Thursday, 21 March, 2013 Jamadi ul Awwal 8, 1434

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Rs 17.00 Vol III No 263 19 Pages Karac — Peshawar Edition

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NEWS

Attempts being made to stopMQM from political activities.— Dr Farooq Sattar

PuNjab assemblydIssolved

LAHORE: Punjab Governor

Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mahmud on

Wednesday dissolved the Punjab

Assembly as he signed the summary

regarding the dissolution submitted by

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The chief

minister had earlier sent a formal

summary to the governor, advising him

to dissolve the provincial assembly.

Three provincial assemblies of Khyber-

Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan

had been dissolved on March 19. The

prime minister had previously urged the

chief ministers of the four provinces to

advise their respective governors to

dissolve the assemblies by March 19.

However, a deadlock on the matter

between the government and the PML-N

meant that Punjab’s assembly, whose

tenure expires on April 9, was not

dissolved on March 19. STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABADTAyyAb HuSSAin

IN a major development in its maidenmeeting, the eight-member parlia-mentary committee tasked with ap-pointing the caretaker prime ministerdiscarded the names of Justice (r) Mir

Hazar Khan Khoso and Rasool BukhshPalejo with majority and a consensus is likelyto be achieved today (Thursday) on either DrIshrat Hussain or Justice (r) Nasir AslamZahid for appointment as the caretaker PMpremier, Pakistan Today has reliably learnt.

The committee which held its first meet-ing on Wednesday at the Parliament Housewas headed by Ghulam Ahmed Bilour anddecided in principle that no new nominationwould be discussed by the committee andonly four names would be considered.

A source said that despite tensions be-tween both parties, the meeting was held in acordial atmosphere as the members of thecommittee looked to be on the same pageover the issue.

“The impression of failure of the com-mittee is false as the committee discarded twonominees to narrow down their differences.Since the PPP leadership had reservationsover the name of Palejo and the PML-N hadreservations about Justice (r) Khoso, bothnames were dropped in agreement. We canhope for a good outcome today as both sideshave expressed willingness to resolve thematter through mutual contacts and diplo-macy and the committee is the best platformfor this purpose,” the source added.

The source said the PML-N leadershiphad also expressed flexibility for dissolution

of Punjab Assembly, which was dissolved onWednesday evening, and both sides wouldexhibit same cordiality on Thursday over thecaretaker setup.

Another source said both Dr Ishrat Hus-sain and Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid wererespectable individuals and any of the twocould be trusted with the responsibility ofholding the upcoming elections.

Talking to reporters following the meet-ing, PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah saidthey could not evolve any consensus over thenames of Justice Khoso and Palejo.

He said that terms of reference (ToRs) ofthe committee were also finalised in themeeting under which the caretaker PM wouldbe appointed with a two-thirds majority orunanimously while the quorum must be of

five members.Sardar Mehtab Abbasi said it was dis-

cussed in threadbare what fundamental char-acteristics should be possessed by thecaretaker prime minister.

“The caretaker PM should be impartial,intelligent, apolitical and must have admin-

istrative experience and should be a man ofgood repute.”

Abbasi hoped that there would be a con-sensus, but pointed that the caretaker primeminister could also be appointed with a 6-2majority in the committee.

He said it was the first time ever in thehistory of the country that the matter was re-ferred to the parliamentary committee.

Abbasi made it clear that efforts werebeing made to appoint caretaker premierthrough the committee, hoping that the com-mittee would fulfil its constitutional respon-sibilities, however, in case of failure the samenames would be forwarded to the ECP.

Farooq H Naik said new nominees couldnot be considered by the committee per theconstitution, as the committee had no author-

ity to change the proposed names sent by theprime minister and opposition leader.

Naik added that the same names wouldbe sent to the Election Commission of Pak-istan if the committee failed to evolve con-sensus on appointment of a caretaker primeminister within the stipulated time.

He said whatever decision would betaken in the committee it would be in accor-dance with the spirit of law and constitution.

The government has nominated Dr IshratHusain and Justice (r) Mir Hazar KhanKhoso, while the PML-N has finalised thenames of Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid andRasool Bukhsh Palejo for the post of care-taker prime minister.

The coalition government is being repre-sented by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Khur-sheed Shah, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour andFarroq Naik, while Pervez Rasheed, SardarMehtab Abbasi, Khwaja Saad Rafique andSardar Yaqoob are representing the opposi-tion in the committee.

Shah said earlier in the day that the mat-ter of the caretaker prime minister could beresolved instantly if Nawaz Sharif wanted.

“The opposition should not oppose thegovernment nominees for the slot and if thereare some shortcomings, they should be high-lighted.” Shah said if the matter was not re-solved in the committee, it would be a slapon the face on all politicians.

“We come here again with good inten-tion to get the issue resolve amicably, evenwe support the name of Ishaq Dar for theslot.”

Shujaat Hussain said political decisionshould be taken by the politicians themselvesand these matters should not be referred tonon-politicians. “If they cannot take such de-cision, they better leave politics.”

He warned that it would not be fair if theparliamentary committee position was under-mined, adding the opposition should not berigid enough that they have to send the matterto the ECP.

Naik said there was no constitutional barabout giving new names to the committee forthe slot of the caretaker PM, rather the con-stitution was silent over the issue. SenatorPervez Rashid said no new names would bepresented in the committee, as they would notaccept any changed to the proposed list ofnames.

He said it was not a failure that the matterwas referred to the parliamentary committee,rather it was a constitutional procedure.

IT’s eITher NasIr or IshraTParLiaMeNtarycoMMittee ruLes outNaMes of Justice (r)Khoso, PaLeJo foriNteriM PM

The impression of failure of the committee is false as thecommittee discarded two nominees to narrow down theirdifferences. Since the PPP leadership had reservations

over the name of Palejo and the PML-N had reservationsabout Justice (r) Khoso, both names were dropped inagreement. We can hope for a good outcome today asboth sides have expressed willingness to resolve the

matter through mutual contacts and diplomacy and thecommittee is the best platform for this purpose

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif has said thatthe completion of five-year constitu-tional tenure by duly elected parliamentwas a major achievement of the demo-cratic system.

Talking to reporters in Lahore aftera high-level party meeting on Wednes-day‚ the PML-N chief said it was for thefirst time in the country’s history that agovernment elected by the people wasdeparting, while a new one would comeinto power through the same democraticprocess.

Nawaz said the PML-N spent fiveyears in opposition with patience forstrengthening democracy in the country,adding that the PML-N as oppositionshowed the way of prosperity and devel-opment to the government.

“We showed commitment to solvethe country’s problems with cooperationwith the government.”

He said all problems and challengescurrently being faced by the countrywere the product of dictatorships.

Nawaz said martial law was no wayto resolve the problems, but it wasdemocracy that provided ultimate solu-tion to the problems of the people andthe country. He said in the past‚ conspir-acies were hatched against democracy.

Nawaz hoped that the issue of nom-inating caretaker prime minister wouldbe resolved through constitutional anddemocratic process. The PML-N chiefsaid he would not tolerate any attemptto rig the elections and would take allmeasures to ensure free and fair elec-tions. Nawaz said the MQM partedways with the government only a fewdays before the end of the government’s

term. He said the PML-N receivedthousands of applications for awardingof tickets for the next general electionsand that a convention would be heldin Lahore on March 22 for aspirantsof party tickets. The PML-N chief

also welcomed Raheela Magsi intothe party. “Bargaining was made indissolution of Sindh and Balochistanassemblies,” he said, adding that bar-gain was against the spirit of the 20thConstitutional Amendment.

Completion of term by electedparliament mega achievement: Nawaz

PML-N chief says aLLProbLeMs beiNg facedby the couNtryProduct ofdictatorshiPs

Imran Khan elected PTIchairperson unopposedLAHORE: PakistanTehreek-i-Insaf(PTI) chief ImranKhan waselected as thepartychairpersonunopposed onWednesday.Khan had filednominationpapers for the slotin the presence ofelection officer HamidKhan. However, no other party official filednomination papers to challenge Khan. Khan’sunopposed election was preceded by intra-partyelections that were held across Punjab and in partsof Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in January and February.The intra-party elections, PTI has maintained, arepart of the party’s strategy to beat dynastic politics.Imran Khan has said that there will be a two-termlimit on anyone being head of his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), after the upcoming internal party pollsto elect a chairperson. “I will not be a lifetime headof this party because it is against democratic normsand values,” Khan said, addressing a gathering ofnewly-elected party office bearers at the PTI officehere on Tuesday. He said that unlike the PML-Nand PPP, the PTI would not become a “familylimited and branded political” party. STAFF REPORT

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Thursday, 21 March, 2013

Chaudhry Nisar is trying to sabotage the mandate

of the parliamentary committee on appointment of

interim PM. — Syed Khurshid Shah

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

The Supreme Court (SC) will indict NationalAccountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Admi-ral (r) Fasih Bokhari in a contempt of court caseon April 2.

A three-member bench of the SC, headed byChief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, re-sumed the hearing into the case on Wednesdayand ordered Bokhari’s indictment.

During the proceedings, NAB chief’s coun-sel Naveed Rasul Mirza requested the SC toshift the case to some other bench, which the SCdenied.

Referring to the Contempt of Court Ordi-nance, Mirza argued that a judge could not hearthe contempt case against any individual whohad registered a complaint against him. He sub-mitted that if the chief justice continued hearingthe case, it would give a negative impression.

The SC had issued a show cause noticeunder Article 204 of the constitution read withSection 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance2003 to the NAB chairman for writing a

strongly-worded letter criticising the judiciaryto President Asif Ali Zardari.

During the proceedings, the counsel for theNAB chief also read out the context of the let-ter.

“In the January 27 letter to the president,Admiral Bokhari described how the superior ju-diciary, through its notices and verbal and writ-ten orders, had attempted to undermine theconstitutional position of the bureau.”

On this, the chief justice remarked thatevery angle would be looked into when and ifsomeone pointed a finger at the judiciary’s dig-nity and superiority.

Justice Gulzar said the NAB chairman’s let-ter was not written against a single judge, butthe Supreme Court was targeted.

Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed told Mirza thatthe name of the Supreme Court was mentioned10 times in the letter. “It means that the wholejudiciary was criticised by the NAB chairman.”

Chief Justice Chaudhry said issuing a noticeto the NAB chairman was nothing out of the or-dinary, adding that the former and present primeministers had also appeared before the SC.

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

PRESIDENT Asif AliZardari on Wednesdaysigned a summary givingapproval to holding generalelections on May 11.

According to president’s spokesmanFarhatullah Bababr, the summary wassent by Prime Minister Raja PervaizAshraf.

The prime minister had advised thepresident to announce a suitable date forholding general elections to the NationalAssembly in terms of Article 48 (1) of theconstitution read with the relevant statu-tory provisions.

The spokesperson said section 11 (1)of the Representation of the People Act1976 says “As soon as may be necessaryand practicable‚ the president makes anannouncement of the date or dates onwhich the polls shall be taken‚ the Elec-tion Commission‚ not later than thirty

days of such announcement shall‚ by no-tification in the official gazette‚ call upona constituency to elect a representative orrepresentatives”.

This election will mark an end to thePPP-led government and the only demo-cratic government to finish its term.

On March 17, the National Assemblystood dissolved on completion of its five-year term under Article 52 of the consti-tution. The Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand Balochistan assemblies have beendissolved, and the Punjab Assembly islikely to follow soon.

On Tuesday, the Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP) allotted electionsymbols to 144 political parties, whereasit deferred the application of PakistanPeople’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP),which is demanding its old emblem‘arrow’.

The decision on ‘arrow’ symbol willbe taken by March 25.

According to statistics available at theElection Commission’s website, 23.58percent of the total 87.5 million voterswere of ages between 31 and 40 years,while the second largest group of voterswas between the ages of 18 and 25.

In the upcoming elections, a politicalparty must secure 172 seats (51 percent oftotal seats) in the National Assembly ofPakistan to obtain a majority or else theelections will lead to a hung parliament.

If a political party with the mostvotes is either unable or unwilling toform a coalition government within acertain time-frame, a runoff electionwill be carried out.

General elections on may 11

Pervez swornin as KPcaretaker Cm

PESHAWARSTAFF REPORT

Justice (r) Tariq Pervez Khan on Wednesdaytook oath as the caretaker chief minister ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa. Governor EngineerShaukatullah Khan administered the oath toKhan at a well attended ceremony. Beside others,more than a dozen outgoing provincial ministers,speaker of provincial assembly Kiramat UllahKhan Chagharmati, Peshawar High Court ChiefJustice Dost Mohammad Khan, Chief SecretaryGhulam Dastgir Khan, Inspector General PoliceAkbar Khan Hoti and a number of high-rankingofficials attended the ceremony. However, bothleader of the house in outgoing assembly AmirHaider Khan Hoti and leader of oppositionAkram Khan Durrani did not turn up for theceremony. The attendees included AfrasiabKhattak, Anwar Saifullah Khan, Sahibzada SabirShah, Maulana Amanullah Haqqani, MianMuneer Orakzai and Senator Ilyas AhmadBilour. Peshawar based United States, IslamicRepublic of Iran and Afghanistan ConsulGenerals also attended the ceremony. Talking toreporters after being administered the oath, Khansaid ensuring free and transparent polls in apeaceful atmosphere would be his top priority.He said he would maintain his neutral and non-political status in accordance with the aspirationof the people.PERvEz’s APPOiNtmENt

cHALLENgED: A writ petition was filed inthe Peshawar High Court (PHC), challenging thenotification of appointment of Justice (r) TariqPervez as caretaker chief minister of KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) on Wednesday. Citing Article207 of the constitution, the petitioner readPervez could not hold the public office for twoyears after his retirement.

Bokhari to be indicted forcontempt on April 2

First day at uK school‘most important day’of life: malala LONDON: MalalaYousafzai, a schoolgirlfrom Swat, who wasshot in the head by theTaliban forcampaigning for girls’rights to education, hasattended her first day atschool in the UK.Malala describedstarting at the city’sEdgbaston High Schoolfor Girls as “the mostimportant day” of herlife. She said it was herhappiest moment as shewas fulfilling herdream of going back toschool. Malala also saidshe felt proud to wearthe uniform because it proved that she was a student, who wasliving her life and learning, reported the BBC. Malala, who is inyear nine and will start her GCSE curriculum next year, said shewas looking forward to learning about politics and law.Headmistress Dr Ruth Weekes said she believed Malala needed thestability of being at school. inP

LAHORE: Preparations are in full swing for the March 23 ‘Tsunami Plus’ public gathering of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf at Iqbal Park. STAFF PHOTO

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Thursday, 21 March, 2013

Pakistan wants durable

peace in Afghanistan. —

President Asif Zardari

KARACHI: Relatives of the peopleallegedly in custody of intelligenceagencies participate in a hungerstrike protest in front of the localpress club on Wednesday. OnLinE

KABULAGEnCiES

The US military and the Afghan govern-ment have reached a deal on the pullout ofAmerican special operations forces andtheir Afghan counterparts from a strategiceastern province after complaints that theywere involved in human rights abuses.

American military officials have stead-fastly denied the Afghan abuse allegations,which led the president, Hamid Karzai, todemand the withdrawal of the US comman-dos from Wardak province despite fears thedecision could leave the area and the neigh-bouring capital of Kabul more vulnerableto al-Qaida and other insurgents.

The agreement calls for the US-ledcoalition to withdraw the special operationsforces from Wardak’s Nirkh district, thearea where the abuses allegedly occurred,along with the Afghan forces who workwith them, as they are replaced by the

Afghan army or national police. The rest ofthe province would “transition over time,”according to a statement.

It was a symbolic victory for Karzai,who has long complained that US specialoperations forces and their Afghan partnersare outside his control. It will also speed thehandover of security in the troubledprovince, faster than US officials and somemembers of Karzai’s government had rec-ommended or planned.

An Afghan defence ministryspokesman, General Zahir Azimi, saidAfghan forces were ready to fill the gap.

“The international forces are ready towithdraw the special forces from Nirkh dis-trict of Maidan Wardak province, andAfghan army units are going to replacethem in the coming days,” Azimi said at apress conference in Kabul on Wednesday.

He said there were no other US com-mando units elsewhere in the province.

A US military official confirmed that,

saying that a small, mostly US army specialoperations team and the Afghan troops work-ing with them would withdraw from Nirkh.The deal took more than three weeks for USand Afghan security officials to craft, morethan a week after the expiration of the dead-line for the US pullout initially set by Karzai.

The pace “is really driven by a require-ment to have effective security – not justfor us, it’s for the Afghans as well,” Dun-ford said in an interview with AssociatedPress on Monday.

Speaking before the announcement ofthe deal, Karzai’s spokesman, Aimal Faizi,said Afghan security forces would take con-trol of the province eventually, so the grad-ual transfer “can be a testing period.”

Faizi insisted this week that an Afghan-American man working for the US specialoperations forces had been filmed abusinga suspect, on US orders. The spokesmansaid the video had been obtained during anAfghan defence ministry investigation,

which was completed over the weekend.Dunford rejected the abuse charge in

Monday’s interview. He said a recentlycompleted US investigation had found thatthe interpreter was not working with USforces at the time of the incident.

“We’ve investigated this three times, soI’m confident,” Dunford said. “There wereno US forces in or around that incident, andthe interpreter was not in our employ at thetime of the incident.”

It was not clear what the agreementwould mean for dozens of small US specialoperations outposts throughoutAfghanistan, and the Afghan units part-nered with them.

The posts are intended to help extendsecurity and Afghan government influenceto remote Taliban strongholds that are be-yond the range of the Afghan army or po-lice. American commandos partner withsmall bands of Afghan local police or“ALP,” a force that was created by the US

and later incorporated into the Afghan in-terior ministry. While the units work withAmericans, they answer to the local districtpolice chief, according to an Afghan secu-rity official who spoke on condition ofanonymity.

To join the local police, potential re-cruits, all drawn from the local villages,must be vouched for by local elders thenvetted by the interior ministry, including abackground check by Afghan intelligenceto rule out prior participation with the Tal-iban. If approved, they get rudimentarytraining on weapons safety and basic policeskills and military tactics.

Afghan and coalition officials say theback-country policemen have so erodedmilitant influence that they have become atop target for the Taliban. Bounties for in-dividual policemen are $6,000 (£4,000),compared with $4,000 for regular police-men and $2,000 for Afghan soldiers, oneAfghan official said.

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

NOTING that thatBalochistan hadturned into a warzone and a safe haven

for kidnappers, extortionistsand killers, the SupremeCourt (SC) directed theprovincial government to re-cover all missing persons,make atmosphere peacefuland election friendly in DeraBugti, launch an operationagainst the people involved intargeted killings and submit areport to it at the earliest.

A three-member SCbench, headed by Chief Jus-tice of Pakistan (CJP) IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry,passed the remarks whilehearing the Balochistan lawand order case on Wednesday.

