of movie ticket e-retailer Fandango’s weekly

sales - 7 days ahead of therelease. AGEnCIES

fans campout as bridesAngelina Jolie keeps quite the busy

travel schedule. And though it’soften for work, her current trip is inline with her desire to keep herthree adopted children familiar withtheir roots. Her latest destination:vietnam, where she wasphotographed with her son Pax, 7.“we owe vietnam a visit, becausePax should,” Jolie, 36, told theFinancial Times in July, adding ofher six children with brad Pitt:“They are all learning about eachother’s cultures as well as beingproud of their own. They all havetheir flags over their beds and theirindividual pride.” According to thephotographer, the actress and Paxwent out for lunch together in HoChi Minh City, and the rest of theJolie-Pitt brood is along for the tripas well. Pitt, 47, and Jolie adoptedeldest son Maddox, 10, fromCambodia, Zahara, 6, from ethiopia.Their daughter Shiloh, 5, was bornin Namibia, and twins vivienne andKnox, 3, in France. mOnITORInG DESK

Vietnam

to hostAcademy

Awards

Munib and

Rabia Nawaz

Moeed and

Faryal of Muse

Mehdi, Zeba and Shahzad

Zara Qureshi, Shafaq Habib and Zahra SaeedZarmina

Faraz Manan, Nomi

Ansari and Amna Kardar

Saad and Zainab Qureshi

Nina Akbar

Juggun Kazim

Jenny with

Mehvish


18jacko’s verdictis no closure

MONITORING DESK

The reigning emotion in the wake of theConrad Murray guilty verdict onMonday was of hollow victory ratherthan catharsis. At the end of the ordeal,Michael Jackson was still dead and noamount of prison for his doomed doctorwould bring him back. Surprisingly, thespectacle of Murray’s publichumiliation didn’t seem to interest thenormally voracious consumers ofcelebrity trash. The story had littletraction in the tabloids, drove even lessTMZ traffic and the live feed of the six-week trial was neither the subject ofwater cooler debate nor late nightcomics across the nation. HermanCain’s sexual harrassment rumorsnabbed more time on cable news thanthe courtroom account of how ConradMurray injected the King of Pop with afatal dose of hospital-grade sedative,and then lied about it to save himself.The Casey Anthony trial riveted NancyGrace. Not Conrad Murray. Where wasthe outrage? Maybe we were just tiredof it. Rather than peel back the curtainon a celebrity’s private life, the ConradMurray trial showed us a sordid pictureof Michael Jackson that we no longerwanted to see. With his death at age 50,we had finally deified the King of Pop.His sudden demise led to an outpouringof global emotion.Those of us whohad casuallymocked him foryears or reviledhim for suspectedchild abuse,suddenly let all thatfall away. Insteadwe remembered theMichael Jackson weloved – hischildlikeinnocence, histalent, and theoutright joy hismusic brought tomillions acrossthe world.

Ash is still homeBig B says

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

ENSEMBLE opened a new out-let in Lahore at the centrallylocated and renowned 10 Q.Having first opened their bou-tique in the city about two

years ago, the newly opened Ensemble out-let now retails a diversity of Karachi’s andLahore’s premier designers and is in keep-ing with the brands’ commitment of provid-ing a comfortable retail experience, with anevermore extensive fashion selection.

The Ensemble launch was attended bymedia, designers, fashion and social person-alities alike, including: fashion designersNomi Ansari, Faryal and Moeed of Muse,Honey Waqar, Ammar Belal, Fahad Hus-sayn, Munib Nawaz, Kuki, Zarmina, Mehdi,Faraz Manan and Rana Noman Haq; stylistsKhawar Riaz, Shehzad Raza, NabihaBukhari of The Square, Annie of Allenoraand Jenny; jewellery designers ShaziaDeenand Shafaq Habib, among others.

As one of Pakistan’s pioneering multi-label boutiques, Ensemble’s relocation tolarger premises was in line with their expan-sion within Karachi, with the opening ofXander’s Café within their premises, andalso follows the success of their recently heldFashion’s Night Out. Ensemble’s new bou-tique in Lahore also marked the introduc-tion of Nomi Ansari, Umar Sayeed and RituKumar’s separate spaces within the outlet.

The multi-label boutique in Lahore cur-rently hosts numerous coveted fashionbrands such as Ali Xeeshan, Ammar Belal,Deepak Perwani, Delphi, Fahad Hussayn,FNK Asia, Hunar, Maheen Karim, MahinErum, Mahin Hussain, Muse, Nida Azwer,Nomi Ansari, ONE by Ensemble, PencilSketch, Preen, Rana Noman Haq, RehanaSaigol, Ritu Kumar, Rizwan Beyg,

Sabyasachi, Sadaf Malaterre, Sana Safinaz,Sana Tariq, Sania Maskatiya, Sanya Muneer,Sarah A Jilani, Satya Paul, Shehrnaz,SozanKaar, Tarun Tahiliani, Umar Sayeed,Zara Shahjahan, Zahra Habib and Zarmina.

Speaking about the launch of the En-semble boutique at 10 Q, Ensemble CreativeDirector Shehrnaz Husain said: “We at En-semble are proud to expand within Lahore,which has always had such a vibrant fashionretail scene. The response to the openingwas humbling and we hope the buyers willenjoy the shopping experience offered at thenew Ensemble store. Our new space at 10 Qwill make fashion more accessible to ourclients, given its central location. We lookforward to introducing more additions tothe Ensemble brand in Lahore next year.”

Ensemble is one of Pakistan’s premier in-dependent luxury boutiques and houses de-signer prêt-à-porter apparel from over 40 topPakistani and Indian designers. Located in theupscale neighbourhood of Block-4, Clifton,now with a newly relocated store in Lahoreand a presence of its in-house line in variousfashion capitals, it has in the past four yeargrown into a recognisable Pakistani label.

Indeed, Ensemble’s new and expandedpremises in Karachi as of 2010 offer alarger outlet, additional personalised serv-ices and a more extensive collection of ap-parel. Some features of the new locationinclude a bridal room by appointment anda full service salon on the mezzanine level,with the newly introduced Xander’s Café.Ensemble looks forward to bringing thesame innovations and personalised servicesto their new Lahore outlet in 2012.

As a pioneer in the industry, Ensemblewas the first to bring seasonal fashion showsto Pakistan and the first multi-brand storeto host its own shows. The House of Ensem-ble’s debut show was the relaunch of designstalwart Shamaael at a critically acclaimed

November event in 2007, followed by thelaunching of Kamiar Rokni’s solo label inKarachi the same year. Ensemble’sSpring/Summer showcase was held in 2008where Umar Sayeed, Sadaf Malaterre andKamiar Rokni took to the ramp for the firsttime ever and where Nilofer Shahid alsoshowcased her debut Prêt collection. Thiswas subsequently followed by a Fall/Winterfashion show the same year where the iconicBunto Kazmi showcased her Prêt collectionfor the first time in her career and youngdesigner Adnan Pardesy debuted. Ensem-ble also recently adapted the internationalFashion’s Night Out concept, bringing it totheir boutique in Karachi in 2011. The En-semble brand has also in the past held twofundraising fashion shows in aid of theTeacher’s Resource Centre (TRC) in 2009,thereby putting fashion’s socially responsi-ble foot forward to promote education andprogression in Pakistan.

Zeba from Ensemble has been support-ing charity through fashion initiatives suchas Carnivale De Couture in aid of TRC, theMALC annual ball and fund raisers andballs in aid of the Kidney Centre and theLady Dufferin hospital. In 2010, EnsembleKarachi organised a fundraiser qawwali andcharity sale to raise funds for the assistanceof flood relief affectees and their 2011 Fash-ion’s Night Out also channelled a significantpercentage of sales to the flood affectees.

Ensemble expands withnew outlet ensemble announced the

opening of their new outlet inLahore at the centrally locatedand renowned 10 Q. Having firstopened their boutique in thecity two years ago, the ensemblelaunch was a major success,attended by leading designers,media personalities, fashionistasand the cream of Lahore.

WASHINGTONAGEnCIES

It’s been a decade since the Sep-tember 11 attacks and manyAmericans still don’t know quitewhat to make of their 2.75 mil-lion Muslim compatriots. Could areality TV series help?

‘All-American Muslim’, whichpremieres today (Sunday) on theTLC cable channel, lifts the veil

on five Arab American families ina suburb of Detroit, Michigan andfinds their lives are, in manyways, not so un-American at all.

There’s the Amen family,whose outspoken tattooeddaughter Shadia is engaged toan Irish American from Chicagowho accepts her family’s requestto convert to Islam on the eve oftheir wedding - and upsets hisCatholic mother.

Newlywed twenty-somethingsNader and Nawal Aoude embraceteamwork like a new-age couple asthey prepare for the birth of theirfirst child, even as they adhere toa devout Islamic lifestyle.

Nina Bazzy is a glamorousblond party planner on a collisioncourse with both her traditional-minded parents and the widercommunity over her bold plan toopen her own trendy nightclub.

Mike Jaafar upholds the lawas Dearborn’s deputy chief sher-iff, while his wife Angela tries tokeep their four high-strung chil-dren in line in one of those bigsuburban houses that signifiesthe American dream.

And the patriarch of theZaban family, Fouad “HajWalker” Zaban, is as passionateabout his religious obligations ashe is about leading the high

school football team he coaches tothe Michigan state championship.

“It seemed like a really, reallygood opportunity to dispel someof these misconceptions thatwe’ve been dealing with all ourlives,” Shadia Amen said onThursday, explaining why sheagreed to do the show. “We’re nothere to represent Islam. We’rejust five American families whohappen to be Muslim.”

Will ‘all-american Muslim’ understand american Muslims?

mumBAI: bollywood can’t seem to wait forAishwarya Rai bachchan’s baby. while she hasn’tdelivered yet, the rumours about Ash andAbhishek’s baby’s arrival are flying thick and fast. Somuch so that Aishwarya’s pa-in-law Amitabhbachchan has had to clarify. Amitach bachchanposted on his Twitter page yesterday (November11), “getting congratulatory messages on Aishwaryadelivering a boy!!! guess they know more than evenshe does !! False and incorrect news.” Aishwarya

had appeared at the Seven Hills Hospitalin Mumbaion November 10, raising speculation that she wasbeing admitted for delivery. However, herspokesperson reportedly denied that she hadactually been admitted. A tweet of the statementby the spokesperson doing the rounds read“Aishwarya is still at home, please do not believe orspread rumours,” Apparently, Aishwarya was at thehospital just for a routine check-up on November 10and left soon after that. AGEnCIES

After eddie Murphy exited his hostingduties for the 84th Academy Awards,the Academy of Motion Picture Artsand Sciences made quick work offinding a replacement, and theywent with a familiar face. (This willbe Crystal’s ninth time hosting theawards show - not including the2006 show he opened.) The newsspread quickly following the actor’stweet, “Am doing the oscars so theyoung woman in the pharmacy willstop asking my name when i pick upmy prescriptions. Looking forward tothe show.” This oscars ceremony hashad a few behind-the-scenes tweaksover the past week, starting withformer co-producer brett Ratner’sresignation. The “Tower Heist”director used a gay slur during ascreening last weekend, and criticsquickly called for Ratner to bestripped of his Academy Awardsproduction duties. Ratner apologisedfor his comment, and on Tuesdayresigned from the job. eddie Murphyquit next, saying he understood theperspectives of all parties involved,and wished the new producer andhost the best. So now we haveveteran filmmaker brian grazer inthe co-producer seat along with donMischer, and billy Crystal as host.The 84th Academy Awards will airon Sunday, February 26, 2012.

mOnITORInG DESK

Aaminah Haq and Ammar Belal

Honey Waqar

Annie of Alle'nora


Sunday, 13 November, 2011Pages: 8

Pakistancricket squadlooking good

Page 4

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Pakistani tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and his Indian part-ner Rohan Bopanna are one stepaway from winning their thirdATP title of the season as theystormed into the final of the ParisMasters after edging past MaxMirnyi of Belarus and DanielNestor of Canada, on Saturday.

