Rs 17.00 Vol III No 243 19 Pages Lahore Edition Friday, 1 March, 2013 Rabi us Sani 18, 1434

Ti playing into thehands of punjabgovt, says KairaPakistan People’s Party (PPP) has

expressed its reservations over the

agreement between the Punjab

government and Transparency

International (TI). In a statement

issued on Thursday, Information

Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the

Transparency International had

unleashed a campaign against the

PPP government with malicious

intentions and was working as a tool

of the PML-N. page 04

Benedict XVispends final dayas popePope Benedict XVI met with cardinals

from around the world in his final

hours as leader of 1.1 billion Catholics,

and promised “unconditional reverence

and obedience’’ to his successor.

Benedict urged his cardinals on

Thursday to work in unity so that the

College of Cardinals is “like an

orchestra’’ where “agreement and

harmony’’ can be reached -a clear

message to the conclave that will pick

the next pope. page 07

Long arm of thelaw finally nabsTauqir sadiqThe main accused in the OGRA

corruption case, Tauqir Sadiq has been

brought back to Pakistan through

Interpol. Tauqir Sadiq was brought back

to Islamabad from Dubai on PIA flight

212. After corruption allegations were

brought against Sadiq, the Supreme

Court took suo motu notice and ordered

that he be arrested and brought back to

the country. A reference has also been

filed against Tauqir Sadiq by the

Rawalpindi Accountability Court. page 03

‘Traitor to pakistan’shakeel afridi is anamerican hero!A Congressional resolution has been

introduced in the US House of

Representatives to recognise as an

American hero the Pakistani doctor

who helped CIA trace Osama bin

Laden. Dr Shakil Afridi was arrested

by Pakistan government three weeks

after Laden was killed in the US raid

for accessing the al Qaeda leader’s

compound and helping the US

identify who was hiding in

Abbottabad. page 18

sTory on page 03

sTory on page 03

sTory on page 02 sTory on page 04

sTory on page 04

sTory on page 02

Who is oWais ‘Tappi’

Muzaffar?Wonders sC

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Peace in Pakistan can be achieved

with dialogue, not war with militants.— PML-N President Nawaz Sharif

BHC CJ tAkesNotiCe of toPProseCutor’sdisAPPeArANCe Quetta: Balochistan High CourtChief Justice Qazi Faez Essa on

Thursday took a suo motu notice on theabduction of Balochistan ProsecutorGeneral Abdul Wasay Tareen. The BHCchief justice issued notices to theBalochistan chief secretary, the Zhobcommissioner, as well as the federaland provincial home departments in thecase. The additional prosecutor generalhad filed an application in which it wassaid Tareen was traveling to Islamabadfrom Quetta for official work when hewent missing. Advcoate Sajid Tareen,brother of Tareen, told reporters thatthey had lost contact with his brothertwo days ago when he on his way toIslamabad. Staff rePOrt

tHree BodiesreCovered iNCHAmANCHaMan: Bullet-riddled bodies ofthree abducted people, including a tribalelder, were recovered in border town ofChaman on Thursday. According toLevies sources, security officials tookthe bodies into custody from the Boghraarea after locals spotted them. Thebodies were identified as that of HajiMullah Hayat Khan, tribal elder

Muhammad Issa and Hajji. Leviessources said that the three people werekidnapped from Chaman Bypass amonth ago. Killa Abdullah DeputyCommissioner Bashir Ahmed Bangulzaisaid the bodies have been shifted to theCivil Hospital Chaman. “They havereceived multiple bullets on heads andchest,” Bangulzai said. Police and leviespersonnel cordoned off the Boghra roadarea of Chaman as investigations intothe incident went underway. No oneclaimed responsibility for the killing sofar. aGeNCIeS

two more PPP

mPAs JoiN PmL-N

BANdwAgoNLaHOre: Shamsher Wattoo andYaqoob Sheikh, members of the PunjabProvincial Assembly from the PakistanPeople’s Party, on Thursday resignedfrom their memberships of the

legislature and joined the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Wattooand Sheikh met Law Minister RanaSanaullah and expressed their desire tojoin PML-N. Staff rePOrt

QUETTAShahzada zulfIqar

PRESIDENT Asif AliZardari on Thursday said thatensuring protection of lifeand property of citizens wasthe state’s responsibility and

no one would be allowed to kill people be-cause of their faith.

The president said this during a meet-ing with a delegation of religious leadersbelonging to Shia and Sunni schools ofthought.

Zardari expressed grief over the tragicbombings at Alamdar Road and Hazaratown in which more than 200 Hazara Shiaslost their lives. He said that such acts couldonly be committed by enemies of Islamand humanity and vowed that the govern-ment would frustrate their nefarious de-signs.MeetInGs: During his brief stay in theprovincial capital after arriving from Iran,the president chaired several meetings in-cluding discussions with different parlia-

mentary parties over the possible in-housechange after lifting of Governor’s Ruleand the caretaker setup for the upcomingelection.

An official source said that PresidentZardari chaired a high-level meeting onlaw and order in the province. He said thatthe president expressed serious concernover the security situation in Balochistan,particularly Quetta, and ordered the au-thorities to crack down on elements chal-lenging the state’s writ.

The president also met with parlia-

mentarians and leaders of different politi-cal parties, including Maulana AbdulWasay of JUI-F, PPP’s Sadiq Umrani,PML-Q’s Dr Ruqia Hashmi, Jan AliChangezi, former Senate deputy chairmanJan Muhammad Jamali, Syed Ehsan Shahof BNP-Awami, Engineer Zamarak KhanAchakzai of ANP and Senator Hafiz Hus-sain Ahmed.

The political leaders shared their reser-vations with the president on a host of is-sues. He gave them a patience hearing andsought their suggestions on the formation

of the future caretaker government. He as-sured them that all the parliamentarygroups of Balochistan would have theirshare in the caretaker government in ac-cordance with their strength.nOLanG daM: Earlier in the day, Pres-ident Zardari laid the foundation stone ofNolang Dam to be constructed at a cost ofRs 18 billion. It is being constructed alongRiver Mola in district Jhal Magsi. On com-pletion‚ it will help irrigate hundreds ofthousands of acres of land. The presidentlater left for Bilawal House in Lahore.

No compromise onpeople’s security: Zardari

SAyS govt willnot Allow AnyperSon to chAllengewrit of StAte

KARACHIONlINe

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursdaysserved notices on Owais Muzaffar“Tappi” and Revenue Senior MemberShazar Shamon, summoning both men onthe next hearing of the matter regardingimplementation of the court’s verdict inKarachi unrest case.

The apex court issued the orders whileconducting hearing in respect of revenuematters in the case on Thursday at itsKarachi Registry.

The bench is led by Justice Anwar ZahirJamali and comprises Justice Khilji ArifHussain, Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani, Jus-tice Gulzar Ahmad and Justice Athar Saeed.

Tappi is considered one of PresidentAsif Ali Zardari’s closest aides and has beenwidely known as being a key power playerin the Lyari gang wars.

Justice Sarmad Usmani was visiblyfrustrated as he remarked, “Who is thisTappi and why has no one filed an FIRagainst him yet?”

The petitioner Mehmood Akhtar Naqvitold the court that Tappi was “ruling” Sindhthrough Board of Revenue senior member.

Tappi is step-brother of President AsifAli Zardari and the defacto chief minister ofSindh, Naqvi claimed.

The petitioner said these people were in-volved in selling lands and inflicting losses

to the national exchequer. Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani said every-

one talked about Tappi and asked ShazarShamon if he knew Tappi.

Shamon replied in negative. He, how-ever, acknowledged that he had heard thename in the media.

Naqvi told the court that over 150cases stood registered against Tappi,Shazar Shamon and others and they wereaccused of causing losses of billions of ru-

pees to the national kitty. He took the plea that Tappi had un-

leashed loot and plunder spree in con-nivance with revenue officers, includingYar Muhammad Bozdar, HammadChachar, Manzoor Ali, Aftab Pathan andShazar Shamon.

Justice Khilji Arif Hussain remarked,“Everyone has one’s dignity and prestige.Has he (Naqvi) any evidence against thesepeople,” he inquired.

Naqvi said he would prove the alle-gations.

“Owais Tappi and Yar MuhammadBozdar are minting money by using fakestamps of State Bank of Pakistan. Thesepeople got regularised the land at the rate ofRs 10,000 per acre along the National High-Way, which cost Rs 30 million per acre,”Naqvi submitted.

Yawar Farooqi, counsel for Board ofRevenue, told the court that revenuerecord of 874 out of 6,000 villages inSindh was burnt following riots after thekilling of Benazir Bhutto and the recordwas being reconstructed.

Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani remarkedthat land was being leased out for the periodsof 99 years without auction.

The bench then issued notice for Tappiand Shamoon to appear before the court onaccusations of massive corruption in sale ofgovernment property and adjourned thehearing till today (Friday).

Who is Owais ‘Tappi’?wonders Supreme Court

Act wisely, Altaftells PPP

LONDON/KARACHIINP

MuttahidaQaumiMovement(MQM)chief AltafHussain onThursdayasked thePakistanPeople’s Party(PPP) to act wisely. Addressing partyleaders in Karachi by telephone‚ Altaf saidthe government had completed itsconstitutional term with MQM’scooperation. “The MQM can help formsgovernments and can also push anyone outof the government,” Altaf said, adding thathis party had supported the PPP for peaceand democracy in the country. The MQMchief said his party had always joinedhands with pro-democratic forces for peacein Karachi. ebad returns: Sindh Governor DrIshratul Ebad on Thursday arrived backhome from Dubai after MQM chief AltafHussain directed him to withdraw hisresignation. Talking to reporters atKarachi airport, Ebad said he haddecided to quit his office as he was notable to tackle the situation between theMQM and PPP. “I told the presidentregarding my decision and left for Dubai.Zardari sent Interior Minister RehmanMalik there who convinced me that mypresence in the city was necessary formaintaining peace,” he said.

petitioner MehMood AkhtAr nAqvi

Tappi is ‘ruling’ Sindhthrough a senior

member of Board ofRevenue... Tappi is

step-brother of PresidentAsif Ali Zardari and thedefacto chief minister

of Sindh

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Friday, 1 March, 2013

Peace in Pakistan linked

to calm in FATA. —MQM’s Farooq Sattar

WASHINGTONaGeNCIeS

IN its latest and most outrightopposition of the Pakistan-Irangas pipeline project, the USState Department on Thursdaysaid it was in Pakistan’s inter-

est to avoid any activity that could in-

vite sanctions.The State Department said it was

providing Pakistan with alternativesthat would avoid any sanctions viola-tion.

“We recognise that Pakistan hassignificant energy requirements but wereally think there are other long-termsolutions to Pakistan’s energy needs,”

said deputy acting spokesman PatrickVentrell.

“And so we’ve been assisting as agovernment to contribute to the allevi-ation of the energy crisis in Pakistan,”he said.

“It’s in their best interests to avoidany sanctionable activity, and we thinkthat we provide and are providing abetter way to meet their energy needsin some of the assistance we’re provid-ing.”

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah AliKhamenei on Wednesday urged the vis-iting Pakistani president to press aheadwith a much-delayed $7.5 billion gaspipeline project despite US opposition.

In 2010, Iran and Pakistan agreedthat Tehran would supply between 750million cubic feet (21 million cubic

metres) and one billion cubic feet perday of natural gas by mid-2015.

Islamabad has said it would pursuethe project regardless of US pressure,saying the gas was needed to help Pak-istan overcome its energy crisis that hasled to debilitating blackouts and suffo-cated industry.

Iran has almost completed thepipeline work in its territory, but Pak-istan has not yet started construction of780 kilometers (490 miles) of thepipeline on its side, which is said tocost some $1.5 billion.

Sanctions-hit Iran finally agreed tofinance one third of the costs of layingthe pipeline through Pakistani territoryto Nawabshah, north of Karachi, withthe work to be carried out by an Iraniancompany.

us crashes Pakistan-iran partywAShington wArnSiSlAMAbAd ofSAnctionS if gASproject with irAngoeS AheAd

StAte dept SAySpAkiStAn ShouldAvoid Any‘SAnctionAble’Activity

Long arm of thelaw finally nabstauqir sadiq

ISLAMABADStaff rePOrt

The main accused in the OGRA corruption case,Tauqir Sadiq has been brought back to Pakistanthrough Interpol. Tauqir Sadiq was brought back toIslamabad from Dubai on PIA flight 212. Aftercorruption allegations were brought against Sadiq,the Supreme Court took suo motu notice andordered that he be arrested and brought back to thecountry. A reference has also been filed againstTauqir Sadiq by the Rawalpindi AccountabilityCourt. The NAB prosecutor had sent a three-member team to Dubai for his arrest, whichincluded a CID officer of the Punjab police. Theteam had returned unsuccessfully after not havingthe necessary documents, but returned later withthe required papers. Tauqir Sadiq has Rs 82 billioncorruption allegations against him. He had beenappointed during the tenure of former primeminister Yousaf Raza Gilani. On 25 November lastyear, the Supreme Court had declared TauqirSadiq’s appointment as OGRA chairman illegal,ordered NAB to investigate corruption casesagainst him and submit a report in 45 days.

ISLAMABADStaff rePOrt

The Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) and the Parliamentary Commit-tee‚ formed by the NA speaker to nego-tiate with the ECP on election procedureand the degrees issue, have agreed thatthe Higher Education Commissionwould write letters to the universitiesconcerned for the verification of the law-makers’ degrees.

However, both parties did not setany deadline for completion of the veri-fication process of over 215 sitting law-

makers.A senior official of ECP said, “After

15 days, the assemblies will be dis-solved...but the way ECP adopted infake-degree cases hints that the verifica-tion process may face delays.”

The ECP, which was directed to ver-ify parliamentarians’ degrees in July2010, is still badly behind schedule toget the process completed, as 215 de-grees are still pending with the HEC.

But it was not playing any signifi-cant role to direct parliamentarians tosubmit documents to the HEC to gettheir degrees verified.

In Thursday’s meeting, it was de-cided that the ECP would not directlywrite letters to the candidates for verifi-cation of the degrees, rather it would askthe HEC to write letters to the concerneduniversities for the verification.

The meeting was attended by Parlia-mentary Committee chief Law MinisterFarooq Naik, the chief election commis-sioner and the HEC chairman.

The committee apprised the ECPabout their reservations, saying they

were not opposed to verification exer-cise, but its procedure.

It was also agreed that if degree ofany candidate was found to be bogus, theECP would issue show-cause notice tothe concerned candidate.

The committee told the ECP that ithad full confidence in the commission’sability to hold free‚ fair and transparentelections.

Later, talking to reporters, Naik saidaspiring candidates would have to sub-mit their original degrees along withnomination papers in the upcoming gen-eral elections.

He said the negotiations on the issueof fake degrees of parliamentarians hadbeen successful.

The law minister said it was the re-sponsibility of the university to verifythe degrees of candidates at the earliest.

To a question, Naik said the PakistanPeople’s Party had full confidence in thechief election commissioner and otherEC members, adding that the govern-ment would not allow anyone to post-pone election.

eCP decides to speed updegree-verification process

nAik SAyS ASpiringcAndidAteS will hAveto SubMit originAldegreeS withnoMinAtion pAperS

govt jacks up petrolprices by up to rs3.53 per litreIsLaMabad: The governmenthas approved an upward revision inpetroleum products prices, whichwill take effect from March 1(today). The Ministry of Petroleumhas given a go-ahead to a giant leapof Rs 3.53/litre in petrol pricesbringing the new price up at Rs106.60/litre. The Oil and GasRegulatory Authority has alsoincreased the prices of diesel by Rs4.35/litre, light diesel by Rs3.93/litre and kerosene by Rs 3.79.Henceforth, diesel, light diesel andkerosene oil will be retailed at Rs113.56, Rs 98.26 and Rs 103.69 perlitre, respectively. Staff rePOrt

BANNU: Journalists protest on Thursday against the killing of a senior journalist in Miranshah the other day. INP

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Washington has clear objective

in Afghanistan. —US Defence

Secretary Chuck HagelneWSN

04

Friday, 1 March, 2013

ISLAMABADtayyab huSSaIN

tHE much-awaitedAll Parties Confer-ence (APC) hostedby the JamiatUlema-e-Islam-Fazl

(JUI-F) on Thursday provideda sketchy roadmap for thegovernment to initiate a dia-logue process with the Tal-iban, as the five-point jointcommuniqué issued at the endof the well-attended moot fellshort of mentioning any roleof the principle stakeholders –the security establishment – inthe talks.

The joint declaration alsosaw a shift in views of theparticipants as the precondi-tion of holding talks with Tal-iban within the constitutionalframework has been replacedwith a hope that the proposedtalks with the Taliban wouldresult in supremacy of theconstitution.

JUI-F chief FazlurRehman, however, remainedsuccessful in assembling thetop leadership of almost all thepolitical parties of the country,sans the Imran Khan-led Pak-istan Tehreek-e-Insaf, to senda strong message to all quar-ters that the political initiative,which should have been takenby the government, had beentaken by his party.

Even though the APC wasattended by a galaxy of politi-

cians including PML-N chiefNawaz Sharif, PPP chief AminFahim, Jamaat-e-Islami chiefMunawwar Hassan, PML-QPresident Shujaat Hussain,PML-F Senior Vice PresidentMohammad Ali Durrani,MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar,PkMAP Chairman MahmoodAchakzai, ANP’s AfrasiabKhattak, and QWP chief AftabSherpao, the show was stolenby senior journalist Salim Safi,who gave the participants anoverview of the entire situationon ground in FATA,Afghanistan and KhyberPakhtunkhwa. His revelationsproved to be an eye-opener.JOInt deCLaratIOn:

Announcing the five-pointjoint declaration, Fazl said theimplementation of the APCproposals would start fromtoday (Friday).

Flanked by Achakzai andothers, Fazl said all parties hadbacked the joint declaration.He said the APC completelysupported the dialogueprocess with the Taliban.However, he did not mentionwhether or not the top politicalleaders including Nawaz, Has-san and himself would also goalong with the grand jirga tomeet the Taliban delegation.

Following is the text ofthe declaration:

The APC proposes thefollowing steps for peace andalso supports the efforts of thegrand jirga in this regard

1. The number of mem-bers of the already-formedgrand jirga be increased andthe people from all schools ofthought be included

2. A trust be established tofund and look after the fami-lies of martyrs, injured

3. The grand jirga shouldinitiate talks with the partiesconcerned in guidance of all thepolitical and religious parties

4. Practical steps should betaken to get rid of lawlessnessacross Pakistan and this APCsupports any dialogue whichcould restore the writ of consti-tution and law of the land

5. All the participants ofthe APC, including tribal eld-ers, announce that the incum-bent government, thecaretaker setup and the nextgovernment would be boundto the proposal of the APC.

The five-point agendawas authored by seasonedpoliticians including Durrani,

Manzoor Wattoo, AfrasiabKhattak, Prof Ibrahim, AkramDurrani and Wasim Akhtarand Iqbal Zafar Jhagra.

Besides politicians, alarge number of tribal elders,religious scholars and journal-ists were also present. It wasfor the first time that all thepolitico-religious partiesjoined hands for the cause ofpeace without putting forthany preconditions to the dia-logue with the Taliban.

