Saturday, 20 April, 2013 Jamadul Sani 9, 1434Rs 17.00 Vol III No 293 19 Pages Karachi Edition

It’s not going to be a peaceful election

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DO WHAT YOU WANT, MQM WILL STILL CONTEST POLLS: SATTAR

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BOSTON BOMBSUSPECT KILLEDIN SHOOTOUT

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The nation is paying the price of

Musharraf’s adventurism. —

PML-N Senator Zafar Ali Shah

all citizens areequal Beforethe law: cJPISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan

(CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has

said all citizens are equal before law and

are entitled to equal treatment and

protection of law. Inaugurating a three-

day international judicial conference in

Islamabad on Friday, the CJP said, “Our

constitution envisages a population free

of exploitation and oppression in all its

forms.” “The constitution of Pakistan

envisages a population free of

exploitation and oppression in all its

forms under Article 3. This can only be

achieved where the rule of law is strictly

established and every citizen is treated

alike by every institution and functionary

of the State. To provide every citizen

with the basic quality of life and

opportunities of prosperity that he

deserves, the constitution has listed a

set of fundamental rights in chapter 2 of

part 1 of the constitution. These

fundamental rights are equally

accessible to every citizen without

discrimination or want of qualification,

regardless of race, class, creed, gender,

ethnicity or background. The importance

of the fundamental rights is reflected in

the fact that Article 8 declares every law

made in derogation of fundamental

rights or found to be incompatible with

them to be void. Unlike many other

constitutional rights regimes, our

constitution does not allow for

derogation from the delivery of these

rights under any discretionary exercise

of executive prerogative,” he said. He

said the foremost function of the state

was to administer justice and maintain

peace and internal order, adding that it

was the responsibility of the superior

courts to enforce fundamental rights of

citizens. He pointed out that military

interventions‚ unstable economy and

weak political culture were main

contributors of the catastrophic state of

affairs in Pakistan. The chief justice said

in the democratic set up of Pakistan

every institution had to recognise and

respect constitutional norms. NNI

nawaz sharif’s Plane

escaPes accidentLAHORE: A private plane carrying

Pakistan’s main opposition leader

Nawaz Sharif was forced to land on

Friday after its windscreen was

damaged, officials said. The plane was

flying from the southwestern city of

Quetta to a small town in Punjab

province. “Sharif was flying to Hasilpur

town, 447 kilometres from Islamabad

in a private jet when its windscreen

(was) damaged, forcing the pilot to

land the plane at the airport in

Lahore,” civil aviation spokesman

Hamid Qaimkhani said. He said that

there were 11 people including Sharif

and some of his close aides on board

the plane, adding that it had landed

safely with no injuries. STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABADKASHIF ABBASI

IN an unprecedented yet historicdevelopment in the high drama sur-rounding former president Gen (r)Pervez Musharraf in the judges’ de-tention case, a judicial magistrate

handed the former president over to policecustody on transit remand for two days be-sides directing the police to produce the ac-cused before an Anti-Terrorism Court on orbefore April 21.

The Islamabad police ‘informally’ pro-duced the accused before the court of a judicialmagistrate and sought 14 days judicial re-mand. However, the judge rejected the police’splea and handed the custody of the retired gen-eral to police for two days.

Wearing what appeared to be abombproof vest, the former military chiefcame to the court of Judicial MagistrateMuhammad Abbas Shah on Friday morn-ing. Contrary to rules, police did not shacklethe former president. Instead, he was es-corted by his security team consisting ofRangers and intelligence personnel.

During the course of hearing, police andinvestigators while pointing towardsMusharraf told the court that interrogationof the ‘arrested’ accused was required inconnection with a case registered in 2009,in which he was booked for detainingjudges of superior courts.

Police also told the court that while fol-lowing the Islamabad High Court’s judge-ment announced on Thursday, a new sectionunder 7-ATA has been added to the FIR[First Information Report].

After reviewing the police’s application,the judge handed the accused over to policeon transit remand while directing it to pro-duce him before the Anti-Terrorism Court

(ATC) before or on April 21.In its judgement, the court said: “The

accused produced in custody by the localpolice with the request of handing him to ju-dicial lock-up. Attesting copies of the orderof worthy IHC, passed yesterday reviewed.In which it has been observed that primafacie content of FIR attracts 7-ATA. There-fore, the police is directed to comply withthe order of IHC. Investigation officer of thecase is strictly directed to adhere to the orderof IHC in letter and spirit. However, twodays’ transit custody of the accused isgranted to local police with the direction ofproducing before the ATC on or before April21.”

After a brief hearing, the court had re-served its decision for a while.

During this period, Musharraf remainedseated in his car. After the announcement of

verdict, the former military chief left thearea with his security squad. Police say theaccused was in their custody as according tolaw, anyone granted a transit remand mustbe kept within police jurisdiction.

According to police, Musharraf hadbeen shifted to Police Line Headquarters.He will be produced any time before theATC Islamabad, which was hurriedly estab-lished on Friday to facilitate the accused,otherwise, due to non-presence of ATC inIslamabad, he would have had to go to ATCRawalpindi.

According to a notification issued bythe Law Ministry, Session Judge KausarAbbas Zaidi had been given additionalcharge to hear the terrorism-related case.MUSHARRAF ESCAPE: Meanwhile, Is-lamabad Inspector General of Police BaniAmin appeared in the IHC on notice before

Shaukat Siddiqui. Justice Siddiqui reprimanded the IGP,

asking him why he did not come on Thurs-day. “Why did the police not arrest the ac-cused, who despite the presence of policemanaged to flee the court?”

“Usually around 10 police officialsreach anywhere in the city to arrest ven-dors… but in this high-profile case ofjudges’ confinement, police did not arrestthe accused,” the judge remarked.

In its order, the court held the IGP re-sponsible for Musharraf fleeing the courtpremises on Thursday.

The court directed the interior secretaryto take action against the negligence of IGPand other police officers. The court also or-dered the interior secretary to submit a re-port of police negligence while fixingresponsibility by April 23.

the General submits to Justice

QUETTASTAFF REPORT

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) PresidentNawaz Sharif on Friday said that former military dictatorPervez Musharraf had committed serious crimes andmust be tried as per law of the country.

Addressing journalists at a press conference, NawazSharif said that the Islamabad inspector general policeshould be questioned over how Pervez Musharraf man-aged to escape from court. “If Musharraf is not arrestedimmediately, it would be a violation of court order,” headded. He said military dictators should be tried as com-mon criminals who committed any crime. “Nobody isabove the law,” Nawaz Sharif said.

The PML-N chief stated that nobody should be al-lowed to undermine the sanctity of courts.

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif visited the residence of PML-N Balochistan chief Sardar Sanaullah Zehri and offeredfateha for the son and other relatives of Sanaullah Zehri.Sardar Zehri’s son, brother and nephew were killed inan explosion in Khuzdar area of Balochistan on April16. Nawaz demanded a judicial inquiry into the attack.Furthermore, he said that the May 11 elections woulddetermine the fate of the former rulers who had drainedthe national exchequer. He said the law and order situa-tion in Balochistan was miserable and needed immediateattention.

He said that writ of the government should be en-sured at all cost. Sharif said that if elections were notheld the situation would further worsen.

BJP welcomesmusharraf’sarrest

NEW DELHIONLINE

Welcoming the arrest of former president General (r)Pervez Musharraf, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) onFriday expressed hope that the power of democracy andlaw that was equal for all would continue in the futureso that the people of Pakistan could get an opportunityto elect a leader of their choice. “It is a full circle forPervez Musharraf, the great dictator, the army general,who used to epitomise the voice of Pakistan… Todayhe is running for cover, he almost ran away from thecourt. That is indeed a part of democracy. WhatMusharraf did against India is too well known. But asfar as Pakistan was concerned, it was a case of murder,mayhem, deliberate breaking of the system, seeking tooverawe the judiciary. All has come full circle,” saidBJP chief spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad. “It was avery historic day in the history of Pakistan. I only wishthat this power of democracy, the rule of law is equalfor all, a small Pakistani or an army general, willcontinue in the future so that the people of Pakistan getthe opportunity to elect a leader of their choice,” headded. Musharraf was arrested on Friday morning fromhis farmhouse in a case relating to sacking of judgesfollowing which he was granted two days transitremand by an Islamabad magistrate’s court.

Try Musharraf like acommon criminal: Nawaz

MUSHARRAF SUBMITS PLEA FORFULL BENCH IN TREASON CASEISLAMABAD: Former

president Pervez

Musharraf has submitted

a plea in the Supreme

Court requesting the

formation of a full

bench to hear the

treason case against him.

The petition, submitted on

Friday, said the case involved a

number of constitutional and legal

complications for which a full bench of the

SC was significant. It also requested the

court to review the verdict of July 31, 2009,

adding that only a bench of 14 judges found

Musharraf guilty of treason in the

judgement. ONLINE

ISLAMABAD: Rangers personnel guard the Police Headquarters where former president Pervez Musharraf is being

kept on a two-day transit remand. ONLINE

FORMER PRESIDENT ANDARMY CHIEFSURRENDERS TO COURT,TAKEN INTO CUSTODY

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Keeping judges in illegal confinement comes under

the ambit of terrorism but Musharraf should be

given the right of self defence. — Aitzaz Ahsan

W H EN it comes to themedia, the odds arestacked against theANP. First, the party,like the PPP, does not

appeal to the socio-economic classthat the journalists belong to. Second,it is a regional party, where the mediadoes not have too much of a presence.Third, the party, a continuation of theCongress, does not bode well with theNawa-e-Waqt indoctrinated minds ofthose occupying senior positions inthe media.

That is all well and good. Mattersare made inconvenient whenever theANP shows huge amounts of the stuffheroes are made out of. You see, it isdifficult not to be inspired by activistsmanning the small corner offices ofthe party, knowing fully well that theyare sitting ducks. And not a case ofthe leadership going into hiding whilethe foot soldiers bear the brunt too.Almost all the who’s who of the partyleadership, and in some cases theirfamily members, have been attackedby the militants. Yet, they continue tokeep at it.

So, to segue into the issue at hand:how do the pundits cover such events?One way is to remain objective. Butthe problem with objectivity is that the

ANP is, by strictly objective stan-dards, displaying immense courage,regardless of what one might think oftheir ideology or their performance ingovernment. A consequence of that isthat objective comment turns out to beplatitudes and praise.

Given the visceral anti-politicianinstinct of the commentariat,praising politicians isviewed as a career de-stroyer by the pundits.

So, some punditsattempt to forciblytone it down. Thiscan’t be done with-out introducing acaustic element inthe conversation andthat is what we saw inMuhammad Mallick’srather ham-fisted inter-view of party chief AsfandyarWali Khan (Dunya News, 15th April.)

But if Mallick seemed insensitive,it was nothing compared to JavedChaudhry’s crack (Express News,15th April) at the subject of candi-dates’ security.

Uncle Sargam began with theusual pissing-from-a-height accountthat he usually starts with, recallingan incident from Moghul history that– if one was trying really hard, andhad swallowed three packets of Is-paghol – was only tangentially rele-vant to the matter at hand.

But it was the rest of the pro-gramme where our man let it rip. Whythe government should give you secu-rity, he asked the ANP’s Haji Adeel.What have you all done to deserve it?

Flabbergasted as Adeel mighthave been at a why-are-two-and-two-

four question, he still tried to reasonwith the man. You (Express) have oc-cupied a significant portion of theroad (outside their office in the Aab-para Market) in the name of security.But we pay for that security, repliesChaudhry. You mean to say you payfor the road, Adeel asks back incred-ulously. Yes, we pay the CDA,Chaudhry replies. This is, of course,a lie. But since the last word is thepundits’ and there’s no holding themaccountable, false assertions are waterunder the bridge.

In the US, the principal chal-lenger in presidential elections

is provided Secret Servicesecurity detail that stays

with him till much afterhe or she concedes de-feat. It is the responsi-bility of the state toprovide security to richand poor candidates

alike. Romney got hissecurity despite being a

millionaire many, manytimes over.

By saying candidates shouldpay for their own security, punditslike Chaudhry are implying only therich should be in politics. RehmatShah Saahil is the ANP’s candidatefrom NA-35 Malakand. He is a poetextraordinaire whose lyrics for popu-lar songs have made him famous.And, since there isn’t much money inpoetry, he is a professional tailor.Javed Chaudhry expected Saahil topay for his security in the con-stituency contiguous to the one whereMalala Yousufzai was shot.

It is said that the bourgeois classis the biggest impediment to socialchange. Scratch the populist veneerthat the likes of Chaudhry and hisother middle-class colleagues havecarefully maintained and you’ll seea genuine distaste for the poor tobegin with.

BY THE TUBE

Intellec-chawals andelection security

ISLAMABADANwER ABBAS

MEMBER of the UpperHouse on Friday adopted aunanimous resolution de-manding trial of formerpresident and military chief

Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 forabrogating the constitution.

The fourth sitting of the 92nd Senate ses-sion opened under the chairmanship of Sen-ator Nayyar Hussain Bukhari.

The House unanimously adopted a reso-

lution calling upon authorities to try the for-mer military ruler under Article 6.

The resolution also demanded that allphotographs, posters and banners of the for-mer president be removed from all govern-ment buildings with immediate effect.

PML-N Senator Ishaq Dar moved theresolution on behalf of all members, demand-ing the government to remove portraits ofMusharraf from all public buildings.

The resolution also demanded that theresolution passed by the House on January23 last year regarding arrest of PervezMusharraf should also be clubbed with thisresolution. At the onset of the session‚ themembers expressed annoyance over the ab-sence of the interior minister because he wassummoned by the chairman to appear beforethe House and answer questions regardinglaw and order.

The chair suspended the proceeding for15 minutes and asked the interior minister tocome in the House, whereas on the resump-tion of the session‚ the House was informedthat the interior minister was in a meetingwith the prime minister.

As a protest over the absence, all mem-

bers staged a token walk out.Speaking on the Musharraf issue later‚

caretaker federal minister for interior told theHouse that Musharraf had been taken intocustody and shifted to judicial lock up,adding that Musharraf’s residence had beendeclared a sub-jail.

The minister said he was cognisant of theentire issue and supervising the process.

Elaborating, he said it was for the firsttime in the history of the country that a dic-tator had been arrested and “we have also gottwo-day remand of Musharraf”.

Speaking on points of order, the mem-bers objected to declaring Musharraf’s housesub-jail and demanded he must be brought tobook without any favour. They said the re-sponsibility lay on the caretaker government.

The House also resumed discussion onpower outages as the issue was raisedthrough an adjournment motion in the previ-ous sitting.

Minister for Water and Power Dr Mu-sadik Malik said 12-hour electricity load-shedding was being conducted in urban areasand 14-hours in rural areas of the country.

Giving his remarks on a motion moved

by Tahir Hussain Mashhadi regardingexcessive load shedding in the country‚the minister said no attempt had beenmade to address the issue of circulardebts that had defaulted power genera-tion institutions.