The seventh seed Indo-Pakpair eked out a 6-3, 7-6 win in thesemifinals over the third seededBelarusian-Canadian combina-tion in one hour and 27 minutes.

On Friday, Indo-Pak expresshad shocked second seedsMichael Llodra and Nenad Zi-monjic 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 in thequarter-finals of the euro2,750,000 event.

Now Aisam-Bopanna will facethe winner of the other semifinalsbetween French Pair of JulienBenneteau/ Nicolas Mahut andSantiago Gonzalez of Mexico andKas Christopher of Germany.AFP adds: Roger Federer de-feated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-3here on Saturday to reach thefinal of the Paris Masters for thefirst time in his career.

The 30-year-old Swiss holderof 16 Grand Slam titles will playon Sunday the winner of the othersemi-final which sees 2008 win-ner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of Francetake on giant American JohnIsner.

A break of serve in the firstgame of each set was all the for-mer world No.1 needed to see offthe challenge of Berdych who beatsecond seed Andy Murray in amarathon quarter-final on Friday.

The day after chalking up the

800th match win of his career,Federer made a storming startagainst a player who had givenhim problems in the past.

He immediately had the bigCzech on the defensive andclinched a first break of servewhen a rasping cross-court fore-hand forced an error.

The third seed poweredthrough his own serve and had abreak point to go 3-0 up in thenext game before Berdych finallystarted to find his range.

Federer though was comfort-able on his own serve and took thefirst set 6-4 despite a double faultat 40-15 ahead in the 10th game.

Berdych stumbled again atthe start of the second set handingFederer two break points by net-ting an easy-looking overheadsmash and he then netted a rou-tine forehand from the baseline.

Federer, who won just his sec-ond tournament of the year lastweek in his hometown of Basel,smoothly moved 2-0 up and henever looked like being caughtfrom there on in.

Berdych saved a break pointafter double-faulting in the sev-enth game, but two games laterFederer went 40-0 up andclinched the win when a demor-alised Berdych netted a weakforehand. A win on Sundaywould be just the second timethat Federer has lifted a title inthe French capital with his onlytriumph at Roland Garros in theFrench Open coming in 2009when he beat Sweden’s RobinSoderling in the final.

It would also set him up per-fectly for the season-ending ATPTour finals in London whichstart the week after next.

Aisam-Bopanna

PARiS: Czech Tomas berdych hits a return to Swiss Roger Federer. afpPARiS: Swiss Roger Federer hits a return to Czech Tomas berdych. afp

in Paris Masters final

PARiS: Pakistani Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi(L), watches teammate indian Rohanbopanna return the ball to bulgarian MaxMirnyi and Canadian daniel Nestor. afp



ONE man’s loss is anotherman’s gain. This age oldidiom is perfectly embod-ied by one Mohammad

Hafeez; with Salman Butt fightingcourt battles and Kamran Akmal onthe sidelines learning new ways todrop a catch, Hafeez has swooped inand cemented himself not only as anopener but as the number one all-rounder in the team.

Hafeez is not some new kid on theblock. Since making his debut in 2003,Hafeez remained on the fringes of thenational squad and never looked likefulfilling the potential he showed earlyin his career. The inevitable as somecalled it then, eventually took seven longyears but such has been the upturn infortunes over the last 18 months that theman known as the ‘Professor’ is nowbeing tipped as the successor to Misbah

Hafeez, over the last year or so hasbecome an integral member of the na-tional team and more importantlyacross all formats. His handy off-spinhas been transformed into a reliableand economical proposition so muchso that his captains have often em-ployed him early on in the piece, mostnotably against West Indies, in thequarterfinals of the World Cup 2011,where his metronomical accuracy laidthe foundations for an emphatic vic-tory. Never a big turner of the ball, thehallmarks of his bowling have been theunerring control and the subtle varia-tions which ensure that his efficiencyis not reduced when playing on unpro-ductive surfaces.

The most important changethough, has come in the shape of hisbatting, which after all is his primaryjob. While his overall numbers aremodest and his recent exploits far frombeing earth shattering, it is the im-provement and consistency Hafeez hasshown which is most encouraging.Post-2010, Hafeez, in ODI’s has scoredhis runs at an average of almost 40, afar cry from his pre-2010 days when heaveraged a pathetic 17.5. All his three

centuries have come in the year 2011and while the opposition on all threeoccasions was not the most intimidat-ing; the knocks reflect a growing senseof maturity. Prior to his purple patch,Hafeez was often at the receiving end ofaccusations labelling him a selfishplayer but he has shown what an ex-tended run in the national team can doto your confidence.

Stodgy and stifled performanceswith the bat have given way to author-itative and fluent displays coming at astrike rate of 78, which used to dwin-dle to the mid 60s Hafeez, it appears,has finally struck a balance betweenstyle and substance.

The general consensus in andaround the team is that he is a thinkingcricketer, meticulous in his approachand looks to be part of the solutionrather than the problem – all goodsigns if you’re being talked about asthe future captain.

The captaincy at the momentmay prove to be premature eventhough he appears to tick all theboxes. It should be worth mentioningthat he does have some experiencewith regards to the job, having cap-tained Pakistan A in the past. At 31,he has the ideal blend of experienceand having enough cricket left in himto lead the side for some time If thePCB do feel that he is the man to takeover after Misbah retires, it may notbe a bad option to hand over the reinsto Hafeez in the shorter format some-time in the near future and look tobuild from there.

All said and done, Hafeez is notthe finished article by any stretch ofimagination. He must look to sus-tain his recent form with both batand ball and consolidate his stand-ing by converting those stylish thir-ties and forties into bigger and moresubstantial scores in both ODI’s andTests if he wishes to stay in the team,let alone lead the side. Questionmarks remain over his ability to per-form against the best and in de-manding conditions but such is thepaucity of good opening batsmen inthe country that Hafeez’s adequacywill have to do for now.

MUHAMMAD BUTT

COMMENT

The case of the Pakistan cricketers foundguilty and sentenced for spot fixing formoney is a very loud wake-up call for worldcricket. For while much has been achievedby the International Cricket Council, thesport is once again at a credibility crossroad.

Decisive action will keep cricket corrup-tion to an occasional embarrassing episode.No action, or the wrong decisions, will allowcorruption to gain a stronger foothold andthe game will return to the bad old days ofthe 1990s, when Test and World Cupmatches were fixed for betting purposes.

Cricket will always be the global sportmost vulnerable to corruption because of thenature of the game and the consequentheavy volume of betting. The fixers do nothave to fix the outcome of the whole matchto arrange a betting coup. The players in-volved use the twisted logic that they are notaffecting the outcome of the match. In the-ory, they could deliver the fixed event for thebetting coup and still go on to win the gameand even the man-of-the-match award.

Gambling on cricket is a massive indus-

try, primarily in the Indian subcontinent,where it is unlawful, unregulated and some-times linked to organised crime. Informedsources suggest that up to the equivalent of$1billion is bet on a single match if it in-volves Pakistan and India.

Routinely, betting on cricket outstripsthe volume of betting on all other globalsports. Cricketers and their families havebeen intimidated in the past to encouragethem to become involved in fixing.

The last time cricket was forced to re-spond to serious scandal was in 2000 afterthe Hansie Cronje saga. The Indian police,as a by-product of a telephone intercept,proved that Cronje and others had been fix-ing the outcome of matches for gamblingpurposes. At the time, the gambling envi-ronment was less sophisticated and bettingon every ball was uncommon. ConsequentlyCronje and others were prepared to fix theoutcome of matches for cash payments.

The ICC asked me at the time to look atthe problem and I submitted a report inApril 2001 All 24 of my recommendationswere accepted by the ICC executive board.Some were embraced with more enthusiasmthan others. My recommendations for anawareness and education programme foranyone playing international cricket wereimplemented very well, as were recommen-dations for better security and the formationof a specialist anti-corruption unit.

This relatively small unit of former po-lice officers has developed expertise and op-erating methods that have been studied andcopied by other sports.

The Anti-Corruption and Security Unithas successfully led investigations against

players and disrupted the grooming andpreparation of many others who were indanger of being drawn into the fixers’ web.

I remain confident that, despite the ex-posé of the malpractice by members of thePakistan team, the overwhelming majorityof international cricketers are not involvedin fixing. However, if the ICC and nationalcricket boards do not make a renewed effort,cricket could quickly regress to the bad olddays epitomised by Cronje and others.

Some of the recommendations I madein 2001 that received the least supportwithin the ICC are still relevant today. I hopethey will be revisited. At the time of my re-port I wrote: “The players are not sufficientlyinvolved in the administration of the gameand ownership of the problems. Considera-tion should be given to enhancing the role ofthe players and their representative bodies.”

Although some progress has been made,I believe cricketers are still not an integralpart of the solution to corruption. The anti-corruption endeavour is applied to themrather than with them. Consequently, overthe past 10 years, cricketers have grudginglyaccepted the anti-corruption measuresrather than being the eyes and ears on thefront line, reporting suspicious events. TheMCC World Cricket Committee and othersare now actively speculating about whatmore can be done. That is encouraging. Theother recommendations that were morechallenging to implement concerned the ICCitself. In 2001, I wrote: “The ICC will be in astronger position if it continues to evolvefrom its origins as a loose and fragile allianceinto a modern regulatory body whose role isclarified and whose transactions are trans-

parent and accountable.” Corruption incricket will flourish again unless the ICC andevery national board show leadership anddetermination to keep malpractice to a min-imum, as it is unlikely to be totally eradi-cated. Complacency and the growth ofTwenty20 tournaments in recent years haveopened the door for the return of the fixers.Corruption relies on opportunity, humanweakness and greed. The growth of T20 haschanged the dynamic of world cricket andcreated new challenges. While 20x20 is anexciting, unstoppable and commercial for-mat, it has a potentially more sinister under-side that needs to be understood. In thefrenzy of commercialisation, cricketers areimmersed in a heady world of monopoly-money bids for franchises, teams and play-ers. An “anything goes” party atmosphere,with more and more agents, celebrities andeven previous fixers re-emerging atmatches, can seduce cricketers into a toxicjustification for occasional spot-fixing. Theysee so many people making huge sums ofmoney that they can be tempted to agree toa prearranged no-ball here or a duck there.So, although I do not think the case of thePakistan cricketers is a tip of an iceberg ofcorrupt players, I have real concerns for thefuture and more must be done to preservethe integrity of the game. Experts have ar-gued that legalising gambling in the subcon-tinent and banning bets that enable andencourage spot-fixing is the way forward.

