e-paper pakistantoday 26th march, 2013

19
Tuesday, 26 March, 2013 Jamadi ul Awwal 13, 1434 Rs 17.00 Vol III No 268 19 Pages Lahore Edition Power secretary accepts inability to curb power outages Federal Water and Power Secretary Rao Sikandar has accepted his inability to address power outages in the country, especially in Balochistan, and assured that the situation would improve soon. While briefing the Senate sub-committee on Finance and Revenue, the secretary acknowledged that Balochistan had not been given its due share in power. PAGE 04 Postmortem time for Pakistan Losing the test series 3-0 and the one-day series 3-2, the Pakistan cricket team would undergo a post- mortem when they got home, said captain Misbah-ul-Haq in Benoni on Sunday. “We started poorly, especially in test matches, and although we improved in the second test, we have made mistakes in our batting throughout the tour,” Misbah said. PAGE 15 2 witnesses refuse to identify Shahrukh Jatoi At least 11 more people, including a political worker, were killed in separate incidents of firing and violence in various areas of the metropolis on Thursday. Per details, a 19-year boy, Khalid, was shot dead while he was standing outside his house in Sarjani Town. Another man, Imran Haider Naqvi, was gunned down by unknown miscreants in Gulbahar Colony. PAGE 04 Strife-torn areas cannot be left at terrorists’ mercy: CJP Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Monday remarked that strife-torn areas could not be left at the mercy of terrorists. A three-member bench of Supreme Court (SC) led by CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took up the petition filed by Senator Ibrahim against assigning of civil powers to the army in FATA. PAGE 18 Pay your dues, IESCO tells Rehman Malik STORY ON PAGE 04 STORY ON PAGE 02 STORY ON PAGE 03 STORY ON PAGE 03 PAGE 03 LHR 26-03-2013_Layout 1 3/26/2013 3:14 AM Page 1

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E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

Tuesday, 26 March, 2013 Jamadi ul Awwal 13, 1434Rs 17.00 Vol III No 268 19 Pages Lahore Edition

Power secretary accepts inability tocurb power outages

Federal Water and Power Secretary

Rao Sikandar has accepted his

inability to address power outages in

the country, especially in Balochistan,

and assured that the situation would

improve soon. While briefing the

Senate sub-committee on Finance

and Revenue, the secretary

acknowledged that Balochistan had

not been given its due share in

power. PAGE 04

Postmortem time for Pakistan

Losing the test series 3-0 and the

one-day series 3-2, the Pakistan

cricket team would undergo a post-

mortem when they got home, said

captain Misbah-ul-Haq in Benoni on

Sunday. “We started poorly,

especially in test matches, and

although we improved in the second

test, we have made mistakes in our

batting throughout the tour,” Misbah

said. PAGE 15

2 witnesses refuseto identifyShahrukh Jatoi

At least 11 more people, including a

political worker, were killed in

separate incidents of firing and

violence in various areas of the

metropolis on Thursday. Per details, a

19-year boy, Khalid, was shot dead

while he was standing outside his

house in Sarjani Town. Another man,

Imran Haider Naqvi, was gunned

down by unknown miscreants in

Gulbahar Colony. PAGE 04

Strife-torn areas cannot be left at terrorists’ mercy: CJP

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP)

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on

Monday remarked that strife-torn

areas could not be left at the mercy

of terrorists. A three-member bench

of Supreme Court (SC)

led by CJP Iftikhar Muhammad

Chaudhry took up the petition filed

by Senator Ibrahim against

assigning of civil powers to the army

in FATA. PAGE 18

Pay your dues,IESCO tellsRehman Malik

STORY ON PAGE 04

STORY ON PAGE 02

STORY ON PAGE 03

STORY ON PAGE 03

PAGE 03

LHR 26-03-2013_Layout 1 3/26/2013 3:14 AM Page 1

Page 2: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

NTuesday, 26 March, 2013

02

NEWS

Delimitation after announcementof election schedule is illegal. — Barrister Naseem Farogh

KHOSO’S NOMINATIONAS CARETAKER PM CHALLENGED IN SCLAHOrE: Nomination of Mir Hazar Khan

Khoso as caretaker prime minister (PM)

has been challenged in the Supreme

Court’s (SC) Lahore registry. The

petitioner, Barrister Zafarullah,

submitted it was the prerogative of

elected representatives to appoint a

caretaker PM. The petition further said

the Election Commission of Pakistan

(ECP) being a government institution

cannot appoint a premier for it is a

negation of democratic norms. The ECP

chief is a retired judge while a retired

judge has also been nominated as the

caretaker PM, added the petitioner. The

petitioner prayed the court to nullify sub-

clause 3 of clause 9 of Article 224 of the

constitution and withdraw ECP’s

authority to nominate a caretaker

premier in addition to nullifying Khoso’s

nomination. OnLinE

PPP TO STARTCAMPAIGN FROMAPRIL 4, SAYS KAIRAISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party

Central Information Secretary Qamar

Zaman Kaira has said the party will start

its election campaign on the 4th of the

next month from Garhi Khuda Bakhsh.

In an interview, he said the PPP Sindh

will organise an event on the death

anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on

April 4. He said PPP Chairman Bilawal

Bhutto Zardari will be a part of the

election campaign. However, Kaira

added that due to security reasons, he

will not participate in every public

meeting. PPP leader Nazar Muhammad

Gondal said Amin Fahim, Yousaf Raza

Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf will be

running the election campaign. inP

ISLAMABAD

TAyyAb HuSSAin

JuSTICe (r) Mir Hazar KhanKhoso took oath as the sixth care-taker chief executive of the coun-try, with President Asif Ali Zardarisaying the formation of caretaker

government though constitutional meanshad strengthened democracy.

The oath-taking ceremony was at-tended by leaders of various political par-ties, senators, National Assembly speaker,former parliamentarians, ministers anddiplomats. Former prime ministers YousafRaza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf andservices chiefs also attended.

The caretaker prime minister is about 84years old and serious questions have beenraised by commentators over his ability torun the affairs of the country, as the eco-

nomic and governance issues of Pakistan areat a critical stage. “We don’t know about hishealth condition as health deteriorates at suchan old age. We also don’t know about hismental calibre. So it is difficult to pass acomment over his abilities to perform,” saidnoted analyst Hassan Askari Rizvi whiletalking to Pakistan Today. He added that thecaretakers usually did not have to take policydecisions and we should also not expect a re-tired judge to take drastic steps. “He wouldhave to make sure that the polls are heldsmoothly and bureaucracy observes impar-tiality,” he added. Khoso is the sixth care-taker prime minister after Ghulam Mustafa

Khan Jatoi who served from August 6, 1990to November 6, 1990, Mir Balakh SherMazari from April 18, 1993 to May 26,1993, Moin Qureshi from July 8, 1993 toOctober 19, 1993, Malik Meraj Khalid fromOctober 6, 1996 to February 17, 1997 andMuhammad Mian Soomro from November16, 2007 to March 24, 2008. Justice (r)Mir Hazar Khan Khoso was born onSeptember 30, 1929 in VillageAzam Khan of Jaffarabad districtin Balochistan and graduatedfrom university of Sindh in1954. He passed LLB in

1956 from university of Karachi. Hejoined the legal profession in 1957 andenrolled as an advocate of High Court ofWest Pakistan Karachi Bench in 1959and advocate of Supreme Court of Pak-istan in 1980. He was elevated as an ad-ditional judge of Balochistan High Courton June 20, 1977 to June 1979 and again

elevated as additional judge on March31, 1985. Khoso was made a permanentjudge of the Balochistan High Court onMarch 31, 1987 and appointed the chiefjustice of Balochistan High Court on De-cember 13, 1989.

He retired as the chief jus-tice of Balochistan High

Court on September29, 1991. After

taking oath,Khoso calledon PresidentAsif AliZardari andd i s c u s s e dmatters of na-

tional interest.The meeting

was held at thePresident House.

The president congratu-lated the caretaker PM and as-

sured him of full cooperation.DEMOCRATIC TRADITION:Zardari said the new democratic tradi-tion had brightened the future of democ-racy in Pakistan and hoped that thecaretaker government would ensure freeand fair general election. Khoso said hewould try his best to come up to the ex-pectations of the nation and hoped thatdemocracy would keep growing in thecountry in the days to come.

ANALYST DOUBTSHEALTH, CAPABILITIESOF 84-YEAR-OLD KHOSO

KHOSO SWORN IN AS 6THCARETAKER PM Formation of

a constitutionalcaretaker

government hasstrengtheneddemocracy.

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Balochistan National Party (BNP) chiefSardar Akhter Mengal on Monday said hisparty might take part in the upcoming theelections and a final decision in this regardand on possible electoral alliances wouldbe made in a party meeting on Tuesday.

Talking to reporters after his arrival atQuaid-e-Azam International Airport fromDubai after more than four years of self exile,the former chief minister of Balochistan saidno party or individual should be forced toboycott elections. Responding to a questionon the call made by Balochistan’s disgruntlednationalist groups for boycotting polls, hesaid “no decision should be imposed on any-

one”. “The situation inBalochistan cannot betermed good,” saidMengal. He saidhe had come toPakistan for ashort period inOctober lastyear to attenda hearing inthe SupremeCourt onforced disap-pearances inBalochistan. Dur-ing his brief visit, hesaid he had also pre-sented a six-point agenda

on improving the situation in theviolence-hit province. He said

the six points were exten-sively discussed and sharedwith the political leader-ship of the country, hail-ing from both, theopposition and treasury.“Although the agendawas agreed upon ver-bally, there has been noimprovement in the sit-

uation in the provincedespite passage of quite

some time,” said Mengal.Mengal was accorded a warm

welcome by his party workersand leaders at the Karachi airport.

BNP-M WORKER GUNNED DOWN IN KHUZDARQUETTA: A Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) worker was shot

dead in Khuzdar on Monday. Police said Manzoor Mengal was at his

medical store when unidentified armed men opened fire on him and fled

from the scene Mengal died on the spot. Police shifted the body to hospital

for autopsy. When contacted BNP-M leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal, who

reached Karachi on Monday from Dubai after ending his five years self-

exile, said that the killing of his party activist by hired assassins was a

message that he should stay away from upcoming elections. He said that

the BNP-M was a political party and had raised voice for the rights of

Balochistan at all democratic forums, adding, “We had called party

meeting on Tuesday in Karachi to discuss upcoming elections that whether

the party should take part or not.” SHAHzADA zULfIQAr

BNP MIGHT PARTICIPATE IN UPCOMING ELECTIONS: MENGAL

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso inspects the guard of honour at Prime Minister’s House after taking oath of office on Monday.

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Page 3: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

NEWS N

03

Tuesday, 26 March, 2013

All options, including initiating dialogue with Taliban and

use of power to crush terrorists, should be used to restore

peace in the region. — Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf

MANSEHRA

AGEnCiES

THe frontrunner in the generalelection race, Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) chiefNawaz Sharif attracted tens ofthousands on Monday to a rally at

which he promised development and eco-nomic revival.

Sharif travelled to Mansehra, a strong-hold of his party, where supporters packeda huge stadium. Two police officials esti-mated the crowd at up to 30,000, in contrastto the hundreds who greeted former mili-tary ruler Pervez Musharraf on his return toPakistan Sunday after four years in exile tocontest the polls. Opinion polls are notori-ously unreliable in Pakistan, but indicatorssuggest Sharif is likely to emerge thebiggest winner from the general election onMay 11, which will mark the country’s firstdemocratic transition of power.

The stadium was decorated with largeportraits of Sharif and banners reading “Tigerof Pakistan, we love you” and “Welcome

prime minister of Pakistan, pride of Pak-istan”. The PML-N’s election symbolis a tiger and the rally featured a livetiger in a cage.

Many voters are disillusionedwith the outgoing Pakistan Peo-ple’s Party (PPP) government,saddled with allegations of corrup-tion and mismanagement. Securityand the economy have worsenedover the last five years. Pakistan be-came a nuclear power in May 1998 dur-ing Sharif’s second term as prime minister.He was ousted by Musharraf the followingyear. “Last time we carried out nuclear ex-plosions. Now we will carry out economicexplosions,” Sharif told the crowd. Militantattacks and violence against the Shia Mus-lim minority have raised fears about secu-rity for the polls in the nation of 180million. Sharif ordered a bullet-proofscreen around his podium to be removed, amove greeted with loud applause.

But security was extremely tight withpolice commandos patrolling with AK-47sand a buffer zone ringed with barbed wire

around the stage. As premier, Sharif earnedpraise for economic reforms and for build-ing a motorway from Peshawar to Lahorein the east. He promised that if his partywas elected a third time, he would build amotorway from Lahore to Karachi. “I amnot fond of power, I only want to see mycountry progressing and my people pros-

per,” he told the crowd.Sharif first became prime minister in

1990 but was sacked three years later oncorruption charges.

He returned to power in 1997 after anelection but was ousted in the 1999 coup byMusharraf and was sent into exile in SaudiArabia in 2000. He returned in November

2007 just before the February 2008 generalelection, won by the PPP on a wave of sup-port following the assassination of itsleader Benazir Bhutto in December2007.Mohammad Afzal, a student aged 18,said he would vote for Sharif. “Only he cansave us from load shedding (chronic powercuts) and control inflation,” Afzal said.

Nawaz promises ‘economic explosion’ if voted into powerLast time we

carried out nuclear

explosions. Now

we will carry out

economic explosions

NAWAZ SHARIF

LAHORE

umAiR Aziz

Punjab — the country’s largest province—is yet to get a caretaker chief minister as thecommittee tasked with selecting the man forthe job remained unable to achieve aconsensus over the issue on Monday.This leaves one day (Tuesday) for thegovernment and opposition legislators toselect one name for the top slot before thematter is sent to the election Commissionof Pakistan to undergo the exercise.The committee has Rana Sanaullah Khan,Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman and IqbalChanner from the government’s side, whileZulfiqar Gondal, Shaukat Basra andChaudhry Zaheeruddin are the oppositionmembers.The committee has been deliberating fordays to finalise a name from amongst a listproposed by both sides.Names of Justice (r) Amir Raza Khan andKhwaja Zaheer have been proposed by thegovernment, while Najam Sethi and formerLHC CJ Syed Zahid Hussain Bukhari arethe opposition’s nominees.After long hours of deliberations and theirinability to finalise a name, the committeedecided to include more names in the listand sought legal opinion on the matter.The law department secretary along withhis team of legal experts visited thecommittee and briefed them on how the lawdid not allow including new names in thelist already proposed by the governmentand opposition parties.A senior law department official said oncondition of anonymity that the committeewas tasked with finalising one name fromthe list proposed and they could not includenew names. “even the election commissionwill finalize one name from the alreadyproposed candidates and cannot make freshadditions,” the official added.

Sources privy to the development revealedthat the PPP did not want a retired judge asthe chief minister, as had been done in theCentre and other provinces as well, besidesterming the government’s nominees“clearly” biased.The government, however, has reservationsagainst one of the nominees havingcontempt proceedings against him.Talking to Pakistan Today, PPP’s ShaukatBasra said reservations had been handedover to the government side in “black andwhite”. “The government has nominatedcandidates who have an open bias for us,”he added.PML-N’s Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman said thePPP was being unreasonable in its demands,as “we consulted all big political parties inPunjab before proposing the names,something which they [PPP] haven’t done”.“The caretaker CM is going to look afterthe day to day working of the government.The people’s major concern at the point isthat free and fair elections should beconducted. We will have another meetingtoday [Tuesday] and hopefully try tofinalize a name, because we understand thatall eyes are on us,” he added.Zaheeruddin said all four names werediscussed in depth and hoped that thecommittee would agree on a name byTuesday. He said talks were movingforward positively and the committee wouldmeet again at 11am today (Tuesday). PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said the oppositionhad raised unsubstantial objections over thenames proposed by his party. He said thePML-N believed all four nominees for thepost of caretaker chief minister wererespectable. The former Punjab lawminister said he was hundred percent surethat an agreement would be reached on thenames proposed by PML-N, as all parties,except the opposition, supported theirnominees.

MANSEHrA: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Nawaz Sharif addresses a public meeting on Monday.

ISLAMABAD: Inwhat can be dubbed amajor politicalachievement forPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Ba-hawalpur NationalAwami Party(BNAP) chief NawabSalahuddin Abbasi ismulling merging hisparty with the PTI, aiming atclean sweeping the upcomingelections in Bahawalpur region, Pak-istan Today has reliably learnt.A senior BNAP leader said on conditionof anonymity that a silent meeting washeld between PTI Chairman Imran Khanand BNAP chief Nawab Abbassi onMonday during which it was decidedthat the BNAP would be merged withthe PTI in order that candidatesbelonging to major political parties couldbe defeated during upcoming elections.Sources said Abbasi and Khan werelikely to make the announcement in thisregard on Tuesday (today). The BNAPleader said a committee had been formed

under the command of BNAP’s seniorparty leaders for working out themodalities of the merger with PTIleadership. “Nawab Abbasi found the

PTI programme of changesimilar to that of the

BNAP for the peopleliving in Bahawalpur

region, so hedecided with theconsent of theparty leadershipto merge his partywith the PTI,” thesources said. They

were of the viewthat Abbasi was

considered thekingmaker in the entire

Bahawalpur division, as around17 candidates supported by the Abbasisduring the general elections of 2008 wonseats for National and provincialassemblies, adding that Abbasi also waselected member national assembly(MNA) four times. They said Abbasiwas likely to be given an importantassignment in Bahawalpur region byKhan. However, the sources claimed thatBNAP chief had not set preconditions forjoining the PTI and it was purely basedon a principled stance of both politicalparties. Despite repeated attempts, Abbasidid not respond to confirm theinformation gathered by Pakistan Today.

PAKISTAN PUSHEDINTO DARKNESS INLAST 5 YEARS: IMRAN

MIANWALI

nni

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)ChairmanImran Khanon MondaysaidPakistanwas pushedintodarknessover the lastfive years.Addressing apublic gathering in hishometown, Khan called upon the people toshun the current system of tyranny. “Weneed to change ourselves first beforechanging the country,” he said. “Who willmake those accountable who plundered thenation’s wealth?” he asked. He said the PTIwould wage jihad against the injustices. Hesaid after coming into power, the PTIwould spend public’s money on the people,adding that Rs 40 were being charged astax for just one litre of petrol. Khanpromised the masses that he would protecttheir tax money. The cricketer turnedpolitician said people were unwillinglyleaving Pakistan to fulfill their families’desires. Khan said he would make aPakistan where the people would not needto go abroad for employment.

ISLAMABAD

OnLinE

Lal Masjid’s chief clericAbdul Aziz moved theSupreme Court (SC)seeking placement offormer president PervezMusharraf’s name on theexit Control List (eCL) andregistration of a treason caseagainst him. The petitioner

submitted that Musharraf was behind themassacre of several innocent people

and students in the Lal Masjidoperation and was involved inother heinous crimes. Such aperson, he prayed, should notbe allowed to take part inpolitical activities. Thepetitioner has made the

interior minister and thefederal government

respondents in his petition.

PTI moves in on Bahawalpur kill

No one to take careof Punjab yet

SC moved for placing Musharraf’s name on ECL

NAWAB SALAHUDDINABBASI MULLING TOMERGE PARTY WITH PTI

SAMBrIAL: rescue

personnel use a crane to

rescue a buffalo which fell

into a well in Badiana

village on Monday. inP

LHR 26-03-2013_Layout 1 3/26/2013 3:14 AM Page 3

Page 4: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

NEWSN

04

Tuesday, 26 March, 2013

PML-Q will surprise everyone by

sweeping the upcoming elections. —

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain

KArACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement

supporters protest against the delimitations

in the city on Monday. STAFF PHOTO

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) and Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) have ap-proached the Sindh High Court(SHC) against the recent moveof the election Commission ofPakistan (eCP) aimed atchanging several electoral con-stituencies in the city.

In this regard, deputy con-vener of the MQM Coordina-tion Committee Dr FarooqSattar along with BarristerFarogh Naseem filed a petitionwith the SHC and challengedthe move on grounds that “Ille-gal and unconstitutional chang-ing of several electoralconstituencies only in Karachiby the eCP was unjustifiable.”

