e-paper pakistantoday 29th march, 2013

19
Friday, 29 March, 2013 Jamadi ul Awwal 16, 1434 Rs 17.00 Vol III No 271 19 Pages Karachi Edition ticke t rows shake ptI Atif Aslam ties the knot storY on pAge 12 storY on pAge 07 storY on pAge 03 storY on pAge 04 Un set to pass historic arms trade treaty storY on pAge 02 storY on pAge 03 KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:45 AM Page 1

Upload: pakistan-today

Post on 24-Mar-2016

221 views

Category:

Documents


4 download

DESCRIPTION

E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

Friday, 29 March, 2013 Jamadi ul Awwal 16, 1434Rs 17.00 Vol III No 271 19 Pages Karachi Edition

ticket rowsshake ptI

atif aslamties the knot

story on page 12 story on page 07

story on page 03

story on page 04

Un set to pass historicarms trade treaty

story on page 02

story on page 03

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:45 AM Page 1

Page 2: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

PuNjAB Chief MinisterNajam Sethi on Thurs-day said that he hadmade a programme ofconsultation with politi-cal leaders for holding

transparent elections and maintaining neu-tral administration in the process.

For this purpose, he said that he metwith leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N), jamaat-e-Is-lami (jI), adding that he would hold ameeting with Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaftoday (Friday). He said that the purposeof these meetings with various politicalforces was to gauge views on who werehonest, hard working and dedicated offi-cers. He expressed satisfaction that no po-litical leader had suggested the name of arelative, which made his job easier.

Furthermore, he said that the decisionregarding the inspector general of Punjab

was still pending, adding that he had heldconsultations with chief election commis-sioner regarding changes in bureaucracy.He announced that the process would becompleted within a week.

The caretaker chief minister said thata caretaker cabinet would be formedwithin two to three days, adding that itwould comprise of five to six ministersand a few more ministers might be addedlater if a need arose.

He stressed that the cabinet would notconsist of members of political parties.

Sethi said that holding free and fairelections was the sole priority of the care-taker setup and the responsibility wouldbe discharged as the number one obliga-tion.

He said that “positive” proposals hadbeen put forward in meetings with politi-cal leaders and the leaders of all politicalparties had stressed the need for posting

of an honest, hardworking and neutral ad-ministration.

Moreover, he said that the constitutionand law would be fully upheld in the hold-ing of peaceful and transparent elections.jI chief Munawar Hassan welcomed Sethito the caretaker setup and extended full co-operation for holding free and fair elec-tions. He expressed confidence in Sethi andsaid that people believed that Sethi woulddispense his job with responsibility.

NFriday, 29 March, 2013

02

news

Transparent elections are caretaker PM’sresponsibility. – Shah Mehmood Qureshi

ECP snubs Sethi onplans to reshufflebureaucracy iSlamaBad: The Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursdaytook notice of Punjab caretaker ChiefMinister Najam Sethi’s statement re-garding transfers and appointments,saying the interim CM had no right totransfer and appoint any officer.The commission clarified that only theECP had the right to do so.The commission has lifted ban on newappointments in the country, however,the ban on transfer of developmentfunds will remain in place.Earlier, talking to reporters, Sethi hadsaid he would change the whole bureau-cracy in the province and would alsoappoint a new inspector general of po-lice. iNP

Sethi wants a ‘smart’ cabinet

Sethi seeks list of

politically-affiliated

Punjab officers

lahORe: Punjab caretakerChief Minister Najam Sethi hasasked the Punjab Civil Secre-tariat Section Services One toprovide him the a list officersof Grade 18-22 who were re-lated to any politician or wereaffiliated with some politicalparty in any way. Sethi alsosought lists of all officials whowere political appointees andhad been appointed a contrac-tual basis and those whosetenures had been extended ille-gally. Sources said it was likelythat all senior officials, whowere illegally appointed, wouldbe dismissed or sent to their re-spective departments per law,adding that the Punjab govern-ment would seek the ElectionCommission of Pakistan’s per-mission in this regard, wher-ever required. The sources saidSethi also asked authoritiesconcerned to give him lists ofofficers who had been servingon the same posts for a long pe-riod of time. They said thePakistan People’s Party leader-ship had demanded the Punjabcaretaker chief minister dismissthe chief secretary and the Pun-jab IGP along with all DPOsand DCO of 36 districts ap-pointed on orders of formerchief minister Shahbaz Sharifto minimise the chances of pollrigging. The sources said thePPP was of the view that theban imposed by the ECP on ap-pointments and transfers bySethi was “pre-poll rigging”and Sethi should ask for pow-ers to appoint and transfer, oth-erwise he would be nothingmore than a dummy chief min-ister. The source said a newIGP for Punjab was likely to beappointed within the next 24hours. RaNa HaideR

ANNOUNCES SMALLCABINET OF FIVE TO SIX MINISTERS

LAHORENadeem Syed

All major political parties, whether the es-tablished ones like the PPP and the PML-Nor the new player on the block, the PTI, haveone thing in common: none are in a positionto field candidates on each and every na-tional and four provincial assemblies’ seats– a whopping 1,085 seats to be precise.

The only way out for the political partiesto meet this shortage is to indulge in al-liance-making.

The political analysts are of the viewthat amongst the bigger parties, the PPP is ina much better position with its political net-work spread throughout the country and notjust confined to Punjab or Sindh. Its alliancewith PML-Q has further improved its posi-tion in terms of number of candidates and‘electables’ in the Punjab and elsewhere.

As opposed to the PPP, the PML-N findsitself in the bind outside Punjab. As such itis in a hurry to make alliances outside Pun-jab. In a policy statement Nawaz Sharif hasmade it clear that in Balochistan the PML-N would only support the candidates fromthe nationalist parties. In Sindh too, thePML-N has made partnerships with the re-gional parties and is banking on the hopethat these along with the PML-F shall de-liver in the coming elections.

With hardly any organization to speak ofat the moment, the PTI is obviously not thatwell placed.

While each of these political parties is ina great rush to award tickets, they are leastbothered to follow the long establishedprocesses that led to naming a candidate fora certain constituency. The PTI, for example,never bothered to constitute its parliamen-tary board to select candidates. The fate ofthe candidates was decided on the basis offorms issued by the party, instead of givingan opportunity to the candidate to make per-sonal appearance before the board – an av-enue of such vital import for the newentrants to make an impression. The closureof this opportunity to the newbies therebymade it very difficult for them to beat the oldpolitical hands.

Meanwhile, as the parties are in the mid-dle of awarding tickets, they need about1,100 candidates, 1,085 to be precise, tocover the entire national and four provincialassemblies’ spectrum. The picture depictedby leaders from various parties suggests thatno single party has enough candidates or re-sources to cover the whole country.

Similarly, the political parties need anequal number of ‘covering’ candidates – incase the original nominee for some reason isnot allowed to contest. As the ECP is prettyserious in for the first time putting the can-didates through the grill of a scrutiny, theprobability of original candidate gettingbarred is far higher than before. Hence, theimportance of a ‘covering’ candidate ismuch greater this time round.

And precisely for the reason that thescrutiny is making the candidates hot underthe collar, the ‘covering’ candidates are alsorunning for cover.

Interestingly, each party needs a hugenumber of ‘cover’ candidates, practically atleast one for each constituency. But with theECP intent on posing probing questionsthrough its first-of-a-kind nomination paperthat makes inquiries deep and wide aboutpersonal and financial integrity, this is nowa virtual hornet’s nest.The dilemma

Why would one not like to raise one’shand as a cover candidate this time round?Because politicians are wily customers, andknowing full well that the cover candidatewould have to go through the similar finetooth comb scrutiny involving several agen-cies with the prospects of so many skeletonsin the cupboard getting revealed quite high,they are naturally shy of stepping into dan-gerous territory.

Sources in the party say that new provi-sions in the candidacy forms have made it atough call for anyone to offer him/herself asa covering candidate. As such most partyleaders and workers are reluctant to becomecovering candidates.

And with the March 29 deadline expir-ing today, it remains to be seen how manymake it through to the actual hustings onMay 11.

Alliances, the name of the game

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:45 AM Page 2

Page 3: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

ISLAMABADSTaFF RePORT

RuLING thatthe ElectionCommissionof Pakistanwas nomonarch to do

whatever it willed, the SC onThursday ordered wrapping up ofall fake degree cases by April 4and sought a comprehensive reporton this count be filed by the ECP.

A three-member SC bench ledby Chief justice of Pakistan (CjP)Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry re-sumed hearing in the case onThursday.

The ECP presented a report inthe court with respect to fake de-gree cases pending hearing incourts across the country.

Per the report, 34 fake degreecases were sent to the subordinatecourts of which 19 pertained toPunjab, while degree holders intwo cases had been acquitted.

The CjP asked where were theremaining cases lying.

ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmad

Khan said, “Proceedings in respectof other cases are underway andchallans of eight cases have beensent to courts.”

The CjP said, “The ECP isnot a monarch that it can dowhatever it wills, nor is it a stake-holder in elections. If degree con-dition has been done away with,even then the ECP should notshut its eyes to this matter, as afake degree holder is liable to bedealt with under proceedings of acriminal case.”

ECP’s counsel said court caseswere pending hearing in subordi-nate courts and decisions wereawaited.

The Cj remarked that caseswere pending hearing since 2011and directives were issued to dis-pose of the cases early.

During the hearing of the case,jamshed Dasti, former MNA fromPPP, requested the court to directthe Muzaffargarh sessions judge tohear fake degree case against himafter elections and the proceedingsagainst him be deferred.

The court rejected the plea andinquired from the ECP counselwhy had he heard the case of Dastiafter three years.

The counsel said NawabzadaIftikhar Ahmad lodged a complaintagainst Dasti on February 13, 2013and the case was moved ahead onthis complaint.

The court said it could give no

order to adjourn Dasti’s case, butit could direct respective subordi-nate court to dispose of the case atthe earliest.

jamshed Dasti said, “I was al-lowed to contest election in 2010.Why was I not barred from doingso then?”

The court later ruled that theECP and subordinate courts shoulddispose of fake degree cases byApril 4 and details of the pendingcases be kept before the chief jus-tices of the concerned high courtsand hearing be conducted of thesecases on a day-to-day basis.

The court said police and in-vestigation agencies failed in theirassignments, therefore, stern ac-tion be initiated against officersfound involved in negligence ofduty.

The bench ruled that contest-ing candidates should meet the re-quirements spelt out in articles 62and 63 and Section 99 of PublicRepresentation Act. “The courtwants elections held in equitableand transparent manner.”

The court said respectivecourts had also failed in disposingof fake degree cases. “The chiefjustices of high courts should ini-tiate action against these judges.The hearing of the cases be ad-journed only on solid grounds,”the SC ruled.

The hearing was adjourneduntil April 4.

news N

03

Friday, 29 March, 2013

Pervez Musharraf has all rights to do

politics. – Dr Farooq Sattar

ECP directsauthorities to liftban on governemtappointments,transfers

iSlamaBad: The Election Commission of Pak-istan (ECP) on Thursday directed all governmentdepartments and ministries to lift a ban on recruit-ments and transfers throughout the country.ECP Additional Secretary Afzal Khan said the banhad been imposed in january because it was fearedthat the outgoing government could make biasedappointments and transfers on political grounds.“As an impartial caretaker government has nowbeen inducted‚ there is no need for continuing theban,” he said.Elaborating further, he said the ECP had directedall government departments to make recruitmentsand transfers purely on merit.Meanwhile, the ECP also directed all broadcastersand newspapers to submit details of paid and un-paid political content containing names‚ symbolsor photographs of candidates or leaders of politicalparties carried in newspapers or shown on TV on aweekly basis.The ECP notified that these details must includethe duration‚ timing and frequency of such contentalong with tariffs charged by the broadcasters andnewspapers.The media organisations were also directed to sub-mit details of payments and contributions receivedor due from political parties or any other personpertaining to advertisement campaigns.The ECP has decided to maintain comprehensivedata on expenses incurred in political advertise-ment campaigns. STaFF RePORT

SC serves contemptnotice on Ashraf

iSlamaBad: TheSupreme Court (SC)

on Thursday is-sued a contemptof court noticeto former primeminister RajaPervaiz Ashrafin the Rental

Power Projects(RPPs) case.

A three-memberSC bench headed by

Chief justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry heard case of Raja PervaizAshraf’s letter to the SC in which he had asked fora commission to enquire into RPPs case.The court asked him to appear in person before thebench in two weeks. Chief justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry had said in Wednesday’shearing that the former PM had tried to influencethe court by writing a letter for constituting a com-mission to investigate the RPPs scam. The chiefjustice said Ashraf had already accepted thecourt’s decision in the RPPs case that had attainedfinality, so there was no need to re-examine theverdict and form a commission to probe into theissue. The chief justice said the review petitionwas withdrawn in the RPPs case, so how was itpossible to revisit the court’s verdict and appointthe commission. Earlier, appearing before thecourt on notice, NAB Prosecutor General KKAgha submitted before the court that although hedid not agree with the letter, if the court referredthe matter to any other forum for probe, he wouldhave no objection. Wasim Sajjad submitted thathis client had dispatched the letter to the chief jus-tice of Pakistan through the SC registrar’s office,adding that it was not aimed at influencing thecourt. He further contended that an impression wascreated in the media that if the National Accounta-bility Bureau (NAB) decided the case in favour ofAshraf, it would have been considered that the for-mer prime minister used his influence.The chief justice said the letter was written on theletterhead of prime minister and did not give apositive impression, adding that such type of dis-patches should not be addressed to the court.justice Gulzar Ahmed also observed that such typeof letters in a personal capacity of the prime ministershould not be addressed to the court. STaFF RePORT

IHC annuls Rs 5b worth

of projects Raja

approved for hometown iSlamaBad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC)on Thursday declared null and void the contractsworth Rs 5 billion for development schemes in for-mer prime minister’s Raja Pervez Ashraf’s con-stituency. According to sources, the court scrappedthe deal for it was found not only shoddy but alsoagainst the Public Procurement Regulatory Author-ity’s rules and regulations. Directing the NationalLogistic Cell (NLC) to immediately return theamount, the IHC ordered the authorities concernedto invite bids and re-award the contract within 30days strictly in accordance with the PPRA rules. iNP

President to addressjoint sitting of AJKassembly, counciliSlamaBad : President Asif Zardari on Thurs-day said he would soon visit Muzaffarabad and ad-dress the joint session of Azad jammu andKashmir Legislative Assembly and AjK Councilto reiterate the government’s policy on Kashmirand the struggle of its people for their rights. Pres-ident Zardari was talking to a Kashmiri delegationrepresenting, which called on him at the Presi-dency. The delegation called on him to expressthe sentiments of Kashmiri people in the wake ofAfzal Guru’s hanging. The delegation also invitedthe president to visit Muzaffarabad and address thejoint session of the assembly and council. Thedelegation was led by AjK Prime MinisterChaudhry Abdul Majeed and included among oth-ers AjK President Sardar Yaqoob Khan, Raja Fa-rooq Haider, opposition leader Muhammad Yasin,Gen (r) Sardar Anwar Khan, j&K Liberation FrontSupreme Head Amanullah Khan, jamaat-e-Islamileader Abdul Rashid Turabi, juI-F leader SaeedYousuf, j&K Liberation League President justice(r) Abdul Majid Malik, MQM leader TahirKhokhar, APHC (Mirwaiz) leader MehmoodAhmed Sagar, APHC(Geelani) leader Ghulam MSafi, jKLF (Yasin Malik) leader Rafique Dar.Senator Rehman Malik, spokesperson to the presi-dent Farhatullah Babar and secretary to presidentNasreen Haque were also present. aPP

LAHOREUmaiR aZiZ

The Election Commissionof Pakistan (ECP) has finallyset the ball rolling towards aneutral bureaucracy by replac-ing top bureaucrats in twomajor provinces, Punjab andSindh, while Punjab ChiefMinister Najam Sethi will alsobe choosing his principal secre-tary, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The ECP reportedly di-rected the establishment divi-sion of the federal governmentto change chief secretaries ofPunjab and Sindh. According todetails, Punjab chief secretaryNasir Khosa has replaced Sindhchief secretary Raja Abbas,who has been transferred to theEstablishment Division.

Meanwhile, Secretary Edu-cation and Training Major (R)Qamar Zaman has been se-lected for the Punjab’s mostcoveted bureaucratic slot.

The commission directedthe establishment division toimplement its orders and reportto ECP within three days.

Zaman, who comes fromGujrat, is a grade-22 secretariatgroup officer and has held im-portant slots in the past as well.According to his career profile,he left Punjab in 1999 as DGLDA when he was in Grade 19.He has also been commissionerof the Rawalpinid division. Inthe federal capital, he has heldone of the most important andsensitive portfolios of the inte-rior secretary in 2009.

Last year, Zaman was a partof a controversy when the Es-tablishment Division gave himadditional charge of the execu-tive director of the Higher Ed-ucation Commission (HEC),

which was later taken from himon the Supreme Court orders.

The news of his appoint-ment to the top slot spread inthe bureaucratic circles imme-diately with necessary arrange-ments being taken for the shift.

However, Punjab SecretaryServices Syed Mubashar Razasaid the establishment divisionhas yet to be notified of theposting and the move was stillnews to him.

“usually the chief secretaryis always posted after consulta-tion of the province with thefederal government, while thistime around, the direction hascome from the ECP,” he added.

A senior legal expert, how-ever, said the ECP could directthe establishment division toreplace the chief secretary ofany province under the rules.

In Punjab, however, follow-ing the move, Sethi, whovowed to reshuffle Punjab bu-reaucracy within seven days,also selected Secretary Minesand Minerals Shahid Mehmoodfor another most coveted slot ofthe principal secretary to thechief minister. Sources, how-ever, said that Mehmood, agrade20 officer, has been se-lected for such an importantslot because he had never helda very important portfolio inPunjab and will have little po-litical influence.

Former principal secretaryNadeem Hassan Asif has al-ready been made vice chairmanof the Punjab Board of Invest-ment and Trade (PBIT). More-over, DGPR Athar Ali Khanhas been asked to report to hisparent department while La-hore Transport Company (LTC)MD Amjad Hussain Bhatti hasbeen posted as the DGPR.

eCP orders replacement of chiefsecretaries of sindh, Punjab

ECP no monarch todo what it wills: CJP

Fake degrees case(

(

ORDERS ECP TODISPOSE FAKEDEGREE CASES BY APRIL 4

ASKS NEWSPAPERS,BROADCASTERS TO SUBMITDETAILS OF PAID, UNPAIDPOLITICAL CONTENT

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:45 AM Page 3

Page 4: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

newsN

04

Friday, 29 March, 2013

Myanmar’s Rohingya

Muslims may face

‘permanent’

segregation. — HRW

CHENNAI: A boy smeared withcolours reacts as another boy pourswater on him during Holi celebrations.