Interestingly, PPP’sQamar Zaman Kaira and AminFahim were seen sitting withthe chief of Ahl-e-Sunnat WalJamaat – the new face of thebanned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pak-istan (SSP) – a party which isbeing accused by Interior Min-ister Rehman Malik as beingan ally of the PML-N.

An insider told PakistanToday that during the draftingof the joint declaration, thePPP, PML-N, and the JI rep-

resentatives made all-out ef-forts to make it into a vagueand pointless document.However, the source addedthat the majority opinion –that preconditions would becounterproductive and maylead to a deadlock – prevailedafter a heated debate.CeasefIre: “It was alsodecided that a ceasefire wouldbe announced as a confi-dence-building measure onceinitial contacts with Talibanremain successful,” thesource added.

Safi, in his speech, re-vealed that the TTP’s dia-logue offer was actually madeon advice by Afghan Talibanleadership and it was the lastopportunity for peace withPakistani authorities, failingwhich might make the up-coming general electionsbloodiest polls.

“I have the informationthat a batch of 150 suicide

bombers has completed itstraining and its passing outparade was carried out re-cently. This death squad isdedicated for sabotaging thegeneral elections,” he said asthere was pin-drop silence inthe convention center whereover 500 participants werepresent.naWaZ taLIban: Ad-dressing the conference,Nawaz said the governmentshould come up with a posi-tive response to the Taliban’soffer for peace dialogue.

“All the parties shouldplay a positive role settingaside all difference as it isneed of the hour,” he said, as-suring the tribal elders sinceresupport of the all the partiesparticipated in the moot.

Nawaz said the law andorder in the country was notsatisfactory. Talking aboutthe efficiency of incumbentgovernment, the PML-N

chief said the report on theAbbottabad Commissionwas yet to be made public.The economic situation inthe country, law and order,foreign loans etc wereamong those issues, whichwere worsening day by day,he said, appreciating the sac-rifices of tribal people.

“Conflict has never beena solution to any problem,”Nawaz said.GOVt assuranCe: Onthe behalf of the government,Fahim assured the attendeesthat his party would supportall steps in accordance withthe law and constitution.

Fahim said the PPP be-lieved in democracy, rule oflaw and always took concretemeasures for the welfare ofthe people. The PML-Q pres-ident said every problemcould not be solved throughthe use of force, thereforetalks were necessary. Tribalpoliticians who were not in-vited to the moot had also ex-pressed confidence in theconference’s ability to restorepeace, he added.

Dr Abdul Qadeer Khanalso offered his services forthe dialogue process with theTaliban, stating that talkswere the way forward and hewould be happy to assist thisprocess. The JI chief said thegovernment’s response to theTaliban’s offer for peace talkswas not positive.

Sherpao said the talksshould be held with the Tal-iban. He also rubbished anypreconditions for the talks.

MQM’s Sattar said peacein Karachi and Balochistanwas tied to peace in FATA andthere was a need to unite onthe national agenda.

DHAKAaGeNCIeS

A Bangladesh tribunal con-victed an Islamist party leaderand sentenced him to death onThursday, the third verdict bythe court set up to investigateabuses during the country’s in-dependence war, triggeringwidespread protests by support-ers in which at least 35 peoplewere killed.

Delwar Hossain Sayedee,73, vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was found guiltyof mass killing, rape, arson, loot-ing and forcing minority Hindusto convert to Islam during the1971 war of independence fromPakistan, lawyers and tribunalofficials said.The religious party,known simply as Jamaat, hadcalled for a day-long country-wide strike in anticipation of theverdict against Sayedee, thethird senior party member con-victed by the tribunal.

Police, witnesses andmedia reports said at least 35

people were killed and around200 wounded in clashes be-tween Jamaat activists and po-lice as violence erupted in morethan a dozen districts.

Protesters set fire to aHindu temple and severalhouses in Noakhali district,south of Dhaka, reporters said.In southeastern Cox’s Bazar,they attacked a police camp.

In the capital, authoritiesdeployed extra police andmembers of a rapid responseforce and put paramilitary sol-diers on standby, a Home Min-istry official told reporters.Thousands of people in the cap-ital’s Shahbag square, who sup-port the tribunal and have beenprotesting for weeks to demandthe highest penalty for warcriminals, burst into cheers asthe sentence was announced.

Sayedee looked defiant andremained calm in the dock asjudges read out the verdict, wit-nesses said. “I didn’t commitany crime and the judges arenot giving the verdict from the

core of their heart,” Sayedeetold the court. “They are sub-mitting to the excessive pres-sure from Shahbag,” he said,referring to the protests.

State prosecutor Haider Alitold reporters he was happywith the verdict which he said“appropriately demonstratedjustice”. Defence attorneyAbdur Razzak said the sen-tence was politically motivated.“He is a victim of sheer injus-tice. We will appeal,” he said.rIVaL PrOtests: PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina set upthe tribunal in 2010 to investi-gate abuses during the war thatclaimed about 3 million livesand during which thousands ofwomen were raped. On January21, the tribunal sentenced AbulKalam Azad, a former Jamaatmember, to death in absentiaafter he was found guilty of tor-ture, rape and genocide duringthe independence war. Ninemore people, mostly Jamaatmembers, are facing trial for warcrimes, tribunal officials said.

No army role in Jui-f’s proposed taliban talksfive-point declArAtion bAckS grAndjirgA to initiAte diAlogue with tAlibAnceASefire to be Announced in SecondphASe of tAlkS

35 die in protests at Bangladeshislamist’s death sentence

NEWS DESK

The army has said it is inves-tigating the alleged torture ofa local youth that led to hisdeath last week in Azad Kash-mir, BBC News reported.

Ali Murtaza’s family sayshe died while he was in cus-tody of the army’s secret serv-ice near the border in Kotlisector earlier this month.

The killing generated up-roar and calls for a “fair in-quiry” from both the mediaand civilians.Murtaza’s familymembers told BBC that hewent missing on February 17when he left his home to visitrelatives in a village near theLine of Control (LoC).

His body was later deliv-ered to the family by the localadministration of Kotli, ac-cording to the family.

Member of the legisla-tive council of Azad KashmirChaudhry Mehboob toldBBC, “He died in the cus-tody of the army, and he wastortured.”

Several political partieshave staged protests overthe killing and have calledfor a transparent inquiryinto the matter.

This incident comes whiletensions run high betweenPakistan and India along theLoC. Five soldiers from bothsides have been killed in at-tacks in recent weeks.

ISLAMABADaPP

Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) has expressed itsreservations over the agree-ment between the Punjabgovernment and Trans-parency International (TI).

In a statement issued onThursday, Information Minis-ter Qamar Zaman Kaira saidthe Transparency Interna-tional had unleashed a cam-paign against the PPP

government with maliciousintentions and was working asa tool of the PML-N. He saidthat it was evident from a re-cent survey conducted by thesame company which was bi-ased and critical of the PPPgovernment.

Kaira said that AdilGilani had been meet-ing thePunjabc h i e fministerquite often

and his biased activities hadled to complete erosion of thecredibility of the Trans-parency International.

He said that the agreementbetween the

P M L - Na n dT r a n s -parencyhas ex-

posed thecredibility

of TI.

rs 138.62b loanswritten off in lastfive years, NA told

IsLaMabad: The LowerHouse of parliament onThursday passed three bills,including ‘The PakistanPsychological Council Bill‚2013’,’The FederalOmbudsmen InstitutionalReforms Bill‚ 2013’ and ‘TheCapital University of Scienceand Technology Bill‚ 2012’, asthe House was informed thatloans worth Rs 138.62 billionwere written off in the last fiveyears. The ninth sitting of theNational Assembly’s 50thsession opened with a delay ofaround 50 minutes. The Housewas informed that during the lastfive years bank loans worth138.62 billion were written offbetween 2007 and 2011, out ofwhich the highest amount ofloan written off was Rs 47.7billion in 2008. Staff rePOrt

sC accepts iB’srequest to keepreply secret

IsLaMabad: The SupremeCourt on Thursday approvedthe request of the IntelligenceBureau director general forclandestine proceedings of theIB funds case. A three-memberbench, led by Chief JusticeIftikhar Chaudhary, heard thecase about alleged misuse ofthe IB funds. Attornet Generalof Pakistan Irfan Qadirsubmitted the reply on behalfof the IB DG. The court saidthat it would read the reply inthe chamber before giving anyfurther orders. Later, hearingof the case was adjourned untiltwo weeks. ONlINe

six die after takingpoisonous liquorin Bhakkar

bHaKKar: As many as sixpeople died and several otherswere shifted to a hospital incritical condition afterdrinking poisonous liquor onThursday. According todetails, in Darya Khan severalpeople bought liquor fromMango Ansari. A medicalreport revealed that a deadlychemical was mixed in theliquor. DPO Abdul QadirQamar said the city policestation house officer and twoother officials have beensuspended for negligence.Furthermore, three committeeshave been formed, led by theSaddar Darya Khan SHO, theCity Darya Khan SHO and theCIA staff to bring the culpritsto book. aPP

Army begins probeinto alleged torturedeath in AJK

Ti playing into the handsof punjab govt, says Kaira

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There’s no doubt in people’s mind about

intimate links of PML-N with defunct

organisations. – PPP’s Shaukat Basra

LAhOreFriday, 1 March, 2013

low

high

FrIdAy SAtUrdAy SUNdAy

21°C I09°C 22°C I09°C 23°C I09°C

Prayer tImINGS

PArtly CloUdy

WeAther UPdAteS

210C

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Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

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LAHOREStaff rePOrt

PUNJAB Chief Minister

Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif

on Thursday presented

himself and members of his

team for accountability under

an historic agreement. According to details, a Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) was signed at

Model Town today between Punjab

government and Transparency

International Pakistan (TIP). Under the

MoU, impartial international institution

would review rules and regulations and

transparency of the laptop scheme, Ujala

programme and Metro Bus project and

would present its report before the end of

the constitutional tenure of the present

government. The chief minister

announced that the report of TIP would be

brought before the people in its totality

and if any irregularity was found those

responsible would not be spared and strict

action would be taken against them.

Talking to journalists, Shahbaz said

that it was a historic day in the history of

Pakistan as Punjab government had

signed an MoU with TIP to review

implementation and transparency of its

three mega projects. He said Punjab government had

promoted transparency and a corruption-

free culture in the province. Moreover, he

said all development projects had been

completed in a transparent manner during

the last five years and if corruption of

even a single penny is proved, he would

be answerable to the people. He said Punjab government had

established an example of accountability

by presenting its three mega projects

worth Rs 36 billion to TIP. He said the report by TIP would also

unmask the reality of those who were

accusing the Metro Bus project of costing

Rs 70 billion or Rs 90 billion. Shahbaz further said it was right of

the people to be aware that no corruption

was committed in the resources made

available for their welfare and the way

these resources were spent in industrial,

agriculture, educational, health and other

welfare projects. Moreover, the chief

minister said the Punjab government had

given a new meaning to transparency

by signing an MoU with TIP and had

taken a revolutionarystep, making it aunique example in thehistory of the country.He said that thefederal governmenthad resorted toloot andplunder inthe

name of reconciliation during the last

five years over which every Pakistani

was ashamed.

LAHOREONlINe

Provincial Minister for Law Rana Sanaullah on

Thursday said that Pervaiz Elahi should not

forget that Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s

rule was famous for its corruption.

Responding to a statement by Pervaiz

Elahi, the law minister said that Pakistan had

seen the worst corruption in its history during

PML-Q’s tenure where merit was flouted and

nepotism flourished. Moreover, he claimed that

PML-Q would face defeat in the upcoming

elections. Rana Sanaullah said that billions of rupees

had been pocketed in the name of the Paraha

Likha Punjab campaign. He said only ten

billion rupees were spent during the tenure of

the previous government while Pakistan

Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had spent at

least Rs 111 billion on development projects in

the province.Furthermore, he said that there had been an

increased sense of deprivation and isolation

during the tenure of PML-Q’s government.

He further said that Pervaiz Elahi had

resorted to desperate tactics in an attempt to

secure votes for his party in the upcoming

elections. Moreover, Sanaullah alleged that PML-N’s

political opponents were jealous of the

successes of development projects like the

Metro Bus, the laptop scheme, Aashiyana,

Daanish schools and the Ujala scheme and

would do anything to sabotage the success of

PML-N.

LAHOREONlINe

Department of International

Development (DFID) of the

United Kingdom on Thursday

agreed to provide a sum of 160

million pounds as educational

aid to the Punjab government

to promote education in poor

areas of the province. According to details, 90

million pounds would be given

to the School Education

Department while another sum

of 70 billion was earmarked

for the Punjab Education

Foundation (PEF) to arrange

education for school children

in the province through public-

private partnership model. The PEF envisaged using this

amount for the free education of

four million deserving children in

the province by 2017. Punjab Education

Foundation Chairman Raja

Muhammad Anwar, while

addressing a meeting, said that

the selection of PEF for the

promotion of education of

children was a clear

manifestation of international

trust and confidence. He said that PEF model of

public-private partnership won

international recognition and

acclaim because of its

effectiveness and good results.

Moreover, he said that the

foundation had taken a number

of steps to improve the

education standards in low cost

partner schools so that the

students could get quality

education without any burden

of expenditures. Anwar was of the view that

a nation that gave priority to

its youth honed a better

leadership for its future. He reiterated the

commitment of the foundation

to arrange education for every

deserving child in the province

and vowed that the foundation

s would eradicate the menace

of ignorance by enrolling

every last child in the province

in a school.

deLAy iN trAiNsirk PAsseNgers LAHOrE: Long delays in the arrival and

departure of trains on Thursday irked

passengers at the Lahore Railway Station.

A spokesman of Pakistan Railway said that

a shortage of locomotives was a big

challenge for the railway officials due to

which Night Coach Karachi Express,

Pakistan Express, 7Up Express, Allama

Iqbal Express and some other trains

arrived much later than scheduled.

Passengers complained that they had to

wait for trains for over six hours due to

late departure and arrival of trains at the

railway station. aPP

LHC rejects petition

for retired army men LAHOrE: The Lahore High Court (LHC)

on Thursday rejected a petition

demanding the same facilities for retired

army officers as sitting officers.

Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh of LHC heard

the petition filed by Soubedar Naeem

Ahmed. Through the appeal, he requested

the court to issue directives for facilitating

the retired army officers with the same

benefits as those of sitting officers.

The petitioner was of the view that a

minimum quota had been allocated for

retired army employees in the pension

and housing facilities which was not

justified. Justice Nasir Saeed rejected the

petition saying court could not be moved

against armed forces. INP

i dAre you to fiNd PmL-NCorruPtioN: sHAHBAZ

cM SignS AccountAbilityAgreeMent with trAnSpArencyinternAtionAl pAkiStAn

PML-Q leaders must not forgettheir corruption: Sanaullah

UK pledges 160 million poundsfor education

CrUisiNg: Children skate while clinging to a motorcyclist on Thursday. ONlINe

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:26 AM Page 5

L

06

Friday, 1 March, 2013LAhOre

Had the killers of any one of the 50 journalists killed in the last

few years been caught and punished, the security situation for

the country’s media would have been better – SAFMA

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LAHOREStaff rePOrt

Punjab Chief MinisterShahbaz Sharif onThursday announced thatthere were large reserves ofcoal in Punjab’s Salt Range

which could be developed and utilisedfor energy purposes.

Moreover, he said thatrecommendations should be submittedwithin seven days for development ofmining areas to the Punjab government.

Presiding over a high-level meetingat Model Town, the chief minister wasdebriefed by a consultant from theAustralian company SNOWDEN ondrilling and data collection at the SaltRange. Addressing the meeting,Shahbaz Sharif said that there was aneed to further improve the miningsector at national level and new coursesand training should be introduced atmining schools.

Furthermore, he said that Pakistancould use her natural resources in aneffective manner by adopting modern

methods of mining. He directed authorities to utilise

modern machinery for excavating coalin the Salt Range, besides developingmining areas on scientific lines.

Shahbaz further said that Pakistanwas full of natural resources and energycrisis could be overcome by utilisingthese natural resources effectively.

Meanwhile, an MoU was signedbetween Punjab government, PunjabUniversity and UET for increasingcooperation in mineral developmentsector.

LAHOREStaff rePOrt

Two students went missing on Thursdayafter they did not return home aftertuition.

According to details, two studentsnamed Hussan Amjad and Bilal Saleem,both 17, residents of Wahdat Colonywent to their tuition center. They did notcome back and their parents claimedthat their phones were not responding.They lodged an FIR in the area policestation for their missing sons. deatHs: A speeding truck collidedwith a man in the area of Babu Sabuinterchange, killing him on the spot.

According to details, the truck hit anunidentified 40-year-old man when hewas crossing the road. The driver of thetruck escaped from the scene.

The police recovered the body andshifted it to the morgue. The police saidthat the man seemed to be a passenger.

In another report, a farmer waskilled over a water dispute in the area ofHaidayara. According to details, a mannamed Anwer Ameen and his

accomplices murdered a farmer namedAkram by beating him with woodensticks over a water dispute and escapedfrom the scene. The police recovered thebody for further investigation.fIrInG: Unidentified men opened fireand injured two men in the area ofSandha. According to details, the firingincident occurred at a local cable officewhen two unidentified men opened fireand injured Mian Ijaz and hiscompanion and escaped from the scene.The victims were shifted to the MayoHospital in critical condition.rObbery: A robbery incident tookplace in local general store in the area ofDefence. According to reports, robbersbroke into the shop and took Rs 350,000cash and escaped from the scene.fIre: Shops situated in the area of GulBahar Colony, near 7Up bridge caughtfire. Two cloth shops caught fire due toshort circuiting. After the incident,rescue teams reached at the spot andevacuated the employees.

No human loss was recorded,whereas cloth was millions wasburnt to ashes.

media associations

condemn killing

of journalists LAHOrE: South Asian Free Media

Association (SAFMA), South Asia

Media Commission (SAMC) and

Media Commission-Pakistan (MCP)

on Thursday condemned the

killings of two journalists in one

week. The joint statement was

released by SAFMA Secretary

General Imtiaz Alam, SAMC

Secretary General M Ziauddin, and

Media Commission-Pakistan’s

President Arif Nizami and General

Secretary Babar Ayaz. According to

the statement, Malik Mumtaz, a

correspondent for Jang, The News

and Geo News and president of the

Miranshah Press Club, was killed in

the Federally Administered Tribal

Areas (FATA) when he was

returning home after visiting a

nearby village. “Journalists in

Pakistan are pursuing a hazardous

profession. They are being

targeted with impunity. Had the

killers of any one of the 50

journalists killed in the last few

years been caught and punished,

the security situation for the

country’s media would have been

better,” the statement said. They

also expressed outrage over the

death of the chief reporter of the

state-controlled Associated Press of

Pakistan (APP) wire agency in

Karachi, Khushnood Ali Sheikh, in a

hit-and-run accident by a car near

his house after receiving threats

following his refusal to pay

extortion money.

“We extend our condolences to the

families of the two journalists. We

demand that the government

immediately find and punish those

behind these attacks,” they said.

salt range minerals can beused for energy purposes: Cm

KidnAPPingS, deAThS And FireS

HANgiNg OUT: Wrestlers

warm up before training

at a local club on

Thursday. aGeNCIeS

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:26 AM Page 6

07

neWSFriday, 1 March, 2013

N

One is not born a woman,

but becomes one. —

Simone de Beauvoir

ROMEaGeNCIeS

wESTERN and Arabgovernments havepledged more politi-cal and material sup-

port for the civilian Syrianopposition and called for an im-mediate halt to arms supplies tothe Assad government.