MQM senators also raised the issue oflaw and order in Karachi, expressing theirconcern over rise in incidents of targetedkilling in the city.

“Karachi portrays that there exists nolaw enforcement agencies, police or secu-rity forces in the city as half a dozen people

lose their lives daily withoutknowing their crime or sin,” Sena-

tor Mashhadi said.The MQM senators also staged a

protest walkout from the session tohighlight the rising incidents of targetedkillings in the city.

The Senate Standing Committee onDefence and Defence Production also pre-sented its report in the House, highlightingthe details regarding visit of National Se-curity and Foreign Policy Committee ofIran’s Consultative Assembly and visits toNaval and Air Headquarters.

The house was prorogued later.

IT IS FOR THE FIRSTTIME IN THE HISTORYOF THE COUNTRY THAT ADICTATOR HAS BEENARRESTED

senators call for musharraf’s trial under article 6HOUSE DEMANDSREMOVAL OF FORMERPRESIDENT’SPHOTOGRAPHS, POSTERSAND BANNERS FROM ALLGOVERNMENT BUILDINGS

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

Conspiracies are being hatched to keep theMuttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) outof the electoral process but the party wouldnot call for a boycott of elections, partyleader Farooq Sattar said on Friday.

Addressing a press conference, theMQM leader said his party was beingforced to boycott elections while the man-date of MQM was being snatched under aplanned conspiracy.

Sattar said delimitation of constituen-cies in Karachi was also part of the conspir-

acy, however, he added that the MQMwould not boycott the forthcoming elec-tions.

“The party’s candidates, activists andsupporters are being killed under a plannedscript and its purpose is to compel theMQM to boycott the upcoming elections,”he claimed.

He further said door-to-door checkingin the name of search operations was beingconducted in 30 localities of Karachi.

“All political parties are working ontheir election campaigns, while the MQMis lifting coffins of party workers prior to thepolls,” he lamented.

“Killings of the workers and supportershave become a routine.”

Condemning the killings of party ac-tivists, Sattar said funeral prayers of “ourpolitical worker was offered today in themorning and in the meantime, four moresupporters were killed when the prepara-tions of the worker’s burial were inprogress”.

Armed terrorists kidnapped the party’ssupporters and tortured them to death, whiletheir bodies were thrown in Mewah ShahGraveyard, Sattar added.

He said the MQM would issue its finallist of candidates for polls tomorrow.

rocket attack on election rally killstwo in south waziristanSOUTH WAZIRISTAN: At least two persons were killed and eight other injured when anelection rally of an independent candidate came under rocket attack at Wana Bazaar of SouthWaziristan on Friday morning. The rally was a part of the election campaign by NaseerAhmed, who , along with 50 other candidates, will contest elections from the constituency ofNA-41 Tribal area – VI South Waziristan. According to details, four rockets were fired fromthe nearby mountains, two of which landed in the area where the rally was held and two in themarkets nearby. The officials said that eight injured have been admitted in the AgencyHeadquarter Hospital at Wana. One of them later succumbed to injuries. So far no one hasclaimed responsibility for attacking the election rally but official believe involvement ofTaliban militants in this attack. Earlier, the Mullah Nazir group of Taliban had assured aspiringcandidates that the insurgents would not interfere with the election process in the SouthWaziristan tribal region. STAFF REPORT

Do what you want, MQMwill still contest polls: sattar

MALIk HABIB

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Polio team targeted in Tank

TANK: A team of polio workers was at-tacked in the area of Gomal near Tank onFriday, injuring two levies officials. Theexact nature of the attack is not known asyet. Injured levies were rushed to theDHQ Hospital. STAFF REPORT

Measles outbreak hitsvulnerable Britain

LONDON: A measles outbreak has hitover 800 people in Britain, a country inwhich up to two million schoolchildrenare believed to be unprotected due to ascare which linked the vaccine withautism, figures revealed on Thursday. Theoutbreak is centred on the south Walestown of Swansea but health experts warnthere is a serious risk that the virus couldspread, particularly in London. Between1996 and 2012 an average of 550 peoplecontracted the disease each year in Britain,according to Health Protection Agency(HPA) figures. APP

Measles kills four in UpperDir, Nowshera

PESHAWAR/LAHORE: AfterPunjab, measles gripped different areasof Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP)resulting in the death of four childrenwhile over a dozen others wereaffected. According to details, in Nihagarea of Upper Dir, KP two brothers,six-year-old Saniyal and four-year-oldHammed died of measles while Sapna,Lubna and Saman were undertreatment at a local hospital. In Khaisraarea of Nowshera district, nine childrenof a family were hospitalised afterbeing affected by measles and four-year-old Aleena expired duringtreatment. INP

Fazlullah asked for passageto attack Punjab: Asfandyar

KARACHI:

AwamiNationalParty (ANP)chiefAsfandyarWali Khanon Fridayrevealedthat theTaliban startedattacking themafter he refused toprovide them a passage to attack Punjab.In an interview with a private TVchannel, the ANP chief said, “Talibanleader Fazlullah, in a telephone call, hadasked me to provide him a passage forattacking Punjab and I had refused. Thatis when the TTP started attacking theANP.” Asfandyar said no one exceptPresident Asif Ali Zardari and MQMchief Altaf Hussain had called him andcondemned the attack on Haji GhulamAhmed Bilour. He said he wanted toinform those who were silent at this timethat tomorrow could be their turn. INP

Five killed in mortarexplosions near tribal belt

PESHAWAR: At least five personsincluding a woman and two childrenwere killed and several others injuredas a result of explosions at Buner andPeshawar on Friday. Per reports fromBuner, a woman along with twochildren found a mortar shell in a fieldnear their home in Showayee village,Korea Town. The children were playingwith the shell when a huge explosionoccurred, killing all three on the spot.Officials said all three belonged to thesame family. The children were cousinswhile the woman was their aunt.Meanwhile, a mortar shell struck ahouse in the outskirts of Peshawar, nearBara in Khyber Agency, killing at leasttwo persons from the same family.Security forces camping at Bara havebeen engaged in shelling againsthideouts and dins of militants fromtime to time. STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABADTAyyAB HuSSAIN

THE top leadership of the care-taker regime on Friday was in-formed that the upcominggeneral elections faced a seri-ous security threat as major

anti-state outfits such as the Tehreek-e-Tal-iban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi(LJ) and Baloch rebels with aid of alQaeda were conspiring to disrupt the elec-tion process.

A government source on condition ofanonymity told Pakistan Today that care-taker Interior Minister Malik Habib Khanand an official of a premier intelligenceagency, during their separate briefings in ameeting chaired by Prime Minister MirHazar Khan Khoso, had made startlingrevelations about the terrorists’ plans todisrupt the elections. The meeting was at-tended by Punjab Chief Minister NajamSethi, Balochistan CM Nawab GhausBukhsh Barozai and Khyber PakhtunkhwaCM Justice (r) Tariq Pervaiz. The SindhCM could not attend the meeting due tosome unavoidable engagement.

“TTP, LJ, BLF and other outfits haveganged up with al Qaeda to target politicalrallies and public meetings, especially inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Federally Ad-ministered Tribal Areas (FATA) would bethe war zone and politicians would be at-tacked without mercy by terrorists,” the

source quoted the intelligence official as in-forming the meeting. The Awami NationalParty (ANP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)would be the prime targets of terrorists, headded. The source said the intelligence offi-cial shared reports that sectarian attackswere also likely in Punjab where the law andorder situation has been relatively bettercompared to the other provinces. “The meet-ing was also informed that Nawaz Sharifmay also come under attack during his elec-tion campaign. Moreover, the threat is minorfor interior Sindh and rural Punjab where theterrorists have minimal footprint as com-pared to Karachi where terrorists have es-tablished a strong base,” the source said. Themeeting was also informed about the terror-ists’ plans in Balochistan.

“Balochistan CM Barozai called for amilitary operation against the rebel groups,particularly the Balochistan Liberation Army(BLA) and Baloch Liberation Front (BLF),”the source said. The meeting was informedthat law enforcement agencies were on highalert keeping in view threats to political lead-ers and to ensure that the elections are held

on time and in a secure environment. “Sincethe real threat is in KP and FATA, specialforces would be deployed there and theplaces of political gatherings would be madesecure. Moreover, the Rapid Response Force(RRF) would be available round-the-clockand they would be ready to move andcounter any threat,” the source quoted the in-terior minister as telling the meeting.ELECTIONS ON TIME: Briefing jour-nalists about the meeting, Minister for In-formation and Broadcasting Arif Nizamidispelled fears about a delay in generalelections, reaffirming the caretaker gov-ernment’s resolve to hold timely electionsin a fair and free manner.

Addressing a joint press conferencealong with Minister for Law and JusticeAhmer Bilal Soofi and Interior SecretaryKhawaja Siddique Akbar, Nizami said thatPrime Minister Khoso had praised the po-litical parties for their active participationin the ongoing electoral process andstressed upon the Ministry of Interior andprovincial home departments to plug thesecurity loopholes which might affect theprocess. “The Sindh chief secretary at-

tended the meeting on behalf of the SindhCM while the KP governor, secretaries ofinterior and defence, chief secretaries ofthe four provinces and directors general ofISI and IB also attended the meeting. Theydiscussed the overall political situation inthe country with special focus on the pre-vailing law and order,” he said. Nizamisaid the PM told the participants that as theelection day was nearing, law and orderwas becoming a challenging task for thecaretaker government. “There is a need torestore and strengthen the people’s confi-dence by ensuring a peaceful environmentduring the elections and by maintaininglaw and order,” Nizami quoted Khoso astelling the meeting participants. POLLING STATIONS AND SECU-

RITY: The meeting was informed that90,000 polling stations would be set up for272 National Assembly and 728 provincialassemblies’ seats across the country. Hesaid the KP CM had asked the federationto provide 10,000 security personnel andhis request had been granted.MUSHARRAF TRIAL: Regarding thetreason trial of former president and armychief Gen Pervez Musharraf, Nizami saidthe interim government would implementall orders of the courts in letter and spirit.Law Minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi said thatlaw enforcement agencies were handlingthe situation after the cancellation ofMusharraf’s bail and the caretaker govern-ment was not interfering in their affairs.

IT’S NOT GOING TO BE A PEACEFUL POLLINTELLIGENCE AGENCIES SAYTTP, LJ, QAEDA, BALOCHREBELS CONSPIRING TOTHWART ELECTION PROCESS

BALOCHISTAN CMWANTS MILITARYOPERATIONAGAINST BLF, BLA

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

Though eminent columnist-turned-politician Ayaz Amir is down and outafter being rejected a PML-N ticket forNA-60 Chakwal, the former MNA hasannounced to support the candidates ofPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in hishometown to take revenge from hisformer party leader - Nawaz Sharif.

Ayaz, who accused Nawaz ofbeing power hungry, commands re-spect and support not only in the jour-nalist and political community, butamong his electorate as well.

“I have withdrawn and my entirepanel would now support PTI candi-dates in across Chakwal uncondition-ally,” Ayaz told Pakistan Today.Elected on a PML-N ticket from Chak-wal from NA-60 in 2008 electionswith a record over 100,000 votes, Ayaztoed his party line and even remainedsteadfast in struggle against formerdictator Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf forthe return of the Sharif family fromexile. During the days since October1999 to 2008, Amir took part in ralliesto mobilise voters and supporters. Healso remained actively involved inwriting columns against the dictatorialrule of Musharraf. “When they were inexile, my columns based on principledand bold stance against Musharrafwere the most favourite gifts forNawaz and Shahbaz Sharif,” saidAmir, adding that both brothers oftenused to recognise his services in thisregard. “But soon after their return topower, my bold and principled stancebecame unbearable for Sharifs whichI used to reflect in my columns and TV

shows. Since I did not believe in thetricks of flattering, I became the mostundesirable person,” he added. Refer-ring to the spoiler’s role played byNisar Ai Khan, Amir said he was dis-liked by the former leader of opposi-tion as he did not have a habit ofbuttering him up like other MNAs. “Idid not go to his chamber even once inpast five years. This was perhaps dis-turbing for him,” he added.

“So Nisar decided to pick Major (r)Tahir Iqbal, son-in-law of Lt Gen (r)Abdul Majid Malik, who was a kitchencabinet member of Nawaz Sharif in1990s but left him soon after the coup byMusharraf.” Unlike Amir, Malik joinedforces with Musharraf and enjoyed amerry ride until 2008, as his son-in-lawwas made the state minister in ShaukatAziz’s cabinet. The same Tahir Iqbal hasnow replaced Ayaz Amir. “Let me admitthat I and Sharifs were never birds of thesame feather. I could not go along withthe PML-N anymore. Though I neveragreed with their policies, but I remainedwith them on insistence of my electoratewho wanted me to remain with the PML-N. I resigned in 1998 as well, but later re-joined when Sharifs were overthrown byMusharraf,” Ayaz said. To a question,Ayaz said Nawaz was never a democratand he never believed in democraticnorms. He said Nawaz was nurtured bya dictator and was in habit of remainingin power at all costs. “He knows that thisis the last chance for him to grab power.So he is desperate for power. He feels ifhe loses this chance, he would never beable to win again. He is not a democrat.He should be thankful to GeneralMusharraf whose coup made him cham-pion of democracy,” he concluded.

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

The Supreme Court of Pak-istan directed the accountantgeneral Pakistan Revenues(AGPR) to halt disbursementof funds allocated to formerpremier Raja Pervez Ashraf.A three-member bench headedby Chief Justice (CJ) IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry re-sumed hearing on a suo motonotice against issuance of de-velopment funds by Ashraf forhis constituency. During pro-ceedings, Additional FinancialSecretary and Cabinet Secre-

tary Nargis Sethisubmitted com-plete recordover develop-ment funds.Sethi toldthe courtthat devel-opmentfunds worthRs 47 billionwere issuedsince June whilefunds of Rs 4 billionare still pending. The CJ in-quired on the transparency inissuance of the funds. To this,Sethi said the government had

no system to monitordistribution of

funds. Theapex courtsaid the pro-cedure of is-suance offundsshould be

transparent.Later, the

court issued no-tices to prime min-

ister’s special secretaryand the attorney general fornot scrutinising the allocationof funds. The hearing was ad-journed for ten days.

Mild jolts in northernareas of Pakistan

PESHAWAR: An earthquakeof magnitude 3.8 on theRichter scale was felt inupper parts of the country onFriday evening. However, noreport of damage or loss oflife was immediatelyreceived. Reports said thetremor was felt in severalareas of Mansehra district inthe Khyber Pakhtunkhwaprovince. The PakistanMetrological Department(PMD) said the quakemeasured magnitude 3.8 onthe Richter scale, causing nodamage or causality. OnTuesday, at least 13 peoplewere killed and hundreds ofhouses destroyed inBalochistan when the regionwas struck by a powerfultremor that centred inneighbouring Iran. INP

WASHINGTONSPEcIAL cORRESPONdENT

US Secretary of State John Kerryhas said the US-Pakistan relation-ship should not be seen in a narrowperspective of a few contentious is-sues, as he underlined the impor-tance of the country’scounterterrorism cooperation dur-ing a hearing on the Capitol Hill.