Politicians makehealth, educationpledges

ISLAMABADaGeNCieS

POLITICIANS on thecampaign trial prom-ised to increase spend-ing on health and

education after a uN reportreleased on Thursday revealedthe budget is among the low-est in the developing world.

The 2013 report rankedPakistan 146 out of 187countries on a human devel-opment index, equal toBangladesh and just ahead ofAngola and Myanmar.

“Pakistan has one of thelowest investments in terms ofeducation and health — itspends 0.8 percent of its GDPon health and 1.8 percent oneducation,” the united Na-tions said in a statement.

It said 49 percent of thepopulation live in poverty.

Senator Razina Alam ofthe Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), considered thefrontrunner in May electionswhich will mark the country’sfirst democratic transition,pledged to transform the edu-cation system.

“We will increase re-sources for education and atleast four percent of GDPwould be allocated by the year2018,” she said.

“In the health sector wewill make a threefold in-crease in the budget by2018,” she added.

Shafqat Mehmood, infor-mation secretary for ex-crick-eter Imran Khan’s PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf, said his partywould triple spending on edu-cation and raise spending onhealth five times.

“The challenge of gover-nance is a serious challengein Pakistan as there is a lackof attention towards respond-ing to peoples’ problems,”said Mehmood.

The party is contestingelections for the first time,seeking to oust the feudal andindustrial elites grouped in thePML-N and the outgoing Pak-istan People’s Party (PPP),which have dominated gov-ernments for decades.

“If voted into power, wewill increase both the healthand education budget which

will be five percent of GDPfor each sector,” said FarooqSattar, a senior member of theMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM), which rules Karachi.

Sattar told AFP his partywould tax feudal chiefs,curb corruption and im-prove public-sector depart-ments to raise money forsocial development.

The PPP did not attendthe launch of the report withother politicians, diplomatsand aid workers. Organiserssaid its representative can-celled at the last minute.

According to its mani-festo, the PPP increased theeducation budget by 196percent to $78 million for2012-13.

“In our next term we willpropose an increase in statespending on health to five per-cent of consolidated govern-ment spending by the end ofour next term,” it said.

The powerful military isPakistan’s wealthiest institu-tion. Last june’s $31 billionfederal budget increased de-fence spending by 6.8 percent.OveRall Rank: Overall,Pakistan ranked a low 146 outof the 187 countries on theHDI. Norway ranked higheston the HDI at number one,while Niger ranked lowest.

KARACHIiSmaiL diLaWaR

Shareholders at the Karachi Stocks Ex-change (KSE) are crying foul as jahangirSiddiqui & Company Limited (jSCL) has,what stakeholders claim, created history byawarding over Rs 430 million to a blue-eyed non-executive director of the listedfirm on account of advisory fee.

According to jSCL stakeholders, thebeneficiary of the fee was none other than Alijahangir Siddiqui, son of jahangir Siddiqui,the founder of the financial services giant ja-hangir Siddiqui Group. Ali, sources said, re-ceived the amount for advising the firm onsigning a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA)

with ICTSI Mauritius Limited under whichjSCL had, in March 2012, sold about 13 mil-lion of its voting shares in the Pakistan Inter-national Container Terminal (PICT) at a rateof Rs 150 per share. jSCL’s annual report is-sued for the calendar year 2012 shows thatthe company’s Board of Directors chairmanMazharul Haq Siddiqui, brother of jahangirSiddiqui, approved the award of Rs 430.944million to Ali.

“(This) represents amount paid/payable toan individual and a director for advisory serv-ices rendered in terms of their respective ad-visory agreement duly approved by theboard,” reads note 26.4 to the company’s fi-nancial statements for 2012. According toshareholders, the company attempted to con-

fuse all concerned by using words such as “anindividual and a director”. “The recipient ofthe mammoth amount is one person, jahangirSiddiqui’s son (Ali),” Haji Ghani Haji usman,a shareholder in jSCL, told Pakistan Today.

usman, a five-time board member of theKSE and incumbent chairman of the Ex-change’s Demutualization Committee, sub-stantiated his claim by referring to page 69of the company’s annual report where “one”person has been mentioned to have receivedRs 430.944 million under the head of advi-sory fee. “Quote a single example in whicha non-executive director has been awardedsuch a huge sum for advisory services,” saidusman adding, “We would go to courtagainst this injustice to shareholders”.

The senior broker said in court hewould plead for reversal of the board’s de-cision, which he claimed was a “family-runand toothless” entity. “It’s a family-runboard chaired by his (Ali’s) uncle MazharulHaq who is an all-out gentleman,” saidusman. The shareholder also plans to raisea voice against the injustice in the annualgeneral meeting of the company’s 8-mem-ber board on April 5.

“For 2012, the board announcedonly Re 0.75 per share cash dividend forshareholders for 18 months whileawarding over Rs 430 million to a singleperson,” said usman.

He added that the said director hadrarely attended the company’s board meet-

ings. “He could turn up to only two of theboard’s audit committee meetings,” he said.

According to the annual report, thecompany’s advisory spending stands atRs 442.944 million, Rs 430.944 millionout which has been paid to Ali. Thisshows that out of the total operating andadministrative expenses, advisory feesmake up more than 70 percent.

In the preceding year, up to june 30,2011, the company’s advisory expenseswere only Rs 12 million.

When contacted for his comment,jSCL board Chairman Mazharul HaqSiddiqui refused to talk and said hewould not be able to set up a meetingowing to other commitments.

ISLAMABADONLiNe

The Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP) has issued detailsof former parliamentarians’ as-sets. Former PPP lawmakerNoor Alam Khan is the richestwith Rs 32 billion assets.jamshed Dasti is the most poorwith only his salary bank ac-count. Former prime ministerRaja Pervaiz Ashraf has assets ofRs 72 million. He has two carsvalued at Rs 1.8 million, whilehis wife has 10 tolas of gold. Theformer prime minister has alsotaken Rs 8 million from his

brother. Former oppositionleader in the National AssemblyChaudhry Nisar has Rs 8.3 mil-lion in his bank account. Nisarhas a house in Rawalpindi and afarmhouse. He is also the ownerof nine apartments. ANP leaderGhulam Ahmed Bilour has Rs39.4 million assets, while PPPleader Arbab Alamgir has a networth of Rs 2 billion. Alamgir isalso the owner of a Rs 40 millionworth apartment in Dubai. ANPchief Asfandyar Wali Khan hasassets worth Rs 10 million, in-cluding 50 tolas of gold.

juI-F chief FazlurRehman has assets worth over

Rs 5.5 million. PML-N leaderAmeer Muqam has assetsworth Rs 160 million and 17cars. PML-Q leader PervaizElahai has Rs 64.1 million inhis bank account, wealth worthRs 8.9 million and investmentsof Rs 30.49 million. NationalAssembly Speaker FehmidaMirza has assets of over Rs 80million and an apartment worthRs 15 million in Dubai. PPP as-sets are Rs 435,000, PML-NRs 80 million; MQM Rs 19.7million; PTI Rs 9.46 million;ANP Rs 27.2 million; AML Rs70,000; jI Rs 1.85 million; andPML-Q Rs 50.14 million.

Lower Dir

women allowed

voting for the

first time

LOWER DIRiNP

In an unprecedented develop-ment, all political and reli-gious parties of Dir Lowerdistrict of KhyberPakhtunkhwa have expressedwillingness to allow women ofthe region to cast their votesand demanded the ElectionCommission of Pakistan(ECP) to increase polling sta-tions for women in the district.

A meeting of all the polit-ical and religious parties wasarranged at the Timergara RestHouse by the jamaat-e-Islami(jI) to discuss the forthcominggeneral elections. Local lead-ers from jI, ANP, juI-F, PTI,PML-N and other parties at-tended the meeting. Partici-pants of the meeting expressedwillingness to allow women tocast their votes in the generalelections and said six pollingstations for women in the dis-trict were quite insufficient.They said the ECP should in-crease the number of pollingstations and provide a con-ducive environment for thepolls. The meeting agreed on acode of conduct for the elec-tions and decided that ethicalnorms would be upheld whilerunning the election campaign.The meeting also asked the dis-trict administration to avoid un-necessary interference in thepolling process. The leaders ofdifferent parties also held ameeting with district commis-sioner and commandant DirScouts and informed themabout their reservations.

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chiefNawaz Sharif on Thursday chaired ameeting of parliamentary board of hisparty to finalize candidates for the Na-tional Assembly and provincial assem-bly elections. Those who attended themeeting also included Shahbaz Sharif,Iqbal Zafar jhagra, Khuwaja SaadRafique, Mushahidullah Khan, PervezRashid, Begam Ishrat Ashraf, KhuwajaAsif and former MNAs and MPAs hail-ing from Lahore. Nawaz Sharif said thatthe PML-N would award party ticketsfor upcoming general election to thebest candidates. He also applaudedMian Shahbaz Sharif and workers forovercoming dengue fever in Punjab.According to a statement issued by thePML-N, party workers reposed full con-fidence in the leadership of NawazSharif and Shahbaz Sharif.

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)leader Inamullah Niazi alongwith his brother SaeedullahNiazi have reportedly decidedto part ways with the partyafter being denied party ticketsby the parliamentary board.Per details, PTI ChairmanImran Khan’s cousins, Inamand Saeed, were angered whenthe party awarded the ticket forNA-72 to former federal min-ister Dr Sher Afghan’s sonAmjad Khan Niazi.

There were rumours run-ning that Inam would be con-testing elections from bothconstituencies in Mianwali fol-lowing his resignation fromPTI, meaning thereby he wouldbe contesting against ImranKhan from NA-71. journalist

Mushtaq Minhas tweeted, “In-amullah Niazi versus ImranKhan” as infighting withinPTI’s ranks and Khan’s familywere thought to be surfacing.However, Inamullah told a pri-vate TV channel that he hadasked the parliamentary boardto review the award of ticket tohim from Mianwali.

“I have been elected as theparty’s vice-president and donot intend to change my loyal-ties. I have however, requestedfor a review by the parliamen-

tary board which decided notto award me a ticket,” he toldthe TV channel.aSSeF PaRTS WaYS

WiTh PTi: Meanwhile Sar-dar Assef Ahmed Ali partedways with the PTI, claiming hisconfidence in the party hadbeen shaken when after re-peated assurances by Khan, hewas not granted a ticket. Khur-shid Kasuri has been granted aticket from the highly soughtconstituency in Kasur for whichAssef has been overlooked.

overaLL rank In soUth asIa n Iran 76n Sri Lanka 92n Maldives 104n India 136n Bhutan 140n Bangladesh 146n Pakistan 146n Nepal157n Afghanistan 175

will award party tickets to best candidates: nawaz

pML-n workers cLash In Lahore LAHORE: PML-N workers belonging to two rival

groups from Lahore clashed with each other

outside the party’s Model Town secretariat on

Thursday soon after the party chief, Nawaz Sharif

ended his address to workers. A large number of

workers had gathered at the party’s secretariat to

pressurise the PML-N leadership against awarding

party ticket to former deputy speaker Rana

Mashood from PP-149. The workers had also

protested against Mashood the other day claiming

that he had done anything in the constituency in

the last five years. The party’s parliamentary

board was in session when the clash took place,

showing deep divisions in the party in Lahore. It

was learnt that the PML-N leaders including

Nawaz tried their best to resolve the dispute but

in vain. Meanwhile, the PML-N has delayed the

award of tickets to candidates interested in

contesting elections from Lahore. STaFF RePORT

ecp issues details of formerlawmakers’ assets

Ticket rows shake PTI

Rs 430m for son, 0.75 paisa for shareholders!

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:45 AM Page 4

Page 5: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

Friday, 29 March, 2013

05

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:45 AM Page 5

Page 6: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

06Friday, 29 March, 2013

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:45 AM Page 6

Page 7: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

SEOULaGeNCieS

The united States has deployed two nuclear-ca-pable stealth bombers over South Korea as part ofa "deterrence" mission over the Korean peninsula.

The deployment of B-2 bombers onThursday followed North Korea's decision tocut a military hotline with the South, breakingthe last direct communication link between thetwo countries at a time of heightened militarytensions. The bombers made the 20,000kmround trip from the uS state of Missouri toSouth Korea in a single flight. Al jazeera'sHarry Fawcett, reporting from Seoul, said theuS was sending "a very clear message toNorth Korea".

Fawcett also reported that uS defence sec-retary Charles Hagel has called his SouthKorea counterpart "to reaffirm the commit-ment" of the uS to defend its ally.

On Wednesday, the North said it would in-form the uN Security Council that the threatof nuclear war in the region was growing.

"under the situation where a war maybreak out any moment, there is no need to keep

up North-South military communications," theofficial was quoted as saying by the officialKorean Central News Agency. "From now, theNorth-South military communications will becut off". In response to the latest provocation,the uS said it was ready to respond to "anycontingency".

"North Korea's bellicose rhetoric and thethreats that they engage in follow a pattern de-signed to raise tensions and intimidate others,"jay Carney, White House spokesman, said.

Several weeks ago, North Korea severedthe Red Cross hotline that had been used forgovernment-to-government communicationsin the absence of diplomatic relations.'SimmeRing' WaR: The North has alsothreatened war against the South and its allythe uS, saying conditions "for a simmering nu-clear war" have been created on the peninsula.

"This is because of provocation moves bythe uS and South Korean puppets," the state-ment said. In another sign of brewing tensions,a South Korean soldier standing on guard at theinter-Korean border threw a grenade towards amoving object in the dark early on Wednesday,causing a short-lived alarm.

UNITED NATIONSaGeNCieS

tHE united Nations isnearing agreement on atreaty to regulate the$70bn global con-ventional arms

trade. The world body's 193member states received thelast revision of the draft treatyahead of the final day of the drafting conference on Thursday.

Delegates and arms groups say India or Iran could stillblock the agreement. uN member states began meeting lastweek in a final push to end years of discussions and hammerout a binding international treaty to end the lack of regulationover cross-border conventional arms sales. "India, Syria andIran are countries that could still cause trouble," a Europeandiplomat speaking on condition of anonymity told the Reutersnews agency. "But I'll wager the treaty will pass by consen-sus." Iran, currently under a uN arms embargo over its nu-clear programme, is eager to ensure its arms imports andexports are not curtailed, diplomats told Reuters.'human RighTS': Syria is in a two-year-old civil war andhopes Russian and Iranian arms keep flowing in, they added.But they are all under pressure to back the draft, envoys said.

"We are continuing to review the text with an eye towardensuring that it accomplishes all of our goals, including that itprotect the sovereign right of states to conduct legitimate armstrade and, of course, that it not infringe upon the constitutionalright of our citizens to bear arms," a uS representative toldReuters. The National Rifle Association, a powerful uS pro-gunlobbying group, opposes the treaty and has vowed to fight toprevent its ratification if it reaches Washington. The NRA saysthe treaty would undermine domestic gun-ownership rights.

The American Bar Association, an attorneys' lobby group,has said that the treaty would not impact the right to beararms. Ambassador joanne Adamson, chief British delegate,said the new draft treaty has many improvements over earlierdrafts. "These [improvements] include inclusion of ammuni-

tion in the scopeof the treaty, a new article on

preventing diversion of arms, andstrengthened section on exports which are pro-

hibited," she said. "Human rights are at the heart ofthis text."

POTenTial lOOPhOleS: Several human rights groupsand arms control advocates, including Amnesty International,Oxfam and Control Arms, praised the new draft.

They said despite shortcomings, it was a major improve-ment over an earlier draft that had too many loopholes.

"While there are still deficiencies in this final draft, thistreaty has the potential to provide significant human rightsprotection and curb armed conflict and violence if all govern-ments demonstrate the political will to implement it," BrianWood of Amnesty International said.

But he made clear that there were problems with the text,including an overly narrow scope of types of arms covered. Itcovers tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillerysystems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missilesand missile launchers and small arms and light arms. The highlycontroversial predator drones and grenades are among theweapon categories that are not covered explicitly in the drafttreaty. Rights groups complained about one possible loopholein the current draft involving defence cooperation agreements.

Several diplomats who also oppose this loophole said itcould exempt certain weapons transfers from the treaty.

Three delegates dubbed that provision the "Indiaclause", because it was something India pushed hard for,they said. Arms control campaigners and human rightsgroups say one person dies every minute worldwide as a re-sult of armed violence and a treaty is needed to halt the un-controlled flow of arms and ammunition they say fuels wars,atrocities and rights abuses.

MANDELA REtURNS to HoSPItAL wItH LUNg INfECtIoNCAPE TOWN: Former South African President Nelson Mandela

has been admitted to a hospital with a recurring lung

infection, South Africa's government has said. Mandela, 94,

has become increasingly frail in recent years and has been

admitted to hospital several times since last year, mostly

recently earlier this month when he received what a

presidential spokesman described as a "successful" medical

test. Mandela was admitted to a hospital just before midnight

on Wednesday "due to the recurrence of his lung infection," the

office of President Jacob Zuma said in a statement. "Doctors are

attending to him, ensuring that he has the best possible expert medical

treatment and comfort," the statement said. It appealed "for understanding and privacy in

order to allow space to the doctors to do their work". Zuma wished Mandela a speedy

recovery, referring to him affectionately by his clan name, "Madiba". aGeNCieS

Us deploys bombersamid korea tensions

Friday, 29 March, 201307

UN set to pass historic arms trade treaty

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:46 AM Page 7

Page 8: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

newsNFriday 29 March, 2013

08 World’s best voters lists prepared with

NADRA’s help. –Ishtiaq Ahmed

PESHAWAR: Residents of Chitral on Thursday protest against the return of former president Pervez

Musharraf to Pakistan. iNP

ISLAMABADSTaFF RePORT

The Free and Fair Election Network(FAFEN)’s District Long-term Observers(DLTOs) observed at least 39 districts be-tween March 1 and 21 and identified 47political developments related to upcom-ing elections, says a press release issuedby FAFEN on Thursday.DLTOs identified 24 significant politicaldevelopments in KP, followed by 10 inSindh, five each in Punjab as well asFATA and three in Balochistan.