A final statement after ameeting of the “Friends of Syria”diplomatic group in Rome added:“The regime must immediatelystop the indiscriminate bombard-ment against populated areaswhich are crimes against human-ity and cannot remain unpun-ished”. “The ministers pledgedmore political and material sup-

port to the (Syrian National)coalition as the sole legitimaterepresentative of the Syrian peo-ple and to get more concrete as-sistance (into) Syria,” it said.

They gave no detail of whatkind of support would be sup-plied. The statement also de-plored “the unabated arms supplyto the regime by third countries”.

Speaking after talks with theSyrian opposition and mainly Eu-ropean and Arab countries sup-porting them, John Kerry, the USsecretary of state, said his coun-try would provide Syrian opposi-tion with $60m in new aid andwork with rebel fighters.

The US plans for the firsttime to provide non-lethal aid, in-cluding food rations and medical

supplies, to opposition fightersbattling the Syrian governmentand it will more than double aidto the civilian opposition, the USsecretary of state said at a jointpress conference.

Bashar al-Assad lost his le-gitimacy long ago, and has losthis power, Kerry said.

The meeting came ahead ofan important meeting of the Syr-ian National Coalition on Satur-day in Istanbul, Turkey where theumbrella opposition group is toelect a prime minister and gov-ernment to run parts of Syriaseized from Assad’s control.

he opposition - which initiallyvowed a boycott - participated inthe 11-nation meeting on Thurs-day after the US and Britain

promised specific offers of help.In Paris as part of a European touron Wednesday, Kerry made itclear Washington was ready tostep up its support for the opposi-tion. “We are examining and de-veloping ways to accelerate thepolitical transition that the Syrianpeople seek and deserve, and thatis what we will be discussing inRome,” Kerry said. Meanwhile, asenior UN official has told the Se-curity Council that the total num-ber of Syrian refugees will likelypass 1 million in less than amonth. Antonio Guterres, the UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees,said the UN agency as of Tuesdayhad registered 936,000Syrians across the Middle Eastand North Africa, nearly 30 times

as many people as April last year.The UN humanitarian chief

has warned that the growing num-ber of Syrians fleeing the coun-try’s conflict is outstrippingthe international community’sability to help. Valerie Amos toldreporters after briefing the SecurityCouncil that “this is a crisis that iscompletely stretching our capac-ity”. She said she is extremely con-cerned about the rising cost, notingthat the UN has received only$200m of the more than $1.5bnpledged for Syria at a January 30donor’s conference in Kuwait.

The $1.5bn was supposed tocover humanitarian needs inSyria for six months but that pro-jection, from the end of the year,is already out of date, she added.

ROMEaGeNCIeS

Pope Benedict XVI metwith cardinals from around

the world in his final hoursas leader of 1.1 billion

Catholics, and promised“unconditional reverence

and obedience’’ to his successor.

Benedict urged hiscardinals on Thursday

to work in unity sothat the College of

Cardinals is “likean orchestra’’where

“agreement and harmony’’ canbe reached -a clear message tothe conclave that will pick thenext pope.He said he would pray for thecardinals in coming days and weeks as they choose his successor.An estimated 100 cardinals werepresent at the private meeting,Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennanreported from Rome.The 85-year-old German-bornpope is the first pontiff to resignsince the Middle Ages.Benedict stunned the worldwhen he announced hismomentous decision in a

surprise speech in Latin onFebruary 11, saying he no longerhad the “strength of mind andbody” to carry on in a fast-changing modern world.“I took this step in fullawareness of its gravity andnovelty but with profoundserenity of spirit,” the pope tolda cheering crowd of150,000 pilgrims in St Peter’sSquare in his final publicfarewell on Wednesday.The theologian pope - a shyacademic whose papacy hasbeen overshadowedby infighting within the RomanCatholic Church and a sex abuse

scandal - said his eight-yearpontificate had seen “sunnydays” and “stormy waters” butadded: “I never felt alone”.According to Al Jazeera’sBrennan, the retiring pope willbe flown by an airforcehelicopter to Castel Gandolfo,the papal’s summer residence atabout 5:00pm local time.His last public appearance willbe a short greeting to residentsand well-wishers at CastelGandolfo in the late afternoonafter his 15-minutehelicopter flight from theVatican.The Vatican has said that the

moment the pope’s powersofficially expire at 19:00GMT, or at 8pm, the ex-pontiff will officially beknown by the new title of“Roman Pontiff Emeritus”although he will still beaddressed as “Your Holiness”.He will also keep his papal nameof “Benedict XVI” and will notbe referred to his originalname Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.Between Benedict’s resignationand the election of the nextpope, the cardinal, referred to asthe “Chamberlain”, Italy’sTarcisio Bertone, will run theday-to-day affairs of the church.

Benedict XVi spends final day as pope

BAGHDADaGeNCIeS

Iraq’s prime minister has warned that a vic-tory for rebels in the Syrian civil war willcreate a new extremist haven and desta-bilise the wider Middle East, sparking asectarian war in his own country, a civil warin Lebanon and a division in Jordan.

Nouri al-Maliki stopped short of voic-ing outright support for Syrian PresidentBashar Assad’s embattled regime. But hiscomments in a wide-ranging interview withThe Associated Press on Wednesdaymarked one of his strongest warnings

yet about the turmoil that the collapse of theSyrian government could create. “If theworld does not agree to support a peacefulsolution through dialogue ... then I see nolight at the end of the tunnel,’’ al-Malikisaid. “Neither the opposition nor the regimecan finish each other off,” he continued.“The most dangerous thing in this processis that if the opposition is victorious, therewill be a civil war in Lebanon, divisionsin Jordan and a sectarian war in Iraq.”

Iraq has tried to maintain a neutralstance toward the civil war in Syria, say-ing that the aspirations of the Syrian peo-ple should be met through peaceful

means. Washington has criticised Bagh-dad, however, for doing too little tostop flights suspected of carrying Iranianarms to Syria from transiting Iraqi air-space. Al-Maliki emphatically deniedaiding the arms transfers: “Not tothe regime and not to the opposition. Noweapon is being transferredthrough Iraqi skies, territories or wa-ters,’’ he said. The Iraqi leader’s com-ments come as his government confrontsgrowing tensions of its own between theShia majority and an increasinglyrestive Sunni minority nearly a decadeafter the US-led invasion of Iraq.

thailand andrebels agree topeace talksBANgKOK: Thailand’s government has

agreed to start talks with a major

Muslim rebel group, marking a

breakthrough in efforts to end a

worsening conflict in the country’s

south that has claimed more

than 5,000 lives since 2004. The

agreement was signed in Kuala Lumpur

on Thursday between representatives

of the Thai government and the

National Revolution Front (BRN) rebels,

ahead of talks between Thai Prime

Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her

Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak.

Yingluck was to meet later in the day

her host, Malaysian prime minister, for

annual talks set to include the nine-

year unrest and the possibility of

Malaysia hosting future Thai

negotiations with the rebels. “God-

willing, we’ll do our best to solve the

problem,” Hassan Tain, a Malaysian-

based representative of the rebel

group, said. “We will tell our people to

work together to solve the problem.”

BRN is one of several shadowy groups

blamed for the unrest in Thailand. It

remains to be seen whether other

groups will fall in line. aGeNCIeS

Bulgaria to holdearly electionssOFiA: Bulgaria will hold an

early election on May 12, Rosen

Plevneliev, the country’s president has

said, as the government seeks a way

out of a political crisis that could

undermine the Balkan country’s

economic stability. The announcement

on Thursday came after Prime Minister

Boiko Borisov resigned last week

following nationwide protests against

high electricity prices, and plans to cut

prices and revoke the distribution

licence of Czech utility CEZ, which

could deter other investors. The

European Union’s poorest country has

kept its debt and deficit low to

maintain confidence in a currency

pegged to the euro, introduced in 1997

after mass protests

against hyperinflation toppled a leftist

government. But demonstrations by

tens of thousands of Bulgarians

have already forced some concessions,

and whoever wins the election will be

under considerable pressure to spend

and raise living standards that are less

than half the EU average. “I believe

that the necessary key changes in the

laws should be decided by a new

parliament. The decision is to hold

elections,” Plevneliev told a packed

session of parliament. The average

wage in the country is just 400 euros a

month and pension less than half that.

Electricity prices - although among the

EU’s lowest - therefore bite deep,

particularly in winter when many

people use it to heat their homes. All

major Bulgarian parties have said they

do not want to form a government in

the current parliament. aGeNCIeS

rome summit pledges helpto syrian opposition

‘Higher cancer

risks’ after

fukushima crisisTOKOYOaGeNCIeS

People living in areas contaminated most byradioactive material released by theFukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster two yearsago in Japan have a higher risk of developingcancer over their lifetime, the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO) has said. The UNagency released a 200-page report on Thurs-day saying it “estimates that the lifetime riskfor some cancers may be somewhat ele-vated above base-line rates in certain age andsex groups that were in the areas most af-fected”. A 9.0 magnitude earthquake andtsunami on March 11, 2011, killed nearly19,000 people and devastated the Daiichi nu-clear plant, triggering meltdowns and spew-ing radiation. At least 160,000 people wereforced to flee their homes. “A breakdown ofdata, based on age, gender and proximityto the plant, does show a higher cancer riskfor those located in the most contaminatedparts,” Maria Neira, WHO director for publichealth and environment, said in a statement.In the most contaminated area, the WHO es-timated that there was a 70 percent higherrisk of females exposed as infants developingthyroid cancer over their lifetime. The thy-roid is the most exposed organ as radioactiveiodine concentrates there and children aredeemed especially vulnerable. The reportconcluded that for the general population in-side Japan, the predicted health risks werelow, but that one-third of emergency workerswere estimated to have increased risk. Butthere was no discernible increase in healthrisks expected outside Japan, the WHO saidin the report, which was based on a compre-hensive assessment by international experts.

iraq PM warns of Syria crisis spillover

Cairo: An Egyptian protester Mohamed

Atyan, 68, sits outside his tent in Tahrir

Square in a protest against the country’s

president, Mohamed Morsi on Thursday.

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:26 AM Page 7

neWSNFriday, 1 March, 2013

08 PPP will support any step taken to

eliminate terrorism from country.— Makhdoom Amin Fahim

WASHINGTONONlINe

ACongressional resolutionhas been introduced inthe US House of Repre-sentatives to recognise asan American hero the

Pakistani doctor who helped CIA traceOsama bin Laden.

Dr Shakil Afridi was arrested by Pak-istan government three weeks afterLaden was killed in the US raid for ac-cessing the al Qaeda leader’s compoundand helping the US identify who washiding in Abbottabad.

The resolution also seeks his releasefrom the jail. Dana Rohrabacher, con-

gressman from California, along withnine other congressmen introduced theresolution seeking to recognise Afridi asan American hero and that he be imme-diately released from custody by Pak-istan.

Rohrabacher is chairman of theHouse Foreign Affairs Subcommittee onEurope, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.

“All Americans owe Dr Afridi a grat-itude for what he did to help us findOsama Bin Laden and bring him to jus-tice. He and his family have paid a terri-ble price at the hands of our so-calledallies, the Pakistani government,”Rohrabacher said in a statement.

“We cannot continue to turn our backon Dr Afridi. He risked his life to provide

the intel our forces needed to locate andeliminate Osama bin Laden and he nowlanguishes in a Pakistani prison servinga 33-year sentence,” Rohrabacher said.

The congressman said Afridi and hisfamily had been tortured and he was stillin a desperate situation.

“It behoves us as Americans to statein a unified voice to his Pakistani cap-tors, Dr Afridi should be freed,”Rohrabacher said.

At Sunday’s Academy Awards cere-mony two stars of the feature film “ZeroDark Thirty,” also spoke out aboutAfridi’s plight. Jessica Chastain said “[it]breaks my heart he’s still in prison,” andJason Clarke said “it’s wrong that he’sbeing held.

‘traitor to Pakistan’ dr shakilAfridi is an American Hero!

WASHINGTONONlINe

As Chuck Hagel took over as US Pres-ident Barack Obama’s new defencesecretary amid a controversy over hiscomments on India’s role inAfghanistan, Pentagon – the US de-fence department headquarters – onThursday said Hagel will work tostrengthen ties with India.

Hagel’s strong commitment to fos-tering a close defence relationship wasreported on Wednesday by WashingtonFree Beacon, the rightwing onlinenewspaper that had disclosed a video-recording of a speech Hagel made in2011 about Indian aid to Afghanistan.

“Secretary Hagel is strongly com-mitted to the US strategic partnershipwith India and to fostering an evencloser defence relationship with Indiathat builds upon the work of Secretary(Leon) Panetta, Deputy Secretary(Ashton) Carter, and their Indian coun-terparts,” Free Beacon quoted Penta-gon spokesman George Little assaying. “Secretary Hagel looks for-ward to working closely with Indiannational security and defence offi-cials,” Little told the newspaper thathad dug out the controversial com-ments during Hagel’s contentious con-firmation hearings with his formerRepublicans attacking him for his po-sitions on Israel and Iran.

In his previously unreleased2011speech, Hagel had said, “India forsome time has always usedAfghanistan as a second front andIndia has over the years financed prob-lems for Pakistan on that side of theborder.” “And you can carry that intomany dimensions, the point being(that) the tense, fragmented relation-ship between Pakistan and Afghanistanhas been there for many, many years.”

The remarks raised a furore in NewDelhi. However, in a calibrated response

to the Free Beacon, the India embassysaid Hagel’s 2011 remarks were notgrounded in “reality”. “Such com-ments attributed to Sen Hagel,who has been a long-stand-ing friend of India and aprominent votary of closeIndia-US relations, are contraryto the reality of India’s un-bounded dedication to the wel-fare of the Afghan people,” theembassy spokesman said in anemail to the newspaper. “India’scommitment to a peaceful, sta-ble, and prosperous Afghanistanis unwavering, and this is re-flected in our significant assis-tance to Afghanistan in developingits economy, infrastructure, and in-stitutional capacities,” he said. “Ouropposition to terrorism and its safehavens in our neighborhood is firmand unshakeable.” The existence ofthe video of Hagel’s speech atCameron University in Oklahoma wasdisclosed by the online newspaperhours before the decorated Vietnamveteran was confirmed by the Senateafter weeks of severe criticismfrom former Republicancolleagues.

hagel committed to strongindia-US ties: Pentagon

pentAgonSpokeSMAn SAySdefence SecretAryto foSter cloSerdefencerelAtionShip withindiA

sC to resumeHeAriNg giLANi’sreview PetitioNoN mArCH 6

IsLaMabad: The Supreme Court of

Pakistan will resume hearing March 6 in

a petition submitted by former prime

minister Yousaf Raza Gilani against his

disqualification. A three-member bench

of the apex court led by Chief Justice

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would

hear the case. In April last year, a

seven-member bench of the supreme

court headed by Justice Asif Saeed

Khosa had handed out a symbolic

punishment to then prime minister

Gilani. Later, a three member bench of

the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry upheld

the court’s earlier decision and Gilani

was removed from office, making him

the first ever chief executive to be

removed for committing contempt. INP

kAsuri wiNs PtiPoLLs iN kAsurKAsUr: Former foreign minister

Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri won the intra-

party elections of the Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Insaf in Kasur. The party

elections were held at Paradise hotel

where a large number of voters cast

their votes in favour of their respective

candidates. Nadeem Haroon Rasheed

Khan was elected PTI district president

while Rana Muhammad Aslam won the

slot of general secretary. The candidates

who won different slots in all four tehsils

belonged to the Kasuri Group. Another

former minister Sardar Assef Ali claimed

that there had been rigging in the

elections. Staff rePOrt

WASHINGTONONlINe

Addressing the threats due toimprovised explosive devices(IED) to NATO forces, the UShas asked Pakistan to do moreto stop the flow of calciumammonium nitrate (CAN) intoAfghanistan.

The fertiliser, a precursorof IEDs, is said to be respon-sible for the largest number ofUS casualties in Afghanistan.

“For us working to savethe lives of our forces inAfghanistan by addressing thethreats of IEDs has been andcontinues to be a critical pri-ority for us in our discussionswith Pakistan. We’ve beenclear that Pakistan, both thegovernment and industry,must do more to prevent theflow of calcium ammoniumnitrate into Afghanistan,”Patrick Ventrell, the State De-partment spokesperson toldreporters.

Acknowledging that therehas been some recent progressgreater cooperation between acompany in Pakistan that pro-duces CAN and greater coop-eration between the US andPakistan in this regard, he saidthis is something that the UShas been working on for sometime.

“We’d like to see somefurther concrete action,” Ven-trell said.

“This has been a top prior-ity for us. We’ve been clearthat Pakistan must do more.We’ve seen some initialprogress. It is somethingthat’s really at the top of ouragenda,” he said.

As we got our workinggroups back up and going asour relationship got back ontrack, one of the top things,one of the top working groupswe got going again was thisIED working group. So we’vemade some progress,” thespokesman said.

US urges Pak tostop nitrate flowinto Afghanistan

FAisALABAD: Lawyers sit at their protest camp at Zila Chowk as their demonstration for a separate high court bench in the city continued on Thursday. INP

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:26 AM Page 8

neWS N

09

Friday, 1 March, 2013

Unresolved Indo-Pak issues

hampering Kashmir growth. — IHK

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah

ISLAMABADNNI

AT least 352 people werekilled and 699 were in-jured in 27 bomb blaststhat ripped through vari-ous areas across Pakistan

during the first two months of the currentyear.

According to official figures, in Janu-ary, 16 blasts which took place in differentparts of the country caused 199 casualtiesand left 380 wounded while in the monthof February 11 explosions took placekilling 153 and injuring another 319.

The worst two of these attacks whichoccurred in the country’s southwesternprovincial capital of Quetta, targeted areasdominated by Hazaras causing a huge lossof life and property.

The first attack was carried out on Jan-uary 10 when twin blasts, a suicide attack

followed by a car-bomb blast, targeted asnooker club in Quetta killing at least 106people, including nine policemen and 20rescue workers.

The second worst incident took placeon February 16 when a suicide bomber ex-ploded his water-tanker-bomb carryingsome 1,000 kg of explosives in a busyvegetable market of the city and killed 89besides injuring more than 170 people.

In another terrorist attack on February2, at least 28 people were killed and 40were injured when a suicide bomber ex-ploded his jacket in front of a mosquewhen people were leaving after offeringFriday prayers in Hangu district.

These three attacks targeted Shias andspread panic among the masses triggeringcountrywide protests against the attacks.

Another attack killed 31 people whena remote-controlled bomb rocked apreaching centre of Sunni Muslims inMingora town of Swat district on January

10.According to the official statistics, the

terrorists carried out 27 bomb attacks at 26targets, killing 311 civilians as well as 22personnel from security forces and 19 po-licemen. Of a total 699 injured, 654 werecivilians.

Pakistan Army’s 21 servicemen and19 policemen lost their lives while oneFrontier Constabulary personnel waskilled in the attacks.

Hours before the snooker club attackon January 10, a powerful bomb explosiontargeting a security checkpost at Quetta’sbusy Bacha Khan Chowk. Twelve peoplewere killed while another 50 were injuredin the attack.

Regarding the number of attacks, theTribal Areas were the worst hit with ninebomb attacks, followed by KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.