“In Pakistan, for instance,as everybody knows, certainthings that have been takingplace over the years have reallycreated anger within the coun-try. And the body politic istense, and the politicians re-spond to that. But then they’vebeen trying to be helpful inother ways, and they havebeen,” Kerry told the US SenateForeign Relations Committee.The chief American diplomat

also noted the crucial signifi-cance of Pakistani intelligencecooperation and the country’soverland routes that transportsupplies into and equipment outof landlocked Afghanistan.“And we have a route for tran-siting our aid to – our aid – allof our supplies to our troops inAfghanistan for the last years,and now bringing things out.We’ve had cooperation onintel(ligence). We’ve had coop-eration on nuclear weapons. Wehave cooperation on efforts toferret out, you know, bad actorsin FATA, in the western part ofthe country.” “I think they’vegot 150,000 troops out therefighting the same fight we arenow,” he emphasised in refer-ence to Pakistan’s deploymentof troops along the Afghanborder.

Ayaz Amir resolves to defeat PML-N in Chakwal

SC HALTS FUNDS ALLOCATED TO FORMER PM ASHRAF

Us-Pakistan ties should not beseen in narrow perspective: Kerry

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso during a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Najam Sethi, KP Chief MinisterTariq Pervez Khan and Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai at PM's Secretariat on Friday.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will

provide financial assistance to its

candidates. — Shah Mahmood Qureshi

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mqm showingrestraint for

peaceful polls

KARACHI: Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) observed a day ofmourning on Friday against the killingof its activists and office-bearers.

MQM head Altaf Hussain has said hisparty was showing restraint for thesake of peaceful election. In astatement issued from London,Hussain took the caretakergovernment and the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP) to

task for their failure to protect theworkers of MQM. He asked what

actions were taken by the ECP andcaretaker government to stop thekillings of his party men. He

demanded that the caretakergovernment must prove itsseriousness in conducting electionsby arresting the culprits. The MQMchief appealed to his supporters toset up vigilance teams in their

respective areas and keep an eye onsuspected people. NNI

KARACHI

ksaturday, 20 April, 2013

05Prof Anwar Ahmed Zai, Chairman of the Board of

Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK), has been appointed as

Pakistan Boy Scouts Association deputy scout commissioner

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high

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PRAyER TImINgS

SUnny

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320C

Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

4:48 6:07 12:32 4:01 6:56 8:16

250C

10-party oppositionalliance breaks up

KARACHI: Opposition alliance ofthe 10 parties in Sindh’s provincialcapital and Dadu finally came to anend on Friday as the parties failed toagree over seat adjustment in both thecities. According to media reports, thealliance parties announced to bringtheir candidates in the upcominggeneral elections against each other.Despite an earlier deal of seatadjustment with Pakistan MuslimLeague-F, Pakistan Muslim League–Nissued tickets to its candidate from NA90 and NA 91. Furthermore, LiaquatJatoi also refused to accept the seatadjustment contract in Dadu, takingthe alliance to its end. ONLINE

singer mirali getselection symbol

SUKKUR: The electioncommission has allotted electionsymbol ‘guitar’ to renownedSindhi singer Shaman AliMirali. Mirali had submittedhis nomination papers for NA-199, Sukkur, and PS-4,Sukkur. Explaining hischoice of the constituency,he said he had a largenumber of fans in theregion. Shaman Mirali iscontesting election againstPPP’s Khursheed AhmedShah from NA-199,Sukkur, and against hisnephew and son-in-lawAwais QadirShah fromPS-4.ONLINE

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

AT least eight personswere killed indifferent areas of thecity in ongoing waveof violence.

According to police, unidentifiedgunmen shot and killed three peoplein Shershah area on Friday morning.They were brothers and used to

supply meat to a private company.They were shot dead when they weregoing in a rickshaw.

Police reached the scene andshifted the victims to a hospital formedico-legal formalities. Four otherpeople were gunned down in firingincidents in Baldia, Surjani, Suparcoand Bin Qasim towns.

On the other hand, a dead body ofa new born baby was found from aground in Baldia No 3 area. Tension

prevailed in the areas where theincidents took place. 50 ARRESTED DURING

OPERATIONS : Rangers incollaboration with police have arrested50 suspects on Friday in targetedoperations from various areas of the city.

According to details, the targetedoperation was carried out in Mangopirand Pakhtoon Abad areas. Theoperation was confined to speciallocalities and houses as all the entry

and exit points were cordoned offduring the operations. As many as 28suspects were arrested including anactivist of a banned outfit during theoperations and the police alsorecovered arms from their possession,sources said. On the other hand,police arrested 12 suspects during theoperations carried out in Defence areaof Rasool and Neelam colony whilethree motorbikes were recoveredfrom an accused.

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KARACHIsaturday, 20 April, 2013

06

k

Some 98 accused have been arrested from

different parts of the metropolis during the

last 48 hours – Karachi police

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Deputy High Commissioner ofBangladesh Ruhulameen Siddiq andhis wife, Sarah, hosted an exclusivefunction at their residence to celebratethe beginning of the Bengali New Year1420.

The Bengali calendar originated1420 years ago under the aegis of thevisionary and culturally innovativeMoghul Emperor Akber in 1593. Everyyear it is celebrated by the Bengalipeople with great festivity.

The venue was decorated withsymbols of Bangla art and craft, andthe national songs in the mellifluousvoice of Sabeen Yasmeen and thearoma of ‘Hilsha’ fish, Panta Bhaat,Baigun Bhaja, Payesh and otherdelicacies of Bangla cuisine made theenvironment very festive. The deputyhigh commissioner attired in ‘kurtapyjama’ welcomed the guests andthanked them for their good wishes. Intrue spirit of diplomacy, the deputyhigh commissioner promoted Bangla–Pakistani friendship by arranging afusion of Sindhi ‘Dhol’

accompaniment to Bangla songs sunglive by Rina and Abdul Haleem.

The event was well attended.Among the guests were MosharrofHossain, CEO of ASA Pakistan withsome other ASA staff members. ASAhas been working on a goodwillmission in Pakistan, across Sindh andPunjab. It has 17 offices in Karachi, 60offices across poorest areas of Sindhand similarly 40 in Punjab. The aim ofASA is to provide free of service-charge, short-term micro loans, ideasand professional guidance to the verypoor to set up micro farmingenterprises, and economicallyempowering women from the lowestrung of the society to make them self-reliant independent earners.

The guests included Chairman LawFoundation, Chief Justice (r) Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui and his gynecologistwife D. Ashraf Siddiqui, Chairman JSInvestment Air Commodore (r)Munawar Alam Siddiqui, BarristerAbubakar I Chundrigar, the son ofPakistan’s past PM I I Chundrigar, JamFarooq, and several prosperousprofessionals and businessmenPakistanis of the Bangla origin.

BegINNINg of BeNgALI New YeAR 1420

KARACHIAAmIR mAJEEd

HIGHLIGHTING prob-lems and making prom-ises to get them resolved,all political parties haveannounced their mani-

festoes and slogans for the upcomingelections that despite their respective dif-ferences, agree on one common point:Terrorism is the gravest problem beingfaced by the country and that peace is ab-solutely necessary.

Roti, kapra and makaan are basic ne-cessities of the public and if these threefacilities are ensured, more than fifty per-cent of crime in the country could be re-duced, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)leader Waqar Mehdi said, while talkingto Pakistan Today. “Terrorism is a globalproblem and there are several causes be-hind this but as far as other crimes areconcerned, they could be controlledthrough provision of basic facilities to themasses,” he added. “PPP believes if roti,kapra and makaan are ensured to publicit would help in restoration of peace andprosperity in the country,” Mehdiclaimed.

“If we promote patriotism and stopdiscrimination on linguistic and sectariangrounds, we can fight terrorism which isthe country’s most serious problem,”APML Secretary Informationl Muham-mad Ali Jaffery said. “Sab say pehlayPakistan (Pakistan comes first) is our slo-gan which comes from the heart of Per-vez Musharraf,” Jaffery added. “He(Musharraf) is basically a special servicesgroup commando and like an army manhe always put his country’s interest first,”Jaffery said, adding that if we root out themenace of discrimination from the coun-try and bring the masses under theshadow of one flag solely for Pakistan’sinterest, we can fend off terrorism and re-store peace.

“We believe that the country’s majorproblem is terrorism and peace cannot beensured unless we do not root out terror-ism,” Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid(PML-Q) leader Haleem Adil Sheikhsaid. “We raised the slogan of ‘live andlet live’ for the upcoming elections,Sheikh said, adding that PML-Q focusedon economic prosperity, education, en-ergy crisis and elimination of corruptionin government institutions. Shiekh said ifall these things are implemented in spirit,

it would help eliminate terrorism fromthe country which he said was the gravestproblem facing Pakistan. “As far asKarachi is concerned, PML-Q believesthat all parties should accept each others’mandate and not try to occupy the wholecity,” Sheikh said.

“Ensuring justice would help restora-tion of peace and elimination of growingterrorism,” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf(PTI) candidate in Karachi Israr Abbasisaid. “PTI raised the slogan of justice, hu-manity and self-esteem and if thesevirtues are engrained in our society, ter-rorism will find no place, he said. “Thesole reason behind growing incidents ofcrime across the country is massive injus-tice. If justice is ensured to the public,many who forcibly took law into theirhands and joined terrorist groups wouldbe compelled otherwise,” Abbasi claimed.

“A peaceful Pakistan is Awami Na-tional Party’s (ANP) slogan and we be-lieve that peace is currently thefundamental need of the masses in thecountry,” ANP Sindh General SecretaryBashir Jan said. “Terrorism affected theperformance of all institutions in thecountry,” Jan said, adding that dozens ofpeoples are killed in terrorist attacks

everyday in the country. If a peacefulworking environment is not ensured, itwould be difficult to keep the country ontrack,” he said.

Muttaheda Qaumi Movement(MQM) leader Khawaja Izharul Hassansaid, “Mostly people use influence ofland, property and family to reach theparliament which is why most problemsremain unsolved.” MQM is the onlyparty that rejected all types of influenceand raised a voice for empowerment ofthe common man, Hassan said. “If com-petitive people enter the parliament, allproblems of the country would get re-solved ultimately,” he opined.

“Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) believes that there are two typesof terrorism that have engulfed the entirecountry which are global terrorism andlocal terrorism,” said PML-N’s IrfanullahMarwat, a candidate from PS-114 Karachi.“The entire country is suffering from theglobal war on terrorism on one hand whileKarachi is becoming victim to local terror-ism,” he stated. “Everyday dozens arebeing killed in the city in acts of terrorism,”Marwat said, adding that peace in the me-tropolis could not be restored unless polit-ical parties are disarmed.

asia accuses policeof raiding her home KARACHI: All Pakistan Muslim League’sspokesperson, Aasia Ishaque, has claimed thata police force of over two dozen personnelraided her residence on Thursday night to ar-rest her that she escaped for not being presentat home.The spokesperson quoted APML chiefMusharraf as having strongly condemned thepolice raid. She accused the police of harassedher family members, including women andchildren. “They also took a laptop and otherstuff along,” the APML spokespersonclaimed. Reiterating her resolve to stand firmwith the party chief, Aasia said such tacticscould not shake her determination. In an indi-rect reference to the returning officers, theAPML official wondered as to why Musharrafcould not be declared illegible for contestingelections while those having embezzled bil-lions in the rental power projects and holdingfake degrees were cleared for the May 11mega event. “This is a sheer highhandednessand an overt attempt to keep the APML out ofthe elections,” Aasia claimed. STAFF REPORT

terror victims’ heirs receiveappointment letters

KARACHIAPP

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC)Commissioner Matanat Ali Khan handed overappointment letters to the family members ofcity wardens killed recently during differentincidents of violence.On the occasion, widow of a warden, and sib-lings of two others received the appointmentletters.This was besides the compensation chequesworth Rs 500,000 each that had already beengiven by KMC authorities to the bereavedfamilies.Karachi Administrator, Hashim Raza Zaidihad assured the families of city wardens wholost lives while performing their duties andprofessional obligations that a member fromeach of these families would be provided jobin KMC.Matanat said that in compliance to the direc-tive of the administrator the source of liveli-hood has been ensured for the bereavedfamilies.“These city wardens have set an example thatcan never be compensated, however, it is ourresponsibility to take care of their depend-ents,” he said.Senior Director Municipal Services, DrShaukat Zaman, Chief City Warden, Mairaj-ul-Haq and office bearers of KMC labour di-vision were also present on the occasion.

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07

Newssaturday, 20 April, 2013

If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorize us,

it should be pretty clear by now that they picked

the wrong city to do it. – Barack ObamaN

BOSTONAgENcIES

oNE of the Boston bombing sus-pects reportedly died on Fridayafter a shootout with police, asexplosions rang out near the

tense US city and officers stayed on thehunt for a second suspect.

The manhunt began after a campuspolice officer was killed at the elite Mas-sachusetts Institute of Technology, theBoston Globe reported, days after thecity’s historic marathon came under at-tack. The first suspect was caught by po-lice in the Watertown district north ofMIT, and US media said he later died ofhis wounds.

Describing the shootout, local resi-dent Adam Brown said, “There wereblasts, it could have been grenades.”

MIT, one of the world’s top universi-ties, is situated in Cambridge, Massachu-

setts, just across the Charles River fromBoston where three people were killedand 180 injured in a double bomb attackon the marathon on Monday.

Authorities made no comment on alink between the manhunt and the bomb-ing at the marathon finishing line, theworst terror attack in the United Statessince the September 11 atrocities in 2001.There has been no claim of responsibility.But the dramatic developments cameshortly after the FBI released pictures andvideo of the two men suspected of plant-ing the bombs, appealing for help to iden-tify the pair who were carrying largebackpacks.

Both appeared to be young men, onedressed in a white baseball cap and the otherin a black cap. The FBI gave no details oftheir identities or origin, naming them onlyas Suspect One and Suspect Two.

Authorities said that a second policeofficer was wounded in the dramaticnighttime operation which saw heavilyarmed police swoop on the Watertowndistrict and cordon off a large area of theuniversity and surrounding streets.

Media reports said the events cas-caded with a robbery at a gas station fol-lowed by the killing of the campus officer

and then a car chase to Watertown.The NBC-WJAR channel showed

film of a man lying on the ground in astreet in the town and surrounded by po-lice. The university warned students tostay indoors as police with rifles patrolledthe streets and search helicopters flewabove the campus.

“The shooter remains at large; policecontinue to search the campus. Please re-main indoors until further notice,” said anemergency alert issued by the universityon its website.