The developments pertain to at least12 political parties and independent can-didates. The parties are the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf, the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz, the jamiat ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, the jamiat ulema-e-Islam-Sami, the Pakistan People’s PartyParliamentarians, the Muttahida QaumiMovement , the Pakistan Muslim League-Likeminded , the Awami National Party,the jamaat-e-Islami (jI), the BalochistanNational Party-Mengal, the Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Pakistan and the Awami Mus-lim League.

They observed a total of 47 politicaldevelopments or early campaigning activ-ities in 39 districts. The most develop-ments and campaigning activities werereported in 18 districts of KP (24 devel-opments/incidents), followed by nine dis-

tricts of Sindh (10 developments), fourdistricts of Punjab and five in FATA andthree developments in three districts ofBalochistan.

FAFEN observers recorded nineactivities in districts related to thePTI that can be construed as earlycampaigning or political develop-ments. These activities were reportedin KP, Punjab and FATA.

A total of six election-related activi-ties or developments of the PML-N wererecorded in six districts. The juI-Farranged four political activities in KP.

The juI-S announced the namesof contesting candidates in LakkiMarwat. Yousaf Shah will contestfrom NA-27, Hidayatullah from KP-74, Kalu Khan from KP-75 andHabibullah Haqqani from KP-76.

Former MNA Sardar Mushtaq, whorecently switched from PML-N to PPPP,started election campaign in Haripur.Tough competition is expected in NA-19between the PPPP and a joint candidate ofthe juI-F and PML-N.

In Mirpurkhas, the PML-LMnominated Zahid Hussain Marri tocontest from NA- 226, Arbab Inayat-ullah from PS-66, former senatorGhaffar Qureshi from PS-64 andZulifqar Shah from PS-65.

The PML-Functional finalised thenames of candidates for one NA and threePA seats in umerkot and forwarded themto the PML-F chairman for approval. ForPS-68, the names of Haji Ali BukhshMangrio, Hashmi Memon and BhamroMal Malhi were recommended.

The leaders of ANP – Afrasiab Khat-tak, Mian Iftikhar Hussain and MohsinAli – attended the inaugural ceremony ofKhushal Khan Khattak university inKarak (KP).

In Tribal Area (XII-FRs), the ANPhosted a jirga to finalise Shahi Khan as thecandidate to contest from NA-47. InLakki Marwat, the ANP announced can-didates for various constituencies. Ali Sar-war Khan from NA-27, Sadar uddinKhan from PK-74, Ibrahim Khan fromPK-75 and Humayun Khan Begu Khel

will contest from PK-76.In Panjgur, the BNP-M held a meet-

ing to discuss election strategy and con-cluded that the party leadership wouldfinalise whether to participate in the elec-tion or boycott it.

Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Pakistan Chair-man Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan visited Cha-rasdda to kick off election campaign. Henominated Peer Aftab as party candidateto contest from PK-18 seat. This is thefirst nomination made by the party SOFAR.

The MQM organised a meeting withthe Gujjar community in Shah FaisalTown Karachi and managed to win thecommunity’s support for its candidate inNA-256.

In Rawalpindi, the Awami MuslimLeague (AML) held two public gather-ings in NA-55 and NA-56. In OrakzaiAgency, a potential independent candi-date Ajmal Khan arranged a grand jirgawith the Malik and Shaikhan tribes, urg-ing them to support him in the elections.In Khyber Agency, a potential candidatefrom NA-45 Shahjee Gul funded the re-pair of pavements and clean drinkingwater scheme in order to get the supportof voters.

Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief TahirulQadri addressed a gathering inRawalpindi and announced that his partywould boycott the general elections.

FAFen identifies 47 political developments across countryMOST DEVELOPMENTSAND CAMPAIGNINGACTIVITIES ARE REPORTEDIN 18 DISTRICTS OF KP

DR QADEER VISITSCHARSADDA TO KICK OFFELECTION CAMPAIGN

LONDONaGeNCieS

aBritish Muslim peer who caused outrage byblaming a jewish conspiracy for his imprison-ment over a fatal car crash offered an unre-served apology on Thursday for his“unacceptable” remarks.

Pakistan-born Nazir Ahmed was suspendedfrom the opposition Labour party when thecomments, made to a Pakistani televisionstation, were published in The Times news-paper earlier this month.

Speaking in urdu, the 55-year-old hadattributed a judge’s decision to jail him fordangerous driving four years ago to pres-sure from jews “who own newspapers andTV channels”.

“I completely and unreservedly apologiseto the jewish community, to the judiciary, to thenewspaper owners,” Ahmed said in an interviewwith the Huffington Post in Britain.

Ahmed was appointed in 1998 as Britain’s first Muslimmember of the House of Lords – the second chamber of theBritish Parliament.

He struggled to explain why he made the remarks, saying:“It must have been a twisted mind that said those things.”

When he saw the video on The Times website, “I couldnot believe that this was me,” Ahmed said, adding: “I cannothonestly say why.”

He apologised to his colleagues in the Labour party, fromwhich he was previously suspended in 2012 for allegedly of-fering a bounty for the capture of uS President Barack Obama

and former president George W. Bush. He denied thecomments and was later reinstated. “I’m particu-

larly sorry to all my colleagues in the House ofLords and in the House of Commons, because

one thing many of them know is that I’m notanti-Semitic or a conspiracy theorist,”Ahmed said.

Ahmed was driving along a motorwayin northern England on Christmas Day in2007 when he hit a stationary vehicle,killing the 28-year-old Slovakian driver.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous drivingand in February 2009, a judge sentenced him

to 12 weeks in jail after hearing that he sent fivetext messages in the minutes before the crash. In

the video, Ahmed had claimed that his conviction wasoverturned. The sentence was in fact suspended, and he was

released after serving 16 days in jail, according to The Times.The newspaper claimed the interview on Pakistani televisionwas broadcast in April last year, but Ahmed said it was fromtwo or three years ago.

36 killed inpolitical violencein one week: fAfEN

ISLAMABADSTaFF RePORT

Thirty-six people were killed and 87 in-jured in 16 incidents of political vio-lence between March 16 and 22 acrossthe country, compared with the preced-ing week when 43 were killed and 63injured in 17 incidents, says the Freeand Fair Election Network (FAFEN).During the week under review, threepolitical party workers were also killedand as many injured in three electoralviolence incidents reported in Karachi.Civilians constituted majority of the123 victims – 33 killed and 82 injured.Three security personnel were killedwith another five sustaining injuries.Region-wise Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wasthe most volatile where 21 people werekilled and 48 injured, followed bySindh (15 killed, 34 injured) and FATA(five injured). This week political vio-lence was reported in four districts andtwo tribal agencies, compared with fivedistricts and two tribal agencies in thepreceding week. Karachi was the onlySindh district reporting 10 political vio-lence incidents that claimed lives of 17people, including three MQM workersand two policemen with 28 othersbeing injured. Of these incidents, ninewere aimed at public while one targetedthe state security forces.Nowshera was the second most vio-lent district where 17 people werekilled including women, and 28 in-jured in a car bomb blast at a WorldFood Programme (WFP) food distri-bution point. In a suicide attack on ajudicial Complex in Peshawar, fourpeople, including a policeman, werekilled and 48 others injured. Amongthe injured was a female AdditionalSessions judge. Five security person-nel were injured in an attack on mili-tary personnel in North WaziristanAgency. In another incident in thesuburbs of Peshawar, a CD shop wasblown up by militants. A gas pipelineand government-run school were alsoblown up in jaffarabad and MohmandAgency respectively.Terrorism incidents affected the mostpeople during the reporting week leav-ing 26 people dead and 86 injured ineight attacks - two each in Peshawarand Karachi and one each in Nowshera,jaffarabad, Mohmand Agency andNorth Waziristan Agency.

PAKIStAN NAvyBEEfS UP SECURItyAt gwADAR PoRt,wEStERN CoASt

KARACHISTaFF RePORT

To strengthen the defence of Gwadar Portand to enhance the security of vital assets andinstallations along the western coast, the Pak-istan Navy has achieved a significant mile-stone by commissioning the 3rd Pak MarinesBattalion.The commissioning ceremony was held inGwadar on Thursday. Vice Chief of NavalStaff Vice Admiral Muhammad Shafiq wasthe chief guest.Addressing the ceremony, the chief guestsaid the country was currently facing internaland external threats, which made security themain concern.He said Pak Marines always remained stead-fast and proved their mettle whenever the na-tion called for. “Be defence of border increek areas, air defence of PN assets, securityof sensitive areas, aid to civil power duringnatural disasters or countering cowardly actsof terrorism, the Pak Marines have alwayslived up to the expectations of the nation,” headded.Shafiq said the Pakistan Navy was making allout efforts to equip the Pak Marines withmodern weapons and was also focusing ontheir professional training in line with themodern-day requirements.

Lord Nazir apologises for‘Jewish conspiracy’ remarks

fair elections in

Pakistan in US

interest: US think-tank

WASHINGTON ONLiNe

Center for Strategic and InternationalStudies (CSIS), a united States (uS)based think-tank said holding of fair andpeaceful elections in Pakistan is in uS in-terests.In a report, CSIS said if the people ofPakistan do not recognise the governmentthat comes into power after elections aslegitimate it would be worrisome for thestability of Pakistan as well as for theplanned uS withdrawal from Afghanistan.The report said non-interference of Pak-istan Army in elections was also in uS in-terest, adding that the army should remainfocused on improving the fragile securitysituation in the country.The report further said the uS wouldwork with the newly elected governmentand, therefore, wants that the electionprocess in the country be free, fair andpeaceful. uS policy makers are also aware of thefact that a coalition government wouldlikely face difficulties in decision-makingthat would affect Washington’s policy in-terests, added the report.

Bilawal to take part

in election

campaign: Khosa ISLAMABAD

ONLiNe

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Central Secre-tary General Latif Khosa on Thursday saidthat party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardariwould not only return home in time for elec-tions but will also actively take part in theelection campaign. According to details‚ the PPP leader said thatthe PPP history was rich with sacrifices fordemocracy and its leadership preferred deathwith the workers over asylum in foreigncountries. Khosa denied media reports that BilawalBhutto Zardari had left the country due todifferences with President Asif Ali Zardari.To a question‚ he said the PPP leadership,after completion of the process of nominationpapers, would formulate its strategy regard-ing the election campaign.

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:46 AM Page 8

Page 9: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

news N

09

Friday 29 March, 2013

Success of the UN peace-building

endeavors hinges on adequate financial

resources. – Ambassador Masood Khan

NEWS DESK

For years there have been fears that the Tal-iban were gaining ground in Pakistan’scommercial capital, Karachi. There is nowevidence that the militants’ influence in thecity has hit alarming new levels, reports theBBC.

More than 20 people are gathered out-side a ramshackle house in a suburb ofKarachi.

They say a plot of land, which was theproperty of a local businessman, wasforcibly occupied by a local mafia last Sep-tember, and they are here to complain.

The difference now - and a source ofmuch alarm to those in the know - is thatthis group of Karachi residents are choos-ing to bring their complaint to the Taliban.

After a two-hour session, the Talibanjudge adjourns the hearing to another dateand venue which he says will be disclosedshortly before the hearing.

This mobile Taliban court does notlimit its interests to this one shanty town onthe outskirts of Karachi. It has been arbi-trating disputes across many suburbs in themetropolis.

The Taliban largely emerged in poorareas on the fringes of the city, run-downplaces with little or no infrastructure forhealth, education and civic amenities.

Their mobile courts have been hearingcomplaints for quite some time, but in re-cent months they have also started admin-istering punishments - a sign of theirgrowing clout.

In january, they publicly administeredlashes to an alleged thief after recoveringstolen goods from him. The goods were re-turned to the owner who had reported thetheft.

Suburban TalibanBut the picture is complicated.There is a tussle under way between

mafia groups (becoming more prolific andpowerful in Karachi) who seek to seize landand militant groups who are also grabbingland. This includes the Taliban, for all theirwillingness to arbitrate in these disputes.

It is clear that they want to tighten theirgrip in Pakistan’s biggest city, its commer-cial centre. And they appear to have greatinfluence in those suburbs dominated bythe Pashtun ethnic group.

These include many of the districts onthe edge of the highways and roads leadingto neighbouring Balochistan province.

They have long had a power base in thenorth-west of the country but this entry intoKarachi is a more recent phenomenon.

Indeed while impromptu Taliban courtsare increasingly settling small disputes overproperty, financial theft, robberies andfeuds in Karachi, residents say major issuesare decided in Pakistan’s northern tribalareas - where Taliban strongholds abound.

And when they think their authority isbeing encroached on, they act with deadlyforce: The MQM lawmaker Syed ManzarImam was killed by Taliban gunmen in jan-uary in Orangi town, which borders a Pash-tun area.

One former leader of the Awami Na-tional Party (ANP) - a party of the ethnicPashtun nationalists - recently left Karachiand said more than 25 of his party officeshad been forced to close because of threatsfrom the Taliban.

A senior police officer who does notwish to be named told BBC simply: “Tal-iban are swiftly extending their influence.

“There needs to be a strategy to stemthe Taliban’s rise, otherwise the city willlose other important and central parts tothem,” he says.

Taliban ‘gangs’Muhammad usman is a 26-year-old

Taliban commander from the Swat valley.He came to Karachi after the Pakistaniarmy started an operation in Swat in 2009.

He says he was first part of a group ofSwati Taliban in Karachi and was offeredshelter and safety by them.

After some time, he gradually got in-volved in what he calls “eliminating rivals”in the city.

When questioned about extortion andkidnappings done in the name of the Tal-iban, he said there were several criminalgangs involved and that the Taliban weretrying to put them out of business.

But the response of the public is the ul-timate test for them. One resident of Kan-wari Colony, Muhammad Yousuf Mehsud,says: “I do not know about the Taliban’spresence in the locality, however if theycome here I will welcome them.”

Another, a 45-year-old resident inLandhi, Haji Afridi, says: “The Talibanhave created discontent amongst Pashtuns.”

He says that every Pashtun trader isthreatened with extortion by the Talibanand whoever refuses to pay is killed. “Thepolice are scared of the Taliban and aretherefore reluctant to take action againstthem,” he adds.

A 25-year-old Taliban foot soldier, whoidentified himself as Hussain, describes hismission in Karachi and his comments high-light the nature of the violence that hasdriven the city.

“First, my task was to work with

groups that sought to eliminate members ofthe ANP party and people who spied for thepolice. I am now in a group that is fightingthe MQM activists.”

Volatile ethnic mixThe MQM, which is the dominant po-

litical party in the city, was one of the firstgroups to voice concern over the growingTaliban presence in Karachi.

But Karachi’s ethnic and political land-scape is complex.

The city has long suffered outbreaks ofviolence, some of which is down to mili-tancy, but the bloodshed is also about turfwars between rival ethnic and indeed polit-ical groups.

In recent years the Pashtun communityin the city has grown, and they are seen ascompetition for land and jobs with theurdu-speaking community.

The MQM has long argued that there isa link between the growth of the Pashtuncommunity and the “Talibanisation” of thecity.

But there have also been separate bat-tles over turf between the city’s Balochcommunity - the original inhabitants of thecity - and the MQM.

This violence also makes itself felt po-litically and there is profound antagonismbetween the local chapters of three politicalparties: the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP),

the mostly Pashtun Awami National Party(ANP) and the Muttahida Quami Move-ment (MQM).

So while many point to the increasingpresence of the Taliban, the rate of targetedkillings and spontaneous confrontations be-tween supporters of these rival ethnic andpolitical groups has not let up either.

Karachi’s network of violenceIntelligence sources say that there is

one Taliban chief for the city, and heads ofgroups operating in different areas answerto him.

“Though the government has expressedits resolve to eradicate militancy, other stateinstitutions are not co-operating,” analystProfessor Tauseed Ahmed Khan says.

He argues that the security forces arelosing morale when it comes to the battleagainst the militant groups and adds thatthis is not improved when rebels find iteasy to get released on bail by the courts.

Prof Khan says that if the governmentfails to recognise the threat, the city will de-scend into chaos.

But Sindh’s former Information Minis-ter Sharjeel Inaam Memon says the govern-ment is planning an operation to clampdown on the Taliban. He adds that the gov-ernment has already arrested a large num-ber of militants.

The figures are sobering: at least 2,350people were killed in violence in Karachiin 2012. Over the last six years, more than6,000 people were killed, say police.

The fear for many observers is that theTaliban are drawing their strength from thecontinuing silence of the government and alack of focus by the security forces.

How THe TAlIbAn gRIPPed KARACHIThere is a tussle under way

between mafia groups

(becoming more prolific

and powerful in Karachi)

who seek to seize land and

militant groups who are

also grabbing land. This

includes the Taliban, for all

their willingness to arbitrate

in these disputes.

I do not know about the

Taliban’s presence in the

locality, however if they

come here I will welcome

them. – Yousuf Mehsud, a

resident of Kanwari Colony

ISLAMABADONLiNe

PAKISTAN has ex-pressed concernover continued pres-ence of safe havensof TTP elements in

Kunar and Nooristan provinces ofAfghanistan.

Responding to questions bynewsmen at the weekly newsbriefing in Islamabad on Thurs-day, Foreign Office spokesmanAizaz Ahmad Chaudhry saidthese elements were carrying outundesirable activities against Pak-istan. He said Pakistan had takenup the matter many a times withAfghanistan at all levels andhoped that these TTP safe havenswould be eliminated.

Chaudhry said the presence ofsafe havens was a serious matterbut Pakistan would continue to re-main in cooperative mode as thiswas the best way to defeat evilforces. When his attention wasdrawn towards accusatory state-

ments coming from Afghan pres-ident and foreign minister‚ thespokesman said both sides hadconcerns and Pakistan believedthat the best way to remove con-cerns and misunderstandings wasto keep all channels of communi-cation open.

He said Pakistan was follow-ing a policy of goodwill towardsAfghanistan and wanted its reflec-tion in Afghan policy as well.

Referring to Afghan decisionof not sending military delegationfor a training course in Quetta‚ hesaid training activities were meantto build trust and confidence be-tween the two countries and oneshould not miss that opportunity.

As for the excuse presentedby Afghanistan for the purpose‚the spokesman said there wassome intrusion from Afghan sideand our troops only responded andthat too in a disciplined and re-sponsible manner. He said therewas no artillery shelling as allegedby the Afghan side.

The spokesman emphasisedthat Pakistan and Afghanistan hadto work together in harmony topromote peace not only inAfghanistan but also in the entireregion. Pakistan would continueto make use of its good offices for

bringing reconciliation‚ peace andstability in Afghanistan.