The heavily-populated easternprovince of Punjab remained safe as there

was no incident of terrorism occurred inthis time period.

Balochistan suffered the highest num-ber of casualties, 212 killed and around370 were injured in five blasts alone.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took the secondspot with 72 casualties and 150 injured inseven bomb attacks.

In Sindh, 22 people were killed and 84injured in six low-intensity bomb blasts.

Of the total 27 explosions, 20 blastswere remote-controlled while five weresuicide attacks followed by one toy bomband one landmine blast.

After both the snooker club and veg-etable market incidents, thousands of pro-testers belonging to the Shia communityrefused to bury the bodies and held sit-insagainst the massacres across the country,putting their 19 demands forward includ-ing the dissolution of the provincial gov-ernment of Balochistan and a promptarmed action against those responsible.

352 killed in 27 bomb blastsacross Pakistan in 2 months

LAHOREONlINe

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid(PML-Q) head ChaudhryShujaat Hussain has again beenelected the president of the partyunopposed. According to resultsof the intra-party elections heldby the PML-Q, MushahidHussain Syed was reelectedsecretary general unopposed,while Pervaiz Elahi was electedpresident of the Punjab wing ofthe party. Intra-party polls arebeing conducted in variousparties since the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP)has made them mandatory forparties who wanted to contest inthe upcoming elections. Shujaathas held the post since theestablishment of the party.

LAHORE: Press Information Department Lahore Director

General Ijaz Hussain in a group photo with Information Group

probationrs of 40th CTP on Thursday.

Customs drug CeLLAims At figHtiNgNArCotiCs smuggLiNgIsLaMabad: At the request of the

Pakistani government, specifically the

Pakistani Customs Drug Enforcement Cell,

Karachi, the US Department of Defence is

funding the construction of a “Customs

Tactical Command and Operations Center”

based at Karachi airport. “Our joint goal is

to support the fight against narcotics

smuggling,” says a press statement issued

by the US Embassy on Thursday. “This

project, in accordance with the

Government of Pakistan’s requested

specifications, consists of the design and

construction of two new buildings for the

Pakistani Customs’ Drug Enforcement

Cell: 1) an administrative building that

will serve as an operations center for

Pakistani Customs personnel to exchange

information concerning drug smuggling

activity and 2) six guard posts to help

screen airport cargo at the airport tarmac

entrance gates,” it read further. NNI

NeeLum vALLeydC dies iNLANd sLidiNg MuZaffarabad: Neelum Deputy

Commissioner Raja Saqib Muneer on

Thursday fell victim to land sliding while

he was on his way to the valley and died

on the spot. His body was handed over to

the bereaved family after post-mortem.

Police officials, army officers, members of

the PML-N, and other important

personalities attended his funeral held at

the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. Muneer’s

driver, Iqbal Shah and the gunman who

accompanied him both narrowly escaped

the accident. ONlINe

BoiLer exPLosioNkiLLs 4 LABourersiN fAisALABAdfaIsaLabad: At least four labourers

were killed when a boiler in a textile

factory exploded in Faisalabad on

Thursday. According to details, the boiler,

in a textile factory in the congested

Mansoorabad area of Faisalabad, exploded,

killing the four and injuring several others.

The explosion was so severe that the roof

of the factory was blown away while a

portion of the building also caught fire. INP

10 miLitANts kiLLediN kHyBer, orAkZAiAirstrikesHanGu: At least 10 suspected militants

were killed when army jets pounded

militant hideouts in the northwestern

tribal regions of Orakzai and Khyber on

Thursday. The jets pounded three militant

hideouts in Khyber Agency, killing five

terrorists. Meanwhile, security forces in

Orakzai destroyed two hideouts in the

area, killing five militants. ONlINe

miLitANts BLowuP 4 sCHooLs iNmoHmANd AgeNCyMOHMand aGenCy: Unidentified men

blew up four schools in Mohmand Agency

on Thursday. Sources said the militants had

destroyed two primary and two middle

schools in Safi tehsil of the agency by

planting explosives. “Fortunately no

casualty occurred in the incidents,” they

said. The schools include Government

Primary School Sharabkor, Government

Middle School Kamalkhel, Middle School

Kheir Rehman and Government Primary

School Khabib Zai. ONlINe

Shujaat elected PML-Qpresident unopposed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Today’s photojournalist Murtaza Ali poses for

a photograph with Dutch Ambassador Gajus Scheltema after

winning the third place in photography competition ‘Discovering the

Netherlands in Pakistan’. The first prize was given to Anna Maria

Alliende while Farah Khan bagged the second position. ONlINe

FAisALABAD: The scene of the damage following an explosion caused by a boiler at a textile factory late on Wednesday night. Four people were killed in the incident. INP

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:26 AM Page 9

COMMenT

CFriday, 1 March, 2013

10Sometimes when people are under stress,

they hate to think, and it's the time when

they most need to think. –William J Clinton

WHILE the PPP cheerlead-ers have yet to get rid oftheir rose tinted glassesthose lower down arehaving second thoughts

about the party’s electoral prospects. The PPProse to power riding the sympathy wave afterthe killing of its chairperson Benazir Bhuttoin 1988. The PPP however failed to emergeas a single majority party at the centre or inany province other than Sindh. It has ruled forfull five years and cannot complain that itfailed to fulfill its election electoral promisesbecause, like its earlier stints in power in the1990s, its tenure was yet again cut short.

The PPP rule has been characterized byhigh inflation, unemployment and power-cum-gas shortages that afflicted millions lead-ing to innumerable protests. Among thecolossal failures of the party was Karachi,where target killings continued withoutrespite throughout its tenure. Another failurehas been Balochistan, which was marred bymisrule. Here hundreds of forced disappear-ances took place year after year, tortured bod-ies of the youth continued to be dumped onthe roadside and the Hazara Shia communitywas subjected to ethnic cleansing. The PPPgovernment meanwhile watched all this with-out doing anything to stop it. The PPP rulewas plagued with reports of financial scamsat the highest level. During the period, thePPP offered little to the common man. Whileit won the recent by-elections held in Sindh,the voter turnout was low, indicating a reduc-tion in enthusiasm about the party in its tradi-tional stronghold. The PPP will face thenegative fallout of incumbency in 2013 elec-tions. The party is already feeling the heat.

It is unusual for desertions to take placein a party in power at the centre and threeprovinces. In Sindh which is treated like afief by the PPP, an MPA has resigned to jointhe PML-F weeks before the dismissal of as-semblies. Earlier in the Punjab nine partyMPAs had resigned, four of them from theSeraiki belt. The PPP had hopes that thepromise of a Seraiki province would increase

its popularity manifold in the region. This isnot exactly what was being expected.

With the elections drawing near, most ofPPP’s old allies have decided to go their ownway. Some have already joined hands withthe opposition. The policy of reconciliationwith all helped the PPP to retain power. It hasnow lost steam. The ANP, PML-F and NPPabandoned the coalition in Sindh onlymonths back. The ANP has now returned tothe fold after the scrapping of the local bodieslaw by the PPP which had earlier enacted it.After remaining a part of the PPP coalitionfor five year the PML-F and NPP have joinedhands with PML-N while they are also incontact with the Sindhi nationalists, JUI-F,Sunni Tehrik and JI to jointly challenge thePPP in Sindh. This has provided an opportu-nity to Nawaz Sharif to establish a footholdin the province. Despite the high hopes on thepart of Pir Pagara, the alliance may not beable to make a major dent in interior Sindhbut there is a likelihood of the PPP losingsome of the seats instead of increasing them.

Despite attempts by Zardari, the centralleadership of ANP is no more interested in al-liance or seat adjustment with PPP in KP. TheANP president, Asfandyar Wali Khan, hassaid that if there was one political party hewould not get into an electoral alliance with,it was the PPP. In case the MQM and PPP areseen to be collaboratingduring the elections, theSindh chapter of theANP unhappy with whatit considers an underrepresentation of thePushtuns in Sindh As-sembly may align withthe new anti-PPP unitedfront in the province.

While it sits on theopposition benches inthe Sindh Assembly, theMQM is widely consid-ered a PPP ally. What re-mains to be seen is theperformance of the partyin Karachi this time.There is a likelihood of the MQM losingsome of its seats due to the presence of a neu-tral Election Commission and caretaker setup. The party is also facing an internal tur-moil. In case the ANP decides to join handswith the Pagara-Nawaz front, the new con-glomeration of forces could make a dent inwhat the MQM treats as its stronghold. Evenif the PPP forms a government in Sindh, itwill have to cope with a much stronger oppo-sition in the provincial assembly.

The only sure ally the PPP is left with isthe defection-prone PML-Q. The party isnow a shadow of what it was in 2008. Manyin the PPP itself are not sure if this particular

ally is an asset or a liability, particularly inPunjab. The party has alternately relied onthe PML-Q and Manzur Wattoo but failed tomake any headway. The joint candidates putup by the two parties suffered defeat in De-cember by-elections. It may not be any dif-ferent during the forthcoming elections. ThePML-Q’s chapters in Sindh and KP are al-ready depleted. In Balochistan numerous in-fluential figures who joined what wasconsidered in 2008 the King’s Party on theprodding of the agencies are now waiting forfresh guidance from their patrons.

The PPP is expected to get fewer seatsthis time than in 2008. Does the party have achance to form its government, then? Thereseems to be no likelihood of the party’s sup-port shrinking to the 1997 level when it couldonly win 18 National Assembly seats. De-spite its expected bad electoral performancedue to its unconcern for the lot of the com-mon man, the party still has a reservoir ofdiehard supporters, particularly in the ruralSindh. What is more, the PML-N and the PTIwith their bias for the extremists have littleappeal among a considerable section of thepopulation. Both factors favour the PPP.

In 2008, Zardari, who is a past master atrealpolitik, turned out to be a better bridgebuilder with other parties than Nawaz Sharif.However, in case the PPP fails to emerge as

the largest single party,Zadari will be deprivedof the advantage he hadthen. Any party with thelargest seats in the NAwill be in a better posi-tion to form a coalition.Zardari will have tocompete with Nawazand perhaps Imran Khanwhen the exercise beginssoon after the elections.Nawaz has already gotrid of the scruples he hadin 2008 when he was notwilling to touch thePML-Q with JUI-F andeven the MQM with a a

bargepole. He is now as unprincipled in mat-ters of choosing allies as anyone else. ImranKhan remains choosy about alliances. Howlong he sticks to the policy remains to be seen.What will matter in the hung parliament thecountry is likely to have is the ability of a partyto forge alliances combined with a basic min-imum of votes that it must get if it has to playthe role of a negotiator. What many willkeenly watch is, whether the PPP is able toemerge as a significant parliamentary forcethat other are willing to listen to.

The writer is a former academic and apolitical analyst.

Arif NizamiEditor

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

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287273 Fax: 051-2850505Web:www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

now to the implementation of ip gas pipelinePakistan crosses the rubicon

PPP’s dwindlingfortunes

A democratic tradition

PAKISTAN Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) is a party that is normally associatedwith youth and new ideas. From its slogans of clean politics to findingthe candidates that are dubbed as electables, party has at least proven

to be steadfast in introducing relatively transparent and democratic methodsof politics. One such venture that it undertook was holding the intra-partyelections. While the practice is nothing new, the way it has been undertakenis surely something that other parties should aspire to, if not follow it.

The PTI imported an electronic system that pegged national identity cardnumber of every one of its members to their cell phone numbers, and allowedthem to cast their votes over the phone, landline, or through SMS, besidesphysical polling booths at places. The whole exercise was largely a success,there were some situations that were unexpected, though this being a new systemof polls, they were not that unexpected. What little hassle the voters had to facecame from logistics. Landline and cell phones were jammed either intentionallyor unintentionally. Moreover, some other technical issues were also witnessed,like handling ballot boxes, marking a vote by ticking an option instead of puttinga stamp over a candidate’s name, and too many candidates for one post at places,leading many to render their votes useless by marking against two candidates.

This open and transparent exercise also allowed some to succeed who wouldnever have thought of it. A farmer won against a landlord in Attock district whilea tailor and snack vendor were elected in Kohat. This in no way represents theentire picture though as in many areas people with influence still managed tooverrun the ones with limited resources or even those who had worked for theparty ever since its inception. But that is the virtue of democracy; everyone hasan equal chance. Another lesson that this exercise teaches the political class is thatthere are bound to be kinks in every plan, but instead of being impatient and callingdemocracy a failed system, they must give it time to evolve and iron out its kinks.

As PTI took its time in holding its first ever intra-party elections, it lostthe momentum it had gained by the end of 2011, right after its two mammothpolitical gatherings at Lahore and Karachi. However, as both PPP and PML-N haven’t done anything like that, the former silently ignoring the issue whilethe latter saying that they prefer to select candidates instead of electing themand that they cannot afford to give leadership to any John Doe, what PTI hasachieved deserves kudos, and a follow up by other parties.

THE pressures have not worked. The gas deal with Iran has been signed.To assure that the agreement would be fully implemented, PresidentZardari has visited Tehran. Pakistan facing the energy crunch had no

option but to go ahead with the import of gas from Iran because it could notwait any longer. The Iranian gas could be brought to Pakistan within twentytwo months addressing the country’s power problem at the earliest. Part ofthe imported gas will be consumed by power plants to generate around 4,000megawatts of electricity. What is needed now is to efficiently implement theproject. The first phase of the pipeline construction inside Pakistan would befinanced by Iran. This will however be completed in a few months. The nextgovernment will have to arrange $1 billion to complete the project. By thetime the gas is delivered the energy needs of the country would have furtherincreased. Pakistan should therefore remain committed to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project also. For this it shouldwork in tandem with Washington and Kabul to improve the security situationin Afghanistan which is a pre-requisite for implementation of the project.

Out of the box solutions need to be evolved to ensure the safety of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline which will traverse hundreds of kilometers of insurgencyhit Balochistan. To settle matters with those on the mountains now becomesPakistan’s economic need also. For this talks should be the first priority. On theirsuccess hinges not only the security of the pipeline but also that of the proposedIran-financed oil refinery and the traffic from and to the deep sea port when itbecomes fully functional. The Balochistan issue needs to be resolved politically.The first step should be to ensure free and fair elections in the province withoutany interference from the ubiquitous agencies. The second step should be theempowerment of the popularly elected government in the province to hold talkswith the Baloch rebels. If the establishment has no objection to talks with theTTP, there should be no problem talking to the Baloch rebels either.

The Pak-Iran agreement which was brokered despite strong opposition fromthe US is yet another indicator of the diminishing control of the super power. TheUS should realize that there is unanimity among all political parties on the needfor the pipeline. There is also a consensus over Pakistan maintaining friendlyrelations with Washington while giving priority to its national interests. Now thatPakistan is going to build the pipeline, India too might in the days to come like tojoin in. Pakistan should welcome the move whenever it is made. Pakistan wouldbe more secure and prosperous with more stake holders in regional cooperation.

better late than never

will it remain a significant parliamentary force?

azIz-ud-dIN ahmad

waziristan: challenges andsolutionMalala Yusufzai, a young girl from Swat, was attacked by theTaliban of Fazlullah group from across the border in Nuristan,Afghanistan. This also led to pressure on Pakistan to undertakeoperations in North Waziristan. But this is a serious matter;operations are undertaken in order to bring relief. Any operationhas to be undertaken after gathering reliable intelligence, withable assistance of local population and keeping in mind the tribaltraditions. Secondly, there has to be a mechanism that ensurestimely replacement by a pro-active civil dispensation as andwhen the army vacates the area. Army is ever since managing thecivilian affairs as the federal and provincial governments areunable to take the charge. The political administrations can’tmove without army’s escort. This did not happen even in worstoperations during the British Raj.

Challenges for army redouble as a large number of troopsdeployed on eastern front have been move to western border, thusleaving the defence against India unbalanced. This situation hasbeen exploited by neighbouring countries and an invisible foreignhand seems to be working behind fuelling insurgency in thetroubled areas of FATA as well as Balochistan. Vacation of postsby NATO-ISAF forces on the other side of the border leaves the

Durand Line vulnerable for Pakistan. This indicates towards theplot to keep Pakistan Army engaged on its western borders, sothat continued engagement weakens the armed forces fromwithin. So Pakistan has more at stake than what seems at the facevalue. The human angle has never been given any priority.People of FATA, who are loyal to Pakistan, are fed up ofterrorism.

The situation demands a strategy to be made afresh involvinglocals, all political parties and stakeholders, with an aim to winover the hearts and minds. Army must be relieved of the localadministration burden. It can be redeployed in DI Khan.Development work must start with the cooperation of local tribes.Politically elected representatives and civil society organisationsmust rally people and show their presence by sharing their griefand treating them with dignity. Political parties must establishoffices inside North and South Waziristan. Political governmentshould hold negotiations with the tribes to redefine socialcontracts. No joint NATO-Pak Operations should be conducted.We should not overstretch army’s deployment in FATA and Swat.Political activities must be allowed in FATA, elections must beheld across the tribal area, committees be formed to write a newsocial contract, the FCR needs to be re-written, FATA be declareda separate province, and development work be started a massivepace to bring the tribal people to mainstream.

LT COL (retd) MUHAMMAD SHAHBAZ THUTTALLahore

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusivelyEditor’s mail

There is a likelihood ofthe MQM losing someof its seats due to thepresence of a neutralElection Commissionand caretaker set up.

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COMMenT CFriday, 1 March, 2013

11I would never die for my

beliefs because I might be

wrong. –Bertrand Russell

PAK Zoo was carved out of Hind Zoo in1947, when the imperialistic Britishzoo-owners got bored of toying with theinhabiting animals, and decided to ab-

scond from animal parks all over the world. Forthe decade or so leading up to the British sellingHind Zoo, it was clear that the zoo’s ownershipwould be returned to the locals, but the dynamicsof the final deal weren’t quite as unambiguous.After much deliberation and debate, the future ofHind Zoo hinged over the fate of one animal, anelephant named Malsi.

Malsi was born in Saudi Arabia, what seemslike ages ago, and was brought to the subcontinentby Arab warriors, who used him to destroy any re-sistance that they faced in their long journey.Malsi encouraged their imperialistic cravings –among other fetishes – as he stampeded over any-one who denounced the Arabs or didn’t accept theelephant as the supreme authority. After reachingthe subcontinent, Malsi first threatened to ‘Ara-banise’ Hind, but when that didn’t materialise hefound acquiescing followers who ended up creat-ing a whole new zoo for Malsi.

Despite being bestial, perilous and ferocious,Malsi mustered a massive fan following after hisarrival in the region. His fans were extremelyloyal and made sure – some inadvertently, othersintentionally – that Malsi was always depicted asa humble and peaceful creature, which in turn en-sured that the aficionados grew in numbers. It wasbelieved that Malsi wouldn’t get proper coveragein Hind because of the presence of other star ani-mals, and hence a struggling lawyer named A MHannij, taking inspiration from an incoherent poetLabqi, decided to give his own career a massiveboost by leading the movement for a separate zoowhere Malsi would hog the limelight. Butbizarrely, following Pak Zoo’s creation, Hannijaddressed the zoo’s management committee onAugust 11, 1947 announcing how everyone in Pakwas free to follow any animal they wanted, muchto the bemusement of the committee. 65 years

down the line, Hannij’s summersault is still beingdebated as zoo commentators continue to mullover Pak Zoo’s raison d’etre.