If only it was that simple. Even if gam-bling was legalised, it is highly probable thatthe legacy of the past and current demandwould maintain a significant, undergroundand unlawful gambling industry. This sector

would still offer the sort of bets that facilitatespot-fixing and betting coups, because gam-blers love the immediacy and gratification ofbeing able to bet on every ball.

So what is the best way forward? TheICC must have the courage to support itscurrent anti-corruption infrastructure. Moreresources may be necessary to monitor thegrowing volume of matches and tourna-ments. The ICC must insist and ensure thatevery national board, team managementand tournament organiser has accreditedmeasures to prevent and detect malpractice.

In future, if cricketers are found guiltyof corruption, consideration should be givento punishing national boards and if possibletournament organisers, if they have beennegligent with regard to the guilty behav-iour. In the same way that the new BriberyAct in the UK seeks to hold to account com-panies who have not done enough to preventtheir employees being drawn into corrup-tion, the ICC should explore ways to holdnational boards more accountable for theircricketers’ integrity. But, above all, thebiggest advance in the fight against corrup-tion will come from international playersthemselves. They must be empowered andencouraged to become more active stake-holders and guardians of cricket integrity.The ICC and national boards must rise to thechallenge to find a more productive partner-ship with players and their representativebodies. For the past 10 years cricketers havetoo often been passive observers of the fightagainst corruption. They owe it to them-selves and all who love the game to do more.The writer is former head ofICC Anti-Corruption Unit

CriCket at a Credibility Crossroad

The generalconsensus inand aroundthe team isthat he is athinkingcricketer,meticulous inhis approachand looks tobe part of thesolutionrather thanthe problem

ExPERT COmmEnT

SiR PAUL CoNdoN

THE COMEbACk kIdIt took seven long years but the ‘Professor’ now seems to have finally arrived



PAKISTAN Cricket’s reply toall the off-field turmoil hasbeen lionhearted and awe-in-spiring. While the media vul-tures around the globe

continue to nourish their biases againstus, our cricket continues to beget reasonsfor sanguinity. With the test series in thebag and a resounding win in the firstODI, the column takes a look at the man

behind the upsurge. And with both thetennis season and Euro 2012 qualifica-tion reaching their climax, the piece triesto visualise the light at the end of the tun-nel – which is bona fide for some, andsomething akin to a false dawn for others.MISbAH’S RAdIANT bRANd OfCAPTAINCy: After the first Test in AbuDhabi proved to be infertile in terms of apositive result, the team and the captainwas castigated from all quarters. Abysmalfielding, defensive tactics, lack of a ‘cut-ting-edge’; were some of the most popu-lar rants. However the team geared up forthe second test and triumphed emphati-cally. That we didn’t wrap up the series ‘instyle’ with a win in the third Test provedto be a spiky thorn for some voices– thepseudo connoisseurs, if you will.

Whilst denying the credit that thecurrent cricket captain deserves becameour ethos post Mohali 2011, the recentshow of miserly acclaim is simply unfath-omable! Even after we had completed theTest series win, there were critics aproposMisbah’s conservative play – both in hisbatting and in his captaincy. Please cutthe man some slack! We have not lost aTest series since he took over in August2010 – after the spot-fixing episode,under the most arduous circumstancesthat one can think of.

Then the rise in the team’s level isthere for all to see. We have beaten ateam ranked above us in Test standings,but our neurons seem to be stuck uponthe amusement that an ‘86 balls for 9runs’ innings ostensibly causes.

It was clear from the onset that Pak-

istan had their eyes on pursuing the 255in the allotted 60 overs – Hafeez’sthumping strokes through the off side up-top were a clear heads-up. However oncethe wickets began to tumble, the prudentthing to do was to shut up shop. This isexactly what Misbah, along with AsadShafiq, seamlessly did. We were fourdown and another wicket could’ve re-sulted in Lankan inroads into our tail.

Those who fail to tell apart the T20and Test stages, and believe that any sortof a total is reachable these days, need areality check. There is a prodigious dif-

ference between the spanking new sur-face of a T20 or ODI game and thedeteriorating fifth day pitch in a Testmatch. Chasing anything over four runsper over is a Herculean task on a disin-tegrating surface with neither the bats-man nor indeed the bowler being able tofully keep track of the trajectory of theball. Although many a Hercules haveperformed that task, being 1-0 up in theseries only a dim-witted captain dis-guised in a cloak of courage would’vegone for the kill – but then we are fondof that creed of leaders, aren’t we?

Apart from the obvious stability thatMisbah has brought to the fore, there isuniqueness about his captaincy thatmakes him the quintessential leader. Nei-ther does he crave the spotlight nor doeshe have the lust for power. He ‘carries theteam’ – while most of our captains in therecent past only claimed to do so – andensures that he orchestrates matters frombehind the scenes, so to speak.

After Hafeez had a torrid time in thefirst slip during the first test match, mostother captains would’ve either ventedtheir frustration by shouting at him or atbest would’ve immediately removed himfrom the fielding position resulting in aprofound dent in their comrade’s confi-dence. Misbah, au contraire, stuck withHafeez in the slip cordon for a couple ofovers and then moved there himself.Hence, he did not undermine his team-mate’s morale and eventually plugged thegaping hole as well. Misbah has the met-tle to grab the gauntlet only when it isthrown – he does not synthesize imagi-

nary gauntlets for self-exaggeration – andhe does so, with class and composure.

Another example that showcases Mis-bah’s encouraging leadership could becited from the staggering ODI triumph onFriday. After we were on the brink of the132 runs – presented on a platter by ahapless Sri Lankan batting in front of ourspinning repertoire – Misbah sent Sar-faraz up the order to amass the last fewruns that remained. Being at the creasewhen the winning runs are scored notonly enhances the self-belief of theyoungster, it also gives him that winningfeeling and the invigorating experience ofplaying a crucial part in the triumph. Thecaptain could’ve gone there himself, tohave a nice little run out and be there togive an over-the-top triumphant gesticu-lation at the end. But, instead of makingself-pointing noises and portraying everywin as a result of his personal genius,Misbah prefers to stay in the backgroundin the sunny days and is there to fight itout when the storms arrive.

These are the little things that we ig-nore that result in our failure to justlygauge the influence of personnel. Misbahtook over the reins in the most turbulentmoment of our cricketing history and hehas majestically driven our favouritesport forward. From being a silver lining,he has evolved into the dazzling sun thatoverpowers all clouds. bLAzINg ENd TO THE ATP SEASON:Berdych halted Murray’s 18-match un-beaten run in a three-set humdinger atthe Paris Masters on Friday to book aplace in the semis. Federer, after notch-ing up his 800th career win – the sev-enth man to do so – waits in the wingsfor the Czech number one. We all knowR-Fed’s affinity with numbers and his-tory, and after reaching a milestone onFriday, he’d be geared for a first everMasters crown in Paris – to add to his il-lustrious collection of accolades – andwould be buoyant about his chances ofdefending his title in London.

Speaking of London, the lineup forthis year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Fi-nals is complete, with Tsonga, Berdychand Fish joining the already qualifiedDjokovic, Nadal, Murray, Federer andFerrer – courtesy their exploits in Paris.Murray has put together a phenomenalrun recently and would be hoping for apositive showing in front of the homefaithful – something he has failed to do inthe past. One gets the impression that2012 is going to be the defining year ofMurray’s career and if he remains stead-fast in his quest for underachievement –especially at the biggest stages – I believethat’s going to be that, as far as hope andexpectation is concerned.

Nadal, meanwhile, might’ve pulled offa masterstroke by opting to sit out theParis Masters. An ATP Word Tours Finalstitle has eluded the Spaniard thus far, andhe’d be mustering up all his energy tohave a serious shot this year. And maybe,just maybe, a win over his bogey man thisseason, Djokovic, in London might giveRafa a massive boost before next seasongets underway. Also, the small matter ofthe Davis Cup final against Argentina isalso something Rafa would have his sightsupon as he primes himself up for a late as-sault on individual and team silverware.

Djokovic has had a record shatteringyear, but it has clearly taken its toll on hisbody. We have witnessed yet another in-jury withdrawal from the Serbian in Paris;and after conjuring up the greatest seasonin the history of tennis the repercussionsare ominous. The world number one hasnot managed his season properly – espe-cially after his U.S Open triumph – andthe apprehensions about the aftereffectsare already vindicating themselves. Let’shope No-Djo can return to his superlativefitness levels and continue his purplepatch in 2012, if not in London this year.

On the domestic front, the Indo-Pakexpress’ rejuvenated exploits off-latehave been striking. After the duo pe-tered out for a considerable time span,

following the last major of year in Flush-ing Meadows, their recent upsurge, thathas seen them qualify for London, hasbeen hard-wearing. Aisam and Bopannahave reached the business end in Paris,and they would’ve set their sights on apossible title in London which would bea crowning achievement for the awe-some twosome. EURO PLAyOffS UNdER THESPOTLIgHT: Three of the four ties inthe Euro 2012 playoffs have been all butsettled. A Robbie Keane inspired Irelandthumped nine-man Estonia in Tallinn 4-0as the hosts’ defense, togetherness and thebig game mettle was at shambles. TheCroatian side did something similar toTurkey in the Ataturk Stadium, taking a 3-0 score-line back home and should gothrough comfortably. Sivok gave his sidethe breathing space ahead of the return legin Montenegro with an injury time finishto give the Czechs a 2-0 lead. Czech Re-

public clearly have a foot in the finals now.The only matchup hanging on a knife-

edge – at least in terms of the score – isPortugal’s tie with Bosnia-Herzegovina,as the first leg in Bosnia ended in a stale-mate. The visitors dominated possessionbut were guilty of profligacy in front ofgoal, with Postiga being the guiltiestparty. The Bosnian side would feel thatthey missed out on making the most ofhome advantage as they gear up for thePortuguese expedition. CristianoRonaldo was lackluster again in the na-tional colours, even though he is settingLa Liga ablaze with his showings. Hefailed to combine well with his team-mates and took it all upon himself to de-liver the knockout punch – and when thatdidn’t materialise, his frustration esca-lated. He needs to be on his A-game inthe return leg or else the Bosnian side,filled with attacking talents like Dzekoand Pjanic, could upset the applecart.

Light at the end of the tunnelThrowing light over Misbah’s brilliant captaincy,tennis’ enlightening tales and the flash of Euro playoffs

KUNWAR KHULDUNE SHAHID

All BAsEs COvErEd

mISBAH-ul-HAQ: Unlike his predecessors, Misbah carries the team along.