Later, while talking tomedia persons outside theSHC, Dr Farooq said that theMQM had raised legal andconstitutional issues in the pe-tition as the new delimitationshad been done after the an-nouncement of the electionschedule. He said that the partyhad prayed before the hon-ourable court to stop the oper-ation on the notification issued

by the eCP and to declare itnull and void. Dr Farooq saidthat new delimitations of con-stituencies could not take placeafter the announcement of theelection schedule. If these con-stituencies were being redrawnunder section 10 – A of the De-limitation Act, suggestionsshould have been taken fromall stakeholders, and theprocess should have been prop-erly advertised, he added.

Furthermore, Dr Farooqsaid that the action of the eCPhad raised questions about itsintegrity. He said that the peo-ple of the metropolitan havebeen punished by changingthe constituencies as they wereproviding constant support tothe MQM. Moreover, Dr Fa-rooq said that the altering ofelectoral boundaries was an at-tempt to steal the mandate ofthe MQM, while adding thatthe electoral rolls were alsonot being displayed in Karachieven after the door-to-doorverification process.

Speaking on the occasionBarrister Nasim said that theSHC was approached for theimplementation of the order ofthe Supreme Court of Pakistan

(SCP) regarding fresh delimita-tion of electoral constituenciesaccording to existing law. Alter-ing of constituencies in the met-ropolitan were in violation ofthe order passed by the SCP.Meanwhile, a large number ofMQM workers and supportersheld a protest demonstrationoutside the SCP’s office in thecity against the delimitation ofthe city’s constituencies.

Addressing the partici-pants, MQM leader WaseemAftab said the delimitation ofKarachi’s constituencies’ afterthe announcement of electionschedule was in violation of theConstitution of Pakistan. Hefurther said that if the notifica-tion for the delimitation wasnot withdrawn then the state in-stitutions would be held re-sponsible for the situation thatcould arise in the metropolitan.

Meanwhile, PPP SindhPresident Qadir Patel also sub-mitted a plea against the delim-itation of his own constituency(NA-239). While talking tomedia persons he said that hisparty was not against delimita-tion process, but his party wasnot notified before starting thedelimitation of his constituency.

ISLAMABAD

APP

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has announced that itwill introduce green light and diesel system foragriculture-related fuel consumption.

These items will be provided to farmers at50 percent subsidised prices, the JI said in itsmanifesto. After coming to power, the JI wouldalso introduce solar energy tube wells andabolish all undue taxes related to agri inputssuch as seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to bringdown their prices. An effective export strategywill be devised for export of farm products forthe benefit of growers, it added.

The JI said that uncultivated and arid-statelands would be distributed among landless and poor

cultivators with irrigation facilities on the conditionthat the same would be brought under cultivation.The manifesto said that agriculture would be de-clared tax-exempted; however, tax would be leviedon agricultural income exceeding a fixed amount.The taxation formula would be devised in such waythat it would not in affect the poor farmers andworkers. It also announced that interest on all pre-vious agricultural loans would be waived while in-terest-free credits would be provided to farmers oneasy terms. An Islamic insurance system (takaful)will be introduced for proper management ofcrops, it added. The manifesto said that agriculturalinputs would be provided to farmers through theZarai Taraqiati Bank and the dues would be recov-ered from the recipients through cheques or in cashat the time of harvesting or sale of produce.

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

The Islamabad High Court(IHC) on Monday restrainedthe Capital Development Au-thority (CDA) from auction-ing a plot situated adjacent toMarriot Hotel.

The plot is being used bythe hotel for the last manyyears, but the CDA abruptlycancelled agreement with thehotel management and de-cided to auction the plot onTuesday (today).

On this, the HashooGroup filed a petition in IHC.

Hearing a petition filed

by Hashoo Group, JusticeShaukat Aziz Siddiquigranted stay order and di-rected the CDA not to auc-tion this plot until the court’sfinal decision.

The hotel, under openspace agreement with theCDA, has been using the 3-acre plot for parking pur-pose. However, the CDAcancelled the agreement anddecided to auction it. Theauthority was about to auc-tion the plot for constructionof another five star hotel,however, for the time beingthe court directed CDA notto auction this plot.

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

THe federal government has soughta reply from the governor of theState Bank of Pakistan (SBP), afterthe election Commission of Pak-

istan (eCP) directed the immediate removalof SBP Deputy Governor Ashraf MahmoodWathra, who had recently been appointedto the SBP board on his advice.

“The Finance ministry wrote to theSBP Governor on Monday asking him toprovide comments within 48 hours, as the

deputy governor was appointed on his rec-ommendations,” said Finance Ministryspokesperson Rana Assad Amin.

Amin said that Anwar had written tothe Finance Ministry: while recommendingWathra’s appointment as deputy governor,Anwar had said he had interviewed Wathraand found him “fit and proper” for the post.

Former prime minister Raja PervaizAshraf had appointed Wathra for a three-year period on March 5. Wathra was madehead of the banking section and given theportfolio earlier handled by the otherdeputy governor, Kazi Abdul Muktadir.

Before Wathra’s appointment, thepost had been vacant for almost a yeardue to the Finance Ministry’s reluctancein accepting the individuals nominatedby the central bank for the post. Thoughthe federal government has the authorityto appoint deputy governors, the recom-mendations are traditionally made by theSBP governor.

Ashraf Mahmood Wathra is a bankerand was serving as the senior executivevice president at National Bank of Pakistan,heading the Overseas Banking Group andthe Americas region before his appointment

as the SBP deputy governor.However, the eCP fears that Wathra

could obstruct the process of screeningloan defaulters, which would allow suchpersons to contest general elections onMay 11. NBP, the bank with whichWathra has been extensively associatedwith, has been in the news during the pastfive years on charges of sanctioning loansto individuals backed by ruling parties, al-legedly without even securing collateral.

The election Commission sprang intoaction on the matter following a petitionfiled in the Supreme Court of Pakistan by

Dr Mubashir Hasan. Dr Hasan has pleadedthat the apex court empower the eCP, al-leging in his petition that Wathra could ob-struct the screening process.

SBP Governor Yaseen Anwar has beenasked to explain his position on the matterwithin 48 hours, after a letter was sent bythe eCP to Finance Secretary AbdulKhaliq, directing the removal of the deputygovernor within two days.

SBP spokesman Syed Wasimuddin hassaid that the central bank has received theletter and replied accordingly, without giv-ing any further details.

Police,intelligenceagencypersonnelbrawl in Sukkur

MONItORING DESK

Police and intelligence agencypersonnel entered into a nastybrawl on Monday, when theintelligence men tried to getone of their colleagues re-leased from the police lock up,a private TV channel reported.

Police said a sensitive or-ganisation’s personnel brokeinto the police station to getSaleemuddin, who was takeninto custody over a dispute re-lating to the ownership of aplot of land, released. This re-sulted into a nasty brawl inwhich both parties beat eachother up, the channel said.

PPP to contestpolls againstPML-Q: Mukhtar

ISLAMABAD

inP

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)leader and former federal minis-ter Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtarannounced that his party wouldchallenge Pakistan MuslimLeague-Quaid (PML-Q) acrossthe country in the upcomingpolls. Speaking to reporters afterattending the oath taking cere-mony of the caretaker primeminister, Mukhtar said he hadalready been given a PPP ticketto contest against the PML-Q inGujrat. His comments suggestedthat PPP’s alliance with thePML-Q is most likely over.

ISLAMABAD

OnLinE

Federal Water and Power Sec-retary Rao Sikandar has ac-cepted his inability to addresspower outages in the country,especially in Balochistan, andassured that the situationwould improve soon.

While briefing the Senatesub-committee on Finance andRevenue, the secretary ac-knowledged that Balochistanhad not been given its dueshare in power and of the1,400 megawatts of its quota,only 450 megawatts werebeing provided to the province,leading to an adverse situation.

He said the Ministry ofWater and Power held a meet-ing with the Ministry of Fi-nance and Petroleum anddecided to ensure smooth sup-ply of 25,000 metric tonnes offurnace oil per day to powergeneration plants. He said 100megawatt had already beenadded to the system and by theend of this month, another1,300 megawatt would beadded to the national grid soon.

Sikandar said the circulardebt had increased to Rs 414billion and prevailing cultureof over billing by one depart-ment to the other was the key

reason behind it. He added thatissues related to outstandingamount of GST with the FBRhad been resolved and soon thisamount would be released to theMinistry of Water and Power.He said various cases worth Rs100 billion had been handedover to NAB. The secretary ap-prised the legislative body thatRs 100 billion were outstandingwith the private sector, Rs 150billion with government depart-ments and 89 billion were owedby other departments.

The sub-committee stronglyannoyed the unnecessary delayin submission of report regardingdevelopment work on 29 proj-ects in Balochistan by WAPDAofficials. Senator Fateh Muham-mad Hasni warned that if thismechanism was repeated andWAPDA officials did not briefthe committee in next meeting,the committee would take strictaction. “Officials are using dif-ferent delaying tactics for thelast six months, which is veryunfortunate and would not betolerated further,” Hasni said.The committee also directedofficials of the Finance De-partment to allocate minimumamount in PSDP for unfundedprojects of the Nation High-way Authority (NHA) in orderto keep them alive.

PPP, MQM challenge delimitationof constituencies in SHC

2 witnessesrefuse toidentifyShahrukh Jatoi

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Two witnesses have refusedto identify Shahrukh Jatoi inthe Shahzeb Khan murdercase. An Anti-TerrorismCourt (ATC), led by JudgeGhulam Mustafa Memon,took the case for hearing onMonday. The investigation officerpresented two witnesses,Shahryar and Aamir, in thecourt but the two deviatedfrom their earlier statementsand refused to identifyShahrukh Jatoi. They took the plea that theywere not present on thescene at the time when themurder took place and theydid not see what had hap-pened therein.

Shahzeb, 20 wasgunned down in a posh areaof Karachi on December25, 2012.

Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry hadtaken a suo motu notice whenthe police failed to arrest theaccused even after a lapse of aweek. The case was latertransferred to the ATC.

ECP directs removal of State Bank deputy governor

JI to introduce green lightand diesel for farmers

Power secy accepts inabilityto curb power outages

IHC gives stayorder in favour ofHashoo Group

US hands overBagram prisonto Afghans

BAGRAM

nni

The American forces inAfghanistan on Monday handedover full control of a key uS-rundetention center, the Bagramprison, to the Afghan DefenseMinistry, putting an end to asource of tension between Kabuland its main ally Washington.An official ceremony was heldin Bagram prison, located nextto the Bagram airbase, the mainu. S. military bastion 50 kilo-meters north of Kabul. Thehanding over of the facility wasscheduled to take place duringthe uS Defense SecretaryChuck Hagel’s first tour toAfghanistan earlier this monthbut the program was canceledfor unknown reasons.

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I hAvE doUBTS onKhoSA

LAHOrE: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has

expressed serious reservations over the

newly nominated caretaker Prime Minister

Mir Hazar Khan Khosa. Addressing a

gathering on Monday, JI Secretary General

Liaquat Baloch said that Khosa’s past was

‘iniquitous’ because he remained involved in

various activities which were ‘objectionable’.

The JI leader said that his party wanted to

proceed with agenda regarding resolution of

issues through free and transparent election

in the country. Baloch claimed that JI had

chalked out a strategy to wipe out

corruption and mismanagement. inP

LAHORETuesday, 26 March, 2013

low

high

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L

Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

4:37 5:58 12:09 3:39 6:18 7:40

160C

05 If I had a link with former president Pervez

Musharraf, I would have gone myself to receive

him at the airport. –Arbab Ghulam Rahim

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

THe Bomb DisposalSquad sealed the LahoreDevelopment Authority(LDA)’s building whilethe police cordoned off

the area after the news of possiblepresence of a bomb in the buildingspread on Monday.

According to details, a womancalled LDA officials in the morning,telling about the presence of a bomb

planted in LDA’s building. LDA’sbuilding, which is generally occupiedby a number of people, was evacuatedafter the news.

The LDA officials called thepolice and informed about the bombthreat. The police reached LDA’sbuilding and cordoned off the areawhile the bomb disposal squadinitiated a search operation. Thesquad, after a two-hour operation,declared the building to be safe.

The bomb disposal squadmentioned in its report that the building

was safe, declaring the news to be false.Although, the squad had given itsclearance, the LDA officials remainedpetrified from entering their office andheaded back home instead ofcontinuing with their work.

A similar call was received onMonday morning alerting thecustomers at the Ambassador Hotel fora possible presence of poison in thehotel’s food. The rescue teams reachedthe venue after hearing the news andupon probing into the matter came toknow that the news was false.

Bomb hoax at LdAspreads terror

LAHORE

APP

The Lahore High Court (LHC) onMonday sought detailed report fromthe Punjab government in two days fornot regularising the services of 400School Health Nutritionists in line withthe existing policy.

The petitioners, through theircounsel Hafiz Tariq Nasim, pleadedthat they were inducted into service in2008 on a three-year contract in grade

17 by a selection committee on meritafter qualifying a written test andinterviews. The posts were advertisedproperly in national newspapers and alllaid down rules and regulations werefulfilled.

The counsel argued that the term oftheir contract was further extendedfrom 3 to 5 years but all of sudden theirterm was curtailed to one year withoutany show-cause notice and personalhearing, whereas the services of allcontractual employees of different

departments, serving in grade 17 and18, were regularised in accordance withthe chief minister’s policy and theywere exempted from Punjab PublicService Commission.

Nasim said that in an identicalcase, School Health Nutritionists havebeen directed to appear before PPSC,which he pleaded was discriminatory.

After hearing the detailedarguments,Justice Aysha Malik soughtreport in two days and fixed the hearingfor March 27.

LHC seeks report for not regularising400 contractual employees

I hoPE KhoSowILL rEMAInIMPArTIAL

LAHOrE: Pakistan Muslim League-Like Minded

(PML-LM) leader and former Sindh chief

minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim Khan hoped that

caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso

would remain impartial and would not lose his

credibility. Addressing a luncheon hosted by

party leader Chaudhry Abdul Qadir on Monday,

Rahim said that newly elected caretaker PM was

a fair person and he would surely play his role

to hold free and transparent general elections in

the country. He expressed dissatisfaction over

failure of leaders of major political parties to

choose caretaker PM and this led the matter to

be decided by election commission. The PML-LM

leader denied having any link in return of

former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf

saying if it had been so then he would himself

have been present at airport to receive him. inP

drUg AddICT

‘BUrnS QUrAn’LAHOrE: A mentally challenged

man, Ghulam Husain, allegedly

put the Holy Quran on fire in

Shahdara Town precincts on

Monday afternoon. As the news

spread in the colony, the locals

barged in Husain’s house and

started beating him.

A local, Akram Bhatti, rendering

himself to be an eye witness,

called the police, which after

reaching the venue arrested the

accused and registered an FIR

against him under Section 295-B.

The police also recovered pieces of

the burnt Quran.

According to the police, the accused

was not mentally challenged but

was a drug addict. Husain

committed this act in a perturbed

state after not being able to score

his drug, the police sources said.

Husain’s father runs a video game

shop in the locality. RAnA HAidER

PIC nEEdS MorECArdIAC SUrgEonSLAHOrE: The Punjab Institute of

Cardiology (PIC) is in need of

surgeons as only five doctors are

available to perform cardiac

surgeries while the number of

cardiac patients is growing.

Eight to ten cardiac surgeries are

done daily while the cardiac patients

are provided treatment almost free

of charge, said PIC Chief Surgeon

Prof Abdul Waheed on Monday. He

said that heart diseases were

increasing in the country. He said

that the PIC was established in 1989

when the population of Lahore was

3.5 million, which had now grown to

around 8 million. “Only a 17-bed

emergency department is available

in the PIC while some 1,600 patients

visit it every day. Around 1,000 of

them get medicines for cardiac

ailments regularly,” he added. The

hospital has 337 beds where four

modes of treatments are being

performed: angiogrphy, angioplasty,

pacemakers and by-pass surgeries.

The annual budget of PIC is about Rs

1.5 billion and it provides medicines

to 45,000 registered patients free of

cost, he added. APP

A BETTEr USE? Gypsies make use of

a banner used in a political

campaign to make their tent. muRTAzA ALi

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L

06

Tuesday, 26 March, 2013LAHORE

I have serious doubts on Khosa. His past is iniquitous

as he has been involved in various activities which

are objectionable. –Liaquat Baloch

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LAHORE

OnLinE

Lahore High Court (LHC) has adjourned hearing untilMarch 27 of the petition filed by Hafiz Saeed seekingelimination of VIP culture from the country. Justice ejaz-ul-Hassan took up the case for hearing on Monday andsought more arguments on the maintainability of the writ.Counsel for Hafiz Saeed argued that VIP culture in thecountry ran contrary to the Islamic teachings and theconstitution. VIP culture wasgiving rise to a sense ofdeprivation among the citizensand was an encroachment uponthe fundamental rights, hecontended. He said exploitationand coercion could not beuprooted unless VIP culturewas eliminated. Heprayed the court to orderfor elimination of VIPculture from the country.

LAHORE

inP

A 10-year-old girl, perturbed by her step mother’s torture,approached Islampura Police Station for help on Monday.According to the police, Fatima appealed for protectionagainst her mother’s torture. However, she refused to tellher address and telephone number fearing her parentswould take her back home. The police shifted the girl toedhi Home and started investigations.

girl approaches police forprotection against torture

LhC asks for more details on caseon elimination of vIP culture

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

THe Punjab has the highestteacher presence inpercentage terms than any ofthe 22 countries in whichDFID provided financial

support. Teacher absenteeism has beenreduced from 20 percent to less than eightpercent in a matter of less than two years.This was disclosed in a report of a think-tank called “Reform”. The report will beformally released in a lecture by an eminentBritish educationist, Sir Michael Barber, at

the Lahore university of ManagementSciences (LuMS) today.

World Bank Dr Jim Yong Kim, in hisforeword for the report, appreciated theefforts of the leadership and commitment ofthe Punjab Government for achieving suchpalpable improvements.

The report indicated that in August2011, only 22 percent of schools were beingvisited each month by district administrationauthorities to check on the situation, whereasin November 2012, 96.2 percent of allschools of the province were being visitedby the authorities each month for spotchecking and monitoring.

‘PUnJAB UnPArALLEL InEdUCATIon SECTor’

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07

NEWSTuesday, 26 March, 2013

No foreigner has a place asking another

people, another country, to change their

constitution. –Hamid Karzai N

NAypyIDAW

AGEnCiES

Mosques and houses have been ransackedin central Burma, the latest in a series of in-cidents since sectarian violence broke outin Meiktila town.

About 300 people attacked a mosque and de-stroyed Muslim-owned shops and houses in OhThe Kone town, about 50km (31 miles) fromRangoon, reports say.

This comes after more troops arrived inMeiktila, where at least 30 people have report-edly died since Wednesday.

An argument sparked violence between Bud-dhists and Muslims in the town.

Aside from Oh The Kone, it was also re-ported that a mosque was torched in Tatkonetown, 80km from Meiktila, over the weekend. A

mosque and 50 houses were also said to havebeen torched in nearby Yamenthin town.

It was not immediately clear who was behindthe violence. No casualties have been reportedfrom these towns so far.

The violence in Meiktila, triggered by whatreports say was an argument that started in a goldshop, has displaced at least 9,000 residents, ac-cording to reports.

A local lawmaker told BBC Burmese on Fri-day that scores of mostly Buddhist people ac-cused of being involved in the violence had beenarrested by police.

President Thein Sein, opposition leaderAung San Suu Kyi and the speaker of par-liament’s lower house on Sunday issued ajoint declaration in the face of the deadlycommunal violence.

The declaration calls for the rule of law to be

restored in Meiktila, the rapid return home ofthousands of displaced people and seminars andworkshops on how to prevent further communalviolence in the country.

The uN secretary-general’s special adviseron Burma, Vijay Nambiar, visited villagers dis-placed by the conflict on Sunday.

Buddhist and Muslim religious leaders alsospoke out on Sunday, urging respect for the lawand community harmony.

This incident is the worst sectarian conflictsince the violence that hit Rakhine state last year,where nearly 200 people were killed and tens ofthousands forced from their homes.