Regardless of what the founding fathers in-tended, Malsi remains the star of the show in PakZoo. His dangerous self is preserved under the pre-tentious shroud of tranquility as he continues tolive in a gargantuan room, designed exclusively tocater to his needs, with other inhabitants beingsidelined in crammed cages. Malsi is as popular asever, and is the centre of just about everything as-sociated with Pak. Throughout the past 65 yearsor so Malsi has been forced into matters that havegot nothing to do with him, and as a result Pak Zoois taking a nosedive into crisis upon crisis with theMalsi obsession precipitously accelerating. Andas the obsession escalates, what no one is realisingis that there is no bigger predicament facing Pakthan Malsi – the reason be-hind the zoo’s inception.

From Pak Zoo’s Subjec-tive Solution in 1949 to1973’s Zoo License Act,Malsi has always been thrustupon the way the zoo wouldbe governed. When you keepa precarious monster, nourishit, make it the be-all end-allof your foundation and thenpretend that it’s passive andtranquil, you’re obviouslylaying the groundwork foreventually being eaten up bythe beast. And that is pre-cisely what Malsi has beendoing, as we turn a blind eyeto the elephant in the room.

Pak Zoo has become ahaunted place, with inexpli-cable occurrences becominga norm in Malsi’s room.There are mysterious killings, murders, rapes, in-cidents of violence and bloodshed all over theplace, and all in the room belonging to Malsi – theanimal of peace. In October last year, Alalam, a15-year-old school girl was attacked; the previousyear a politician named Namlas Reesat washunted down; the same year, Pak’s representativefor other animals, Zabhahs, was killed, and theseare just a few high profile cases among incidentsof brutality that occur every single day in the zoo.And despite all evidence pointing towards Malsias the culprit – who would readily accept theblame if anyone bothered checking– the zoo au-thorities find someone else to point fingers at andignore the elephant in the room.

Another mindboggling reality about Malsi’s vi-ciousness is that he doesn’t even spare his own fol-lowers. The thing is, Malsi’s followers are divided

into a plethora of groups and every one of themtakes Malsi’s help to butcher the rest. And so, Malsihas helped cement the discriminatory lines thatwere drawn by the Arabs to distinguish themselvesfrom the rest, and has created hostile divides amongits own followers as well. One can gauge the loy-alty of Malsi’s followers by the fact that despitebeing pulverised by the elephant they refuse toabandon their allegiance to Malsi. Perhaps it’s moreof a case of loyalty towards your own group, insome cases, more so than any diehard faithfulnesswith regards to the elephant, which has seen thepowerful sects massacre the rest through Malsi.

The Malsi apologists are an interesting creedas well, who despite being vociferous flag-bearersof the elephant’s superiority, never actually payhim a visit. Nevertheless they claim that they knowmore about Malsi, than those who interact with

him on a daily basis. Theapologists tow the “animal ofpeace” line, and conjure non-sensical counter-explanationsevery time Malsi does some-one in. These apologists are afunny lot, they raucouslycondemn Malsi’ victims andextol the elephant at the sametime. They highlight Hannij’sAugust 11 speech to claimthat Pak wasn’t created forMalsi and ignore the lawyer’sspeeches over the precedingdecade. They assert thateveryone should be allowedto follow the animals of theirchoice, and forget that if thatwere the case Malsi wouldnever have reached their zooin the first place. The apolo-gists paint a beautiful picturewhenever Malsi smiles, and

close their eyes when he gnashes his teeth.Pak has been feeding and grooming the ele-

phant for 65 years, and in turn paying heavily forthe ensuing destruction. The zoo has paid no re-gard to the animals that have inhabited it for cen-turies, and has completely destroyed its culturalessence to accommodate a foreign species. It isobvious that Pak can no longer carry Malsi’sweight; it is obvious that Pak can no longer affordbeing obliterated from the core; it is obvious thatPak can no longer bear Malsi’s violent antics; itis obvious that Pak cannot continue to ignore theelephant in the room; and it is extremely obviousthat for Pak Zoo to live on, Malsi must depart.

The writer is a financial journalist and acultural critic. Email:khulduneshahid@gmail.com, Twitter: @khuldune

elephant in the roomhe’s deadly when he gnashes his teeth

KuNwar KhulduNe ShahId

There are mysteriouskillings, murders,

rapes, incidents ofviolence and

bloodshed all overthe place, and all inthe room belongingto Malsi – the animal

of peace.

how they are the more guilty ones?

the curious case of rape apologists

WE, asPakista-nis, loveto justify

things. The more horrifican incident is, the moreimaginative the justifica-tions become. The ex-treme Right would justifysystematic targeting ofminorities by saying,“Well, Pakistan wasfounded for Muslimsonly, it was never meantto be a secular state”.Military takeovers arejustified with the notion that the weak democracy in Pakistan hasfailed and one needs strong leaders to rule difficult people.

Similarly, rape, in Pakistan, on the rare occasions that it is dis-cussed, is justified by, “the woman had it coming”. Or, the new hipphrase, “her parents should have taught her better”.

It is tragic that the rape and murder of the 11-year-old minorShahzadi has not invoked mass outrage, especially when the mem-ory of the brutal rape and murder of a young Indian girl across theborder is still fresh in our minds.

Little Shahzadi went to her tutor’s house one afternoon andnever returned. When her burnt body was discovered in the Indus-trial Area of the capital city, further sick details were revealed aboutthe couple that was behind the travesty.

Mehak Qaisar, a student of Mass Communication, in cahoots withher boyfriend invited the girl to her house for tuitions. When the childwent, her boyfriend, Ibrar, tried to force himself upon the child. In theensuing struggle, Ibrar broke the girl’s neck. The rapist, in a fit ofpanic, then stuffed the girl in a sack, smoothly drove past securitycheck posts in the city, took the unconscious girl to his house and de-cided to finish job. Attempting to rape a child was not bad enough forthe man. He had to finish the job, of course, by molesting an uncon-scious, helpless child with a broken neck. Upon getting whatever sickpleasure that he was seeking from the intercourse, he then strangledthe child, stuffed her body back in the sack, took her to the IndustrialArea and set fire to the body to remove the fingerprints.

When he was arrested a few days later, Ibrar and his girlfriend,confessed to several such systematic and planned rapes and mur-ders. One shockingly involved the daughter of a serving superin-tendent of police.

Ibrar justified his sick fantasies to Mehak by saying he had a‘type’ of AIDS that could only be cured through intercourse. I amunsure if Mehak had access to Google but any girl with a bit ofcommon sense would have looked it up first. Naturally, that meansthat it was not a problem of ignorance – she was a Mass Commu-nication student after all – it was two sick minds with twisted fan-tasies operating in an alliance they called love.

These are two individuals involved in several heinous crimes.There are hundreds of other such cases. This distinctly points tomany social problems in the country.

Instead of an outright condemnation of the murder and rape ofthe SP’s daughter by Ibrar and Mehak, I have heard an educatedindividual say, “She was associated with bad company, her parentsshould have taught her better”. This is the equivalent of saying,“women invite rape”. Who wants to be raped?

In the presence of a strong civic consciousness, not only wouldthis rape have been protested on a wide scale, pressure groupswould have called for proper affirmative action to curtail such in-cidents from ever happening again. But again, that requires the sub-ject of rape to no longer be a taboo. By sweeping horrific incidentslike these under the carpet, the problem is only exacerbated.

Rape apologists are often more terrifying than the rapists them-selves. While they are not rapists, they will raise an entire genera-tion of young women who will continue to feel like it would beTHEIR fault if they got raped, not the man’s. In effect, they are ac-complices in perpetuating a culture where violence against womenis acceptable, normalised and justified.

Economic and political disparities in the country have also ledto the marginalisation of women and making them susceptible toviolence in the first place. Pakistani society as a whole is obsessedwith ‘honour’. The feudal class leads this perception with an irra-tional infatuation with the concept of honour that somehow is onlyrelated to their women. This has been reinforced by Islamic con-servatism and the mass media itself – often when the two act to-gether, but just as often when these two act separately.

According to a report by the Awaz Foundation Centre for De-velopment, as many as 2,713 cases of violence against women havebeen reported in 15 districts of southern Punjab since January 2012.At least 150 of these were reportedly rape cases. Just Punjab; imag-ine how much worse it would be in other parts of the country. Onecannot be too sure, as once again, the stigma associated with pur-suing the rape cases is often a deciding factor in the case beingwiped out from our record books.

Who does it serve, when rape cases are not pursued, in the pres-ence of an apparently independent judiciary and an apparently ac-tive police force? Why are parents too embarrassed to ask forjustice for their daughters and what makes them act violentlyagainst their own children? There are those who are afraid of fight-ing the dominant classes over rape, there are others who areashamed of pursuing these cases because of a forced sense of ho-nour and embarrassment. In the presence of such obvious lack ofoutrage, critique and debate, rape apologies ensue, making it easierfor rapists to get their jobs done.

The writer is a staff member and a research analyst, and tweetsat @aimamk

aIma KhOSa

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:27 AM Page 11

The mind which is most capable of receiving impressions is

very often the least capable of drawing conclusions.

—Virginia Woolf in The Second Common Reader

arTs

AFriday, 1 March, 2013

12

wHeN AmitABHBACHCHANwAsHedkAreeNA’s feet!Amitabh Bachchan, who is currently

shooting for Prakash Jha’s “ Satyagraha”,

has been avidly writing about the shoot

of the film on his blog. In one such post,

he remembers Kareena Kapoor, who

plays a journalist in the film, as a small

little girl whose feet he washed on the

sets of his film “Pukar” that also starred

Kareena’s dad Randhir Kapoor. “During

an action sequence, I was hitting her

father. She in her innocence had run on

to the set in the outdoors and clung to

her father to protect him from this ‘evil’

man who was beating him up. In tears

and most worried, she was relentless

and very disturbed,”

wrote Big B. “She

soiled her

pretty

little feet

in the

sand and

in order

to settle

her down

I had

asked for

some water

and washed

her tiny feet

clean. She still

remembers

that moment!!”

“Satyagraha” also

stars Ajay Devgn,

Arjun Rampal and

Manoj Bajpayee.

NewS deSK

HE won an Oscar for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln at

the Academy Awards on Sunday. And it seems Daniel

Day-Lewis really was born to play the role, at least

judging by a newly uncovered school photo of the actor.

The image shows the three-time Oscar winner looking

astonishingly like a younger Lincoln when he took part in a school

play at the age of 16. Taken in 1973, the picture shows Daniel who

is now 55 sporting similar facial hair to his recent character as well

as the same comb over hair style while playing a Russian soldier in

Chekhov’s Three Sisters. But what is most remarkable is that at

such a tender age he had already mastered the same facial

expression which captures the same gravity and sadness of his

situation, as well as quiet frustration. His teacher at the time, John

Batstone has told The Sun: ‘It was quite a demanding part but he

played it superbly.’ The 80-year-old also recalled that Daniel was

‘a jolly nice boy with a wild side’ during his time at Bedales

School, Steep, Hants. He added: ‘I could tell he was a very

talented and gifted young man.’ And gifted he certainly is as

his most recent role in the Lincoln biopic meant he won his

third Oscar. The talented actor, who is famous for his

‘method acting’ approach, previously won Best

Actor Oscars for My Left Foot in 1990 and

There Will Be Blood in 2007. Speaking

on Sunday he said: ‘I really don’t know

how any of this happened. I do know

I’ve received much more than my fair

share of good fortune in my life.’ Day-Lewis was

praised for his humorous acceptance prize upon

winning for his role in Steven Spielberg’s play.

As he collected the award from fellow former

Oscar winner Meryl Streep, Day-Lewis joked:

‘It’s strange because, three years ago, before

we decided to do a straight swap, I had actually

been committed to play Margaret Thatcher and

Meryl was Steven’s first choice for Lincoln. I’d

have liked to see that version!’ During his

speech, Day-Lewis also paid tribute to ‘beautiful

mind, body and spirit of Abraham Lincoln’ and

his wife Rebecca Miller, who he said had

‘lived with some very strange men’

during the course of their 16-year

marriage. When asked backstage

if there is anyone else he would

like to play, the British actor

said: ‘I can’t think of anyone

right now because I need to

have to lie down for a

couple of years. ‘No, I

can’t think of any. I really

can’t, no. It’s really hard to

imagine doing anything

after this.’ NewS deSK

osCArNo wonder he got an

UMEED-E-sEHErBy Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Jigar dareeda hoon, chaak-e-jigar ki baat suno

Umeed-e-sahar ki baat suno

I’m torn inside; hark what my tormented entrails tell

Hark to the hope of the dawn

Alam raseeda hoon, daman-e-tar ki baat suno

Umeed-e-sahar ki baat suno

I’m swept by sorrows; hark to what my tears have to tell

Hark to the hope of the dawn

Zubaan bureeda hoon, zakhm-e-guloo sey harf karo

Umeed-e-sahar ki baat suno

My tongue is tortured; hark to my wounded throat

Hark to the hope of the dawn

shikasta pa hoon, malaal-e-safar ki baat suno

Umeed-e-sahar ki baat suno

My feet are lacerated; hark to the travails of my travels

Hark to the hopes of the dawn

Musafir-e-rah-e-sehra-e-zulmat-e-shab se

Ab iltafat-e-nigar-e-sahar ki baat suno

From a traveler through the desert of the dark dark night

come! and listen to the tidings of bright & beautiful morn’

Umeed-e-sahar ki baat!

Hark to the hope of the dawn!

POETICALLY SPEA

KING

TOM hAnKStop contender for bestactor next OscarsAfter Daniel Day-Lewis won his thirdOscar for best actor this year, experts arealready speculating next year’s contenderfor the accolade. And with the ‘Lincoln’star not going for a fourth in 2014, thatmeans Tom Hanks has the chance tomatch him, the Sun reported. The USactor, who previously picked up theaward for ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘ForrestGump’, could be in contention for thegong with two roles. Firstly, he isplaying the heroic Captain RichardPhillips, who was in charge of acargo ship hijacked by Somalipirates. The film, called CaptainPhillips, opens in October. Thefollowing January Hanks willbe playing Walt Disney inSaving Mr Banks.Meryl Streep couldalso win her thirdOscar for BestActress next year.She will appear inAugust: OsageCounty. It is anadaptation of amusical which hasalready picked upa Tony award -theatre’s Oscarequivalent. But it isagain the Brits standingin the way of Hanks andStreep. Naomi Watts isPrincess Diana in thesimply-titled ‘Diana’ whileEmma Thompson plays MaryPoppins author PL Travers in‘Saving Mr Banks’.Benedict Cumberbatch hasalso shown commitment tothe role of WikiLeaksfounder Julian Assange in‘The Fifth Estate’ bydying his hair white. He isalso in ‘August: OsageCounty’ and SteveMcQueen’s ‘TwelveYears A Slave’. OtherBrits to keep ansoothsayer’s eye on areIdris Elba as NelsonMandela and NaomieHarris as WinnieMandela in ‘Mandela:Long Walk To Freedom.’NewS deSK

Rosa Parksstatueunveiled byBarackObamaMore than half a century after sherefused to give up her seat on anAlabama city bus, Rosa Parks has animmovable place in the U.S. Capitol —the first black woman to be honored witha statue there. President Barack Obamaand congressional leaders from bothparties said at an unveiling Wednesdaythat the depiction was fitting: Parks isshown seated, hands clasped in front ofher, eyes fixed forward. “Rosa Parks’singular act of disobedience launched amovement,” Obama said. “The tired feetof those who walked the dusty roads ofMontgomery helped a nation see that towhich it had once been blind.” On Dec.1, 1955, Parks, then a 42-year-oldseamstress, broke the law by refusing togive up her seat to a white passenger on

a packed bus. Her arrest touched off ayearlong boycott of the bus system, aturning point in the civil rightsmovement. In 1956, the Supreme Courtbanned segregation on publictransportation. Parks died in October2005, at age 92, and would have turned100 this month. On Wednesday, Rep.James Clyburn, D-S.C., and the highest-ranking black member of Congress,called her “the first lady of civil rights,the mother of the movement, the saint ofan endless struggle.” NewS deSK

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:27 AM Page 12

My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends — It gives a lovely

light. — Edna St. Vincent Millay in Collected Poems

13ArTSFriday, 1 March, 2013

A

irANiANs uNHAPPywitH ‘Argo’ osCArMany Tehran residents say Ben Affleck’s drama,which won Best Picture award, misrepresents whathappened in 1979 Iran hostage crisis

NEWS DESK

State media has been mostly silent following thenews of the film’s Best Picture award at theOscars ceremony in Los Angeles. On the streetsof Tehran, however, residents gave the filmmixed reviews, with many saying itmisrepresents what happened during 444 days inwhich 52 Americans were held hostage in theUS Embassy. “I did not watch the entire film,”says Amirkhani, a Tehran resident. “It was notappealing enough to make me watch the rest. Icould not tolerate it. My feeling is that theyawarded the Oscar to Argo because of politicalor other reasons rather than artistic ones. Ibelieve this prize was not for the film’s structureor its scenario.” Many Hollywood films like“Argo” are not screened in cinemas in Iran, butpirated copies of almost all newly-releasedmovies are sold under-the-counter in shops or byvendors on streets, and Iranians seemed to havetheir own opinions about the Oscar competition.“Both ‘Django Unchained’ and ‘Lincoln’ won afew prizes. I think both of them were better thanArgo in terms of structure and theme. Theydeserved more attention,” says another Tehranresident, Behnam Farahani. “Argo was just apolitical movie. It was a narration of a politicalevent, and it suited their own purposes.”Iranians have complained that “Argo”exaggerates the violence among crowds thatstormed the compound and paints their countryin an unflattering light.

WILLIAM DALRYMpLE’S pIECE IN THE GUARDIAN

On 13 April 1919 a large group of Punjabis

protesting against British rule gathered in the

Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. They were

incensed at the arrest of two of their leaders,

and for 24 hours the city had been consumed

by riots. At five in the afternoon, General

Reginald Dyer marched into Jallianwala Bagh

with 140 troops, most of them Gurkhas, but

with a few Sikhs and Baluchis as well. Having

blocked the exits, they fired into the peaceful

and unresisting crowds until they had

exhausted all their ammunition. Official

estimates put the casualties at 379 killed and

1,200 injured. Popular estimates put the

casualties as much as 10 times

higher.

The massacre was a major

turning point for the Indian

freedom struggle and,

along with Gandhi’s Salt

March 11 years later in

1930, was one of the two

forces that gave India’s

march towards

independence

its

unstoppable

momentum. For a generation of Anglophile

Indians brought up on British propaganda

that British rule was just and uncorrupt, and

that it had replaced centuries of arbitrary

tyranny at the hands of brutal Muslim

invaders, Jallianwala Bagh was a moment of

revelation. Rabindranath Tagore immediately

gave back his knighthood. The Nehrus were

radicalised overnight. Gandhi lost his faith –

intact until that point – in British justice, and

wrote that he had “underrated the forces of

evil” in the British empire.

But Jallianwala Bagh was by no means the

worst atrocity committed by the British in

India. Following the British conquest of

Bengal in 1757, the province was left

devastated by war and high taxation, then

stricken by famine. According to Edmund

Burke, the women of Bengal suffered mass

rape at the hands of East India Company tax

collectors. Certainly the wealth of Bengal

rapidly drained into British bank accounts,

while its prosperous weavers and artisans

were coerced “like so many slaves” by their

new British masters, and the markets flooded

with British products.