CRISTIAnO ROnAlDO: Need to translate his club form in national colours.

RAFAEl nADAl: gearing up for a late surge on tennis silverware.



SOUTH Africa beat Australia in a startlingTest match at Cape Town. On a wicket thathad a Jekyll and Hyde character, Shane Wat-son ran through South Africa with remark-

able figures of five for almost nothing. With asizeable lead in hand, the Aussies must have felt asif the match was in hand.

But before one could say Aussie, Aussie,Aussie… they found themselves at a shocking 21 fornine and a ball away from breaking the record forthe lowest ever total in Test cricket, of 26, held byNew Zealand. Some adventurous hitting by the lastpair avoided this embarrassment. The Australianbatting was conspicuous for the absence of any will-ingness to stay at the crease. South Africa thenplayed as if the wicket was pancake flat, knockingoff the 200 plus runs with Hashim Amla andGraeme Smith both getting hundreds.

THE AuSSIE lACK OF SPInE

The lack of backbone shown by the Australianbatsmen was unprecedented for a nation renownedfor its tough uncompromising sportsmen. Formercaptain Mark Taylor went to sleep with South Africastruggling and woke up to find Australia 21 for 9. He

thought he had slept through one day of cricket andthat this was the fourth day!

The wicket was seaming but was not unplayableas the South Africans proved by easily chasing downthe winning target. In the recent past, Australia haveshowed a weakness against the swinging seamingball, as was the case against Pakistan in England aswell as the Ashes.

But there may be more to this abject capitulationthan just a seaming wicket. Is it possible that the in-creasing importance of T20 cricket and the resultantfinancial rewards has eroded the art of Test bats-manship? Certainly the attention span of the Aus-tralian batsmen with the notable exception ofMichael Clarke in the first innings was fleeting atbest. With Dale Steyn at the top of his game, the Aus-tralian batting quickly became a procession.

OVER TO DuBAI

Over in Dubai, the Sri Lankan batsmen found thegoing tough against the Pakistani spinners, manag-ing only 130 odd, with Pakistan knocking off the tar-get for the loss of two wickets. The Sri Lankans havepossibly been away from home too long, becausetheir batting showed a lack of application that shouldsend chief selector Duleep Mendis into furtherparoxysms.

Ever since the departure of Muttiah Muralitha-ran, the Lankans have failed to win a Test match andrarely have they won any ODIs. Rarely has the ab-sence of one player had such an effect on the for-tunes of a team. Perhaps not even Don Bradman’sretirement did have this effect. From a top class out-fit, the Lankans are looking strictly mediocre.

Pakistan, meanwhile are looking like a well oiledmachine. Gone are the prima donnas who sulked and

pouted with only their own image their primary con-cern. Even Shahid Afridi, who in the past, could notbe excluded from this clique, looked a team player inthe first ODI on Friday. Some of this credit shouldgo to the admirable Misbah, a cool customer, whohas injected some much needed calmness into theside. Mohsin Khan as coach looks good as doesNaushad Ali the manager.

WISE WORDS

The newly installed president of the PCBChoudhry Zaka Ashraf has been making some state-ments since taking over his position. He has statedthat he does not believe in change for the sake ofchange, that he will let the current PCB setup con-tinue until he feels there is a need for change. Wisewords indeed, but Mr Ashraf would be well awarethat apart from good management, he needs peopleon board who know the sport and have the interna-tional respect that would enable them to introduceMr Ashraf to the closely knit international cricketingcommunity.

Ijaz Butt has taken a lot of flak from almosteveryone, but it is felt that history will judge himwith some benevolence. The World Twenty20 win in2009 and the semifinal position in the ODI WorldCup 2011 are some of the achievements in his time.The Sri Lankan team attack, the match-fixing con-troversies and some controversial statements in itsaftermath, are crosses that he will have to bear.There are, however, some question marks, such asthe 120 million reportedly given to a politician forconstruction of a cricket stadium which may or maynot have been built. Mr Butt would be well advisedto clear the air with this and other controversies thatare being thrown around.

RESuRGEnT, AISAm AnD FEDERER

Aisam Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna have quali-fied for the year ending ATP Tour Finals at the O2 inLondon starting on the 19th of this month. This is acreditable achievement and they look to be back inform, beating Llodra and Zimonic in the Paris in-doors to reach the semifinals. The long season is tak-ing its toll with several players dropping out to restinjuries and niggles in preparation for the big event.Novak Djokovic has shoulder and back complaintswhile Rafael Nadal is also resting. Both have veryphysical styles of play, with Djoker’s serve an issuethat could be causing his back problems.

Roger Federer is enjoying resurgence – winningin his home town of Basel and cruising through thedraw in Paris. His effortless, classical style is the rea-son for his durability and could be the catalyst forone last hurrah next year. The forecast for Nadal andDjokovic is mixed for next year. Injuries and niggleswill keep bothering them. Should Federer stayhealthy, he could look forward to a last dash for thebig ones in 2012.

Pakistan cricket squad looking goodALI AKBAR

spOrTs This WEEk

Pakistan arelooking like a welloiled machine



ON Frazier’s death, Ali, 69, said hewould pray for his old opponent.“The news about Joe is hard to

believe and even harder to accept. Joewas a fighter and a champion and Iprayed for him.”

“My family and I are keeping Joe andhis family in our daily prayers. Joe has alot of friends pulling for him - and I’mone of them.”

Frazier beat Ali on points in the 'Fightof the Century’ at Madison Square Gar-den in 1971, Ali’s first professional defeat.

But in two further fights, includingthe epic 'Thrilla in Manila’ in 1975, it wasAli who triumphed. The pair have had afractious relationship over the years,stemming from the Ali’s taunting of Fra-zier in the run-up to their famous trilogyof fights. Ali called his rival a 'gorilla’and 'Uncle Tom’, insults which Frazierfound difficult to forget. On his lastspeaking engagement, in Britain lastyear, he said there were certain things hecould not forgive.

“I don’t mind talking about the ri-valry I had and have with Muhammad,”Frazier said. “I know it’s what most peo-ple remember me for.

"But you know - I had better fightsthan when I beat him, but at that time theworld wanted me to kick his butt, so thatis the one people see as the best of them.”

Although he admitted it seemed “un-fair to kick a man when he is down” re-ferring to Ali’s fragile state due to

Parkinson’s disease, he still could notforgive him for his taunts.

“Forgiveness? It’s not up to me toforgive him, only the Lord can do that.There’s no forgiveness.

"Who will be the best guy in the final

round, who is the one of us two who isgoing to heaven and who is going to hell?I know which one it is and I sure ain’t theone who is going to hell.”

Ali has attempted to make amends inrecent years, telling one interviewer: “I

said a lot of things in the heat of the mo-ment that I shouldn’t have said. Calledhim names I shouldn’t have called him. Iapologise for that. I’m sorry. It was allmeant to promote the fight.”

Bert Randolph Sugar, the American

boxing historian who has covered thesport for five decades, gave his own in-sight into the hurt which Ali’s words in-flicted. “I’ve sat with Joe many times,and he’ll never forgive Muhammad Alithe things that he said about him. Aliwas pretty cruel to Frazier, who was ba-sically a nice, simple guy.

"Ali was toying with him all the time,and called him all kinds of things. Joenever got the point that Ali was playinga game, building fights, goading him. Itcut deep.”

The heavyweight scene has certainlychanged since the 1970s, but not neces-sarily for the better, according to Frazier.“We don’t know who is the champion anymore,” he said on his UK visit.

“I’d like President Obama to go inthere and straighten the sport out. Thereshould be a commission to oversee box-ing and just have one world champion ineach division. It needs to be done. I lovefights but I never look at the little guys.It’s not enough power to excite me.

“They don’t have the sort of rivalriesthat me and Muhammad had anymorebecause there are so many differentchampions. I’d love to see it go back tothose days of the world knowing thechampions. Boxing is my game, it tookcare of me and I want it restored to itsformer glory.”

There have been several attempts tobring about a reconciliation betweenFrazier and Ali, only for them to havefallen out again. Perhaps by fate, and notdesign, they were always destined to re-main foes.

TElEGRAPH

The mother

of allrivalries

GARETH DAVIES

COMMENT

It is easy to forget, given what has hap-pened this season, that 12 months ago wewere preparing to crown FernandoAlonso a triple world champion here atYas Marina. Ferrari's strategy error thatday changed the course of recent FormulaOne history. Sebastian Vettel won therace to become the sport’s youngest worldchampion and his absolute dominancefrom that moment on has lent both himand Red Bull a sort of unbeatable quality.

Ferrari, by contrast, entered last win-ter in introspective rather than celebratorymood and have had another year of chop-ping and changing; of playing catch-up.

As with a football club such as RealMadrid for whom success is demandedrather than hoped for, the approach ofanother barren off season has got peopleasking questions. Have they got the right

people in place to take the fight to RedBull’s Adrian Newey?

My view is that these periods of dom-ination are cyclical. Ferrari need to re-main calm. The revolving door is not theway forward. I have a lot of time for guyslike Stefano and Pat. The latter I workedwith at McLaren and he is the sort of per-son who is able to deliver in the F1 envi-ronment, no question. He willsystematically work his way through theorganisation and make improvements.

Ferrari will be back. They are so bigthey have their own theme park on thisisland. I spent Friday morning on therollercoaster there; the fastest in theworld. I have no doubt their cars will backon top sooner rather than later.

WHO’S HOT

I have to admit this venue is growing onme. You can say what you like about thetastelessness of a race track build in thedesert but it really is a field of dreams. Itwas built literally out of nothing. Afterthree years it really feels like it has anidentity; the harbour, the hotels, the golfcourse. You have to see it to believe it.

What happens here during the rest ofthe year I have no idea but it is a spectac-ular grand prix. From not having to fill ina landing card on arrival — why can’t everycountry do that? — to having a Starbucksin the baggage reclaim area so you don’t

have to sit and watch an empty conveyorbelt. Everything out here makes sense.

WHO’S nOT

I wouldn’t say Williams driver RubensBarrichello is not hot but his future is cer-tainly on the line.

I hope for his sake that if he wants tocontinue next year he achieves his goal.But what I would say is that if he doesn’tthink he’s going to achieve that goal thenplease give us the chance to give him thesend-off he deserves in Brazil; to clap himout of the paddock. The worst thingwould be if he left Interlagos withoutknowing his future and then over thewinter it is announced he is dropped.

THE CIRCuIT

I wouldn’t say that technically it is themost interesting of tracks — and wehaven’t had a truly exciting race here yetin two attempts — but let’s hope for thirdtime lucky. With two DRS zones andKERS we will see overtaking here for sure.

WEATHER WATCH

30C and sunshine. Wish you were here.

PREDICTIOn

Just as they did two weeks ago in India,McLaren set the pace on Friday. I sus-pect, as in India, it will be rather closerbetween them and Red Bull on Sunday.