The conflict that erupted in Rakhine involvedBuddhists and Rohingya Muslims, who are notrecognised as Burmese citizens. Scores of Ro-hingyas have fled what they say is persecution inBurma in recent months.

DAMASCuS

AGEnCiES

The Syrian opposition will take over theirnation’s vacant seat at the Arab League, ahigh-ranking league official has said, aday ahead of a summit of Arab leaders inDoha, Qatar.

“The opposition has been invited tothe Arab summit and will occupy Syria’sseat at the Arab League,” the official toldthe AFP news agency on Monday, re-questing anonymity.

The pan-Arab bloc had already sus-pended President Bashar al-Assad’smembership and recognised the coali-tion as the legitimate representative of

the people of Syria.The Arab summit takes place on Tues-

day and Wednesday.Syrian opposition leader Mouaz al-

Khatib said he would address the summit.Khatib resigned on Sunday as head of theNational Coalition, but the oppositionbloc rejected his resignation.

“I have decided to give a speech in thename of the Syrian people at the Dohaconference,” he wrote on his Twitter ac-count. “This is a matter that has nothingto do with the resignation, which will bediscussed later.”

The National Coalition has beenrecognised by dozens of states and organ-isations as the legitimate representative of

the Syrian people.Syria ‘destruction’ Nizar al-Heraki,

Syria’s opposition ambassador to Qatar,told Al Jazeera that he will be arriving inDoha along with Khatib from Cairo onMonday evening.

He said the reaction to Khatib’s an-nounced resignation was “very strong.”He did not directly say whether Khatibwill back off on his decision or not, butthat the opposition leader “will see ifthe international community will fulfillthe promises it made.”

Khatib on Sunday said he wanted toresign so he could “work with a free-dom that cannot possibly be had in anofficial institution”.

“For the past two years, we havebeen slaughtered by an unprecedentedlyvicious regime, while the world haslooked on,” Khatib said in a statement re-leased on his Facebook page.

“All the destruction of Syria’s infra-structure, the detention of tens of thousandsof people, the forced flight of hundreds ofthousands and other forms of suffering havebeen insufficient for the international com-munity to take a decision to allow the peo-ple to defend themselves,” he added.

Khatib was picked as head of the coali-tion after it was formed in November. Hewas seen as a moderate bulwark against therising influence of al-Qaeda-linked forcesfighting in the revolt against Assad.

BURMA COMMUNAL RIOTING SPREADS

ALEPPO: Syrian rebels take position inside

a building during fighting with

government forces on Monday. AGEnCiES

NICOSIA

AGEnCiES

CYPRuS has clinched a last-ditch deal with internationallenders for a 10 billion euro($13bn) bailout that will shutdown its second largest bank

and inflict heavy losses on uninsured de-positors, including wealthy Russians.

Final backing was received at around01:00 GMT on Monday, after marathontalks between President Nicos Anastasiadesand heads of the european union, the eu-ropean Central Bank and the InternationalMonetary Fund - hours before a deadline toavert a collapse of the banking system.

The plan, swiftly endorsed by eurozonefinance ministers, will spare the eastMediterranean island a financial meltdownby winding down Popular Bank of Cyprus,also known as Laiki, and shifting depositsbelow 100,000 euros ($129,000) to theBank of Cyprus to create a “good bank”.

Deposits above 100,000 euros, whichunder eu law are not guaranteed, will befrozen and used to resolve debts, andLaiki will effectively be closed, withthousands of job losses.

An eu spokesman said no levy wouldbe imposed on any deposits in Cypriotbanks. A first attempt at a deal last weekcollapsed when the Cypriot parliament re-jected a proposed levy on all deposits.

A senior source involved in the talkssaid Anastasiades had threatened to resignat one stage if he was pushed too far.

eu diplomats said the president,flown to Brussels in a private jet char-tered by the european Commission, hadfought to preserve the country’s businessmodel as an offshore financial centredrawing huge sums from wealthy Rus-sians and Britons.

“The liabilities paid off and whateverremains will come directly out of thebank accounts of the uninsured deposi-tors,” Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull reportsfrom Nicosia.

‘Casino economy’ The key issues indispute were how Cyprus would raise 5.8

billion euros ($7.5bn) from its bankingsector towards its own financial rescue,and how to restructure and resolve theoutsized banks. The eu’s economic af-fairs chief Olli Rehn said there were nogood options but “only hard choices left”for the latest casualty of the eurozone cri-sis. With banks closed for the last week,the Central Bank of Cyprus imposed a100-euros ($130) per day limit on with-drawals from cash machines at the twobiggest banks to avert a run.

French Finance Minister PierreMoscovici rejected charges that the eu hadbrought Cypriots to their knees, saying itwas the island’s offshore business modelthat had failed.

“To all those who say that we are stran-gling an entire people ... Cyprus is a casinoeconomy that was on the brink of bank-ruptcy,” he told Canal Plus television.

The euro gained against the dollar onthe news in early Asian trading.

Analysts had said failure to clinch adeal could cause a financial market sell-off, but some said the island’s small sizeit accounts for just 0.2 percent of the eu-rozone’s economic output - meant conta-gion would be limited. The abandonedlevy on bank deposits had unsettled in-vestors since it represented an unprece-dented step in europe’s handling of a debtcrisis that has spread from Greece, to Ire-land, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

Cyprus seals last-minute bailout deal

Syrian opposition to ssume Arab League seat

KABuL

AGEnCiES

The uS secretary of state hasarrived in Kabul on anunannounced visit,and will hold talkswith the Afghanpresident, an of-ficial has said.

John Kerryarrived inKabul on Mon-day for a 24-hour visit, andwill discuss a hostof issues with Afghanpresdient Hamid Karzai, in-cluding reconciliation talkswith insurgent groups, accord-ing to the official.

“He will make clear thatthe uS will have an enduringcommitment in Afghanistanthat will last beyond transi-

tion and that there werealways be bumps on

the road,” said theofficial.

They willalso discuss up-coming elec-tions and thetransfer of secu-

rity responsibil-ity to Afghan

forces as foreigntroops prepare to leave.

His visit coincides withthe handover of a major de-tention centre to Afghan of-ficials.

13 SoUTh AfrICAnTrooPS KILLEd InCAr fIghTIng

CApE tOWN

AGEnCiES

South Africa’s President JacobZuma has said that 13 SouthAfrican troops were killed inclashes with the Seleka rebels onthe outskirts of Bangui, the capital.The announcement, which came onMonday, raised questions about thefuture role of South Africa’s 200-soldier contigent it sent to CentralAfrican Republic in January to sup-port the government troops afterthe rebels launched an offensive inearly December. Late on Sunday, the leader of therebels who took over the capital de-clared himself president andpledged to keep a power-sharinggovernment in place in compliancewith a January peace deal. A spokesperson for the Selekarebels announced Michel Djotodia’sclaim a day after the rebels toppledthe President Francois Bozize.“The current prime minister re-mains in place and the cabinet willbe slightly reshuffled,” said ericMassi, the spokesperson.“Bangui is under our control andcalm but we have things to do onthe ground in terms of security.Looting must be stopped.”The peace deal in January created apower-sharing government com-posed of rebels, civilian oppositionand Bozize loyalists. The rebels, who have accused Boz-ize of breaking the peace agree-ment, raided Bangui on Thursday.Bozize was believed to have fled tothe Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).Al Jazeera’s Nazanine Moshiri, re-porting from the the Kenyan capitalof Nairobi, was told by a DRC gov-ernment spokesperson that Bozizewas not in the country.

John Kerry makes surprise visit to Kabul

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NEWSNTuesday 26 March, 2013

08 Repressive tactics cannot

subdue Kashmiris’ struggle for

freedom. — Syed Ali Gilani

ISLAMABAD

OnLinE

CHIeF Justice of Pakistan (CJP)Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry onMonday remarked that strife-tornareas could not be left at the

mercy of terrorists. A three-member benchof Supreme Court (SC) led by CJP IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry took up the petitionfiled by Senator Ibrahim against assigningof civil powers to the army in FATA.

At the inception of hearing of the case,counsel for Senator Ibrahim, Ghulam Nabi,termed several provisions of FATA regula-tions to be in conflict with the law and con-stitution. He said it was laid down in thelaw of evidence that proceedings would beinitiated against the accused under evi-dence. On the other hand statement of armypersonnel had been declared evidence inthe FATA regulation, he argued.

“One law is in place in the country to

deal with terrorism, so why it cannot beimplemented in FATA?” he said. “Karachiis under the occupation of the MQM andit can do whatever it wills,” he added.“The army is conducting operation inBalochistan and the army chief cannot goto Karachi,” he further said. The judgestook exception of the remarks, saying,“You are giving a wrong statement, as thearmy chief and CJP were in Karachi onMarch 6.” Counsel for the petitioner said,“It is possible he may have been allowedto come to Karachi at that time.”

Raja Muhammad Irshad, counsel forintelligence agencies, wondered and regret-ted the statement of Ghulam Nabi, sayingthe army chief had been insulted and thelearned counsel was giving a false state-ment. “The army chief goes everywhereand nothing exists in Karachi as is beingportrayed. The army has to remain ex-tremely careful in exercising civil powers.”

Ghulam Nabi said innocent peoplewere being killed in FATA. “No decision

has been taken so far against those whowere “lifted” during 2008. Guests of wed-ding party were targeted here. 374 personswere killed. An 8 years old child wasdubbed terrorist and was killed.”

He further argued that laws were beingenacted in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen,Syria, Iraq and Pakistan to take actionagainst those working against uS interest.

“The situation is the same in Balochis-tan, Karachi and Lahore, therefore, how isit just to accord civil powers to military in-stitutions in FATA. No such law is in placeat international level,” he contended.

Irshad said, “Army personnel are beingbutchered. Army personnel are being killed

daily.” The CJP barred Ghulam Nabi frompassing remarks against the army withoutevidence. “Raja Irshad will evolve report andpresent it to the court on what situation pre-vails therein.” “We can not tolerate such typeof talk against the army. Strife-torn areascannot be left at the mercy of terrorists. Thespecial powers, including calling in the army,are assigned under specific situation per con-stitution. eighteen army personnel were tar-geted a day ago and the situation wouldworsen if the army returns from FATA.

Sacked dead bodies are being discov-ered daily in Balochistan. You say peaceprevails therein? Please tell the court ifpeace was there from April 12, 2008 untilnow and we will order the withdrawal ofthe army.” Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeedsaid miscreants wanted FATA and PATAnot to remain part of Pakistan. “Suicideattacks have become a routine matter.The petitioner seems more of a lawyerfor the miscreants.”

Justice Gulzar Ahmad said they couldnot leave the country at the mercy of mis-creants. “Only one incident has occurred inLahore but in other areas, such incidentsoccur daily.” The CJP then directed GhulamNabi to complete his arguments by today(Tuesday) and adjourned the proceedings.

NAJAF

inP

Grand Shia leader Ayatollah SheikhBashir Hussain Al-Najafi has called hisfollowers and other sects in Pakistan towork for the cause of Pakistan, making itstrong and prosperous.

The country should be a land ofpeace for each of its citizen. A singledrop of blood should be considered moreimportant than anything else, he saidwhile talking to a visiting Pakistanimedia delegation at his school on Sun-day. He said he felt highly upset over thekilling of people in Pakistan suicide at-

tacks and bombings.Leaders and the government in Pak-

istan should be duty-bound to providepeace and security to their people, headded. The Shia scholar was born in Ja-landhar, India in 1942. Later, he migratedto Pakistan after independence. He gothis early Islamic education in Lahore be-fore moving to Najaf for higher educa-tion. Since then, he is settled in Najaf,devoting his all energies for promotion ofIslamic teaching in Iraq.

He said further the people in Pakistanshould avoid any step that could harm thecountry, its integrity or national identity.While recalling that Pakistan came into

being after great sacrifices, he said thecountry should be first priority whilegoing for other world purists.

The cleric lamented that the govern-ment in Pakistan could not deliver interm of providing peace and security tothe people. The people, belonging to anysect, should look into their work anddeeds as well, ensuring positive contri-bution in the national development. Theyshould search their soul, to see as to howthey are fair to themselves. “We shouldlive according to the teaching of the holyQuran to ensure our ultimate successhere and hereafter,” he asserted.

About peace in Pakistan, he said theintelligence network should fulfill re-sponsibility to expose the culprits andthose foreign agents who were behindbombings. He said he had conveyed hisconcern about the safety of Shias throughthe government officials and ministerswho visited him in Najaf.

AnP leadershipin tatters overticket rows PESHAWAr: Amidst serious security

threats, leaders of former ruling Awami

National Party (ANP) have become

embroiled in internal rifts with various

party stalwarts over the awarding of

tickets ahead of general elections. Fearing

escalation of rifts, the ANP parliamentary

board is delaying the announcement of

nominees despite the completion of

decisions two days ago. According to

details, soon after the ANP parliamentary

board meeting in Peshawar, and following

a leaders’ meeting with Afsanyar Wali

Khan in Islamabad, party loyalists have

revolted in various regions. Trouble started

when ANP’s senior stalwart Ihrar Khattak

from Nowshera resigned from district

presidency in protest against

parliamentary board’s decisions. He

maintained membership of the party but

announced to stay away from the election

campaign. Khattak’s major disagreement

with the party leadership was allegedly

over the awarding of tickets; he felt that

tickets had been awarded to wrong

persons. Late Sunday evening, outgoing

MPA from Peshawar Atifur Rehman,

denouncing his replacement by ANP’s

provincial General Secretary Arbab Tahir

on PK 5, said that he would contest for

two seats; the first, his current seat and

second, for a national assembly seat. He

announced to run for both seats as an

independent candidate. Another ignored

MPA Aurangzeb Khan has remained silent

over the parliamentary board’s decisions.

He is the older brother of late MPA

Alamzeb Khan who was a victim of a

terrorist act in February 2009. Besides

Peshawar and Nowshehra, ANP stalwarts

from Swat have also opposed the

nomination of former members of

parliament who had allegedly remained

absent from their constituencies during the

last five years. Moreover, ANP dissidents

have also constituted a committee with

senior party leader Shah Alam Khan for

deciding the future course of action. In

Buner, former MNA Istiqbal Khan was

replaced by former district council nazim

Abdul Rauf Khan on NA-28. Earlier, Istiqbal

made attempts to switch to Pakistan

Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in

exchange for a ticket but is now currently

holding talks with leaders of Jamiat-ul-

Ulema-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). So far JUI-F has

declared Maulvi Aleemur Rehman as its

candidate from NA-28. Moreover, there

have been reports of unrest in Swabi

where two former MPA with an MNA were

replaced by newcomers. Pervez Khan was

replaced by a former banker Sarwar Khan

on NA-13, Mukhtiar Ali was replaced by

Ashfaq Khan on PK-33 and Sikandar Irfan

was replaced by Mohammad Islam on PK-

35. Former MNA Haji Rahman Ullah Khan

was named a candidate on NA 12 whereas

his son former MPA Amir Rehman will be

the party’s candidate on PK-32. Some of

diehard ANP stalwarts, particularly those

who were ignored in awarding of tickets,

are unhappy with such decisions. Some of

them are planning to contest polls in

personal capacity or joining other parties.

Moreover, there are tensions in ANP ranks

in Mardan where former MPA Ahmad

Bahadar was replaced by a newcomer Ali

Khan. Ahmad Bahadar vocally opposed the

decision along with a large number of

aides. Ahmad Bahadar’s opposition is likely

to cause problems for former chief

minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti who is

contesting on both national and provincial

Assembly seats from his native Mardan

city. STAFF REPORT

Three men gunned

down in faisalabad fAISALABAD: Three people were

ambushed and killed by their rivals on

their way to a court near Balochni,

according to reports on Monday.

According to police, the victims were

identified as Anwarul Haq, Naveed

Ahmed and Wasim. The attackers

managed to flee from the scene soon

after the incident. Police shifted the

bodies to Kharyanwala hospital for

autopsy. Sources said that the incident

was a result of an old enmity. OnLinE

3 killed, 2 injured asroof of Landikotalhouse caves in

pESHAWAR

APP

At least three children were killed and anothertwo were injured when the roof of a dilapi-dated house caved in due to heavy rainfall inLandikotal tehsil of Khyber Agency on Mon-day. According to the political administration,the incident occurred in Sathekhel Shinwariareas where the roof collapsed due to contin-uous rains in the tehsil. Local residents and of-ficials of the political administration rushed tothe spot and took the injured to hospital.

100-member EUdelegation toobserve polls

ISLAMABAD

OnLinE

International observers have started contactingthe Foreign Office for monitoring of the upcom-ing general elections. The european union hassent the Foreign Office a list of 100 personnelwho would stay in Pakistan for four to six weeksin order to monitor the general elections. Theapplication demanding clearance of the delega-tion has been sent to the government institutions.The visa clearance and travel plan will be issuedto the international observers for monitoring theelection campaign. They will also be briefedwith regard to security. An important meetingwill be held between officials of the Interior andForeign Ministry in this regard on March 27.

2 soldiers hurt inBajaur Agency blast

BAJAuR AGENCy

OnLinE

At least two security personnel were injured ina remote-controlled bomb explosion inMamoond tehsil of Bajaur Agency, officialssaid on Monday. The officials said the blasttook place in Dama Dola area of the tehsil,adding that a large contingent of security forcesrushed and the site and cordoned off the area.“The injured were shifted to hospital and asearch operation is being carried out in thearea,” they said. A suicide attack on a securitycheckpost on Saturday killed at least 22 soldiersand injured several others near Miranshah.

Strife-torn areas cannot beleft at terrorists’ mercy: CJP

JUDGES TAKE EXCEPTION TOREMARKS AGAINST ARMYBY PETITIONER’S COUNSEL

SAY NOTHING WOULDBE SAID AGAINST ARMYWITHOUT EVIDENCE

Iraqi Shia leader urges disciplesto make Pakistan strong

HUSSAIN SAYS HE HAS CONVEYED HIS CONCERNABOUT SAFETY OF SHIAS THROUGH PAKISTANIMINISTERS WHO VISITED HIM IN NAJAF

BAHAWALPUr: Camels dance during

Pakistan Day celebrations organised at the

Bahawalpur Garrison on Monday. inP

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Page 9: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

NEWS N

09

Tuesday 26 March, 2013

PPP has a long history

of sacrifices.

— Latif Khosa

ISLAMABAD

OnLinE

THe Supreme Court hassummoned all relevantdocuments and details ofOGRA’s implementa-

tion by accountability court ofthe verdict against formerOGRA chairman Tauqeer Sadiq.A two-member bench headed byJustice Jawad S Khawaja onMonday said the court wanted tosee whether legal procedureswere being adopted.

Justice Khawaja said afavourable environment wasbeing created before the arrivaland appearance of Sadiq in thewitness box and “there are alsoa considerable number ofdoubts in the case-file ofNAB’s prosecutor general”.The judge said deliberate prob-lems were being created in thecase. The court expressed itsdispleasure at the incomplete

measures being taken for thereturn of Sadiq to Pakistan.

Briefing the court, NABsaid all relevant steps werebeing taken to ensure Sadiq’sreturn to Pakistan, citing theavailable extradition accord be-tween Pakistan and the uAe,which had so far cost Dirham60,000, while efforts to getSadiq declared a proclaimedoffender were almost com-plete. Khwaja Haris said theculprit would only be handedover to Pakistan after comple-

tion of all legal procedures. Haris said the next review

of the case by the uAe courtswas to be held on April 15,and any lacunas in documen-tation or failure to decide theissue could result in release ofSadiq by the uAe authorities.

Adjourning the next hear-ing until April 3, JusticeKhawaja ordered immediateimplementation of confisca-tion of Sadiq and his associ-ates’ property and submit areport to court at the earliest.

NEWS DESK

For some, the 17 miles of road and flyoversbuilt for the exclusive use of a fleet of redbuses that zoom above the gridlocked streetsof Lahore is a shocking extravagance.

In a country where only 35% of chil-dren are in secondary school and poverty isa reality for many, it is easy to think ofother ways to spend £220m.