The MIT campus police officer suf-fered “multiple gunshot wounds” whenhe responded to a disturbance, said Mid-dlesex District Attorney Michael Pelgroin a statement.

The officer “was transported to thehospital and pronounced deceased,” saidthe statement, which added that therewere no other victims.

Two bombs were placed around themarathon finish line on Monday, sprayingnails, ball bearings and other metal frag-ments into massed spectators, many ofwhom suffered horrific injuries.

The men are seen in the video walk-ing calmly, one a few paces behind theother, weaving between crowds on

Boston’s Boylston Street where the racefinished.

President Barack Obama vowed tothe people of Boston Thursday that the“evil” bombers would be brought to jus-tice. At a special service at Boston’sCathedral of the Holy Cross, Obamavowed:

“Yes, we will find you, and yes, youwill face justice.”

We will find you, we will hold youaccountable,” he told a congregation of2,000, including relatives of the dead,survivors of the blasts, rescuers and cityleaders.

“If they sought to intimidate us, toterrorize us,” Obama said, then “it shouldbe pretty clear by now that they pickedthe wrong city to do it.”

Boston has held emotional tributes tothe dead — eight-year-old MartinRichard, Boston University graduate stu-dent Lu Lingzi of China and KrystleCampbell, a restaurant manager.

Obama paid tribute to all three at theservice. More than 100 of the woundedhave left Boston hospitals and fewer than10 of those still in hospital remain in crit-ical condition. Some will require new op-erations, doctors said.

BAGHDADAgENcIES

Up to 27 people are reported to have beenkilled and dozens more injured in a suicidebombing in a Baghdad cafe, a ministry ofInterior source has told Al Jazeera.

The source said that a suicide bomberwalked into the popular Dubai Cafecrowded with young people late on Thurs-day and detonated explosives.

The attack occurred ahead of provincialelections scheduled for the weekend.

Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting fromBaghdad, said that the small space in whichthe suicide bomber detonated meant the in-juries were "absolutely horrific."

She said that the Amariyah neighbour-hood had been known as an al-Qaedastronghold before locals turned against thegroup.

Police said that three children and awoman who were passing by at the time ofthe blast were among the dead.

The packed internet cafe is on the thirdfloor of the Strawberry mini-mall in the pre-dominantly Sunni neighbourhood ofAmiriyah.

An Islamic studies centre, affiliatedwith the Iraqi Islamic Party, part of the mainSunni political bloc, is located below thetop-floor cafe.

Arraf said witnesses reported the forceof the blast sent shrapnel and glass flyinginto an ice cream shop and a pharmacy onthe ground floor of the building, severelywounding women and children.

Police said the cafe was full of youngpeople enjoying water pipes and playingpool.

Like other majority Sunni neighbour-hoods in Baghdad, Amariyah has beenunder extremely tight security since anti-government protests started in Sunniprovinces and communities in December.

Iraqi officials have said they believethere are still al-Qaeda sleeper cells in theneighbourhood.

Boston bomb suspect killed in shootout

Dozens killed inBaghdad cafe explosion

taliban kill13 anti-talibanuprising forcesin GhaznikABuL: Commanders of public

uprising forces against the Taliban

militants in eastern Ghazni province of

Afghanistan confirmed heavy casualties

on Thursday. Anti-Taliban forces’

commander in Andar district, Lotfullah

Kamrani said at least 13 people were

killed after Taliban militants attacked a

security check post. Kamrani further

added that Taliban militants attacked

the security check post in yet another

surprise attack during the past two

years that incurred heavy casualties to

resistance forces. AgENcIES

drone strikekills five yemenqaeda suspectsSANAA: A suspected US drone strike

in western Yemen has killed five Al-

Qaeda militants, including a local chief,

a security official and witnesses said

on Thursday. “The raid that took place

late Wednesday in Dhamar province,

killed Hamid Radman al-Manea, known

as al-Radmi and four of his guards,”

the official said in a statement carried

by Saba News Agency. “They were

targeted as they headed to Radmi's

house,” the official said. Witnesses told

AFP that two rockets hit the vehicle

transporting the group. A drone attack

in February killed leading Al-Qaeda

cleric Adel al-Abab in the eastern

Shabwa province. AgENcIES

afghanistan saystaliban held oversuicide bomb plotkABuL: Afghan authorities said on Fri-

day they have arrested five Taliban in-

surgents who were planning suicide at-

tacks on civilians in the capital Kabul

and another city later this month. Police

arrested the four men and one woman

in the eastern city of Jalalabad on

Thursday and seized four suicide bomb

vests and C-4 explosives along with

other weapons, the interior ministry

said. “They were trained outside

Afghanistan’s borders and have con-

fessed their crime,” ministry spokesman

Sediq Sediqqi told a news conference.

He said the five Afghans were linked to

the Taliban and the Haqqani network

and were arrested “as they were

preparing to launch a coordinated at-

tack on civilian facilities on April 27-28”

in Kabul and Jalalabad. AgENcIES

us suspectdenies mailingpoison-laced letter WASHINGtON: A man accused of

mailing letters with suspected ricin to

President Barack Obama and other offi-

cials maintains he is innocent, his attor-

ney has said. Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, is

charged with threatening Obama and

others, according to a Thursday news

release from the US department of jus-

tice. He appeared in federal court on

the two charges and if convicted could

face up to 15 years in prison. Curtis

was surprised by his arrest and main-

tains he is innocent, his attorney said

after Thursday's hearing. Curtis "main-

tains 100 per cent that he did not do

this," attorney Christi R. McCoy said.

She added that she knows him and his

family and that it is hard for her to be-

lieve the charges against him. Curtis is

said that he believes he has uncovered

a conspiracy to sell human body parts

on the black market and claims "various

parties within the government" were

trying to ruin his reputation. AgENcIES

SOutH SHIELDS: Labour leader

Ed Miliband takes to a pallet while

campaigning in the by-election

sparked by his brother David's

decision to quit British politics. AgenCIeS

NEW DELHIAgENcIES

A five-year-old Indian girl was battlingfor her life on Friday after being kid-napped and brutally raped in the latestincident of sexual violence which hastriggered nationwide protests. The girlwas attacked inside a locked room overa 48-hour period, police said, afterbeing abducted as she played outsideon Monday in a lower-middle classarea of the capital New Delhi. “We ini-tially registered a case of kidnapping.We have now launched a preliminaryinquiry into rape and attempted mur-der,” Rajan Bhagat told AFP, adding ahunt was on to catch a family neigh-bour who is the main accused. Thechild was admitted to the intensive careunit of a city hospital on Wednesdayand doctors said her condition was“critical” as news channels providedwall-to-wall coverage. “The girl wastraumatised when she was brought tous. There were injuries to her lips,cheeks and chest wall. There werebruises on her neck,” R.N. Bansal,

medical superintendent of a local gov-ernment hospital, told NDTV newschannel. “We are keeping her underconstant observation. The next fewhours are going to be very critical,”Bansal said. She was found by apasserby who heard her crying andalerted the police. The incident comesjust months after India was shaken bythe horrific gang-rape of a student inDelhi on a bus last year that triggeredcountrywide demonstrations and de-bate over the status of women and girlsand their safety. The woman suc-cumbed to her injuries 13 days after theassault in which her attackers drove aniron rod inside her, damaging her inter-nal organs. The parents of the five-year-old girl, who was later moved to abetter-equipped government hospital inthe city, accused the police of being in-sensitive in their investigation. “Theywere reluctant to register our complaint(that she was missing) when we ap-proached them the first time. Then thepolice asked us to be content with thefact she was at least found alive,” thefather of the girl said.

BOSTON ONLOCKDOWN ASPOLICE HUNT FORSECOND SUSPECT

Indian child ‘critical’after brutal rape

KHI 20-04-2013_Layout 1 4/20/2013 2:56 AM Page 7

NewsNsaturday 20 April, 2013

08 UNSC membership is an acknowledgement

of Pakistan’s contribution to world peace.

— Masood Khan

MULTAN SHEIKH HAq NAwAz

ExPECTING to score bigin the forthcoming generalelections, the PPP-P, PML-N and the PTI are all fo-cusing on the Southern

Punjab. And they have every reason to dothat, for the number of national andprovincial assembly seats that any partywins from this part of the country has al-ways been of critical import in formingthe government. The PPP-P, PML-N andPTI have lined up their most formidablefigures, but the PTI candidates seem tohave overwhelming influence in their re-spective constituencies.

There are quite a few groups whichmight turn out to be the difference: thebiradaries, religious groups, social organ-isations, labour unions, civil society andsectarian groups are all important. Re-gardless of their public stance, both thePML-N and the PTI are trying to woo

each and every group to optimize theirgains.

A survey of this area conducted byPakistan Today indicates that the PML-N’s local leadership has limited influenceover local politics. In the last five years ofN’s rule in Punjab, this part was consid-ered as neglected, in every sense of theword. Such was the indifference of the‘N’ hierarchy one could not really identifywho the real party leader was in this area.This lack of local leadership and the pre-vailing atmosphere of uncertainty havebadly damaged N’s political position,while the Pakistan People’s Party-Parlia-mentarians (PPP-P) has continuously tar-geted this region by raising the bogey ofa new province, titled the BahawalpurJanubi Punjab.

Likewise, the PTI has also been play-ing an active role in the politics of thisarea by bringing some towering politicalpersonalities to the party’s fold, namelyMakhdoom Javed Hashmi, MakhdoomShah Mehmood Qureshi and JahangirTareen, to name a few. These personalities

have not only contributed towards thegrowing popularity of the PTI but havealso enabled it to spread its influence inthe region.

The PTI generally enjoys a preferencein the Southern Punjab over the PML-N.To some local groups, the PML-N is aspent force, while the PTI is being termedas ‘the new voice of a new era’, and thecommon man believes that the PTI willpull them out of their hopeless existence.

According to some of the betterknown political analysts of the area, thepeople of South Punjab are now well-aware of the kinds of political foul gamesthat have been played in their midst. An-alysts believe that these people will not bepolitically exploited or cheated easilyfrom this point onwards and the shacklesof the past seem to be giving way to a newpolitical culture. They are themselves ma-ture enough to check the performance ofall the political parties by comparing thetall claims made by these parties, whilethey can closely observe the progress ofthose political parties that have ruled

these areas in the past, analyst added. Fur-thermore, in view of these analysts, noparty can claim of retaining a sweepingmajority in this part of the country, asmany new political and social trends haveemerged from this region in present timesand all the old practices seems to be head-ing towards the dustbin of oblivion; butmaybe not too soon.

Both the PPP-P and the PML-N arethought to be sharing equal status here.None from among these two can lay claimto enjoying special preference in the eyesof the masses, as both parties have gov-erned them for five long years, revealingthe complete picture of their governingabilities.

As has been the fad in the country’spolitics, a number of prominent personal-ities have left the PPP-P and the PML-Nand joined the PTI after sensing the peo-ple’s mood. A source confided in thisscribe that South Punjab’s latest electoralpolitical map, that was presently gettingfinal touches, would be totally differentfrom that of the past.

south Punjab: radical changelikely in political map

MONITORING DESK

Former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,in a bid to blunt Afghan claims on Peshawar,tried to bring the US secretary of state to thecity. Henry Kissinger agreed but the moveannoyed Kabul, which forced Washington tochange the venue.

Kissinger visited Pakistan from October31 to November 1, 1976, but instead of Pe-shawar, he went to Lahore.

However, to placate the Pakistanis, theAmericans offered their “continuing strongsupport for the security, independence andterritorial integrity of Pakistan”.

Secret diplomatic messages, released re-cently by WikiLeaks, show how the Ameri-cans handled the issue.

On July 13, 1976 former US ambassadorto Kabul, Theodore L Eliot, sent a letter tothe then US ambassador in Islamabad, HenryA. Byroade, saying, “I have fundamentalmisgivings about secretary’s meeting Bhuttoin Peshawar.

“Peshawar was ancestral home ofAfghan president Daoud’s family and it is acity with a sentimental, political and historicsignificance for Daoud and his family.

“At worst Daoud might attribute Pe-shawar Bhutto-Kissinger meeting to Bhutto’smachination to underscore American support

for Pakistan side in historic Pakistan-Afghandispute.

“In this event, he would be dismayed atSecretary’s having allowed himself to play inBhutto’s scenario. This in turn would havenegative effect on fragile Pakistan-Afghanrapprochement.

“At very least I think Afghans would re-gard secretary’s visit to Peshawar as an act ofinsensitivity.

“In the event secretary’s meeting withBhutto must take place in Peshawar, I will begrateful to have instructions enabling us togive Afghans reasons behind this selection.

“Even with optimistic assessment of mysuccess at getting Afghans to understand why

Peshawar was chosen, present glowing at-mosphere for secretary’s visit to Kabul willbe damaged.”

Ambassador Byroade responded: “Yourinstructions will be very difficult and painfulto carry out. I am gravely concerned that wemay deeply alienate Bhutto by appearing tobe overly sensitive to possible Afghan reac-tions and thereby spoil the atmosphere inwhich you will address the important sub-stantive issue of nuclear reprocessing whichconfronts us.

“This hassle over venue, coupled withthe language in the proposed joint statementon Pakistan’s security and independence(which Bhutto is sure to read as an attempt

to water down our earlier statements of sup-port for Pakistan’s territorial integrity), arebound to make Bhutto think we are consid-erably less interested in Pakistan than we hadled him to believe over the past five years.

“Both Bhutto and Agha Shahi are now inBalochistan and inaccessible today. I believeI must convey the message on Peshawar di-rectly to Bhutto and will do so as soon as Iam able to get to him, but I fear this may takeanother day or so.

“In order to convey something more pos-itive to Bhutto while I attempt to persuadehim to give up on Peshawar, I would appre-ciate authority to tell Bhutto we want to sub-stitute the following sentence in the proposedjoint statement for the present language onthe security and independence of Pakistan:the US reaffirmed its continuing strong sup-port for the security, independence and terri-torial integrity of Pakistan.

“I realise that this formulation is strongerthan what we propose to say in the joint state-ment with Afghanistan, but our relationshipto Pakistan of course has a totally differenthistory and involves commitments we havenever made to any Afghan government.

“If I can reassure Bhutto now that thereis no change in the substance of our relation-ship, I may be able to soften the blow on Pe-shawar. Please advise on para 3 as soon as

possible.”A third message from the State Depart-

ment, and signed by Kissinger, settled thematter. “Secretary fully supports the substi-tute formulation that you proposed for thejoint statement in para 3 and you are autho-rised to convey this to Bhutto in the contextof your discussion with him on Peshawar,” itsaid.

“We leave to your judgment the mannerin which you present to Bhutto our thoughtson Peshawar. We, of course, wish to avoid ir-ritating Bhutto, but we continue to believethat we owe it to him to tell him candidly thejudgment of our ambassador in Kabul aboutthe problems which Peshawar would posewith respect to the overall purpose we had inmind in visiting South Asia at this time.”