To a question Chaudhry saidPakistan supported intra-Afghandialogue and that was why it in-stantly agreed to release prisonersand provide safe passage toAfghan Taliban at the behest ofAfghan High Peace Council.

About drone attacks‚ he saidPakistan also conveyed its point ofview to the uN special rapporteurwho would be presenting the re-port at the uN Human RightsCouncil and may be at the uNGeneral Assembly session.

Asked to comment on a state-ment by Indian prime ministerabout relations with Pakistan‚ thespokesman said Pakistan believedthat good‚ healthy and construc-tive relationship was in the interestof the people of the two countriesand the region.

About renewed interest beingshown by India for joining IP gaspipeline project‚ he said India hadnot formally approached Pakistanfor the purpose and “we will re-spond when New Delhi does so”.

To a question on the death of anIndian prisoner in Lahore, the FOspokesman said details were beingsought from the Interior Ministryand Home Department of Punjab.

ISLAMABADaPP

Prime Minister justice (R) MirHazar Khan Khoso on Thursdaysaid that he was committed to hold-ing free and fair general elections inthe country.

He directed the Ministry of In-terior to make all necessaryarrangements to achieve the objec-tive of holding free and fair elec-tions.

Attending a meeting held bysenior officials of the Ministry of

Interior to review the overall secu-rity in the country, Khoso was in-formed that at least 600,000applications for renewal of pass-ports were pending because ofshortage of lamination papers. Hewas also told that efforts were un-derway to clear the backlog withina week.

Furthermore, Khoso was in-formed that the ministry was gearedup for elections and had initiatedthe process of collecting intelli-gence in this regard. Furthermore,ministry officials said that efforts

were underway to maintain peacebefore, during and after elections.

Moreover, he was informed that85,000 poling stations were likelyto be established for holding elec-tions. Sensitive polling stations andareas had been identified so thatpolls could be conducted peace-fully.

The prime minister said that theupcoming election was a toughchallenge and urged the law en-forcement agencies to remain alertand impartial to ensure a free andtransparent election.

Pakistan protests ttP

presence in AfghanistanFO SAYS COOPERATIONBEST WAY TO DEFEATEVIL FORCES

Khoso urges officials toensure a safe election

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Justice (r) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso at a briefing given to him by

senior officials of the Ministry of Interior at Prime Minister's Secretariat on Thursday. iNP

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:46 AM Page 9

Page 10: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

CoMMenT

CFriday, 29 March, 2013

10Democracy is being allowed

to vote for the candidate you

dislike least. –Robert Byrne

WHILE violence dur-ing the forthcom-ing election seasonwould remain acountrywide threat,

its recurrence in Balochistan will havefar more grievous implications for thecountry than anywhere else. On the out-come of the elections will dependwhether the province is to become apeaceful and prosperous part of the fed-eration or is to be handed over to terror-ists and separatists. What is needed is toensure that all parties are provided alevel playing field. This is not possibleif candidates holding particular politicalviews or religious inclinations continueto be targeted or if those responsible forthe conduct of the polls are attacked.

The corrupt and inefficient coalitiongovernment which was clubbed togetherthrough political engineering in 2008 wasdisinclined to end the lawlessness that in-cluded kidnappings and killings. Thegovernment considered itself accountableonly to its benefactors in the establish-ment rather than the people of Balochis-tan. The chief minister did not care tovisit his constituency during his entiretenure. His colleagues were equally dis-inclined to look after the people’s wel-fare. It was in fact a matter of commonknowledge that several MPAs were in-volved in acts of kidnapping for ransom.While the absentee chief minister lackedthe ability to govern, lawlessness suitedmany of his colleagues who could con-tinue their nefarious activities in a situa-tion of the sort. None in theadministration was moved even by thehorrendous attacks on the Hazara com-munity in january and February in eachof which scores of innocent members ofthe Shias community were eliminated.

The portents one sees on the eve ofthe elections are disturbing, indeed. Thelaw and order situation continues to begrim. Events over the last four weekscreate apprehensions regarding the se-curity of the candidates and their sup-porters. A district election commissionerwas killed in Quetta. A group of armedmen dressed in Frontier Corps uniformkidnapped Balochistan Assembly mem-ber belonging to the ANP in Pishin dis-trict. Ten persons were killed and 40injured in jaffarabad bomb blast. Seniorjournalist Mehmood jan Afridi was shotdead by unidentified killers in Kalat

town. In Turbat, another group ofunidentified assailants shot four peopleand set their car on fire. Two Punjabiswere killed in Gwadar.

The nationalist and secular partiesare likely to be the chief target duringthe election campaign. It suits some ofthe political parties that were part of theruling coalition to use the terroristsagainst the more popular candidates be-longing to the ANP and the PKMAP. Asusual, these parties would declare thatsecular and liberal views are againstIslam, encouraging their allies amongthe terrorist to rid them of their competi-tors. In the Pushtun areas, thePukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, theANP and the PPP would face threatsfrom the TTP and its affiliates. The rab-idly anti-Shia Lej has been highly activein the province during the last fiveyears, engaging in what amounts to theethnic cleansing of the Hazara commu-nity. Being a part of the TTP which hasvowed to attack the ANP, the PPP andthe MQM, Lej is likely to train its gunsagainst the first two which are takingpart in the elections from the Pushtunareas. The terrorists have over the yearsemployed thestrategic depthavailable to them inthe adjoiningAfghan provincesto launch attacksinside Balochistan.

In Baloch areasthere has been norespite to forceddisappearances,torture and dump-ing of dead bodies.Independent rightsbodies like theHRCP have col-lected enough evi-dence to prove thatthe illegalities wereinitially conductedby the agencies.After the focusturning on them,they have partly handed over the task tohired gangs of killers, which continuethe activity in the Baloch areas with im-punity. The armed killers move about invehicles with coloured glasses pickingup or killing on spot the political ac-tivists belonging to mainstream nation-alist parties. This is the sort ofcounter-productive activity that was un-dertaken in East Pakistan through AlShams and Al Badar. This according tomainstream nationalists is the principalthreat they face during the elections.

The mainstream nationalists arealso threatened by the several ‘armies’setup by separatist organisations withleaders signing death warrants of the op-ponent from the mountains or from for-eign countries. A peaceful resolution ofthe Balochistan issue does not suit thosebent upon secession. For them the main-stream nationalists pose a greater threatthan the law enforcement agencies.

Democracy, they believe, would co-optpopular Baloch and Pushtun politicianswho would mould the public opinion infavour of a united federal Pakistan.Once a democratic mechanism is inplace for a peaceful resolution of theproblems of Balochistan, the pull forseparation would be gone.

Whether the elections in Balochis-tan are peaceful or marred by malprac-tices and bloodshed will depend onwhether the establishment is willing toprovide a fair, even field to the nation-alist and secular parties. The establish-ment decided in 2008 to bring peace inBalochistan through methods altogetheralien to the constitution and law. For thisit chose to have a thoroughly obedientadministration. A lot of political engi-neering was undertaken to put in placea government willing to allow the bru-talities on its own population. The newadministration demanded a price for itscooperation. While voluntarily handingover to the agencies the right to rule theprovince as they pleased, they soughttotal freedom to pillage the resources ofthe state. The bargain was struck.

The five year long experience indi-cates a total failureof the arrangementthus made. Thereis no peace in theprovince. Alien-ation among thepeople ofBalochistan hasclimaxed. Law-lessness has madethe province un-governable. Thereare more attackson the law enforce-ment agencies thanbefore. Pakistan isbeing castigated atworld forums forits human rightsrecord in Balochis-tan. Many in theprovince compareBalochistan with

the Indian controlled Kashmir. WithAkhtar Mengal reiterating his commit-ment to the constitution, democracy andfederation in clear and unambiguousterms, it is no more possible to dismissthe nationalists as anti-Pakistan ele-ments. There is a greater understandingof the plight of the people of Balochis-tan in the rest of the country. They areno more alone.

It goes to the credit of the nationalistparties both from the Pushtun andBaloch areas that undeterred by the dou-ble jeopardy they face they are still will-ing to give democracy a chance. It isnow for the establishment to rectify theblunders it made in 2008 and many moresince, and work hard to ensure peace andequal opportunity for all entities in theelections. The question is, will it?

The writer is a political analyst anda former academic.

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

Terror poses serious threat to elections in KP, BalochistanMilitants and the elections

Balochistan, a caseof double jeopardy

the task ahead

NOW that the caretaker setup has been installed at both the centre and thefederating units, the task ahead, holding of elections culminating in country’sfirst democratic transition, needs to be addressed. But in politics one must be as

skeptical as possible. Though the responsibility of the caretaker setup is not more thanjust ensuring free and fair elections, along with the usual day to day government work,yet the higher moral ground attached with the setup to deliver results requires them notonly to be proficient at what they have to do but also appear to be free from bias,prejudice or partiality to any one party.

Much to their credit, the politicians did come up with a consensus in appointing twointerim chief ministers, former justice Tariq Pervez in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and NawabGhous Bakhsh Barozai in Balochistan, both of them non-controversial and trusted byalmost everyone across the political aisle. However, things have not been that smooth inPunjab and Sindh. The appointment of justice (retd) Zahid Kurban Alavi as caretakerchief minister in Sindh raises quite a few eyebrows. MQM, after remaining in power forfive years, suddenly jumped to the opposition benches and thus was able to manoeuvrethe appointment of caretaker CM. Consequently, the caretaker CM in Sindh faces anuphill task of proving his impartiality along with holding the elections on time.Moreover, the interior Sindh has also seen some turbulence over the appointment becauseof alienation among the PPP’s file and ranks about giving the MQM too much leeway.However it is up to the caretaker CM to prove that this choice was not wrong.

In Punjab, Najam Sethi has been appointed as caretaker CM. His appointment has itstakers and naysayers. He has already served in another caretaker cabinet way back whenthe PPP’s government was dethroned in 1996 and President Leghari oversaw thetransition with the sole aim of hounding the ousted prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Later,when the N League took over power in 1997, it proceeded to prosecute Najam Sethiunder treason charges for declaring Pakistan a failed state at a seminar in New Delhi.

Being on good terms with the top leadership of both parties have made him anacceptable candidate for the PPP and the PML-N. The mere fact that the politicians wereable to settle this issue among themselves and needed no outside force to intervene, is aremarkable feat in itself.

For the caretakers, though, the situation is not rosy. Considering law and ordersituation across the country, particularly violence against minorities and sectarianviolence, their task has gained much greater importance. This should not however stopthem from doing their job, even better would it be if it were done in a befitting manner.

AS the elections get closer, the question that everyone appeared to be ignoring hascome up: will the militants let the elections happen smoothly? The interior ministryhas underlined a ‘significant’ threat, which includes groups ranging from jandullah

to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). With the electedgovernments now dismissed, it is the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), thecaretaker setups and the security agencies that must attempt to temper the problem thatempowered civilian governments could not solve. There are two key problem provinces:Balochistan and Khyber Pakhthunkhwa (KP) with each facing a different set of threats.

Balochistan’s political mainstream has withdrawn from politics and turned tomilitancy. The 2008 elections were boycotted and while these will be better contested,with Akhtar Mengal announcing his intent to contest, Baloch nationalist groups continueto feel going into elections is to be a traitor to the Baloch cause. Coupled with theoperation of rogue sectarian groups allied with the Taliban in Balochistan, it would be amiracle if an uneventful election could be organised in the troubled province.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa offers a different kettle of fish altogether. The TTP and Lashkar-e-jhangvi (Lej) are promising chaos, with the recent announcement that the so-called ‘peacetalks’ have been called off. Bomb attacks and military operations continue to be order ofthe day in the beleaguered province and promising an incident-free election appears to beimpossible. The TTP has also announced its full intent to target the three political partiesstill steadfast against them. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Awami National Party(ANP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) have been specifically threatened.

The fact that there have been two Corps Commanders’ Committee meetings over thepast 20 days appears to have signified the immense importance of maintaining security inthe next two months. The role of security agencies shall now be critical. There needs tobe better coordination between the ISI, MI, IB and other such agencies. The ECP isalready conducting meetings on the security situation and visited Quetta on Thursday toget the low-down on Balochistan and meet Baloch leaders. It received a mixed responseat best, which does not resound well for the future. If questions continue to be asked ofthe election in Balochistan, will it not fuel the Baloch nationalist rhetoric more? And willFATA and PATA, going into election for the first time in Pakistan’s history, be able to gettheir first elected representatives in government?

Elections may offer great hope but not without ensuring the full participation ofcompeting groups in a society. The rising militancy poses a serious threat and it is hopedthat the army and other law enforcement agencies can coordinate well to ensure that theelection period passes smoothly.

The caretakers need to get down to business

The portents are disturbing, indeed

aZiZ-Ud-diN aHmad

Pakistani cricketers

should look to PontingRecently I read in a newspaper that former Australian

cricket captain Ricky Ponting has stated that he wanted

to play another season with Tasmania after they won the

Sheffield Shield competition. Ponting, who retired from

international cricket in December 2012, scored 875 runs

at an average of 87.50 in the season which was the

highest in the season by any batsmen. He was also

named Sheffield Shield player of the year.

“I’ve told Tasmanian cricket this week that I’m

really keen to play on again next year,” Ponting said.“But in the same breath, I’ve also told them not to offerme a contract. I don’t want to take a contracted spot andpull out at the last minute,” he added.

This shows the level of professionalism ofAustralian cricketers. Ponting, still a top performer, hasdeclared he is not sure that whether he will be fully fitto play in a club-level competition.

Contrast that with Pakistan, where many a starcricketer who was unable to perform had to be forcedout. Some senior players in the current Pakistani teammust look towards Ponting and should reconsider theirfutures.

MUBASHIR MAHMOODKarachi

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

A lot of politicalengineering was

undertaken to put inplace a governmentwilling to allow the

brutalities on its ownpopulation. The new

administrationdemanded a price for

its cooperation.

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:46 AM Page 10

Page 11: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

THE Naya Pakistan (NP) came intobeing on May 11, 2013 after PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – formerly a po-litical party, now an authoritative group

consisting of Sahaba-e-Imran – swept the elec-tions in the then democratic Purana Pakistan. ThePTI in collaboration with jamaat-e-Islami (jI)abolished the democratic setup and established acaliphate with Ameer-ul-Momineen, Sardaar-ul-Jihadeen, Umeed-ul-Muslimeen,Dilbar-ul-Khwa-teen, Imran bin Ikramullah Niazi (R.A) elected asthe khalifaby Shura. The idea of Naya Pakistan issaid to be conceived by Habeeb-ul-MujahideenZia-ul-Haq bin Muhammad Akbar (R.A), how-ever, the general consensus is that it was givenbirth in the slip cordon at Lord’s in the summer of1982. Even so, a few academics also believe thatthe Naya Pakistan is actually named after NayaRivera, the star of Glee.

The NP is geographically located in SouthAsia, where Purana Pakistan existed, but its spir-itual location is said to be in the Arabian Penin-sula. The movement for Naya Pakistan – dubbedKhilafat Movement 2.0 by historians – was car-ried out by a group of revolutionaries hailed as the‘Sand Storm’ – formerly called Tsunami, but re-named in synchrony with the spiritual centre’s ge-ography. The revolutionaries tweeted, liked,shared, commented on, trolled and barricaded op-posing viral campaigns en route to getting thehomeland of their choice. “uuper Allah, neechayballa” was the revolutionary chant as the Tsunamibrigade smashed the heads of their doubters onsocial media with proverbial (and sometimes ac-tual) bats.

Among the founding fathers of Naya Pak-istan, Ameer-ul-jI, Minister of Women Enslave-ment & Rape Apology, Munawar bin Hasan (R.A)and Ameer-ul-TTP, Minister of Terror & Militaris-tic Extremism, Hakimullah bin Mesud (R.A), areconsidered to be the most influential. The formercreated a new state at a time when his brethrenwere being sidelined in Bangladesh (formerlyBohat Purana Pakistan), while the latter estab-lished Naya Pakistan’s military and securitymechanism at a time when there was no bigger

threat to any kind of security than the man him-self. Both, Waalid-ul-Apologisteen Munwar binHasan and Daddy-ul-Mujahideen Hakimullah binMesud are considered to be the ideological found-ing fathers of Naya Pakistan.

Other noteworthy leaders of Khilafat Move-ment 2.0 include Rahnuma-ul-Sabiqeen ShahMahmood bin Qureshi (R.A) Minister of Diplo-mat Scanning, Rehbar-ul-Baghi’een javed binHashmi (R.A) Minister of Rebellion, Sufi-ul-Mu-nafiqeen Salman bin Ahmad (R.A) Minister ofLip-synching on Someone Else’s Vocals and Ha-rasser-ul-Majajaneen Abrar-ul-Haq (R.A) Minis-ter of Eve Teasing.

The NP is a caliphate with Wahabbi Islamas the only state religion. The first and only con-stitution of NP was written by the Arabs in 7thcentury AD. The percentage of non-Muslimsliving in the NP is nada per cent, with the defi-nition of a Muslim clearly defined by Shaamat-ul-Kafireen Ehsanullah binEhsan (R.A) in his pamphlet“Now or Never”. Non-Mus-lims are not allowed to setfoot, or any other part oftheir anatomy for that mat-ter, inside the NP.

The NP’s female sup-pression, child abuse andhuman rights violation is insynchrony with Saudi Ara-bia. It’s obsession with reli-gion, extremism andterrorism is said to have ac-tually surpassed the level ofits Arabian godfathers. It isbeing said that the NayaPakistan is basically PuranaSaudi Arabia minus thefairytales.

The NP’s economy tooka nosedive after the Sharaeeeconomists failed to factor inthe minor detail, that thedeity has not bestowed upontheir country the same vol-ume of oil as Saudi Arabia.That and the multi-billion-dollar projects to convert therivers into oases have takenits toll on agriculture and in turn on the nationalGDP, which is measured in number of dates percapita. Furthermore, considering the fact that theNaya Pakistan only engages in trading relationswith ‘true Muslim’ states who have all been giventhe MFN (Muslim Favourite Nation) status, thefiscal deficit is rising and foreign reserves are de-pleting. In a bid to follow the footsteps of theirgodfathers after years of labour, toil and datesplurge, the NP finally resembles the desert land-scape that its founding fathers envisaged.

Despite the fatwa against load shedding and

corruption, declaring them to be haram, the NayaPakistan’s energy crisis doesn’t seem like easingany time soon. The NP’s refusal to take kafir gasthrough IPP (Iran-Purana Pakistan) Pipeline hasalso exacerbated the fiscal dilemma in the coun-try. And hence, International economists havedubbed the NP as the poor momin’s Saudi Arabia.