But for Nawaz Sharif, the frontrunnerin the battle to become Pakistan’s nextprime minister, the country’s first masstransit project is worth every penny – if itstaves off competition from the country’swily president and a famous ex-cricket star,according to a report in The Guardian.

Despite the chorus of doubters, theopening last month of the Metro Bus in thecapital of Punjab, which is controlled bySharif’s faction of the Pakistan MuslimLeague (PML-N), was a massive hit.

Passengers damaged buses as theyfought for the chance to fly across the con-gested city in air-conditioned comfort for aheavily subsidised 15p a ride.

“People were just craving somethinglike this,” said Ahsan Iqbal, a senior PML-N leader working on a general election cam-paign that kicked off kick off with thedissolution of parliament on Saturday night.

“It has become the symbol of a new Pak-istan. People are experiencing a new way oflife that is much closer to developed coun-tries, and that gives them a good feeling.” en-thusiasm for grand projects comes after acalamitous five years for the ruling PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP), led by Asif Ali Zardari– a surprise president who was swept topower on a tide of sympathy in 2008 after theassassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto.

Apart from being the first governmentin Pakistan’s history to fulfil a full term, thePPP has little to brag about. Continuouslybuffeted by terrorist violence, corruption al-legations and crippling energy shortages,the PPP has been unable to deliver real eco-nomic growth, let alone the motorways andinfrastructure that Sharif touts.

But while the PPP’s vote is likely to bewiped out in much of urban Pakistan,Zardari still has some cards to play as hisparty’s prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashrafgoes to the polls.

Zardari – whose term as president ex-pires in September – is a ruthlessly prag-matic politician with a track record of doingwhatever is necessary to keep his party inpower. The PPP is thought to have deep re-serves of electoral strength in parts of ruralPunjab and Sindh where its “feudal” land-lord allies maintain a tight control on votes.

Through the president’s political heirapparent, Oxford graduate Bilawal BhuttoZardari, 24, the PPP maintains a connectionto the Bhutto name, harking back both toBenazir and Bilawal’s grandfather ZulfikarAli Bhutto. The party has also lavishedmore than $1bn in welfare handouts on 5.2million people through its scheme brandedthe “Benazir Income Support Programme”.

“People at the grassroots know what wehave done for them, they don’t believe whatthe media is saying,” said Taj Haider, generalsecretary of the PPP in Sindh. “Living stan-dards in the poorest areas have gone up andpeople are getting better prices for theircrops.” Cynics say the Metro Bus is lessabout tackling urban congestion and morethe dramatic political rise of Imran Khan, thecountry’s beloved former cricket captain,who emerged as a major threat to the PML-

N in late 2011 by holding an enormous rallyfor his political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on Sharif’s home turf.

About 100,000 people took part in theLahore “jalsa”, creating speculation thatwhat Khan calls a political tsunami wouldsweep Pakistani politics and break the cor-rupt, dynastic rule of the two establishedparties. Perversely, Khan could actually bethe best chance the deeply unpopular PPPhas for clinging on to power, if his appealto urban young people simply succeeds incutting into the PML-N vote bank in thetowns and cities of Punjab.

After the Khan rally, PML-N panicked.It feared its cruise to power on the back ofthe PPP’s many failures was in jeopardyand so went into overdrive. The party usedits control of the government of Punjab,home to 60% of Pakistanis, to push throughas many eye-catching schemes as it could– nearly all of which have been criticisedfor wasting money.

Free laptops were given to students, a“youth festival” was held where thousandsof young people set world records for theformation of giant flags and, most signifi-cant of all, the Metro Bus was built in 11months. At the party’s manifesto launchin Lahore last Friday, Sharif promisedto turn Pakistan into an “Asian tiger”,with new infrastructure and a gov-ernment with “zero tolerance forcorruption”.

“Our political philosophy re-volves around economicprogress,” the two-time for-mer prime minister said.“If a country is eco-nomically strong, it isable to solve all the

problems, whether law and order or po-litical extremism.”

The period of hyperactivity appears tohave paid off, with the PML-N now thefavourite to win the largest number of seatsafter Pakistanis go to the polls in the firsthalf of May, even if an outright majority isprobably beyond it. The party enjoys a sub-stantial lead in the latest opinion polls.

Most analysts believe Khan will belucky to get 20 of the 342 seats in parlia-ment. “He peaked too early and gave thePML-N time to rejuvenateits base,” said CyrilAlmeida, a news-paper columnist.“People go tohis rallies be-cause he is arock star inPakistan. Hedoesn’t have

the partymachine

to actually turn out the voters and bringthem to the polling booth on election day.”Sharif’s desire for improved diplomaticand trade relations with India and a re-duced role of the army in national life haswon over some liberal-minded Pakistaniswho were once suspicious of the religiousleanings of a man who tried to introduceSharia law in the late 90s before a militarycoup sent him into exile in Saudi Arabia.

The PML-N is smarting from accusa-tions that it has struck cynical electoraldeals with sectarian terrorists based in the

Punjab. The bombing of apartment blocksin Karachi on 3 March that killed 48

has been widely linked to theLashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), a Punjab

based Sunni extremist group.The LJ’s leaders in Punjab

have been left largely un-touched by Sharif’s provin-cial government. even if areported “seat adjustment”deal has not been struck,Sharif is “supremely awarethat he is fishing for votes in

the same waters” as the LJ,said one diplomat.

LONDON

mAjid KHATTAK

Britain’s border officials need over twodecades to clear their backlog of 320,000immigration cases, a parliamentary reportwarned on Monday. Incompetence andfoot-dragging is cited for the sheer numberof claims, which the critics claimed wereequivalent to the population of Iceland.

In a stunning report, the uK’s Par-liament Home Affairs Committee alsosaid the army of foreign criminals onthe streets was growing, with the totalof almost 4,000.

uK Border Agency (uKBA) hasbeen criticised after it announced that thebacklog would take another 24 years toclear. The audit into the work of the

uKBA, which was dubbed not fit forpurpose six years ago, found 321,726outstanding cases involving immigrants.These included 28,500 current asylumcases, 4,000 immigration cases and181,541 people placed in a so-called Mi-gration Refusal Pool.

The group comprises migrants whoarrived legally but could not be found aftertheir work or study visas expired. Officialssaid many of the migrants had gone home- a view disputed by the MPs, who say thelack of proper border checks may mean‘tens of thousands’ were still there.

They were highly critical of the slowpace at which officials were clearing thebacklog. Between July and September lastyear, it was reduced by only 3,430 – or 1percent. This is despite officials writing off

74,000 cases held in the separate ‘asylumcontrolled archive’ over that period.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Af-fairs Committee said in the report that hardlyany progress was being made in clearing thebacklog, while Immigration Minister MarkHarper also accepted that uK BorderAgency was a ‘troubled organisation’ KeithVaz, the Labour MP, holds former uKBAchief executive Lin Homer, Britain’s mostsenior female bureaucrat, responsible formuch of the debacle. In the report, MPs con-cluded she was guilty of a “catastrophic”failure of leadership during her time atuKBA. The committee recommended thatsenior uKBA staff must not be paid bonusesuntil there was evidence that the backlog wasbeing ‘substantially’ reduced and new back-logs were not emerging.

ISLAMABAD

OnLinE

The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered giving fi-nancial autonomy to the services tribunal andkeeping it out of the influence of the government.

A three-member SC bench presided overby Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry took up for hearing thecase of appointments of chairmen in federaland provincial service tribunals.

The SC ordered that legislation be madewithin 30 days on this matter and the appoint-ment of chairman and members of service tri-

bunals would be considered nullified if the leg-islation was not made. “The appointment ofchairmen of all service tribunals should bemade in consultation with the CJP,” the courtruled. A petition was filed in the SC that noconsultation was being made with the CJP inconnection with the appointment of chairmenof federal and provincial service tribunals andthe law was being breached that way.

Financial sovereignty was also not beingaccorded and due to this, the tribunals were nottaking their decisions independently.

The court had earlier reserved the judg-ment and announced it on Monday.

Nawaz Sharif in the driving seat in battle to be PM

UK Border Agency has a mammoth backlog

Service tribunals be made independent of govt: SC

SC demands detailedreport on Sadiq’sarrest, repatriation

fAISALABAD: Lawyers stand on a police

armoured personnel carrier during a

demonstration on Monday in favour of setting up

of a Lahore High Court bench in the district. inP

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Page 10: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

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: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

C

The disgraced former military dictator wants to play politicswhat is Musharraf up to?

Military operation in nwA

IF terror attacks are anything to go by, it is quite clear the terrorists haveno intention of letting go of their arms and violent ways, peace talks offeraccepted or not. They didn’t stop their attacks even when they had put the

offer of talks for peace on the table. However, with time they have changedtheir tactics knowing fully well that the public won’t support their cause ifthey kept targeting the innocent. So a change of target was deemed necessaryand what better target than security forces who fit their idea of an enemy orfriend of an enemy.

The recent suicide attack on security personnel has left 22 dead and scoresof injured with some in critical condition, raising fears of more casualties. Howthe troubled region has become a particularly favourite area for the terrorists toattack the security forces, can easily be inferred from the number of attacks onsecurity personnel, security establishments and check posts during the past fewyears. Only last year, a number of soldiers were beheaded in a gruesomemanner. The searing question is not about the ability of the terrorists to strikewhere or who they want, but how come after every drone strike Islamabadclaims that that many foreign terrorists were killed and yet it has failed tolaunch a military operation in NWA to clean the area of all terrorists once an all.

The badlands on Pakistan’s western border have long been associated withproviding safe havens to the terrorists, both of domestic and internationalvariety. An operation in the South Waziristan had cleared the area of manymilitants, who then sought sanctuaries in the North Waziristan, the home of theHaqqani Network, a terror network with vast resources both in Pakistan andAfghanistan, and the one suspected of having links with Pakistan’s agencies,thus putting the standing of the country right at the edge of a precipice. With theinternational media portraying, and rightly so, the North Waziristan as a hub ofinternational terrorism, Pakistan cannot afford to go easy on the militants andturn its head away, believing there is nothing wrong. That time is way past, andwith the uS and NATO winding up its operations by the end of next year, itwould in no way justify having this monster grow up in our backyard as itwould ultimately turn its attention inwards and tear apart the society and leavethe country reeling under some deeper wounds, wounds that might make itimpossible to heal in time. One stitch in time saves nine, or so they say. Militaryoperation in NWA should be priority number one.

NO Pakistani citizen can be forced into exile under law and Musharraf istherefore within his right to return and take part in politics. One is notsure though whether the real motive behind his return is to contest the

elections or something else. The former military ruler has insignificant following.While he might have a large number of admirers on the Facebook than Imran Khanas he claims, few took the trouble to come out of the world of virtual reality toreceive him at the Karachi airport. Fewer are likely to turn up at the polling stations.The gathering at the airport was, in the words of the NYT report, “unremarkable”.The reason is simple. Musharraf is widely disliked for overthrowing an electedgovernment, perceived involvement in Banazir’s murder and the killing ofAkabar Bugti. Mushrraf is also remembered for policies that have left a legacyof power and gas shortages. While he claims to be as popular as Ayub Khan,former army officers have demanded his court martial for providing bases to theuS and launching the Kargil offensive without consulting the army high command.

Musharraf’s strong point is his foreign contacts. He has managed during thelast four years to create a support group of well to do Pakistani expatriates whoare willing to finance him. Any perception of a hopeless political future for theformer military ruler is likely to dampen their enthusiasm over time. The reportsregarding Musharraf’s Saudi benefactors having softened the PML-Nleadership’s stance towards him appear to be plausible. The Sharif brothers, whocastigated the PPP government year after year for ignoring to seek Interpol helpto bring him back to face trial for treason, have suddenly assumed silence overthe issue. During his latest umrah, it suddenly dawned on Nawaz Sharif that itwas against Quranic teachings to deprive a person of his homeland.

Musharraf’s claim that he is coming back to organise the APML issomewhat disingenuous. Parties are organised before the announcement ofelections. Once the election process has started, the leadership is fully absorbedin the activity and has little time for anything else. Musharraf’s earlier attemptsto woo the PML-Q to adopt him as its chief failed four years back.Subsequently, he tried to forge an alliance with Imran Khan getting a similarlydiscouraging response. In between, he was reportedly hobnobbing with MQMdissidents without producing any results. His recent overtures to MQM havebeen rebuffed. Some who had initially helped Musharraf form the APML later gotdisenchanted and left him. As things stand Musharraf is to fight elections whilefacing the double whammy of terrorist threats and cases pending in the courts.

Tuesday, 26 March, 2013

10In seeking wisdom, the first step is silence, the second

listening, the third remembering, the fouth practicing,

the fifth teaching others. –Solomon Ibn Gabriol

Corporal punishmentA school is a sacred place where a child is nurtured andgroomed. It is where his personality is polished and the worldis made familiar to him. However, he must not be familiarisedto this society through the society’s ways. To be simpler, heshould be taught through peace and not through the evil deedsinherited in our country such as corporal punishment.

Physical punishment is a social evil related to schoolingthat has surfaced to be a major cause of disinterest foreducation. This has let many children to reach their finaldestination either directly or indirectly. Directly, as in somestudents at school might be beaten harshly or are forced tocarry out certain strenuous exercises which might causecardiopulmonary failure or nervous breakdown, resulting indeath. Indirectly, as in some oppressed victims of corporalpunishment might get so frustrated that they end upon thinkingabout suicide. Suicide cases in the youth have been reported inour society.

Punishing little children, especially in schools throughhitting or making them carry out strenuous exercises, cannever be the correct conduit to become a developed society.

Children are entitled to care, security and a good upbringing.They should always be dealt with respect and venerated.Brutally punishing them deters their innocence at the verymoment, and illustrates to them at such an early age how cruelthe world could be.

The teachers should be repeatedly guided on how to helpthe students in building up a good future, instead of encouragingthem to destroy it. They should be given counseling tounderstand that children will be children and adults should notexpect otherwise; they are innocent and completely unfamiliarto this world full of agony. They are quite incapable of bearingpain at this very tender age. However, their capabilities shouldnever be underestimated and they should always be given achance to improve themselves through love, instead of a cane.

Children are like buds. These buds must not be dealt withwrath or anger, but they should always be fed through love andaffection. This is something that boosts their confidence andwhen they as buds bloom to display their magnificence anddistribute their fragrance all around, the society is sure tosucceed.

MUHAMMAD IBRAHIM TARIQLahore

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: [email protected] Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusivelyEditor’s mail

Terrorists won’t let up, so should we

STRANGe, there was nomeeting or seminar to re-member Bhagat Singh whostill lives in the memory ofevery Indian. I was still in a

primary school when the revolutionaryBhagat Singh was hanged 82 years ago, tobe precise on March 23, 1931. eventhough more than eight decades havepassed, the feeling of his loss has not less-ened. An uproar against the British unitedthe country and so strong was the feelingthat nobody was willing to name his son(Hans Raj Vohra), who betrayed his com-rades and agreed to be the official witness.

Hans Raj was a close companion ofBhagat Singh and spilled the beans as soonas he was arrested. Although his version isdifferent, he said that since Sukhdev, oneof the persons who were hanged alongwith Bhagat Singh, told everything to thepolice, Hans Raj told the British the wholething in detail, where the revolutionarieswould make the bombs and where someamong them were located in the country.Although he had not forgiven his father formaking a written request to the tribunalsaying that his son was innocent and thathe had nothing to do with police officerJohn Saunder’s murder, he knew his fatherwas a sincere patriot who had devoted hislife to the cause of independence. His fa-ther’s filial affection at times had embar-rassed Bhagat Singh the revolutionary. Buthe knew the harrowed look in his father’seyes was his way of saying sorry.

Bhagat Singh had chided his sonthrough a letter. He wrote to Hans Raj,saying: “I have not been able to under-stand how you could think it proper tosubmit such a petition at this stage and inthese circumstances…You know that inthe political field my views have alwaysdiffered with those of yours. I have alwaysbeen acting independently without havingcared for your approval or disapproval.”Head jail warden Charat Singh indicatedto him that the time allotted for the mu-laqat (meeting) was over. But BhagatSingh lingered. His family’s love hadoverwhelmed him. He was pensive.Charat Singh told him to hurry up. His rel-atives embraced Bhagat Singh one by one.He touched his mother’s feet. It was a ges-ture of reverence but it brought tears toeveryone’s eyes. His sisters sobbed

openly. Bhagat Singh was greatly upset.“Stay together,” were his last words tothem. Then he folded his hands and left.

On his way back to his cell he sawSukhdev and Rajguru still standing be-hind iron bars, forlorn and lonely. De-spite Charat Singh asking him not to, hestopped to chat with them. It will be anyday now, he told them. The last meetingwith his family was indicative of it. Theynodded in assent. Back in his cell, BhagatSingh touched his kurta which was dampwith the tears of his family. Little Kultar,his youngest brother, had wept inces-santly. As he clung to his older brotherand said goodbye he had sobbed, “Lifewill not be worth living without you.”His innocent, grief-stricken face hauntedBhagat Singh. As the cell door closed be-hind him, he reached for his pen andwrote him a letter in urdu, the languagehe normally used in personal letters.

The letter to Kultar was done. Hehoped his words would soothe his brother.But what about the millions of people whobelieved in him? After writing to hisbrother, Bhagat Singh reached for a note-book he maintained. It was neither a per-sonal account nor a record of his reactions.He just jotted down his favourite passagesfrom the books he was reading. They werepassages, mostly in english, by thinkerslike Aristotle, Plato, Descartes, Hobbers,Locke, Rousseau, Trotsky, Bertrand Rus-sel, Karl Marx and engels.

Among the Indian authors he readwere Rabindranath Tagore and LajpatRai. Bhagat Singh was also fond of po-etry. He would recite even fromWordsworth, Byron and Omar Khayyam.But his favourite was Ghalib whom hequoted frequently. The meeting with hisfamily had shaken him emotionally butBhagat Singh took it in his stride and im-mersed himself once again in his books.

As the news of his execution spread,the nation went into mourning. Therewere processions throughout the country.Many went without food. People wore

black badges and shut down their busi-nesses to express their grief. The Britishstayed indoors. Among the Indian polit-ical leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru was thefirst to pay his tributes.

Nehru said that Bhagat Singh was aclean fighter who faced the enemy in anopen field. He was a young boy full ofpassionate zeal for the country. He waslike a spark that grew into a great flamein a short time and spread from one cityof the country to the other, illuminatingdarkness everywhere. Mahatma Gandhiwas profuse in his praise for the courageof the executed heroes. He said: “BhagatSingh and his companions’ death seem tohave been a personal loss to many. I joinin the tributes paid to the memory ofthese young men…”

But these words were lost on manypeople who were angry with Gandhiji fornot having done enough to save BhagatSingh and his comrades. Faced with pub-lic’s ugly mood, Congress leaders triedto come up with several explanations fortheir failure to rescind the sentence. Butnothing worked to soothe the frayed tem-pers of the public.

For the past three years, we the Indi-ans and the Pakistanis have been cele-brating Bhagat Singh’s birthday at thevery crossing where he was hanged. Wehave been lighting candles and garland-ing his life size photo at the site. We haverecalled the hanging of Ashfhaqullah,who went to the gallows with the Korandangling from his neck, by reciting oneof his couplets which reflected his patri-otic sentiments, not religious.

Kuchh aarzoo nahi hai, hai aarzoo toyeh

Rakh de koi zara si khak-e-watankafan mei

Translation: I have no desire, if at allthere is one,

It is that someone should place theearth of my country in the coffin.

The writer is a senior Indian journalist.

A hero of the land

border CrossingKuLdiP nAyAR

Remembering Bhagat Singh

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Page 11: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

COMMENT CTuesday, 26 March, 2013

11I hate books; they only teach us to

talk about things we know nothing

about. –Jean-Jacques Rousseau

SOMe five decades ago, Malcolm Xwrote in his autobiography, “Thickereach year in these ghettoes is theteenager I was-with the wrong kinds of

heroes, and the wrong kinds of influences.” Mal-colm X is a much celebrated Afro-American fig-ure as he personified the challenges facing theblack population living in the uS. His words de-lineate the true predicament of the black youth asto why they find themselves inextricably lured inthe web of crime till today. At the same time wemust be alive to the fact that the media myths, re-garding black population, have played a part toconvolute the common sense and positive think-ing of the people about blacks. For instance, thehype in recent years that all urban blacks are drugaddicts has been proved nothing more than a fal-lacy, and detached from facts on ground.