He added: “We will, of course, accede toany decision that Bhutto makes.”

Ambassador Byroade met Bhutto andsettled the matter as advised.

“I chased Bhutto down in Ziarat,Balochistan. Bhutto and I agreed that Lahorewould be the venue for your coming visit.

“In a separate message, which can beread at your leisure, I will give you enoughof the flavour of our meeting to allow you tohandle this matter in the small talk categorywhile you are here, as I don’t think it willcome up in any more formal way.”

Bhutto tried to bring Kissinger to Peshawar

fazl, sherpao

join hands to

challenge anPPESHAWAR

SHAmIm SHAHId

In a bid to pose a serious challenge toAwami National Party (ANP) in itsstrongholds in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP),Maulana Fazl’s Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Aftab Ahmad KhanSherpao’s Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) haveentered into a seat adjustment in threedistricts. Both parties would support each other’scandidates on five national and 15provincial seats at Charsada, Swabi andBuner. All three districts have beenconsidered strongholds of ANP since ages. Maulana Fazl and Sherpao have beenmaking such pre-poll arrangements since1990. Addressing a joint press conference atPeshawar on Friday, JUI-F’s Ata-ur-Rahman and QWP’s Sikandar Hayat KhanSherpao announced the seat adjustmentbetween their parties in three out of the 25districts of KP. According to the seat adjustment formula,one National Assembly (NA) seat eachwould go to JUI-F and QWP in Charsadda-the native district of ANP chief AsfandyarWali. Out of the three provincial assemblyconstituencies falling under Charsadda’sNA-7, two seats went to QWP and one toJUI-F. However, all three provincialconstituencies under NA-8 were open forboth parties.Asfandyar Wali is contesting electionsfrom NA-7 Charsada whereas AftabSherpao will be JUI-F’s and QWP’scombined candidate from NA-8 Charsada.JUI-F’s Maulana Gohar Shah will bebacked by QWP against Asfandyar WaliKhan in NA-7. It appears that Sherpao andFazl intend to repeat the 2002 generalelections when Gohar Shah defeated WaliKhan. In Swabi, both NA seats went to JUI-F andall six provincial seats will be distributedon an equal basis between the two parties.In Buner, the JUI-F got one national andone provincial constituency while theremaining two provincial seats went toQWP. Leaders from JUI-F and QWPexpressed jubilation over the finalisation ofseat adjustment in three districts and claimto sweep polls in their respective regions.They said negotiations for similaradjustments in other districts are underwaybetween both parties. However, they calledupon workers from both parties to extendsupport to each other throughout theprovince.

37 Pakistanipilgrimsstranded atiraq airport

BAGHDADINP

A group of Pakistan pilgrims wasstranded at the Baghdad airport foreight hours as Iraqi immigrationofficials refused to allow them toenter the country on Friday. Theimmigration officials said thatthey would not let the groupcomprising 37 people to leave theairport until the Interior Ministrygranted permission. Iraq ispreparing for Saturday’sprovincial elections with country’ssecurity forces being in-charge ofsecurity after withdrawal of USforces in 2011.

PESHAWAR: A

blast victim

from Adezai is

being treated

at Lady

Reading

Hospital on

Friday. ONLINE

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09

saturday 20 April, 2013

Prime Minister Khoso should immediately convene an

APC to evolve a consensus strategy on holding secure

elections. — JI chief Munawar Hassan

WASHINGTONAgENcIES

INDIA has non-military inter-est in Afghanistan and any Pak-istani fears in this regard areimaginary, Finance Minister PChidambaram said on Friday.

“We have a non-military interest inAfghanistan. We have committed a bil-lion dollars to the reconstruction ofAfghanistan. We are buildingAfghanistan’s parliament. We’re build-ing roads... But we’ve not sent a singlesoldier to Afghanistan,” he told the pop-ular Charlie Rose Show.

“Yes” Chidambaram said when Roseasked if it still scares the Pakistanis todeath. “Pakistan’s fears are imaginary.As I said we have not sent a singled sol-dier,” said the Finance Minister.

“Afghanistan is really not our imme-diate neighbour. It’s our neighbour’sneighbour. So we recognise that Pak-istan has a more than usual interest inAfghanistan. But that’s for Pakistan tofind a way in which it can evolve orforge a working relationship,” he said.

Responding to a question, Chi-dambaram exuded confidence that the

Kashmir issue can be resolved. “It can be solved. In

fact I’m confident itwill be solved oneday, once Pakistanhas a truly demo-cratically electedgovernment ,”he said. OnIran, Chi-dambaram saidIndia does notfavour Iranbuilding nu-clear weapons.

“Iran andIndia have a rela-tionship goes backmany years. Therehave been contacts be-tween India and Iran over cen-turies. There is no reason why weshould regard Iran as our enemy or as ahostile country...,” he said.

“Just because the US regards Iran asa hostile force there is no reason for usto share that view. But if Iran attemptsto make a nuclear weapon, we are onrecord saying that we don’t approve ofthat. The way to go about it is through

the International Atomic EnergyAgency to persuade Iran to

give up any nuclear am-bition,” he said.

Chidambaramsaid all evidencesuggest that Iranis far away frombuilding a nu-clear weapon.

“The ques-tion is: are theyenriching ura-nium which will

allow them tobuild a nuclear

weapon. All the ev-idence points that

they are quite far awayfrom doing that,” he said. “The IAEA has not said

anything to the contrary. I may bewrong. The hard evidence is on thetable. Surely the world will rally aroundto say Iran should not build a nuclearweapon.

India’s position is we cannot affordanother country in that region to build anuclear weapon,” Chidambaram said.

“This will have an effect on other

countries. Other countries will want tohave nuclear weapons. The whole areawill get nuclearised and that is bad forworld peace,” he said. Chidambaramsaid, “India has clearly told Iran we donot support Iran’s efforts, if any, to builda nuclear weapon. Maybe they are try-ing. But at the moment, there is no evi-dence to say that they are building anuclear weapon.”

He reiterated India’s position thatIndia would not sign the discriminatorynuclear non-proliferation treaty.

“Not the present one which we be-lieve is discriminatory and we havegiven reasons for that,” he said, addingthat the present treaty is discriminatory.

“A non-discriminatory treaty surelyIndia will consent”.

Chidambaram said India is buildingnuclear weapon and that is not a secret.

“We have built a nuclear weapon.But we have also said we will never useit. We will never first use a nuclearweapon. And we would work with allthe countries of the world towards nu-clear disarmament. In fact it is Indiawhich proposed the most comprehensivenuclear disarmament plan to the UnitedNations,” Chidambaram said.

india says has no militaryinterest in afghanistan

Power crisisgetting serious

LAHOREmuHAmmAd AzAm

With the summer only warming up to getgoing with full force, the masses are set toface the heat of ever increasing power outagesacross the country. Power load shedding hasalready increased up to 18 hours in severalparts of the country as PEPCO sources said onFriday that electricity generation remained at8,970MW against a demand of 13,000MW.The situation in urban centres is much worseand some areas are reported to be withoutpower for as much as 21 hours a day. Thespiralling power shortfall is increasinglybecoming a throwback of the massive energycrisis the countrymen faced last summer, whenprolonged power outages brought severalhundred thousand people on the country’sroads to demand uninterrupted electricitysupply. Last April, protests against loadshedding had become a frequent feature in thecountry’s routine affairs and demonstrationswere recorded almost on a daily basis bypeople fed up with simmering heat andgovernment inability to ensure power supply.Angry mobs then ransacked severalgovernment installations, especially those ofpower supplying utilities like WAPDA andvarious DISCOs, and clashes with lawenforcement personnel trying to rein in massesfoaming at the mouth were a norm. Thegovernment usually related the crisis todecreased water flow in rivers, fallingvolumes of water reservoirs and the infamouscircular debt. Like this time around, Punjabwas a special subject of power cuts. Thenchief minister Shahbaz Sharif had led severalpower protests himself and had accused theCentre of meting out step-motherly treatmentto Punjab in order to make the PML-Nprovincial government unpopular. He had saidPunjab had played its role of being an elderbrother and had sacrificed its interests in everyaspect, “still Punjab is facing a conspiracywhich is the brainchild of President Zardariand his cronies”. The Centre responded withlabelling Shahbaz a traitor for incitingviolence and riots against the federalgovernment. However, the people were theultimate losers, as the political war of wordsbrought them little respite from the problem athand.

9 killed in Bahawalpurroad accident

BAHAWALPURNNI

At least nine people were killed and severalothers were injured in a road accident inBahalwalpur, police and witnesses said onFriday. According to witnesses, the accidentoccurred when a bus turned turtle after hittinga roadside tree, killing at least nine passengersand injuring another 45. The witnesses saidthe driver of the bust lost control as he tried tosave a motorcyclist. The injured passengerswere taken to Bahawal Victoria Hospital.

malala to make unspeech in July

LONDONINP

Malala Yousafzai, the teenage girl shot by theTaliban for promoting girls’ education, willmake her first public speech on her 16thbirthday in New York, the office of Britain’sformer prime minister Gordon Brownannounced on Friday. She will speak at theUnited Nations on July 12, said Brown,speaking in his capacity as the UN SpecialEnvoy for Global Education. Malala was shotat point-blank range by a Taliban gunman asher school bus traveled through Pakistan’sSwat Valley on October 9 last year. She wasflown to Britain for surgery on her headinjuries and once she had recoveredsufficiently, she returned to school inBirmingham. “Malala is a true inspiration anda shining beacon for girls’ education aroundthe world,” said Brown. “I am full ofadmiration for her courage and determinationin the journey she is on, and am sure that shecan become a real leader in the campaign for aschool place for every girl and every boy.”

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

Pakistani authorities will investigate theclaim of International Security AssistanceForce (ISAF) that it recently arrested asenior Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) com-mander in Afghanistan, but they alsodoubt the authenticity of ISAF assertionand believe that it is yet another move todefame Pakistan.

Pakistani officials say that irrespec-tive of what the ISAF and Afghan author-ities say or claim in their statements aboutthe arrest or presence of LeT commanderin Afghanistan, they have not yet formallycontacted Islamabad over the vital issue.

ISAF’s statement released inAfghanistan early this week said the LeTcommander was arrested with a “number

of other insurgents” during an operationby Afghan and coalition security forces inAndar district of Ghazni province.

It said the LeT commander was al-leged to have planned and participated inmultiple attacks against Afghan and coali-tion forces throughout Kunar, Kandaharand Ghazni provinces of Afghanistan.

ISAF said the LeT commander, aPakistani national, who was not identi-fied, was also “known to have links tomultiple foreign fighters, and was activelyplanning a high-profile attack at the timeof his arrest”.

According to media reports fromAfghanistan, Afghan officials have alsosaid the LeT is actively participating inoperations against security forces.

The authorities in Islamabad, how-ever, believe that it was all part of anti-

Pakistan defamation campaign in whichsome Afghan officials having their tilt to-wards India, were actively involved.

A diplomatic source said on conditionof anonymity that the recent border feudbetween Pakistan and Afghanistan over arenovation of a border gate in MohmandAgency was also result of some misun-derstanding created by one such securityofficial of Afghan President HamidKarzai. That official, he said, harbouredanti-Islamabad feelings and had a softcorner for New Delhi.

Nonetheless, he said Pakistani offi-cials would probe the matter of LeT pres-ence in Afghanistan on their own and forthat intelligence work would be done indifferent Pakistani regions to dig outwhether people affiliated with LeT couldhave gone across the border to attack

NATO and Afghan forces in the neigh-bouring state. The reported arrest of LeTcommander in Afghanistan also echoed inthe Foreign Office on Friday as questionswere asked from the spokesman, AizazAhmad Chaudhry, about the press reportsthat emanated from Kabul in this connec-tion.

To one such query, Aizaz said, “Wedo not respond to any allegation with acounter allegation. For us, the most im-portant thing is the peace process inAfghanistan. We are convinced that peaceand stability in Afghanistan is in the inter-est of Pakistan and the region, and we willcontinue to facilitate the peace process inevery possible way.”

He also said Afghan authorities hadnot formally contacted Pakistani govern-ment on that issue.

Pakistan to probe IsAf claims of LeT commander’s arrest

QuEttA: A child lights candles on Friday in the memory of the victims of the Alamdar Road twin bombings targeting Hazara Shias. INP

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CoMMeNT

Csaturday, 20 April, 2013

10I guess what happens to a lot of people as they get

older is that they get more conservative, but with

me, the opposite is the case. –Simon Critchley

whiteLIESApoLLo

Aziz-ud-Din AhmadEditor

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

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

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

TWO likely develop-ments are going to im-pact the way things mayshape in the country inthe future: the treatment

meted out to Gen Musharraf andwhether and when the names of themedia persons who have been the re-cipients of dole-outs from the stateexchequer are made public.

There has been much speculation asto the timing of Gen Musharraf’s returnto the country. One obvious factor thatmay have influenced this decision tocome back is the absence of a politicalgovernment in the country and that theinterim government may not be too keento pursue him. The other factor that mayhave weighed heavily in the decision tocome back relates to him being the for-mer COAS and the ‘support’ that it mayunderstandably elicit from the militarybureaucracy. Some say that he also suf-fered from the delusion of widespreadpublic support and that there would behordes of people lined up to greet him.

Two things have happened since hecame back. The bubble of his so-called

popularity hasburst and thelegal processhas moved at aquick pace tight-ening the noosearound his neck.On Thursday,his bail in thejudges’ case wasnot renewed andthe IslamabadHigh Courtpassed the or-ders for his ar-rest. Instead ofsu r rende r ingafter the hear-ing, the Generalinjudiciouslyopted to flee thescene and takerefuge in hisChak ShahzadFarm Housewith an impene-trable securitycordon aroundit. As expected,he has sincebeen arrestedand producedbefore a judicialmagistrate whogranted a transitbail for twodays. There are

also reports that his residence will be de-clared a sub-jail. So technically, his pe-riod of incarceration has commenced.The question that arises relates to theconduct of the political government thatdid nothing significant over five longyears to bring the General to justice. Ithas now fallen to the impoverished andage-ravaged lot of the interim govern-ment, with the prospect of national elec-tions already taking a heavy toll, toadminister some tough decisions. It re-mains to be seen whether the subsequentproceedings will follow the normalcourse as they would in other such cases.

More than anything else, this woulddepend on the role that the army wouldplay in the long run. There have been in-cessant reports of institutional unease re-garding his coming back and efforts arealso reported to have been made to dis-suade him from doing so. Some friendlycountries’ role also cannot be over-looked in the matter as is now beingopenly certified by divergent quarters in-cluding Gen Musharraf’s aides whohave clearly hinted at a ‘deal’ that facil-itated his return to the country and whichmay also determine the shape of thingsin the future. Silence on the part of thetop leaderships of the political parties,most notably the PPP and the PML-N,is also strengthening this perception.