The NP’s school curriculum declares HazratAdam (AS) as the first Naya Pakistani, whofought off Zionist conspiracies and Hindu na-tionalist movements to safely land on earth. Thetextbooks also highlight how the uS created de-viants and in turn formulated the Shia-Sunni di-vide 812 years before Christopher Columbusactually discovered America. The books also re-veal how every Naya Pakistani is of Arabic eth-nicity and how Indus Valley Civilization is amyth created by the uS, Zionists and India (for-merly Intehai Purana Pakistan) who are all jeal-ous of the greatness of Naya Pakistan.

Some of NP’s culturalsites include: the site onMakran coast whereMuhammad bin Qasim’sfirst footprint in Naya Pak-istan is preserved; MahmoudGhaznavi’s monument inMultan to celebrate themassacre of Ismaeli Shiasback in 1005; and the Ara-bian sea, because well, thename has ‘Arab’ in it. Adja-cent to most of these sitesare Saudi bases, which areused by the uS to launchhalal drone attacks in theneighbouring zones and toprotect the cultural heritageof Naya Pakistan.

Before the inception ofNaya Pakistan, Imran binIkramullah Niazi (RA) andhis Tsunami had their de-tractors. The sceptics calledNaya Pakistan “a movementcarried out by a bunch ofself-important people whobelieve that the only prereq-uisite for change is wantingit.” But the Caliph and the

Tsunami in collaboration with jI proved every-one wrong by conjuring 15 centuries’ worth ofchange in no time. It was a small tweak in theform of revolution that did the trick for NP.While revolution leading up to the creation ofPurana Pakistan was based on driving out the im-perialists, the revolution for Naya Pakistan wasbased on negotiating with terrorists.

The writer is a financial journalist and acultural critic. Email:[email protected], Twitter: @khuldune

CoMMenT CFriday, 29 March, 2013

11It is not in the nature of politics that the best

men should be elected. The best men do not want

to govern their fellowmen. –George MacDonald

Naya PakistanIs like Purana Arabia, minus the fairytales

KUNWaR KHULdUNe SHaHid

Women should wear whatever they want to

the changingfaces of liberalism

THE contro-versy aboutthe politiciza-tion of dress

surfaced two years ago,following the FrenchGovernment’s decision toban the burqa in publicplaces. The Liberals ofthe world were left di-vided as they engaged inheated debates about theprinciples of liberty andthe freedoms of religionand expression. Many ar-gued that such a ban vio-lated the fundamental doctrine of individual freedom while otherscountered that the burqa in effect, inhibited the emancipation ofwomen and served as a tool of sexist domination. Islamic scholarsalso offered their opinions on the validity of face covering—DalilBoubakeur, the grand mufti of the Paris Mosque, issued that theniqab was not prescribed in Islam while the jamaat-e-Islami heldreligious protests in Karachi, turning an important ideological dis-cussion into a technical religious matter. Whether Islam orderswomen to cover their faces is of little significance in a debate thatis essentially about the freedom of choice.

Issuing legal restrictions over any kind of dress is the govern-ment’s way of discreetly exercising power and control over indi-viduals. Defining the parameters of an acceptable dress code ispatriarchal society’s attempt to maintain uniformity; such regula-tions perpetuate a culture where anyone who dares to be differentis treated as a social pariah or deviant. The defining element of fun-damentalism, religious or other kinds, is intolerance towards dif-ference and strict adherence to a specific set of principles. If oneof the primary arguments against the Islamic concept of purdah isthat it symbolizes the subservience of women as it is enforced uponthem through the threat of God’s condemnation, then isn’t banningthe burqa or coercing women not to wear it, based on a similar ide-ology of suppression? Here, God is replaced by The Law whichupheld via the threat of punishment and social disapproval. Reli-gious fundamentalists classify values and beliefs as beyond ques-tion, subsequently placing them in the realm of the Absolute.Deeming an article of clothing as necessarily oppressive and ban-ning it altogether stems from the same branch of absolutist logic.

The argument that the philosophical underpinnings of the burqaconvey the fear of female visibility in the public sphere and by ex-tension, the destabilization of patriarchal authority, genuinelythreatening advances in women’s rights made over the past century,is undoubtedly a strong one. Put simply, the burqa conveys the ideathat women have to carry the burden of morality in society. Yet,are we to promote the active suppression of choice to rally againsta supposed symbol of suppression? I think not. Liberalism standsfor a state in which humans are free and equal, so that any limita-tion of this freedom and equality stands in need of justification. j.SMill’s classic statement on freedom dictates that where no one elseis harmed, a person’s right to self-determination is unconditional.As Mill had it “The only part of the conduct of any one, for whichhe is amenable to society is that which concerns others. In the partwhich merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, ab-solute.” The Western world’s alienation from Islamic culture allowsthem to stereotype the burqa as inevitably oppressive while the factis that some women actively choose to cover themselves andstrange as it may seem, find it empowering. The burqa is a danger-ous tool of repression where it is made compulsory as is the casein many parts of Saudi Arabia, however the principle of obligationand enforcement stands in breach of liberalism more acutely thanthe dress itself. In a culture such as ours, it is difficult determinewhether a woman has chosen to cover herself or whether she isbeing forced to do so. As the prominent American philosopher,Martha Nussbaum, argues, choices are distorted by “adaptation to(and even eroticisation of) a state of affairs in which men’s desirefor control governs the course of life.” Yet, in circumstances inwhich women explicitly say they want to be covered, head to toe,skepticism about their choices does seem like a curiously illiberaldirection for liberalism to head in. Sure, we can try to change an-other person’s mind, but we cannot coerce or harass them on mat-ters which can reasonably be called private, even if it goes againstwhat the majority in the community feel is ‘right’. It is importantto differentiate between ‘speaking as a woman’ and ‘speaking forwomen’ as the first type of discourse is based on the principle ofessentialism which presupposes that all women have similar needs,desires and opinions. The ban on the burqa epitomizes ‘speakingfor women’ by perpetuating the idea that the burqa is oppressivefor all women and must be prohibited, undermining personal choiceand the right to self-determination. Former French presidentNicholas Sarkozy’s statement that the “the burqa is not a sign ofreligion, it is a sign of subservience” is reminiscent of a fundamen-talist’s proclamation that a bikini is surely an indication of immod-esty. What is missing in such discourses on modesty and oppressionis the voice of the wearer, the woman, the one who should ulti-mately decide what, if anything, her clothes stand for.

The attempt to regulate how women adorn their bodies is a wayof strengthening patriarchal authority. As a feminist, liberal and awoman, but more so, as a human being, I believe that my body be-longs only to me. While I do not advocate the burqa or support anyother symbolic manifestation of oppression, I do believe thatwomen have a right to choose to wear the burqa - or whatever elsethey wish to wear.

The writer is a staff member of Pakistan Today and holds a degree from Mount Holyoke College.

Nadia KHaWaja

The books also revealhow every Naya

Pakistani is of Arabicethnicity and how

Indus ValleyCivilization is a myth

created by the US,Zionists and India(formerly Intehai

Purana Pakistan) whoare all jealous of the

greatness of NayaPakistan.

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:46 AM Page 11

Page 12: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

Silence remains,

inescapably, a form of

speech.—Susan Sontag

arts

AFriday, 29 March, 2013

12

game ofthrones actorgets ear bitten off

So much for being civil: A British

actor had his ear partly bitten off

yesterday after asking people in

a hotel to quiet down, the BBC reports.

Clive Mantle, 55—who acted in the first

season of Game of Thrones—was pinned

down to the ground in a Travelodge and

had the top part of his right ear chewed

off, said a rep for his agent. Luckily

surgeons managed to sew it back on,

but “he is very shaken and shocked by

what has happened,” said the rep. “You

don’t expect this kind of thing to happen

in a hotel.” Mantle’s agent tells

the Mirror a fuller story: The 6-foot, 5-

inch actor told a man outside his room

to keep things quiet—but when noise

resumed, Mantle found “two drunken

Scotsmen” in the hall. Mantle

threatened to call security, and one of

the men attacked: “It was savage,” the

agent said. Now Mantle says he may

have to stop touring with a play that had

just finished a run in Newcastle. Police

say a 32-year-old Scottish man was

arrested for wounding with intent and

released on bail; a 22-year-old man was

released without charge. NeWS deSK

Literary giantChinua Achebedead at 82

CHINuA Achebe, the

internationally celebrated

Nigerian author, statesman, and

dissident who gave literary birth to

modern Africa with Things Fall Apart and

continued for decades to rewrite and

reclaim the history of his native country,

has died following a brief illness. He was

82. His eminence worldwide was rivaled

only by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni

Morrison, and a handful of others.

Achebe was a moral and literary model

for countless Africans and a profound

influence on such American writers as

Morrison, Ha Jin, and Junot Diaz. As a

Nigerian, Achebe lived through and

helped define revolutionary change in his

country, from independence to

dictatorship to the disastrous war

between Nigeria and the breakaway

country of Biafra in the late

1960s. Things Fall Apart, a short novel

about a Nigerian tribesman’s downfall at

the hands of British colonialists, was

initially rejected by several publishers. It

has since sold more than 8 million copies

worldwide and has been translated into

more than 50 languages. Achebe never

did win the Nobel Prize, which many

believed he deserved, but in 2007 he

didreceive the Man Booker International

Prize, a $120,000 honor for lifetime

achievement. NeWS deSK

NEWS DESK

Angelina jolie may havetaken off her blinding diamondengagement ring during her hu-manitarian visit to Africa thisweek, but the fact that the 37-year-old replaced it with a goldband seemed to take more atten-tion away from her cause than herpricey rock would have.

Headlines around the webhave been touting the fact joliewas wearing the “mysterious”ring, and speculating on whetherthe mom of six and fiancé BradPitt actually secretly tied the knot.

More than likely, jolie, whoserves as a special envoy to theu.N.’s refugee agency, simply re-placed the ring with the simplerband out of respect, preferring notto tour refugee camps while don-ning an extravagant gemstonethat’s reported to be 16 carats andworth at least $500,000.

The “Changeling” star hasbeen traveling with British For-eign Secretary William Hagueand met with survivors of sexual

assaults at a Congo refugee campto raise awareness about the factthat, in many parts of the world,rape is frequently used as aweapon of war.

The issue is one jolie hasbeen passionate about for sometime and brought to the bigscreen when she wrote and di-rected 2012’s “In the Land ofBlood and Honey,” a film fo-cused on the Bosnian war, in-cluding the mass rapes thatoccurred during that time.

“We often find temporary so-lutions and we talk a lot but it’snot often that you find somebodywho is working on an initiativethat is so much about finding so-lutions and finally putting an endto this,” jolie told Britain’s Chan-nel 4 News during a stop inRwanda on Monday. “I know itsounds like a big dream, but it’sfinally time and I think it is pos-sible to put violence againstwomen and rape as a crime ofwar as absolutely the center ofwhat we must tackle. Thesewomen need our help.”

NEWS DESK

fAMOuS Pakistan pop singer, Atif Aslam,is all set to tie the knot with SaraBharwana on Friday (tomorrow) inLahore. Families of the couple and close

relatives will participate in the weddingceremony. The rasm-e-hina was scheduled forWednesday, 27th March.

According to sources, the Walima receptionwill be held on 31st March at the Royal Palmclub. Atif Aslam also made a specialannouncement for his 4.8m fans on Facebook.

“Dear Aadeez, u guys have always been apart of my family and have stood by me throughmy incredible highs and not so incredible lows. Iam delighted to let all of you know that… Herinsan ka zindagi main aik na aik din WIYAAAHhona hota hayyy… and my Big day has finallyarrived with your prayers. ALLAH has endowedme with a wonderful life partner. I would requestall of you to continue praying for us as you havealways being doing in the past for me.”

Sarah Bharwana completed her educationfrom Kinnaird College for Women in Lahore.

Atif Aslam ties the knot

Jolie’s ring swap backfires, stealsfocus from humanitarian trip

No Holi forHrithik Roshanthis year

NEWS DESK

BOLLYWOOD might be known forits famous Holi parties, but thisyear, Hrithik Roshan will refrain

from joining in the revelry.“Hrithik won’t be celebrating Holi as amark of solidarity with those who aresuffering from the acute water shortage inMaharashtra. Instead, he will only use asmall amount of gulaal to apply a shaguntika as part of the traditional ritual,” saysan insider close to him.According to the source, Hrithik feelsthat even dry colours should be usedsparingly. If used in excess, they require alot of water to be washed off, thusdefeating the purpose of waterconservation.The insider adds, “Like Hrithik, even theother members of the Roshan family willkeep the celebrations low-key. They willtake part in the morning puja and thenspend some time together”.

Oft, in the stilly night,

Ere slumber’s chain has bound me,

Fond memory brings the light

Of other days around me;

The smiles, the tears,

Of boyhood’s years,

The words of love then spoken;

The eyes that shone,

Now dimm’d and gone,

The cheerful hearts now broken!

Thus, in the stilly night,

Ere slumber’s chain hath bound me,

Sad memory brings the light

Of other days around me.

When I remember all

The friends, so link’d together,

I’ve seen around me fall,

Like leaves in wintry weather;

I feel like one

Who treads alone

Some banquet-hall deserted,

Whose lights are fled,

Whose garlands dead,

And all but he departed!

Thus, in the stilly night,

Ere slumber’s chain

has bound me,

Sad memory

brings the light

Of other days

around me.

THoMAs MooRe (28 May 1779 – 25

February 1852)

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:46 AM Page 12

Page 13: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

Happiness in intelligent

people is the rarest thing I

know.—Ernest Hemingway

13ARTsFriday, 29 March, 2013

A

NEWS DESK

PRINCE William enjoys his hero status. TheBritish royal, who’s expecting his first child withwife Kate Middleton in july, opened up about hisday job as a rescue pilot, which has earned him

many headlines for being a real-life Superman.“There’s no greater feeling than when you’ve actu-

ally done some good and saved someone’s life,” the 30-year-old says in the BBC documentary “HelicopterRescue,” which airs in the united Kingdom in April.

“I don’t think there’s any greater calling in life … tobe able to see a son or daughter’s face when you bringtheir mother or father back from the edge of death – it’squite powerful.” Despite his affinity for being part of theu.K.’s RAF Search and Rescue Force, William has re-portedly given his notice and will conclude his tour withthis summer, according to a new report in us Weekly.Continuing on in that particular role is something he’sbeen debating the last few years as his royal duties in-crease – he is the heir to the British throne, after all –and now he also has a baby on the way.

“William is ready to take on new challenges – as aroyal and within the armed forces,” an insider tells themagazine, noting that William “will be making an an-nouncement within the next month and leave RAF Val-ley around the time of the birth.”

A spokesperson for the prince denies that a decisionhas been made. However, William might not be the oneto make the final call about his future with the RAF. Itwas announced earlier this week that the search-and-rescue helicopter service is set to be privatized. Afterbeing operated by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Forcefor more than 50 years, an American company – theTexas-based firm Bristow – will be taking over andWilliam and his fellow pilots will be out of work.There is some time before that happens though — thechange becomes official in 2015. William and Katehave been spending time at their Anglesey, Wales, cot-tage – which is near the prince’s base – but they are inthe process of remodeling an apartment in London’sKensington Palace, which will be their main base laterthis year after the royal wee one arrives.

NEWS DESK

tHE southern film industry is far moretraditional than Bollywood, which caters toa wider audience and gives opportunitiesto women in technical fields, says

actress Asin Thottumkal after a five-year stint inHindi films. “The south Indian film industry ismore traditional. This reflects in their work. Thecultural differences, language and approach arecompletely different, while Bollywood is moreopen and caters to a wider audience,” Asin toldIANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.There is another key difference, she added. Downsouth “people are ready to accept you the way youare. They appreciate and value simplicity. Youdon’t have to wear make-up or be in yourglamorous image when you make public

appearances”. “Whereas in Bollywood, it’sabout creating a star image, a style quotient

that you have to carry throughout. You haveto be in the glamorous image all the time,”

said the actress who made a big name forherself in Tamil and Telugu films beforeshe moved to Hindi cinema. Asin, whodebuted opposite Aamir Khan in the 2008hit “Ghajini”, said Bollywood gives achance to women in varied spheres. “On

the sets, I see a lot of young womentechnicians, women camerapersons,

hairdressers, makeup artists, dress designers,stage designers and technicians... It’s not thesame in the south,” she said.

The 27-year-old however feels the barrierbetween the two industries is slowlydiminishing. Bollywood filmmakers havetaken inspiration from Tamil and Telugu

films and remade them in Hindi. “Yuva”,“Singham”, “Rowdy Rathore” and “Wanted” aresome examples. She is glad “the trend is growingat a fast pace”. “The main purpose is to entertainviewers and that is undoubtedly being done. I alsolike the fact that a lot of young writers anddirectors are coming in with fresh originalscripts,” she added. Aamir, Salman Khan, AkshayKumar... Asin has romanced some of the top-notch actors of Hindi cinema on the big screen inthe last five years and says teaming up with bignames helps in growth.