While blacks have made tremendous leapsover the years, some of their woes remain un-touched. According to the 2009 FBI Hate CrimeStatistics, crimes targeting the black natives in theuS were 71.5 percent of the overall hate crimescommitted, and 69.8 percent in 2010. It is essen-tial to discuss black issues today because they facemany of the same problems as they did in the past.Issues like the rise in black crime in the uS, anddiscrimination against blacks on the colour oftheir skin – the two of which are intertwined –have not quite interred with time.

uS being the White Man’s land, one mustbegin first with the onus on the white populationfor the problems facing the black people. It is be-lieved that it is the American common man’s faultthat “they let the ghettoes exist and that invariablyengender lethal criminals” (Malcolm X, 1965). Inthe decade of 1960’s, FBI made the observation,that every year there was a 10-12 percent rise incrime in the ghettoes of the black population. Andthe fact, that the rise in population of black ne-groes from 1965’s 22 million to today’s 42 million(uS Census Bureau 2012), only explains thebroader and more dangerous implication of blackcrime. In addition to the common layman’s faultin compounding the black issues, there is anequally potent evidence why the scourge of blackproblems hit the uS hardest. Antony Marx madea research on the absence of discriminatory laws,like Jim Crow and Apartheid, in Brazil whichboasts a sprawling black populace, like the uS orSouth Africa. He concluded that owing to the verypolitical and strategic concern of uniting thewhites in the wake of both Civil and Boer wars,this discrimination against blacks was an oppor-tunity, a means to an end.

In addition to the whites letting the ghettoesexist, American leaders are responsible for the dis-parate progress and development within the uS.The North-South gap. The reason behind the rap-idly populating northern ghettoes back in the dayin the uS was the exceedingly racial environmentin the south – as well as the crime of lynchingprevalent in these areas. Factors such as employ-ment, education and voting rights in the north wereobvious attractions for the blacks who aspired fora better life. Today, it is recorded that by the ageof 20, 21.4 percent of blacks will enter the prisonas compared to a meager 1.4 percent of whites.And the number of blacks in prisons is usuallyeclipsed from the voting turnout, black participa-

tion in local businesses, literacy rate and even thecrime statistics. Hence, an unfair representation oftheir numbers is the consequence. Consideringthese figures – and the discrimination that they en-tail – by merely ensuring the safety and securityfor all, in the south as in the north, the white mancould have done away with the impending dangerof intensification of northern black crime in the fu-ture. The deplorable kismet the blacks had to putup with can be attributed in large part to the north-south disparity within the uSA.

Thirdly, the violence and injustice againsttheir race has not fully left the memory of theblacks. After the year 2000, the uS internal mi-gratory trend has been southward. A surprisingchange with a rather dejecting cause. It is the dis-enfranchisement of blacks and the desire to re-deem their lost cultural link to the south thatexplains this demographic shift. The loss in iden-tity of the blacks can be ascribed to their 400years of oppression at the hands of white masters.In fact, the surname of Malcolm X, ‘Little’, isalso a scar on the African identity that once was-an attempt to dislodge the African identity fromblack slaves back in the day by attaching theslave master’s name with the slave in order tostrip him from all links to his roots. Blacks beingreally conscious of identity and honour retaliatedagainst this attempt at their acculturalisation andtherefore got involved in the crime world. I seethis altered migratory trend, and the escalatingcriminal tendency as manifestations of nothingbut a frustration at the loss of identity.

Malcolm X writes, “… the Southern Negro,facing the honestly snarling white man, rose up tobattle the white man for his freedom long beforeit happened in the north.” And this explains thelong history of black struggle to gain respect andrecognition in the sight of all – be it through vio-lence, or peaceful protest and political engage-ment. Blacks have come a long way regainingtheir lost identity, but with little success. This fail-ure and frustration at discrimination and hatredagainst one’s race, translates inevitably into acriminal mindset, and these destructive potentialsgain predominance in a population.

Where on one hand the American whites’culpability in Afro-American quandary is evi-dent, equally or more so is the indolence of theblacks. It is a famous jargon in the creative writ-ing discourse, that, a person must be discour-

aged if he can be. Blacks should have workedside by side with whites, without letting theracial bias impede their constructive potential.The blacks should have built ‘within themselvesa greater awareness that along with equal rightsthere had to be bearing of equal responsibilities’(Malcolm X). To have the will to educate one’smind and strive to proceed through peacefulmeans is a lot more rewarding than resorting toviolent sabotage to get one’s demands met.

This applies to Pakistan as much as it does toothers. And we have seen this in Martin LutherKing’s example. Following nonviolence, he gavethe nation hope. And it is this very ‘hope’ that iswanting when injustice is perpetrated. We see thathis struggle bore the fruits in the shape of BarackObama becoming the uS president through peace-ful elections. Whatever myths are associated withObama coming into power, the fact of blacks beingrespected more than they were in the past is selfevident. Yet, this newfound so-called respect andrecognition has failed to rescind the tribulationsfaced by the black population in its entirety.

Their grievances will only be resolved oncethey are addressed. The white and black ghettodwellers, and those living outside, need to ensurethat the problem of rising crime is curbed throughan enduring alliance. An effective system of corre-spondence with nearby police authorities, educa-tional system, health provision and other necessaryarrangements will help alleviate the crisis, espe-cially in the ghetto areas. Ebony, in March 1976,published an article that addressed this problemwith the idea of “micro level” and “macro level”solutions. Micro level remedies pertained to fami-lies taking responsibility of youth and the macrolevel solutions touched upon the need to ensure se-curity by taking effective administrative measures.

The responsibility of one’s condition is al-ways best shouldered by the people who are un-dergoing the ordeal, because if they have the bestquestions to ask about their condition, then thebest answers to those questions will also arisefrom the same population. More importantly,when the reality on ground will not be mocked atby the false hypes and flawed statistics, only thenthe real progress in respect of ‘the others’’ trou-bled status can be guaranteed.

The writer is an undergraduate student, andcan be reached at [email protected]

discrimination it is

Lawmakers orlawbreakers

DeMOCRATIC values are taking roots in Pakistan as itis evident from the successful completion of a demo-cratic government and by the role of media, judiciaryand civil society in the past few years that have con-

sistently kept an eye on issues of transparency and accountabilityand helped save democratic process from derailing. A number ofvalues vital for survival of democracy in true spirit have started toset in. Transparency and accountability of public representatives isan essential ingredient of western style of democracy that we fol-low. True to this spirit, one very positive development towards thisdirection is election Commission’s stance for adopting new kindof nomination forms chalked out in the light of Articles 62 and 63of the Constitution of Pakistan. The new nomination forms wouldbe helpful in sifting lawmakers from lawbreakers at the very firststep of entry into political contest. By questioning integrity of can-didates through information about such things as academic quali-fications, tax returns, loan default etc, it would indeed be helpfulin sensitising all the political parties including those who appear tooppose it, to the significance of transparency in establishing cred-ibility of candidates and parties themselves, and would have longterm effects on strengthening the role of lawmakers.

Accountability of lawmakers is considered a cornerstone whichserves to provide firm basis to democracy to sustain and survive,because the laws that they make for the public have to be respectedby themselves first. As the dictum goes “leaders lead by example”,it is more relevant in the case of democracy. until and unless peo-ple’s representative will set examples of clean records, they wouldnot be able to pursue the people they represent to abide by the lawsthey make. As we follow paradigm similar to Westminster style ofdemocracy we also need to follow the process of accountability ofpublic representatives. In Britain , there are numerous examples ofholding parliamentarians, cabinet members and even the prime min-ister accountable, sometimes on very small issues which in Pakistanmight be seen so little asto easily get away with.

The tradition andpractice of accountabilityhas to start with the firststep of fielding the rightcandidates and not merelyelectables, and sifting atthe time of filing of nomi-nation papers is an impor-tant step in this direction.You cannot have cleanwater if the source is notclean, so the electionCommission has taken thefirst step of cleansing atthe source. Political par-ties have all the reasons torejoice as they can now field candidates with cleaner background andit will be easier for them to shun the responsibility of many of theloan defaulters and non-tax paying party members whom it was oth-erwise hard to sift due to party loyalties or other obligations. Nowthe answer is simple if they don’t fulfill the criteria set by electionCommission, political parties may look for alternative candidates.

Taxation constitutes an essential part of national income whichin turn is used for providing services and facilities to the public.everyone with taxable income is required to pay the taxes. Whereas,unfortunately in Pakistan, recent studies showed that 70 percent oflawmakers did not file their tax returns. Most of the time when ourparliamentarians are questioned by media about filing tax returns,a very common reply is that “our taxes are deducted from thesalaries at the source”, whereas even for a salaried person filing taxreturn is mandatory by law, regardless of deductions at the source.

To be an active politician you simply can’t thrive on salaries;you have got to have a substantial source of income. Majority ofour politicians come from agricultural or industrialist backgrounds.Those with agricultural income try to get away by saying that agri-culture income does not fall in the tax net. I am afraid that’s notthe case, most of them give their lands on lease, called ‘theka’, toother people who cultivate the land and pay a fix amount on yearlybasis. Now the FBR needs to clarify whether ‘theka’ is categorisedas agricultural income or rental income as big landlords usuallyalso rent out equipment like thrashers, tractors, tube wells etc tothe cultivators who could not afford to buy them. When a personearns a certain amount of income, the income tax laws require himor her to submit a statement of wealth in which one has to show allthe movable and immovable wealth with reference to the previousyear to explain the sources and also reasons for gain or loss.

Parliamentarians may be thankful to former Prime MinisterShaukat Aziz as during his tenure they were successful in abolish-ing wealth tax which was mandatory to people having more thanone million rupees worth of movable and immovable wealth afterexcluding one residential property regardless of its cost. It was atax that targeted all wealthy people who were not paying any in-come tax because of exemption of agricultural income.

Our politicians usually complain that media grills only the politi-cians and never asks these questions from civil and military bureaucratsand big media magnates. This is no logic as to why politicians shouldnot be questioned or held accountable. In fact everyone should be heldaccountable. But again the drive has to come from the leaders, moreso from the lawmakers. People elect their representatives to protecttheir rights, not to set examples of anyone above the law in any respect.Lawmakers can hope to implement laws only if they abide by them.

SHAKEEL HAidER SAyyEd

FATimA zubAiR

Why are the blacks in the US still ‘the others’?

You can’t expect others to follow lawwhen you don’t follow it yourself

To be an activepolitician you simply

can’t thrive onsalaries; you have gotto have a substantial

source of income.

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Page 12: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

What lies behind us and what

lies before us are tiny matters

compared to what lies within

us. — William Morrow

ARTS

ATuesday, 26 March, 2013

12

hum dekhain gay

lazim hai ke hum bhi dekhain gay

woh din ke jis ka wadah hai

jo loh-e-azl pe likha hai

hum dekhain gay

jab zulm-o-sitam ke koh-e-garaan

ruii ki tarah urd jain gay

hum mehkumoon ke paun talay

yeh dharti dhard dhard dhardkay gi

aur ehl-e-hukum ke sar uper

jab bijli kard kard kardke gi

hum dekhain gay

jab arz-e-khuda ke kabay se

sab but uthwaaiy jain gay

hum ehl-e-safa mardood-e-haram

masnad pe bithaaiy jain gay

sab taaj uchalay jain gay

sab takht giraaiy jain gay

bas naam rahay ga allah ka

jo ghayab bhi hai hazir bhi

jo nazir bhi hai manzar bhi

uthay ga analhaq ka naara

jo main bhi hun aur tumbhi ho

aur raaj karay gi khalq-e-khuda

jo main bhi hun aur tum bhi ho

hum dekhain gay

lazim hai ke hum bhi dekhain gay

hum dekhain gay

we shall see

it is necessary that we shall also see

that day which has been promised

which is written with god’s ink

we shall see

when the mountains of cruelty and torture

will fly like pieces of cotton

under the feet of the governed

this earth will quake

and over the head of the ruler

when lightening will thunder

we shall see

when from god’s mecca

all the idols will be shattered

us people standing in the mosque

will be elevated to a higher platform

all the crowns will be tossed

all the thrones will be toppled

then only god’s name will remain

who is both absent and present

who is both the observer and the view itself

when the anthem of truth will be raised

who i am and you are as well

and the people of god will reign

who i am and you are as well

we shall see

it is necessary that we shall also see

we shall see

Styles surprisesSwift lookalikewith b’day wish

hOLLYWOOD actor Harry Styles

stunned a fan, Alice Cousins who

looks just like his ex-girlfriend

Taylor Swift, by sending her a birthday

card on Twitter. The card read: Hope

you have a really lovely day. Have fun.

It was Cousins’ 21st birthday. “You’ve

literally made my birthday day. Shaking

like a leaf,” tweeted Cousins. Fellow

fans were so jealous that they

bombarded her with abuse. One wrote

to Styles, “When it was my birthday, I

tried so damn hard for you to tweet

me”. nEwS dESK

The Croodssettles at top ofUS box office

ANIMATED movie “ The Croods,” the

story of a prehistoric family

seeking a new home, debuted at

the top of box office charts with $44.7

million in weekend ticket sales in the

United States and Canada. The 3D

family film from “ Shrek” and

“Madagascar” creator Dreamworks

Animation dethroned two-time

champion “Oz the Great and Powerful,”

which slipped to third place. The Walt

Disney Co prequel to “The Wizard of

Oz” earned $22 million during its third

weekend, according to studio estimates

released on Sunday. In between the

two family films, thriller “Olympus Has

Fallen” about a White House under

terrorist attack took in $30.5 million

from Friday through Sunday. “The

Croods” was produced by Dreamworks

Animation and distributed by 20th

Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.

“Olympus Has Fallen” was released by

privately held FilmDistrict. nEwS dESK

Attenborough incare home

BRITISH actor-filmmaker Richard

Attenborough, who is battling ill

health, has been moved into a

care home here. The 89-year-old is

wheelchair-bound after a 2008 fall, and

in 2012, he sold off the $18.4 million

home he shared here with his wife

Sheila Sim after deciding it was not

“practical” to keep the mansion. Sim

was moved to a care home after she

diagnosed with senile dementia, and

now Attenborough has joined her in the

facility, reports contactmusic.com. “The

family home has been sold and he has

been at a care home with his wife since

then,” their son Michael told Britain’s

Sunday Mirror. nEwS dESK

“Do not fear to be eccentricin opinion, for everyopinion now accepted wasonce eccentric.”

British philosopher,mathematician, historian, andsocial critic Bertrand Russellendures as one of the mostintellectually diverse andinfluential thinkers in modernhistory, his philosophy ofreligion in particular havingshaped the work of suchmodern atheism championsas Christopher Hitchens,Daniel Dennett, and RichardDawkins. From the thirdvolume of TheAutobiography of BertrandRussell: 1944-1969 comesthis remarkable micro-manifesto, entitled A LiberalDecalogue — a vision forresponsibilities of a teacher,in which Russell touches on anumber of recurring themesfrom pickings past — thepurpose of education, thevalue of uncertainty, theimportance of criticalthinking, the gift ofintelligent criticism, andmore. It originally appearedin the December 16, 1951,issue of The New YorkTimes Magazine, at the endof the article “The bestanswer to fanaticism:Liberalism.”

Perhaps the essence ofthe Liberal outlook could besummed up in a newdecalogue, not intended toreplace the old one but onlyto supplement it. The TenCommandments that, as ateacher, I should wish topromulgate, might be setforth as follows:

n Do not feel absolutelycertain of anything.

n Do not think it worthwhile to proceed byconcealing evidence, forthe evidence is sure tocome to light.

n Never try to discourage

thinking for you aresure to succeed.

n When you meet withopposition, even if itshould be from yourhusband or yourchildren, endeavor toovercome it by argumentand not by authority, fora victory dependentupon authority is unrealand illusory.

n Have no respect for theauthority of others, forthere are alwayscontrary authorities tobe found.

n Do not use power tosuppress opinions youthink pernicious, for ifyou do the opinions willsuppress you.

n Do not fear to be eccentricin opinion, for everyopinion now accepted wasonce eccentric.

n Find more pleasure inintelligent dissent than inpassive agreement, for, ifyou value intelligence asyou should, the formerimplies a deeperagreement than the latter.

n Be scrupulously truthful,even if the truth isinconvenient, for it ismore inconvenient whenyou try to conceal it.

n Do not feel envious ofthe happiness of thosewho live in a fool’sparadise, for only a foolwill think that it ishappiness. COuRTESy bP

oNe spring day in 1909, a littleboy found his mother’s maga-zine clipping — the portrait of aman bearing “the aureole of

sunny hair” — and asked her this wasGod. She chuckled with equal partsamazement and amusement, and got towriting the man in question a letter torecount the delightful incident — notonly because of its inherent charm, butbecause her son had intuited a sharedcultural sentiment: The man picturedwas Samuel Clemens, better known asMark Twain — one of the most reveredmen in all the land.

Over the course of his prolific career,Twain received countless letters from hisadoring readers and, occasionally, hiscritics. Two hundred of them, written ac-cording to the style of he era’s wonder-fully quaint epistolary etiquette, arecollected in Dear Mark Twain: Lettersfrom His Readers (public library) — amagnificent, remarkably researched bookby Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen,featuring adulation, criticism, and arange of audacious requests Clemens re-ceived between 1861 and his death in1910 from correspondents spanningschool children, businessmen, farmers,political activists, con artists, teachers,

and housewives. Most stirring of all,however, is the fan mail Twain received— a timeless testament to the soul-stir-ring power of earnest gratitude. A smallsampling:

On April 18, 1894, Twain heard from ayoung lawyer named Henry E. Barrett:Dear Sir: —

It seems that this world would notbe satisfying unless one person wereallowed to express gratitude andthanks to another. It has struck me aswrong that I should go on and not sayto you what I feel.

From my boyhood, when I was keptfrom play by my interest in “TomSawyer” and “Huck Finn,” till now, yourbooks and stories have given me moregenuine pleasure than those of any otherauthor. I think so often of the manypleasant hours you have given me andhave made up to me the lack some timesof pleasant companions. Mr. Clemens,please accept this in the spirit that it issent for the intention is good.

My wishes are that you may formany years continue to cheer the sorrow-ful and make burden bearing easier.

Yours Respectfully,Henry e. Barrett. COuRTESy bP

NEWS DESK

SHe may have received alukewarm reception frompublishers, but Patti Davishas been undeterred about

getting her new novel — centeredon a lesbian love story — out intothe world. Davis, the 60-year-olddaughter of former PresidentRonald Reagan, has self-publishedher new work, entitled Till HumanVoices Wake us, as an e-book. It iscurrently available online for $2.99.

On Amazon, the book descrip-tion: In the empty days after herson’s death, left alone in her grief byher husband, Isabelle Berendon fallsin love with the unlikeliest person inthe world: her sister-in-law.

Though some of Davis’ earlierworks have been based on her lifeand that of her famous family, shetold the New York Post that this new

book is entirely a work of fiction. “This is not me. None of it is au-

tobiographical,” she said. According to the Independent,

Davis had a hard time convincingpublishers to take on her new novel— so much so that she eventuallydecided to self-publish.

“Maybe this non-autobiograph-

ical novel was too much of a depar-ture for publishers to wrap theirheads around,” she said. “Most writ-ers have books they have laboredover for years and long to put outinto the world. ‘Till Human VoicesWake us’ is one of those books.”

Davis — who for many yearsstruggled with a drug addiction and in1994 infamously posed naked forPlayboy magazine — was dubbed the“black sheep” of the Reagan familywhen her father was president. In morerecent years, Davis has opened upabout being the rebellious child, ex-pressing regret that she had been quiteso defiant as a youth. “Decades later Iwould look into my father’s eyes andtry to reach past the murkiness ofAlzheimer’s with my words, my apol-ogy, hoping that in his heart he heardme and understood,” she wrote in aJanuary 2012 post for Town & Coun-try magazine, according to Politico.