The Balochistan chiefsecretary, IGP, home secretary

and other officers were pres-ent for the hearing. The courtwas told, “Eight districts havebeen declared sensitive in theprovince. These districts in-clude Qalat, Dera Bugti, Tur-bat, Gwadar and Khuzdar.General elections in Balochis-tan will take place simultane-ously with the entire country.The governor is conveningtribal jirga in this connection.The army will be deployed inspecific districts if need be.The number of voters hasbeen reduced from 95,000 to59,000 in Dera Bugti. There-fore, we are trying to reviewelectoral lists of 2008.”

The CJP expressed dis-pleasure over non presenta-tion of a clear report onmissing persons and law andorder, remarking why had thecourt not been made cognisantof missing persons’ matterand the law and order in the

province. The court was fur-ther told that payment of com-pensation had been made tothe victims of Hazara Towntragedy and others and stepswere being taken to improvethe law and order.

“Training is being im-parted to the Balochistan po-lice to deal with terrorist actsand security is being providedto Chinese workers atGwadar. Work on the con-struction of Kachchi canal onan area of 100,000 acres is un-derway in Dera Bugti,” thecourt was informed. The CJPobserved, “Balochistan hasbeen turned into a war for ran-som, kidnapping, targetkilling and extortion money.Effective steps will have to betaken for restoration of peacein the province. Recovery ofmissing persons is a vitalissue and focus will have to beplaced on it. Children holddemonstrations by carryingpictures in Balochistan. Noone is there to wipe away theirtears. We will try to proceedto Quetta in the second weekof April,” he said.

The hearing of the casewas adjourned till April 4.

MULTANHAQ nAWAZ

Former president PervezMusharraf is not quite sureabout his return to Pakistan ashe can be arrested at the air-port or meet with the samefate as that of slain PPP chair-woman Benazir Bhutto whowas assassinated in 2008.

His close aides told Pak-istan Today that they had ad-vised him not to come toPakistan at this juncture ashe would not be able to getfull security.

On condition ofanonymity, they said theywere in contact with the for-mer president, adding thatthey had told Musharraf thatforces that had always beensupportive towards him werenot in a position to defend himas they themselves were fac-ing a very critical situation.

Likewise, Musharraf hadnot a solid political base andfollowers so it would be un-wise of him to come to Pak-istan under suchcircumstances, they added.

According to theseaides, though the MQM andMusharraf were consideredgood friends, but serious

life threats exist as terroristsand the Baloch have alreadyannounced reward for hiskiller (s).

Other sources claim thathe would not be able to playan effective and decisive rolein the changed electoral sce-nario so he was being directedto stay away from the presentpolitical fighting. They addedit was not the right time forhis return to Pakistan. Heneeded to ensure his securityand then emerge on the coun-try’s political scene. The aidessaid further the former presi-dent was not in a position tochallenge his rivals so it wasbetter for him to live abroadand wait for right time.

They also said Mushar-raf had played no role in thecurrent electoral battle andhe was yet to jump into thefray. He has no solid politi-cal base and committed fol-lowers who could take tostreets in case the govern-ment decided to take actionagainst him, they said.

Sources also indicatedthat the former president hasbeen playing on a weakestwicket, adding that his arrivalwould have no impact on thecountry’s politics. The onlyplus point of Musharraf’s re-turn would exert an extrapressure on the Sharifs whosegovernment was overthrownby Musharraf in 1999.

QUETTASTAFF REPORT

The government and the op-position have proposed namesfor the caretaker chief minis-ter of Balochistan.

The government pro-posed the names of formerchief justice of Balochistanhigh court Ammanullah Yas-inzai, Justice (r) Ahmed KhanLashari and Jam Kamal.

Opposition leaderNawabzada Tariq Magsisuggested the names ofSaleh MohammadBhootani, Hussain BakhshBangalzai, and Nawab

Ghaus Bakhsh Barozai.Meanwhile, the National

Party has suggested the namesof former Balochistan Assem-bly speaker Aslam Bhootaniand Ali Ahmed Kurd.

The government and op-position will now deliberateon the names before selectingone as the caretaker chief min-ister of Balochistan.

This political develop-ment came just days aftergovernor Magsi dissolved theprovincial assembly.

Earlier, provincial assem-blies had also been dissolvedin Khyber Pakhtunkhawa(KP) and Sindh.

Musharraf not sureabout his return

No electoralalliance or seatadjustmentwith musharraf,says mQm

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

The Muttahida Qaumi Move-ment (MQM) CoordinationCommittee has strongly de-nied media reports about theparty’s alliance with the partyof former president General (r)Pervez Musharraf.

In a statement issued onWednesday, the committeeclarified in unequivocal termsthat the MQM had not enteredinto any alliance with the for-mer president or his party, theAll Pakistan Muslim League(APML). “Nor has any seatadjustment been done with theAPML,” it added. The com-mittee said reports appearingin a section of press and elec-tronic media were unfoundedand figment of imagination.

The committee expressedits dismay over the misleadingnews about electoral alliancewith the APML, saying ifsomeone had a copy of the im-puted agreement, they shouldmake it public.

It requested reporters ofnewspapers and televisionchannels and anchor personsto desist from forwardingnews without verifying its au-thenticity.

Interpol refUses to arrest MUsharrafISLAMABAD: Interpol, the world’s largest police

organisation, has turned down Pakistan’s request to arrest

former president Pervez Musharraf in Benazir Bhutto’s

assassination case. According to a private TV channel,

Interpol’s legal team has responded to FIA’s letter, refusing

to arrest the former general. In its reply, Interpol has said

that the issue of Musharraf’s arrest appears to be politically

motivated. It is the second time that Interpol has refused

to nab Musharraf on Pakistan’s request. Meanwhile, FIA

official Chaudhry Zulfiqar said that Musharraf’s arrest

warrant would remain valid in Pakistan. OnLinE

Us and afghanistan reach deal on pullout of american special forces

balochistan hasbecome akidnapping turf: CjP

court orders recovery of aLL MissiNgbaLoch PersoNs, MaKiNg atMosPhereiN dera bugti suitabLe for PoLLs,LauNchiNg a cracKdowN oN KiLLers

justice (r) alvito be caretakerCm of sindh

KARACHIAPP

Sindh Chief Minister Qaim AliShah and the former leader of theopposition in the Sindh Assem-bly Syed Sardar Ahmed onWednesday recommended Jus-tice (r) Zahid Qurban Alvi’sname for the post of caretakerchief minister of the province.Addressing a joint press confer-ence at the Sindh Chief Minis-ter’s House, Shah said Justice (r)Alvi was a neutral personalityand he was recommended afterconsidering point of views of allsides. Earlier, the chief ministerand Ahmed signed the advicefor the appointment of Justice(r) Alvi’s as caretaker chiefminister of Sindh that will besent to the Sindh governor.

govt, opp put forwardeight names forcaretaker Balochistan CM

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05 Joining Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is out

of question. –Sheikh Rashid

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

ALL major political andreligious parties gatheredon Wednesday tocondemn violence in thename of religion and

appealed to people from various schoolsof thought to respect each other’sreligion, creed or faith.

Along with the country’s majorpolitical parties, Sikh, Christian, Hindu,Sunni, Shia and Ahl-e-Hadees scholarswere also present at the National

Solidarity Conference. Theinitiative came from PakistanUlema Council ChairmanTahir Ashrafi who presidedover the conference as well asread out the unanimousdeclaration.

Leaders from variousreligions and those belongingto various sects of Islamalongside politicians, alljointly promoting religioustolerance came as a seriouseffort in the wake of a seriesof bloody attacks on Shiasand the recent burning ofChristian homes in Lahore’s

Badami Bagh area.Participants expressed their grave

concern over the rising violence andescalation of non-tolerant attitudes.

The organisers and participants of theconference demanded that thegovernment take to task the culprits andall those responsible for heinous crimes.They believed that such elements withnefarious designs were neither well-wishers of Islam nor friends of Pakistan.They said these terrorists had tarnishedPakistan’s image, adding that theydeclared war against these elements.

The declaration read that thegathering of thinking minds and feelinghearts was convinced that ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) is not just a sourceof blessings for Muslims alone, but forthe whole of mankind. Therefore, his

personality as an ideal and perfect humanbeing is highly respectable for followersof all religions and faiths, and anybodycommitting blasphemy against himcannot belong to any religion or faithwhatsoever. Such people should bepunished sternly. But no innocent person– not guilty of this crime - should besentenced just for nothing.

The declaration read further theconference believed that all Pakistanis,whether they belong to any religion orfaith, must enjoy equal rights as grantedto Muslims. No Pakistani should bedeprived of his or her rights given by thestate, adding that it would be tantamountto abrogation and violation of theconstitution.

This assembly of followers ofvarious religious and political

organisations feels that under the 295/CSection of the law some dubious andsuspicious elements are hell-bent onmisusing the blasphemy law so it is theneed of the hour to take stringentmeasures to effectively control the risingincidents of similar nature in the future.The participants of the conference pleadthat no one found guilty of blasphemygoes unpunished in any case, but not theone proved innocent.

The participants demanded that thegovernment make prompt and reasonablecompensation to the affectees of theJoseph Colony residents and probe thereal motives behind this tragic incident.

This conference also appeals to theleaders of all religions to promotebrotherhood through their sermons. Thisconference also appeals to all to stand bythe oppressed and against the cruelelements. More than 25 organisations,including the Shia Ulema Council, theJamaat Islami, the PML-N, the PML-Q,the JUI-P, the JUI-F, the Jamaat Ahl-e-Hadees, the Mashaikh Pakistan, theInternational Khatam-e- NabuwatMovement and the Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasul took part in the conference.

Ashrafi announced that nextconferences will be held in Quetta,Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad.

PolITICIaNs, ClerICs CoNdemNrelIGIous vIoleNCe

ParticiPaNts say eLeMeNtswith Nefarious desigNs areNeither weLL-wishers ofisLaM Nor frieNds of PaKistaN

aPPeaL to Leaders of aLLreLigioNs to ProMotebrotherhood throughserMoNs

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)MPA Khalid Waran on Wednesday announcedhis intention to join Pakistan Muslim-League-Nawaz (PML-N). The MPA called on PunjabChief Minister Shahbaz Sharif at Model Townand expressed his intention to join PML-N. Healso expressed trust in NawazSharif’s leadership.

Welcoming Waran to hisparty, Shahbaz said the PML-Ngovernment had establishednew records of public service byinitiating development projectsworth billions of rupees.

He said PML-N hadworked to serve the massesduring the last five years andhad pursued a policy ofdevelopment and merit,eliminating the culturecorruption and nepotism. “The

Punjab government has provided the bestservices to the people through good governanceand transparency,” the chief minister said.

Waran said said that Shahbaz Sharif hadserved the masses day and night during the lastfive years and completing record developmentwork throughout the province. He said he waslooking forward to working as a member of thePML-N to serve the citizens of the country.

PML-Q MPA joins PML-N

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L

06

Thursday, 21 March, 2013LAHORE

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Elections to have deep impact on nation’s

future. – Tanvir Ashraf Kaira

LAHOREOnLinE

cHIEF Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesdayannounced that construction work on 80houses at Joseph Colony has been completedalong with compensation of Rs 500,000 perfamily.

Presiding over a high-level meeting to review the paceof construction at Badami Bagh, the chief minister said that

the Punjab government had efficiently discharged its duty forthe citizens of Badami Bagh, adding that a complete reportof the incident would be completed and made public soon.

Shahbaz claimed that the Punjab government had ensuredrehabilitation work of the affectees of the tragic incident.

He said construction work of houses was still underwayand would be completed within the next few days.

The chief minister further said that many accusednominated in the FIR had already been arrested and otherswould soon be brought to book.

80 josePh ColoNy housesComPleTely buIlT: shahbaz

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Three people, including a fatherand his two sons, were injuredon Wednesday during anexchange of fire. According tothe police, the accused Shahbazalias Pheena along with hiscohorts allegedly demandedmoney from Abdul Karim, aresident of Misri Shah.

Upon refusal to pay themoney, the culprits openedfire, injuring Rana Abdul

Karim, his two sons Bilal andUsman. They managed toescape from the scene.

The injured were rushedto Kot Khawaja SaeedHospital for treatment.

The police registered acase against the accused andstarted search for them.

It is worth mentioningthat extortion threats are onthe increase in Lahore afterKarachi where severalbusinessmen were killed fornot paying to the extortionists.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

At least two shops were robbedon Wednesday in the area ofBhatta Chowk where robbersstole goods worth Rs 900,000.

According to details, therobbers broke into to the sportsand shoes stores and proceededto tear down the shops in searchfor valuables. They stole goodsworth Rs 900,000 and escapedfrom the scene.

In another incident, acitizen named Malik Nazir wasdeprived from his motorbikefrom the area of Hangerwala

when two robbers snatched thevehicle on gunpoint andescaped.ARREsts: SundarInvestigation Police onWednesday five members ofSubhan Shah robbery gang andrecovered Rs 150,000 in cash,motorbikes and weapons fromtheir possession. The policeclaimed that the accused hadbeen involved in manyrobberies across the city.

Gawal Mandi Police alsoarrested a suspected drug dealernamed Ali Khan and seized onekilogram of hashish from hispossession.

Three shot and injured

LAHOREOnLinE

Lahore High Court (LHC) onWednesday demanded proof ofa permanent residential addressfor former president General (r)Pervez Musharraf.

According to details, JusticeNasir Saeed Sheikh heard thepetition seeking a ban on the AllPakistan Muslim League(APML) and disqualification ofMusharraf from contesting inelections.

The petitioner, in hispetition, argued that the generalhad operated against the

constitution and had imprisonedjudges. He asked the court todisqualify Musharraf andimpose a ban on his politicalparty.

Justice Sheikh directed thepetitioner to provide apermanent residential addressfor Musharraf so that a noticecould be served to him.

Subsequently, the courtadjourned the hearing for anindefinite period of time.

Musharraf recentlyannounced to end his self-imposed exile and return to thecountry on March 24 to contest inthe upcoming general elections.

LHC demands address for

Musharraf to serve notice

STORES ROBBED

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07

NEWSThursday, 21 March, 2013

You can put wings on a

pig, but you don’t make it

an eagle. – Bill Clinton N

MUSCAT: A man with a blue-eyed pink horse awaits their

appearance in a cavalry event in honour of the Prince of

Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit, during the royal

pair’s tour of the Middle East on Wednesday. AGEnCiES

TEL AVIVAGEnCiES

uS President Barack Obamasaid at the start of his visit toIsrael that the US’ commit-ment to Israel’s security was

rock solid and that peace must cometo the Holy Land.

Making his first official visit to Is-rael as president on Wednesday, Obamahopes to reset his often fraught relationswith both the Israelis and Palestiniansin a carefully choreographed three-daystay that is high on symbolism but lowon expectations. “I see this visit as anopportunity to reaffirm the unbreakablebond between our nations, to restateAmerica’s unwavering commitment toIsrael’s security and to speak directly tothe people of Israel and to your neigh-bours,” Obama said at a welcoming cer-emony at Tel Aviv airport. “I amconfident in declaring that our allianceis eternal, is forever,” he added. Obamafaces strong doubts among Israelis overhis pledge to prevent Iran from obtain-ing nuclear weapons, something Tehranis saying it is not pursuing.

In his welcoming remarks to the USpresident, Prime Minister BinyaminNetanyahu cited an Israeli right to self-defence, which he said Obama sup-ported. “Thank you for standing byIsrael at this time of historic change inthe Middle East,” said Netanyahu,whose relationship with Obama hasoften been testy.

“Thank you for unequivocally af-firming Israel’s sovereign right to de-fend itself by itself against any threat,”the right-wing Israeli leader said beforeviewing with Obama an Iron Domeanti-missile battery that was brought tothe airport for the president to see. Thesystem is partially US-funded.

At the ceremony, Obama spoke ofhis hopes for peace - without directlymentioning Palestinians. US officialssaid he was not bringing any peace ini-tiative with him. “We stand together be-cause peace must come to the HolyLand,” Obama said. “Even as we areclear eyed about the difficulties, we will

never lose sight of the vision of an Israelat peace with its neighbours.”

Hopes for a new policy are low, with theWhite House having deliberately min-imised expectations of any major break-throughs, a reversal from Obama’s firstfour years in office when aides said hewould only visit Israel if he had some-thing concrete to accomplish.

“Analysts say they don’t expect anynew action on Iran, or even Syria, in a tripthat even the White House has indicatedis meant to create a lot of publicity but notnew policy,” said Al Jazeera’s Patty Cul-hane, reporting from Washington. Work-ers have hung hundreds of US and Israelflags on lampposts across Jerusalem, aswell as banners that boast of “an unbreak-able alliance,” but the apparent lack ofany substantial policy push has bemusedmany diplomats and analysts. Howeverwith both Netanyahu and Obama startingnew terms, the visit could be seen as theAmerican leader’s endorsement of Is-

rael’s government, said AliAbunimah, a Palestinian journal-ist and founder of ElectronicIntifada. Speaking to AlJazeera from Chicago, hesaid: “This visit comingjust days after Israelswore in perhaps itsmost openly extremegovernment in its his-tory...must be seen asthe strongeststaunchest endorse-ment of this extrem-ist Israeligovernment’s poli-cies. That’s the onlymessage Palestiniansand the broader worldcan take away from thisvisit.” Obama travels to theWest Bank on Thursdayfor talks with Palestin-ian President Mah-moud Abbas andwill fly on toJordan onFriday.

DAMASCUSAGEnCiES

Syria’s government and rebels havetraded accusations of a chemical attackon a northern village near Aleppo. USofficials, however, said on Tuesday therewas no evidence of any such attack.The regime, whose allegation wasbacked by ally Russia, said 31 peoplewere killed, including 21 civilians and10 soldiers. The accusations emergedonly a few hours after the opposition toPresident Bashar al-Assad elected aprime minister to head an interimgovernment that would rule areas seizedby rebel forces from the regime.State-run news agency SANA saidmore than 100 have been wounded,some of them in critical condition.SANA published pictures showingcasualties, including children, onstretchers in what appears to be ahospital ward. Syrian InformationMinister Omran al-Zoubi called it the“first act” of the newly announcedopposition interim government.Rebels quickly denied the report andaccused regime forces of firing the

chemical weapon. Ziad Haddad, amedic in Aleppo, however, told AlJazeera, the victims seemed to havebeen exposed to organic pesticides andnot chemical weapons, like Sarin andVX nerve agents.He said several patients arrived in theemergency room earlier on Tuesdaymorning with cases of suffocation andconstricted pupils. “Several of themdied of respiratory inhibition,” he said.“Victims spoke of pungent smell.Chemical weapons are usuallyodourless.” “Moreover, the number ofdeaths is small compared to those whowould have died had chemical weaponsbeen used.” Haddad said the casualtiesincluded Syrian regime soldiers andpro- Assad armed men. The head ofSyria’s main opposition group, theSyrian National Coalition, said thegroup was still investigating the allegedchemical attack near Aleppo.“Everyone who used it, we are againsthim, whatever he is,” Mouaz al-Khatibtold reporters in English in Istanbul.“We are against killing civilians usingchemical weapons, but let us wait sometime to have accurate information.”