She says she feels “blessed” that Hindi moviebuffs had accepted her. “It’s not easy.” “Those whomigrate from Tollywood or Kollywood or freshersdo not really get to work with A-listers. Workingwith them helps in growth. I am lucky. I workedwith Aamir Khan and A.R. Rahman in my firstfilm ‘Ghajini’. But I have also put in a lot of hardwork to be where I am today,” she said. Beforeentering Hindi films, she was already a star in thesouth Indian film industry and featured in filmslike “Chakram”, “Varalaru” and “Dasavathaaram”.Apart from movies, the 27-year-old keeps herselfbusy with endorsements, but her wish list includesmore Bollywood projects. Asked what kind of rolesshe was eyeing, Asin said: “I would like to do well-written fresh characters. So far I have played a funloving girl-next-door. Now I would like to trysomething different, something more challengingand exciting.” “Ready”, “Housefull 2” and “BolBachchan” are some of her recent Hindi releases.Many film stars are dabbling in television but thesmall screen is not for Asin. “I haven’t thoughtabout it. It’s good that film personalities areappearing on TV as hosts or judges but I am notready for it. I won’t do it,” she said.

williamtalks aboutsaving lives

In B’wood, you have to be in theglamorous image all the time: asin

NEWS DESK

A brisk Tuesday morn-ing didn’t stop DavidBeckham from takinghis daughter, Harper,on an adorable strollthrough their WestLondon neighborhood.The father-daughterduo bundled up incolor-coordinated out-fits as they walkedalong holding hands.The doting Dad rockeda black puffer vest, agrey beanie, and redsneakers, while 20-month-old Harperstayed in step with herown red footwear, leg-gings, and red puffercoat. While their en-sembles were matchy-matchy, there is oneaccessory we bet littleHarper won’t be show-ing off anytime soon: A gianttattoo like the one her Dad puton display in China earlier thisweek. The soccer star, whoditched the L.A. Galaxy to jointhe Paris-St. Germain footballclub this year, was recentlynamed China’s first interna-tional ambassador and was in-vited by the China FootballAssociation to promote his fa-

vorite sport. During his travels,a fan asked Becks for a glimpseof his body ink and he gladlyobliged, lifting his shirt to revealhis Chinese hanzi tattoo whichreads, “Death and life have de-termined appointments. Richesand honor depend uponheaven.” After all of his jetset-ting, the 37-year-old lookedcontent to be spending somequality time with his little lady.

david Beckham andharper’s London outing

Sanjay Dutt turnsto Salman, Ajayfor help

NEWS DESK

wHILE there is a growing clamourfor clemency to Sanjay Dutt on theone hand, the actor faces a very

real possibility of imprisonment for three-plus years on the other.Not surprisingly, for the past few days, ananxious Dutt has been trying to tie the looseends, given the limited time frame he hasbefore surrendering to the court.The actor has been calling close friends,pleading with them to take care of wifeManyata and their three kids in his absence.He has also been rather worried about thefuture of his production house, consideringManyata does not have the requisiteexperience to single-handedly run the show.Sources reveal the couple has approachedDutt’s closest buddies, Salman Khan andAjay Devgn, to help them, and Salmanand Ajay have readily agreed. So muchso, the duo have promised to star in thefilms produced by the Dutt banner,should the need arise.

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:46 AM Page 13

Page 14: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

NEWS DESK

The rings around Saturn are bodies that have been aroundfor more than 4 billion years, from a time when the solarsystem was in its infancy, according to NASA. The recentcoloring on the rings' surface is due to recent "pollution"from a rain of meteoroids from beyond the solar system.

The data, obtained by the Cassini's visual and in-frared mapping spectrometer (VIMS), has now shownhow rings made of water and ice are spread across theSaturnian system. The analysis of spectrometer revealedthat the color on the rings is limited to the surface.

Researchers hypothesize that the water ice levelsaround Saturn is too great to be deposited by passingcomets. Instead, they suggest that the rings might haveformed when the solar system bodies were being formedout of the protoplanetary nebula. Since Saturn resides be-yond the Sun's 'snow line', the temperature is cold enoughto preserve the ice. Gianrico Filacchione, a Cassini par-ticipating scientist at Italy's National Institute for Astro-physics, Rome, has published a paper on the subject inthe Astrophysical journal. "Studying the Saturnian systemhelps us understand the chemical and physical evolutionof our entire solar system. We know now that understand-ing this evolution requires not just studying a single moonor ring, but piecing together the relationships intertwiningthese bodies," said Filacchione in a news release.

The coloration of the rings and moons around Saturndepends on their location in the system, researchersfound. For example, bodies belonging to the inner circleare most likely whitish, while those farther out are red-dish. "Observing the rings and moons with Cassini givesus an amazing bird's-eye view of the intricate processesat work in the Saturn system, and perhaps in the evolu-tion of planetary systems as well. What an object lookslike and how it evolves depends a lot on location, loca-tion, location," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project sci-entist, based at jet Propulsion Laboratory.

InFotaInMent

IFriday, 29 March, 2013

14Let the beauty of what

you love be what you

do. –Jalaluddin Rumi

NEWS DESK

COMMONLY used pesticides aredamaging honey bee brains,studies suggest.Scientists have foundthat two types of

chemicals called neonicotinoids andcoumaphos are interfering with theinsect's ability to learn and remember.Experiments revealed that exposure was alsolowering brain activity, especially when the twopesticides were used in combination. The researchis detailed in two papers in NatureCommunications and the journal of ExperimentalBiology. But a company that makes thesubstances said laboratory-based studies did notalways apply to bees in the wild. Andanother report, published by the Defra'sFood and Environment Research Agency(Fera), concluded that there was no linkbetween bee health and exposure toneonicotinoids. The government agency carried out a studylooking at bumblebees living on the edges of fields treated with

the chemicals. Honey bees around the world are facing an uncertain future.They have been hit with a host of diseases, losses of habitat, and in the

uS the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder has caused numbers toplummet. Now researchers are asking whether pesticides are also

playing a role in their decline. To investigate, scientists lookedat two common pesticides: neonicotinoids, which are used to

control pests on oil seed rape and other crops, and agroup of organophosphate chemicals called

coumaphos, which are used to kill the Varroa mite,a parasite that attacks the honey bee.Neonicotinoids are used more commonly in

Europe, while coumaphos are moreoften employed in the united

States. Work carried out by theuniversity of Dundee, in

Scotland, revealed that if thepesticides were applied directly to the

brains of the pollinators, they caused aloss of brain activity. Dr Christopher Connolly said:"We found neonicotinoids cause an immediatehyper-activation - so an epileptic type activity - this

was proceeded by neuronal inactivation, where thebrain goes quiet and cannot communicate any more. The

same effects occur when we used organophosphates.

Angry birds could take overthe entertainment world

Doctor accusedin 300 deaths

A Brazilian doctor who appeared in

court for allegedly killing seven

patients, could be responsible for up

to 300 deaths to free up hospital beds

in the southeast city of Curitiba,

multiple media reports suggest.

Virginia Helena Soares de Souza

recruited a group of doctors to help

administer lethal doses of anesthetics,

sedatives and painkillers, according to

authorities. In addition, the group

allegedly altered oxygen levels for

patients, leading to deaths by

asphyxiation, police said.

Seven other health care professionals

have been charged in the case.

Prosecutors allege de Souza pulled

the plug on victims against the wishes

of patients and their families, and in

so doing broke the law. She did that

to free up beds in the ICu and clear

up the “clutter” the patients were

causing, according to police.

De Souza was arrested in February,

but was later released until trial. Her

court appearance Wednesday is part of

mandated monthly appearances to

avoid going back to jail. Investigators

say between 2006 and 2013, de Souza

ordered medical professionals working

under her at an intensive care unit to

alter medication and oxygen levels.

In an interview with CNN affiliate TV

Globo, Mario Lobato, the doctor tasked

by the health ministry to investigate

the case, said the number of deaths

could be much higher. NeWS deSK

James Holmesoffers to pleadguilty to avoiddeath penalty

It's possible the legal case involving

Colorado shooting suspect James

Holmes could be wrapped up in a

matter of days. His attorneys said

today he is willing to plead guilty and

take a life sentence without possibility

of parole in order to avoid the death

penalty, reports the Denver Post.

Prosecutors were talking to victims'

families—12 people were killed in the

theater massacre and about 60

injured—and had not decided whether

to accept the deal or pursue a death

penalty conviction. If they accept, all

could be resolved at the next scheduled

court appearance on April 1. NeWS deSK

Strange creature picksits sex at random

With seven different sexes to choose from,

the single-celled organism Tetrahymena

thermophila determines its biological mating

type in a game of molecular chance, new

research finds. Tetrahymena are oval-shaped

protozoa that live in freshwater. These

microscopic organisms come in seven

different "sexes," or mating types. Any

Tetrahymena sex can mate with any other

mating type except its own.

Even more intriguing to biologists is that it

doesn't matter what mating types two

Tetrahymena parents are. In fact, their

offspring can be any one of the seven. That

observation had some strange genetic

implications, as parents typically would pass

on their own mating-type genes to their

progeny. But even though scientists have

known about Tetrahymena's seven mating

varieties for 60 years, they have only now

discovered how the individuals select their

type. "Finally, we had the resources to get at

the molecular basis of it ― to actually

discover the mating-type genes, what their

sequence is, and how it is that the cells have

the potential for many mating types and only

end up expressing one ― a random one,"

study researcher Eduardo Orias, a biologist at

the University of California, Santa Barbara,

told LiveScience. By peering into the

Tetrahymena genome, the researchers found

the equivalent of a cellular roulette wheel.

The organisms have two nuclei apiece. One,

the somatic nucleus, contains the DNA that

does the daily work of the cell. The other, the

germline nucleus, acts like the cells in the

ovaries or testes of humans. The DNA in the

germline passes along traits to offspring.

[Sex Quiz: How Animals Really Do It]

When two Tetrahymena fuse in their version

of single-cell sex, they produce a gamete

nucleus, which is the protozoan equivalent of

a fertilized egg in humans. This fertilization

nucleus starts making copies of itself, some

of which are destined to become germline

nuclei and some of which are somatic.

It is during this step that the mating type is

chosen, the researchers found. Each germline

nucleus holds an array of incomplete gene pairs

― one for each of the organism's seven sexes.

The cell joins and completes one of these gene

pairs randomly, thus setting the cell's mating

type. The rest of the incomplete gene pairs

are thrown out, said the report, released by

Orias and his colleagues today (March 26) in

the journal PLOS Biology. NeWS deSK

NEWS DESK

Forget your visit to Disney World.Your kids might prefer Angry BirdsLand. OK, Angry Birds Landdoesn’t exist yet — not in the unitedStates, at least — but the maker ofthe wildly popular mobile game isbranching into other realms, frommovies to theme parks, in a sign ofwhat’s in store for the future of en-tertainment. One minute a game is a99-cent smartphone distraction, andthe next it’s a rival to Disney.

If you haven’t heard of AngryBirds (unlikely), or played it (quitepossible), Angry Birds is a gamethat’s all about using slingshots tolaunch birds at pigs. The concept isridiculous, and the reality is addic-tive. You can now play various ver-sions of the game, including AngryBirds Star Wars, Seasons, and Rio.

In just three years, the game hasbeen transformed from an amusingiPhone diversion from a Finnishcompany into a worldwide culturalphenomenon, with T-shirts, postersand movie tie-ins. It didn’t exist, andthen it was everywhere.

Rovio, the maker of the game, isnow capitalizing on this and expand-ing far beyond its roots as an iPhonegame. As you would expect, the game

is now available on other mobilephones and tablets. You can also playit on videogame consoles and theRoku television streaming device. AnAngry Birds area opened at theSärkänniemi Adventure Park in Fin-land last summer, and others are

planned around the world. An AngryBirds exhibit, “Angry Birds Space En-counter,” opened recently at KennedySpace Center in Florida. And johnCohen, producer of “Despicable Me,”has been enlisted as producer of aRovio-financed Angry Birds movie.

saturn rings have been around for four billion years

Pesticides 'damage brains of bees'

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:47 AM Page 14

Page 15: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

Hafeez reckons SAtour will benefitPakistan in future

sPoRTs

SFriday, 29 March, 2013

15Police are investigating an incident at a bar in Merivale in the early

hours of this morning. Police can confirm the incident involved Jesse

Ryder and that he is in Christchurch Hospital. – A police statement read

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

PAKISTAN'S T20 skipper Mohammad Hafeezbelieves that their just-concluded tour to SouthAfrica will benefit the side in future assignmentsincluding the ICC Champions Trophy. Hafeez said

the learning from facing South African bowlers in hostileconditions will be visible in his side's performance in theupcoming matches. "Obviously, the way we lost the Test seriesin South Africa was very disappointing for us but we cameback strongly in the T20 match and the One-day series andfinished on a positive note. Having played such tough cricketit will benefit us for future assignments," Hafeez said.

Hafeez, who returned home from South Africa onTuesday, turned up for the Lahore Lions side in the nationalSuper Eight T20 Cup and scored a blistering hundred againstMultan Tigers. The 32-year-old urged his Pakistan teammatesto play in domestic competitions regularly in order to raisethe profile of the national level events. "It is good to see thatall the top players are playing in this event and I think ourplayers need to play domestic cricket regularly to enhancethe importance of our domestic cricket specially sinceinternational teams are not touring Pakistan since 2009," hesaid. Hafeez pointed out that there was also a need tointroduce more professionalism in domestic cricket. "Oursolid cricket future depends on how well organised and

competitive our domestic cricket is. We should have moreprofessional coaches and trainers in domestic events," hesaid. With the exception of Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi,Muhammad Irfan and Saeed Ajmal all the other players whowent to South Africa are appearing in the national T20 event.

SYDNEYaGeNCieS

Former Australian captain Steve Waughthinks Ausatralia shouldn't beunderestimated during the upcoming Ashesseries. Photo by: Lynne Sladky SteveWaugh raises an eyebrow when askedwhether it would be a permanent blow to theAustralian ego if England were to win theirthird Ashes series in a row this summer.

‘Sure,’ he says, shifting uncomfortablyin his chair. ‘You caned us in the Olympicsas well. Behave yourselves — it’s allgetting a bit out of control.’ The formerAustralia captain was in London’s OlympicStadium on Super Saturday last August andhas just been discussing the ‘damaged’ stateof Australian sport, yet is still managing alaugh. But only just.

Waugh is far more confident whendiscussing how Australia — the fourth bestTest side in the world who have just beenthrashed 4-0 in India and dropped four

players for not doing their homework —will relish their role of underdogs when thefirst Ashes Test begins at Trent Bridge onjuly 10. ‘It’s much the same as when I firsttoured in 1989 and they said we were theworst team ever to come over and we won4-0,’ says Waugh, who scored 506 runs insix Tests on that first trip to England. ‘Wewould have won 6-0 except for the rain.

‘You play with more freedom whenyou’re the underdogs, and if things gowrong, you don’t get criticised as muchbecause people predicted that anyway. Youcan play with a sense of freedom.

‘I don’t think we’ll be that much theunderdogs by the time it comes round,though. The Ashes will be a lot closer thanpeople are saying.’

This is more like it. Waugh declines togo down the Glenn McGrath route andpredict a 5-0 victory for Australia, butadmits he ‘would not be surprised’ if hiscountrymen can wrestle back that preciousurn in England this summer.

Waugh predicts Aussie Ashes ambush

younis mulling toquit oDI cricket

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

Pakistan’s senior Test cricketer and formerskipper Younis Khan is mulling over to takeretirement from the limited overs’ cricket.Despite getting responsibility of leadingAbbottabad team in national T20tournament, Younis did not led his team andhanded over the captaincy to young junaidKhan.Though junaid told media that Younis couldnot come to participate in the tournamentdue to some domestic reasons, reportsquoting the cricketer’s close sources saidthat Khan is seriously mulling over toresign from ODI cricket.The 35-years-old Younis Khan, who quittedthe T20 international cricket in 2009 afterwinning the World Cup for his country, isalso looking unhappy with his performanceduring South Africa tour.

England women'steam to playPakistan in Louth

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

The England women's cricket team willplay Pakistan in a one-day internationalmatch in Louth.The sides will face each other on Monday,july 1 at Louth Cricket Club as part of SOFestival 2013.It is the first time an international match hasbeen played in the county.Information on how to buy tickets has yet tobe released by East Lindsey DistrictCouncil.Councillor Adam Grist, portfolio holder forculture, leisure and tourism at the authority,said: "The district council has workedclosely with the ECB and England Women'sCricket Team for a number of years, andwe're delighted to secure Lincolnshire's firstever senior international cricket fixture."The game will be played at London RoadCricket Ground in Louth."This is fantastic news for East Lindsey andputs this area firmly on the sporting map."The match is part of East Lindsey Live, acalendar of sporting, heritage and culturalevents to showcase the district and attractvisitors.It coincides with SO Festival 2013, whichwill transform the district into aninternational arts venue with spectacularvisual art, street theatre, performers anddance acts.

ICC macepresented to Smith

JOHANNESBERGaGeNCieS

South Africa captain Graeme Smith onThursday received the prestigious RelianceICC Test Championship mace and enhancedprize money of uS$450 000 (approximatelyR4.1 million) for leading the team that finishedon top of the ICC Test Championship table onthe annual cut-off date of 1 April. This is thefirst time, since the current ranking system wasintroduced in 2003 that South Africa hadfinished as the number-one ranked test side onthe 1 April cut-off date. Vince van der Bijl,former Natal, Transvaal and Middlesex fastbowler and currently ICC’s umpires andReferees Manager, presented the mace toSmith who also collected the cheque ofuS$450 000 from Cricket South Africa (CSA)president Chris Nenzani along with SouthAfrica’s Minister of Sport and Recreation MrFikile Mbalula, in a ceremony that was stagedat the Long Room Extension, The Wanderersin johannesburg. At the presentation, Smithsaid: “I am truly honoured and humbled toreceive the Reliance ICC Test Championshipmace and prize money, not just on behalf ofmyself, the players and the team managementbut on behalf of all South Africans. We allappreciate the enormous privilege ofrepresenting our country and taking on theresponsibility that goes with it.” Van der Bijlsaid: “The mace is a symbol of excellence andrecognition of a side’s outstandingachievement in the toughest and mosttraditional format of the game. “South Africahas all the reasons to be proud of its feat as it isonly the fourth team after Australia, India andEngland to hold the mace. South Africaclaimed the mace from the then No 1 sideEngland in the last English summer and thensuccessfully retained it by winning all the fivehome tests.” CSA president Chris Nenzanisaid: “It gives me the greatest pleasure tocongratulate coach Gary Kirsten, captainGraeme Smith and other members of the testsquad on their achievement of becoming theNo 1 side on the Reliance ICC TestChampionship Table and staying at the top forwhat we hope will be a considerable period oftime. “As we all know from past experience itis one thing to gain the No 1 ranking but itbecomes even harder to retain it and theProteas are well into their first year at the top.They have also opened up a considerable gapbetween themselves and their challengers andat various stages they have had the number-one batsman (Amla), the number-one bowler(Dale Steyn) and the number-one allrounder(jacques Kallis) in this format of the game.

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal is set to undergo surgery on agroin hernia, having aggravated the injury during the one-dayseries against South Africa, but says it's not a seriousproblem and he'll be back in action soon. Ajmal is backin Pakistan though is not playing domestic cricketafter advice from his doctors. If he has the operation,it will require a few weeks' rest, and he is set to be fit intime to face Scotland in May, and the Champions Trophy injune. Ajmal was quoted by Cricinfo: "I have been sufferingpain for the last couple of months in my groin. Itincreased during the South Africa ODI series and nowI have been advised to take rest until my doctorsassess if it needs surgery. "I have a feeling that I needsurgery but I will wait for the doctor's advice. I amcurrently in Faisalabad and scheduled to see adoctor in Lahore this week. "In any case Iwill be fit by the next internationalcommitment, as it is not a majoroperation. It normally takes two tothree week of recovery time."