POETICALLY SPEAKING

HUM DEKHAIN GAY Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Bertrand Russell’s10 commandmentsof teaching

Reagan’s daughter pens lesbian novel

Mark Twain’s fan mail

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Page 13: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

Read obituaries. They are just like

biographies, only shorter. They remind us

that interesting, successful people rarely lead

orderly, linear lives. — Charles Wheelan

13ARTSTuesday, 26 March, 2013

A

MUSHARRAF A FAROOQI #LetterFromAYoungCritic for

Tik-Tik, The Master of Time.

#Quote “I also have the

special ability of reading a

book in less than three days”.

RAZA RUMI The advent of spring always

reminds me of this line: “I

want to do with you what

spring does with cherry

trees.” #Neruda #poetry

MEHR TARARAward for the worst DJ

ever: The Butt of the

#IK jalsa. Would give my

LED to find out what

#SMQ had to say

($#&%@) about him.

Unplugged #PTI

FAYES T. KANTAWALAAli Sethi’s singing/song is all

kinds of amazing...makes

me sad I sound like a

whoopie cushion when I sing

SHAZAF FATIMAlemongrass tea without

sugar is very very lemony.

and quite karwa.

NOTABLE TWEETS

NEWS DESK

SINGeR BritneySpears hasintroduced her newboyfriend David

Lucado to her sons -Preston, 7, and Jayden, 6. The 31-year-old starteddating Lucadoafter callingoff her

engagement to JasonTrawick in January. She isserious about Lucado andwants him to know her kids. “Her family first made surethat Lucado is a good personbefore they let Spears getcloser to him,” femalefirstquoted a source as saying.“The boys think of Lucado

as a good friend. It was abig step, she’s very

excited,” the sourceadded. Following her splitfrom Trawick, thesinger was said to befocusing on her sons

who are from hermarriage to KevinFederline.

Spears is also busycreating new songsinspired byPreston andJayden, and hintedshe will release

them in the future.“I’m at the studiorecording a newsong for my boys.They are going tofreak out whenthey hear it. Soexcited,” Spearsposted on herFacebook page.

NEWS DESK

ACTReSS Kelly Brook has receiveda warning from boyfriend DannyCapriani’s ex-partner JasmineWaltz, that she will not be treated

good by him for long.According to Waltz, who hooked up

with Capriani for a night before he patchedup with Brook again, the footballer has atendency to treat women according to hismood, reports thesun.co.uk.

“He is the least likely guy I know tohave a proper relationship. I have experi-

enced it first-hand. One minute he wascrazy about me and then the next he wastrying to hook up with other girls,”Waltz said. “I don’t know Kelly, but Iwould warn her that Danny is not theman to be with if she is looking for along-term, committed partner,” sheadded. Waltz even went on to saythat she feels sad for Brook. “Kellyshould know that in my eyes, Dannyhas no way of holding down a seriousrelationship. I feel sorry for Kelly andam pretty sure he is the kind of animal shecannot tame,” she said.

Kutcher wants tokeep hisrelationship private

ACTOR Ashton Kutcher says he will doevery possible thing to keep his relationshipwith girlfriend Mila Kunis private. Thecouple started dating in July last year after

Kutcher’s six-year-long marriage to actress DemiMoore failed. Kutcher has now learned the impor-tance of not bringing his personal life under lime-light. “You know, I’ve learned the hard way howvaluable privacy is. And I’ve learned that there area lot of things in your life that really benefit frombeing private. And relationships are one of them,”he said. “I am going to do everything in my powerto have this relationship be private,” elle magazinequoted Kutcher as saying. Kutcher, 35, says peo-ple will continue guessing about his relationshipbut he will prefer privacy. “People will fill in theblanks however they want. There are some thingsthat are better left private. Someone once told me,‘If anyone wants to be rich and famous, let thembe rich first and see if they still want to be fa-mous’,” he said. nEwS dESK

Koirala to workwith brother onB’wood projects

NEWS DESK

“Baywatch” star Pamela An-derson has put her three-bed-room home here on the marketfor $7.7 million.

The actress has owned theproperty since 2000, and she hasspent a small fortune turning itinto an eco-home, adding sus-tainable teak decor and solarpanels, reports femalefirst.co.uk.If the house goes for the currentmarket price, Anderson willmake huge profit, as she had re-

portedly paid $1.8 million forthe place 13 years ago, accord-ing to property websiteRealeStalker.com.

The Malibu Colony prop-erty was designed by architectPhilip Vertoch in the late1950s. Anderson previously putthe place up for rent in 2011 for$75,000-a-month and sheplaced it on available for leasein 2012. Last week, Andersonposted photos of the home onher Twitter page in a bid tospeed up the sale.

NEWS DESK

MANISHA Koirala to work with brother

Siddhartha once she is back in India

Siddhartha Koirala, who is actress

Manisha Koirala’s younger brother, is

currently in New Jersey with the family to support

Manisha during her treatment for cancer. The

actress is in New York with her parents, while

Siddhartha and his wife and daughter Yamini are in

New Jersey.

Siddhartha, who is best known for his role in

critically acclaimed film Anwar, says that he will

work with Manisha on Bollywood projects once her

treatment is over and she is back in India.

“We will always be together. We will be working on

projects and will make films together once she is

back,” he said. They also plan to start a film

production unit at their academy in Nepal. “We are

planning to start a film production unit in Sushila

Arts Academy, Nepal (a cultural academy run by the

Koirala family), so the Academy will start making

films soon,” he informed.

Siddhartha has in the past co-produced Paisa Vasool

with Manisha, which also starred the actress. When

asked about how his sister is coping, he said that she

is recovering well. “It is not yet the correct time for

me to say anything as the treatment is still going on.

And frankly, I don’t want to talk about her illness. All

I will say at the moment is that she is recovering

well,” he said. The family is dealing with

her illness with a strong mind

and heart and they are taking

things as they come. “I really

have not taken time out to

contemplate and reflect

about what we are going

through at this moment.

We are just experiencing

it. When it is all over, I

will sit back and reflect

on it,” he added.

Pamela Anderson’s Malibu home on sale

Britney introducesboyfriend to sons

CAPRIANI’S EX-LOVERWARNS BROOK

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Page 14: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

INFOTAINMENT

ITuesday, 26 March, 2013

14The way is not in the

sky. The way is in

the heart. –Buddha

NEWS DESK

THe future of reality TVcould be kids who thinkthey've had past lives. ALos Angeles productioncompany is currently hold-

ing a nationwide casting call for childrenwho claim to have, or have had, past lifememories for a new reality series, "GhostInside My Child," scheduled to air on theBio Channel later this year.

A pilot episode of the series aired a fewmonths ago, with three kids who had gonethrough various steps of recovering mem-ories of their alleged past lives. Now, pro-ducers Joke Fincioen and Biagio Messina-- who are married to each other -- arelooking for other families with kids who,as the request states, "have inexplicablememories and experiences of another life."

"We were pregnant at the time whenthe idea first came to us," Fincioen toldThe Huffington Post. "We thought whatwould we do if this happened with ourdaughter? It really was a phenomenon. Wewanted to tell these parents' stories withouttrying to prove or disprove them."

Messina said the "my kid has a pastlife scenario" can't help but raise questions.

"I don't know what I'd do if my daugh-ter turned out to be Grandma Messina," hetold HuffPost. "What do you do? Ignore it?explore it? Hope it goes away?"

Fincioen and Messina have worked onother reality shows like "Beauty And TheGeek" and "VH1 Scream Queens," but theidea that small children can remember de-tails about a life they should know nothingabout fascinates both of them. "These kidsare going through something and we're try-

ing to figure it out," Messina told Huff-Post. "A kid will say something about theirlife and we research it to see if it pans out."

One case from the first show that stillhaunts them concerns James Leininger. Atthe age of two, Leininger reportedly startedhaving terrifying nightmares of his death.ultimately, the family came to believe thathe was the reincarnation of James Huston,a fighter pilot who died in World War II atIwo Jima. Amazingly, Leininger not onlyknew the name of Huston's ship withoutprompting -- the Natoma Bay -- but otherdetails as well, such as the names of hisshipmates. As part of the show, Fincioenand Messina arranged a meeting betweenLeininger and a member of Huston's fam-ily, a woman now in her 90s.

The woman felt a connection with thisyoung kid and, now, they hope to do sim-ilar bits of "closure" with the new crop ofpast life preteens, but only those who canpass a rigorous screening process. "Weneed to make sure the parents are of soundmind and can handle TV," Messina said,adding that he wants to eliminate storiesthat are fabricated or kids whose tales ofpast life seem obviously prepped. There isanother criteria to which the reincarnatedrugrats will have their alleged past livesexplored: access to documentation. "Itwould be difficult to find out if the kid wasan egyptian pharoah," Messina said.

Parapsychology researcher LoydAuerbach, who has helped the producerswith reincarnation research said there are

two major ways to tell if a child may havelegitimate memories of a past life.

"Children like these seem to exhibitadult-like behavior and use vocabulary andspeech patterns beyond their years," Auer-bach told HuffPost. "Also, look for state-ments like, 'I used to be...'" On the otherside, parents should make sure to analyzepossible sources of information that mayhave inspired a child's "past existence."

"Sometimes, kids pick up things fromwatching TV," he said. "Also, if a childclaims to be a dead grandparent, it's possi-ble they heard people talking about thedead relative or saw pictures."

Cases like Leininger's are rare, butAuerbach said that the original soul seemsto have died from a traumatic death 15months before the child's conception.

But since there have been no widelyaccepted scientific studies supporting theexistence of reincarnation, the casting calland proposed series is attracting the atten-tion of skeptic organizations like the JamesRandi Foundation, an organization thatworks to, among other things, expose para-normal and pseudoscientific frauds in themedia. Organization president D.J. Grothesaid that the show and the casting call isproblematic for a variety of reasons, themain one being that there is no compellingevidence for reincarnation. "unfortunately,people use anecdote and stories as proof ofthese supernatural claims, and this is notdissimilar to ghost stories, or accounts ofsupposedly accurate psychic readings peo-ple will tell," he told HuffPost by email.

He also has problems with the idea ofgoing to family members of deceased peo-ple and telling them that a kid just mightbe a dearly departed loved one.

Sun's activity to peak with'solar maximum' in 2013

Man charged withdrinking $100Kworth of old whiskey

Fifty-two bottles of well-aged whiskey

disappeared between his lips, police

said, and now it's time for a western

Pennsylvania man to settle up. John

Saunders, the former live-in caretaker

of a Pittsburgh-area mansion, faces

criminal charges for allegedly drinking

more than $100,000 worth of the

owner's whiskey. Owner Patricia Hill

found nine cases of whiskey hidden in

the walls and stairwell of the century-

old Georgian mansion built by coal

and coke industrialist J.P. Brennan

after she bought it in 2012. The Old

Farm Pure Rye Whiskey was produced

in the early 1900s by the nearby West

Overton Distilling Co.

"My guess is that Mr. Brennan ordered

10 cases . pre-Prohibition," said Hill,

a New Yorker who bought the house

to convert it into a bed-and-

breakfast. "I was told by his family

that family members used to greet

him at the door each day with a shot

of whiskey." Scottdale police told The

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that

Saunders drank dozens of bottles

whiskey valued at $102,400 by a New

York auction house. nEwS dESK

woman faces jail forstealing meatballs

A housekeeper at the U.S. Military

Academy could go to military prison

after she allegedly stole a frozen bag

of meatballs from a West Point, N.Y.

mess hall. In January, supervisors

caught civilian Estelle Casimir, 56,

toting a garbage bag in a dining hall

section she wasn't assigned to, The

Journal News reported. When she

revealed the stolen meatballs -- meant

for that night's dinner -- military police

arrested her on larceny and possession

of stolen property, both federal

charges. Casimir, from Newburgh, N.Y.,

pleaded not guilty on March 15 at her

arraignment, the Associated Press

reported. She maintains that she

"found the bag in a trash container"

and was on her way to throw them

out. Watson Services, the food services

company West Point uses, suspended

Casimir, pending the case's outcome.

Court papers say she's since been

looking for housekeeping work,

according to Journal News. The 56

year old will return to court in April. If

convicted, the maximum penalty is a

$1,000 fine and one year in a military

prison on each count. nEwS dESK

Babies shouldn't get solidfoods until 6 months old

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention found many mothers are feeding

babies solid foods earlier than the recommended

age of six months, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

recommends solid foods are introduced to infants

no earlier than six months of age. “Solid foods

were being started before 4 months in about half

of those kids,” said Dr. Deb Lonzer, a pediatrician

from the Cleveland Clinic, who did not participate in

the study. “And in about 10 percent of them, it was

actually being started in the first four weeks of life.”

CDC researchers questioned more than 1,300

mothers, and found 40 percent were introducing

solid foods before 4 months old. The top three

reasons for doing so included “My baby was old

enough;” “My baby seemed hungry,” and “I wanted

to feed my baby something in addition to breast

milk or formula.” “They get information from so

many sources, from friends, to relatives, to the

Internet, that they’re not exactly sure what to do,”

Lonzer said. “And they figure, “Hey I may as well

try some solid foods. Maybe the baby will sleep

better and be happier that way.”

The AAP recommends holding off on solid foods

until at least six months of age to be sure the baby

is developed enough to handle them.

Babies may have trouble swallowing solid food

before 6 months old, and researchers said

introducing solid foods any earlier could increase

the risk of some chronic diseases – as well as cut

short the benefits of breastfeeding.

Lonzer said she agrees with the AAP.

“Solid foods are going to be lower in the good

nutrition, and may be higher in calories,” she said.

“So there’s a chance we’re causing more obesity in

babies; it can cause allergies or eczema; there

may be a link to diabetes.” Lonzer said if you have

a fussy baby who never seems satisfied, don’t turn

to solid foods – call your pediatrician.

“So, if you have a baby who is under 6 months and

is taking in enormous quantities of breast milk or

formula or really seems unsatisfied with feeding or

who is fussy all of the time, it may have nothing to

do with feeding,” she added. “It may be a variety of

other behavioral or even medical issues.” nEwS dESK

NEWS DESK

The sun should roar back to lifesometime in 2013, producing its sec-ond activity peak in the last twoyears, scientists say. Our star hasbeen surprisingly quiet since unleash-ing a flurry of flares and other erup-tions toward the end of 2011. But thislull is likely the trough between twopeaks that together constitute "solarmaximum" for the sun's current 11-year activity cycle, researchers say.

"If you look back in history,many of the previous solar cyclesdon't have one hump, one maxi-mum, but in fact have two," solarphysicist C. Alex Young, of NASA'sGoddard Space Flight Center inGreenbelt, Md., said today (March22) during a NASA webcast called"Solar MAX Storm Warning: ef-fects on the Solar System."

"That's what we think is goingto happen," Young added. "So we'vereached one of those humps, and wethink that eventually activity willpick back up and we'll see anotherhump — a double-humped solarmaximum." Before the twin peaksscenario began to gain adherents,

many researchers had predicted thatsolar maximum for the currentcycle, known as Solar Cycle 24,would come this May. But givenhow quiet the sun is at the moment,the second hump will likely occurlater than that, and it could last into2014, scientists have said. nEwS dESK

reincarnated kids needed for reality show

WUHAN: David Beckham slips while kicking a ball during a visit to Wuhan zall football club. AGEnCiES

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SPORTS

STuesday, 26 March, 2013

15 Our backs are to the wall but there is no way in our dressing

room are we going to give up, that’s what test cricket is

about, that’s why it’s called test cricket – Graham Gooch

BENONI

AGEnCiES

LOSING the test series3-0 and the one-dayseries 3-2, the Pakistancricket team wouldundergo a post-mortemwhen they got home,

said captain Misbah-ul-Haq in Benoni onSunday. “We started poorly, especially intest matches, and although we improvedin the second test, we have made mistakesin our batting throughout the tour,”Misbah said. “We go back and reflect onthe performances and see what we need todo for the future.”

Despite fighting back twice to levelthe five-match one-day series, Pakistan’sbatting let them down badly in the fifthand final deciding match.

“It was a key moment when wedropped AB de Villiers (with his score onone), but it happens in cricket even thoughthose catches should stick at this level.

“But we can only blame ourselves forthe way we batted and that is what cost usthe game.”

While most of the batsmen got starts,

none of them went on to a big score asKamran Akmal topped the innings with48 runs.

“We should have made at least 250and it was poor shot selection andirresponsible batting,” he said afterPakistan were bowled out for 205 and

they lost the final deciding match by sixwickets.

There were some positives to takeback after their arduous tour, especiallythe team’s ability to bounce back twice inthe series.

“The team showed a lot of character

because even when they were down, theywere able to fight back and win matches,”he said.

“I think we can get some of thepositives from the tour, but South Africaare very tough opposition in their ownconditions.”

Mohammad Irfan, the tallest man incricket, had made a good impressionduring his debut test in South Africa butMisbah said he had a lot of work to do ifhe wanted to play all three formats of thegame.

“Irfan has to work hard on his fitnessif he wants to play test cricket, but the wayhe performed, especially in the ODIs, is ahuge factor for us.

“We need to look really carefully atplaying him in tests because with hisphysique, it could be dangerous for him.

“He is calm in pressure situations andin terms of temperament he has noproblems, it is only work on his fitnessthat needs to be done.

Misbah said his side were lookingforward to meeting South Africa again forthe Champions Trophy and they would gohome and start discussing the future andwork towards their next battle.

Postmortem time for Pakistan

JOHANNESBERG

AGEnCiES

The latest edition of the IndianPremier League (IPL) is fastapproaching and the more than 20South Africans who are on thebooks for the various teams willonce again be eager to test theirskills against some of the bestplayers in the world.

The IPL starts on April 3 whenthe Kolkata Knight Riders, withRyan McLaren and Jacques Kallisin their ranks, take on the DelhiDaredevils, Johan Botha, Roelofvan der Merwe, Gulam Bodi andMorne Morkel’s team.

The 76-match tournament endswith the final on May 26 inKolkata but much of the earlyinterest will focus on bizhubHighveld Lions’ all-rounder ChrisMorris, who was signed for animpressive $625 000 by theChennai Super Kings.

Morris was hardly knownoutside South Africa before hisbig-money signing and he will befeeling the pressure that comeswith his hefty price-tag but he willbe under the mentorship of coachStephen Fleming, one of the mostastute men in cricket, which canonly benefit Morris.

The vagaries of thecompetition means that only fourforeigners can play at any oneteam which means that more thanone South African might findthemselves doing little more thandragging themselves around Indiaattending net sessions in variouscities.

Highveld Lions’ wonderkidQuinton de Kock will hope that hedoes not fall into that category.

The 20-year-old De Kock hasbeen one of the stars of SouthAfrica’s RAM SLAM T20Challenge tournament this yearwith his record-breaking innings

of 126 against the Nashua MobileCape Cobras being a stand-outmoment.

The wicketkeeper/batsman waspicked up for just $20 000 by theSunrisers Hyderabad, a newfranchise this year, but he will havehis work cut out forcing his wayinto a team which has the likes ofDale Steyn, JP Duminy (if fit),Australia’s Clint McKay andCameron White, Sri Lanka’sKumar Sangakkara and West IndianDarren Sammy to choose from.

AB de Villiers will be plying histrade with the Royal ChallengersBangalore and he is one of theSouth Africans who have made areal impact in IPL cricket, few willforget the astonishing 23 runs hehammered off a Steyn over inBangalore last year.

De Villiers seems tailor madefor IPL cricket and his inventivebatting could well see him end asone of the tournament’s leading

run-scorers.One benefit of this year’s IPL

is that it will provide valuablematch practice for a number ofSouth Africans who will come intocontention for the Proteas squadwhich will compete in the 50-overICC Champions Trophy, whichstarts in england in June.

One player who could wellfurther his claims for a recall to theProteas squad is all-rounder AlbieMorkel. Morkel seems to havebecome something of a forgottenman with regards to nationalselection but the Proteas are stillcasting around for a finisher.

Morkel has shown during theRAM SLAM T20 that he is stillcapable of some fearsome hittinglate in an innings and he is a keypart of the Chennai Super Kings’squad. He is often entrusted withthe new ball despite a feeling thathis bowling is not quite up tointernational standard.