ExPERT COmmEnT

dAvid CoULTHARd

sledging destroyingbeauty of cricket

I've been lying low after arriving backfrom India. I'm now on sabbatical untilJanuary when we head out to Abu Dhabiand Dubai to play Pakistan. India werefar too good for England, who will be verydisappointed with their performancesover there. They will need to go away andthink long and hard and dismantle theirapproach to playing on the sub-continent.It needs to be different next time. In thoseconditions, India were too strong and thecaptain MS Dhoni was excellent. Theyoung players responded to his leader-ship and they can take away plenty of

positives. However, it was a bad-tempered series and I would say both teams were as badas each other. I'd like to see heavier punishments handed out by the match referees andthe ICC when players misbehave on the field. The one word that young players should befully aware of is "respect". By that I mean respect for each other, respect for the game andrespect for the officials. The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA)must now take a role in telling every player how to behave and how to respect the game.The costly spot-fixing court case was a sad episode for cricket and on the face of it I felt thepunishments seemed very lenient. I also feel the cricketers involved should never playcricket again. Ever. That would be the ultimate punishment for Salman Butt, MohammadAsif and Mohammad Amir. I believe that has to happen because if I had to go and watchor commentate on these blokes again, I wouldn't trust anything that they did. It's very dis-appointing to discover that sort of thing has been going on in the game and it'll be inter-esting to find out if there's any more. It's sad that the authorities now have ongoinginvestigations. When things are brought to light, sometimes you look back at incidentsand think they were quite odd. You don't detect them in the heat of a game, but in the coldlight of day it comes to home to you. It's a very good thing that it's come to light, but Ithink the punishments should have been stronger. The biggest news of the week is that Iwent up to visit my beloved Accrington Stanley, having bought some shares in the club.You can still buy yours from the official website! I had a chat with the manager John Cole-man ahead of their FA Cup tie at Notts County on Saturday.

ExPERT COmmEnT

dAvid LLoyd

Joe Frazier: “Whowill be the best guy in

the final round, who isthe one of us two who is

going to heaven andwho is going to hell? I

know which one it isand I sure ain’t the one

who is going to hell”

abu dhabi grand Prix 2011

Ferrari should halt

revolving door


RENAMING NEWCASTLE’S HOME GROUND

Disrespectinga heritage too rich

Just when it seemed that the relationship between the New-castle United board and the fans was on the up and up aftera stupendous start to the season which has seen the teamfrom the North East rocket up to third in the Premiershiptable, club owner Mike Ashley has once again gracelesslymanaged to disrespect the rich heritage of one of England’smost venerable sporting institutions.The conversion of Newcastle’s home ground, St James’ parkto the Sports Direct Arena would be comical if it weren’t sodepressingly tragic. For all the arguments about the need togenerate extra revenue and compete financially with the likesof Chelsea and Manchester City, the tactless washing away of119 years of history has unsurprisingly antagonized an all-ready sensitive fan base. Mark Jensen, editor of the Magfanzine, said, “It's very hard to take. Everyone understandsthe economics of football in that you need to maximise therevenue but I think most fans would rather the ground not berenamed at all. Most fans will see this as pretty opportunist.”St James’ has been the home of Newcastle United since 1892,and has earned an iconic status for being the only stadium inthe UK to be located in the centre of a major city. It is one ofthe most atmospheric and revered grounds anywhere in theworld and the name leant it the kind of grandeur and glorywhich fit with the aspirations of the club and the city. The re-branding is not only a kick in the teeth for all those associ-ated with Newcastle, but the whole incident is anotherbeleaguered reminder to football fans everywhere that her-itage and tradition have no place in the modern game. In the case of stadium naming rights, some of football’s mosthallowed ground names have been lost to sterile branding overthe past decade or so. When Arsenal moved out of Highbury in2006, the ‘Emirates’ was, given the location, somewhat bizarrelyannounced as the name of the new ground. Manchester City’sMaine Road has long given way to what is now the Etihad sta-dium, while Leicester City who once played at the charminglynamed Filbert Street, now entertain visiting teams at the ‘Walk-ers Stadium’ – named after a brand of crisps. The future doesnot look bright either. Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham Hot-spur have for some time know made it known to the clubs’ sup-porters that when their new stadiums are built all three will sellthe naming rights to the highest bidder, meaning that three ofBritish football’s most famous and loved ground names, Goodi-son Park, Anfield and White Hart Lane will be lost forever. It isnot just through their stadia that football clubs are selling awaytheir heritage. Current Spanish and European Champions, FCBarcelona, finally gave into market forces this year by agreeing ashirt sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation and endingtheir 111 year tradition of not having a shirt sponsor. Their onlyprevious deal with UNICEF was unique in world football as itwas the club who paid money to the organisation for havingtheir logo appear on the kit. Suffice it to say the Catalan Giants’‘more than a club mantra’ – no longer has the same appeal.

An inevitABle trAnsition


FROM a laid back affair, thegolf scene in Pakistan ischanging slowly and gradu-ally. Not at a great pace

though, but the change is reflected inplayers’ passion which is delightfullyextravagant. Whereas some of theprofessionals and amateur players ofsubstance are giving it their life andblood, the allied stakeholders aredawdling the pace and as a result itwould be appropriate to say that thephase is still transitional, which ulti-mately might lead to the game be-coming a well organised professionalsport, setting up lucrative careers fora large number of the talented oneswith ability, expertise and avidity.

Weather wise, our country is for-tunate. Conducive climate bolstersgolf and for about eight months theperfect weather conditions exist andhelp the game to flourish. Lahore,Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Peshawarhave similar temperatures, not tooharsh in winter, unlike Quetta, andthis factor alone entices the intentones to the golfing areas. As forKarachi, it is comfortable the yearround and over the weekends theeager ones virtually invade the golfcourses. Golf playing enthusiasts areincreasing by hundreds and in thepast five years alone, the graph of newentrants shows a cheerful rise. In thelast three years, juniors talent huntprogramme launched by the PakistanGolf Federation, Punjab Golf Associ-ation and Sind Golf Associationbrought forth considerable talent.Golf clubs like Lahore Gymkhana,Royal Palm Golf and Country Club,Lahore Garrison Golf Club andKarachi Golf Club encouraged theyoung ones to take up this game.

Summer vacations were an idealtime and the younger ones literallyswarmed the golf courses with visi-ble zeal. Through this programme,50 talented juniors have managed toget noticed and through a continu-ous formal coaching programme, inthe year ahead we just might have afew champions in the forefront if theacademic compulsions do not steerthem away from this fine sport.

Lately we have lost quite a fewvery talented ones to careers and ac-ademic constraints other than golf.

Youngsters like Ali Hai(Karachi), Hamza Amin (Islam-abad), Muhammed Rehman (RoyalPalm) and Wasim Rana have al-ready made it to the national fold –playing overseas in Malaysia, Sri

Lanka, Singapore and Bangladesh.These young one by consuming self-owned resources-as a lot of moneyis required to stay focused on na-tional level golf, have caused suffi-cient waves through performancesthat can be graded as forceful. Theultimate victory was not theirs, butif they continue to gain interna-tional experience through regularoutings, the big breakthroughseems likely. Some more impressivelooking teenagers seeking recogni-tion are Mubraiz Ahmed, MahadZafar and Salman Jahangir.

GOlF COuRSES

The golf courses across the countryare nestled in a splendour-orientedenvironment and in particular theones in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi,Islamabad and Peshawar have signif-icantly improved playing conditionsso as to create a unique golfing expe-rience. Defence Authority Golf Coursein Karachi has been professionally de-signed and poses a challenge to bothamateurs and professional golfers.Then there is the Arabian Sea Golfand Country Club Golf course whichcan rightfully boast of carpeted fair-ways and a bite of its own. KarachiGolf Club Golf Course is landscapedby water features and exotic greensand served as an acceptable arena forinternational open golf events luringplayers from 45 countries.

As for Lahore, the Royal PalmCountry Club Golf Course has cer-tainly attained a glamorous touch

and the setting is exquisite. Alsoavailable is a clubhouse with fullrecreational facilities and a 20 baydriving range and practice rounds onthis golf course have already helpedmany golfers to hone their game tohigh competitive levels. ShahidJaved Khan is one example andMuhammed Rehman another.

Developments carried out at theLahore Gymkhana golf course overthe years have made it a challenginglayout and players from overseashave always given it a high score.

A welcome new addition to La-hore’s golf scene is the Defence RayaGolf Course and although club housefacilities are in the work in progresscategory, the golf course is majestic,every fairway awesome and facili-tates crisp hitting. In the years tocome we are going to see world classplayers converging to this place for ashare and feel of its splendour.

Major development work wasalso carried out on the golf coursesin Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Pe-shawar and not far behind are the 18holes layouts in Gujranwala andJehlum. Two new golf courses, pro-fessionally designed, are in the con-struction phase in Lahore.

PROFESSIOnAl CIRCuIT

In this decade, Muhammad ShabbirIqbal emerged as the conqueror ofPakistan’s professional golf circuit.During the open competitions atleading golf courses of the country,Shabbir virtually assailed through

amazing shots and spotless putting.Other notable names are: Mat-

loob Ahmed, M. Munir, M. Tariq,Waheed Baloch, Shahid Javed Khan,M. Siddique and Amjad Yousaf. Aheartening feature is the emergenceof young professionals with a will toplay quality golf. Aadil Jehangir andShafiq Masih are names capable ofswarming the international arenas.

Already Aadil, Shafiq andShahid have cast their spell in theMiddle East and North Africa(MENA) Golf in Dubai. During thefour competitions of this golf circuittournaments, their performanceswere extraordinary. They now haveto use the platform of the Asian Tourto enrich themselves through victo-ries on the Asian tour competitionsand in the process become celebri-ties internationally.

PATH TO GlORY

Need of the hour is to spread thebase and help the game prosper.The Pakistan Golf Federation in as-sociation with provincial golf bod-ies (Punjab, Sindh, KPK) have amajor role to play, as it is their dutyto enable the golfers to raise theirlevel of excellence to the extent thatthey can perform well on the inter-national circuit. Bold initiatives re-lating to coaching and competitivegolfing activities are already yield-ing results, and in spite of restrictedeconomic activity, the golf lovingaffluent ones will readily sponsorplayers and golf competitions.

USMAN AHMAD

COMMENT

CRICKET’S Anti-Corruption and Se-curity Unit is set to be overhauled tomake it more effective in the sport’s

fight against match-fixing. An Interna-tional Cricket Council report is understoodto recommend that the Unit should givemore priority to detection by employingmore cricket-savvy officers than hitherto,while a new measure will put the ball in thecourt of the cricketer who has unexplainedwealth to explain how he acquired it, oth-erwise he will not be selected.

The ICC, under pressure from majorstakeholders like sponsors and broadcast-ers, ordered this review of the Unit beforethe criminal trial of three Pakistan players.And the evidence presented in SouthwarkCrown Court over the last month suggeststhe review needs to be implemented ur-gently. The iceberg above the surface wasrevealed during the trial: the world in

which the agent Mazhar Majeed acted as arogue trader, bragging and boasting, con-tacting Pakistan players directly by phone,and waving around £50 notes.