More horrific still were the actions of the

British army sent into

Afghanistan in 1842 to

take revenge for the

massacre of troops during

the retreat from Kabul earlier

in the year. All the villages in its path were

looted and torched and the women were

raped. When the army got to Kabul the city

was deliberately consigned to the flames.

These horrors were merely a dress rehearsal

for what followed a decade later across

northern India. During the suppression of the

Indian uprising of 1857, tens if not hundreds

of thousands were slaughtered in British

reprisals: in one neighbourhood of Delhi

alone – Kucha Chelan – some 1,400

unarmed citizens were cut down. Delhi, a

sophisticated city of half a million souls, was

left an empty ruin, as was Cawnpore (now

Kanpur) and Lucknow. These massacres,

major war crimes by any standards, make

Jallianwala Bagh look a picnic.

Should David Cameron have apologised for

all this? While it makes sense for politicians

to apologise for their own mistakes, it is

surely pointless for them to apologise for the

mistakes of others committed long before

they were born. For politicians to make

apologies for events long in the past can

anyway be counterproductive, often looking

more like political expediency than genuine

contrition. This is particularly the case if you

are coming to a country with a delegation

from British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce to

boost trade, as Cameron was doing to India.

When I tweeted the advance rumours of

Cameron’s apology for Amritsar, my Indian

Twitter followers were united in derision.

What Cameron can do, however, if he feels

real contrition for Britain’s past, is to make

the teaching of the British empire a

compulsory part of the GCSE history

syllabus. The empire was, for better or

worse, the most important thing the British

ever did: it completely changed the shape of

the modern world. Yet most British people

are by and large completely unaware of the

details of their imperial history. My own

children learned Tudors and the Nazis over

and again in history class, but never came

across a whiff of Indian history. This means

that they, like most people who go through

the British education system, are wholly ill-

equipped to judge either the good or the bad

in what we did to the rest of the world.

For while there are things the British did that

can be celebrated and of which we can be

proud – the incorruptibility of the Indian civil

service, the railways, the rule of law, or the

laying of the foundations for parliamentary

democracies through legislative assemblies

and so on – these have to be weighed

against a long succession of terrible war

crimes. For we must never forget that

whatever its achievements, the British

empire, like every empire before or since,

was both gained and maintained by military

might, and built over a mountain of skulls of

those it conquered and defeated.

“ZERO Dark Thirty”: The bad news is

you didn’t get a “Best Picture” Oscar.

The good news? The U.S. Senate is

now off your back. The Senate

Intelligence Committee has that it

will no longer pursue the contacts

between the movie and the Central

Intelligence Agency. The film had

come under heat when it was

revealed that the filmmakers, Mark

Boal and Kathryn Bigelow, were

given briefings on the topic from the

CIA. “News of the decision came just

one day after the movie was shut out

of any significant Academy Awards, a

snub many felt came in part because

of criticisms, including from

members of Congress, that the

movie glorified torture,” wrote CNN

about the Intelligence Committee

dropping its probe. Sen. Dianne

Feinstein and Carl Levin joined with

Sen. John McCain in December to

ask for more details about what

information was passed along to the

filmmakers. Feinstein said Tuesday

that she sees “no need to request

further information” on the matter.

Her full statement, via Variety: “In

December, Senators Levin, McCain

and I wrote to Acting CIA Director

Michael Morell seeking information

provided to the filmmakers of ‘Zero

Dark Thirty’ by the CIA. The CIA

responded with information about its

interaction with the filmmakers. I see

no need to request further

information. In a separate letter,

Senators Levin, McCain and I

requested the basis for CIA’s view

that enhanced interrogation

techniques provided some

intelligence that led to the killing of

Osama bin Laden. The CIA’s

response to that letter is

forthcoming. “Finally, Senators Levin,

McCain and I wrote to Sony Pictures

in December and outlined our view

that scenes in the film which credit

CIA’s interrogation techniques with

leading directly to the takedown of

bin Laden were inaccurate and

misleading. The committee has not

made any contact with the

filmmakers, did not request

documents from any individual

associated with the film, and have

not conducted any investigation into

the film whatsoever. We have simply

asked questions of the intelligence

community pertinent to our oversight

responsibilities.” NewS deSK

Senate intelligence Committeedrops ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ inquiry

is russeLL Crowedating

Russell Crowe and Natalie Imbruglia got cosy

after a steamy night of flirting in LA over the Os-

cars weekend, it has been revealed. There was also

a steamy morning of flirting, which saw

the pair gathered around a grand piano

in the ‘Gladiator’ star’s suite at the Bev-

erly Hills Hotel, the Mirror reported.

They sang show tunes until daybreak, ac-

cording to reports. “They were all over

one another and doing little to hide their

flirting. They were being really playful and

jokey with one another. You could see they

really hit it off,” a source said. They then

went back to Crowe’s room with some

friends where they were partying until broad

daylight. They were singing really loudly together

around the piano, belting out some show tunes, and

they looked pretty cosy when everyone left them

to it, the source said. The pair were first seen

together at a party last month at Hollywood’s

Soho House hotel. They were spotted flirting

at the Australian Academy of Cinema and

Television Arts Awards, also attended by

Robert De Niro and Quentin Tarantino.

Their hook-up comes as the actor pre-

pares for a 15-million-pound divorce

from his wife of nine years, Danielle

Spencer. Sources close to the pair,

however, insist that the pair are

“just friends”. NewS deSK

NAtALie imBrugLiA?

Jennifer Lawrence’s‘Silver LiningsPlaybook’ clothes upfor auctionOscar-wining actress Jennifer Lawrence’s some outfits whichshe wore in “ Silver Linings Playbook” are up for auction.The 22-year-old walked away with the best actress prize at the85th Academy Awards for her performance in David

O’Russell-directed movie. Now memorabiliadealer Nate D. Sanders has put several

items, including the skin-tight whitedance pants that Lawrence wore in

the film, up for sale in an onlineauction that will end Thursday,

reports femalefirst. There arefive items altogether, and

auction experts expectthem sell for between$500 and $1,500. “She’s

now on the record forhaving an Academy

Award, whichdefinitely gives

it (the items)status now,”

said aspokesperson

of theauction

house.NewS

deSK

Apologisingfor Amritsaris pointless.Betterredress is tonever forget:Dalrymple

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:27 AM Page 13

NEWS DESK

DRINKING just one can offizzy drink a day could in-crease the risk of develop-ing life-threatening Type 2diabetes. Scientists have

found that sugar-based calories, such asthose found in fizzy drinks, are much morelikely to cause the condition than the samenumber of calories from any other source.For every additional 150 calories of sugaravailable per person per day, the prevalenceof diabetes in the population rose by one percent. In contrast, an additional 150 caloriesof any type caused only a 0.1 per cent in-crease in the population’s diabetes rate, theresearchers from Stanford University, theUniversity of California-Berkley and theUniversity of California-San Franciscofound. This is the first time that scientistshave questioned the theory that eating too

much of any food iswhat causes obesityand that the resultingobesity is whatcauses diabetes. Theresearchers examineddata on sugar avail-ability and diabetesrates from 175 coun-tries during the pastdecade. After account-ing for obesity and alarge array of other fac-tors, they found that in-creased sugar in apopulation’s food supplywas linked to higher dia-betes rates, independent ofobesity rates. The study,which provides the firstlarge-scale, population-based evidence for the

idea that not allcalories are equalfrom a diabetes-

risk standpoint,will be published

in the journal PLoSONE. ‘It was quite asurprise,’ said DrSanjay Basu an as-sistant professor ofmedicine at the Stan-ford Prevention Re-search Centre and thestudy’s lead author. Headded: ‘We’re not di-minishing the impor-tance of obesity at all,but this data suggestthat at a populationlevel there are addi-tional factors that con-tribute to diabetes risk

besides obesity and total calorie intake, andthat sugar appears to play a prominent role.’Not only was sugar availability correlated todiabetes risk, but the longer a populationwas exposed to excess sugar, the higher itsdiabetes rate. In addition, diabetes ratesdropped over time when sugar availabilitydropped, independent of changes to con-sumption of other calories and physical ac-tivity or obesity rates. The findings do notprove that sugar causes diabetes, Dr Basuinsists, but do provide real-world support forthe body of previous trials that suggest sugaraffects the liver and pancreas in ways thatother types of foods or obesity do not. Thestudy comes just weeks after scientistsfound that even diet fizzy drinks can raisethe risk of diabetes by 60 per cent. A studyof more than 66,000 women found thosewho drank artificially sweetened drinkswere more likely to develop the disease thanthose who indulged in regular, ‘full fat’ ver-sions. The findings, published in the Amer-ican Journal of Clinical Nutrition, fly in theface of conventional thinking that regularversions of fizzy drinks are always worsefor our health. ‘Contrary to conventionalthinking, the risk of diabetes is higher with“light” beverages compared with “regular”sweetened drinks,’ the researchers said.

NEWS DESK

You no longer have to gaze over aschool lunchroom, hoping to find aseat at a socially acceptable table.You don’t rush to get home at nightbefore your junior license driving re-strictions kick in. And you men nolonger have to worry that your voicewill skip an octave without warning.But if adolescence is over, what isthat horrid protuberance staring atyou in the mirror from the middle ofyour forehead? Some speak ofpapules, pustules and nodules, butwe will use the technical term: zit.That thing on your forehead now isthe same thing that was there backin high school, or at least a close rel-ative. Same as it ever was (cue“Once in a Lifetime”).

We get more than the occasionalcomplaint here from baby boomerswho want to know about this agingbody part or that. So you wouldthink people would be happy withany emblem of youth — even if it issore and angry-looking and threat-ening to erupt at any second. Butoddly, there are those who are nothappy to see pimples again, andsome have asked for an explanation.

Acne occurs when the follicles

that connect the pores of the skin tooil glands become clogged with amixture of hair, oils and skin cells,and bacteria in the plug causesswelling, experts say. A pimplegrows as the plug breaks down.

According to the AmericanAcademy of Dermatology, a grow-ing number of women in their 30s,40s, 50s and even beyond are seek-ing treatment for acne. Middle-agemen are also susceptible to break-outs, but less so, experts say.

In some cases, people sufferfrom acne that began in theirteenage years and never really wentaway. Others had problems whenthey were younger and then enjoyeddecades of mostly clear skin. Still

others never had much of the way ofpimples until they were older.

Whichever the case, the expla-nation for adult acne is likely to bethe same as it is for acne found inteenagers and, for that matter, new-borns: hormonal changes. “Weknow that all acne is hormonallydriven and hormonally sensitive,”said Dr. Bethanee J. Schlosser, anassistant professor of dermatology atNorthwestern.

Among baby boomers, the ap-proach of menopause may result in adrop in estrogen, a hormone that canhelp keep pimples from forming, andincreased levels of androgens, themale hormone. Women who stoptaking birth control pills may alsosee a drop in their estrogen levels.

Debate remains over what rolediet plays in acne. Some experts saythat foods once thought to causepimples, like chocolate, are proba-bly not a problem. Still, while sugaritself is no longer believed to con-tribute to acne, some doctors thinkthat foods with a high glycemicindex – meaning they quickly ele-vate glucose in the body — might.White bread and sweetened cerealsare examples. And for all ages, stresshas also been found to play a role.

why working at homecan be a bad ideaMarissa Mayer’s decree requiring that

Yahoo employees stop working from

home and instead schlep to the office

has set off a wave of pro and con

arguments. Count Katie Roiphe of

Slate, who has experience in both

worlds, in Mayer’s camp. When you

work from home, you’re distracted in

countless subtle ways, she writes.

Maybe it’s the kids in the next room,

or the argument you had last night, or

the recollection that the cable bill is

due. Heading into an office, or even a

coffee shop with the laptop, provides

clearer separation. “Is it possible that

our ideas, our creativity, our wilder

bursts of thought are often, or at least

sometimes better achieved outside

the home, in a more neutral space?”

she asks. Rudimentary measurements

of productivity on the part of home

workers can miss this crucial element.

What’s more, this “work-life balance”

works in reverse. It will help your

home life to keep work at work, even

if you have only a “tiny sliver of a

chance of keeping the office and the

thousands of meaningless work details

and memos and preoccupations out of

your home.” Click for the full column.

Or click for fellow Slate writer Farhad

Manjoo’s contention that Yahoo’s

Mayer is way off base. NewS deSK

Boys may shortentheir moms’ livesAre sons bad for your health? A Finnish

study finds that women who had

several don’t live as long after the last

birth as do women who have

daughters. The research, however,

may be a bit dated: Researchers

reviewed 300 years of parish data, and

most of the women involved were born

before 1960, LiveScience reports. In

the records of 11,000 women, authors

found that more sons were tied to

shorter life spans after the final birth.

“Girls in many traditional societies are,

as we know, much more helpful to

mothers than boys,” says an expert

who didn’t work on the study. “They

may help with child care; they may

help with many tasks.” Also, boys’

tendency to be heavier babies could

mean they require more nutrients from

their mothers during pregnancy and

breast-feeding. On the other hand, in

societies like China, sons appear to be

linked to longer maternal lives. Either

way, in a post-industrial society with

birth control and more food availability,

things may be different today, an

author says. NewS deSK

infoTainMenT

IFriday, 1 March, 2013

14The difficulty lies not so much in

developing new ideas as in escaping

from old ones. –John Maynard Keynes

Pessimistic? you might live longer

Here’s a bit of a surprise: Pessimistic people

actually appear to live longer than their sunnier

peers, a study suggests. Researchers reviewed

40,000 subjects over a 10-year period and found

that “being overly optimistic” was linked to “a

greater risk of disability and death within the

following decade,” the lead author said, per the

Telegraph. “Pessimism about the future may

encourage people to live more carefully, taking

health and safety precautions.” Respondents were

asked how satisfied they expected to be after five

years; when that period had passed, researchers

assessed the subjects’ actual satisfaction. Another

surprise: “Stable and good health and income were

associated with expecting a greater decline

compared with those in poor health or with low

incomes,” researchers said. But at Canada’s

National Post, they caution: “There are already a

lot of findings that being positive is actually

positive ... We only add to it that being positive

right now may not inform us well about the effects

of how you think about the future.” NewS deSK

google glass appearson eBay for $16kGoogle Glass has already arrived on eBay—or so a

seller claims. The project hasn’t yet arrived on the

proverbial shelves, but a Cleveland seller says

that, after being selected by Google, he or she will

get a pair at a New York event this week. When

they finally go on sale, the digital

glasses are set to go for $1,500,

which was the initial eBay

asking price. It soared to

almost $16,000, Mashable

reports, but now the posting

seems to have disappeared.

The posting was packed

with spelling mistakes, but

the poster apparently had

fairly good feedback in the

past—though that was for

items ranging from paper

clips to a body pillow.

NewS deSK

Just one can of fizzy drink a dayincreases the risk of diabetes

An apple a day: Time to love your body

Why am i still getting pimples?

NEWS DESK

Happy National Eating Disorders Awareness week! Didyou know it was this week? Perhaps you have seen someadvertising for great programming going on aroundcampus, things like a documentary screening, discus-sions and free yoga. The Counseling Center, in partner-ship with some other offices, have beenproviding these programs all week long toincrease awareness on the topics of bodyimage and eating disorders. Whyshould you take an active interest inthese subjects? Chances are you orsomeone you know is currently, orhas been, struggling with issuessurrounding body image and eat-ing disorders. Research shows thataround 95 percent of people suf-fering from eating disorders are be-tween the ages of 12-25, and theamount of people suffering is in themillions. Having positive bodyimage is an important part ofoverall wellness. If you are con-

stantly unhappy about yourself it will have a negativeeffect on your emotional and physical health (all areasof health are interrelated remember?) When most peoplethink of eating disorders they automatically think bu-limia or anorexia—in actuality there are many more in-cluding body dysmorphic disorder and binge eatingdisorder. Knowing how to recognize the signs of disor-

dered eating and poor body image can make iteasier to help yourself or a friend who may

be in need. Some behaviors related tofood include a person skipping meals,

only eating tiny portions, not eatingin front of others, food rituals, al-ways has an excuse for not goingto eat, secretly gorging, purgingbehaviors such as vomiting, dietpills or the use of laxatives. Interms of other behaviors, a person

may wear baggy clothes to hidetheir body, or may be constantly

criticizing themselves. Otherwarning signs include exces-sive exercising, and changes inmood or level of sociability.

for every 150 extra sugar-based calories available perperson diabetes prevalenceincreases one per cent

Sugar-based calories are much riskier than others

this is the first time scientists have questioned the ideathat eating too much ofany food increases risk

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:28 AM Page 14

SpORTS DESK

Pakistan's 3-0 mauling at the handsof the world's number one Test teamSouth Africa, does not make for easyreading. The manner of Pakistan'sdefeat has left many a mental scaron the psyche of Pakistani playersand it's supporters. However aPakistani cricketer who is enjoyingindividual success in South Africa isSohail Tanvir who is proving to bean integral part of the as yetunbeaten Highveld Lions squad inthe Ram Slam T20 Challenge.

Tanvir has played 28 T20Is,taking 23 wickets at an average of29. In his last outing in nationalcolours against Pakistan's arch rivalIndia, Tanvir's figures read a dismal4 overs for 44 runs. He wassubsequently not considered for thePakistani team's tour to South Africabut has been participating in theongoing Ram Slam T20 tournament.The Lions have maintained a 100%record after four games and remainone of the favourites to lift thetrophy.

Tanvir's Pakistani colleague'sstruggles with the bat against SouthAfrica in the recently-concludedTest series have largely been

attributed to the exceptionally quickand bouncy local pitches but Tanvirbelieves that the pitches have easedsince the early season "Actuallywe're currently nearing the end ofthe South African season so thepitches are a bit dry, so batting hasbecome easier. Earlier on in theseason, as we know, it's quitedifficult for the batsmen."

Tanvir's visit to India with thePakistani team at the end of 2012could at best be classed as below parhowever, his recent form for theLions in the Ram Slam has beenexcellent and he has picked up 6wickets from his four matches at anaverage of 16.33. He isunderstandably disappointed at notbeing part of the Pakistan squad inSouth Africa and added "It's alwaysdisappointing to be dropped,especially as I felt I had theexperience on the South Africanwickets and in these conditions soyes it is disappointing, however I amcurrently playing cricket, I willcontinue to perform. I'm performingwell at the moment and am thesecond highest wicket taker here, soI will keep working hard andperforming in order to make acomeback. It's hard knowing that the

team is playing here in South Africayet I'm not part of it. That's difficultfor any player, but it's part andparcel of the game. You have to lookforward rather than back."

Despite his omission from thelimited overs squad for the SouthAfrican tour, Tanvir has his sightsset for participation in theChampions Trophy and believes hisexperience of conditions in SouthAfrica will stand him in good stead"The conditions in England aresimilar to those here in South Africa,they support seam and swingbowlers like myself. I will get thesame amount of support there so I'mvery hopeful of making a comebackin the Champions Trophy. Thesedecisions are made by the teammanagement and the selectors, myjob is to keep working on my formand fitness and continue to perform.Let's see what decision they take."

Despite Pakistan's dismalshowing in the Test series, Tanvir hashigh hopes for his former team matesas they prepare to take on the hostnation in a 2 match T20 series whichbegins on 1st of March "I've takenpart in net sessions with the Pakistanteam here in South Africa and I feelthat Pakistan's ODI and T20 team is

quite strong, and I expect them toplay competitive cricket in thelimited overs series. I don't expect tosee one-sided games and whicheverteam wins will have to work veryhard to defeat the opponent."