SA players ready for IPL battle

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Former cricket greats reacted withdisappointment Monday to Pakistan’stour losses in South Africa, urging thegame’s authorities to tackleunderlying problems by setting higherstandards.

Pakistan lost the five-match, one-day series 3-2 in Benoni on Sunday,following their 3-0 rout in the Tests.They managed to win the Twenty20series 1-0 only after the first matchwas washed out.

Pakistan’s perennial battingproblems haunted them once againand none of their batsmen managed topost a century in the one-day series.Skipper Misbah-ul Haq was theleading one-day series scorer with atotal 227.

“The overall tour wasdisappointing,” batting legend ZaheerAbbas was quoted by a foreign newsagency. “It’s now up to the PCB(Pakistan Cricket Board) to set higherstandards for the batsmen.”

Pakistan suffered a 211-run defeatin the first Test in Johannesburg

before fighting hard to go down byfour wickets in the second in CapeTown. They lost the third inCenturion by an innings and 18 runs.

Abbas said the poor Testperformance was reflected in the one-day matches.

“until our batsmen learn to scorein Tests, they will not be up tostandard in one-days,” he said.

“Batsmen should know that

scoring 30 or 40 will not keep them inthe team, so they must learn thatscoring the first 30 is the mostdifficult. If you do that then you mustgo on and play a big innings, whichon this tour they failed to do.”

But Abbas defended under-firecoach Dav Whatmore.

“Whatmore guided Pakistan tothe Asia Cup win and then the seriesagainst India, in India, so we have tokeep patient with him,” said Abbas, amember of the committee that pickedWhatmore as coach in March lastyear.

Former captain Rashid Latifcalled on the team management toanalyse the tour impartially to resolveunderlying problems.

“Players should know how to playin various formats,” said Latif, addingthat Misbah and senior batsmanYounis Khan were at key junctures intheir careers.

“I think the situation is alarmingfor both Misbah and Younis,” saidLatif. “Misbah has scored runs buttime is running out for both and theymust analyse their careers before the2015 World Cup.”

Pakistan’s performancesdisappoints every one

AB leaves clear

odI stamp

BENONI: Before this Pakistan one-dayseries, AB de Villiers reclaimed all theresponsibilities he had wanted to be rid offor the New Zealand series and he hasended the international summer havingfirmly stamped his authority on the ProteasODI side. It had been a confusing periodbefore the series with New Zealand whenDe Villiers gave up the keeping in order tocaptain, was then suspended and didn’tcaptain in a series South Africa lost.However, he took on all theseresponsibilities before this series. And theresult: he’s kept beautifully and has battedwith aplomb. As for his captaincy? Thatimproved throughout the series, but by hisown admission, needs a bit of work.There’s a lot of tinkering with field placingsand numerous bowling changes, whichwhile not bad, are something his teammatesare not quite in tune with - yet. AGEnCiES

Kirsten encouragedby series win

JOHANNESBuRG

AGEnCiES

South Africa’s five-match MomentumODI series win against Pakistan wasuseful preparation for the year ahead,which includes the ICC ChampionsTrophy, according to head coach GaryKirsten.“This was a good stepping stone for us interms of where we want to go,” Kirstensaid after the Proteas wrapped up a 3-2series victory in Benoni on Sunday.“I’ve been very encouraged by our

players that haven’t played much one-daycricket for us before, and they’ve shownus they’re capable of playing atinternational level.“It’s good to have competition for placesand it has created depth in our cricket.”Kirsten singled out Farhaan Behardien,who had only two ODI’s under his beltbefore the series, and David Miller, whohad been in and out of the side, and saidthey had made an impact.He was also encouraged by all-rounderRyan McLaren, who enjoyed a fantasticseries.“To have a sixth bowler in your team iscrucial and Farhaan Behardien had abowl and made an immediate difference,”Kirsten said.“You need a guy to take pace off the ball,who bowls wicket-to-wicket and isslightly different from the other seamers,and it is a big factor for us.”While Jacques Kallis would be availablefor the Champions Trophy, which will behosted by england and Wales in June,and other major ODI tournaments,Kirsten believed the veteran all-rounderwas of more value to the Test side and thefive-day format would remain hispriority. “It’s been important for us tolook for someone to step into Jacques’place and Ryan McLaren has done afantastic job. “We’ve given him a bit of arun and he’s proved he’s got the skills onthe bowling side.

SOUTH AFRICA’S 5-MATCHODI SERIES WIN AGAINSTPAKISTAN WAS USEFULPREPARATION FOR THEYEAR AHEAD, ESPECIALLY FOR THECHAMPIONS TROPHY

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SPORTS S

Tuesday, 26 March, 2013

16It very seldom works out like that as a

batter so it was nice to do the job again for

the team – Peter Fulton

AuCKLAND

AGEnCiES

ENGLAND were strugglingto avoid a series defeat inNew Zealand, after PeterFulton made history of hisown with hundreds in each

innings of the final Test.Fulton (110) followed his maiden

century three days ago at eden Park withan increasingly brutal display, including 14fours and five sixes in the Kiwis’ 241 forsix declared on the fourth afternoon.

His stand of 117 in 101 balls either sideof lunch with Brendon McCullum (67 notout) was an embarrassing passage of playfor england in which the short straightboundaries at this peculiar ground took arelentless hammering.

The tourists were left needing to batfour and a half sessions to rescue a thirdsuccessive draw - and in notional pursuit ofa world-record 481, with three still to gothey were 90 for four.

Captain Alastair Cook, on the back ofa rare first-innings failure, took it uponhimself to try to put things right on a pitchstill favouring the batsmen - but was goneby stumps after a painstaking 43 from 145balls.

There was no hiding place forengland’s bowlers on Sunday, MontyPanesar suffering in particular as NewZealand extended their lead in the six-hitting contest here to 16-1.

england set out with hopes of eitherbowling New Zealand out cheaply, oralternatively restricting the run rate.

Haplessly, they achieved neither asFulton and then McCullum made amockery of Sunday night’s stumble to eightfor three by the hosts.

Fulton and Dean Brownlie, who hadbatted out seven successive maidens onSunday, were soon operating at a verydifferent tempo.

The tall opener tucked into JamesAnderson and Stuart Broad from the outsetas england went full in search of elusiveswing and were regularly driven.

england’s misery was compounded

when Broad hatched a plan against Fulton,but saw a trademark flick off his pads putdown by Anderson at short midwicket.

Fulton escaped on 31, having alreadybrought up the 50 stand with a drive downthe ground for four off Anderson.

It was not until england switched toPanesar that a breakthrough came,Brownlie up the wicket in the slow left-armer’s first over but not quite gettingenough on his attempted hit over the topand very well-caught by Ian Bell at a deepand wide mid-on.

If that brought fleeting hope for thetourists it was a cruel illusion.

Fulton and McCullum went intooverdrive, the former breaking a successionof 27 dot balls from Panesar by passing his50 with a fierce drive down the ground forhis 10th four. He swept another boundaryoff the next ball, and celebratedimmediately with his first straight six - atthe start of five-over spell which costPanesar, and england, 52 runs.

Fulton completed his 162-ball hundredwith a straight six from the crease into thenorth stand off Broad in early afternoon.

There was minor respite at last when hepulled Steven Finn to long-on, butMcCullum inflicted a little more pain - andpassed his 50 in just 45 balls - before hewas satisfied.

New Zealand’s innings finally closedwith nine england fielders positioned onthe boundary, to both McCullum and BJWatling.

When the tourists began their laststand, the contrast was extreme - all themore so after Nick Compton was caughtbehind pushing forward at Tim Southee inthe second over.

The other conspicuous variable wasthat, as in the first innings, New Zealandwere able to swing the ball much more thantheir opposite numbers.

Wicketkeeper Watling missed a muchtougher chance to see off Cook for just asingle, diving low to his left off Southee,and it took the introduction of NeilWagner after tea to break the second-wicket stand when Jonathan Trott tried todrive the left-armer from round the wicket

and edged behind.Cook and Bell retreated to near

strokeless defiance, the captain’s crawlattended by a partner who took 19 balls tobreak his duck and then added just six moreruns from another 70 deliveries.

For england, though, the wicketscolumn was the only one that still mattered.When Cook edged a drive at part-time off-spinner Kane Williamson for a sharp catch atsecond slip by Brownlie, and thennightwatchman Finn went in similar fashionin the final over, that too was none too clever.

FULTON MAKES HISTORY AS KIWIS TAKE CONTROLEngland won the toss and chose to bowl

new zealand first innings (443)

England first innings (204)

new zealand second innings (overnight 35-3)

P. Fulton c Root b Finn 110

H. Rutherford c bell b broad 0

K. williamson b Anderson 1

R. Taylor lbw b broad 3

d. brownlie c bell b Panesar 28

b. mcCullum not out 67

bj watling c Cook b Panesar 18

Extras (lb-10, b-4) 14

Total: (for six wickets dec. 57.2 overs) 241

Fall of wickets: 1-4 2-5 3-8 4-82 5-199 6-241

did not bat: T. Southee, b. martin, n. wagner, T. boult

bowling: Anderson 17-6-59-1, broad 17-5-54-2, Finn 13-1-57-1,

Panesar 9.2-4-53-2, Trott 1-0-4-0

Engalnd second innings

A. Cook c brownlie b williamson 43

n. Compton c watling b Southee 2

j. Trott c watling b wagner 37

i. bell not out 8

S. Finn c Southee b williamson 0

Total: (for four wickets, 52.1 overs) 90

Fall of wickets: 1-2 2-60 3-90 4-90

bowling: boult 11-5-20-0, Southee 10-3-24-1, martin 17-6-35-0,

wagner 8-6-6-1, williamson 6.1-4-5-2

Previous results:

First test - match drawn

Second test - match drawn

SCOREbOARd

BENONI

AGEnCiES

even in the final match of the tour,Pakistan’s concern was the same as intheir first match: the batting was not upto standard. This time it was not thefault of the pitch or the bowlers. Despitethe inconsistent bounce, the return ofMorne Morkel, the fire of Dale Steyn,the discipline of Lonwabo Tsotsobe andthe committed fielding of theiropposition, Pakistan’s line-up stillconspired to entangle themselves.

Mohammad Hafeez and ImranFarhat fell to a plan but everyone elsefrom Kamran Akmal to the tail causedtheir own downfall. either they pickedout fielders, like Shahid Afridi did, orthey chanced an arm like Akmal andShoaib Malik.

“That’s the one area which really letus down,” Misbah-ul-Haq said. “Whenyou look at the scorecard, everybodygot starts like 20s or 30s but no-oneconverted and made that into 70s or 80s.If the six main batsmen keep doing that,the team can’t do well. The way westarted, we felt 250 would have been agood total but the shot selection was notgood and there were a lot ofirresponsible shots. We can only blameourselves. The way we batted wasunacceptable.”

For a while, especially during theTest series, Misbah explained thebatting collapses by making referenceto the conditions. He said Pakistan’sline-up had not been exposed to paceand bounce in a while and that theyneeded a longer period of adjustment.He was not simply making excuses.

Pakistan had not faced a challengeas tough as South African pitches sincethey played in england in 2010 so hemade a valid point. They had only onetour match before starting the Testseries, which obviously was not enough,and they made noticeableimprovements as that went on.

The same strips are not as tough aprospect as the Test matches but withtwo new balls and late-season surfaces

which can go up and down, they stillrequire some analysing before abatsman settled in. That’s why in thefinal throes of the tour, Misbah stillharked back to the difficulties of“adjusting to conditions, especially forthe batsmen.”

It was a rare occurrence whensomeone gave themselves time to assessand play themselves in. Misbah himselfdid it twice, Kamran showed glimpses,Younis Khan tried and mostly failed andHafeez could not even try because thebowlers had his number.

Younis, and Hafeez in the openingrole are two points of debate that cameup throughout the series. Indications arethat Younis, despite his 7,000 one-dayruns, will be forced to make way for ayounger batsman like Asad Shafiq andmay have played his last match incoloured clothing for Pakistan.

Similarly talk is rife that Hafeezwill be asked to bat at No. 3 and morewill be invested in Nasir Jamshed topartner Imran Farhat or Kamran Akmal

at the top. Misbah would not be drawnon whether those are two of the changesPakistan would consider ahead of theChampions Trophy but he hintedsomething would have to give beforethen. “We will have to go and look atconditions, which teams we are going toplay, all of those things and then seewhat we need for the future.”

One thing that does not needtampering with, according to Misbah, isthe team’s culture. Despite their returnof just three wins from nine matchesacross all formats on the tour, Misbahcould draw some positives from theouting. “We started poorly in the Testsbut we tried to come back. We mademistakes like we did today, especially inbatting but the team showed somecharacter.

“They showed that even when theyare down they can fight back so overallthere were some positives. In SouthAfrican conditions, with such a toughopposition, the team did well especiallyin T20s and ODIs.”

Fragile, spineless batting YOUNIS KHAN’S PLACEIN THE ONE-DAY SIDE ISCOMING UNDERINCREASING SCRUTINY

NEW DELHI

AGEnCiES

Shane Watson has conceded that he risksbeing dropped unless he can find a way tostart scoring big runs again, after yet anotherdisappointing series with the bat. Watson,who was the acting captain in the final Testin Delhi, managed only 99 runs at 16.50during the Indian tour. This continued along, unproductive batting stretch, where inthe past two years he has made 627 Test runsat 24.11, and has not posted a century.

His lack of runs was even morenoticeable during this series because he hadchosen not to bowl in an effort to stay fit andstring together as much cricket as possibleafter an injury-plagued couple of seasons.Before the series, the captain, MichaelClarke, said that as a specialist batsman,Watson would face competition from amuch larger pool of players for a place in theteam, as compared to when he plays as anallrounder.

“There is no doubt that I need to scoreruns,” Watson said at the end of the Indiantour. “As a batsman who’s batting in the topfour at the moment, I need to score runs.unfortunately, during this series I’ve scorednowhere near the [amount of] runs that I’vewanted to, to be able to contribute to theteam’s performance.

“There’s no doubt cricket’s aperformance-based game. If I’m not scoringruns or taking wickets, then you can’t expectto be picked. There are no secrets about it.You can’t hide behind anything, apart fromyour performance. In this series I’ve notperformed anywhere near where I’vewanted to. I’m looking forward to being ableto continue to play and hopefully get somecontinuity with my game over the next fewmonths, and be in some good touch whenthe selectors announce the Ashes squad.”

Watson’s case for being part of the XIfor the first Ashes Test will be strengthenedby the fact that he is expected to be bowlingagain by then, and his medium-pace has ahabit of providing breakthroughs at

important times for the Australians. Butbowling has also generally been responsiblefor the many injuries that have preventedhim from playing even half the amount ofTests he could have.

He missed all of the 2011-12 homesummer of Tests due to calf and hamstringproblems, and played only half ofAustralia’s home Tests in 2012-13, againdue to a calf injury. However, Watsonintends to slowly start building up hisbowling workload during the second half ofthe IPL, and hopes to be in a position tobowl unrestricted during the Ashes, whichstarts in July.

“One thing I have realised is how muchI do miss bowling, and it has been a planover the last two or three months to get mybody to a position where I can get back intobowling again, and hopefully hold togetherfor the cricket we have coming up,” Watsonsaid. “There is no doubt coming here as aspecialist batsman has not worked outanywhere near where I wanted it to.

“It didn’t work in that regard, but in theend I am an allrounder, I love being anallrounder. At times it has been hard not tobowl knowing what I can contribute to thegame. I know I won’t always be able to scoreruns or take wickets, but if I’m an allrounder,I’ve got more [of a] chance to contribute tothe team’s performance and success. I haveto stay on top of my body so that I can playthe amount of cricket I want to.”

Watson admits battingform a concern

SHANE WATSONENDURED A LEAN SERIESIN INDIA BY HISSTANDARDS © BCCI

LHR 26-03-2013_Layout 1 3/26/2013 3:15 AM Page 17

Page 17: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

SPORTSS

Tuesday, 26 March, 2013

17 Many people like me, but not

everybody – Mario Balotelli

Lucky Star Club outplay Prince ClubLAHORE: Lucy Star Club Has outplayedprince club by 3 wickets in the 28th M.Yaseen Akhtar Memorial CricketTournament played at LCCA ground.SCOReS: Prince Cub (101) all out in 19.2Overs. Mobashir Yaqoob 11, Siddiq Khan16, Muhammad Mushtaq 16, SameerAkram 14, Sadam-ul-Haq 15. MuhammadBilal 3/12, Jehanzaib 2/7, Shani 2/18,Muhammad Tanzeem 1/26, Naeem ulHaq 1/18. Lucky Stars Club (102 /7). NomanIshaque 29, Muhammad Tanzeem 10,Muhammad Aziz 19. Saeed Khan 2/26,Siddiq Khan 2/27, Sadam ul Haq 2/14,Sameer Akram 1/14. STAFF REPORT

Bata fC & Usmaniawin in districtfootballLAHORE: Bata F.C and usmania F.Cbreezed into the semi finals of theLahore district football championshipafter registering victories in theirrespective quarter final ties here onFriday at Model Town and Faisal TownFootball grounds.Bata eliminated universal Cargo F.C 8-2. From winners Zahid ul Islam, usmanMukhtar, Mudasar Mukhtar struck twogoals each while Anwer Sohail & umerMukhtar produced one apiece from thelosing side.usmania scored hard earned 1-0 winover Real Lahore with Hassan scoringthe lone goal of the match in the18th minute. STAFF REPORT

wapda win national judo titleLAHORE: Wapda team retained thetitle of the National judo championshipsecuring five gold and four silvermedals at Peshawar on Monday.Wapda players enjoyed superioty bygathering 115 points by demonstratingall time performance andtechniques.,said the information madeavailable here.Army took the second place with 112points with four gold and similarnumber of silver medals and two bronzemedals.Navy gained the third placehaving won one gold and three bronzemedals to muster 42 points in the eventorganized by Pakistan Judo Federationand Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa.In all 110 players with 24 technicalofficials belonging to eleven teamsincludingKhyber Pakhtunkhwa , Punjab,Balochistan, FATA, Islamabad, Army,Wapda, Navy HeC and AJK participatedin the competition in which bouts wereheld in -50, -55, -60, -66, -73, -81, -90, -100, +100 Kg and Open Weightcategories.Muhammad Zakria, Director General,Iranian Consulate in Pakistan, Peshawaralong with Senator Haji Ghulam Aliwere the chief guests on the occasionand gave away the prizes. PJF alsoprovided international standard judomats to affiliated provinces for thefurther uplift of the game. STAFF REPORT

fatima XI win Pak day womenhockey matchLAHORE: Fatima Jinnah XI outplayedBegum Rahna Liaqat Ali Khan XI 3-1 inan exhibition match which was organizedas a part of Pakistan day celebrations hereon Monday at the outer ground of nationalhockey.Asma Ashraf, Amna Ghaffar and NimraAfzal shared one goal apiece fromwinners while Amna Mir scored the onlygoal of the losing side as Fatima Jinnah XItook 1-0 lead at break.Punjab Women hockey associationorganized the match. STAFF REPORT

djokovic overpowersSomdev in Miami

MIAMI

AGEnCiES

NOVAK Djokovic madeswift progress throughto the fourth round ofthe Sony Open inMiami after

dispatching Somdev Devvarman forthe loss of six games.

Djokovic, who started the year byretaining his Australian Open crownin Melbourne, was too strong for theIndian, who did not possess the toolsto trouble the world number one.

Djokovic broke in the openinggame and again for 5-2 beforeclaiming the opening set.

Devvarman refused to throw inthe towel but he was powerless toprevent Djokovic from claiming afurther break in the second on his wayto a 6-2 6-4 win in 69 minutes.

The Serbian has lost just onematch in 2013, to Juan Martin DelPotro in Indian Wells, and he willlook to maintain that impressivestatistic against Tommy Haas in thelast 16.

Veteran German Haas, seeded 15,on Sunday edged out AlexandrDolgopolov 6-3 6-2. David Ferrer hadfew alarms in advancing, beatingItalian Fabio Fognini 6-1 7-5, and thethird seed will next meet Japanese KeiNishikori.