But the iceberg beneath the surfacewas also glimpsed – the iceberg towardswhich cricket is heading if corruption issystemic in more than one dressing-room.

This is the far more discreet world ofthe match-fixing mafia in Dubai, Pakistanand India; of texts and phone calls thatcannot be traced; of bank accounts inSwitzerland and other countries that can-not be accessed by the police. And just howremote the Unit can be from illegal gam-bling was shown when the former chief in-vestigator, Ravi Sawani, who only gave uphis post earlier this year after three yearsin the job, revealed during the trial that hedid not know what a ‘bracket’ was.

A ‘bracket’ is the basic unit of spot-fix-ing and illegal gambling, a block of 10 oversduring a side’s innings – although Mr Jus-tice Cooke, in his summing up, described itas an eight-over block in Pakistan.

Sawani said he had heard of the term‘session’ to describe a block, but there wasstill overt amazement in Court Four whenhe appeared not to know the term ‘bracket’– as if the Governor of the Bank of Englandhad not heard of ‘account’.

In its 11 years the Unit can claim tohave done a lot of prevention work in dis-couraging players from getting involved inmatch- and spot-fixing.

Yet nothing would have deterred youngcricketers so much as seeing an establishedplayer caught, convicted and severely pun-ished by the game’s governing body, al-though it was only in 2009 that the ICCassumed the responsibility to bring chargesrather than leaving it to national boards.

The bans handed out by the ICC Tri-bunal earlier this year to Salman Butt (10years, five of which were suspended), Mo-hammad Asif (seven years, two of whichwere suspended) and Mohammad Amir(five years) were not severe enough to bea major deterrent.

Neither were the prison sentences

handed out this week, as they will all behalved and the prisoners released on licence.

If the Unit had provided further evi-dence to supplement the News of the Worldsting, then the ICC tribunal’s sanctionsmight have been the life bans that wouldhave acted as exemplary punishments.

The signs are that the patience of thegame’s stakeholders has been wearing thin,like the Unit’s stock defence for never catch-ing anyone: show us the suspect’s bank ac-counts first, then we will nab him.

It is understood the review will recom-mend a change in the present policy ofstaffing the Unit with former police officersand military men who know little or nothingabout cricket. The five regional security of-ficers cover two Test-playing countries each.

The Unit needs security officers who canread the game and smell a rat when a bowlerstops in his run-up at the start of a 10-overbracket (one of the signs that a spot-fix hasstarted, as revealed during the trial).

This might include a former poacherwho is ready to become a gamekeeper, if

– a big if – he is not tied for life to thesouth Asian mafia who run cricket’s ille-gal gambling.

A second recommendation is under-stood to include the concept of ‘unexplainedwealth’. Cricketers from ordinary back-grounds who have amassed sums of moneyfar in excess of their official earnings con-tinue to be selected by their countries.

The principle of ‘unexplained wealth’has been introduced in governments andother sporting organisations. If the Unit un-cover significant money that you cannot ac-count for, you won’t be selected until you do.

The ICC has done well in forcing thePakistan Cricket Board to phase out themajority of the 16 players who repre-sented Pakistan in the Tests against Eng-land last summer.

But it would benefit the game if everycountry introduced this concept of ‘unex-plained wealth’ – not to eradicate corrup-tion from cricket, because that wouldappear an unattainable goal, but at leastto keep it in some sort of check.

The iceberg could be detected with ‘unexplained wealth’ concept

SCYLD BERRY

COMMENT

Pakistan golf growingslowly and gradually

KHAWAJA PERVAIz SAEED

COMMENT

THE TWO TOP OnES: Shabbir iqbal, top golfer of the country, honoured by gen Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, President ofthe Pakistan golf Federation.



WHILE last year’s Lord’sTest between Pakistanand England will al-ways be etched ineveryone’s memory due

to the infamous no-balls by MohammadAmir and Mohammad Asif, it was also thelast time that we saw one of the most ele-gant of Test batsmen ever – none otherthan Muhammad Yousuf.

His axing from the Test squad wasfollowed by recalls for Younus Khan andMisbah ul Haq, it became evident that theselectors’ intent was to blood the youngbatsmen, for they had realized that it wastime to look for the next generation ofmiddle-order batsmen.

Over the years, Pakistan cricket hasbeen blessed with some outstanding mid-dle-order batsmen. Imtiaz Ahmed, Za-heer Abbas, Asif Iqbal, Javed Miandad,Saleem Malik, Inzamam ul Haq and andmore recently Yousuf and Younus havebeen the Pakistani middle order stalwartsover the years. Given this extraordinaryclass, one cannot help but wonderwhether the fresh crop of middle-orderbatsmen is good enough to carry in thesame vein?

The three batsmen who have beengiven a chance in the recent past, andhave been persisted with, are UmarAkmal, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. WhileAzhar and Asad did feature in the recentlyconcluded Sri Lanka series, Umar wasdropped, following a dip in form. He re-mains part of the trio under the scannerbecause he showed such promise in theearly days of his career. Maybe that is whyhe might survive some serious questionmarks on the integrity on his elder sibling.

The batting averages of the three-some are fairly decent, with Azhar lead-ing the pack with an average of over 42from 16 matches, Umar having at over 35after the same number of matches, andAsad having an average of over 32 aftereight matches.

These numbers are no match for thecurrent batting averages of Younus,Yousuf and Misbah, a look at the respec-

tive batting averages of the trio afterthey had played 16 matches, shows a dif-ferent picture. Yousuf, who currently hasan average of over 52, averaged a tadbelow 34 after 16 matches, and that toowhen his first five 50-plus scores wereagainst Zimbabwe. However, with thepassage of time he developed the abilityto spend more time in the middle andpile on runs, peaking in 2006, when heamassed a record-breaking 1788 Testruns in a calendar year.

Similarly, the numbers for Younusand Misbah went up over time. After acentury in his debut Test against SriLanka, Younis pulled up his average from41 to 51, while Misbah who averaged 37after 16 matches, has taken his averagebeyond 46 in the 13 matches that he hasplayed ever since. Considering that in 10of these matches, he also had the addi-tional responsibility of captaincy, and it

looks seriously impressive – making himone of those select few who have raisedtheir game as first among equals. Eversince his recall as a captain against SouthAfrica last year, he has averaged morethan 80, and has gone past a fifty runs inan innings 10 times!

As the latest generation of middle-order batsmen take centre stage, it is ob-vious that there is way to go before theymatch or get anywhere close to Younusand Misbah.

While Azhar has been as consistent asanyone at number three, having scoredone century and 11 fifties in 16 Tests, hisknack of getting bogged down and losingthe plot later in his innings is somethingthat needs to be addressed. Hopefully,the century that he scored at Dubai wouldhelp in enhancing his self-belief levels,but he needs to be told that batting atnumber three, and having the solid de-

fence that he possesses, he needs to playthrough the innings. And at a scoring ratethat keeps the opposition under pressure.

Asad Shafiq commenced his careerwith a defiant fifty against South Africa inDubai in his first innings last year, andmade another against New Zealand atHamilton in the next match. He hasshown the potential to stay in the middlewhile batting in the lower middle-order.However, the pressure of retaining hisplace in the team seems to be quite pro-nounced, and he has gone into his shelltoo often when all he should have donewas play his natural game.

Umar Akmal, on the other hand, re-sembles a Shakespearean tragedy. Theaggressiveness and the fearless attitudethat earned him a lot of praise early in hiscareer, soon led to his tragic demise. Hewas criticized for throwing away hiswicket too often, and that eventually led

to him being axed from the Test squad.While the talent is definitely there,

what these youngsters require is learningat the job and maturing quickly. Histori-cally, all the middle-order stalwarts thatPakistan have had, benefitted from play-ing alongside the more experienced mid-dle-order batsmen in their early days.Yousuf and Younus played with Inza-mam, who in turn had shared the trainingnet and the pitch with tainted but classySaleem Malik. And that is not to mentionthe redoubtable Javed Miandad – a childprodigy but nonetheless having the ad-vantage of Majid, Zaheer and Asif’s classat the other end.

It is high time the likes of Younus andMisbah took this trio under their wings sothat at the time of quitting, they can enjoythe satisfaction of having ensured a rocksolid middle order that could take Pak-istan cricket to new heights.

FAIzAN zAKARIA POLANI

COMMENT

Pakistan’s middle-order trio under the scanner

Over the last year, Pakistan's batting line-up has changed considerably,both in terms of the personnel and the type of cricket they play. Usually,Pakistan's batsmen are known to be flashy strokeplayers, with one or twodefensive players thrown in to redress the balance and ensure that the en-tire innings doesn't go on overdrive. In the five-and-a-half years between2005 and the middle of 2010, for example, Pakistan's list of batsmen inthe top seven included Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal,Salman Butt and, for the first couple of years during that period, Inza-mam-ul-Haq. Throw in Umar Akmal, who appeared on the scene brieflyand brightly in 2009-10, and the names are largely those of strokeplayers(though most of them could adapt their game to the situation).

During that period, the top four run-getters for Pakistan all hadstrike rates of more than 55. Butt, who can also play shots all aroundthe park, was the relative laggard, scoring at only 46.24 runs per 100balls. The current line-up, though, consists of the following: TaufeeqUmar, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan andAsad Shafiq. Barring Hafeez, who has remodelled his Test game re-cently and added more aggression, the others are intrinsically defensivebatsmen. Hafeez was too - between 2005 and August 2010 his strikerate was 43.67 - but over the last 15 months he has lifted it to 62.41, inthe process also ensuring that there's some aggression at the top of theorder for Pakistan.

The others, though, have been rooted in defence. That isn't a badthing for Pakistan, for their batsmen have often been accused of toomuch flamboyance in the past. Between 2005 and August 2010, thestrike rate for Pakistan's top seven batsmen was 52.63. Only threeteams - India, Australia and Sri Lanka - scored at a quicker rate.

TOP-ORDER (nOS.1-7) BATTInG STATS SInCE SEP 2010

TEAm TESTS AVERAGE STRIKE RATE 100S/ 50S BAllS/ DIS DOT-BAll %*

Pakistan 10 43.72 44.42 7/ 31 98.42 78.23

Sri Lanka 12 37.41 45.25 9/ 29 82.67 76.97

west indies 11 31.51 45.67 6/ 21 68.99 76.35

New Zealand 6 33.92 46.62 5/ 18 72.76 75.66

Australia 11 37.31 49.67 11/ 25 75.12 76.16

india 16 36.53 49.98 11/ 44 73.09 75.31

england 12 59.70 56.53 21/ 27 105.61 71.76

South Africa 6 55.42 58.24 10/ 7 95.16 69.13*

FOR All BATSmEn In THE TEAm

In the last 15 months, though, Pakistan's strike rate is the lowestamong all teams, and about 15% lower than the earlier period. Theirstickability is also apparent in their balls-per-dismissal figure of 98.42

- only England's top-order batsmen face more deliveries per dismissal.Those are encouraging numbers for a team whose biggest problem

used to be their brittle batting, but some of these stats are also a func-tion of the venues and conditions in which Pakistan have played thesematches. Of their last ten Tests, five have been hosted in the UAE, acouple in the West Indies, and one in Zimbabwe - all of them presentconditions where it's relatively easy for players to bat long periods.