While the popular demand emanat-ing from the intelligentsia, the judiciaryand those others who were directly im-pacted by his actions will favour atreatment that would be fully commen-surate with his crimes, transgressionsand misdemeanours, saner voices maybe more inclined to allowing the ghostto be buried without creating any fur-ther ripples in an already divided soci-ety. Both opinions have their rationale:while the former may win by sheernumbers, the latter may stand out be-cause of its sagacity and farsightedness.Reservations about some people sittingon judgement on the accused and otherswho may have collaborated with himmay also have its relevance that may bedifficult to hide in a battle that can beboth bitter and prolonged. Overall, theGeneral presents a test-case for all:whether to follow a course that may beemotionally more satisfying and mayalso settle some old scores or to choosea path that would be more in conso-nance with upholding Pakistan’s long-term stakes and may also be moreenduring and meaningful. Alreadythere are numerous voices demandingto make this the last act rather than theprologue. The converse may be likeneedlessly flogging a dead horse.

The other case that may impact thenational scene is a major way is thelikely revelation of names by the judi-ciary of media tycoons and practition-ers who have been receiving state fundsin the name of rendering national serv-ice. These dole-outs are covered undernumerous heads and a detailed list hasunderstandably been handed over to thebench that is hearing the petition. Thelist contains over two-hundred benefi-ciaries of the state largesse and may in-clude many a sacred surprise. Theministry of information has divided thenames into two broad categories andhas recommended that the judiciarymay go ahead with revealing the nameslisted under one head, but keep secretover one-hundred names which arelisted under the second head who re-portedly received these dole-outs fromthe ‘secret fund’. Simultaneously, thereis mounting pressure on the judiciaryfrom numerous partisan quarters thatno names should be revealed at all asall recipients of these funds were per-forming a ‘national duty’.

Questions relating to the nature oftasks assigned to these journalists wouldnaturally be asked. It would begrotesque to go into further details asone clearly understands the base dimen-sions of all these undertakings and themanner in which state funds were dis-tributed to win political and allied sup-port. Every government since theinception of the country has indulged inthis nefarious exercise and practicallyeveryone who is anyone in the journal-ism business has been the beneficiary ofthis largesse at some stage or the other.

But, now that the skeletons are beingdragged out of the closets where theyhave been rotting for decades, it is essen-tial that the names of these inveteratepontiffs who never tire of lecturing theworld on moral and professional valuesshould be brought out in the open. Al-ready there is wild speculation as to theidentity of these self-anointed ‘saints’who have muddied many a decent char-acter. Independent journalism being newto Pakistan, things may have been donetoo brashly and unprofessionally and thismay be an opportunity to cleanse the sta-bles of the muck that has accumulatedover years. For the moment, the judiciaryis faced with a mammoth challenge andit may not have much time to waste if itwants its credibility to remain intactwhich has taken a few hard hits of late.

The writer is a political analyst.He can be reached atraoofhasan@hotmail.com

Former general’s gauntlet has been picked upmusharraf meets reality

Make this the last act rather than the prologue

flogging adead horse

THE excitement of these being the first polls in which political parties arecontesting elections in Pakistan’s tribal regions has waned by some of thegrowing violence. The areas of Bajaur, Wana and Orakzai – all swept by the

Taliban and retrieved after extensive military operations spanning the last decade – areseeing a time of a flurry of election activity. While on the one side, the impendinggeneral elections represent a time of celebrating a return to normalcy, the other side ofthe election spectrum calls on the people of the tribal regions to reflect on the drasticaffects of the decade-long militancy on their livelihoods and loved ones. One mustremember that these are the areas that have been under siege, at times by the Talibanand its splinter groups, on others by the military, and still remain subject to the FrontierCrimes Regulations and the Actions in Aid of Civil Power 2011 Act that place it outsidethe law of the land.

Perhaps changing these should have been the political agenda of the candidatescontesting elections, but it appears not as most just appear glad for the restoration of asemblance of peace. But a semblance of peace it merely is as the rocket attack on apolitical gathering in the NA-41 constituency on South Waziristan’s Wana area onThursday that left two people injured showed once again. While military officialscontinue to tout the emptied caves of Damadola, which the Taliban used as a basecamp, the legacy of the decade-long war is an ongoing one: with fizzing drones androcket attacks not an unexpected occurrence. The former war zone is still the site ofmany a battle as the ongoing operation in the Tirah Valley shows. It is encouraging tosee the female candidate, Badam Zari, in the Bajuar Agency receiving media limelightcoming out and stating, “The welcome accorded to me in Bajaur Agency indicates thatpeople will make me successful.”

The fact that people have come out against the Taliban for being “anti-Pakistan” hasshown that the Taliban have lost the political capital it accumulated in the regionsduring the early days of the militancy. The tribal regions are all set for elections. TheKurram Agency is known to be amongst the few regions where around 62 per centpeople turned up at polling stations in the 2008 elections. With the Taliban politicallyisolated, the army is the one calling the shots in the region. But these elections meanthat political parties shall get their first foray into managing the politics of the tribalregions. With the PML-N, PPP, PTI and JUI-F all fielding strong candidates, it is onlythe force of the Taliban that appears to be the only threat to stop the tribal people frombeing incorporated into the political system of Pakistan.

IT took Musharraf, a man with a bloated ego, just 24 hours to reconcile with thepresent day ground realities in Pakistan. Defying the arrest orders issued by theIslamabad High Court, he had fled from the court premises and entrenched himself

in his farm house from where he issued a veiled threat of clash between the pillars ofstate if anybody dared to take action against him. Within hours the gauntlet was pickedup by the Senate where speaker after speaker compared the treatment meted out topopular politicians by the courts and the administration to the way Musharraf was beinghandled. The IHC had already summoned IG Police to explain why action should notbe taken against him for allowing Musharraf to escape. A major section of the mediawas airing similar views. The stand taken by the court, the Senate and the media forcedthose who matter to persuade Musharraf to surrender to the administration.

The interior ministry and police were under immense pressure to move inaccordance with law. The caretaker Interior Minister was summoned by the Senate andasked why Musharraf was being kept at his farm house instead of the normal lock up.The Islamabad High Court meanwhile ordered the Secretary Interior to take actionagainst the IG who was held responsible for letting Musharraf escape. Within hourshigher police officials shifted the fugitive to Islamabad Police Headquarters which theythought would be more secure for him than the farmhouse. The former president cumarmy chief will be presented before an anti-terrorist court on Saturday where he will berequired to prove that he had not ordered the arrest of the SC judges in 2007. It is forthe ATC to bail him out or send him to lock up.

This is the first time that a former army chief has been arrested under a politicaldispensation (Gen. Tikka Khan’s brief incarceration as a PPP leader in protest was underGen. Zia’s Martial Law). A lesson has thus been conveyed that all citizens irrespectiveof their social status are equal before law and there are no holy cows. AllowingMusharraf to stay at his luxurious farm house implied that some are more equal thanothers. The decision to arrest Musharraf or to keep him at the police headquarters doesnot bring down the image of the army. It is a decision against a former servicemanwhose activities had bought bad name to the institution. By distancing itself fromMusharraf’s actions and supporting the rule of law the army has improved its image.The action is in accordance with Gen Kayani’s much hailed assurance to keep army outof politics. There is a need henceforth on the part of every institution and agency of thestate to work strictly within the scope and limits defined for it by the constitution.Transgressions weaken the system while adherence to the basic law strengthens it.Musharraf should henceforth cooperate with the courts instead of defying them.

candid cornerRAOOF HASAN

HOW the mighty fall.There was a time whenour man Musharraf used

to have a swagger to put the bestto shame. You know, the sort thatpubescent boys unsure of theirmasculinity show when they prowlabout markets.

Well, these boys usually pushthe envelope and try toget funny with ladyshoppers and they arethen schooled inmanners by thwacksfrom shopkeepers and,in some glorious cases,by the ladiesthemselves.

Well, it was quitesomething, seeing thegeneralissimo having

toned down his body language to ademeanor more appropriate of thecourt.

He even had that sameunmistakable expressions on hisface that the aforementioned boyshave, when their beating isfollowed by a healthy dollop of“maa-behn nahi hayn kya?”

For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at whitelies@pakistantoday.com.pk

WE had no finance minister forquite a while in the caretakersetup. Now that we have an

advisor, he didn’t waste more than two daysand immediately went off to an IMFmeeting, accompanied by a considerableretinue.

What makes things worse is that thisisn’t even an exclusive meeting discussingPakistan’s relation with the IMF either. It isjust a regular IMF conference.

For some, interim portfolios are anopportunity for junkets and a spruced up CV.

* * * * * * * *

AN extremely exclusive andextremely expensive restaurant onLahore’s MM Alam Road, the sort

that is filled with high-society glitteratidaahlings aunties who “must do lunch oneof these days”, was caught with its hands inthe cookie jar some days ago.

It appears this establishment was, in fact,stealing electricity. Yes, for all their hard-to-pronounce dishes, they also got anotherword right: kunda!

Taliban resurgence threatens political incorporation of tribesmenthe tribal ballot

KHI 20-04-2013_Layout 1 4/20/2013 2:56 AM Page 10

CoMMeNT Csaturday, 20 April, 2013

11The mullahs of the Islamic world and the mullahs of the

Hindu world and the mullahs of the Christian world are all on

the same side. And we are against them all. –Arundhati Roy

Gender and institutionalperformance

MA N Ymyths andbiases op-e r a t e

against women in our in-stitutions in different sec-tors of the economy. Ifunchecked, these biasescan become barriers inenhancing the perform-ance of the relevant insti-tutions. These barrierscan be eradicated if wecreate a level playingfield and provide equalopportunities for careerenhancements, disregarding the gender of the individual. As a firststep in that direction, it is imperative to sensitize senior policy mak-ers about the negative consequences of such barriers.

As a start, recently a training program was organized under theumbrella of Assessment & Strengthening Program, a USAID fundedproject at Lahore University of Management Sciences with the aimto break out of the institutional myths that work against women’scareer growth. The main theme of this program was ‘Development& Leadership: Gender dimension’. About 21 participants attendedthis program; the participants were almost equally divided betweenwomen and men (11 men and 10 women) and they came from allparts of the country such as Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore, Islamabad,FATA, representing different sectors of the economy.

The program was designed to search for ways to tackle thechallenges of integration of the sexes at the workplace in order toimprove institutional performance. This was considered absolutelyessential not only from the standpoint of increasing operational ef-ficiency of our institutions but also to make Pakistan a prosperouscountry by through the effective utilization of available human re-sources. This program sought to demonstrate that leadership oughtnot be the exclusive prerogative of men. Women, it was felt, wereequally equipped with the necessary qualities to lead institutions.

There was no doubt in the minds of the organizers that with-out an abiding faith in the rule of law, meritocracy and equalityof opportunity, it would be difficult to remove the operating in-stitutional biases working against women at the workplace.Therefore, topics like democracy and governance, developmentpolicy and gender, gender in the context of constitution & law,leadership and development of effective teams were stressed inthe program. In the knowledge economy, it was acknowledgedthat physical traits were not what made a leader effective. Instead,there was a wider recognition intellectual endowment that con-tributed to the effectiveness of a leader.

In view of the above, the fundamental questions that the pro-gram aimed to address were whether or not there were any majordifferences in the psychological and leadership profiles of menand women. Secondly, it was posited that teams with a healthymix of women and men will emerge as high performance teamsas compared to single sex teams. To test this hypothesis two dif-ferent types of teams were formed— the first kind had both sexesand the second kind were single sex teams.

What did the results of these two experiments show? First,it was quite interesting to discover that there were not many dif-ferences in the psychological profiles of women and men. Fromthis it could be easily inferred that if men could handle institu-tional leadership positions effectively then women could occupypositions of power as well. Even though the sample was small,the diversity in the sample was good enough to draw a generalconclusion that the allegation that men made more effective lead-ers than women is clearly a myth.

Secondly, another question raised by men in the program wasrelated to the posting choices in high security risk areas. Mostmen were of the opinion that women were either reluctant orcouldn’t handle jobs at such places. When a response was soughtfrom women they unanimously affirmed that, if given the oppor-tunity, they wouldn’t shy away from taking leadership responsi-bilities in such areas. Therefore, to deny women leadershippositions using the excuse that they are reluctant to work in‘hard’ areas, is a misinformed assumption.

Thirdly, with regards to assessing the teams’ performance, itwas noted that at the start of the team performance exercise, it wasgenerally believed that the men’s team will outperform all otherteam combinations. At the end of the exercise, it turned out thatthose two teams that had a mix of women and men emerged as highperforming teams when compared to teams made up of exclusivelywomen or men. Thus, this myth was also proven to be a misplacedone in the face of empirical evidence.

What kind of conclusions can be drawn from the preceding re-sults? First, that women in institutions are denied leadership posi-tions not because they lack competence, courage or communicationskills but because of operating biases in the day-to-day running ofour institutions. We need to remove such biases and create equalityof opportunity based on merit, for the growth of women in our in-stitutions— particularly public sector institutions.

Lastly, and most importantly, if we can create balanced teamsthat comprise of both women and men, institutional performancecan be considerably enhanced due to the synergy of forces. To buildstronger and more effective institutions, creating teams comprisingof both genders at the policy making and operational level, will bethe way forward. In conclusion, it must be emphasized, that the bi-ases against women at the workplaces must be debunked if wewished to make our country prosperous.

The writer is a Visiting Professor at Lahore University ofManagement Sciences. Email:zafar@lums.edu.pk

zAFAR IqBAL quRESHI

The importance of debunkingmyths about gender

APRIL is almost over which meansthat the country’s most anticipatedpolitical event is almost upon us. Yet,an ominous silence has replaced the

traditional pre-election euphoria, where thousandsgather to cheer on for their leaders; big promisesare made in grand rallies and historic speeches arerecorded in the weeks leading up to elections.

The election of 2008, for example, was agrand political spectacle where Nawaz Sharifand late Benazir Bhutto raced from city to cityto assert their political might.

Perhaps it was Benazir’s brutal assassina-tion that has subdued the politicians now, or per-haps it is Musharraf’s trial that has pushed theelection from center stage – either way, onemust admit the days leading up to the electionshave been engulfed in a strange political tensionbetween various political quarters.

The roots of this tension can easily be tracedto security woes of the country; in the last fewweeks, almost all mainstream political partieshave come under attack. The news of these at-tacks come in short spurts and then fades away,only to appear once more. Often these attacks aretargeted towards high-profile politicians, as inthe case of Bilour of ANP and Zehri of PML-N.Other times, these attacks target political work-ers, as in the case of various independent candi-dates and MQM workers.

It is feared that these attacks will escalate intheir nature and magnitude as the election datedraws closer. The previous election was delayedby a few weeks because it was marred by a high-profile assassination. Will Pakistan’s weak care-taker government manage to restrain the publicand hold the elections if there was, God forbid, an-other high profile targeting? And if not, if the con-spiracy theories of elections getting delayed are tobe believed, what kind of political violence will be

required to manage the delay of the polls Khoso’sinterim government is so determined to hold?