MOHAMMAD HAFEEZ HAS URGEDPAKISTAN CRICKETERS TO PLAY IN THEDOMESTIC TOURNAMENTS

Ajmal set for hernia surgery

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:47 AM Page 16

Page 16: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

FAISALABAD andRawalpindi got winson day three of theFaysal Bank Super

Eight T-20 Cup here at theGaddafi stadium on Thursday.Faisalabad Wolves won byseven wickets with six ballsremaining while RawapindiRams ruled the day on aDuckworth Lewis method afterevening rain ruined the day forBahawalpur.

Rawalpindi Rams, however,got 20 runs win with the D/L

method. Rawalpindi Ramsreached 145 for five in 18 oversand after a revised target to beachieved in 13 overs, BahawalpurStags could got to 96 in 12.2 overswhen the target was 117 runs.

In the other match of theday, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq got Faisalabad Wolves andeasy win against Dolp0hins.

Karachi Dolphins piled up157 for eight in the given oversbut Misbah wioth his brisk halfcentury made the score easy.He remained not out at 85while his opening mate addeduseful 39 runs to lay a solidand supporting platform. Withan average of 180, Misbah gothis 85 in 62 balls and Wolveslost three wickets to reach 161in 19 overs.

sUper eIght t-20 cUp(

(

sPoRTs S

Friday, 29 March, 2013

21I am fortunate to be part of the new team

chosen to advance the development of

West Indies cricket. – Emmanuel Nanthan

Misbah steers wolves to victory

JOHANNESBURGaGeNCieS

Coach Geoffrey Toyana insists theHighveld Lions are not putting too muchpressure on themselves as they look toclimb back into top spot in the Ram SlamT20 Challenge table.

A victory over the Dolphins at theWanderers on Thursday will move theLions back to the top of the standings,ahead of the Titans, and secure them ahome final. Runaway leaders at one point,

the Lions dropped back to second placeafter two successive defeats, but Toyanawas pleased they were still in contentionto progress directly to the final.

“It's just another game for us eventhough we're under a bit of pressure now,”Toyana said. “We know what we have todo and things are still in our own hands.”

The rookie coach, who is enjoying anexceptional debut season, found it hard toexplain how they had let slip a lead thatstood at close to 10 points. “I think it's thenature of T20 cricket where momentumplays such a big role,” Toyana said.

It’s just another game: Toyana

LONDONaGeNCieS

England coach Andy Flower admits his players will needto show significant improvement from their drawn seriesagainst New Zealand if they are to retain the Ashesagainst Australia this year. Flower's side narrowlyavoided a shock defeat in the Test series in New Zealandthis week after grinding out a nerve-jangling draw inAuckland after the previous two matches had also endedin stalemate. England were relieved to avoid theembarrassment of losing to a team who came into theseries in disarray following a poor run ofresults and controversy over RossTaylor's removal as captain. ButFlower knows that kind oflacklustre showing won't beenough against Australia,who travel to face Englandbefore hosting a secondAshes series later this year.“We've got a big year ofinternational cricket and wewill need to be sharper, betterand more skilful,” Flower toldBBC Radio Five Live. “But ithas been a wonderful winterand to win in India was areally special moment. Theonly series we have lost was theone-day series in India.” WhileEngland were struggling to avoiddefeat in New Zealand, Australia wereslumping to a dismal 4-0 series lossin India, where Flower's menwon 2-1 three months earlier.Even so, Flower refused towrite off the Australiansand preferred to focuson England'sforthcoming rematch

against New Zealand on home soil, which serves as awarm-up for the Ashes. “They had a tough time out there(in India). It's a really tough place to tour,” said Flower.“The Ashes are a little way off. There is some greatcricket to be played in the meantime, by us, we hope.”England, ranked the second best Test side in the world,were criticised for showing complacency against NewZealand, yet Flower insisted they had not taken theiropponents lightly. “We place importance on allinternational series and it would be disrespectful to doanything other than that - there was no complacency inour camp,” he said. “We understood it would be a toughchallenge to come here and win. just because you are

ranked above another team it doesn't give you theright to win any series.” Flower was unimpressed

with some of England's play however, and heconceded their problems were entirely of their

own making. “It was a good escape in theend. But we got ourselves into trouble, we

didn't play particularly great cricket anddid well to get a draw,” he said. “IanBell and Matt Prior were excellent; theyfought hard and that's a quality of theteam, but we have to be better to getinto winning positions, not scratchingour way to a draw. “We didn't move the

ball sideways and if you don't movethe ball against international

batsmen you are not going tocreate chances. That was

worrying for me. Theyswung the ball and

we didn't dothat too

much.”

Hafeez ton setsup Lahore win

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

Captain Mohammad Hafeez led from thefront to hit his second Twenty hundredthat helped Lahore Lions humble MultanTigers by 47 runs at the GaddafiStadium. With a daunting total in sight, Tigersnever looked in control during theirchase. They lost their captain ShoaibMaqsood in the first over, caughtbrilliantly by Aizaz Cheema after he hadfumbled it on the first go. Tigers startedstuttering early as their top threebatsmen departed with only 24 runs onthe board.Rameez Alam (45) and Saeed Anwar jnr(11) resisted for a while with a 51-runstand for the fourth wicket, but both gotbogged down against the spinners.Despite some late fireworks by KashifNaved, Tigers kept on losing wickets atregular intervals and were bowled out inthe 20th over for 127.Lions, after choosing to bat, lost openerAhmed Shahzad (2) in the first over ashe flicked Rahat Ali straight to ZulfiqarBabar at midwicket. Thereafter, Hafeezand Nasir jamshed dominated Tigers andadded 66 runs for the second wicketbefore jamshed was trapped lbw for 26.Akmal brothers, umar (4) and Kamran(0), were out of successive deliverers -umar edged one from Rizwan Haider tothe keeper, while a mix-up for a singlewith Hafeez resulted in Kamran'swicket. Hafeez, however, continued toconsolidate. He was dropped three times,twice by the wicketkeeper. Along withAli Azmat (29), he added 83 for the fifthwicket to take Lions to a formidabletotal of 175. He reached 102 off 64 ballswith 18 boundaries, including two sixesoff the last two balls of the innings.

Asylum-seekerin frame forAshes selection

SYDNEYaGeNCieS

Australia's chief selector john Inverarity saysPakistani asylum-seeker Fawad Ahmed willbe in contention for a place in the Ashessquad to tour England if he is grantedcitizenship in time. The 31-year-oldlegspinner was handed a permanent visa toremain in Australia in November afterleaving his home in the border region nearAfghanistan, where he said he was targetedby Muslim extremists. But to play forAustralia in the Ashes from july he needsfast-tracked citizenship and an Australianpassport. Otherwise, under InternationalCricket Council (ICC) rules, he will notbecome available until August 18, before thefifth test at the Oval. "Fawad Ahmed is amature and very good legspinner," Inveraritytold Thursday's Sydney Morning Herald."I've seen quite a bit of him and all those whohave played against him, and the coachingstaff, rate him as a good bowler. "He wouldcertainly come under consideration. It will allbe considered on merit. He will be treated nodifferently from anybody else." Inverarityadmitted the significance of a former asylum-seeker from Pakistan playing for Australiacould not be understated. "If it were all tohappen, it would be a wonderful thing for ourAustralian society, someone who through themedium of cricket has become a centralfigure in our community," he said. Since hisarrival, Ahmed has established himself withthe Melbourne Renegades in the T20 BigBash League and made an appearance for thePrime Minister's XI against the West Indies injanuary. He is seen as a handy back-up toNathan Lyon, with few other stand-outspinning candidates beyond XavierDoherty and Glenn Maxwell. Lyon had anordinary tour of India, during whichAustralia lost the test series 4-0, althoughhe bounced back to take nine wickets in thefourth test and Inverarity threw his supportbehind him. "He is our lead spinner and wehope he develops and becomes a reallygood spin bowler," he said of Lyon.

Arafat's fourhelps Rams rule

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

Yasir Arafat's four-wicket haul helpedRawalpindi Rams to overwhelm powerfulTwenty20 side Karachi Dolphins by eightruns in the final match of the day in Lahore.Dolphins lost their way chasing 158, butbounced back through No.9 batsmanMohammad Sami who smacked abreathtaking 38 off 18 balls. But Rams heldtheir nerves to complete a dramatic victory.Dolphins lost their top order to Arafat earlierwho accounted for Khalid Latif (0),Shahzaib Hasan (11) and Asad Shafiq (0) inhis first spell of two overs. Fawad Alam (29)along with Sarfaraz Ahmed (26) resisted thetidy bowling in a 40-run stand, but both wereout in quick succession. Sami then launcheda late attack that included three sixes torevive hopes, but Arafat returned to pick hiswicket. Dolphins eventually were bowledout for 149, eight runs short. Rams opted tobat with openers Awais Zia (34) and NavedMalik (12) off to a positive start. But theylost seven wickets for 16 runs towards theend to finish with 157. Anwar Ali was themost successful bowler with four wickets. SCORES: Rawalpindi Rams 157 (Amin 36,

Anwar Ali 4-32) beat Karachi Dolphins 149

(Sami 38, Arafat 4-28) by eight runs.

Andy Flower demandsengland improve

COACH GEOFFREY TOYANA INSISTS THE HIGHVELDLIONS ARE NOT PUTTING TOO MUCH PRESSURE ONTHEMSELVES AS THEY LOOK TO CLIMB BACK INTO TOPSPOT IN THE RAM SLAM T20 CHALLENGE TABLE

RAWALPINDI GETWIN IN THE RAIN

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:47 AM Page 17

Page 17: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

sPoRTsS

Friday, 29 March, 2013

17I always want to play Davis Cup. I want to thank

Pat for picking me. Wherever it is I'll always be

happy to play for my country. – Bernard Tomic

Lt gen Maqsoodelected Presidentof Punjab golf

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

The elections for the new office bearers ofPunjab Golf Association (PGA) for the nextfour-year term were held at the GarrisonGolf and Country Club on March 28. LtGen Maqsood Ahmed, Corps Commander,Lahore was unanimously elected Presidentof PGA for a four year term. Other electedoffice bearers are Maqbool (Max) Babri ofRoyal Palm as Vice President, Brig (r)Mohammad Akram Khan of GarrisonClub as Vice President, Shahid WahabRao of Defence Raya Golf Club asSecretary and Imtiaz Ahmed of Garrisonas Treasurer. Lady member elected onladies seat is Dr Asma Afzal Shami.Elected members of the executivecommittee are Lt Col (r) Tariq Kaleem(Rawalpindi), Dr Nadeem john (Sialkot),Lt Col Asghar Mehmood (Gujranwala),Akhter Abbas (Multan), Qalbe Habib(Faisalabad) and Khawaja Pervaiz Saeed(Lahore Gymkhana). Zahid Sultan willrepresent the professional golfers on theExecutive Committee. Lt Gen MaqsoodAhmed said that he was a firm believer inteam work and collective wisdom andconsidered this assignment a hugechallenge. He hoped the new team willtake golf to new heights.

only Messi can dowhat I can’t: totti

LONDONaGeNCieS

AS Roma's Francesco Totti considersBarcelona's Lionel Messi to be the onlyplayer better than him. A career spanning20 years at the Stadio Olimpico has seenTotti become an AS Roma and Italianlegend. Despite retiring from internationalfootball in 2007, the attacking midfielder's11 goals and 10 assists in this season'sSerie A has fuelled talk that Totti couldreturn to the national fold to assist Italy intheir 2014 World Cup campaign Speakingto La Gazzetta dello Sport, Totti stated hisbelief that none of his compatriots couldmatch his abilities, but he did admitdeference to Barcelona star Messi. "Thereis only one player who is doing things thatI could never do and that is Messi," Tottistated. "I do not think there is an Italianfootballer who I would place abovemyself in a list, though. The numbersspeak for themselves." Winning theWorld Cup in 2006 under Marcello Lippi,the 36-year old also revealed a desire towork with Real Madrid manager joseMourinho one day. "For me, Lippi is thebest coach I have ever worked with. Hehad such incredible charisma. But FabioCapello and Luciano Spalletti are truegreats as well," he shared. "Who I wouldlike to work with? Mourinho."

Hockey camptrainees named

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

The training camp of the national juniorprobables preparing for Test MatchSeries against Germany, Belgium, &Holland will be established at NationalHockey Stadium Lahore on Saturday(April 6). The PHF has invited following 35probable players for the training campand directed them to report to the CampCommandant (Rana Mujahid Ali). THE PROBABLES

GoALKEEPERS: Mazhar Abbas (NBP), Amjad

Ali (NBP), Sajjad Abbas (Punjab), Talal Khalid

(Sialkot) & Amin Yousaf (WAPDA).

FuLL BACKS: Khalid Bhatti (WAPDA), Kashif

Javed (NBP), Faisal Qadir (NBP), Kashif Shah

(NBP), Zohaib Ashraf (SSGC) & Shujat Ali

(NBP).

HALF BACKS: M. Rizwan Jr. (NBP), M. Tousiq

(NBP), Ammad Shakeel Butt (PIA), Tasawar

Abbas (WAPDA), M. Bilal Khan (KPK), Ali

Hassan Faraz (NBP) & M. Sohaib (WAPDA).

FoRWARDS: M. Irfan (WAPDA), M. umar

Bhutta (NBP), M. Dilber (NBP), Ali Shan

(NBP), M. Suleman (WAPDA), Arslan Qadir

(NBP), M. umair (WAPDA), Hafiz umer Sardar

(NBP), Hafiz Rizwan Ali (NBP), Asad Bashir

(WAPDA), M. Rizwan (Pir Mahal), M. Jaffar

(WAPDA), Abdul Kareem Khan (KPK), Abdul

Qayyum Dogar (SSGC), Ayub Ali (NBP),

Ahmed Zubair (NBP) & Muzammil Bhatti

(PIA).

TEAM MANAGEMENT: Rana Mujahid Ali –

Manager/Head Coach, Anjum Saeed – Coach,

Muhammad Danish Kaleem – Coach, Dr. Asad

Abbas Shah – Team Doctor.

LONDONaGeNCieS

Amir Khan hopes to be confirmed asthe best light-welterweight in theworld by the end of the year. Khan'sdominant win over Carlos Molina inDecember put his career firmly backon track and he will set up anotherworld title shot with a win over julioDiaz in Sheffield on April 27.

The Bolton fighter has revealedthat his promoters Golden Boy haveplanned a tournament involving his140lb rivals Danny Garcia, LamontPeterson, Lucas Matthysse and Zab

judah. Danny Garcia takes on Zabjudah next month and Matthysse isset to face judah in April, with thewinners then battling each other forthe right to fight Khan. Defeats byGarcia and Peterson have relievedKhan of his world titles, but he couldbe two wins away from securing hisstatus as the top man in the division.Khan told Ringside Toe 2 Toepodcast: "Golden Boy said they aregoing to do a mini tournament. It'sgoing to be between Garcia-judah,the winner fights the winner ofMatthysse and Peterson, and at theend of the year the winner of that

fights me. "The reason they fight meat the end of it is because I can't fightin the middle because I've gotRamadan, I'm going to be fasting.It's a religious month for us, so I'mgoing to take time off there.

"When you take time off fastingfor a month, you need anothermonth to recover from that."Hopefully we'll know by the end ofthe year who the best 140lb fighteris and that's going to be between thefive of us. The five top names outthere and we will all know who thebest is at the end of the year. "I wantto get past julio Diaz, who I can't

take eye my off, because julio Diazis another dangerous opponent forme." Garcia puts his WBC andWBA belts on the line against judah,while Peterson defends his IBF strapagainst Matthysse and Khan expectshis two conquerors to pick up wins."Even though I think a lot of peopleare going to say Matthysse is goingto walk through him, I don't thinkthat will happen," he said."Matthysse is a heavy puncher, buta good boxer will beat him just likewhen Zab judah fought Matthysse.He boxed him and he won the fight,but it was a close fight.

Amir focuses on reaching the top

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

Pakistan WAPDA won its second match of theevent when it crushed Higher EducationCommission by 13 runs to 2 in the NBP-InterDepartmental Baseball Championship 2013. Asthe first round of NBP-Inter DepartmentalBaseball Championship 2013 ended here at theuniversity of Central Punjab Complex, Wapdawas the clear winner of the day on Thursday. Thesecond round will start on Friday with the matchbetween Pakistan Police and HEC. PakistanWAPDA displayed excellent game giving nochance to new comer HEC to fight. For WAPDAZaheer and Imtiaz score 3 each, Zaheer also hit2 home runs. Zubair and Abu Bakar added 2 runseach. The other scorers were Asif, usman Azamand Amin Afridi contributed 1 run each. ForHEC Afraz Malik and Farhan added 1 run each.Following umpires supervise the match:

Chief umpire: Shabbir Ahmed, Base 1: Sarfraz

Ahmed, Base 2: Farhan Rashid, Base 3: Ahsan Bilal.

DUBAIaGeNCieS

aRSENAL midfielder AbouDiaby has warned his sideagainst complacency whenthey take on relegation-

threatened Reading on Saturday. TheGunners, fighting to qualify for nextseason's Champions League, are heavyfavourites to beat lowly Reading when theRoyals make the trip to the EmiratesStadium. Reading have only amassed ameasly 23 points from 30 Premier Leaguegames and are 19tth in the table, sevenpoints off safety, and recently replacedmanager Brian McDermott with NigelAdkins in a bid to stave off relegation.

Nonetheless, Diaby believes theGunners cannot afford to take it easyagainst the struggling Royals and wantshis side to pile on the misery for Adkins'

men. "They are fighting againstrelegation, and we are fighting to be in thetop four," Diaby told Arsenal Player.

"We may be favourites, but we knowit's not going to be an easy game. "But ifwe can play our game, we know we canscore goals." Diaby also believesArsenal's morale-boosting 2-0 win overBayern Munich in the second leg of theChampions League last-16 could be a keymoment in the Gunners' end of seasonrun-in. "When you win, you always get aconfidence boost," Diaby added. "It wasreally important to win the Bayern game,against a big team.

"unfortunately we didn't get throughbut we did beat them and they hadn't lostfor some time at home - it was a reallygood performance from us. "Followingthat, winning at Swansea [2-0] was reallygood as well because every game fromnow until the end of the season is crucial."

With many criticising the Gunners forconceding too many goals this season,Diaby admitted defending did not onlyfall upon the shoulders of the backline andinsisted the responsibility should beshared by the entire team.