The regime is believed to possess nerveagents as well as mustard gas. It alsopossesses Scud missiles capable ofdelivering them, and some activists saidTuesday’s attack was with a Scudmissile. The minister al-Zoubi said themissile containing “poisonous gases” wasfired from Nairab district in Aleppo intoKhan al-Assal. The reported attack wasin an area just west of the cityof Aleppo that had seenfierce fighting for weeksbefore rebels took over asprawling governmentcomplex there lastmonth. The facilityincluded severalmilitary posts anda policeacademy thatAssad’sforces haveturned intoa militarybase thatregularly firesshells atnearbyvillages.

Israel has ‘no greater friend’ than us: obama‘rIght to self-defenCe’

low expeCtatIons

suspectedcyberattack onsouth Korea

SEOULAGEnCiES

South Korea’s police are investigating a sus-pected cyber attack on the country’s majorbroadcasters and two large banks, police offi-cials have said. At least three major broadcast-ers were affected as well as Shinhan Bank,Part of Shinhan Financial Group, two financialinstitutions, the police and government said onWednesday. They did not comment on thepossible causes of the outages. Shinhan Bank,one of the banks affected, regained control ofits computer network later on Wednesday,bank officials said. A spokesman at LG Uplussaid the company believes its network was at-tacked. The firm provides internet-related ser-vices to the broadcasters and the banks whichare suffering from the outages. Initial specu-lation centred on a potential hacking attack byNorth Korea, which has hacked South Koreaninstitutions before, but the police and SouthKorean government said they could not yet as-certain the cause of the outages. South Korea’sarmy raised its alert level raised after the sus-pected cyber attack.

syrians point fingers over chemical attack

Poachers inChad slaughter89 elephantsN’DjAMENA: Poachers have massacred 89

elephants in one night near the town of

Ganba in southern Chad, conservation

groups say. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

said in a written statement on Tuesday that

about 50 Arabic-speaking poachers on

horseback carried out the mass killing of the

elephants last week. The elephants killed

last Thursday night, included 33 pregnant

females and 15 calves, the WWF and the

International Fund for Animal Welfare

(IFAW) said, citing local officials. The IFAW

said the elephants’ tusks had been removed.

The governments of Cameroon, the Central

African Republic and Chad will meet in

Yaounde this week to develop a regional

anti-poaching strategy after conservationists

said that elephants in Central Africa risked

being wiped out by such slaughters. Bas

Huijbregts, head of WWF’s campaign against

illegal wildlife trade in the region, said the

Chadian army was sent to stop the

poachers. “This tragedy shows once again

the existential threat faced by Central

Africa’s elephants,” Huijbregts said. “In all

likelihood this is the same group of

Sudanese poachers who killed over 300

elephants in northern Cameroon in February

2012, forcing the country to mobilise its

special forces to protect the region’s

remaining elephants.” AGEnCiES

Twin blastsrock IstanbulISTANBUL: Two grenades have exploded

outside Turkey’s justice ministry, and

the offices of the ruling AK Party has

been hit by a light anti-tank weapon,

in the Turkish capital of Ankara, days

before an expected ceasefire with

Kurdish rebels. Turkish television

stations on Tuesday showed footage of

police cordoning off streets and

ambulances arriving. Turkish Justice

Minister Sadullah Ergin said one person

was slightly injured in the ministry attack.

There was no immediate claim of

responsibility. The attacks occurred two days

before an expected ceasefire call by jailed

Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, who

has been in talks with state officials to try to

end a three-decade conflict that has killed

some 40,000 people. “Our decisiveness will

continue,” AK Party spokesman Huseyin

Celik told a hastily assembled news

conference. “Such turbulence cannot push

us from our path.” The ceasefire call,

expected to coincide with the Kurdish New

Year on Thursday, could also include a

command to Ocalan’s Kurdistan Workers

Party (PKK) fighters to withdraw from Turkey

to their bases in northern Iraq. AGEnCiES

LHR 21-03-2013_Layout 1 3/21/2013 3:14 AM Page 7

NEWSNThursday, 21 March, 2013

08 Caretaker setup responsible for

transparent polls, rigging could lead to

bloodshed. — Shah Mehmood Qureshi

JAVED ALI

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) hasannounced $ 200 million assistance for Be-nazir Income Support Program (BISP) sothat it may reach out to the families not ben-efiting its various schemes. The announce-ment was made recently while a delegationof the bank was visiting the country with aspecial objective to look into the areaswhere the social safety, extended over thepoverty-stricken people of the country fouryears back could be helped out.

Due to transparency and effective uti-lization of the funds, BISP has received di-rect technical and financial support frominternational donors. World Bank, AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB), UK Depart-ment for International Development(DFID), USAID, China, Turkey and Iranhas doled out funds to support differentBISP initiatives. Some countries in theAsian regions, including India, have ap-proached Pakistan for replicating BISPmodel.

BISP conducted countrywide Poverty

Survey/Census for the first time and col-lected the data of almost 180 million peopleand 27 million households using GPS de-vices for the informed decision making (tocope with natural disasters and other emer-gencies). The poverty census completed inrecord time of one year across all Pakistanincluding Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and FATA.

BISP took start with Rs34 billion (US $425 million approximately) for the financialyear 2008-09 aiming to cover 3.5 millionpoorest of the poor families. The allocationfor the financial year 2012-13 is Rs. 70 bil-lion to provide cash assistance to 5.5 millionfamilies, which constitutes almost 18% ofthe entire population. The Program aims tocover almost 40% of the population belowthe poverty line.

More than 7 million beneficiary fami-lies have been identified through PovertyScorecard Survey for disbursingRs1000/month through ‘branchless bankingsystem’ (Smart Card, Mobile Phone, andDebit Card). Called as Martial Plan andhaving focus on poverty alleviation through

empowering the women, BISP has so fardisbursed more than Rs146 billion to the de-serving and needy of the country with com-plete transparency in about 4 years timethrough the elected representatives of thepeople, regardless of their party affiliation.

Waseela-e-Haq provides interest freeloans up to Rs 300,000 to help recipients setup small businesses. The most striking fea-ture of this program is that the female ben-eficiary is the sole owner/proprietor of thebusiness and the counseling, monitoring andtraining for starting the business is providedthrough Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund(PPAF).

Waseela-e-Rozgar has been launchedfor provision of demand-driven technicaland vocational training to the deservingyouth, who do not have any skill, throughpublic/private training institutes. A total of10,000 young males and females have beentrained and another 20,000 are currently un-dergoing training. The target is to train150,000 students every year.

Besides helping the poor and the mar-ginalized sections of the society in terms of

income support and skill development, theBISP is providing insurance cover ofRs.100, 000 in the case of the death of thebread earner of the poor family registeredwith the authority. With a view that healthshocks are the major reason for pushingpeople below the poverty line, Rs25000health insurance is being provided to thepoorest families for the first time in Pak-istan. Pilot phase has been launched fromFaisalabad.

Finally, as the Poverty Survey had indi-cated, millions of poor children never attendany school due to financial limitations.BISP has signed contracts with all theprovinces, under its Waseela-e-Taleem Pro-gram, initiated with generous help of theWorld Bank and DFID, to send 3 millionchildren to school through additional cashincentives of Rs.200 per child.

Pakistan is lucky to have a social safetyprogram like BISP at a time Pakistan hasbeen declared disaster-prone country by theUN and is the target of religious militancy.BISP has been utilized to provide immedi-ate and speedy relief to the people affected

by natural disasters like floods, earthquakesand victims of bomb blasts and displace-ments through acts of violence etc throughits emergency relief package which so farhas benefitted IDPs of FATA/ Bajur/Malakund, Flood affected people of 2009-10 and 2010-11 and earthquake victims ofBaluchistan.

One reason is that the BISP has focusedon women for its objective to alleviatepoverty transparency and fairness withwhich the program has been run so far, theother. A state-of-the-art system is operativeto address the issues/problems/complaintsof the poor people according to well-recog-nized international standards.

The BISP was designed to alleviate thepoverty through empowerment of women inthe country, and, in addition, it is helping tomaterialize the dream of making Pakistan awelfare state, the top official of the programsaid, adding that the work of 15 years hasbeen done in just four-and-a-half years, andif the program continues for other 10 years,it would help reduce poverty across Pak-istan by 10 per cent.

Pakistan’s journey towards a welfare state

WASHINGTONSPECiAL CORRESPOndEnT

IT is the outcome of elections in Pak-istan and Afghanistan rather than thesize of US troops in post-2014Afghanistan that would more criti-cally determine the future of the re-

gion, a noted American expert said.Underscoring the importance of the up-

coming democratic transitions in neighbour-ing Pakistan and Afghanistan – which havebeen at the forefront of the fight against alQaeda-linked terror - Peter Bergen, directorof New America Foundation told a Congres-sional hearing that last Saturday (March 16)marked an “extraordinary” moment in Pak-istan’s history, as this was the first time that acivilian government had served its entirefive-year term (from 2008 to 2013).

He said for the first time in its history, thePakistani military appeared both unwillingand unable to mount a coup against any civil-ian government.

Appearing before a House Foreign Af-fairs sub-committee, Bergen argued that itwas the outcome of the general elections inPakistan this year and in Afghanistan nextyear, rather than the precise number of US

soldiers, who were posted in Afghanistanafter the withdrawal of American combattroops in December 2014 that were “the mostcritical factors in determining the future ofboth countries, and also in securing the longterm interests of the United States in the re-gion”.

“Around six weeks from now, in May,Pakistanis will go again to the polls to elect anew civilian government for a five-year term,and there is now a good prospect for contin-ued, uninterrupted civilian government untilat least 2018.” Despite the visibility of thehard-line religious parties on the streets ofPakistan, in the voting booth, these partieshad recently fared very poorly, he told law-makers, while expressing his views on wayforward in the region.

Although, a coalition of religious partiessecured control of two of Pakistan’s fourprovinces in an election in 2002 and 11 per-cent of the votes to the National Assembly,they garnered only a piddling two percent ofthe vote in the 2008 election.

“The showing of the pro-Taliban reli-gious parties in the May 2013 election islikely to be equally unimpressive,” he said.

He felt that an unprecedented era oflengthy civilian rule would help the political

governments exercise more influence on na-tional security and foreign policy towardAfghanistan and India.

Another great opportunity (and potentialperil) will present itself in Afghanistan withinthe next year, when Afghans go to the pollsin April 2014 for the third presidential elec-tion since the fall of the Taliban.

“If that election is perceived as being rel-atively free and fair this would go a long wayto ease tensions in the Afghan body politic,increase Afghanistan’s overall security, andreassure both Afghan and outside investorsthat the country has a promising future.”

“On the other hand, if the 2014 electionis seen as unfair, corrupted and is deeply con-tested this would likely precipitate a viciouscircle of conflict, deteriorating security, andcapital flight.”

“The US, therefore, should do every-thing it can to provide technical and securityassistance to make these elections go as wellas possible. But unlike what happed in therun up to the 2009 Afghan presidential elec-tion, the US should not get involved in back-ing certain candidates.”

He told the panel that Pakistan had someimportant common goals with the UnitedStates on Afghanistan’s future.

‘elections in Pakistan, afghanistanto determine future of region’

Five Pakistaniskilled in southafrica

SANGLA HILL OnLinE

Five Pakistanis have been killed in SouthAfrica. Among the murdered includefather of six children, namely ShafiqPappu, three real brothers and theircousin. Pappu belonged to Sangla Hill,while the three brothers and their cousinwere from Gujrat. The deceased,belonging to Gujrat, were runningbusiness of cars. They had disagreementwith the local youths over a monetarydeal. As a result, the South African youthsattacked the workshop and opened fire onthem while they were sleeping. SouthAfrican Police have taken the bodies intocustody and a case has also beenregistered. The bodies will reach Pakistanafter five days.

bangladeshipresident diesin singapore:officials

DHAKAAPP/AFP

Bangladeshi President Zillur Rahman,a veteran ruling party politiciannamed to the largely ceremonial postin 2009, died on Wednesday in aSingapore hospital, an embassyofficial said. “The president died at a hospital herein Singapore at 6:47pm local time,”Bangladesh High Commissioner inSingapore M Mahbubuzzaman toldAFP by phone.Rahman, 84, who was suffering fromkidney and respiratory problems, wasflown to Singapore’s Mount ElizabethHospital by air ambulance onFebruary 10 after his conditionworsened. His secretary Shafiul Alamtold AFP that Rahman, a close aide ofthe nation’s founding leader SheikhMujibur Rahman, had been sufferingfrom “old age complications”. Theformer deputy chief of the rulingAwami League, the country’s 19thpresident, leaves a son who is alawmaker and two daughters. PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina and theparliament speaker, who has beendischarging the day-to-day job of thepresident in Rahman’s absence, senttheir condolences. Rahman’s wife IvyRahman, also a politician, died inAugust 2004 after she was criticallyinjured in a grenade attack on anAwami League rally that also killed20 other people.

“If that election isperceived as being

relatively free and fairthis would go a long wayto ease tensions in the

Afghan body politic,increase Afghanistan’s

overall security, andreassure both Afghanand outside investorsthat the country has a

promising future.”

CHAMAN: An army personnel briefs students about weapons and ammunition during an eight-day festival in connection with Pakistan Day. inP

LHR 21-03-2013_Layout 1 3/21/2013 3:14 AM Page 8

NEWS N

09

Thursday, 21 March, 2013

Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid’s

name is unacceptable to PPP.

— Qamar Zaman Kaira

ISLAMABADAPP

Acounsel for the secretagencies on Wednesdayapprised the SupremeCourt that detenue at theinternment center in

Parachinar were handed over to the polit-ical administration for decision of theircases under the Frontier Crimes Regula-tions (FCR).

Raja Muhammad Irshad, counsel forthe secret agencies, submitted a statementbefore a three-member bench headed byChief Justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, saying that the internment au-thorities had withdrawn the internmentorders of detenue and they had beenhanded over to the political administra-tion for dealing their cases under the

FCR.The bench was hearing a plea moved

by late Rohifa bibi, seeking release of hersons from the internment center Parachi-nar. These detenue also known as missingAdiala prisoners were captured in FATAwhere security forces were carrying outoperations.

Tariq Asad, counsel for the petitioner,however, said on the basis of such rea-sons, the instant petition should be dis-posed of on merit.

He was of the view that the detenuewere held illegally by the authorities con-cerned.

The bench ordering the respondent tohand over a copy of the statement to thecounsel, deferred further hearing untilMarch 25.

While in another case, Ghulam Nabi,counsel for senator professor Ibrahim of

the Jamaat-e-Islami, resumed his argu-ments over the promulgation of Action inAid of the Civil Power Regulations 2011.

He claimed that the Regulations wereresult of pro-US legacy left behind byformer president Pervez Musharraf.

The chief justice told him that theyhad nothing to do with the pro-US or anti-US issues or Musharraf, as the courtwould have to dispose the case on thebasis of facts.

The counsel citing Sections 8 and 9of the Regulations contended that it wasgiven a retrospective affect from the year2008 with vast powers given to intern-ment authorities in the Provincial Admin-istrative Tribal Areas (PATA) where theycould keep anyone in the center withoutfollowing the due process and productionbefore the courts.

To the counsel’s arguments, Justice

Sheikh Azmat Saeed pointed out whetherall the federal and provincial legislationdid not contain indemnity?

The CJ told the counsel to justify hisstance with facts and satisfy them thatsuch legislation was not required keepingin view the prevailing situation in KhyberPakhtunkhwa. He said the court had notcurtailed its judicial review powers butthey could not proceed in vacuum.

“Give facts from your petition,whether you have mentioned anywherethat after promulgation of this law, no actof terror occurred in the province.

“Lawyers were also attacked yester-day in Peshawar,” he added.

Justice Saeed asked whether thelawyers killed in Peshawar were US na-tives adding, whether Sri Lanka, Nigeriaor Saudi Arabia had not adopted such leg-islations?

LONDONmAjid KHATTAK

A victim of forced marriage thirty years agois now working as a leading campaigner tohighlight the issue and help those who areat risk of being forced into marriage by their

families.At the age of just 13, Sameem Ali was

taken from Glasgow to Pakistan and forcedto marry a man over twice her age. She wasmarried off to a stranger, became pregnantwith his child and left completely isolatedfrom her peers back home. However, the

mother of two has completely turned her lifearound and is backing a new initiative tohelp stop forced marriage in Scotland.

Sameem was tricked in marriage whenshe was told that she and a family memberwere going on holiday to Pakistan. The 44-year-old told British journalists, “I was toldI was going on holiday and I was really ex-cited. But when we got to Pakistan, I wasintroduced to two guys and asked which oneof the two I preferred.”

“One was chosen, he was much olderthan me, in his late 20s and I was marriedto him in a very quick ceremony,” Sameenrecalled. She said she had no idea what washappening but was told that she could onlyreturn to Scotland if she was pregnant.

“Eventually, I became pregnant and wecame back to Glasgow.’

Sameem’s new husband wanted tomove to the UK and it was thought that hav-ing a British-born child would help his visaapplication. Back in Glasgow completelyalone, she felt there was nowhere to turn andno way to escape. But her life changedwhen a family friend from Pakistan visited.She said that her friend was a women’srights activist and could see the injustice

that had been meted out to her. Narrating her shocking story she said,

“One day I was taken to a solicitor to signpapers to have my husband in Pakistancome to Scotland. I was terrified. I didn’twant to see him again and I didn’t want himto come here.”

She said her friend said that he wasleaving Glasgow and asked if she wanted tojoin him. She agreed and they moved to ahomeless hostel in Manchester.

She said her brother was furious that shehad, in his eyes, disgraced the family andhired four hitmen to find her. He paid them50 pounds each to carry out the job.

Sameem said, “That’s what my life wasworth - 50 pounds. I was terrified because Iknew what my brother was capable of. ‘Ihad disgraced the family honour and it is theculture that honour must be restored by thehead of the family.’

The first Sameem knew of the attempton her life was when police arrived at herhouse. Officers had been tipped off and ar-rested the men, who were found to havebaseball bats in the boot of their car. They,and her brother, were imprisoned.

The friend who rescued Sameem is now

her husband. When they arrived in Man-chester, Asghar proposed and they marriedin a quiet register office ceremony and re-turned to work afterwards.

She said, “We both worked in the samefactory. We had taken any jobs we could getas we didn’t want to go on benefits. Wemarried and returned to work afterwards.And now we’ve been together for 26 years.’

Sameem has nothing to do with herfamily in Glasgow. When her brother andher father died she returned for their funer-als but said her family members were dis-tant.