The ANP leadership has categorically statedthat the elections must not be delayed even by asecond. This statement was issued even as Ghu-lam Ahmad Bilour was reeling from the attackon an ANP meeting. This is because the KhyberPakhtunkhwa constituency, a waning ANPstronghold, can still get the party decisive votesin the province in the next government. Bilourhas said that he would hold the COAS, theCEC, the president and the chief justice respon-sible if anything happened to him. It is almostreminiscent of Benazir’s statements after theOctober attack on her rally in Karachi whereshe feared for her life under Musharraf’s pres-idency – who, interestingly, is currently on trialfor her assassination case.

The PML-N leadershiptoo, has sensed victory in theupcoming polls and will notstand for a delayed electiononly because it could have alot to lose if the polls are notheld on May 11. At the sametime, Nawaz Sharif and hisentourage are aware that BigBrother is watching and BigBrother is dangerous. For hissecurity, Nawaz Sharif hashired a helicopter for histransport and may be gifted20 bullet proof vehicles fromhis Saudi friends for thetransportation of his seniorleadership. Yet, he remainsconspicuously missing frompublic eye – unless youcount the television campaign ads and the spo-radic appearances the former premier makes.

PML-N has suffered damage in Balochistanwith the president of the party’s chapter in thatproblematic province coming under an attack thatleft his son, nephew and brother dead. Zehri sur-vived and fresh questions emerged: who targetedZehri? Was it the usual ‘Baloch tribal rivalry’ thatled to such a personal attack on the PML-N leaderin Balochistan? The Baloch are, after all, not veryfond of PML-N and Zehri is its immediate repre-sentative in the province. Or was the attack a partof some systematic targeting that is a part of thedark threat to politicians at this critical juncture?

PPP, too, has come under attack and hasbeefed up security and Bilawal Bhutto Zardarihas had to make very few public appearances asthe poster boy of the PPP campaign.

However, political quarters were strangely

silent in condemning the attack on ANP, whilehalf-hearted statements stressing on ‘solutionsto militancy’ were issued. So how nervous arePakistan’s political leaders at this point, withelections so near? Will they get the votes theywant while running silent campaigns?

Interestingly, election campaigning beginsat least three months before the elections. So far,a lot of candidates still have not been issuedtickets or are not eligible to contest in elections– there can be no campaigning if there are nocandidates. Another bad sign for the elections?

The central question still remains; will theelections get delayed? Constitutionally, it is not apossibility unless a situation is created where thecaretaker setup has no option but to delay thepolls. The caretaker setup itself is not mandated

beyond a stipulated period toremain in power and its mainjob is to watch over the elec-tions. Even if it somehowmanages to extend that pe-riod, it shall not be strongenough to sustain itself forlong. Neither will politicalforces, largely led by NawazSharif, stand for a delay inpolls. The speed with whichNawaz Sharif handled theQadri debacle earlier thisyear by unifying Punjab’spolitical forces in the face ofan uncertain situation pointsto how badly Nawaz to re-gain his glory days. Nawaz’sbiggest foe, however, is stillin the President’s House andthere is no knowing what

tricks President Zardari may have up his sleeve totip the political balance back in PPP’s favor.

At the same time, there is always the Armyfactor. Seemingly, Pakistan’s armed forces areembroiled in four crucial situations: an opera-tion in Tirah valley and Orakzai Agency, watch-ing over the election process, its former COASgoing through a public trial and the rehabilita-tion process of the affectees of earthquake.Would the GHQ be able to orchestrate a behindthe scenes delay in the polls while it has itshands full with the other crises it has to handle?

Simply put, May 11 and its political signifi-cance in Pakistan’s history still stands. It will takeoutright chaos for that date to be pushed back. Sothen, are delayed polls worth the damage?

The writer is Web Editor at Pakistan Todayand tweets @aimamk

How scared are our politicians?

AImA KHOSA

Pakistan’s silent election

Will Pakistan’s weakcaretaker governmentmanage to restrain the

public and hold theelections if there was,God forbid, another

high profile targeting?

KHI 20-04-2013_Layout 1 4/20/2013 2:57 AM Page 11

ARTS

Asaturday, 20 April, 2013

12I grew up believing that Iwas fundamentallypowerless. — Thom Yorke

triButes Paid to

Pink floyd alBum

artist storm

thorGerson

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason is

among the artists who have praised

album artwork designer Storm

Thorgerson, who has died aged 69. In a

statement, he recalled his “great ideas

and high, sometimes infuriatingly high,

standards”. Mason said the artist -

whose work included The Dark Side of

the Moon - was a “tireless worker right

up to the end”. Vocalist Dave Gilmour

called him “an inseparable part of our

work”. The childhood friend of the

founding members of the band, he

became their designer-in-chief,

fashioning a string of eye-catching

creations. Mason said: “Two days

before he passed away, and by then

completely exhausted, he was still

demanding approval for artwork and

haranguing his loyal assistants.” He said

the artist was a “dear friend to all of us,

our children, our wives (and the exes);

endlessly intellectual and questioning;

breathtakingly late for appointments

and meetings, but once there,

invaluable for his ideas, humour, and

friendship”. Thorgerson credits also

include albums by Led Zeppelin, Peter

Gabriel and Muse. His family released a

statement saying he died peacefully on

Thursday surrounded by family and

friends. NEwS dESK

aamir khanemerges as oneof the 100 mostinfluential people

NEWS DESK

Bollywood star Aamir Khan has beenfeatured on one of the seven special cov-ers of the Time magazine listing theworld’s 100 most influential people.

TIME Magazine has revealed their‘TIME 100’ issue which includes its an-nual list of the 100 most influential peo-ple in the world. The publication marksthe 10th year that the magazine has puttogether the special issue.

This year, there will be seven sepa-rate cover portraits of the honorees whoaccording to Time, “reflect the breadthand depth of our list, each one profiledinside-as is our tradition-by an equally lu-minary voice.”

The seven portraits include MalalaYousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl whowas shot while advocating for girls’rights, hip-hop artist Jay Z, AcademyAward-winning actress JenniferLawrence, Rand Paul, the first-term Ken-

tucky Senator, inventor and entrepreneurElon Musk, Li Na, the Chinese tennisphenom, and Bollywood star AamirKhan.

The covers will vary internationally,but US newstands will feature four dif-ferent versions. Each issue will containall seven portraits inside. Renowned pho-tographer Mark Seliger created the cov-ers.

Aamir Khan, 48, who wins praisefrom composer AR Rahman, “has been

chosen for using his influence to raise so-cial awareness in India.”

“In a world of false diplomacy andevasiveness, Aamir is a straightforwardman,” writes Rahman noting, “He useshis gifts as a charmer to give his audiencethe most bitter of medicines. Hypnotised,we take it without complaint.”

“Aamir has started a movement thatwill help change the world in which In-dians live. Jai ho!” adds the AcademyAward-winning composer.

NEWS DESK

It’s official - Showtime’s favorite serial killer willno longer be wrapping his victims in plastic andpushing a knife through their sternums. “Dexter”will end its run this summer after eight seasons onthe air.

Many have wondered if Dexter Morgan willmeet an untimely end when the series concludes.

Michael C Hall, who plays the titular charac-ter, is also an executive producer and director. Hetold EW.com: “I’ve been an advocate for having

a dialogue with the writers and getting a sense ofhow to best bring this story home - not wrap every-thing up with a tidy bow, but find some sort of con-clusion. There has to be an end game.” The finalseason premieres this June and will wrap up inJuly. Hall commented: “I don’t imagine I’ll jumpright back into something... I look forward to find-ing out what life feels like without Dexter.” Exec-utive producer Sara Colleton told TV Guidemagazine: “We know where it’s going to end. Iwant us to go out on a high, and everybody on theshow is determined to keep the level of it up to the

very end. It’s always wise to know when it’s timeto leave the stage before you’re asked to leave thestage.” At the end of season seven, Dexter’s sisterDebra shockingly shot police captain Maria La-Guerta after she proved at last that Dexter was aserial killer. “Dexter” debuted in 2006 and over thecourse of seven seasons garnered 25 Emmy and 10Golden Globe award nominations. In an interest-ing side note, Hall and co-star Jennifer Carpenter(who plays Debra), fell in love, got married anddivorced. They continued to work together despitetheir romantic personal struggles.

ISLAMABADAPP

Legendary Urdu and Punjabi poet Munir Niazi was remembered onhis birth anniversary on Friday by fans, readers and literature lovers.He was born in Khanpur on April 19, 1928, in a village nearHoshiarpur, India. After partition he migrated to Pakistan and settledin Sahiwal. Niazi, a master of poetic imagery, was bold enough toexperiment with many genres of poetry and is credited with creatinga distinct style, rhythm and diction. Mythology, nostalgia and haunt-ing romance are some of the themes that find frequent mention inhis poems. He wrote numerous songs for films and made his nameas one of the best movie song writer in Pakistan. He also wrote fornewspapers, magazines and did shows for Radio Pakistan. In 1960,he established a publication institute, Al-Misal. He was later asso-ciated with Lahore Television and lived in Lahore till his death onDecember 26, 2006. “Taiz Hawa Aur Tanha Phool,” “Jungle meinDhanak,” “Dushmanoon Kai Darmiyan,” “Sham” and “Mah-e-Munir” are some of his known Urdu publications.

roBert PattinsonreunitinG with‘cosmoPolis’ directorfor ‘maP to the stars’

NEWS DESK

“Cosmopolis” director David Cronenberg may have foundhis new muses. The auteur has just enlisted RobertPattinson and his “Cosmopolis” co-star Sarah Gadon forhis next project, “Maps to the Stars.” The film, according toThe Hollywood Reporter, will take place in Los Angelesand revolve around the celebrity-obsessed culture inHollywood. Julianne Moore and John Cusack have alsobeen cast in the flick, which is being described as an indieghost story. Production is slated to kick off in July inToronto and Los Angeles. Pattinson stepped out of his“Twilight” shadow in Cronenberg’s 2012 gritty thriller,“Cosmopolis.” When he spoke to MTV News abouthooking up with the director, he explained that workingwith him was “one of the first times I considered myself anactor.” “I had to come to terms with that,” he added aboutgetting the chance to hit the set. “That was one of my firstquestions: ‘What do you see in me? Why? Why? Why areyou hiring me?’ Cronenberg is one of those people whenyou’re asked who you want to work with, he doesn’t evencome into my head. Because that’s like saying, ‘Want towork with Orson Welles?’” In addition to working againwith the director and Gadon, Pattinson has a number ofother films in production,including “The Rover,”“Mission: Blacklist” and“Queen of the Desert.”This will mark the thirdtime that Gadon hasworked withCronenberg. Shealso appeared inhis film, “ADangerous Method,”describing theexperience as “reallyexciting and liberatingand, at the same time,terrifyingexperience.”

‘DexTeR’s’UPCoMINgeIgHTHseAsoNwILL BeTHe LAsT

Legendary poet MunirNiazi remembered

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13ARTssaturday, 20 April, 2013

A

Not all who

wander are lost.

— J R R Tolkien

KARACHI: Lux Style Award’s winner for best music video

director, Adnan Malik, teamed up with a talented and

emerging name in the music industry, Bambu Sauce, to

produce a cracking, adrenaline pumping music video “My

Punjabi Love for you”. The video premiere, organised by

Catalyst PR & Marketing, was attended by an energetic

crowd that watched the video over and over again.

premiere also marked the launch of AMP, a boutique media

production house”. ‘My Punjabi Love for you’ is an evocative

and propulsive experimental music video/experimental film

hybrid, which tells a story of a young rural wife who

attempts to overcome the challenges faced by independent

women in a male dominated society. Inspired by the raw

and grungy sound of the track, “My Punjabi Love For You”

by Bumbu Sauce, the winners of Lux Style Award’s Best

Emerging Artist 2012, the video propels you into the world

of its female protagonist and her troubled relationship with

men and society. The video features Aamina Sheikh as

Parveen Bano, Adnan Jaffar as the evil Landlord and Rizwan

Ali Jaffri as the hopeless husband, with a host of martial

artists who play a mixed bag of villains that stand in her

way. To play the role, Aamina trained in Muay Thai

Kickboxing, mixed martial arts, wirework and motorcycle

stunts. Her gritty and flawless acting carries the story of

the video forward into a seamless sequence of events that

alternate between real world events and her characters’

innermost desires and hopes. Adnan Jaffer justified his

character as the loathsome landlord and constantly made

producers wonder if they had created a monster. Featuring

inventive direction from Adnan Malik- who was the brain

behind the conception of the video- with gorgeous

cinematography by ace DOP Zain Haleem and production

by AMP, the video piece draws inspiration from classic

Pakistani cinema and cult martial arts films, and hopes to

contribute to the ongoing dialogue about gender equality

in Pakistani society. Adnan Malik Productions is a multi-

platform integrated production house that develops,

coordinates, and produces television commercials, digital

media, film based projects, advertising concepts, and

event-based entertainment. PR

‘my PunJaBilove for you’

NEWS DESK

‘Pankh’ maker Sudipto Chattopad-hyay threatens to take legal actionagainst Zoya Akhtar

Writer, director Sudipto Chat-topadhyay has accused Zoya Akhtarof lifting the central idea of his 2010film Pankh, for her upcoming Bom-bay Talkies. Sudipto is planning tosend a legal notice to Zoya regard-ing this.

Pankh, which starred BipashaBasu, Lilette Dubey, Mahesh Man-jrekar, Ronit Roy, Sanjeeda Sheikhand newcomers Maradona Rebelloand Amit Purohit, was a story of thesexual identity crises of a boy whogrew up acting as girls in films. Thefilm had tanked at the box office.

“My film revolved around theconfused sexual identity of the boyand how he liked to dress up as a girl

and got constantly rebuked for doingso. Bipasha essayed the role of a fairythe boy confided to—in fact it was anextension of the boy’s own self.

“If you look at the trailer ofZoya Akhtar’s film, this is exactlywhat is shown there. Every bit ofthat storyline is same. Katrina Kaifis playing the role of the fairy. Myfilm is out there for everybody tosee. How can somebody pinch myidea like that?” asked Sudipto whohad taken the film to numerous filmfestivals worldwide including thosethat dealt with issues concerning theLGBT community.

After watching the trailers,Sudipto made enquiries and stum-bled upon what he claims uncannysimilarities. “I found out from mysources that Zoya’s story is same asmine. There are scenes, which areframe-to-frame copies of my film.

The character sketches are same too.I know my film didn’t do well at thebox office and not too many peoplesaw it. But I should have been givena credit for my work. I am talking tomy lawyers and planning to send alegal notice to her,” Sudipto added.

When we got in touch withZoya, she denied the allegation andsaid: “I have not pinched my filmfrom anybody else’s film. The storyidea is entirely mine. I have not seenPankh but my film is not inspired byany film let alone a copy of one.”