Tanvir also had some words ofencouragement for Pakistan's rookiefast bowlers as he felt that they needall the support in the initial stagesof their careers but he also singledout Junaid Khan as one who couldhave made a difference had hisfitness not been an issue "They'reall new and in the learning process.I think it cost Pakistan a lot whenJunaid Khan became unfit as he wasthe perfect bowler for thoseconditions. He has the ability toswing the ball both ways, and hereyou need a swing bowler more thana pace bowler. Had Junaid been fit,perhaps the result of the 2nd Testwould have been different as hecould have supported Saeed Ajmalfrom one end. I don't think weshould criticise anyone so quickly,international cricket is not easy,especially when you are playingagainst the world's number oneteam. We have to give the youngbowlers time, let them settle into theinternational arena."

SPOrTS

SFriday, 1 March, 2013

15I’ve played quite a bit of one-day and Twenty20

cricket here and in those matches, it's as close as you

get to the Gabba around the world. – Shane Watson

Give young bowlers time to settle: Sohail Tanvir

CHENNAIaGeNCIeS

As India's batsmen piled on runs in Chennai,Watson was itching to take the ball confirmingin his mind that giving up bowling wouldn't bea permanent move. If Shane Watson'scommitment to playing as a batsman only onthis tour was ever going to be tested, standingin the field for 154.3 overs during India's thefirst innings in Chennai was the time. As theruns piled up for India and Australia's attackstruggled for impact they missed Watson'sbowling, and Watson missed being part of it.But he said while the possibility of bowlinglater on the tour had crossed his mind, he knewthat for the sake of his fitness and form, he hadto stick to his plan.

Over the past few years in Test cricket,Watson has had a happy knack of breakingpartnerships and an unhappy habit of

breaking down. His most recent injury, theproblem with his left calf that ruled him outof the third Test against Sri Lanka in Januaryand the one-day series that followed,prompted him to declare that he would giveup bowling for the Test tour of India toconcentrate on his batting, and on stringingtogether as much cricket as he could.

Having missed the whole of theprevious Australian Test summer due to calfand hamstring injuries, and then theBrisbane and Adelaide Tests against SouthAfrica, Watson decided his best option wasto temporarily give up bowling. As India'sbatsmen put on a series of frustratingpartnerships in Chennai, Watson was itchingto take the ball and he said the experiencehad confirmed in his mind that giving upbowling would not be a permanent move."That was a time that reaffirmed to me thatI do want to bowl," Watson said.

i missed bowling in Chennai: Watson

SpORTS DESK

sOUTH Africa batsman AB deVilliers is expecting a differentPakistan to the one that foldedmeekly in the Test series when

the teams meet in the first of twoTwenty20 internationals in Durban.

The Proteas completed a clean sweepof the three-Test series with an inningsvictory on Sunday but Pakistan haveshown much better form in the shortestform of the game and beat South Africathe only other time the teams have met atthe ICC World Twenty20 last year.

"I have seen the names in their T20squad and there are some seriouscricketers out there. We are playing in ourhome conditions so we have someconfidence from that but they are adangerous side," De Villiers said onwww.cricket.co.za.

"They don't only have world-classplayers but they have experience as well.They have won World Cups before. Theyare a really good team and I think theywill be a good challenge for us."

All eyes will be on South Africanseamer Kyle Abbott after his stunningdebut in the final Test, where he took ninewickets and was named man of the match.

The Proteas squad is short on starnames, with Jacques Kallis, Dale Steynand Hashim Amla all absent, while HenryDavids, Aaron Phangiso, Chris Morrisand Quinton de Kock are given anotherchance after making their Twenty20debuts against New Zealand in December.

De Villiers will keep wicket, and hesaid: "It is a nice way of giving youngstersa chance to perform and to showcase theirtalent.

"I definitely see why we are doingthat, there are so many youngsters thathave come through that have won gamesfor their domestic teams on a regular

basis. The squad we have now will notchange too much over the next 12 months.If we play a lot of cricket together theresults will start to show."

De Villiers was named man of theseries over the three Tests but hasstruggled to replicate that form inTwenty20s and stood down as captain for

that reason."I still haven't found my rhythm in

T20 cricket for South Africa," he said. "Ifeel we haven't played a lot, so it's difficultto find your way when we play one or twomatches in a series then three or fourmonths down the line you play anotherone."

spin formulaindia’s best bet

CHENNAIaGeNCIeS

A string of injuries to their fast bowlersmeans spin is India's only chance at victory;a lack of quality spinning options meansacutely crumbling tracks are the need of thehour. An American football coach once hadthe basic principle of sports writingexplained to him by a reporter: "When youlose, we make fun of you. When you win,we make fun of the other guy."Much fun, therefore, is being made ofAustralia's bloopers in the Chennai Test andIndia are spared the pincushion treatmentfor now. They would hope the respite lastsfor another few months at least.Victory in the Chennai Test has broughtrelief rather than fist-pumping 'payback'celebration. Three Tests and three monthsof introspection lay between India's lastTest victory in Ahmedabad against Englandand the Chennai Test. This was a victorythey needed as much as they wanted. It waseked out through a fairly simple formula,one that India hopes will keep workingthrough the rest of the series.Chennai was dusted and done, in thatorder, 90 minutes into day five. After MSDhoni's brutal double-century on Sunday,the Indian spinners brought their brand ofbusiness into play on day four. R Ashwin,Harbhajan Singh and Ravinder Jadeja ranthrough the Australian batting on a trackthat spat, bit and either leapt with venomor sizzled with zip.

de villiers way of ‘dangerous’ Pakistan

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:28 AM Page 16

SPOrTS SFriday, 1 March, 2013

16I’ve started batting in the nets this week and have had a good

week of practice, so the match against Bangladesh is a good

opportunity to get some match practice. – Sangakkara

LAHOREStaff rePOrt

PAKISTAN Sports BoardDirector General JavedMiandad believes that thePakistan team will do much

better in the upcoming limited-oversseries but pointed out that they shouldfirst leave behind the test humiliation.

“What happened in the test series isnow a saga of past and it is right time tolook at theT20 and one day matches witha renewed pledge to atone for previousmistakes,” he said while talking tojournalists here at the Gadaffi Stadium.

The former test cricketer describedthe T20 and one day series is“challenging” for the Pakistan teamwhich badly needs success to lift thelevel of its performance after a dismaltest series.

“If the players stuck in the past theywill not be able to perform in the coming

series and they must look into today witha bright hope to come up with highquality performance to outshine theiropponents in coming matches of T20 andone day series.

Pakistan will open its two match T20series with a match Friday followed bythe five one day international seriescommencing from March 10.

The PCB official pointed out thatPak team enjoys a fine run in the T20 andone day series and now the stage hascome to show consistency to maintainthe flow of success.

He praised the players selection forreinforcing the team for T20 and one dayseries and selectors have done a goodjob by sending experienced playersrather trying out young players. “ I t isnot the right time to try new players asthe team needs a success to regain itsconfidence and to re-establish its statusas one of worlds fine team in T20 andone day games “,he asserted. Miandad

strongly believes that Pak team willmake a come back in T20 and one daygames as it (team) is a combination of“talent and experience”. “I stronglyfeel that players will be eager to riseto the occasion,” he said. “Every playershould realize about his responsibilitiesin the team,” he added. Regarding lackof interest of spectators in therecently concluded final ofQuaid-e-Azam trophy atGadaffi stadium, JavedMinadad said televising thematches has restricted thecrowd from the stadium. “Itis a very sad situation asthe final was played in anempty stadium because itwas being show live on TVand another aspect to bringback crowd to domesticmatches is to make thedomestic events moretough and competitive.”

LAHOREStaff rePOrt

Pakistani left-arm fast bowler Wahab Riaz has saidhe is desperate to bowl on the lively South Africanpitches, ahead of the limited-overs leg that startson March 1. Riaz was not part of the Test side thatwas blanked 3-0 by South Africa and has workedhard on his fitness in this period.

"I am super fit at the moment and in the bestform," Riaz was quoted by Cricinfo as saying. "Ihave a lot to offer to my captain and coach. I amdesperate to bowl on the surfaces in South Africa.I can bowl fast, and conditions are well suited forme to bowl reverse swing as well."

His last ODI appearance was against Indiaduring the Asia Cup in 2012. He was selected aspart of the Pakistan squad that toured India inDecember last year, but didn't make it into theplaying eleven. The selectors however, haveretained him for the South Africa ODIs and T20s,and he is likely to make it to the XI.

Riaz admitted the time away frominternational cricket was frustrating, but he kepthimself match fit. He recently recorded his bestfirst-class figures of 9 for 59 in a Quaid-e-Azamtrophy match.

"I have managed myself very well. I have beenplaying hockey for the last one-and-a-half monthsto build up my thighs for the South Africangrounds, which are a bit harder. I recently tooknine wickets in an innings, which shows myform," he said. "It always feel good when theselectors tap your shoulder to give you a go, butit's frustrating when you are not able to make it tothe XI."

Riaz, 27, impressed during his debut series2008 against Zimbabwe. He also had a good startto Test cricket, taking a five-for against Englandin August 2010. He picked up his maiden ODIfive-wicket haul during the World Cup semi-finalagainst India, but was not able to cement his place.

"I know things weren't right sometimes, and Iwavered and leaked so many runs," he said."When you are representing your country, you arepumped up and trying to give your hundred percent. Some days nothing works in your favour, butyou move on and come back after working on yourdeficiency.

"Fast bowlers are always emotional andaggressive - they need time to settle. I still have acase to prove, and I believe this South Africa tourwill be an ideal opportunity for me to showcasemy abilities."

Wahab desperate to perform in S Africa

LAHOREStaff rePOrt

Pakistan's chief selector Iqbal Qasim hastermed as unfair calls for Misbah-ul-Haq'sremoval as captain in the wake of thenational cricket team's whitewash in theTest series in South Africa. "I don't thinkit is fair for these calls to remove Misbah

as captain on the basis of one bad Testseries. One must keep in mind that he hasled the side ably and successfully since2010," Qasim said Thursday.

Misbah, who leads Pakistan in Testand ONe-Day cricket, has come under fireafter the team was outclassed in all threeTests in South Africa. Some formerplayers, critics and fans have been

demanding that the Pakistan CricketBoard should start looking for a new Testand ODI captain. Misbah, who will turn39 in May this year, has led Pakistan inTests since 2010 and was also made theODI and T20 captain in May, 2011 afterthe board sacked Shahid Afridi whoannounced a forced retirement in protest.

But in May last year, the PCB whileretaining Misbah as Test and ODI captaindecided to elevate Mohammad Hafeez asthe T20 captain. "To be fair we mustremember that Misbah has led the sidewell in difficult times for Pakistan cricketsince 2010 and has also performedsatisfactorily himself as a batsman. Wemust remember that we have not playedany international cricket at home inMisbah's tenure as captain because ofsecurity issues," Qasim said. "He hasdone well and to judge him on basis ofone bad series is not fair," the chiefselector added. Qasim admitted thatPakistan had badly lost the Test series inSouth Africa. "No doubt we were upagainst the top Test side in the world andwe were playing in demanding anddifferent conditions. But we didn't expectthe team to do so badly. What wentwrong needs to be seen after the tour isover. To make demands for changesbefore that is not right," he said.

moin seekssacking of coachwhatmore

LAHOREStaff rePOrt

Former Pakistan captain Moin KhanThursday demanded the sacking ofnational coach Dav Whatmore followingthe team's 3-0 whitewash by South Africa,saying a local man should replace him.Pakistan flopped miserably against theworld number one Test team, losing thefirst Test by 211 runs, the second by fourwickets and the last by an innings and 18runs. Whatmore masterminded Sri Lanka'striumph in the 1996 World Cup and ledminnows Bangladesh to their first-everTest series victory and their firstappearance in the World Cup Super Eightsin 2007. But Khan said he was not up tothe job. "Whatmore is an overrated coach,"Khan was quoted by a website. "There is aconcept in Pakistan that a foreigner willnot get involved in players' politics butWhatmore is now fighting for survival."Former Australian batsman Whatmoretook over in March last year and ledPakistan to the semi-finals of the WorldTwenty20 tournament, but he has comeunder fire after two successive Test seriesdefeats. Khan, who managed only fourwins in his 13 matches as Pakistan captain,said Sri Lanka's World Cup win in 1996owed more to its players than Whatmore."Ask any player of that team and he willtell you that in 1996 Sri Lanka had world-class players and their success was due totheir players and not because of thecoach," said Moin. Khan also criticisedTest and one-day captain Misbah-ul Haq."Both coach and captain are fighting forsurvival. They should have a plan and avision with which they should leave theteam on a firm footing but I can't see anyplan. Instead, they keep their interestsbefore the team." Pakistan has never beenshort of cricketing talent but the nationalteam has suffered over the years frombickering and infighting. Khan, whoplayed 69 Tests, said a foreign coach couldnot communicate with the playersproperly. "When a foreigner is our coach,our players have a communicationproblem and the coach is also unable tobrief the players on their mistakes and it'sa big problem," said Khan, a member ofthe World Cup-winning team in 1992.

Pakistan lost toa much superiorteam: Hanif

LAHOREStaff rePOrt

Pakistan’s former captain and legendarybatsman, Hanif Mohammad has come outin defence of the national team after theirdisastrous performance in the Test seriesagainst South Africa and said that theGreen Shirts lost to a far superior team.Before the start of the three-match series,the cricket fans were anticipating acompetitive battle between Pakistan andthe hosts. However, apart from the CapeTown Test, where the visitors showed alot of fight, they failed to live up to theexpectations as the home team won theseries by a dominating margin of 3-0.Misbah-ul-Haq and company have beenslammed by a number of sporting analystsand former cricketers but Hanif is of theview that the Proteas are a much betterteam and they thoroughly deserved to winthe series.The legendary cricketer is of the opinionthat the Green Shirts should forget aboutthe misery of the Test series and focus onthe upcoming limited-overs series.“Team Pakistan lost to a far superior sidein the Test series,” the legendary cricketerexpressed. “Pakistan fought very hard inthe 2nd Test match. Another 70-80 runswould have done it for Pakistan. What’sgone, cannot be traced back! We shouldall look forward to the T20I and ODIseries.”Hanif, who is considered to be among thegreatest batsmen produced by the country,believes that Pakistan is a much betterteam in the shorter formats of the gameand they should be able to end the tour ona positive note by winning the T20s andthe ODIs. The former captain feels thatPakistan’s batsmen were helpless againsta world-class bowling attack.“I’m confident that Pakistan will performmuch better in the limited overs’ series.Pakistan’s limited overs’ team is balancedand is capable of beating South Africa. Itwas tough for the Pakistani batsmen. Theyhad never played on such pitches before.The South African bowlers bowledimpressively and justified their No.1 Teststatus,” Hanif added.The limited-overs series begins tomorrowwith the first T20 at Durban.

Chief selector backsMisbah as captain

miandad wants team tofocus on series ahead

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:28 AM Page 17

SPOrTSS

Friday, 1 March, 2013

17There are a lot of great players, no question. This country is able to

deliver great players. The level is much better than in Spain. But we are

struggling to see a new generation coming through. – Jose Maria Olazabal

SINGApOREaGeNCIeS

World No.1 golfer Yani Tseng left her bestfor last on the opening day of the HSBCWomen's Champions event in Singapore.

The US$1.4 million tournament teed-off at Sentosa's Serapong Course onThursday with Spaniard Azahara Munozfiring a blistering seven-under to take thelead. Tseng is three shots back at four-under but it would have been even morehad it not been for the Taiwanese star'sbrilliant close at the 18th hole.

The 24-year-old hit a spectacular shotoff her 3-wood to reach the par-five in twoand then thrilled the crowd by draining along putt for eagle to move up the leader-board into a four-way tie for seventh.

"After the last putt dropped in? Yes, iam pretty happy [with my putting]," Tsengtold FOX Sports. "I was thinking I shouldgo practice [after my round] but now

maybe I don't have to!" "It is always goodto finish strong and on the last hole makebirdie or eagle. I still need to work on myputting. Today [Thursday] I was strugglinga little on the back-nine. Tseng is a hugelypopular figure in Taiwan and it was notsurprising to see a significant number ofher compatriots warmly applauding her asshe stepped onto the first tee at 10.04 amThursday morning. In her group was alsodefending champion and five-time LPGATour winner Angela Stanford as well asSpain's Beatriz Recari.

And it only took Tseng until thesecond hole to register her first birdie ofthe tournament. As Tseng struck her teeshot at the 156 yard par-three second, awoman screamed "in the hole" and shewasn't far wrong as the ball landed closeto the pin. Tseng would then move to two-under after four with some aggressive playon the par-five which led to an easy birdiechance from within five feet. She would

bogey the next hole after a poor third shotsaw her needing to make a putt from theedge of the green for par which shemissed. But, then she went back to two-under with a birdie on the seventh hole -

another par-five at 493 yards long.However, missed birdie putts on eight,nine and 10 would signal the start of a dipin Tseng's game in the opening round ofthis invitation-only tournament.

Eagle lifts Tseng in more ways than one

DUBAIaGeNCIeS

Leading seeds Novak Djokovic andRoger Federer made straight-setsprogress to the quarter-finals of theDubai Tennis Championships onWednesday. World number oneDjokovic downed battling worldnumber 55 Roberto Bautista-Agutin two contrasting sets after Federerbroke once in each set to beatanother Spanish player, MarcelGranollers.

Djokovic was untroubled in thefirst set, breaking twice beforeBautista-Agut got a game on theboard and ultimately winning 6-1.

He broke again at the first timeof asking in the second set and heldfor a 3-0 lead but serving for thematch at 5-3, he fell 0-40 behindand Bautista-Agut took his thirdbreak point to prolong the match.

The underdog saved three matchpoints during a staggering 16-minute service game at 4-5 beforefinally levelling the set at 5-5. Itcontinued to a tie-break andDjokovic led 5-2 before dropping apair of points on his serve - but thenresponded with two returning pointsto complete a 6-1 7-6 (7/4) win in90 minutes. He will face seventhseed Andreas Seppi after the Italianbeat Lukas Rosol 6-4 7-6 (7/4).

In the previous match on court,Federer prevailed 6-3 6-4 against theworld number 34. Federer broke tolove to lead 4-2 in the first set andthough Granollers produced anoutrageous wristy, inside-outforehand down the line, hopelesslywrong-footing the 17-times grandslam champion, to go 30-30 onFederer's serve, the world number twononetheless closed it out to leave hisopponent serving to stay in the set.

djokovic, Federeradvance in dubai

Benitez signalsChelsea exit afterdamning outburst

LONDONaGeNCIeS

Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez effectivelysignalled the end of his troubled reign onWednesday night after launching abroadside at both the club and his detractors.The Spaniard watched his side book an FACup quarter-final trip to Manchester Unitedafter a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough, andthen confirmed that he would be leavingStamford Bridge at the end of the seasonregardless of how the campaign ends. Inaddition, he blasted the decision to give himthe title of "interim manager" and laid intothe a section of fans who once again targetedhim at the Riverside Stadium. Benitez said: "I am really pleased here. Ihave a very good group of players who areworking very hard. It's a top club, so it's nota problem. "The problem is a group ofpeople who think they can say what theywant instead of supporting the team. "Theyhave to support the team, they have tosupport the players and don't waste anyother things because they don't need to beworried about me. "I will leave at the end ofthe season, so why do they have to beworried? "I will do my job, I will try to winevery game until the last minute, that's it."