Nishikori took advantage ofopponent Xavier Malisse strugglingwith his string tension as he movedthrough 6-2 7-5.

Seventh seed Janko Tipsarevicprogressed after gutsing out a three-set win over big-serving SouthAfrican Kevin Anderson.

Anderson claimed the opener butthe match drifted firmly inTipsarevic’s direction when he wonthe second on a tie-break and he ran

through the decider to go through 4-67-6 (7/5) 6-0.

In the other completed third-round

clash, 11th-seeded Frenchman GillesSimon beat Grega Zemlja 6-4 6-4. Hewill play Tipsarevic next.

Second phase ofnational U-16 hockeycamp beginsLAHORE: Camp commandant ofNational u16 hockey camp, formerOlympian Tahir Zaman said on Mondaythat 5-a-side hockey is a new experiencefor home players and they are showingrapid progress in the fastest version ofhockey being played on short playingfield.“It is going to be a good experience forour side to take part in the 5-a-side YouthCup in Singapore from April 4-7 and weare confident that we will be getting goodresults in the event,” he said here after atraining session of the second phase of thecamp along with coach, former OlympianRehan Butt.He said this format of hockey in whichthree halves of play will be played witheach session of 12 minutes, playersrequire to achieve unlimited stamina andmental toughness to cope with thepressure of high-pace game.The first phase of training was held atSialkot and thirty players attended and forthe second phase 16 have been retainedfrom which a final up of ten players willbe selected for the voyage of Singapore.Tahir Zaman said they are confusing onimproving the attaching and defensiveskills of the players and this objective isbeing achieved through trial matches.“It (practice matches) is the best way togage the individual talent of every playerfor picking up a talented combination,” hesaid adding “ through this format of thegame we will be able to groom qualityplayers for our junior and senior hockeyteams because they will be more agile andfit, both mentally and physically , todeliver to best of their abilities.”Coach, Rehan Butt said they will beselecting the team on merit so that everydeserving player may get his due place inthe side.“It is thrilling version of high pacedhockey and only those players matchinghighest standards of mental and physicalfitness will be selected,” he added.He said the tournament demands highestfitness level of players as the team will beplaying two matches in a day. “ I think it isthe best way to groom our next generationof hockey by imparting them latestcoaching points. STAFF REPORT

SHARAPOVA HOLDS ON TO BEAT VESNINAMIAMI: Third seed

Maria Sharapova

ousted fellow Russian

Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-2

despite facing nine

break points at the

Sony Open in Miami

on Sunday.

Sharapova will meet

Klara Zakopalova in

the fourth round

following her 6-2 7-6

(7/4) win over Maria

Kirilenko. Sixth seed

Angelique Kerber and

11th seed Nadia

Petrova went out,

however. Kerber was

thrashed 6-4 6-0 by

Sorana Cirstea while

Petrova lost 7-6 (9/7)

6-4 to Jelena

Jankovic. Cirstea, who

will face Jankovic in

the fourth round,

said: “I didn’t have

any expectations

coming into this

tournament because I’ve never played that well in Miami. “But I’ve

been fighting the best I could and working my way through every

single match, and it’s working. When you work so hard on everything,

it’s nice to see the results coming.” Eighth seed Sara Errani breezed

past Simona Halep 6-1 6-0 to secure a last-16 meeting with 12th seed

Ana Ivanovic, who overcame two-time major winner Svetlana

Kuznetsova 6-3 6-3. Roberta Vinci, seeded 15, battled from a set

down to advance with a 5-7 6-4 6-4 triumph over Carla Suarez-

Navarro. The Italian will take on Alize Cornet in round four after the

French 32nd seed toppled Lauren Davis 2-6 6-3 6-2. AGENCIES

LHR 26-03-2013_Layout 1 3/26/2013 3:16 AM Page 18

Page 18: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

SPORTS STuesday, 26 March, 2013

18The day I signed my contract with Liverpool, that’s one day I

will never forget because Liverpool was my favourite team when

I was younger and it was a dream come true – Sami Hyypia

wAtCh It LIve

ESPNWorld Cup Qualifiers: KoreaRepublic vs. Qatar4:25 PM

STAR SPORTSWorld Cup Qualifiers: Jordan vs. Japan 07:25 PM

Pak to host West Asia Baseball Cup in OctLAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Pakistan will host the 11th edition of WestAsia Baseball Cup in October at Lahorewith a number of foreign countries takingpart. This was stated by President,Pakistan Federation Baseball, ShaukatJaved at a news conference here onMonday after presiding over a generalcouncil meeting of the body attended byall the affiliated units of PFBB, barringPakistan Army. Also present wasSecretary, PFBB.

He said invitations have beenextended to a number of countries andthey are confident that that they willconfirm their participation in due courseof time. “We organized the same event atLahore in which Afghanistan, Sri Lankaand Iran participated alongside the hostsPakistan,” he said .

PFBB President said the meeting took

important decisions for the further upliftof the game by fixing the dates of anumber of national level events andapproving the participation of Pak teamsin the international events abroad. He saidthe house granted affiliation to Highereducation Commission.

Shaukat Javed said a majoramendment was made in the PFBBconstitution and voting rights of the its allaffiliated departments were withdrawnand only provinces will be eligible to havevoting rights in the elections of the body.

He said the amendment was made inorder to keep the federation away from thepressure of Pakistan Sports Board not tointerference in the affairs and elections ofPFBB.

“We are taking every measures tobring our constitution in line with theconstitution of International OlympicCommittee to fully follow the charter ofIOC.

PFBB chief said their affiliated units,Army, Wapda and HeC praised thedecision of amending the constitution.

He said inter departmental baseballchampionship will commence here fromTuesday at Punjab stadium. “Thecompetition focuses at promoting baseballamong departments.” Shaukat Javed saidthe national championship will be held atLahore with Punjab Group of Collegessponsoring the event. “The event will helpin identifying thirty to forty outstandingplayers to attend a training camp to selectPakistan team to take part in the West Asiabaseball championship”, he asserted.

He said Games ruling body, theinternational baseball federation hasoffered PFBB to organize the first Islamicwomen baseball championship inDecember to give fresh boost to theongoing efforts for developing baseballamong at international level.

“ It is a new concept and we will bepaying attention to organize the event byinviting female teams from all the Islamiccountries across the globe “,he said.

Two matchesdecided in nationalveteran CupLAHORE: Lahore Whites imposedmassive 9-wicket defeat over SargodhaVeteran and Chaudhary Sports beatLahore Shaheen by 72 runs as twomatches were decided in National Veterancricket cup here on Monday.At Race Course Park Cricket Ground,Sargodha Veteran batted first reached183/7 in 30 overs. Muhammad Nawaz46, Majeed Shani 44, MuhammadHafeez 20 & Ashraf Bashir 16 runs.Lahore Whites bowling Javeed Hayat2/16, Mohtasham Rasheed 2/28, AsifKarmani 1/16 & Asim Sheikh 1/33wickets. In reply Lahore Whitesanswered with 184/1 in 17.4 overs.Former Captain Pakistan Cricketcaptain, Saleem Malik 88 not out andMohtasham Rasheed 66 led their side tosuccess. Sargodha Veteran bowlingMuhammad Nawaz 1/38 wickets. JaveedAshraf and Qaisar Waheed were theumpires and Abdul Hameed was thescorer.At the Race Course Park CricketGround-II. Chaudhary Sports posted262/6 in 30 overs. Babar Butt top scoredwith polished 108 followed by ShahidAli 78, Abid Sheikh 23& Raza Khan 22runs. Lahore Shaheen bowlingMuhammad Javeed 2/29, Amir Rizwan1/33, Muhammad Anees 1/35 &Muhammad Irshad 1/42 wickets. Inreply Lahore Shaheen were dismissed at190 all out in 29.4 overs. Malik Javeed38, Agha Sohail Zafar 35, MuhammadJaveed 26 & Amir Rizwan 28 runs notout, Chaudhary Sports bowlingMuhammad Khan 3/21, Wasi Shah,3/30, Chaudhary Shafqat Hussain 2/25,Shahid Ali 1/17 & Naseer ul hassan 1/31wickets. Masood Khan and Ijaz Ahmadstood as umpires & Azhar Hussain wasthe scorer. STAFF REPORT

Model Town greens win LAHORE: Model Town Greens won by96 runs in the Nazar Mohammad CricketTournament match here at the ModelTown Ground on Monday. Scores: Model Town Greens 236 for eight.Weahab Dar 65, Kamran Younus 64,Danial Sheikh 32, Lukman Butt 24.Mohammad Imran 52 for two. Khurrumthree for 43. Lahore Club all out at 140. rauf Wayn 47,usman Liaqat 14, Akbar Ali four for29,Hasan Dar, Kamran Younus andAamer Hayat shared one wicket each.STAFF REPORT

Molinari back in theswing of thingsKIALA LUMPUR: edoardo Molinaribelieves his new swing is only at 30 percent capacity despite finishing second inthe weather-shortened MaybankMalaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.Molinari switched coaches in Decemberafter missing three months following wristsurgery and missed the cut in his first fivetournaments this season.But the Italian found form in swelteringconditions in Malaysia, carding a closinground of 67 to finish 12 under par and justone behind winner Kiradech Aphibarnratof Thailand, in an event reduced to 54holes after daily delays due tothunderstorms.“Felt so good to be in contention againafter 18 months,” Molinari wrote onTwitter. “New swing is only 30 per cent ofwhere I want it to be but I’ve never hit theball so well.”The 32-year-old has not won on theeuropean Tour since the second of hisvictories in 2010, the Johnnie WalkerChampionship at Gleneagles, helpedpersuade european captain ColinMontgomerie to name him as a wild cardfor the Ryder Cup that year alongsidebrother Francesco.But teaming up with Sean Foley, who alsocoaches the likes of Tiger Woods andJustin Rose, looks to have paid dividends.“It’s mixed emotions because I’m veryhappy to have a good week for the firsttime in a long time,” Molinari added. “Theswing changes are starting to pay offwhich is surprising because I thought itwould take a lot longer, but I’mdisappointed because I had a lot ofchances on the back nine.“The 18th is only the second fairway Imissed all day which is verydisappointing. I felt if I birdied the last Imight have won outright because it puts alot of pressure on the guy coming upbehind.” Aphibarnrat handled thatpressure superbly, returning to the 16thfairway after a two-hour storm delay witha one-shot lead, only to promptly hit hisapproach to three feet for a birdie and thensave par from 12ft on the next.That allowed the 23-year-old formerjunior world champion the luxury oftaking six on the 634-yard 18th tocomplete a closing 70, sealing a wire-to-wire victory and the first prize of£303,000. AGEnCiES

KuALA LuMpuR

AGEnCiES

KIRADeCHAphibarnratbelieves his ‘birth’on the Asian Tourhas made him thewinner he has

always wanted to be following his win atthe Maybank Malaysian Open.

Despite having to battle the elementsand a thyroid disease, the 23-year-oldThai showed he can match up against thebest in the world when he outplayed thelikes of Major winners such as SouthAfrica’s Charl Schwartzel and Ireland’sPadraig Harrington as well as Ryder Cupstar edoardo Molinari of Italy to lift theSeagram Trophy.

With his winner’s prize cheque ofuS$458,330, Kiradech propelled to thetop of the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit-a position where he is determined to bein when the season comes to a close atthe end of the year.

“It’s the Tour (Asian Tour) where Iwas born. I’m 24 this year and I’ve gotanother 20 years to play. I’ll try to winas much as I can. I’ve three Tours to playon now (Asian Tour, Japan Tour,european Tour) and my focus will be towin the Asian Tour Order of Merit,” saidKiradech

Dubbed Asia’s John Daly due to hisphysique and style of play, Kiradech has

raised the bar higher and is setting hissights on joining the exclusive Majorwinner’s club, much like his namesake.

“I’ll try to win a Major event. Icannot say when it is but I’ll try my best.I just play for fun. I don’t have anyroutine. I’m happy with the name, JohnDaly of Asia. He won a Major event andI’m proud someone has called me that,”said Kiradech.

Kiradech’s early season success hasseen him notched two top-five finishesand a win in only three starts on theregion’s premier Tour, which iscelebrating its 10 season in 2013.

The Thai will also be making hismaiden appearance at The Open

Championship after he won theInternational Final Qualifying - Asia inThailand earlier this month Kiradech’squick rise since his amateur days wherehe was crowned World Junior Championon two occasions can be credited to theunity and close bond he shares with hisfellow compatriots.

“The Thai pro golfers, we stay likefamily. Boonchu Ruangkit, ThawornWiratchant, Prom Meesawat, andThongchai Jaidee, they all providevaluable advice to the youngergeneration,” said Kiradech.

“Boonchu and Thongchai teach mea lot and have always stressed not to puttoo much pressure on myself.

Kiradech comes aliveon the Asian Tour

SEpANG

AGEnCiES

Paul Di Resta has drawn a line througha wretched weekend following aMalaysian Grand Prix that proved to beof “extreme disappointment” for ForceIndia. Despite possessing a quick car tostart this season as the team haveundoubtedly made progress since lastyear, Di Resta’s woes began inqualifying on Saturday when he wascaught out by the weather. Starting from15th, the conditions again played a partearly in the race as teams switched fromwet to dry tyres, with Force India optingto stack their cars. Team-mate AdrianSutil, however, suffered a problem thatcost Di Resta behind him 23 seconds,dropping him to 18th. But the 26-year-old powered his way back through the

field, including passing Sutil, and wasrunning 11th when an issue with thefront-left wheel nut effectively ended hisrace at the second stop.

A few laps later Sutil retired with thesame problem, ensuring the team leftKuala Lumpur empty handed when theyshould have had both cars in the top 10given their pace. “The wheel nut issuewas something that did not show up allweekend, but it hurt us quite badly,” DiResta said to Press Association Sport.

“We did a whole winter’s testingwith the new nut and nothing showed up,so why here? Maybe the heat. I guess thedesign office is going to be busy now.

“I was probably looking at seventhplace, without the first stop in which Ilost all that time, so what happened ispretty frustrating given how quick wewere over the weekend.

“At least wheel nuts can be fixed forChina whereas performance can’t be fixedthat quickly, and performance was a bighighlight of what we achieved over theweekend. “All I can do now is put a strokethrough the weekend, cross it off, but withthe positive we showed what we could dowith our performance in the race.” Just aweek after the team’s best points finish inthe opening grand prix in Australia, withSutil seventh and Di Resta eighth, to leaveMalaysia with nothing was a bitter blowfor team principal Vijay Mallya. “It wasreally looking good until the wheel nutfailed, and this is the new wheel nut wehave on the car for 2013,” Mallya toldPress Association Sport. “It is something,with all the delicate equipment on board aFormula One car you would not expect anotherwise robust part like a wheel nut tocollapse on you.

Di Resta keen to putSepang woes behind

LHR 26-03-2013_Layout 1 3/26/2013 3:16 AM Page 19

Page 19: E-paper PakistanToday 26th March, 2013

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

Tuesday, 26 March, 2013

ISLAMABAD: Policewomen lift a

Pakistan People’s Party supporter

following a clash between different

factions of the party outside the Election

Commission office on Monday. OnLinE

ISLAMABAD

SHAiQ HuSSAin

US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry has soughtPakistan’s assistancefor accelerating the

‘sluggish’ Afghan reconcilia-tion process, asking for Islam-abad’s role in bringing theAfghan Taliban to the table ofnegotiations with Americanand Afghan authorities.

Kerry asked for Pakistan’svibrant role in the Afghan recon-ciliation process during his firstmeeting with Chief of ArmyStaff General Ashfaq Kayani inAmman, Jordan on Sundaynight. Kayani is on a scheduledvisit to Jordan and Kerry methim in Amman as he is also on atrip to the Middle east.

According to diplomaticsources, the uS secretary ofstate acknowledged the keyrole Pakistan could play forthe success of the Afghan rec-onciliation process. “SecretaryKerry was of the view thatPakistan should use its “good

offices” to bring the AfghanTaliban to the table of negoti-ations with the American andAfghan officials so that thesluggish reconciliation processin Afghanistan could gainpace and move forward,” saida source, seeking anonymity.

He said the Obama admin-istration was eager to restart thepeace dialogue with the MullahOmar-led Afghan Taliban thatcollapsed in March 2011 aftercontinuing for some months andit (Obama administration) be-lieved that Islamabad could playa key role in impressing upon theTaliban to join the Afghanistanreconciliation process.

The source said GeneralKayani told the uS secretaryof state that Pakistan wouldtake all possible steps and ex-tend cooperation to Kabuland Washington for bringingback lasting peace and stabil-ity to Afghanistan.

“Both leaders also agreedon enhancing the anti-terror-ism cooperation during their

meeting in Amman,” thesource said. Another source,who also asked not to benamed, said the uS secretaryof state assured GeneralKayani that the uS wouldcontinue with its cooperationwith Pakistan in variousfields, including economy, de-fence and energy sectors andit would not abandon its keyally in the South Asian region.

The ISPR also issued astatement on Monday on thecrucial meeting between Gen-eral Kayani and SecretaryKerry. “Both discussed thereconciliation process inAfghanistan and security is-sues concerning South Asianregion,” the statement said.According to sources, Kerry,who also paid an unannouncedvisit to Kabul on Monday,wanted to make a trip to Is-lamabad as well but he de-cided to put that off until theformation of new governmentin Pakistan after the upcomingelections in May this year.

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

The election Commission of Pakistan(eCP) on Monday allotted the symbol ofan arrow to the Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) as its election symbol. However,the decision over the name of the partywas withheld by the commission.

A three-member bench of the com-mission – headed by Justice (r) RiazKayani – resumed the hearing into thecase. The PPP was represented by AminFahim, Latif Khosa, Farooq H Naik andMasood Kausar. Ghinwa Bhutto, chair-woman of the PPP-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-

SB), had requested the eCP to register herparty as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)and had asked that the symbol of swordbe allotted to her party as its election sym-bol. estranged PPP leaders Naheed Khanand Safdar Abbasi had also filed a requestfor the registration of a new party, calledthe PPP, and had also requested for arrowas their party’s symbol.

The eCP on Monday allotted the‘arrow’ symbol to the PPP while deferringits decision over the registration and nameof the party. Naheed and Abbasi startedprotesting after the announcement in thecourt room while a heated argument andscuffle occurred between the supportersof Naheed and the PPP outside the eCPpremises. A PPP leader, Shahzadi KausarGilani beat the supporters of Nahid.

During the scuffle, Naheed’s assis-tant, Mohammad Asif fell unconscious.

Later, the police intervened and endedthe clash. However, no arrests were made.Speaking to reporters after the decision,

former law minister Naik said they wouldcontest the upcoming elections under theplatform of the PPP Parliamentarians andthat the commission had made a fair de-cision on the issue.

Fahim said the public trusted thePPP and that the sign of an arrow as thePPP’s election symbol was their right.During arguments before the eCP, Je-hangir Badr and Khosa also arguedagainst each other under a preplannedstrategy. Badr stressed that he was thesecretary general of the party and wasappointed on the post by Zulfikar andBenazir Bhutto while Khosa stressedthat he was the secretary general of theparty. There was an heated exchange ofwords and the commission sent Badr tothe adjacent room.

However after the verdict, both lead-ers said they had no differences but theywanted to secure the PPP’s name, its his-toric arrow symbol and save it from goingto Ghinva Bhutto and Naheed Khan.

ISLAMABAD: The government is expectedto cut the price of petroleum products from1st April. According to sources, petrol priceis expected to come down by Rs 1.50 perlitre, diesel by Rs 1.20 per litre, kerosene oil

by Rs 3.75 per litre and high octane diesel byRs 6 per litre. The Oil and Gas RegulatoryAuthority (OGRA) will recommend asummary on new oil prices to PetroleumMinistry on March 30. inP

PPP factions slug it out at ECPSCUFFLES BREAK OUTBETWEEN GHINVABHUTTO AND NAHEEDKHAN’S GROUPS

US SECRETARY OFSTATE, ARMY CHIEFHOLD CRUCIALMEETING IN AMMAN

Kerry urges Kayani tohelp speed up Afghanpeace process

POL prices to be slashed from 1st

19

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