Sameem has managed to completelyturn her life around and decided to go intopolitics as a way of bringing the issue offorced marriage into the public eye. Sheworks in Manchester to highlight forcedmarriage and she is now supporting a newlearning resource developed by GlasgowLife that will be rolled out to teachers, youthworkers and charity staff. It aims to helpprofessionals spot the signs of forced mar-riage in young people. The pack is backedby the Scottish Government and forms partof a country-wide campaign to help those atrisk of forced marriage.

From victim to activist: one woman’s story of forced marriage

Internment detenue in Parachinar handed

over to political administration, sC told

No civiliantargeted duringTirah fighting: TTP

WANA/PARACHINARinP

The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) said on Tuesday that no civilian wastargeted during the fighting in Tirah Valley inKhyber Agency. TTP spokesmanEhasanullah Ehsan said that those whobecame part of the war against the Talibanwill not be spared. He claimed that the TTPhad controlled 95 percent of Tirah Valley. Heconceded that 15 TTP men were killed while20 others injured during the fighting. Ehsansaid further the civilians should not run awayas the Taliban would not harm them. He saidthe war in the tribal agency began after theAnsarul Islam (AI) violated agreements.Meanwhile, hundreds of families fled theZara Mela area of Khyber Agency due toescalating war between the two rival militantgroups and took shelter in Kurram Agencyand Peshawar. The elders of Qamberkhel,Alikhel Afridi tribes said their houses havebeen destroyed in the skirmishes among themilitants and security forces, adding that thetribesmen, including women and children,were forced to leave the area on foot. Theydemanded that the government providecompensation to the affected families.According to reports, 250 militants havebeen killed so far during the fighting inKhyber Agency for the last two months,while over 1,000 families have beendisplaced.

400 civilians killed byus drones in Pakistan

LONDONOnLinE

The government estimates say at least 400civilians have been killed in drone strikes inthe Federally Administered Tribal Areas – afigure close to the Bureau of InvestigativeJournalism’s findings. In evidence to BenEmmerson QC, UN special rapporteur oncounter-terrorism, the Foreign Ministry hassaid that the US drones have killed at least2,200 people in the country, including atleast 400 civilians. This is close to thebureau’s low range estimate of 411. Thefigures were disclosed to Emerson as hemade a three-day visit to the country. Theministry, which compiled the figures, said afurther 200 of the total dead were likely to becivilians too. “The US drone campaign inPakistan… involves the use of force on theterritory of another state without its consentand is therefore a violation of Pakistan’ssovereignty.” The US has consistently deniedthis level of non-combatant death, mostrecently claiming civilian casualties were‘typically in single digits’ for each year ofthe nine-year campaign in Pakistan.

PESHAWAR: Residents of Chitral hold a ‘thanksgiving protest’ on Wednesday following the dissolution of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. inP

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MAY 11 has been an-nounced as the date ofthe next General Elec-tion. With 52 days togo, there is no sign of

a caretaker prime minister popping out asan eight-member parliamentary committeewent into a huddle on Wednesday.

The deadlock is on two questions: whobecomes caretaker prime minister? And,when does the Punjab Assembly dissolve?

The earlier the answers are providedthe better – but surely the answersshould have been provided at least threeweeks ago.

But as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Chaudhry Nisar Ali andthe Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) QamarZaman Kaira have traded diplomatic blowsat the centre stage, the more substantivequestions about the caretaker setup have yetto come to the front.

The names under consideration are:Hafeez Sheikh, Ishrat Hussain and Justice(retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso from thePPP; and Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid,Justice (retd) Shakirullah Jan and national-ist leader Rasool Bux Palijo from the PML-N. Mentioned amongst possible wildcardshave been: Asma Jehangir and SenatorsRaza Rabbani and Ishaq Dar. And thenthere is the self-nomination put forward byChaudhry Shujaat Hussain of the PakistanMuslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

There is surely something to be saidabout each of those nominated. But let usstick to painting in broad strokes. Two ofthe nominations (Hafeez Sheikh and IshratHussain) are ex-World Bank technocrats –and for a while it appeared that the betswere on Ishrat Hussain taking the covetedpost. Ishrat, a former State Bank governor,was both lobbying and being lobbied andstill appears as one of the “less-polarising”options on the table.

But installing a caretaker prime minis-ter of the technocrat mould shall be nothingif not a bad joke by politicians on them-selves. As a key part of creating what isnow widely understood as the fudged eco-nomic bubble in the Musharraf dictatorship– and pushing the International MonetaryFund’s (IMF) and World Bank’s agenda of

pursuing neoliberal economic policies inPakistan – Hussain was hand in glove withHafeez Sheikh in creating the grounds forthe weak economic foundations the currentPPP-led government inherited.

The irony is that it is the PPP that hasnominated both Hussain and Sheikh, at atime when the chattering classes and busi-ness interests appear to be clamouring froma longer technocratic rule to apparently“remedy the economy”. It is the PPP thathas suffered from the economic effects ofso-called technocratic fudging with theeconomy: an agreement with the IMF wassigned before Benazir Bhutto’s first term in1988, another agreement with the IMF wassigned by the caretaker PM in 1992 beforeBenazir’s second term; and it inherited theShaukat – alias shortkut – Aziz economicmess when it took the reins in 2008.

Technocrats are failures because theypursue IFI-driven agendas and have anexit plan for themselves before they comein. Neither Ishrat Hussain nor HafeezSheikh bode well for the confidence ofpoliticians in themselves if either is cho-sen. Policies are a task for public vote –the tendency to reduce it to the domain ofexperts needs to be challenged – but thisis a subject for a separate article. For now,it must be remembered that caretaker gov-ernments do not possess ‘magic pills’.Their task is merely to facilitate a han-dover. With an over $1.5 billion loan re-payment to the IMF scheduled during thecaretaker period and the IMF signaling itwants more talks, the choice of a techno-crat as prime minister would only serve toindicate that politicians are abdicating re-sponsibility from themselves and lookingto play another blame game.

And then there is something to be saidabout the fact that retired judges are con-sidered the ‘safe choice’ to head interimsetups. Two former judges have alreadybeen appointed caretaker chief ministersin two provinces to reach a consensus:Justice (retd) Tariq Parvez in the KhyberPakthunkhwa and Justice (retd) ZahidQurban Alvi in Sindh. It seems to haveshocked no one – except for Asma Je-hangir – that former judges are being con-sidered ‘politically neutral’, efficientadministrators. Again politicians appear tohave more trust in outside institutions thanamongst themselves – one of the criticalreasons why the discourse of corruptionappears to still be solely focused on politi-cians – and not the civil and military es-tablishment which has shared power formuch longer. The question to be asked isthat why task judges, whose task was tointerpret law, with creating an even play-ing field for politics?

The names of two Senators Ishaq Darand Raza Rabbani, both respected in theirown way, have more forte for the post – buteither is expected to raise alarm to all otherpolitical parties. It is similar with the nom-ination of Rasul Bux Palejo, who is still re-

spected, but his son continues to play an in-creasingly active role in Sindh’s politics.Asma Jehangir, a candidate with bothstrong merits and demerits, has withdrawnherself from the reckoning.

Strange happenings continue to be re-ported: on the eve of the announcement ofthe caretaker chief minister for Sindh, a keygovernment official was meeting a Britishdiplomat to ‘discuss the caretaker setup’.Ministers of the Balochistan governmentresigned to join the opposition a day beforedissolution of the assembly and the Mut-tahida Quami Movement (MQM) becamepart of the opposition in Sindh a month ear-lier. Political checkers continues to beplayed, but as with anyone who has playedthe game knows that checkers is a gamethat requires much sacrifice. Here it appearspoliticians are ceding roles they shouldhave taken up themselves to technocratsand judges of questionable merit. The con-sequences of doing so shall come to thefore soon enough.

But there is another debate to be hadabout the caretaker setup. If the task is cre-ate an even and fair playing field for all po-litical parties, then the ElectionCommission of Pakistan has yet to fulfillwhat it has been tasked with. The SupremeCourt’s judgment on a petition by the for-mer Workers Party Pakistan has yet to beimplemented. Issued on June 12, 2012, theECP has had enough time to suggest rele-vant changes in election procedure; includ-ing compulsory voting, adding a ‘none ofthe above’ vote, implementing stricter cam-paign budgets, but the judgment has yet tocome into force. Would an unimplementedSC judgment not raise questions about thecredibility of the elections and leave themopen to contestation post-event?

Somehow a task as serious as imple-menting a caretaker setup and an even play-ing ground for free-and-fair elections havebeen reduced to a rat race. Essential aspectsare delayed as Pakistan attempts to selectits first consensus caretaker government. Tobe fair to them, the existing political partieshave not had to deal with such a situationbefore. There are serious electoral parties,including the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf andJamaat-i-Islami, sitting outside parliament,and wildcard groups such as TahirulQadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek, lookingto pounce at any misstep.

Each day’s delay in announcing re-spective caretaker setups creates morefears. It is imperative that a political so-lution is found at the earliest to this polit-ical problem. Technocratic selections,most certainly, will represent a bad omen,rather than a good one, as people are gear-ing up to vote within their respective con-stituencies.

The writer is the general secretary(Lahore) of the Awami Workers Party. Heis a journalist and a researcher. Contact:hashimbrashid@gmail.com

the first consensus interim setup must deliver only its mandate

COMMENT

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

C

confrontation where compromise was neededdeadlock over caretaker setup

military’s resolve

THE Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) withdrawal of its earlier peace talksoffer two days ago only paid lip service to what was already known. Thepretext used was a ““non-serious attitude of the security forces and the

government”. However, the recent attack outside a judicial complex in Peshawarwhich left four people dead had confirmed that the TTP had no intention of backingdown and letting a smooth electoral season pass.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee meeting yesterday has come at an apt time.With the national assembly standing dissolved, the army has declared itscommitment to both combating the terrorist threat and supporting the ElectionCommission of Pakistan in the upcoming elections.

A military spokesman declared that “all elements of national power would beutilised to combat and root out terrorism from the country”. The JCSC has declaredits firm belief that the TTP and other Islamist militants will continue attacks – andperhaps only use peace offers to buy time to regroup.

On the face of it, the military’s declaration is a welcome policy statement.Terrorist groups must not only be deterred from launching attacks during theforthcoming elections but also defeated in the long term. The army’s task is todefend the country and its people, and not assert a security paradigm separate to thecivilian government. It is hoped that the “Good Taliban, Bad Taliban” paradigm hasbeen buried by the military top brass. The priority should be to eliminate foreignmilitants, who continue to use the tribal areas as a springboard for their activities.The writ of the state needs to be restored and the army has a critical role to play.

With the government having announced May 11 as the date of the election, thetask of curbing the activities of terrorist groups has become ever more urgent. Acomprehensive strategy is yet to be worked out and despite the loss of over 40,000civilians and 4,000 military men in the war against the Taliban, doubts havecontinued to be asserted over the double role of the military. However, the JCSCmeeting on the face of it shows that the military is now committed to what GeneralKayani declared more recently: internal terrorism is Pakistan’s biggest threat.

Whether or not this will yield action on the ground, or produce a more deadlyresponse from the TTP, we shall have to wait and watch, and hope for the best.

DURING the 1990’s, the PPP and PML-N fought no-holds-barred strugglesthat helped the offstage players to wrap up the system. While abiding bythe rules of the game set by the Parliament this time, the two sides

continue the fight in violation of the spirit of these rules. This is already creatingbad blood among the various parties. Driven by mutual suspicions they are actingin a way that would bring in outside forces as arbiters. What is needed badly isaccommodation. What one sees happening is the opposite.

The failure to reach an accord on the caretaker prime minister is a reflectionon the ability of the PPP and PML-N to reconcile political differences. This couldhave been resolved through give and take which is an essential part of thedemocratic culture. What both have shown is inflexibility which characterises thedictatorial mindset. The doubts expressed by Ch Nisar about the parliamentarycommittee’s ability to evolve a consensus show a lack of trust in politicians. Hisview that the matter would eventually be decided by the ECP reveals theunfortunate tendency of taking political disputes to non-political arbitrators.Many believe that there was enough ground for agreement on a neutral andcapable caretaker prime minister. Even the PTI and JUI-F had accepted Justice(retd) Shakirullah Jan. Similarly, many in the PML-N favoured Dr Ishrat Hussain.One fails to understand why Ch Nisar suddenly withdrew the name of the formerand sent instead two names to the committee that the PPP has declared to bepartial. This has elicited strong protests from the JUI-F. The insistence by ChNisar not to include representatives of major opposition parties in the list ofoppositions’ nominees for the parliamentary committee presently holding talks onthe issue is again indicative of the absence of the spirit of compromise.

The failure to end the deadlock would strengthen forces opposed todemocracy which must not be underrated. The TTP has again declared theelections to be un-Islamic and called off its offer of talks. Musharraf ismeanwhile coming back with an agenda to malign the politicians. Tahirul Qadri isonce again back to his gimmicks. He has accused the politicians of indulging inpre-election rigging by seeking nominations on the caretaker setup through heftybribes. Qadri is simultaneously accusing the ECP of allowing tax and loandefaulters and corrupt politicians to contest. He is thus calling into question thevery legitimacy of the forthcoming elections. The idea is to spread despondencyamong the voters. By continuing with their feuds the PPP and PML-N are onlyhelping Qadri in his mission. The failure to end the deadlock by the parliamentarycommittee would send a negative message to the voters and could bring down thevoter turnout. In case of its being very low, the next government would act withlesser confidence.

Jcsc meeting declares commitment to elections, fighting ttP

Thursday, 21 March, 2013

10Government is not reason; it is not eloquent;

it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant

and a fearful master. –George Washington

The politics ofcare-taking

leadership beyond sermonsThere is a clear distinction between a set, standard andstereotype leadership and one that leads by examplesand sets trends for the people to emulate and motivate. Ifthose able, noble, humble and gentle looking or talkingleaders practice all the good they depict or advocate,they would be what the nation so desperately look for astrendsetters in national affairs. Whether it is man in thestreet, men of letters or men at the helm of affairs, thecrisis in leadership is unquestionably such predicamentthat deals a severe blow to our social, economic and po-litical stability.

How vital is constructively leading from the front insuch practical idealism as trust, tolerance, understand-ing, simple living and high thinking; positive thinking inmatters pertaining to education, social work, business,politics, science and technology; materializing civicsense and social responsibility and pioneering the spiritof accommodation or give and take! The common man

looks to leaders as trendsetters when it comes to seekinganswers, guidance or consolation in matters affectinglife at large. People look beyond sermons and speechesto simple and workable suggestions and solutions. Ifleaders set trends in economizing, austerity, humilityand sincerity, the masses shall follow sooner or later.

It is the conscious or sub-conscious habit of themasses to emulate, exemplify and emanate ideas, in-sights and initiatives from leadership. It depends on thetrends leaders set in simplicity or pageantry, tolerance orintolerance, understanding or misunderstanding, cooper-ation or confrontation, honesty or corruption, innovationor stagnation, progress or procrastination, positive ornegative thinking, education or ignorance. Not caringabout it is what is tantamount to ignorance as bliss.Knowingly ignoring it is unfortunately a nationaltragedy: It is this conspiracy of silence in our nationaltragedy that needs to be unearthed and addressed.

PARVEZ JAMILKarachi

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

Comradely SpeakingHASHim bin RASHid

LHR 21-03-2013_Layout 1 3/21/2013 3:14 AM Page 10

COMMENT CThursday, 21 March, 2013

11Imagination was given to man to compensate

him for what he is not; a sense of humor to

console him for what he is. –Francis Bacon

I was wrongisraeli-Palestinian peace is on thepresident’s trip agenda

Afew weeksago, I as-sumed thatthe main em-

phasis of President BarackObama's upcoming visit tothe Middle East would notbe the Israeli-Palestinianconflict. Taking my cuesfrom Secretary of StateJohn Kerry's recently com-pleted trip and the way theWhite House had been"low-balling" expectationsabout making any progressin restarting Israeli-Pales-tinian talks, I thought thatthe president would focushis visit largely on the challenge posed by Iran's nuclear programmeand the humanitarian and political crises resulting from the ever-wors-ening conflict in Syria.

However, after an hour-long meeting with the president and hisnational security staff, followed a few days later by a detailed pressbriefing on the president's itinerary by a deputy national security ad-visor, it is clear that I was wrong.

Earlier this week, I was part of a group of Arab American leaderswho met with President Obama and his senior advisers to discuss hisvisits to Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. Following our conversation, theWhite House issued a statement saying, in part, that the president "un-derscored that the trip is an opportunity for him to demonstrate theUnited States' commitment to the Palestinian people—in the WestBank and Gaza—and to partnering with the Palestinian Authority asit continues building institutions that will be necessary to build a trulyindependent Palestinian state".

Our discussions with the president were instructive on many lev-els—in particular, his interest in hearing our ideas about how to makethe visit as productive and meaningful as possible. We offered a rangeof suggestions including the need to reach out directly to the Pales-tinian people: the business community struggling to create jobs;young people in need of hope; Christians concerned about their futurein the Holy Land; women seeking empowerment; and those who arecommitted to a non-violent approach to challenging the occupation.

We emphasised that just as he intended, in Israel, to speak directlyto the Israeli people, making clear to them his understanding of theirhistory and his commitment to their security, it would be equally im-portant to find opportunities to address remarks directly to ordinaryPalestinians. In this context, we found promising the post-meetingstatement issued by the White House and the details of the final tripschedule.

As has been made clear on several occasions by administrationofficials, the president will not use this visit to offer a plan to imme-diately restart negotiations. Conditions simply do not exist for a peace-making initiative to bear fruit. The newly constituted Israeligovernment leans too far to the right. The Palestinian house is also indisarray, with reconciliation talks still stalled.

Given this, the best the president can do, in the short term, is toattempt to speak directly to both peoples reasserting his commitmentto them and to a peaceful future in an effort to change the discoursein both societies away from the cynicism and hardline views that havemade progress toward peace so difficult.

Seen in this light, almost every aspect of the president's visit con-tains a message to the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. He will want towin their confidence, demonstrating that he understands their historiesand current realities. He will then note the dangers inherent in the cur-rent trajectory of regional developments and pose the challenges andopportunities that making peace will entail.

He will engage the leadership of both communities, but he willalso go beyond the leaders to speak directly to young Israelis andPalestinians about their futures.

No doubt, both Iran and the Arab Spring will be topics of conver-sation in Israel and Jordan. While in Jordan, the president will want tosupport the changes underway and will encourage the king to continueon the path of reform. He will also focus on the impact of the human-itarian crisis which has seen hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugeescoming into Jordan, testing that country's resources and political order.Another aspect of the Syrian war and the Middle East's tumultuouslast decade is the increased vulnerability of the region's Christians. Ina surprise move the White House added a stopover in Bethlehem be-tween the president's visit to Israel and his trip to Jordan. Going to thatcity's Church of the Nativity will allow the president to focus attentionon the two-thousand-year old presence of Christians not only in theHoly Land, but in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.