Pakistan's batsmen have been difficult to dismiss, but they haven'ttried to impose themselves on the opposition bowlers: their dot-ball per-centage is the highest of all teams. This is despite their relatively highaverage and balls per dismissals, numbers which imply there would havebeen periods when the pressure on batsmen was relatively low. And the

table below lists batmen with the lowest strike rates (with a cut-off of500 runs). Expectedly, the list is dominated by Pakistanis, with threeof them in the top five. Then there's Asad Shafiq too, with a strike rateof 38.07 in eight Tests so far. Azhar and Misbah, batting at numbersthree and five, both have terrific batting averages but have scored theirruns slowly, while Taufeeq is another who prefers to go slowly. That'salso reflected in Pakistan's tendency turn down challenging run-chases,but for a side which has had a bit of a history of collapses, they won'tbe complaining about a top-order line-up which prefers to play safe.

BATSmEn WITH lOWEST STRIKE RATES SInCE SEP 2010

BATSmAn TESTS RunS AVERAGE STRIKE RATE 100S/ 50S

Tharanga Paranavitana 12 664 34.94 35.52 0/ 6

Azhar Ali 10 852 53.25 38.88 1/ 9

Shivnarine Chanderpaul 10 689 53.00 39.87 2/ 2

Misbah-ul-Haq 10 889 80.81 41.89 1/ 9

Taufeeq Umar 10 774 40.73 42.11 2/ 2

Angelo Mathews 9 506 56.22 42.30 1/ 4

Mahela Jayawardene 12 546 27.30 42.52 1/ 4

Rahul dravid 16 1370 52.69 43.23 6/ 3

CHAnDERPAul'S OnE-mAn ACT

Meanwhile, another batsman who's among the slow scorers has been wag-ing a lone battle for his team in India. Standing tall amid wickets falling atthe other end is nothing new for Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and at the FerozShah Kotla he was at it again, scoring 165 out of 484 runs that West Indiesscored in the match. Chanderpaul has been doing this for a while now:since the beginning of 2007, he averages 66.40, which is third among allbatsmen who've scored more than 2000 runs during this period. The av-erage is higher than those for Jacques Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar, amongothers. And Chanderpaul has flourished in most places where he hasplayed, averaging more than 60 in six of the eight countries he has playedin during this period. (Click here for his career summary since 2007.)Among West Indians, Chanderpaul has scored more than 800 more thanthe second-highest run-getter, and close to twice the runs of the third-high-est. He has often batted with inexperienced players at the other end, andwith the opposition in control of the match. But Chanderpaul has survivedall this for years, and looks good to last many more years.

BEST TEST BATSmEn SInCE jAn 2007 (QuAl: 2000 RunS)

BATSmAn TESTS RunS AVERAGE 100S/ 50S

Kumar Sangakkara 39 4103 67.26 15/ 16

Thian Samaraweera 29 2594 66.51 7/ 14

Shivnarine Chanderpaul 35 2922 66.40 10/ 16

Jacques Jallis 43 3875 61.50 16/ 14

Sachin Tendulkar 48 4458 59.44 16/ 20

Pakistan’s new-look line-up restores old order

S RAJESH

COMMENT

umAR AKmAl

TAuFEEQ umAR

ASAD SHAFIQ

AZHAR AlI


rAmiz likely to Become pcB’s coo


LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Cricket Board is assess-ing different options to bring inter-national teams to Pakistan and isalso devising programmes to edu-cate the players, it was learnt Satur-day. PCB Chairman Zaka Ashrafsaid before leaving for the ICC meet-ing that all-out efforts would be

made to bring international cricketback to Pakistan.

He said that all important measureswould be taken to make the players skill-

ful and as part of his future plan healso meet former chairmen of

the PCB to take their feed-back on ways for the im-

provement in theworking of the board.

He said every-thing possible will bedone to address thereservations ofneighbours like SriLanka and India so

that they visit Pakistan. “The PCB wantedto see the teams of two countries play onPakistani grounds,” he maintained.

On spot-fixing, he said the scandal andthe conviction of three Pakistani players,Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mo-hammad Aamir by a British court had cre-ated bad a image of the country, whichwas very unfortunate.

He said that in future, the PCB wouldbe more vigilant and the activities of play-ers would be monitored to avoid recur-rence of such events.

He said three Pakistani players werevery talented and it was very unfortunateincident.

He said: “The PCB wants to play a roleon this issue and has offered help to theICC in probing the matter.”

He suggested that the ICC should alsotake all the cases of corruption and spotfixing and those countries involved in thisactivity would be given equal treatment.

The PCB Chairman said that there wasa dire need to have close coordinationamong all the cricket boards of world tostamp out corruption from cricket.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hasdecided to upgrade all education pro-grammes for the country’s young crick-eters to ensure that no other cricketer fallsin to traps of ‘spot fixing’, which haslanded three of the country’s cricketersbehind bars in London.

“Strict vigilance protocols will be in-troduced to monitor the game, devise ap-propriate rules and procedures of conduct,and keep away bad elements always on thelookout to trap players,” he said.

Meanwhile reports from differentquarters suggest that former Pakistan cap-tain Ramiz Raja would be the next ChiefOperating Officer of the PCB.

Reports said that Ramiz had been of-fered the job by none other than the chair-man himself.

Ramiz has held the position under LtGen Tauqir Zia and later resigned whenShaharyar Khan was made the chairmanon difference of opinion. That was the pe-riod when India first visited Pakistan after13 years gap in 2004. He is presentlyworking as a commentator in the ongoingPakistan-Sri Lanka series.

DUBAIAFP

PAKISTAN coach MohsinKhan on Saturday told AFPhe was satisfied with histeam’s ability to put behindthem the spot-fixing scan-

dal which ended in three of their for-mer team-mates being handed downprison sentences in England. FormerTest captain Salman Butt and pacemenMohammad Asif and Mohammad Amirwere sent to prison over their roles infixing parts of the Lord’s Test againstEngland last year.

Khan agreed the scandal could havebeen distracting for his team during theirseries against Sri Lanka here in theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The spot-fixing saga was sad,” Khan

told AFP. “I made sure that all the boysshould stay away from it mentally and Iam glad that the boys responded very welland are performing well.”

Pakistan won the three-Test se-ries 1-0 and went 1-0 up in the firstof five matches by registering aneight wicket win on Friday. Thesecond match will be played inDubai on Monday. Mohsin, 56,said he was satisfied with histeam’s performance. “I am 90 per-cent satisfied with the team’sperformance and sincethere is always roomfor improvementwe are looking forthat in all thedepartmentsof the game,”said Khan, a

former opener who is also the currentchief selector. Khan said the squad hadshown responsibility and character. “Thebest thing about this set of players is that

they are assuming their re-sponsibilities and theyknow that playing for thecountry is the biggest ho-nour for them,” said Khan,who has also been retained

as coach for the Bangladeshtour. Khan was made coach

for an interim period afterWaqar Younis quit the post

in September becauseof health problems.

After the one-dayseries, Pakistanplay a Twenty20in Abu Dhabi onNovember 26

before leaving for Dhaka, where theyopen the tour with a T20 game againstBangladesh three days later.

Pakistan also play three one-daymatches and two Tests in Bangladesh.

Khan praised veteran Misbah-ulHaq’s captaincy.

“Misbah is doing a sensible job,” saidKhan of the 37-year-old captain. “Whenten players are in support things becomeeasier for the captain and Misbah isdoing a great job.

“Our combined task is to make theplayers mentally strong and make surethat the team does not lose track, whichis very important,” said Khan, vowing toserve the country in every capacity.

“My motto is to serve the country be-cause I owe it to my country,” said Khan,who played 48 Tests and 75 one-dayersbetween 1977-86.

Mohsin happy with players’handling of spot-fixing scandal

PCb to convince sri lanka, india to visit Pakistan

ABU DHABIAFP

Newly-crowned double world championSebastian Vettel drew level with NigelMansell in the Formula One record bookson Saturday when he delivered a stun-ning fastest lap to secure pole position forthe Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The 26-year-old German steered hisRed Bull car round the Yas Marina circuit

in dazzling fashion to create a dramatic fi-nale and steal pole from Lewis Hamilton,who will start second on the grid along-side him for Sunday’s 55-laps day-nightrace. It was Vettel’s 14th pole this yearand the 29th of his career, in his 80thGrand Prix. Briton Mansell reeled off hisrecord 14 poles in a single season with theWilliams team in his drivers’ title winningyear of 1992. "I wasn't very happy withthe car on Friday," said Vettel. "We

thought there was more (performance) inthe car, but we couldn't really get to it.This afternoon was quite a bit better, butthis place is tricky in many ways.

"You practice in day conditionswhen the sun is up and the track is hot.Then in qualifying, it's getting dark andcool, so the car behaves differently. "Inthis qualifying, I had a much betterfeeling, especially on the soft tyres. It isdifficult getting everything into one lap- it's a long lap and there's plenty of op-portunities to gain time, but a littlemistake and it's easy to lose time.

"I wasn't so happy with my first runin Q3, but I was happy with my sec-ond." Hamilton said he was happy withthe overall performance over the twodays. "It's a big improvement for mefrom the last race. We were quick inqualifying. The car is feeling good."Just at the end, that was as fast as Iwas able to go on that lap. It was notparticularly great.

"That's the way it is. Well done toSebastian - he did a great lap, but therace is tomorrow and that's most im-portant day..." Hamilton was secondquickest ahead of his English compa-triot and McLaren team-mate JensonButton with Australian Mark Webberfourth in the second Red Bull.