"As a team we all defend together,but as a midfield we have a big role toplay," Diaby mused. "The midfield is theheart of the team and it is reallyimportant. They are the ones who defendand give the ball forward, defensivelythey give a good balance to the team. "Soit is very important to be strong in thisarea. "If we want to succeed and wingames, we need to be solid. We need tobe together and that is what we haveshown in the past two games." Arsenalare currently fifth in the table on 50points, four points behind fourth placedTottenham Hotspur, albeit having playeda game less than their arch-rivals.

Diaby expects Readingto give Arsenal a test

WAPDA win second match of Inter Dept Baseball

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:47 AM Page 18

Page 18: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

sPoRTs SFriday, 29 March, 2013

18I didn't think I could go into the Masters under the

radar. I can go in a little bit underneath him (Woods).

So, in a way, it's not a bad thing. – Rory McIlroy

wAtCh It LIve

GEO SUPERTigers v S Stallions 10:00 AMWolves v R Rams 04:00 PMStags v K Dolphins 08:00 PM

Saleem fClift Districtfootball title

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

Saleem Khan F.C lifted the DistrictFootball Championship-2013 trophy afteredging out Lums club in the final playedat Model Town Football Club / Academy.Zahid Amir Rana Chief Executive RegalStar Network Pvt Ltd was the Chief Gueston this occasion. A large number of gamespectators were also present and witnessedthe thrilling match. Before the start of thematch the players of both the teamsSaleem Khan Club and Lums Club wereintroduced to the chief guest.In 1st half both teams were goal less drawbut after the interval the Saleem Khan F.Cmade a few changes and they bore fruitwhen Muhammad Danish scored in the41st min to make the score which gaveSaleem Khan F.C a famous and historicwin. It may mentioned here that SaleemKhan F.C through out well played indistrict Football Championship. After thematch, Chief Guest of the final match &prize distribution ceremony Mr. ZahidAmir Rana awarded winning trophy toSaleem Khan’s skipper while Lums F.Chad to content with runners up trophy,received by skipper. At the end of the ceremony, Mian RizwanAli DFA President said District FootballChampionship 2013 was held from 20thFebruary till 27th March 2013 at ModelTown Football Club / Academy. A total offourty teams were taking part in the 37day tournament. The opening match was20th February between Federal ColonyFC and Samnabad FC. Mian rizwanAdded that District Football League-2013will be held at the end of April.

National

Powerlifting on 29thLAHORE

STaFF RePORT

The two-days National PowerliftingChampionships 2013 will be held onMarch 29-30 at Punjab universityGrounds Old Campus near ChoburjeeLahore according to the InternationalPowerlifting Federation Rules. The event will be contested in 59, 66, 74,83, 93, 105, 120 and +120 Kg categories.Teams from WAPDA Railway, Punjab,Sindh, KPK, Balochistan, Islamabad andFATA are taking part in these two dayschampionships. The Opening Ceremonywill be performed by Idrees HaiderKhawaja SecretaryGeneral PunjabOlympic Association on 29th March at10:00 am Muhammad Khalid MahmoodDirector General Pakistan OlympicAssociation will be the chief Guest ofClosing Ceremony on 30th March andwill distribute Medals among winners.

Radcliffe fearingfor her career

HEMBURGaGeNCieS

World marathon record holder PaulaRadcliffe is facing up to the very realpossibility she may never competeagain because of ongoingcomplications with her foot injury.The 39-year-old was forced to pullout of the 2012 Olympics shortlybefore the Games, despite having hadspecialist treatment in Germany injuly. Radcliffe underwent surgery inAugust when it emerged her footproblems were more serious than firstthought and it was then sheentertained a future withoutcompetition. However, she still hadhopes of participating in a 10kilometre race, as well as the 2014London Marathon, but now sheknows she may never again compete.Radcliffe told BBC Sport: "Targetshave gone out of the window. "I'mvery much in that limbo where Iknow and accept that realistically itmay not be possible.

Polo D’Sufi inElan Cup final

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

The combined team of Polo D Sufiand Monnoo Polo won their lastleague match of the Elan Polo Cup2013 and with that they qualifiedto play the main final on Sunday.Polo D Sufi/Monnoo Polomanaged 16½) Goals and only lettheir rivals Master Paints scorefive goals umpires for the matchwere Malik Azam Hayat Noon &Omar Asjad Malhi.

MOROCCOaGeNCieS

FRANCESCO Molinari wants towin the Trophee Hassan II afterplaying in the pre-tournament Pro-

Am with the Crown Prince of Morocco,HRH Prince Moulay Rachid. Establishedby the late King of Morocco in 1971, theevent is celebrating its 40th anniversaryedition this week, with His RoyalHighness Prince Moulay Rachid markingthe occasion by participating in the Pro-Am at the Golf du Palais Royal.

Molinari, the highest ranked player inthe field at 39th in the Official World GolfRanking, was given the honour ofpartnering His Highness, who plays off ahandicap of 12, before the €1.5 milliontournament gets underway in Agadir onThursday morning.

Molinari sets sights on Morocco glory

SEPANGaGeNCieS

Red Bull rejected suggestions that Mark Webberwould leave and defended team principal ChristianHorner in an attempt to quell media reports ofdiscord within the team. Furthermore, they receivedsome assistance in the form of welcome commentsby F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone who said he didnot disapprove of Sebastian Vettel's behaviour atSunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The controversy all erupted as Sebastian Vettelignored team orders to win in Sepang at the expenseof race leader Mark Webber, a move which has sincebrought the German widespread criticism. FlavioBriatore, a member of Webber's management team

and former F1 team principal, reacted by claimingWebber and Vettel's relationship was beyond repairand that he expected the two "enemies" to be partedat the end of the season. Webber is out of contractat the end of the year and many observers predictthe 36-year-old Australian will be the man to moveaside ahead of the 2014 campaign. But Red Bull onWednesday insisted it was too soon to speculate onthe team's likely line-up for next season. "It's purespeculation that Mark will not drive with the teamin 2014," Red Bull said. "Mark's contract has beenrenewed for the last few years on an annual basis -he has continually chosen to drive for the team eachyear and the team has similarly wanted to continueworking with him as he is an excellent driver and acompetitive racer.

Red Bull announce fierce public defence

Carelesssharapovasurviveserrani testMIAMI: Maria Sharapova booked

her place in the semi-finals of the

Sony open in Miami with a

straight-sets win over Italy's Sara

Errani. Sharapova prevailed 7-5 7-

5 despite turning in an error-

strewn display, the third-seeded

Russian racking up almost 60 un-

forced errors and committing 13

double faults. Fortunately for

Sharapova, who saved three set

points in the second, Errani did not

have the weapons to take advan-

tage and she did just enough to set

up a last-four encounter with 22nd

seed Jelena Jankovic. "Sara is ex-

tremely difficult to play," Shara-

pova told www.wtatennis.com.

"She doesn't have the height or the

power, but she gets so many balls

back and stays so consistent, and

does it over and over again. "She is

so consistent. She also has great

court coverage and variety. She re-

ally makes you work. "She can do

a lot of things with that court cov-

erage and variety when she has

time, so my success in the begin-

ning of the match and in some

other points was when I didn't give

her that opportunity. aGeNCieS

LAHORESTaFF RePORT

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has ruled out quitting cricket forlosing the South Africa series. Talking to reporters, Misbah saidthat he had instead decided to adopt a more aggressive andpositive approach to batting after being criticised for his slowdisplays.

“I have discussed this with all my players and they all agreedthat overall we all needed to be more positive while batting andput aside fears of losing our wicket,” Misbah said.

“They have all pushed me to play more shots and be morepositive. I have no intentions of returning to play T20s forPakistan. I have changed my batting style because I believe I cancontinue to play ODIs which I don’t want to quit now.”

Misbah, 38, who has been Pakistan’s test captain since 2010and ODI skipper since 2011, has come in for criticism in Pakistanfor his batting and captaincy after his side were swamped 3-0 inthe test series in South Africa and lost the one-day series 3-2.

“I have heard what the critics have had to say. It has fired meup and also made me reassess how I can play a more purposefulrole for my team as a batsman and for myself,” he said.

Misbah not quitting

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:47 AM Page 19

Page 19: E-paper PakistanToday 29th March, 2013

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Editor: Arif NizamiPublished by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Editor: Arif Nizami

Friday, 29 March, 2013

QUETTASTaFF RePORT

CHIEF Election Commis-sioner (CEC) FakhruddinG Ebrahim on Thursdaycalled upon Baloch nation-

alist leaders to participate in generalelections for bringing changethrough ballot.

He said this in a meeting withBaloch nationalist and other partyleaders in Quetta. Leaders of morethan 13 political and nationalist par-ties met the CEC to discuss the up-coming polls. Ebrahim said his toppriority was to hold transparent elec-tion for bringing real representativesof the people to the assembly.

He said the fate of Balochistanmust be changed with ballot.

The CEC said it was unfortu-nate that most of the political par-ties did not participate in thegeneral elections in 2008, whichwas why all assembly members re-mained ministers. He said that theobjectives of their visit were to re-

move their apprehension so that theelection could take place in peace-ful atmosphere. The CEC urged na-tionalists to participate in the pollsand said political leaders shouldbring change through ballot, notbullet. He assured them of redress-ing their reservations, adding thatspecial security measures would beadopted in the province.

The meeting was attended byrepresentatives of the Pakistan Peo-ple’s Party Parliamentarians‚ PML-N‚ Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf‚jamaat-e-Islami‚ Awami NationalParty, PML-Q, National Party‚Balochistan National Party-Awami‚Balochistan National Party-Men-gal‚ Hazara Democratic Party‚Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party‚juI-F‚ juI-Nazriati and others.

Accompanied by all four ECPmembers, the CEC chaired a meet-ing of senior officials wherein theBalochistan chief secretary gave abriefing on prevailing security situa-tion in the province. On the occasion,senior officials of law enforcement

agencies, including police and FC,briefed the participants on securityarrangements planned for the forth-coming general elections.

The chief secretary said the FCand the army would remain postedin Balochistan during the election

and assured that the provincial gov-ernment would remain impartialthough out the electoral process.

The CEC directed for betterarrangements to conduct pollsacross Balochistan, particularly inDera Bugti and Kohlu districts in

an orderly manner. Earlier, the CECheld a meeting with the caretakerChief Minister Nawab GhousBarozai and discussed various is-sues, including the law and order.

Barozai assured the CEC thathe would do his utmost to remove

the reservations of Balochistan Na-tional Party-Mengal (BNP-M)Chief Akhtar Mengal. He informedEbrahim that the army could be de-ployed in any part of the provinceif need be during the polls.

Following the meetings, ECPSecretary Ishtiaq Ahmed said al-most all political parties were par-ticipating in the elections.

“Akhtar Mengal, despite havingreservations, has reposed confidencein the ECP and decided to contestthe election, which is a good omenfor Balochistan.” Ishtiaq said on therecommendations given by the lead-ers of Baloch political parties, theCEC in principal agreed to give twodays extension for the submission ofnomination forms. However, he saidannouncement in this regard wouldbe made with consultation of othermembers of the commission.

He dispelled the impressionthat holding elections in Balochis-tan was a difficult task. “Law andorder in the province is not as grimas being portrayed.”

ISLAMABADSTaFF RePORT

The Supreme Court on Thursday issuednotices to 20 dual-national former par-liamentarians and directed them to ap-pear before it on the next date of hearing.

The former lawmakers to whom no-tices were issued included Asim Hus-sain, Nadeem Ehsan, Haider AbbasRizvi, Fauzia Ejaz, Sabeen Rizvi, ArishKumar, Donya Aziz, Arif Aziz Sheikh,jamil Ahmed Malik, Fauzia Asghar,Tahir Ali javed, jamil Ashraf, javaidIqbal Tarkai, Murad Ali Shah, Sadiq AliMemon, Abdul Moeed Siddiqui,Muhammad Ali Shah, Askari Taqvi,Raza Haroon and Tayyab Hassan.

The three-member SC bench ofChief justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, justice Gulzar Ahmad and

justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed questionedwhy criminal cases were not precededagainst the dual national former mem-bers of National and provincial assem-blies. upon which, the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP) represen-tative apprised the court that the commis-sion had already conveyed the detailabout the dual nationals to the returningofficers (ROs) of relevant constituencies.

During the proceedings, the court in-quired from the ECP about the reasonsfor not disqualifying the parliamentari-ans, who were holding dual nationalities.The court also referred to the dual nation-ality case of former lawmaker ShehnazSheikh in which action was taken againsther even after she had tendered her res-ignation from the legislature.

The chief justice said when therewas an SC judgement as a precedent,

why was the ECP reluctant on flowingit and taking action against the dual na-tionality holders.

To this, the ECP representative re-quested to be given some time to com-pile the record. justice Sheikh AzmatSaeed stated that there should not bedual standards against the powerful law-makers and the ordinary ones as the lawwas equal for everyone and the actionshould be taken across the board.

The CjP said the Supreme Court’sverdict was binding upon the ECPwhich should take notice against theformer lawmakers even after their res-ignations. The bench, in its interimorder, issued notices to the 20 formerparliamentarians and directed them toappear before it on next date of hear-ing and adjourned the proceedingsuntil April 1.

ISLAMABADTayyab HUSSaiN

Despite having taken oath three days back,caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar KhanKhoso has not yet short-listed names for hiscabinet due to the debate on whether to pickpoliticians or technocrats for ensuring smoothfree, fair and transparent elections, PakistanToday has learnt reliably.

Having met President Asif Ali Zardaritwice and meetings with Chief of Army StaffGeneral Ashfaq Kayani and ISI DG Lt Gen-eral Zaheerul Islam Abbasi, the caretaker PMhas yet not announced his cabinet and themajor challenge is the selection of a dynamicand competent economic team to help dealwith the challenges. “Being a former judge,the PM is very cautious in his selection. He istaking his time to select his cabinet and he isconsulting all stakeholders so as to avoid anycontroversy. But he is likely to unveil his team‘shortly’,” a source close to the prime minis-ter said. The source said the Presidency hadproposed some names for the cabinet slotsbased on politicians, while the establishmentwanted a technocratic setup.

“Due to the discreet nature, it’s very diffi-cult to read him since he is very cautious,speaks very little and doesn’t allow anyone toread his mind,” the source said, adding that onething was clear – he is a neutral person andwould not favour any individual or party.

“The prime minister strictly follows laws.He keeps a distance and he is a very finehuman being. A person of integrity I tell you,”the source said. Another source said the newlyappointed prime minister was facing difficultyin picking his team as he was facing pressures

from various sides.“Since the PM wants to take all stakehold-

ers onboard, he is taking his time,” the sourcesaid, adding that proposals were being floated.

“Dr Maleeha Lodhi and Tariq Fatimi aremain contenders for the slot of foreign ministerwhile javed jabbar is being tipped as the infor-mation minister. But the real challenge is to se-lect a strong, vibrant and dynamic economicteam,” the source added.

Press Secretary to Prime Minister Shafqatjalil said the consultation process was on andthe federal cabinet would be formed as soon asthe process was completed.

“I don’t know the exact timeframe but Iknow that the prime minister is involved inconsultation process and the cabinet would beannounced shortly,” he added.

Defence and political analyst HassanAskari Rizvi said the major reason for the un-necessary delay in formation of the federal cab-inet was the debate in the Prime Minister’sHouse on whether to pick politicians for thejob at hand or to go for a technocratic setup.

He added that a judge always lived an iso-lated life and a retired judge was almost non-social. “Due to his non-social behaviour, aretired judge cannot make decisions immedi-ately, as he does not have clue about people atthe helm or in politics,” he added. However,Askari warned that unnecessary delays wouldbe counterproductive, as there had been delaysin naming the prime minister and chief minis-ter Punjab due to failure of political leadership.

“Delaying installing the federal cabinet aswell may further affect the functioning and deci-sion-making process. I think the poor decision-making power of major political parties has led toconfusion in picking the cabinet,” he concluded.

ISLAMABADaGeNCieS

Malala Yousufzai, the girl who shotto international fame following aTaliban attack on her on Thursdaysaid she would publish her life storyin the memoir titled I Am Malala.

Her book deal was reportedlysigned for around three million dol-lars, even publisher Weidenfeld andNicolson did not confirm the ru-mors. “I want to tell my story, but itwill also be the story of 61 millionchildren who can’t get education,”Yousafzai said in a statement.

“I want it to be part of the cam-paign to give every boy and girl theright to go to school. It is their basicright.” Malala Yousufzai returned toschool just six months after the at-tack by Taliban. At age 11, Malalabegan to write a blog under a pseu-donym for the BBC about life underthe Taliban in the Swat Valley.

After Pakistan’s military oustedthe militants in 2009, she began pub-licly speaking out about the need forgirls’ education. She appeared fre-quently in the media and was givenone of the country’s highest civilianhonors for her bravery.

Her story has captured global atten-tion for the struggle for women’s rightsin Pakistan and she made the shortlistfor Time magazine’s Person of the Yearfor 2012. “This book will be a docu-ment to bravery, courage and vision,”said Arzu Tahsin, deputy publishing di-rector at Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

“Malala is so young to have ex-perienced so much and I have nodoubt that her story will be an inspi-ration to readers from all generationswho believe in the right to educationand the freedom to pursue it.”

Barozaiassures fullsecurity toMengal

QUETTASTaFF RePORT

Balochistan caretaker Chief Minister GhausBakhsh Barozai met Balochistan NationalParty (Awami) chief Akhtar Mengal hereon Thursday and assured him free and fairelections and complete security in theprovince. During the meeting, Mengalmade it clear that the concerns of the peopleof Balochistan over transparent electionswould have to be addressed, adding thatdifferent types of people were living in theprovince and therefore their doubts overfair polls were genuine.

Mengal made it clear that if politicalworkers were harmed during the elections,they would hold the establishment respon-sible for it. The caretaker chief minister saidhe would make all out efforts to address theconcerns and reservations of Mengal andother political parties.

Barozai assured Mengal of all typesof security during the elections. He saidhe would also be meeting leaders of otherpolitical parties.

CEC urges Baloch leaders to bring change through ballot

technocrat-politician debatedelaying cabinet formation

sc issues notices to 20 dual-nationalformer parliamentarians

PRESS SECRETARY TO PMSAYS CABINET TO BEANNOUNCED SOON

ANALYST SAYS POOR DECISION-MAKING ABILITY CAUSINGUNNECESSARY DELAY

Malala clinches $3 milliondeal to publish her memoir

19

KHI 29-03-2013_Layout 1 3/29/2013 5:47 AM Page 20