It is important to note that while in Bethlehem the president's teamwill be able to see first-hand the impact of the occupation on Pales-tinian daily life. First and foremost will be the 30 feet wall that snakesaround the little city cutting Bethlehem off from Jerusalem. And thenthere is the Israeli settlement of HarHoma. While the Israelis refer tothis development as a "neighbourhood" of Jerusalem, it is actuallybuilt on land seized in large part from Bethlehem. It will be recalledthat in the late 1990's then President Bill Clinton strongly objected toPrime Minister Netanyahu's plans to build HarHoma on the green hillof Jabal Abul Ghnaim. Netanyahu defied the US. Today that greenspace is gone, replaced by a settlement that is home to 15,000 Israelis(with expansion plans calling for a few thousand more). It, like thewall, separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem.

This will be the president's first trip of his second term and whilehe will not table a peace plan, every indication is that he remains com-mitted to an Israeli-Palestinian peace. This trip is designed to be thebeginning of a process to engage the Israeli and Palestinian peoples(and American Jews and Arab Americans) in an effort to win newsupport for peace-making efforts that will follow.

The writer is President of the Arab-American Institute.

Washington WatchdR jAmES j ZOGby

JUSTICE Markandey Katju, a formerjudge of the Indian Supreme Courtwho also served as Chief Justice ofthree high courts and who is currently

chairman of India’s statutory media regula-tory body, the Press Council of India, haslately been in the news for his outspoken‘words of wisdom’ on almost everything fromthe state of media to the failures of govern-ments in India. Recently, at a seminar in NewDelhi, he shocked his own people by tellingthem that at least 90 percent of them were “id-iots”. On the same occasion, Katju also tooka freaky shot on Pakistan by distorting ourhistory as a nation and questioning the verycreation of Pakistan.

He called Pakistan a “fake” country whichaccording to him was created artificially bythe Britishers through their “bogus Two-Na-tion Theory”. Katju also predicted that “in thenext 15-20 years India and Pakistan would re-unite”. If this outlandish statement had comefrom a traditional fanatic Indian mindset, onecould just ignore it. But coming from a retiredjudge of India’s superior judiciary with distin-guished lineage and family history, who wasknown for his non-communal moderate out-look, this was nothing but a barefaced assaulton Pakistan’s raison d’être. Obviously, it wasfor the Indians to take him to task for callingthem “idiots” but for us in Pakistan, it surelywas our challenge to prove him wrong and re-pudiate his aberrant ‘reunification’ theory.

Since Katju made his statement in his ca-pacity as Chairman, Press Council of India,one expected our media to at least show somesensitivity to his remarks about Pakistan. Inparticular, those newspapers which have tradi-tionally claimed ‘nationalist’ credentialsshould have editorially demolished Katju’s‘reunification’ illusions by challenging him onwhat he thought of our nationhood and aboutour country’s future. This never happened. Icould not resist responding to Katju’s slur andwrote an article giving a dispassionate accountof history to establish why Hindus and Mus-lims in the subcontinent, having lived togetherfor centuries, remained poles apart eventuallybecoming two separate states in 1947.

Despite Jinnah’s efforts for Hindu-Muslimunity, the beginning of the 20th century saw aline being drawn, making it impossible forHindus and Muslims to live together in India.What brought the simmering Muslim nation-alism in the open was the character of the Con-

gress rule in the Muslim minority provincesduring 1937-39. The Congress policies inthese provinces hurt Muslim susceptibilitiesleaving them with no doubt that in the Con-gress scheme of things, they could live onlyon sufferance of Hindus and as “second class”citizens. They were convinced that it was im-possible to live in an undivided India afterfreedom from colonial rule because their inter-ests would be completely suppressed.

In response to my article published in amajor ultra-conservative newspaper, Katju sentme an e-mail message requesting for the e-mailaddress of that newspaper saying he wanted torespond to my article through a ‘rejoinder’.While sending him the requested e-mail ad-dress, I warned him that I was not sure if anynewspaper in Pakistan, much less this particu-lar one, will print anything questioning thevery raison d’être of Pakistan. I was wrong.The esteemed paper published not only Katju’sbizarre “truth about Pakistan” devoting to itmore than half of its op-ed page but also thetext of my e-mail message that Katju had un-ethically and illegally shared with it in blatantbreach of the privacy of the mail exchangedbetween two individuals. It was violation ofthe Code of Ethics followed by both the PressCouncils of India and Pakistan.

In his article, Katju said that “Pakistan wasdoomed from its very inception”. According tohim, “Created artificially by the Britishthrough their wicked policy of divide and ruleand the bogus two-nationtheory, Pakistan is boundto reunify with India.” Healso distorted some of thehistorical facts. All saidand done, Justice Katju’sarticle finding prominentspace in a major Pakistaninewspaper known for itsultra-conservative outlookand ideological ‘guardian-ship’ shocked the people ofPakistan. They couldn’tbelieve it. Even the Indianswere surprised at this turnof the tide in Pakistan. TheIndian Express (Pakistanall-praise for MarkandeyKatju, March 7) viewed this event worthy ofspecial attention disclosing how the Pakistani“newspaper that had traditionally taken ananti-India stance surprisingly agreed to pub-lish Katju’s article”.

According to The Indian Express, this de-cision came only because his daughter consid-ered Katju’s article print worthy. She wasquoted to have said: “I expected spirited feed-back on it and haven’t been disappointed. Myfather knew I was publishing it and agreed. I’dbe delighted to publish Katju again.” Thatsounded generous. One noted a dramaticchange of direction in this paper’s known pol-icy. Apparently, no one realised that there isone full clause in PCP’s Code of Ethics thatforbids printing, publishing or disseminatingany material, which may bring into contemptPakistan or its people or tends to undermineits sovereignty or integrity as an independent

country. It appeared to mark the end of an era.But the ‘Katju story’ did not end there.

My own read on the ‘feedback’ was disap-pointingly different. Pakistani readers paid noserious attention to Katju’s article. They justignored it as yet another volley of a dogmaticif not rabid school of thought from across theborder that never accepted Pakistan’s creation.From the Indian side, many knowledgeablecomments were posted, mostly dismissive ofKatju’s ‘reunification’ theory. One was, how-ever, shocked at the unworthy and gracelesslanguage that some of the comments fromacross the border used for Pakistan and itsfounder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. They crossedall limits of civility. It was by no means a‘spirited’ feedback. It was just filth and vul-garity. No newspaper in the world would allowabuse of its space for such trash. I am sureeven Justice Katju must have been ashamed ofthe profanity heaped on our Quaid.

Katju presented his aberrant ‘reunifica-tion’ theory without being disrespectful toanyone. That is perhaps the spirit of his‘satyam bruyat’. Jinnah is one of those rareleaders who received some of the greatest trib-utes paid to any one in modern times, some ofthem even from those who held a diametricallyopposed viewpoint. Katju’s own illustriousgrandfather, Dr Kailash Nath Katju, one ofIndia’s leading lawyers who participated in thecountry’s freedom movement, then serving asGovernor of West Bengal, also paid glowing

tribute to our Quaid de-scribing him as "an out-standing figure of thiscentury not only in India,but in the whole world".

Our Quaid did not livelong to personally steerPakistan to be what hethought would be “one ofthe greatest nations of theworld”. No doubt, we havehad a chequered historyafter independence. But ithas been a failure of gover-nance, not of the nation-hood. A Hindu fanatic hasevery reason to challengePakistan’s nationhood. But

if a man of Katju’s non-communal outlook isdrawing negative conclusions on our future,there is cause for us to look at ourselves tofind what after all is wrong with us. No matterwhat Katju’s motives are, he has indeed shownus a mirror.

What if Katju’s mirror shows us a hazy pic-ture? We see a mutilated and disjointed nationdebilitating itself physically as well as spiritu-ally. We also see a country looted and plun-dered by its own rulers, and left with no dignityand sovereign independence. We are not evenashamed of what we are doing to ourselves.Isn’t it time for us to change and behave like anation? Isn’t it also time, our increasingly fam-ily concentrated media owned its national re-sponsibility and played its role in defendingPakistan’s independent statehood?

The writer is former foreign secretary, Pakistan.

Katju’s dreary mirrorhow he is wrong on some fronts and yet right on some others

SHAmSHAd AHmAd

What if Katju’smirror shows us a hazy

picture? We see amutilated and disjointed

nation debilitatingitself physically as well

as spiritually.

LHR 21-03-2013_Layout 1 3/21/2013 3:14 AM Page 11

“An old error is always

more popular than a new

truth. ”— German Proverb

arts

AThursday, 21 March, 2013

12

CurreNTaCTresses areINseCure: brITTeKlaNd

Former Bond Girl Britt Ekland has

branded the current crop of female

stars as “insecure”. “When I was in

Man With The Golden Gun I probably

had a little bit of foundation and some

lippie but you look at famous girls

now... this whole idea of plumping and

Botox and eyebrow-tattooing has gone

overboard,” the Daily Express quoted

her as telling TV Times. Ekland, 70,

who was married to Peter Sellers for

four years in the Sixties and dated Rod

Stewart, said that it’s sad that these

girls are so insecure. “They must look

at themselves in the morning without

the two-inch-long eyelashes and fake

tan and think, ‘This is not good’,” she

added. nEWS dESK

PIPPa mIddleToNeNCouraGesCasINo NIGhTs

Socialite Pippa Middleton, younger

sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, is

encouraging parents to hold ‘Casino

Night Parties’ for their teenage

children. The 29-year-old is promoting

gambling events aimed at teenagers

with products supplied by her family’s

firm, Party Pieces, reports femalefirst.

Writing on her website, Party Times,

which is part of Michael and Carole

Middleton’s Party Pieces business,

Pippa said: “(Casino Nights) are a

great choice for teenagers. Dress the

table in baize green, dust off your

packs of cards and mix up the cocktails

- then all you have to worry about is

whether Lady Luck is on your side.”

nEWS dESK

Tom CruIse ToPlay NaPoleoNsolo IN NexT FIlmHollywood actor Tom Cruise is ready to

play Napoleon Solo in the movie

adaptation of 1960’s US TV show “The

Man From U.N.C.L.E.” Guy Ritchie, who

is directing the project, was on the

lookout for an actor for the role for a

long time, has finally zeroed in on

Cruise. Ritchie first even thought of

signing actor George Clooney. However,

since the character has to be physically

strong and Clooney has been suffering

from a bad back over the years, the

plan to cast him was changed, reports

thesun. nEWS dESK

NEWS DESK

THE document, along with the poet andplaywright’s first draft of his famous son-net The New Remorse, was found in adusty box in the back of a wardrobe. The13-page letter is undated but is assumed

to have been written around 1890, just as Wilde wasbecoming one of London’s most popular playwrights.It is a deep and insightful letter of reply to a wouldbewriter seeking tips on how to be successful. Wilde toldhim not to rely on earning a living from writing,adding: “The best work in literature is always done bythose who do not depend on it for their daily breadand the highest form of literature, Poetry, brings nowealth to the singer. “Make some sacrifice for yourart and you will be repaid but ask of art to sacrificeherself for you and a bitter disappointment may cometo you.” The first draft of the poem The New Remorsewas written by Wilde for his new lover, Lord AlfredDouglas after they had just met in 1891. Wilde writesabout meeting the aristocrat, stating: “It is thy new-found Lord, and he shall kiss, the yet unravished rosesof thy mouth.” It was Wilde’s relationship with LordDouglas that led to his downfall after he attempted tosue his lover’s father for libel only to end up beingjailed for gross indecency. The two documents wereowned by a Victorian brewery owner who collected au-tographed letters and manuscripts. They were passeddown his family to his granddaughter and were foundby experts called to clear her estate in Shippon, nearAbingdon, Oxon, after her death last November. MikeHeseltine, of specialist manuscript auctioneers Blooms-bury of London, said: “The letter is hitherto unknownand is entirely fascinating while the first draft of one ofhis most important poems is equally exciting. “It is hardto say whether Wilde knew the aspiring writer but hewent on for 13 pages and was quite honest and directin his words of advice. “The gist of it is telling the re-cipient, a Mr Morgan, to write by all means but to make

sure he has some other job to rely on for money.” Thedocuments once belonged to Lawrence Hodson, awealthy brewery owner from the West Midlands whohad contacts in the publishing world. The folded letteris estimated to sell for £12,000. The autographed draftof ‘The New Remorse’ was writtem on ‘FlorenceHotel’ headed paper, and is expected to sell for £7,500.The auction takes place on April 4.

jay-z boasts aboutrunning throughWhite house

NEWS DESK

It’s been a big week for the Carters — but, to behonest, when is it not? Beyonce, or Mrs. Carter as shehas called herself before, released “Bow Down / IBeen On,” a fierce new track, which serves as thesinger’s first since the singles off of her 2011 album,“4.” Now Mr. Carter, Jay-Z, has dropped a muchhyped remix to Kendrick Lamar’s “B-tch Don’t KillMy Vibe.” First heard at South By Southwest, theremix to “B-tch Don’t Kill My Vibe” was released infull this week. The track has Jay-Z celebrating hissuccesses and referencing his and Beyonce’s verypublic friendship with the Obamas. Jay-Z boasts inthe song, “In the White House with a mink / Runningthrough that b-tch like it’s my house / All up in thehall like a mall / Told you motherf—kers, all I do isball.” He then mentions President Obama and anotherfamous face, saying, “Sittin’ next to Hillary smellin’like dank / Presidental pardon, name one ni—a outthere harder than him / I’ll wait.” Rolling Stonereports that the Hillary mentioned is likely HillaryClinton as Jay-Z attended the inauguration with thethen-Secretary of State. Jay also gives a nod toBeyonce in the lyrics, rapping “Up in the clouds, meand my spouse / Rumors on the ground gettin’ tooloud / Please turn them shits down, can’t hear myselfthink.” The couple’s marriage was also recentlyreferenced in Bey’s “Bow Down / I Been On,” whenthe singer stresses, “I took some time to live my life,but don’t think I’m just hislittle wife.” Lamar spokeabout his collaborationwith Jay-Z, tellingMTV, “Always lookedup to the greats tobe a great. So toactually be on atrack with him, it’san accomplishment.”

“The Bible” has been an incrediblysuccessful miniseries for the Historychannel, so it’s no wonder viewerstook to the internet after noticing thatthe actor cast in the role of Satan looksquite a bit like President Barack

Obama.Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni plays

the role of the fallen angel. A numberof Twitter users noticed the similaritybetween Ouazanni and Obama onSunday. Among them was Glenn

Beck, who first tweeted that the serieswas “one of the most important showsin decades,” then posted a screenshotof Ouazanni and asked if othersthought he looked like “That Guy,”Beck’s preferred term for Obama.UPDATE: The History channel andexecutive producers Mark Burnettand Roma Downey have respondedto news reports picking up on the sim-ilarity between the actor and Obama.

“History channel has the highestrespect for President Obama,” a state-ment from the History channel read.“The series was produced with an in-ternational and diverse cast of re-spected actors. It’s unfortunate thatanyone made this false connection.History’s ‘The Bible’ is meant to en-lighten people on its rich stories anddeep history.” nEWS dESK

oscar Wilde letterreveals writing tips

“Jane Got A Gun,” but not a director. As first reported by Deadline.com, director Lynne Ram-say (“We Need to Talk About Kevin”) left the new film “Jane Got A Gun” on the first day of shoot-ing, forcing producers to scramble for a replacement. Natalie Portman, Jude Law and JoelEdgerton are set to star in the Western, which focuses on a young woman who defends her farmand husband against an outlaw gang with the help of an ex-lover.

“I’m shocked and so disappointed someone would do this to 150 crew members who de-voted so much time, energy, commitment and loyalty to a project, and then have the directornot show up,” producer Scott Steindorff told Deadline.com. “It is insane somebody woulddo this to other people.” Portman is also a producer on the film.

HuffPost Entertainment reached out to Ramsay’s manager for comment on the situation. Ina twist, the director’s representative was Jessica Steindorff, Scott’s daughter.

“My father Scott Steindorff prevails under extreme amounts of stress and the show will goon,” Jessica Steindorff said to HuffPost Entertainment via email. “Sorry, but in this town it’sfamily first.” The younger Steindorff wrote that she no longer manages Ramsay.

HuffPost Entertainment also reached out to screenwriter Brian Duffield’s representatives,but did not receive any response. As yet, no reason has been given for Ramsay’s departure.

This is the second shake-up to “Jane Got A Gun” in recent weeks. On March 11, THR re-ported that Michael Fassbender, who was set to play the male lead in the film opposite Port-man, had left the project. Jude Law stepped in to replace Fassbender in the cast, but notin his role: Edgerton, who was attached to play the villain in “Jane Got A Gun” tookFassbender’s part, with Law slotting in as the film’s antagonist. nEWS dESK

Director quits Natalie Portmanfilm on first day of shooting

History Channel’s Satan looks a lot like Obama

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Every block of stone has a statue inside

it and it is the task of the sculptor to

discover it. — Michelangelo

13ARTSThursday, 21 March, 2013

A

shaZaf fatIMaDing-dong bubble. My next

favorite addiction after shahi

supari

shehryar taseerAgain Malala shows the

world what Pakistan is all

about. #Fighters. Malala is

in school for the 1st time

since the shooting

Mehreen Zahra-MalIk ”I was born a warrior, I willdie like a warrior.” MariaWazir from Waziristan tookup squash in a region wheregirls are denied schooling

UMaIr Javed‘baita, arrange marriage thee

ya love?’ ‘aunty, arranged with

love.’ #Pakistanese

alI dayan hasanIt is wonderful that Malala

is back at school but

beyond appalling that

doing the same in

#Pakistan would kill her.

notaBle tweets

NEWS DESK

The Delhi High Court Wednesdayexpressed displeasure over Hindifilm “ Race 2” following a petitionthat it showed nudity and vulgarity.

“Please think where the film in-dustry is going. You are teaching in-discipline to children,” a divisionbench of Chief Justice D. Muruge-san and Justice V.K. Jain said.

They were hearing a PIL alleg-ing that the film was vulgar andshowed nude scenes. It sought a banon the movie.

The court’s observation cameafter the counsel appearing for theproducers and director of “Race 2”

said the Central Film CertificationBoard (CBFC) had already clearedits release.

The court sought response fromthe ministry of information andbroadcasting, CBFC and Delhi gov-ernment and posted the matter forFriday.

The petition was filed by socialworker Teena Sharma. The court hadearlier directed the central govern-ment to consider the plea against“Race 2” and take appropriate actionwithin a fortnight.

Sharma moved the court againafter the government failed to act.

She said she was deeply hurt bythe nude scenes and dialogues with

double meaning after viewing thefilm in a theatre.

Challenging the UA certificationgiven to the film, the plea said: “Thefilm has been screened in 50 coun-tries and it has been graded as anadult movie in 40 countries whilehere it had been granted U/A certifi-cation. “The contents of the film arehighly objectionable and thereforethe film has got A certification forscreening in the US and Britain.”The petition accused the movie ofdegrading women and displayingthem as commodities. UA certifica-tion is given to films which childrenabove 12 years are allowed to seeunder parental guidance.