AbU dHAbi: McLaren Mercedes’ british driver Lewis Hamilton (R) and Mercedes’german driver Michael Schumacher drive at the yas Marina circuit. afp

Vettel equals Mansell pole record

Fixing trio facedeportationafter jail term

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Jailed Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt,Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amircould be deported from Britain oncethey finish their terms.The trio were found guilty by the South-wark Crown Court of spot-fixing duringthe Lord's Test between England andPakistan last August.Butt and Asif have been sentenced to 30months and 12 months in prison respec-tively. Amir, 19, got a lighter punish-ment of six months after he pleadedguilty. The trio's agent Mazhar Majeed,a British citizen, has also been sen-tenced to 32 months in jail.The Daily Telegraph reported thatHome Office rules state that overseasprisoners serving jail terms of a year ormore face deportation at the end of theirsentences. Amir's deportation will de-pend on whether he has a valid visa atthe time of release."The Border Agency will consider the re-moval of foreign prisoners serving 12-month sentences or more but each caseis considered on its merits," a Home Of-fice spokesman was quoted as saying bythe daily.Butt and Asif have been transferredfrom Wandsworth Prison to Canterbury,a category C prison, that has provisionsfor immigration offi-cials to easilyprocess and de-port inmates atthe end of theirsentences.Deportationfrom Britainmeans thecricketerswon't be al-lowed to enterthe country forthe next 10years.The daily saidthat legalteams forthe play-ers willfight de-portation,which will beavoided if thethree agree toleave Britain ontheir release.

iTF RankingTennis begins

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The ITF International Ranking TennisTournament started here at the Bagh-i-Jin-nah’s PLTA courts under the sponsorshipbanner of Grand Avenue. Addressing apress conference here, President PunjabLawn Tennis Association Rao Iftikhar saidthat they have written to a number of coun-tries but did not get any positive responsedue to security concerns. However, therewill be a couple of singles entries from play-ers from Japan and some other far easterncountries. “We wrote to Sri Lanka, Indiaand Bhutan but they have reservations. De-spite all the issues the event will go onwhich will bright a patronage gap betweenelders and the youngsters,” he maintained.

ireland, Croatia coastas Portugal struggle

PARISAFP

The Republic of Ireland, Croatia and theCzech Republic all took giant strides to-wards qualifying for Euro 2012 on Fridaybut Portugal were left with plenty of workto do after their stalemate in Bosnia.In Tallinn, Ireland swept aside nine-manEstonia 4-0 to put themselves on the brinkof their first European championshipssince 1988 and erase memories of theirpainful 2010 World Cup play-off defeat toFrance. Giovanni Trapattoni’s men mas-tered minnows Estonia in this play-off firstleg with a double from inspirational skip-per Robbie Keane after first half contribu-tions from Keith Andrews and JonathanWalters. Estonia did not help their causewhen Andrei Stepanov was red-carded fora foul on Keane on 35 minutes, with cap-tain skipper Raio Piiroja following him offthe pitch in the last quarter of an hour.

iSTANbUL: Turkey’s gokhan Tore (L) vieswith Croatia’s vedran Corluka. afp


Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd. Printed by Ghulam Akbar, AA & NHT Group, Plot 24, Shalimar Road, Lilly Market, Soan Garden, Islamabad.

Sunday, 13 November, 2011 27

CAIROAFP

The Arab League on Saturday sus-pended Syria until President Bashar al-Assad implements an Arab deal to endviolence against protesters, and calledfor sanctions and transition talks withthe opposition.

A statement, read by Qatari PrimeMinister Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani,said the League decided “to suspendSyrian delegations’ activities in ArabLeague meetings” as long as it stalls onthe plan and to implement “economicand political sanctions against the Syr-ian government”. Syria angrily de-nounced the suspension as illegal andsaid it spelled the end of any Arab rolein resolving the deadly anti-regimeprotests sweeping the country. The de-cision was “illegal and contrary to thetreaty” that set up the pan-Arab organ-isation, said Syrian Ambassador YussefAhmad, quoted by Syrian officialmedia. He said the moves “put an endto joint Arab action and show that the

[League’s] administration is subjectedto US and Western agendas”.

Apart from the suspension, whichhad been sought by the Syriann oppo-sition, the League also called for thewithdrawal of Arab ambassadors fromDamascus but left the decision to eachmember state. Sheikh Hamad told a

press conference the decision wouldtake effect on November 16, and thatArab ministers would meet again to de-cide on specific sanctions. The state-ment also called for the protection ofcivilians and said Arab League chiefNabil al-Arabi would contact interna-tional organisations concerned withhuman rights, “including the UnitedNations,” if the bloodshed continued.

It called for a meeting in Cairowith Syrian opposition groups in threedays to “agree a unified vision for thecoming transitional period in Syria”.The opposition would later meet withArab foreign ministers. A week ofdeadly violence in the city of Homsovershadowed the meeting, in whichministers had appeared divided onwhat measure to take but eventuallyvoted by majority on the final state-ment. On Saturday, three people werekilled in clashes in the northwesternregion of Idlib, near Turkey, after be-tween 50 and 60 soldiers defected tothe opposition, said the Syrian Obser-vatory for Human Rights.

LAHORE ADnAn lODHI

INTELLIGENCE agencies arewith the government and it doesnot need to show its strength ormuscle through public rallies,Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gi-

lani said on Saturday.The prime minister was talking to

reporters at Aitchison College’s 125thFounder’s Day on Saturday. Askedwhether the PPP would show its street

power to respond to the show of publicstrength by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-In-saaf and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Gilani said it was not worthy ofthe government to indulge in such ac-tivities. Gilani said terrorism and ex-tremism were actually “a war of ideas”,which could effectively be defeatedthrough better ideas. “The nation isconfronted with the menace of terror-ism… it is not merely a physical fightbut a battle of ideas, and to eliminateterrorism and extremism, we need to

defeat the idea, which generates imagein the first stage.”

Gilani stressed upon intellectuals,religious scholars, academia, and stu-dents to come forward and play theirdue role in this regard. “An inferioridea can be killed by a superior idea,”he quoted Benazir Bhutto as saying. Hesaid it was incumbent upon teachers ofeducational institutions to eliminateterrorism by inculcating brotherhood,love, peace and harmony in students.He said after the passage of the 18thAmendment, education had become aprovincial subject, adding that the fed-

eral government, in consultation withprovinces and other stakeholders, hadprepared the National Educational Pol-icy 2009 under which each provincewould chalk out its own action plan forthe promotion of education. Gilanialso congratulated the management,faculty and students of Aitchison Col-lege on the festive occasion. He saidsince its inception the institution hadlived up to its reputation and had un-doubtedly produced leaders over a pe-riod of 125 years, who had set up a highbenchmark of success and showed out-standing performance.

PPP switches todamage-controlmode in Sindh

KARACHIRAZZAK ABRO

With new elections in its hindsight, the rulingPakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership hasgiven the go-ahead to bring about somenecessary changes in the government as wellas the party structure in the province. Thedecision was made on Saturday at a BilawalHouse meeting of the PPP, presided over byits co-chairman and President Asif AliZardari, where some senior leaders of the PPPSindh chapter and provincial cabinetmembers empowered the party co-chairmanfor taking decisions in this regard Thepresident is likely to announce the changes incabinet and party’s organisation during hisnext week visit to Sindh. The meeting – heldin two parts – was attended by Sindh ChiefMinister Qaim Ali Shah among senior PPPleaders, federal and provincial ministersincluding Makhdoom Amin Fahim, RazaRabbani, Naveed Qamar, Nisar Khuhro, AyazSoomro, Faryal Talpur, Agha Siraj Durani, PirMazharul Haq, Murad Ali Shah, JamSaifullah Dharejo and Mir Nadir Magsi.Regarding PPP’s reorganisation, it wasdecided to recruit personnel for the vacantpositions at district and tehsil levels, motivatethe office-bearers currently inactive and takedisciplinary action against party leaders andmembers involved in violating discipline.According to insiders, the party leaders alsodecided to make changes in the PPP Karachichapter’s structure. “It is likely that formerKarachi chapter president Senator FaisalRaza Abidi will be reappointed on his positionwhile some other office-bearers of the citymay also be changed,” they told PakistanToday. Talking with journalists after themeeting, provincial Law Minister AyazSoomro, while not confirming the decisionabout changes in the Sindh cabinet, howeversaid that some “important” decisions will bemade during the upcoming visit to Sindh ofPresident Zardari. “The president hasdirected the provincial government to fillvacant posts above 17-Grade in differentgovernment departments and formulatelegislation for increasing the number of SindhPublic Service Commission members.”

Pakistan to table

233 items before

india under SAFTALAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Pakistan will table a list of 233 sensitiveitems under the South Asian Free Trade Area(SAFTA) before the Indian trade authoritiesduring the two-day commerce secretary-leveltrade talks scheduled to begin on Monday.An 11-member delegation, headed by FederalCommerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood, leftLahore for New Delhi on Saturday to discussthe modalities of the Most Favoured Nation(MFN) status that Pakistan recently grantedto India. Mahmood told reporters at AllamaIqbal International Airport that Islamabadwould strongly persuade New Delhi toremove trade barriers for Pakistanimerchandise. He said the federalgovernment had given the go-ahead to theCommerce Ministry to liberalise tradebetween the two neighbouring countries. Hesaid further that during the session the twosides would discuss ways and means toincrease bilateral trade from the current levelof $2.7 billion to $6 billion per year withinthe next three years. Issues related to non-tariff and para-tariff barriers were also on theagenda, he added.

No need to prove government’s muscle

through rallies, says prime minister

ROmE: A woman holds a placard reading ‘finally’ in front of Palazzo Chigi, Italy’s Prime ministry on Saturday. Italian Prime

minister Silvio Berlusconi was set to resign the same day after a parliamentary revolt and a wave of market panic that

has shaken the eurozone, leaving behind an uncertain political future. afp

pML-n believes

establishment

conspiring against itLAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Training its guns with full force at theestablishment, agencies and the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) on the third day of aseries of consultative meetings, the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said onSaturday that PTI Chairman Imran Khan,being President Asif Ali Zardari’s“chessman”, was trying to make “PML-QPart II” by embracing dissidents of bothPakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the PML-Quaid at the behest of the agencies. ThePML-N also warned the agencies againstputting on a “political puppet show”, sayingthe results would be catastrophic. In a high-level meeting held in Model Town onSaturday, PML-N President Nawaz Sharifsaid if anyone tried to impose martial law,the nation would resist. He said the one whowas raising a slogan of change did not knowthe meaning of change. “I know themeaning of change. I also know how it isbrought and what price is paid,” he added.During meeting with lawmakers and partyworkers hailing from Faisalabad, heexpressed deep concern at the role of theagencies and their steps to introduce a newgame plan At the meeting, he alsoreconciled MNA Abid Sher Ali and PunjabLaw Minister Rana Sanaullah and told bothleaders to work in harmony to make theFaisalabad rally on November 23 a success.Later, National Assembly OppositionLeader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan held apress conference and said he would bringthe issue of the “ongoing puppet show” toparliament to unmask the conspiracy. “Wehave sound evidence about secret agencies’hands in the game and are ready to presentthem before the government and the army.It is now an open secret as Interior MinisterRehman Malik and PML-Q PresidentChaudhry Shujaat Hussein have also hintedabout it,” he said. Nisar challenged ImranKhan that if he had any proof against theSharifs, he should bring it to court. He saidthe National Accountability Bureau (NAB)was used against the Sharifs on politicalgrounds. Now the Lahore High Court hadgiven a decision in favour of the Sharifs andfined NAB Rs 1.5 million, which the PML-Nhad decided to spend on welfare projects,Nisar claimed. He said Nawaz Sharif did nottalk about the PTI and Imran Khan. He saidover the last several weeks, specific peoplehad been inducted into the PTI to form“PML-Q Part II”.

g gilani says intelligence agencies support government

arab League suspends syria,calls for sanctions


e-paper pakistantoday karachi 13th nov, 2011

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