Punjab govtorders enquiryagainst sBP official

LAHOREStaff rePOrt

Chief Secretary Punjab has ordered aninquiry against Azra Parveen, an official ofthe Sports Board Punjab for a number ofcomplaints against her. Sources in the SBPsaid that CS has taken the action followinga complaint lodged by Abdul Rashidregarding Azra’s recent promotion asdeputy director against the rules andregulations. Rashid alleged in thecomplaint that she was just a coach who canonly be promoted as a senior coach not asdeputy director. It was also alleged that shewas also involved in immoral activities anda number of such incidents were reported inthe complaint. The CS office has directedthe SPB to furnish a detailed report withinthree days for further necessary action.When contacted SPB official confirmed thata departmental inquiry has been startedagainst Azra in the light of complaintreceived from the office of CS.

ABU DHABIaGeNCIeS

Bubba Watson is keeping everyoneguessing about what he will serve at thechampions dinner at this year's USMasters, but has no doubt Rory McIlroywill be in the mix.

McIlroy has suffered a poor start tothe season after switching equipmentmanufacturers in a multi-million pounddeal, missing the cut in Abu Dhabi andlosing to Shane Lowry in the first roundof the WGC World Match Play last week.

But Watson is convinced the worldnumber one - who will defend his HondaClassic title this week - will come goodagain soon, while admitting he had neverbeen offered "stupid" money to changeclubs. "I think Rory is going to be numberone for a while," Watson said on a

teleconference ahead of his title defence atAugusta from April 11-14. "There is no-one in the history of the game who is 100per cent in making cuts.

"And match play is match play, it'ssuch a goofy tournament so I don't thinkRory and Tiger (Woods) losing in the firstround shows anything." As for changingclubs, Watson added: "If the right number,or what we call a stupid number in ourbusiness, comes along then obviously youlook at it and you figure it out. "I neverwanted to leave Ping, I've been with themsince I was eight years old so for me it'san easy decision. I've never got a stupidnumber, though." Watson, who defeatedSouth Africa's Louis Oosthuizen in a play-off to win his first major title last April,gets to choose the menu for this year'schampions dinner, which is traditionallyheld on the Tuesday before the first round.

rory will dine with thechampions, says Watson

PHf invites45 players foru-16 hockeytraining camp

LAHOREStaff rePOrt

The training camp of national U-16 Boysprobables preparing for participation inthe 2nd U-16 Boys Asia Cup will beestablished from March 6 at SialkotHockey Stadium. “Altogether forty fivewill attend the camp and they have beenselected from country wide trials heldrecently,” said a spokesman of PakistanHockey Federation here on Thursday.Camp commandant,former OlympianTahir Zaman will supervise the camp.Goalkeepers: Mohammad Rizwan (Haripur),

Roman Khan (Bannu), Mohammad Awais

(Multan), Sheraz Hafeez (Sialkot) & Muqbil Ali

(Karachi). Fullbacks: Junaid Kamal (Bannu),

Mohammad Mubasshir (Gojra), Abid Bhatti

(Lahore), Zubair Saleem (Gojra), Mohammad

Noman (Lahore), Mohammad Kamran (Lahore) &

Nayyar Haider (Karachi). Hlafbacks: Mohammad

Ibrahim (Mardan), Faizan Ali (Sialkot),

Mohammad Malik (Gojra), Abu Bakar

(Faisalabad), Sikandar (Lahore), Mohammad

Usman (Lahore), Hannan Anwar (Gojra), Shah

Faisal Shah (Gojra), Hafiz Shah Nawaz (Multan),

Khalil Ullah (Larkana), Salman Khan (Quetta),

Abu Bakar (Lahore) & Mohammad Rizwan

(Faisalabad). Forwards: Hamza Sajid

(Abbottabad), Mohammad Ali (Wah Cantt),

Roman Rahim (Bannu), Fawad Khan (Peshawar),

Sami Ullah (Peshawar), Shan Arshad

(Farooqabad), Nohaiz Malik (Sialkot), Junaid

Mansoor (Bahawalpur), Adeel Latif (Lahore),

Waseem Akram (Lahore), Mohammad Ateeq

(Gojra), Mohammad Arslan (Sialkot), Ali Hamza

(Lahore), Naveed (Faisalabad), Ehtesham Ahmed

(Karachi), Arslan (Karachi), Sajid Ali (Karachi),

Abdul Nafay (Quetta), Mohib (Bannu) & Ai

Bahadur (Vehari). Team managet: Tahir Zaman,

Manager/Head Coach, Rehan Butt, Coach,Zaheer

Ahmed Babar,Coach,Asif Ahmed Khan,Coach.

t20 up for olympicconsideration

LONDONaGeNCIeS

The MCC World Cricket committee arebacking the inclusion of Twenty20 cricket atthe 2024 Olympic Games, believing it couldlead to "a potential boost" for the sport.Cricket would have to apply to be on theprogramme for future Olympics, but has gotthrough the first stage of selection havingreceived full Olympic recognition in 2010.The earliest the ICC can apply to be part ofthe Olympics is for the 2024 Games. TheMCC World Cricket Committee - whichacts as a complementary body to ICC - metin Auckland over the past two days andalthough they admit it would cost the gamefinancially, feel the positives of being anOlympic sport make up for such losses.

siddiKur,MaTsuyaMa shareLead in ThaiLand

THAiLAND: Siddikur shared the

opening round lead with Hideki

Matsuyama on six-under-par 66

at the Open Championship

International Final Qualifying -

Asia. The Bangladeshi got off to

a hot start where he was five-

under after six holes to maintain

his bid to become the first player

to represent his country in the

Open Championship. China's Hu

Mu, Australian Scott Barr and

Singaporeans Quincy Quek and

Lam Zhiqun were a further shot

back in the two-day qualifier

where the top-four players

qualify for the year's third Major

at Muirfield in July. aGeNCIeS

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:28 AM Page 18

SPOrTS SFriday, 1 March, 2013

18

wAtCh It LIve

PTV SPORTS1st T20: Pakistan V S Africa09:00 PM

It’s one of my best opening rounds. I hit a

lot of fairways and when I didn't, I still hit the

green which was the key. – Azahara Munoz

ESPNAbierto Mexicano Tennis 03:00 AM

ESPNSerie A: Napoli v Juventus01:10 AM

ACApULCOaGeNCIeS

tOP seeds Rafael Nadal andDavid Ferrer lost just sevengames between them as theyeased into the quarter-finals

of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. The twoSpaniards were in a hurry to get thingsdone as number one seed Ferrer beatAmerican qualifier Wayne Odesnik 6-26-1 and number two Nadal followed himwith a 6-0 6-4 victory over Argentina'sMartin Alund. It was not all good forthree-time defending champion Ferrer,who faced seven break points on his ownserve, saving six, while converting fiveof the 14 he created himself.

Nadal, meanwhile, raced throughthe first set, losing just four points onserve, before his opponent hit hisstride in the second to make life a littlemore difficult. Ferrer will next face

Italian Paolo Lorenzi, who beatanother Spaniard, Pablo Andujar, 6-46-3, while Argentina's LeonardoMayer, a 6-2 6-2 winner over AndreyKuznetsov of Russia, awaits Nadal.Third seed Nicolas Almagro, also

twice a winner here, came through twoclose sets in his all-Spanish clash withTommy Robredo to claim a 6-4 7-6(7/4) victory. There were also wins forFabio Fognini, Santiago Giraldo andeighth seed Horacio Zeballos.

Nadal, ferrer cruisethrough to quarters

rain wrecks playat delray Beachinternational

DELRAYaGeNCIeS

Rain washed out almost the entire day'splay at the Delray Beach InternationalTennis Championships, with only fourgames possible in the singles draw.The match between Xavier Malisse andDaniel Munoz was 2-2 when officialsfinally called a halt to proceedings.

DUBAi: Novak

Djokovic hits the

ball to progress to

the quarter-finals

of the Dubai Tennis.

LONDONaGeNCIeS

Nathan Cleverly is hoping to finally securea date with Juergen Braehmer after hedeals with Robin Krasniqi next month.

The Welshman makes the next defenceof his WBO light-heavyweight title againstKrasniqi on March 16, an assignment heexpects to pass without any hitches.

But he is already targeting Braehmer,who he was supposed to fight in 2010

when the German held the title. "He's beenon the scene for many years now and it'stime to get it done and dusted," Cleverlytold Sky Sports.

"It's definitely a fight I want becauseI'll have set the record straight then. "Hedidn't turn up for the fight two days beforewe were meant to fight, he got stripped ofthe title and I got upgraded to champion."But I want to beat this guy in the ring andonce we get Krasniqi done we'll get thatopportunity."

Cleverly targetsBraehmer scalp

LAHOREStaff rePOrt

Karachi Blues defeated Sialkot by 9 wickets inthe final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy playedat the Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Karachi Blueshad on Day 1 won the toss and elected to fieldfirst. The decision paid off as the Karachibowlers did not let the Sialkot batsmen settle.

A good opening spell by Anwer Ali whofinished with 4-64 and some tidy bowling bymedium pacer Tariq Haroon and spinner AzamHussain who got 2 wickets each restricted theStallions to a first innings total of 229. M.Ayubwith 72 (10x4s) and M.Jahangir with 54(10x4s) were the only batsmen to offer some

sort of resistance. Karachi Blues in reply posteda huge 428 in the first innings mainly due to asuperb innings of 178 by Akbar-ur-Rehmanlaced with 24 boundaries and a six. AzamHussain remained unbeaten with a wellaccumulated 74 with 10 fours.

The Sialkot batsmen could not fare anybetter the second time round. Trying toovercome a 199 run deficit the Stallionscrumbled once again under pressure andcould manage only 248 in the second inningsleaving Karachi to get a mere 50 runs to getan outright win and lift the trophy. Onceagain M.Ayub showed some resiliencescoring his second half century of the matcheventually getting out for 69 with 9 fours. Leg

spinner turned batsmenMansoor Amjad scored60 with 8 fours and amaximum. This timethe destroyer in chiefwas Tariq Haroon whodismissed 5 batsmengiving away 74 runs.Karachi got to therequired target losing 1wicket in the process.Akbar-ur-Rehman waslater declared player onthe match for hisoutstanding hundred.

Karachi Blues lift QuaidTrophy with big win

LHR 01-03-2013_Layout 1 3/1/2013 3:29 AM Page 19

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Editor: Arif Nizami

Friday, 1 March, 2013

ISLAMABADaPP

PRIME Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf onThursday said Russia was a source ofpeace and stability at both, regional andthe global level, and its growing powerwas a positive development for the

multi-polar world of today.The prime minister said this while warmly

welcoming a delegation of the Council of Fed-eration of the Federal Assembly of the RussianFederation led by Valentina Matvienko, chair-woman of the council at the PM’s House.

Russian ambassador to Pakistan AndreyBundnik accompanied the delegation.

Ashraf said there had been a visible ex-pansion in the relations as well as economiccooperation between the two countries andPakistan greatly valued Russia’s interest toinvest in the energy sector of Pakistan. Hesaid there was a vast potential for further in-creasing the bilateral trade.

“There is a national consensus in Pakistanon building strong relationship with the RussianFederation and we attach great importance to ourrelations with Russia. Both the countries haveinitiated a process of building a broad-basedlong term partnership,” the prime minister said.

“We greatly value the support and assistanceof Russian Federation in the war against terror-

ism,” Ashraf added.Matvienko thanked him for meeting the del-

egation and said Pakistan was an important part-ner of Russia and played an important role ininternational relations.

She said the exchange of visits of the parlia-mentary delegations of both the countries wouldhelp further strengthen bilateral relations. Shesaid some 2,000 Pakistani students had gradu-ated from Russian universities and Russia wouldwelcome more students from Pakistan.

The prime minister said parliaments of boththe countries could certainly play an importantrole in strengthening the relationship betweenthe two countries.

He said Pakistan was an ideal country forforeign investors and Russian investors must beencouraged to invest in Pakistan.

Ashraf thanked the Russian Federation forsigning a memorandum of understanding for ex-pansion and modernisation of the Pakistan SteelMills and expressed hope that the work wouldbe completed on time.

QUETTAaGeNCIeS

Ismatullah holds an AK-47 andchecks vehicles on the road. “Enoughis enough. We have no trust in the se-curity forces any more and we’ll pro-tect our community ourselves,” saysthe teenage Shia student.

Extremist bombers killed nearly200 people in Quetta in the two worstbomb attacks to strike Shia Muslimsfrom the minority Hazara community,just weeks apart on January 10 andFebruary 16.

After each attack, thousands ofHazaras, including women and chil-dren, camped out in the bitter cold de-manding that the army step in toprotect them. The government bro-kered an end to the protests, but re-fused to mobilise the troops.

Outlawed extremist groupLashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) claimed re-sponsibility and has threatened to ex-terminate all Shias.

Few believe that dozens of menrounded up after the bomb attacks willever be brought to justice.

The Supreme Court and rightsgroups accuse the authorities of fail-ing to protect Hazaras and now youngmen like 18-year-old Ismatullah are

taking up arms to defend themselvesand their families.

Ismatullah’s best friend was shotdead last June near Hazara Town. Helost more friends when suicidebombers flattened a snooker hall onJanuary 10 and a massive bomb hid-den in a water tanker destroyed a mar-ket on February 16.

“I couldn’t control myself when Isaw scattered pieces of so many chil-dren and women of our community,”said the first year college student.

“Our community is only inter-ested in education and business, butterrorists have forced us to take upwhatever arms we have and take tothe streets for our own security.”

At the moment they operate asvolunteers under the name, Syed-ul-Shohada Scouts, registered as part ofthe Balochistan Scouts Association,an affiliate of the worldwide scoutingmovement.

For years, young men like Is-matullah have volunteered to protectsensitive events, such as religiousprocessions during the holy monthof Muharram.

But their chairman says the threatis now so great that they should bepaid full time as an auxiliary to gov-ernment security forces.

“We have around 200 young menwho perform security duties on spe-cific occasions, but most of them arestudents and workers, and can’t workfull-time,” said Syed Zaman, chair-man of the Hazara Scouts.

“We are trying to make a systemto start their salaries for permanentdeployment and also coordinate withthe security agencies. Hopefully, wewill be able to form a regular force…and salaries in a month,” he said.

Scouts president Ghulam Haidersaid it was a mistake to rely on gov-ernment security when the first oftwo suicide bombers struck at thesnooker hall in the Alamdar Roadneighbourhood.

“It resulted in another bomb blastminutes after the first one and we lostmany more people,” Haider told AFP.

“We didn’t want that to happenagain, so immediately after the blaston February 16, we armed our youthto man the streets and entry points,which helped to prevent the chancesof a second attack,” he claimed.

Hazara Town, where the marketwas bombed, is very exposed, in theshadow of the Chiltan mountains andnear the bypass which links theAfghan border town of Chaman toPakistan’s financial capital Karachi.

While paramilitary Frontier Corpsand police patrol the main ap-proaches, they are not visible insidethe neighbourhood.

“Security agencies can’t protectus. They don’t know the area becausemost of them come from outsideQuetta. So we’re planning to set upour own permanent posts inside ourareas,” said Haider.

The police, however, have theirdoubts.

“If we start private policing byarming one particular community, itwill set the wrong precedent,” saidFiaz Ahmed Sunbal, head of Quettapolice operations.

He claimed police were planningto close entrances to Hazara Town,and would recruit 200 young Hazarasto patrol their own areas.

Haider says closing off roads willisolate the community but welcomedthe recruitment of Hazara Scouts as along-term solution.

Others warn that time is runningout.

“If they don’t do anything andsomething happens again, we willtake up guns and go out and killour opponents. There will be openwar,” said 26-year-old shopkeeperZahid Ali.

russia source of peace, stabilityat regional and global levels: Pm

hazaras to take up arms over attacks

AShrAf SAyS MoScow’Sgrowing power poSitivedevelopMent for todAy’SMulti-polAr world

NisAr to forwArdNAmes for CAretAkerPm sooN

IsLaMabad: Leader of theOpposition in the National

Assembly Nisar Ali Khanhas said he will soonforward names for acaretaker prime minister toPrime Minister Raja Pervez

Ashraf. Talking to reporterson Thursday, Nisar said he had

received a letter by Ashraf askinghim to propose names for a caretaker prime minister,adding that he had completed consultations with hisparty leadership and would propose the names to theprime minister within a couple of days. OnWednesday, Prime Minster Ashraf had sent the letterto the leader of the opposition, in which he also wrotethat it was imperative that “we initiate the processunder Article 224 of the constitution to arrive at aconsensus on the appointment of a caretaker primeminister‚ who could uphold the national interest andensure free‚ fair and transparent elections”. ONlINe

taliban to us: Letgo of our friendsand we’ll talk

ISLAMABADShaIq huSSaIN

To the dismay of intense US efforts for the restart ofstalled peace negotiations with the Taliban in Doha, thedialogue process is yet to begin as the Taliban areunwilling to talk until the US releases five Talibandetainees held at Guantanamo Bay prison. The Talibanleadership is displeased with the US inability to releasethe five important Taliban leaders. The US has reportedlyagreed to hand over the Taliban detainees to Qatariauthorities instead of giving them to the Taliban, but eventhat commitment is yet to materialise. Diplomatic sourcesprivy to the Afghan reconciliation process said theTaliban believed that the US should release theircomrades if it was serious in holding dialogue. “As thereis no release of Taliban leaders, no movement forwardhas been made yet and the peace talks are yet to begin,” asource said, seeking anonymity. Moreover, the oppositionby Karzai-led Afghan government to the formalestablishment of a Taliban office in Doha was also ahurdle in the way of peace dialogue between the Talibanand US officials, he said. Another diplomatic source, whoalso asked not to be named, said the Afghanreconciliation process seemed to be going nowheredespite Washington’s and its allies’ efforts, as thepractical steps needed on their part were not being taken.“The Taliban believe that they have an edge over the US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, so the US should notexpect them (Taliban) to be the first in allowingconcessions. Rather, the Taliban expect Washington to dothat and come up with peace overtures such as release oftheir leaders,” he said. In addition to the US-Talibanstandoff over the Taliban detainees, there have been otherhurdles in the Afghanistan reconciliation process andsources said some fresh tensions between Islamabad andKabul were also hindering efforts for peace. “The Afghangovernment recently refused to hand over Maulvi FaqirMuhammad, a key leader of Pakistani Taliban, toIslamabad and that did not go down well with Pakistaniauthorities, who expected a positive response from theKarzai government in the wake of release of over twodozen Taliban detainees by Pakistan,” he said. Faqir wasdetained in Afghanistan early last month (February) bythe Afghan security forces. The source said the Afghangovernment, on the other hand, was insisting on therelease of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a close aide ofMullah Omar. Islamabad has already told Kabul that itwould release the remaining Taliban detainees in phases.“It seems that after some months of positivedevelopments, things have come to a standstill and thereis no movement forward,” he said.

uS effortS for reStArting diAloguewith tAlibAn linked with tAlibAn’SreleASe froM guAntAnAMo bAy

tAlibAn believe they hAve right todictAte terMS AS they hAve upperhAnd in AfghAniStAn

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