Gwyneth Paltrow is probably used togetting scrutinized for her unconventional diets,but when excerpts of her new book “It’s AllGood” started circling, she was suddenly

blamed for being a bad mother, too. But is all theheat really warranted, or were her quotes taken out of

context? In the cookbook, Paltrow’s second after “MyFather’s Daughter,” the actress describes the elimination diet

that makes her and her family feel healthier. Gwyneth, alongwith husband Chris Martin and kids Apple and Moses, has givenup dairy, sugar, gluten and soy, and opts for other ingredientsinstead. And this is exactly what made the Oscar-winner a dartboard as of recent weeks. In the chapter titled “Grains,”Paltrow admits that when her family gives up bread andpasta, they’re sometimes “left with that specific hunger thatcomes with avoiding carbs.” Various sites took that to meanthat Paltrow starves her children and is therefore an unfitmother (here, here, and here). But in reality, Paltrow

follows that “controversial” sentence up with this totallyreasonable explanation and introduction to the chapter —

since her kids are craving carbs, she’s whipped up some heartygrain recipes to satisfy them. nEWS dESK

Timberlake confirmsbig news

The rumors are true: Justin Timberlake willrelease another new album in 2013.Speaking with Ryan Seacrest on Mondaynight at an event for Timberlake’s comebackalbum, “The 20/20 Experience,” the singerrevealed his newest disc is only the first halfof the experience; part two, a second albumwith 10 more tracks, will arrive later thisyear. That news was hardly surprising asRoots drummer Questlove spoiledTimberlake’s surprise over the weekend byposting about it on a message board at hissite, Okayplayer.com. Timberlake had spenta week with Questlove and The Roots on“Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” and thedrummer also acted as DJ beforeTimberlake’s “surprise” show at South BySouthwest in Austin, Texas on Saturdaynight. Timberlake, it should be noted, did notconfirm the November release date.nEWS

dESK

Keira Knightley toplay Coco Chanel

Karl Lagerfeld has cast Keira Knightley forthe role of designer Coco Chanel in a shortmovie that he is going to direct. The shortmovie will celebrate 100 years since thelegendary designer opened her first Chanelboutique in the French seaside town ofDeauville, the Mirror Reported. Knightleywill be starring alongside models StellaTennant, Tallulah Harlech, Brad Kroenig andhis son Hudson in the movie. The film willbe screened in May during the fashionhouse’s cruise collection, to be held inSingapore. nEWS dESK

NEWS DESK

Lindsay Lohan has apparently chosen toignore her court-ordered 90-day rehabstint by partying in full swing, or,according to one insider, she’s justrefusing to believe it is even happening.The ‘Mean Girls’ star was recentlyspotted at a Hollywood hot spot AVClub on Monday night, just mere hoursafter she was handed the rehabsentence by the court, Fox newsreported. A pal of the 26-year-oldactress told FOX411’s Pop Tartscolumn, “Up until last week there wasno way she was taking a plea deal, therewas no way she was going to go backto rehab, but It’s amazing that shecame around.” The source addedthat Lohan is not stupid, it’s justthat she is choosing to turn herback to her current situation.

iconic eveninggowns sell for $1.2mat London auction

Princess diana’s

A collection of some of Princess Diana’s most

memorable evening gowns, including one she

wore to a White House dinner where she danced

with John Travolta, fetched over 800,000 pounds

($1.2 million) at a London auction Tuesday. Diana

famously wore the deep navy, figure-hugging velvet

gown to a gala dinner hosted by President Ronald

Reagan, during her and Prince Charles’ first joint state

visit to the U.S. in 1985. Photographs of her taking to

the White House dance floor with Travolta have become

some of the most celebrated images of the princess. The

Victor Edelstein gown was sold for 240,000 pounds, Kerry

Taylor Auctions said. It came slightly below the expected

maximum price of 300,000 pounds. The auction house did not

disclose the identity of the buyer, only saying it was sold to a

“British gentleman as a surprise to cheer up his wife.” Nine other of

Diana’s dresses were sold to bidders, which came from around the

world and included three museums, the auction house said. Two dresses

by Catherine Walker, one of Diana’s favourite designers, went for 108,000

pounds each. They were a black velvet and beaded gown worn for a

Vanity Fair photo shoot by Mario Testino at Kensington Palace in 1997,

and a burgundy crushed velvet gown the princess wore to the film

premiere of “Back to the Future” in 1985. Diana sold dozens of her

dresses at a New York charity auction at the suggestion of her son,

Prince William, in 1997 — three months before she died in a Paris

car crash. Florida-based socialite Maureen Dunkel bought about a

dozen of the dresses — including the 10 to be sold next month —

and put them up for auction in Canada in 2011, but the prices

were set too high and many dresses didn’t sell. nEWS dESK

Court pulls up ‘race 2’ makersfor nudity and vulgarity

Not the badmother she’smade out to be

LILOin full denial overrehab return

LHR 21-03-2013_Layout 1 3/21/2013 3:15 AM Page 13

InfotaInMent

IThursday, 21 March, 2013

14In order to see the world and grasp it as

paradoxical, we must break with our familiar

acceptance of it. — Merleau Ponty

work is biggest cause of stress

The front of HTC's website has a graphic with the legend"the wait is over", showcasing its metal-cased Onesmartphone with "Ultrapixel" camera. But for thoseseeking the phone, and for anxious executives lookingto regain the company's lost position in the smartphonemarket, the wait will go on: HTC has delayed the releaseof the phone, reportedly due to problems in sourcingcamera components and metal casings for the device.

The Wall Street Journal says that Peter Chou,HTC's chief executive, may come under pressure to re-sign from his board: it claims he suggested he wouldstep down if the new phone is not a success. The delay,which pushes back the release of the phone – an-nounced on 19 February – to the end of March at the

earliest in any market, and into April for many markets,will put extra pressure on the Taiwanese company.

HTC has slipped down the rankings of smartphonemakers since revenues hit a peak in August 2011, andbarely eked out a profit in the fourth quarter of 2012 asrevenues fell 62percent year on year. Revenues slippedanother 27percent in the first two months of the yearcompared with the year-ago period.

Now the Wall Street Journal reports that the delayis caused by problems in sourcing parts for thephones, which has become more difficult now thatHTC is no longer seen as a "tier one" – top-level –manufacturer. Last year marked the first time that itdidn't pay a year-end bonus to staff, the paper re-

ported. It quotes an HTC executive as saying that thecompany had encountered problems with its compo-nent suppliers because it "changed its order forecastsdrastically and frequentlyfollowing last year's un-expected slump in ship-ments". The unnamedexecutive was quoted assaying: "HTC has haddifficulty in securing ad-equate camera compo-nents as it is no longer atier-one customer [tosuppliers]."

The problem em-phasises the issues fac-ing HTC, whichmakes phones runningGoogle's Android and

Microsoft's Windows Phone software, as it is in-creasingly squeezed between the two biggest smart-

phone manufacturers – Samsung, which lastweek launched its new Galaxy S4, and

Apple, which is reck-oned to be ramping upproduction of a suc-cessor to its iPhone 5.

At its launch,HTC said that theOne would be avail-able in March in 80countries and with185 carriers. Now itwill come up againstdirect competitionat the same timefrom the GalaxyS4. nEWS dESK

THE super-sized cephalopods livedeep in the oceans and are little-known by the scientific commu-nity. An international team ofresearchers investigated rare

samples of the elusive animals' DNA to re-veal their family secrets.

They discovered that there is just a sin-gle species of squid with no populationstructure. The findings are published in thejournal Proceedings of the Royal SocietyB. The giant squid has been a source offascination both before and beyond its for-mal description in 1857 by Danish biolo-gist Japetus Steenstrup.

Its deep-dwelling lifestyle is largely un-known but specimens have been foundglobally, with the exception of Arctic andAntarctic waters. Inspiring tales of sea mon-sters such as the ship-destroying Kraken,giant squid are rumoured to reach 50m inlength but scientists say an 18m estimate ismore appropriate according to studies.

A further debate about the mysteri-ous animals relates to how manyspecies there are, with researcherssuggesting there could be as many aseight based on differences in appear-ance and where they have beenfound. "Your general [giant] squid isa long, scrawny beast: it's got a longthin body and long thin arms," saidProfessor M. Thomas P. Gilbert, fromthe Natural History Museum of Den-mark. "But off [the coast of] Japan forexample, they're much shorter and stub-bier. Their arms are fatter and muchshorter."

Prof Gilbert worked with colleaguesfrom the University of Copenhagen andresearchers from Australia, Japan,France, Ireland and Portugal to under-stand how the seemingly diversesquid are related. The team took 43tissue samples from a variety of sources:

stranded animals, remains found in thestomachs of beached sperm whales and ac-cidental by-catch. They then used DNA se-quencing techniques to understand thegenetic makeup of the squid. Results re-vealed that the squid are all one species.Genetic diversity was also found to bevery low, meaning that the squid are ge-netically very similar despite being found

all over the world and varying greatly inappearance.

"Things that live in one area eventu-ally become different from things in otherareas but [giant squid] are basically iden-tical everywhere." Prof Gilbert describedthe findings as "very weird" but suggestedthat migration could be the key reasonspecimens from as

far apart as Japan and Florida, US are ge-netically so similar.

"We speculate the larval stage mustdrift globally in the currents then dive tothe nearest dark, deep spot when they arelarge enough, thus stopping any [popula-tion] structure appearing," he explained."Instead of the adults and their young liv-ing in the same place, the young distributeto a completely new place on the Earth

every time." Judging by their sizeand remarkable adaptations forthe environment, scientists be-lieve the giant squid have asubstantial population. An-

other theory to explain thelarge numbers of identical ani-

mals is the possibility of a rapidand recent population boom.

According to Prof Gilbert,this expansion could have beencaused by either a decrease inpredators or an increase in prey

numbers of the giant squid."This year is the 200th anniver-

sary of Steenstrup... So on his200th birthday we can say we

know more about it!" he told BBCNature. The evolutionary biologist

commented that although the teamhad succeeded in answering one ques-tion about the mysterious squid, they

have uncovered many more. nEWS dESK

GooGle FlIGhTsearCh FINallylaNds IN euroPe

INTERNET SEARCH AND ADVERTISING

FIRM Google has finally landed Flight

Service, its airline flight comparison

service, in Europe. The service is a bit

limited. A blog post from Noam Ben

Haim, senior product manager for

travel at Google, said that it is only

available, or applicable, for people in

the UK, France, Italy, Spain or the

Netherlands. If that is you, then the

world is your oyster, or at least almost.

"Starting today, you can use Flight

Search to quickly find, compare and

book flights originating from each of

these countries to any airport in the

world. You'll also be able to search for

flights from airports in these countries

and see prices in your local currency,"

said Haim. "Additionally, you can

conduct searches in [eight] languages:

English, French, Italian, Spanish,

Basque, Catalan, Galician and Dutch --

and see prices in your local currency."

Haim called this "smarter travel

planning", and said that Flight Search

will let users quickly compare live

prices for tickets and check for the

lowest fare icon "to see which dates

will get you the lowest fare". However,

there are some big names missing, and

they happen to be some of the more

budget airlines, something that could

harm the appeal of Google Flight

Search. Haim said that these are

coming. "Sometimes we are not able to

show results for every single airline

and we will make that clear. We are

working to expand our relationship

with other airlines, and bring Flight

Search to more countries and in more

languages," he said. We checked prices

for a flight to Paris this week. Although

search returned a lot of options, prices

for Easyjet, one obvious low cost

airline, are not available. A disclaimer

on the UK flight search page explains,

"Some airlines are not available on

Google". These being Ryanair,

Lufthansa, Easyjet, Thomas Cook, and

Aer Lingus. Ryanair told The INQUIRER

that it has a policy that it invokes when

price comparison websites come

knocking, and that is that the firms

make a donation to charity before

being allowed in. "In the interests of

consumers and price transparency

Ryanair allows and encourages 'price

comparison only' websites to access its

timetable and pricing information, for

an annual charitable donation of just

€100," said a spokesperson. nEWS dESK

scientists looking to

reverse extinction

Human activity and other factors

have annihilated countless species

over the last few hundred thousand

years, but researchers now believe

some of those creatures aren't

necessarily gone forever, the New

York Times finds. Cloning requires an

intact cell, but advances in

technology mean that it could be

possible to bring back an extinct

species by using genetic material to

create hybrid cells to clone from a

closely related species. Researchers

using cloned cells have already tried

to bring back the Pyrenean ibex,

though the baby animal created

survived just minutes. Efforts to bring

back Australia's extinct Southern

gastric brooding frog have so far

yielded only embryos that failed to

survive. The efforts to reverse

extinction raise many ethical

questions, and it may not be desirable

to bring back some species, including

the huge flocks of passenger pigeons

that used to carpet American cities in

an inch-deep layer of guano, says the

director of the Stanford Center for

Law and Biosciences. nEWS dESK

Work is the biggest cause of stress inpeople’s lives with one in three people(34%) saying their work life was eithervery or quite stressful, research fromMind has found.

The survey of over 2,000 people re-vealed that the main cause for workplace

stress was frustration with poor manage-ment and that work was regarded asmore stressful than debt or financialproblems (30%) or health issues (17%).

The second most stressful factor ofwork for one in four (26%) people wasexcessive workload, followed closely by

lack of support from managers (25%)and unrealistic targets (25%).

As a result of this, one in five respon-dents (19%) said they took a day off sickdue to stress, but 90% of those peoplecited a different reason for their absence,suggesting a culture of fear around re-vealing mental health issues. One in five(19%) people felt they couldn't tell theirboss if they were overly stressed. In ad-dition, one in 10 (9%) had resigned froma job due to stress and a quarter had con-sidered resigning due to work pressure.

Furthermore, of the 22% of thosesurveyed who had a diagnosed mentalhealth problem, just under half (10%)had actually told their boss about the di-agnosis. Mind chief executive PaulFarmer said: "Work related mental healthproblems are an issue too important forbusinesses to ignore. We know that rightnow, one in six workers are experiencingdepression, stress or anxiety and yet oursurvey tells us that most managers don'tfeel they have had enough training orguidance to support them.

"Improving mental wellbeing in theworkplace doesn't have to cost a lot. Ourresearch shows that people whose organ-isations offered flexible working hoursand generous annual leave said suchmeasures supported their mental wellbe-ing. Three in five people said that if theiremployer took action to support the men-tal wellbeing of all staff, they would feelmore loyal, motivated, committed and belikely to recommend their workplace asa good place to work." nEWS dESK

Giant squid genetics reveal family secrets

htC one smartphone release delayed

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SPORTS

SThursday, 21 March, 2013

15The injury is likely to require ongoing

assessments and a likely 6-8 week period of rest

and rehabilitation. – The ECB said in a statement

DURBANAGEnCiES

The Proteas swop the dry highveld forDurban’s coastal humidity, and their pinkgear for the traditional green and yellow, asthey bid to wrap up the ODI series againstPakistan at Kingsmead on Thursday.

The match could be the scene for thereturn of paceman Morné Morkel, who lastplayed for the Proteas in the second Test atNewlands a month ago. He was forced offthe field with a hamstring injury duringPakistan’s second innings. On Monday,Morkel had a “middle practice” atKingsmead, bowling four overs with noevident discomfort in the company ofassistant coach Russell Domingo. Domingosaid Morkel would have a fitness test todayto see if he was fit enough to make hisreturn. “Obviously it’ll be great to see himback in action, but I don’t want to make anypredictions. Let’s wait and see whathappens,” he said. Durban has not been ahappy hunting ground - particularly in Test

matches - for the Proteas in recent years asthey have struggled to come to terms with arecent trend towards slower, more spinner-friendly pitches. This season, however, aconcerted effort has been made to produce

bouncier, faster tracks. Kingsmead’s stadiummanager, Brett Proctor, said the pitch hadhardened up appreciably by yesterdayafternoon, but was starting to look a littlecracked and dry towards the end of a very

hot day. Batting hero Hashim Amla hasconfessed to being “curious” about whatconditions Durban would offer. “It’s been along time since I played in either a domesticor an international match at Kingsmead,” hesaid after the Proteas completed a 34-runvictory at the Wanderers on Sunday to takea 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Amla acknowledged that Kingsmeadrarely produced the kind of high-scoringconditions familiar to the Wanderers, andpointed out that because it was a daymatch (on Human Rights Day), thechances of the ball swinging werelessened. This being Durban, where theweather forecast forms an essential partof every match build-up, it’s encouragingto see that the current prediction is for hot,sunny conditions. Centurions Amla andAB de Villiers shared the Man of theMatch award for their world record third-wicket partnership of 238 in 194 balls, thekey ingredient in South Africa’s victory.Asked why he and De Villiers had battedso successfully together in recent years,

Amla said part of the reason was that theyboth frequently rotated the strike.

“I do my thing, then get off strike byknocking the ball into the gaps, and AB doesthe same thing. That way you play as muchrisk-free cricket as possible and it helps tobuild the partnership. I like batting with AB.When he comes in there’s a lot of energy andyou know the game is going to go forward,”the World No 1 ODI batsman said.

Amla added there were style differencesbetween the two players that helpedcomplement their effectiveness as a unit.“AB gets to hit sixes over cover off the backfoot,” he laughed. “We also keep each othermotivated while we’re batting.”

He said that batting upfront withGraeme Smith and Colin Ingram on Sundayhad posed early problems. “The Pakistanisbowled really good lengths. The pitch wasa bit tacky and the ball didn’t really comeonto the bat. We found it difficult, but weknew that the first 10 overs would be tough.We kept reassuring ourselves, saying wejust needed to hang in there.”

DURBANAGEnCiES

FAF du Plessis has been forcedto withdraw from the Proteassquad for the remainder of theone-day series against

Pakistan. Du Plessis, who has an inflamedlower back, has been replaced in thesquad by young tyro Quinton de Kock forThursday’s match in Durban andSunday’s final game in Benoni.

Du Plessis will miss the first fourweeks of the Indian Premier League, butshould play in the later stages of thecompetition to prepare for the ChampionsTrophy in England in June.

“Faf has been troubled by low backpain over the past while,” said Proteasteam manager Mohammed Moosajee.“He was recently diagnosed with bonyinflammation in the lumbar spine and asix-week rest period has been advised.”

The convenor of the nationalselectors, Andrew Hudson, said he wasnaturally disappointed over losing a keymiddle-order batsman at such animportant time in the series.

“As disappointing as Faf’s injury is,it must be seen as an opportunity forQuinton. He made a good start to hisinternational career during the previous

series against New Zealand and this is achance for him to build on that.”

Despite Hudson’s comment, home-town batsman David Miller will surelycome into consideration as Du Plessis’sreplacement for tomorrow’s ODI. Millerknows the conditions well and is

desperate to impress. The aggressive left-hander has done well in T20 internationalsthis season, but has yet to make his markin ODIs, scoring 14 and 15 in the seriesloss to New Zealand.

Despite the debit of losing Du Plessis,the Proteas were in credit yesterday withthe news that Morné Morkel has beenpronounced fit to play, signalling a returnto international duty after a month spentrecovering from a hamstring injury pickedup in the second Test in Cape Town.

Morkel worked alone, bowling fourovers on Monday, but had a much longerworkout yesterday and was the last of thebowlers to finish his work in the lateafternoon.

“It was a long, hard day, but that’sgood,” a satisfied Morkel said as hewalked off the field. “I feel really goodand I didn’t feel a thing in my leg.”

Said Moosajee: “We’ve been fairlyconservative with Morné, we couldprobably have played him earlier in theseries, but you have to be very carefulwith hamstring injuries and we wanted tobe sure.”

Meanwhile, left-arm spinner RobinPeterson, having described the Wanderersas “the toughest place to bowl in SouthAfrica” after his team’s 34-run win inSunday’s run-fest, said it would be

interesting to see just what conditionswould prevail in Durban.

“The Kingsmead pitch has got slowerin recent years, and there is sometimesturn available as well. If that’s the casethis time, it will bring Pakistan into thegame. I think that whoever assesses theconditions quicker is going to have anadvantage on the day. It’ll be a goodchallenge for us and if we can stopPakistan in their tracks, it’ll give us a lotof confidence going forward.”

It was made quite clear on Tuesdayafternoon that the South Africanbrainstrust of Moosajee and coach GaryKirsten were concerned about a dry-looking pitch, with some cracks thatlooked a little bare at the Umgeni End. Atone stage, Moosajee and the chiefexecutive of the KZN Cricket Union,Jesse Chellan, were engaged in ananimated conversation on the squarewhile South Africa were practising.

The message, clearly, is that the SouthAfricans don’t want to encouragePakistan’s greatest strength - spinnersSaeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez andShahid Afridi - by having to play on apitch that takes turn on Thursday.

However, Chellan said that he wasconfident the match would take place onan excellent surface for ODI cricket.

Peterson acceptsrotation policy

DURBANAGEnCiES

Proteas spinner Robin Peterson has backedthe national team’s one-day rotation policydespite their recent inconsistencies in the50-over format. South Africa have steadilyslipped down the world rankings over thepast few months after five defeats in theirlast nine matches, and 10 in total over thepast year. For the ongoing series againstPakistan, they are without rested all-rounder Jacques Kallis, but the selectorshave regularly given players a break inrecent months - the likes of Dale Steyn andMorne Morkel have missed out - eventhough the introduction of new faces hasnot been as prominent as it has in thenational Twenty20 side. “The one-dayteam has changed a lot over the past 12months, from giving guys a break and dueto injuries,” Peterson said on Tuesday.“It’s easy to be settled in the Test teambecause it’s been pretty much the same 15together for the past two years. “Bothpolicies have merits. I think the next twoyears are going to be important for SouthAfrica in one-day cricket. You need toknow what you have in reserve, and it’s anopportunity for players to come up andgain that experience. “So personally Ithink we’re doing it right at the moment.”The Proteas, who lead the tourists 2-1ahead of the fourth game of their five-match ODI series in Durban on Thursday,were dealt a blow after news that T20captain Faf du Plessis would be out for sixweeks due to lower back problems.“Obviously when you miss key playerslike Faf in an important game, it’s a bigloss,” Peterson said. “It tests your depth asa squad, which is probably very importantgoing forward to the Champions Trophy inEngland. “Only time will tell, but we’veall got complete confidence in anyone whocomes in to the team.”

Kirsten worried aboutKingsmead pitch

Changes in order is key to AB and Amla magic

COLOMBOAGEnCiES

New Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathewsshowered praise on Rangana Herath onTuesday after the slow left armer's naggingaccuracy did for Bangladesh in the second testand brought up his 200th test wicket. Sri Lankacoasted to a seven-wicket series-clinchingvictory on the fourth day of the final test inColombo after Herath, celebrating his 35thbirthday, took career-best figures of seven for89. "Since the legend Muttiah Muralitharanretired, Herath has been the man for us,"Mathews told reporters.

"He lands all six balls on the same spotwhich so many bowlers don't do. With hisvariations he takes a lot of wickets but he has alot of control as well."

Mathews was captaining his country forthe first time this series and he was satisfiedwith a 1-0 win after a draw in the first test. "Itwas important to win a series because whoeveryou play against, you are under pressure towin," added the 25-year-old all-rounder. "Wewanted to win the series 2-0 but we couldn't do

that but I thought we played some really goodcricket in this test and won. "We were under alittle bit of pressure, we had to win this game.We knew that we could do it. The talent theguys had and also the professionalism the teamshowed was unbelievable." Bangladesh captainMushfiqur Rahim said his team did not bat totheir potential after racking up records at thecrease in the first test in Galle.

"We were 80-100 runs short in the firstinnings. The opportunity was there, but wecouldn't apply ourselves, that wasdisappointing," said Mushfiqur. "We made only240 and against a team like Sri Lanka thatwasn't good enough because we don't have abowling attack that can bowl them out for 200.

"(First innings centurions Kumar)Sangakkara and (Dinesh) Chandimal playedreally well, they didn't give us a chance. "Inthe second innings, some of us were set butwe got out. "The spinners should have bowledbetter on this wicket, which Rangana Herathshowed by bowling in one spot." The twoteams now move on to Hambantota tocommence a three-match one-dayinternational series from March 23.

Hero Herath hailed after SL series win

LHR 21-03-2013_Layout 1 3/21/2013 3:15 AM Page 16

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

cHIEF manager and coach ofthe national hockey team,Akhtar Rasool Caudhary hassaid the Sultan Azlan Shah

Cup was the test drive of for the new lookPakistan hockey team and no one isresponsible for the loss as fresh blood waschecked in the event. “No one was underresponsibility of team’s bottom rock sixthfinish in the Azlan Shah Cup as new playerswere tested focusing on building of the teamfor important international commitments.

“It is not fair to fix the responsibility ofteams dismal performance on teammanagement or players as five new playerswere part in the team which could notproduce desired results owing to their lackof experience and exposure,” said Akhtar onhis return from Malaysia. He said the teammanagement prior to team's participation in

the event made it clear that they are goingto utilize Azlan Shah as a preparatoryventure to try out new players keeping an

eye on future assignments of the team.“It is a very important hockey year as

we will be undertaking the trip of Europebesides playing in Asia Cup and we arefocusing on our preparations for next year'sWorld Cup,” he said.

He further said that Azlan Shah Cupwas the ideal chance to test new players togauge their talent ahead of this Summer tourof Europe. Akhtar Rasool said the team wasnot in its full strength and composition asveteran half line player Wasim Ahmed wasrested and reliable forward Shakeel Abbasiwas injured. “It is was a very toughcompetition in the presence of world's bestsides and our team failed to click due to newplayers,” he asserted. The team official saidhe was not disappointed with the future ofthe team as a bad result in a tournament doesnot mean end of hockey .

“It (defeat) often happens and it is partof the game ,it is a sour reality that we couldnot get a good result but at the same time we

should realize that we have given amplechance to new players and if they were notgiven a chance at which stage or in whichtournament they were tested,” he added.

Akhtar Rasool said as a team chiefcoach and manager and then having the jobof chief selector, he is under heavy load ofresponsibility and he always likes to takechallenges in a decent way.

“I have not given up the hope , this teamis a combination of talent and potential andwith passage of time it will blend into awinning combination and what is mostimportant at this stage is to contribute effortswith devotion and hard work to eradicateflaws and weaknesses,” he said.

He said that the team lost twice to Indiain the tournament because young playerscould not sustain the pressure of their earlierdefeat. “We will work on improving ourteam's performance and I will be keepingfaith in young players who are the future ofPak hockey,” he added.

SPORTS S

Thursday, 21 March, 2013

16From what we've achieved in the first race we

can build on that nice momentum to one day

become world champions again. – Eric Boullier

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Touch Ball Federation hasyet again maintained tradition ofproviding a colorful and charmingactivity for the upcoming sportsmen andthe participation of the emerging playersin the sports has proved extensiveness ofthe sport in the country. On day two ofthe 9th National Highway & MotorwayPolice Touch ball Gold Cup at PunjabStadium, Lahore, organized by PakistanTouch Ball Federation, another 10matches were played. In the first matchPunjab defeated Islamabad by 2-0scores, from Punjab Asif Mahmood andsadaqat scored 1 point each for theirteam. In the second match Sindhdefeated Balochistan by 1-0 score, fromSindh Fayyaz Aziz managed to score thatimportant pint for their team.

In the third match Islamabaddefeated AJK by 2-0 scores, fromIslamabad Addas manage to produce 2scores for their team In the fourth matchPakistan Steel defeated Punjab by 3-0scores. From Pakistan Steel, Masoodscored 2 points and Akeel Shah scored 1point to give their team a gloriousvictory. In the fifth match PakistanPolice defeated KPK, after a very

thrilling match by 1-0 scores, from PakPolice, Shahriyar scored the only pointin the match to give his team anothervictor in the championship round.

In the sixth match Pakistan HighwayMotorway gained an easy win overPUNJAB by 6-0 scores, from PakistanHighway Motorway, wali sher and Mazhar

scored 2 points each and Nasurallah andBabar scored 1 point each. In the seventhmatch Pak Railway defeated Sindh by 2-0scores, from PAK RAILWAY, Ali Razaand Omer Daraz scored 1 point each. Inthe eight match Pak Police defeatedBalochistan by 3-0 scores, fromBalochistan, Shahriyar scored 2 and

Iftikhar scored 1 point In the ninth KPKdefeat Sindh 1-0, from KPK Ilyas scoredonly point in the match. In the tenth matchPak Railway defeat KPK by 3-0, from PakRailway Ali raza scored 2 and Omer darazscored 1 point. Today is the final day ofthe Championship in which semi-finalsand final match will be played.

Another 10 touchball matches played

de Kock replacesdu Plessis insouth africa squad

CAPE TOWNAGEnCiES

South Africa have called up Quinton deKock to their squad for the two remainingone-day internationals against Pakistan.The 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsmanreplaces Faf du Plessis, who will rest alower back problem that has also ruledhim out of the first four weeks of theIndian Premier League, where he playsfor the Chennai Super Kings."Faf has been troubled by low back painover the past while," Proteas teammanager Mohammed Moosajee said in astatement released by Cricket SouthAfrica on Tuesday."He was recently diagnosed with bonyinflammation in the lumbar spine and asix-week rest period has been advised."De Kock played in three one-dayinternationals against New Zealand inJanuary, where he kept wicket in place ofAB de Villiers.Although the left-hander averaged only 25with the bat with a highest score of 31, heis viewed as the long-term successor toDe Villiers with the gloves. South Africalead the five-match series against Pakistan2-1 with matches to come in Durban onThursday and Benoni on Sunday.

West Indies squadto play zimbabwein second test

BARBADOSAGEnCiES

West Indies have named an unchanged13-man squad for the second test againstZimbabwe at Roseau in Dominica startingon Wednesday. They lead the two-matchseries 1-0. West Indies squad DarrenSammy (captain), Tino Best, DarrenBravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, NarsinghDeonarine, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle,Veerasammy Permaul, Kieran Powell,Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, MarlonSamuels, Shane Shillingford.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The PCB had written to the ICC after the first Test of thethree-match series, raising concerns over some ofthe decisions and the performance of umpireSteve Davis. The ICC has rejected thePakistan Cricket Board's reservationsabout some umpiring decisions andthe way the Decision ReviewSystem was used in the team'sTest series in South Africa.According to reports comingfrom the board, the ICC hasput down the umpiringblunders to human errorsand mistakes and nothingmore. "The ICC has said thatnone of the umpiringmistakes were intentionaland were part of the game. Ithas also said the UDRSsystem is working well andproducing productive results,"one source was quoted as saying.The PCB had, on the request of itsteam management in South Africaafter the first Test in Johannesburg,

written to the ICC raising concerns over some of thedecisions and the performance of umpire Steve Davis. ThePCB had also expressed reservations over theeffectiveness of the hot spot technology used by umpires

in the DRS system. "The ICC has now sent itsreply to the PCB and said that none of the

umpiring errors were intentional andwere just human errors," the source

stated. The ICC also said thetechnology used in the DRS

had helped reduce the numberof umpiring mistakes. Incase of Davis, the ICC hadreminded the PCB that ithad a proper system inplace to assess theperformance of an umpire.According to ICCguidelines, umpires whoseperformances are under

review are given only oneyear contracts, and if they

didn't improve they arereleased from the elite panel

of umpires. The PCB had askedthe ICC to not post Davis in the

remaining two Tests of the seriesthat South Africa won by 3-0.

azlan shah Cup was atest drive: akhtar rasool

ICC rejects Pakistan’s allegationsabout umpiring bias

als annualsports held

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

American Lycetuff Schools & CollegesAnnual Sports 2013 was held at theinstitute’s stadium the other day, at RaiwindRoad which was organsied by the SportsPromotion Society, under the leadership ofProf. Faisal Fayyaz (International Gymnast,Project Manager of PUCIT). Theorganising committee consists of TariqAziz, Rafiq, Nadeem, Ms. Aansa Zaib, Ms.Sadia Faisal, Ms. Faiza, Ms. Rabia, Ms.Nadia, Ms. Anjum. Inauguration ceremonywas performed by Ms. Rabea Zafar,Nadeem Afzal & Zahra Nadeem, who werethe chief guests. On the occasion, afabulous colorful March past, PT Show andaerobics demonstration was presented andaround 800 students participated in theactivity. This event comprised of athleticsevents (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m,4000m, shot-put, discuss throw, javelinthrow, long jump, high jump, triple jump,etc ) and gymkhana events (sack race, chattirace, three leg race, wheel barrow, slowrace, soft ball throw, musical chair etc.) &Gymnastics & karate Display. The guest ofhonor was Col® Haroon & Col® Talat Zia.Umer Khawaja was declared best athlete onboys side while Fizza Ahmed on girls side.The guest of honour later distributed theprizes among the winners

Inter Provincialjudo from today

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The fourth edition of Inter Provincial JudoChampionship will be played fromThursday, at Qayyum Stadium Peshawarunder the aegis of Pakistan Judo Federation.“Top six teams of the country will feature inthe event which aims at further popularizingjudo among the youth,” said a spokesmanof PKF in a press release on Wednesday.The participating teams are KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan,Fata and Islamabad and bouts will be heldin 50, 55, 60, 66, 73, 81, and open weights.Around 42 players and eight officials areparticipating in the event.

LHR 21-03-2013_Layout 1 3/21/2013 3:16 AM Page 17

MONTE CARLOAGEnCiES

Juan Martin Del Potro has joinedRoger Federer in skipping nextmonth's Monte Carlo Masters.

Federer announced at the startof the season that he would not beplaying in Monte Carlo - he willnot return to action until Madrid atthe start of May.

And when the full entries wereannounced on Monday, Del Potro,who reached the final in IndianWells last week, was not on the list

either. The duo are the onlymembers of the world's top 10 toskip the event, however.

Rafael Nadal, who has won thetitle for a record eight years in arow, is entered, as is Briton AndyMurray and world number oneNovak Djokovic.

Top-20 stars Kei Nishikori andSam Querrey are also not entered.

Monte Carlo is the only one ofthe nine Masters 1000 tournamentson the ATP World Tour which isnot a mandatory event for theleading players.

SPORTSS

Thursday, 21 March, 2013

17I raised my level throughout, right

up until the end. – Maria Sharapova

baba,Gulshan-e-raviFC breeze through

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Universal Baba F.C and Gulshan-e-RaviF.C breezed into the quarter finals of theLahore District football championshipafter beating their respective rivals atModel Town Football and Faisal TownFootball Grounds.Gulshan-e-Ravi F.C defeated Ali AsgharF.C 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after 0-0 atfull time. In the other match UniversalBaba Cargo F.C defeated Chief CollegeF.C team 2-1. From winner Zahid Sharifand Aamir Sohail produced one goal eachin 2ndMinutes and 9th minutes in the firsthalf while Fiaz scored in the 68th Minutesfrom the losers.The quarter final will be played fromThursday at Model Town Football Cluband Raider Football Club Ground FaisalTown while the final match will be heldon March 27 at Model Town FootballClub ground. Matches for Thursday, RealLahore F.C Vs Usmania F.C (4.00pm) atRaiders Football Club ground ,Bata F.CVs Universal Cargo F.C (9:00pm) atModel Town Football club.

Punjab KarateChampionshipat sahiwal

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Munir Ahmad Dar Memorial PunjabKarate Championship for men andwomen will take place at Sahiwal fromMarch 30. Lahore will be defending thetitle during the two-day meet which hasbeen named after former hockeyOlympian Munir Dar who served thegame for many years in the role ofPresident, Pakistan Karate Federation,said Bashir Butt, Secretary, PunjabKarate Association in a press release onWednesday. He said around 100 maleplayers will be taking part in 50kgs,55kgs, 60kgs, 67kgs, 67kgs, 75kgs andover 75 kgs weight categories besides ,individual kata and team kata while fiftyfive female will be taking part in48kgs,55kgs and above 55 kgs andindividual kata. “In all twenty twodistricts will fight for top honours in theevent,” he added. He said the on the sidelines of the championship, a refereesjudges course will also be conducted inwhich nearly thirty five coaches fromdifferent parts of the province willparticipate. Bashir, himself ainternational referee and judge, willsupervise the course. PKF official saidthey are hoping to discover fresh talentfrom the Punjab championship. Trophiesand medals will be given to notableposition holders, he said.

Del Potro joinsFederer in skippingMonte Carlo

Chinese Ye, 12, entersEuropean Tour record booksBEIjING: Twelve-

year-old Ye Wocheng

became the youngest

golfer to qualify for a

European Tour event

when the Chinese

schoolboy survived a

late wobble to grab a

place at the Volvo

China Open on

Wednesday. Ye's two

round two-under-par

total of 142 at the Western China qualifier earned him a spot at the May

2-5 European and OneAsia Tour event and his participation will see him

better the mark of his compatriot Guan Tianlang, who competed last year

as a 13-year-old. The amateur who lives in the industrial city of Donggaun

in Guangdong province and is a member of the local Hillview Golf Club

had his father caddying for him as he belied his age and lack of

experience to claim one of the three places on offer. After shooting an

opening four-under 68 on Tuesday, Ye raced to the turn in his second

round leading the field on seven-under after four birdies on Wednesday,

but the pressure began to tell on a tumultuous back nine. Shots were

dropped at the 11th and 14th before he appeared to settle down with a

birdie two at the 15th only to rack up a horror eight at the par five 16th.

His opening 27 holes had, however, provided an ample cushion and he

could even afford to drop another shot on the last hole and claim the third

and final place with two shots to spare. Eighteen-year-old Li Xinyang and

Jin Da Xing finished joint first on five-under 139 at the Wolong Valley

Country Club with no other player finishing under par. AGEnCiES

NEW YORKAGEnCiES

Britain's Andy Murray kisses his trophy afterdefeating Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the men'ssingles final match at the US Open tennistournament in New York. New York - After ayear of closed-door meetings with tennis playersseeking a greater say in the sport and a largerslice of Grand Slam revenues, the US Open isready to make big changes.

The New York-based tournament plans toincrease its annual prize money to $50 millionby 2017 - roughly double what it was last year -and permanently schedule the men's semifinalson Friday and men's final on a Sunday as of2015, The Associated Press has learned.

“Roger Federer said it perhaps best of all: It'stime for us to work together, as opposed toworking against each other,” US TennisAssociation Executive Director and ChiefOperating Officer Gordon Smith said in atelephone interview.

As part of an unprecedented five-yearagreement with the men's and women'sprofessional tours, the USTA also is making anadditional $4.1 million increase to this year'sprize pool, on top of a $4 million jumpannounced in December. That brings the 2013total payout to $33.6 million from the $25.5million in 2012.

The USTA planned to announce the changesWednesday, a day after they were formallypresented to the ATP Player Council at a meetingin Key Biscayne, Florida. Details were described

to the AP on Tuesday by USTA officials.Federer, the 17-time major champion, is

president of the ATP Player Council. He is notplaying in the tournament that begins this weekat Key Biscayne, but participated in Tuesday'smeeting via telephone. Federer joined other topplayers, including current No. 1 NovakDjokovic, in lobbying the USTA and organizersof other major tournaments in an effort thatbegan at the tournament in Indian Wells,California, about 12 months ago.

Aside from wanting more money, some maleplayers complained the US Open had been thesport's only Grand Slam tournament with theirsemifinals and final on consecutive days. TheUSTA liked its old “Super Saturday” setup - twomen's semifinals and the women's final all on thatday's schedule at Flushing Meadows, followedby the men's final Sunday - but tournamentdirector David Brewer acknowledged it was timeto scrap it. “We realize the game has changed andhow they play the game is different even than itwas 10 years ago,” Brewer said. “The formatwe've had for 30 years was putting players andthe tournament in jeopardy at some point.”

In December, the USTA said it would movethe 2013 women's singles final to Sunday and themen's final to Monday, building in a day of restahead of each title match and moving from a 14-day tournament to 15 days.

Brewer told the AP that schedule will remainin place in 2014, but the US Open will shiftthings in 2015: women's semifinals Thursday,men's semifinals Friday, women's final Saturday,men's final Sunday.

US Open prizemoney may top $50m

BANGKOKAGEnCiES

Asian Tour number one Thaworn Wiratchanthopes to turn his golfing fortunes around atthe US$2.75 million Maybank MalaysianOpen which starts on Thursday. Malaysia hasbeen a happy hunting ground for the 46-year-old Thai star, who has won three times in thecountry but he has yet to leave an impressionat the national Open with more missed cutsthan top-10s over the past decade.

"Every year, I'm missing the cut here. Idon't like the golf course as it's too long formy game," said Thaworn, holder of a record15 Asian Tour titles, today.

"The game is not feeling good right now.The fairways are playing long because it'swet and I also feel tired coming into theweek. I just have to keep trying and see whatcomes my way. I find it difficult with theshort game. If you miss the greens, it can bedifficult," he added.

Thaworn's best showing in Malaysia'sshowpiece event was tied eighth in the 2004

edition. He missed the cut last year and hisbest outing at the Kuala Lumpur Golf andCountry Club was tied 25th in 2010.

Last year, the unorthodox swinging Thaiwon the Worldwide Holdings SelangorMasters in Malaysia which was one of three

triumphs which led him to a second AsianTour Order of Merit crown.

Thaworn will also play in the MastersTournament, the year's first Major, atAugusta National next month after receivinga special invitation on the back of his

glorious season on the Asian Tour, which iscelebrating its milestone 10th season in 2013.

Countryman Chawalit Plaphol, winnerof the season-opening Zaykabar MyanmarOpen in February, expects the Thais to comecharging through at the Maybank MalaysianOpen and picked the likes of KiradechAphibarnrat, fourth at the Avantha Mastersin India last week, Prom Meesawat,Chapchai Nirat and Chinnarat Phadungsil ascontenders for the title on Sunday.

"Kiradech, Prom, Chapchai, Chinnarat ...they are all the young players comingthrough now. They will be the ones towatch," said Chawalit. "I like this course butit's going to be tough. The greens are firmwhich will be a challenge. My game seemsto be coming along nicely and I hope to playwell this week. You need to hit the irons andputt well which is the key. If you find thedeep rough, it can be difficult."BHuLLAR uPBEAt AHEAD OF

mALAysiAN OPEN: Gaganjeet Bhullarsays being on top of the Asian Tour Orderof Merit will not add pressure in his search

for glory at the Maybank Malaysian Open.Bhullar, a four-time Asian Tour winner,enjoyed a second place finish at the AvanthaMasters in India last weekend thanks to abattling final round of eight-under-par 64.The result propelled him to the summit ofthe Order of Merit with winnings ofUS$262,648. "If I can carry this form till theend of the season then I will feel somepressure. There are many big tournaments.Subconsciously it is in my mind that I'mleading the Order of Merit and that's one ofmy goals to win it but there's no pressure asof now," said the 24-year-old. The youngIndian took pride in his never-say-neverattitude and is determined to make amendsfor his close shave at this week's MaybankMalaysian Open which is sanctioned by theAsian Tour and European Tour. "I playedreally well last week. I hit the ball reallygood and putted okay. I'm riding high on myconfidence and I have a lot of expectations.I'm feeling really good about my game. Thisis definitely one of my favouritedestinations in Asia," he added.

Thaworn sets sights on Malaysian Open title

Wozniackihoping for bettertimes aheadMIAMI: Caroline Wozniacki is hoping that she can

put a poor year behind her and continue the good

form she demonstrated in the early part of 2013.

She has grown used to the harsh glare of publicity

that comes with reigning as world number one for a

total of 67 weeks without managing to claim her

maiden Grand Slam title. While her success in lesser

tournaments helped keep her ahead of her rivals,

Wozniacki's consistent failure to break through in

the majors often came to be held up as an example

of all that was wrong with the women's game. The

respective revivals of Serena Williams and Maria

Sharapova finally sent Wozniacki toppling from her

summit, and a number of high-profile defeats

towards the tail-end of 2012 suggested there would

be no way back for the Dane. Her descent was so

sharp she even dropped out of the world top 10

after losing in the first round of the US Open to

Romania's world number 96 Irina-Camelia Begu,

hampered by a right knee injury. AGEnCiES

LHR 21-03-2013_Layout 1 3/21/2013 3:16 AM Page 18

MIAMIAGEnCiES

HEATHER Watson was ahigh-profile casualty onthe opening day of theSony Open in Miami as

the British number one crashed out inthree sets to Japan's Ayumi Moritas.Watson, coming off a first-round loss toIrina-Camelia Begu in Indian Wells,suffered another failure at the firsthurdle despite dominating the openingset against the world number 50. Moritabroke on two occasions to Watson's oneto edge a close second set before thesame pattern was repeated in the decideras the Japanese ran out a 1-6 7-5 6-4winner in two hours 45 minutes.

The loss continues a miserablesequence for 20-year-old Watson, whohas yet to win a match since climbing toa career-high 39 in the world rankings

last month. "This year I've been going abit too long so I'm a bit burnt out,"Watson said in quotes reported on theBBC Sport website. "I've been thinkingabout it for a while now and I'mdefinitely going to take a break from

tennis." Watson's Indian Wells conquerorBegu had no such trouble as she won heropener 6-1 4-6 6-4 against NewZealand's Marina Erakovic, whileChina's Peng Shuai defeated SofiaArvidsson of Sweden 6-3 6-2.

SPORTS SThursday, 21 March, 2013

18There is that side of it, which is very positive. Fernando

was one and a half seconds off the pace - of us at the start

of the season - and almost won the title. – Jenson Button

wAtCh It LIve

PTV SPORTS4th ODI: Pakistanv South Africa01:00 PM

TEN SPORTS2nd Test: West Indiesv Zimbabwe07:00 PM

lahore Collegethrash Garrison Club

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Lahore College University thrashed GarrisonClub 238 runs in the second semi-final of the7th Regional Women Cricket on Wednesday.Lahore College won the toss and decided tobat and scored 303 runs in 50 overs. Maha-laqa Mansoor 76, Marina Iqbal 55 and SabahtRasheed 46 not out. Arfa Talib took twowickets. In reply, Garrision Club could score65 runs in 25.5 overs. Shagufta Akhter 22 andHuma Abbas 17 not out. Madiha Javed andAyesha Qazi shared three wickets each whileRabia Basri, Sabahat Rasheed and MahlaqaManoor shared one wicket each.

Fatigued Watson totake break from tennis

bolt confirmed for rome sprint

ROmE: Usain Bolt will race over 100 metres at the Golden Gala Diamond Leaguemeeting in Rome on June 6, organisers have announced. The two-time reigning Olympic100, 200 and 4x100m relay champion will compete in the Italian capital for the thirdyear running as he builds up to the World Championships in Moscow in August. TheJamaican has also committed to run the 200m in Oslo on June 23, the sprint relay inOstrava on June 27 and 200m in Paris on July 6. AGEnCiES

MELBOURNEAGEnCiES

McLaren have apologised to Red Bull andMark Webber after a software problem with anEngine Control Unit supplied by the teamaffected the Melbourne. Webber qualifiedsecond on the grid for his home race onSunday, but a software-related issue with hiscar's ECU saw him make a poor start and dropto seventh place by the end of the opening lap.

McLaren say they are working with RedBull to prevent a repeat of the problem at futureraces. "The electronic units themselves ranwithout incident in Melbourne, but there was asoftware-related issue that meant that MarkWebber's Red Bull Racing car's garage datasystem had to be re-started during theformation lap," a statement from McLaren

Group read. "That disrupted his preparationsfor the start of the race, for which Mark and theteam has our apology.

"We are working together with them toprevent any recurrence." McLaren ElectronicsSystems, a division of the McLaren Group thatalso comprises the Formula One team, suppliesstandard ECUs to all teams on the 2013 grid.The new ECUs were run for the first time onthe track by most teams during winter testingin February. The ECU - which acts as a car'sprimary data system - powers this season's 2.4-litre V8 engines and will also be used for thenew 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged units coming infrom 2014. McLaren have apologised to RedBull and Mark Webber after a softwareproblem with an Engine Control Unit suppliedby the team affected the Australian in Sunday'sseason-opening grand prix Melbourne.

McLaren apologise toRed Bull and Webber

LHR 21-03-2013_Layout 1 3/21/2013 3:16 AM Page 19

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Editor: Arif NizamiPublished by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Editor: Arif Nizami

Thursday, 21 March, 2013

ASHGABATAPP

PRESIDENT Asif AliZardari and his Tajik coun-terpart President EmomaliRahmonov on Wednesday

reiterated their resolve to boost bi-lateral economic and trade tiesthrough enhanced linkages andgreater regional connectivity inorder to fully benefit from the richpotential that existed between thetwo countries.

During a meeting with the pres-

ident of Tajikistan soon after his ar-rival in the Turkmen capital,Zardari underscored the need fortaking all necessary measures tostrengthen the economic ties be-tween two countries.

Reiterating his proposal of Tri-lateral Transit and Trade Agreementamong Afghanistan, Pakistan andTajikistan, Zardari said such anarrangement would help boost thebilateral economic relations.

He expressed satisfaction thatPakistan-Tajikistan trade had in-creased from $15 million in 2011 to

over $72 million in 2012. “A preferential trade agreement

(PTA) and according the MostFavoured Nation (MFN) status onreciprocal basis will provide impe-tus to efforts aimed at enhancingour mutual economic interactions,”the president proposed.

He noted with satisfaction thesuccess of Fifth Regional Eco-nomic Cooperation Conference onAfghanistan (RECCA-V) held inDushanbe in March 2012, andurged for expeditious implementa-tion of the projects mentioned in theDeclaration of RECCA-V.

Zardari also underscored theneed for a road link between Pak-istan and Tajikistan through theWakhan corridor, connectingIshkashim and Chitral, saying theroad link would help increase the

trade volume and would benefit thelocal industries and the population.

He said air connectivity be-tween the two countries was alsoimportant for promoting people-to-people contacts, economic relationsand tourism. He said Tajik Airflights on Dushanbe-Islamabad-Dubai sectors would pave the wayfor increasing tourist traffic andpromoting greater people-to-peoplecontacts. The president said Pak-istan also looked forward to SomonAir’s flights to Pakistan.

President Zardari termed theongoing Tajikistan-Turkmenistanroad and rail links and gas pipelinethrough Afghanistan as “welcomedevelopments, not only for both thecountries, but also for the entire re-gion”. He proposed that the gaspipeline project between Tajikistan

and Turkmenistan after finalisationmight be associated with TAPI gaspipeline project.

The president said Pakistan wascommitted to the early implemen-tation of CASA-1000 project inorder to meet the growing energyrequirements of the country.

He said Pakistan could exportsugar and wheat to Tajikistan. Healso welcomed a proposal for estab-lishment of a cement factory inTajikistan and offered Pakistan’sassistance in this regard.

The two leaders were of theview that the Nauroz festival hadprovided them a good opportu-nity to meet again and to discusstheir bilateral ties.

President Zardari recalled hisvisits to Dushanbe in September2011 and March 2012 and his re-

cent meetings on the sidelines ofSCO Summit at Beijing in June andNAM Summit at Tehran in August2012. The president said Pakistanattached great importance to its fra-ternal relations with Tajikistan andwanted to translate the existingequation into economic terms.

Discussing regional situation,he said in the post 2014 evolvinggeo-strategic scenario, Pak-Tajikcloser cooperation in all fieldshad assumed greater significance.He said peace and stability inAfghanistan was essential for re-gional peace and stability, addingthat both countries could play aneffective role for ensuring apeaceful transition.

Zardari reiterated that Pakistansupported an Afghan-led andAfghan-owned peace process.

ISLAMABADTAyyAb HuSSAin

Stepping up efforts to forge a seat-adjustment formula with the JamiatUlema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), PakistanMuslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain onWednesday contacted JUI-F chief FazlurRehman and made the offerkeeping in view thewidening gulf betweenthe cleric and the PML-N leader ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan. The differencescropped up betweenNisar and Fazl overthe unilateraldecision by theformer to withdrawthe nomination ofJustice (r) ShakirullahJan for the caretaker primeminister. “Jumping to theopportunity like ashrewd politician,Shujaat followed thedifferences betweenthe PML-N and JUI-F and contacted Fazlon Tuesday nightand urged him toforge a seat-adjustment formulawith the PML-Q,” saida JUI-F leader, addingthat Fazl told Shujaat thathe was only angry with Nisar’sU-turn but he was okay with NawazSharif.“Let me talk to Nawaz Sharif once and Iwould get back to you with a finaldecision,” the source quoted Fazl astelling Shujaat.

The source added that Shujaat againcontacted Fazl and said that both theparties could agree on a seat-adjustmentformula in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) ifan alliance was not possible, addingthat which could be made across thecountry later. He also said Fazl was seriouslyconsidering the proposal after the PML-

N ignored the JUI-F in formationof the parliamentary

committee to decide thecaretaker prime

minister. He added that the twoleaders alsoexchanged views onthe appointment ofcaretaker chiefministers in Punjab

and Balochistan.When contacted, JUI-F

leader Abdul AbdulGhafoor Hyderi confirmed

the telephonic conversationbetween both the leaders

and said his party haddecided to keep thePML-N on priority forseat adjustment inKP. “We have alreadyasked the party’s KPchapter to keep thePML-N on priority.

However, if this couldnot happen, seat

adjustment could bearranged with other parties

too,” he added. He said that hisparty had almost finalised seatadjustment in Sindh. About Balochistan,he said that both parties had not enteredinto negotiation so far. He said that theJUI-F and the PML-N were in contactfor resolving misunderstandings, if any.

Cabinet divisionsays no tomalik’s new job

ISLAMABADOnLinE

The Cabinet Division has regretted to ap-point Rehman Malik as the president’s ad-viser, according to a private TV channel onWednesday. The Presidency had proposedthe Cabinet Division to appoint former in-terior minister Rehman Malik as PresidentAsif Zardari’s adviser on interior and for-eign affairs. According to the channel, theCabinet Division had refused to appointMalik as there was no provision in the lawto appoint any person as the president’s ad-viser on interior and foreign affairs.

ISLAMABADAPP

Chief Justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry on Wednesday said the Pak-istan International Airlines (PIA)needed a full-time chairman in order toimprove its performance and to over-come financial losses the national car-rier was currently incurring.

Heading a three-member SC benchhearing a suo motu case regarding irreg-ularities in the national flag carrier, theCJP said, “We need a leader for the PIAwho is devoted to work and who has thetime to take the PIA out of the crisis it isin currently,” adding that it could not bedone as long as the head was servingpart time as the current chairman wasalso the defence secretary.

The bench also termed the appoint-ment of the chairman against Section 8and 8(2) of the Business Rules Act1956. Raja Basheer, the counsel for thePIA asked to present the copy of thenotification, which was presented bythe counsel. However, the bench ex-pressed reservation stating that the

words “ex-officio chairman” were usedin the notification.

The counsel replied that it was anerror and a corrigendum would be is-sued to clarify that the current chair-man was not an ex-officio chairman,upon which the court gave him time tobring the corrected notification.

Later, Captain Riffat Hai, the partyin the case expressed reservations onthe working environment for femaleemployees of the PIA.

Afshan Ghazanfar, the counsel forHai stated that females were being sex-ually harassed and victimised by themale staff, adding that she had pointedout the name of Captain Tariq Khosabefore the standing committee of theNational Assembly.

The CJP remarked that thereshould be equal dignity and respect formale and female staff of not only thePIA but all other institutions as well.

The court issued a notice to Cap-tain Tariq Khosa and directed the PIAchairman to appear before the court.

Later, proceedings were adjourneduntil April 3.

Pakistan, Tajikistan vow to enhancetrade, communication links

PresideNt zardari says PrefereNtiaL tradeagreeMeNt, accordiNg Most favoured NatioN(MfN) status oN reciProcaL basis wiLLeNhaNce MutuaL ecoNoMic iNteractioNs

Shujaat rushes topersuade Fazl intoseat adjustment

fazL says he is aNgrywith Nisar’s u-turN,but he is oKay withNawaz sharif

shuJaat caLLs fazL aftersMeLLiNg differeNcesbetweeN PML-N aNd Jui-f overNoMiNatioN of caretaKer PM

pIa needs full time chairman toimprove its performance: CJp

ASHGABAT: President Asif Ali Zardari

during a meeting with Tajik President

Emomali Rahmon on Wednesday. inP

19

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