According to reports, Zoya’sstory revolves around a little boywho is obsessed with Katrina Kaif.He dances to her songs all day andeven tries to dress up like her. Al-though both the stories follow dif-ferent paths, they may share a coreconflict—a boy’s confusion abouthis identity.

‘BomBay talkies’lands up in controversy

Lahore: Iman Ali walks the ramp presenting a creation of 'Nayna' at a fashion show held at

Royal Palm. muRTAzA ALI

KHI 20-04-2013_Layout 1 4/20/2013 2:57 AM Page 13

NEWS DESK

Fair is fair, even if you’re the oneenforcing the rules, according to aMichigan judge who fined himself$25 after his smartphone interrupteda prosecutor’s closing argument.

Judge Raymond Voet has posted

his policy in Ionia County DistrictCourt, letting all who enter hiscourtroom know that if their phonesgo off during proceedings, they’ll beconfiscated and returned only aftera $25 fine has been paid. Voet toldABCNews.com today that he hastaken phones from prosecutors, de-

fendants and police officers, but henever expected he’d ever have to en-force the policy on himself.

“I detest the distraction in thecourtroom, and here it happened tome,” he said. The judge said he hadhis new Windows smartphone in hispocket during court on Friday butforgot to lock the touch screen, set-ting off the voice command func-tion. “The phone is saying, ‘Say acommand,’” Voet said.

“The prosecutor was in the mid-dle of his closing arguments. … Helost his train of thought and lookedat me. I felt my face starting to burnred,” the judge said. Voet said heturned off his phone, allowed theprosecutor to finish, and at the nextrecess, went and paid a $25 fine.

“I like my phones just like any-one else,” he said. “But it’s very dis-tracting when a phone goes off.”

INFOTAINMENT

ISaturday, 20 April, 2013

14

WASHINGTONAgENcIES

USING a potent NASAspace telescope to scanthe skies for planets likeours where life mightexist, astronomers said

Thursday they have found the most Earth-like candidates yet. Two of the five planetsorbiting a sun-like star called Kepler-62are squarely in what astronomers call thehabitable zone -- not too hot, not too coldand possibly bearing water, researcherssaid in the journal Science.

"These two are our best candidatesthat might be habitable," said WilliamBorucki, Kepler science principal investi-gator at NASA's Ames Research Center.

The two planets are slightly larger thanours, and at least a couple of billion yearsolder. The first, 62e, is about 40 percentlarger than Earth. It might be warm, maybeeven a waterworld, and may experienceflashes of lightning, said Borucki.

The second, 62f, is about 60 percentlarger than our planet, and orbits its starevery 267 days, close to Earth's annual tra-jectory of 365 days. The planet may havepolar caps, significant land masses and liq-uid water, Borucki said. Both are orbitinga seven-billion-year-old star some 1,200light years from Earth in the constellationLyra. They are close enough to their star tobe warm, but not so near as to boil theoceans. They are far enough to maintainthe likelihood of water without freezingthe seas solid, Borucki explained.

Scientists do not yet know if their sur-faces are rocky or watery, or if they haveatmospheres that could sustain life.

But their location and size suggestthey "could plausibly be composed of con-densable compounds and be solid, eitheras a dry, rocky super-Earth or one com-posed of a significant amount of water,"said the study. Other studies have indicatedthat planets with a radius under 1.6 timesthat of the Earth, like these two, "havebeen found to have densities indicative of

a rocky composition." Astronomers de-tected the planets by observing their stardim when the planets pass in front of it, inwhat is known as a "transit."

"These are the most similar objects toEarth that we have found yet," said JustinCrepp, assistant professor of physics at theUniversity of Notre Dame.

Crepp first saw a dot near Kepler-62

about a year ago, and has studied themovements of the system for months inorder to confirm the discovery.

A third potentially habitable planet,Kepler 69c, is on the "inner edge of whathas been considered to be the habitablezone," said Thomas Barclay, Kepler scien-tist at the Bay Area Environmental Re-search Institute in Sonoma, California.

However, that one may be small andhot and more like Venus, the second planetfrom our sun, said Barclay, whose researchwas published Thursday in the Astrophys-ical Journal. "We're not sure yet," he toldreporters. Its host star, Kepler 69, is about2,700 light years from Earth in the constel-lation Cygnus.

All together, the latest findings addseven new planets -- four of which are out-side the habitable zone -- to the tally thatKepler has found so far, totaling more than2,700 candidates and confirmed planets.

In late 2011, NASA confirmed its first-ever planet in a habitable zone outside oursolar system -- Kepler 22b, spinningaround its star some 600 light years away.

However, the large size of that exo-planet, at 2.4 times the size of the Earth,has left some doubt over whether theplanet is rocky, gaseous or liquid.

Another large planet that Kepler hasconfirmed in the habitable zone, Kepler47c, is also much bigger than Earth.

Kepler, launched in 2009, is NASA'sfirst mission in search of Earth-like planetsorbiting suns similar to ours. It is equippedwith the largest camera ever sent intospace in its search for planets as small asEarth, including those orbiting stars in awarm, habitable zone where liquid watercould exist on the surface of the planet.

russia Puts mice, newts in sPace

want to age well? don'teat like an american

astronomers find mostearth-like planets yet

Judge fines himself forbreaking no-cellphone rule

Where there is no

struggle, there is no

strength. –Oprah Winfrey

MOSCOWAgENcIES

A Russian rocket carrying a capsule

filled with 45 mice and 15 newts

along with other small animals

blasted off Friday on a month-long

orbital mission that should pave the

way for manned flights to Mars.

Live footage on the Roscosmos space

agency website showed the Soyuz

lifting off at 1000 GMT from the

Russian-leased Baikonur space centre

in Kazakhstan with its treasured

cargo and another experimental

satellite on board.

The so-called Bion-M capsule is also

carrying snails and gerbils as well as

some plants and microflora.

"This is first and foremost to

determine how our organisms adapt

to weightlessness and to understand

what we need to do to make sure that

our organisms survive extended

flights," the TsSKB-Progress space

research centre's department head

Valery Abrashkin told state television.

The meticulously-prepared

experiment will last 30 days and see

the capsule touch down softly with

the help of a parachute in the central

Russian Orenburg region on May 18.

A field research lab will be deployed

on site to quickly test the animals'

response to their journey and return

to Earth. The missions has been

widely publicised by the state media

as a unique experiment that no other

country has pulled off in the past.

The Vesti 24 rolling news station even

added a touch of drama by noting

that two of the male mice got into a

deadly fight during the course of

preparations and "as a result, the

entire crew (of mice) had to be

urgently replaced." Russia has long

set its sights on Mars and is now

targeting 2030 as the year in which it

could begin creating a base on the

Moon for flights to the Red Planet.

But recent problems with its once-

vaunted space programme --

including the embarrassing failure of

a research satellite that Moscow tried

sending up to one of Mars's moons

last year -- have threatened Russia's

future exploration efforts.

President Vladimir Putin this month

unveiled a new $50 billion drive for

Russia to preserve its status as a top

space power.

Those plans include the construction

of a brand new cosmodrome from

where humans will fly to space by the

end of the decade. Russia's trials and

tribulations are watched closely by

other space-faring nations because

the Soyuz represents the world's only

manned link to the constantly-staffed

International Space Station.

But Russian scientists said the

experiments being conducted on the

mice and other animals would have

been impossible aboard the station

because they pose a sanitary hazard.

Doctors have long told us that the Western diet—

fried foods, processed foods, red meat, white

bread, dairy, and plenty of sugar—is unhealthy,

and now they have numbers to back it up.

Researchers studied 5,350 British adults with a

mean age of 51 who were followed for an average

of 16 years. The results? Only 4% enjoyed "ideal

aging," defined as being free from chronic diseases

and having strong physical, mental, and cognitive

function, reports MedPage Today. Participants were

divided into three groups based on how they ate,

and the researchers found:

The group who ate the most Western-style diet

were 42% to 50% less likely to experience ideal

aging compared to the group that ate more

vegetables, fruits, and fish

The Western diet was linked to a 53% increased

chance of cardiovascular death and a 36%

increased chance of non-cardiovascular death

The Western diet was also linked to a worsened

musculoskeletal status (determined by walking

speed) and worse cognitive function

Their conclusion: "avoidance of the 'Western-type

foods' actually might improve the possibility of

achieving older ages free of chronic disease and

remaining highly functional." NEwS dESK

NEWS DESK

The coelacanth doesn't just look like a prehistoric fish, itwas believed to be one, extinct for some 70 millionyears—until one turned up at a South African fish marketin 1938. Now, scientists have decoded the endangeredspecies' genome, and they say they've found some cluesas to how today's land animals evolved from a fish ances-tor, reports the New York Times. First, some fascinatingbackstory: The Times explains that the coelacanth andlung fish—both "lobe-finned fish"—have been duking itout for the title of the closet relative to that first ancestralfish that used its fins to walk on land. Post-decoding, thelungfish emerges as the closer relative, but in the Times'telling, the "coelacanth may have the last laugh"—that'sbecause the lungfish genome is too long to decode using

current technology. What scientists learned from thecoelacanths' DNA: Even though coelacanths don't have aplacenta, they have a gene related to one that allows landanimals to grow a placenta. A DNA sequence found incoelacanths, but not ordinary fish, bolsters the genesthat helps an embryo grow limbs. Researchers actuallyinjected the coelacanth's sequence into mice; "it lit upright away and made an almost normal limb," says one.

first guy to fly over North Pole actually missed

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sPoRTs

Ssaturday, 20 April, 2013

15Ahmed has been a loyal player, captain and ambassador ofKZN and Dolphins cricket over the past 15 years, havingplayed almost 300 games – Jesse Chellan

mccullum to sueover captaincy row

WELLINGtON: New Zealand cricket

captain Brendon McCullum said Friday

he plans to sue former player John

Parker for defamation over allegations

surrounding his appointment as skipper

late last year.

McCullum, 31, took over from Ross

Taylor in controversial circumstances in

December, prompting criticism of both

the new captain and national coach

Mike Hesson from sections of the New

Zealand cricketing community.

A nine-page report leaked to media this

month made accusations about how

McCullum came to win the top job.

In a statement issued through his

lawyers, McCullum said he believed

Parker, a 62-year-old former Test

batsman, wrote the document and he

will file proceedings in court next week

seeking a retraction of the claims.

“Mr. Parker’s paper makes some very

serious attacks on my integrity, my

honesty and my ethics as a professional

sportsman,” he said. “I have

endeavoured to resolve these issues

with Mr. Parker but have been unable to

do so. “He has left me with no choice

but to defend myself and my reputation

this way.” McCullum, who is currently

playing in the Indian Premier League,

said he was paying for the legal action

himself and would not pursue monetary

damages, simply a retraction from

Parker. AgENcIES

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

PCB Chairman Ch. Zaka Ashraf findspractical improvement in the board as anorganization having motivated andhardworking officials.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board is a moreefficient, better motivated and hardworkingorganization and as a consequence, there isvisible all-round improvement inperformance of the Board,” said ZakaAshraf while talking to the PCB employeesat the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

All PCB staff including the directors,general managers, managers, marketing,accounts, media and security personnel,curators, groundsmen, electricians and teaboys, all were present in the meeting in themeeting in which all the Directors, theChief Operating Officer and the Chairmanshared their views on the performance ofthe PCB.

The meeting was basically meant torecognize the services of its lower gradeemployees who had played such a greatrole in the success of the recent FaysalBank Super 8 Twenty20 2013 through acash incentive. At receiving the cash award,the lower grade staff was overjoyed andraised slogans.

The PCB Chairman told the meetingthat owing to improvement in overalldiscipline, hard work, commitment andmotivation the Board now has Rs 300million more in its coffers than at the timehe had taken over.

“In any organization, leadership is ofparamount importance. Over the last oneyear and a half under the present Chairmanhad been noteworthy, He lead from thefront and we supported him as a team. TheBoard is now efficient and better organized,NCA is in the process of technicalupgradation and shall be far better equippedonce our biomechanics labs becomeoperational and Pro-batter and Pitch Visionequipment is installed, the requirements ofPakistan cricket teams (at all tiers: senior,junior, age-group, women’s, blind and deaf)were being catered to in a far better manner.For the first time in our cricketing history,PCB also held its annual awards for theyear 2012.

“There have been other importanthappenings too: the series with India wasrevived, Benazir Shaheed women’snational tournament was launched, the landfor Islamabad Stadium acquired and theGarhi Khuda Bux Stadium inaugurated andthe British Universities and Afghanistanteams visited us. Above all, due to theimproved financial control and financialmanagement, the PCB has been able toshow Rs300 million more in the kitty”, thePCB COO Mr. Subhan Ahmad said. TheDirector, Domestic Cricket, Zakir Khansaid, “under the present management

domestic cricket has been closely focusedupon, and that’s why new events have beenadded, the existing events have beenimproved in terms of competitiveness andfinancial management, and crowdparticipation has enhanced.”

The Director, International Cricket,former captain Intikhab Alam said,“Pakistan cricket has in the last 18 monthswon quite a few laudable victories. Theperformance across all three formats hasbeen so good that the team was winning thematches despite playing all its series withhaving home advantage.” He further said,“When the Chairman visited England’sAcademy, he instructed us to install state ofthe art new technologies like biomechanicslab, Pro-Batter and Pitch Vision for betterskill management. After all thesetechnologies installed the NCA wouldbecome one of the best facilities in theworld.

The Director Coordination, Brig. SajidHameed said, “dedication level of the staffwas exemplary. The Director Security,Ehsan Sadiq said, “the PCB tried its utmostto ensure that the domestic T20 hadwatertight security and we tried to ensurethat international level security is providedduring the tournament.. The CFO Badar M.Khan said, “the financial management ofthe Board has been made better which isresulting into increased incomes andreduced expenditures.”

The security and vigilance team wasalso lauded for incident-free T20 eventswhich drew large audiences.

This was the first such formal meetingof the entire and the Chairman spokecandidly: “When I took over, I was advisedto install a new team in the PCB. I discardedthat advice, as because of my corporatebackground I know how organizations workbetter. I believe in making people performto their optimum ability. And everyone cansee that the same group of people haveaccomplished far better than before. Infuture too, the PCB’s orientation wouldremain towards performance: those who dowell shall always be recognized and givenincentives, and those who do not measureup will have to leave.

“Here I really admire those whoworked so hard in making the Faysal Banksponsored Twenty20 event such a huge

success. The lower staff and thegroundsmen who worked long hoursdeserve recognition. As such, as a token ofour appreciation, I am giving them a specialincentive”, said the PCB Chairman.

The Chairman also announced onemonth’s salary as ex-gratia bonus – the firstin four years – for the entire PCB staff. “Iam happy to announce this bonus becauseI believe that every employee of the Boardhas lifted up his or her performance and themotivation level among the employees hasbeen increased which is making the entireorganization look better”.

At the conclusion, cheques weredistributed amongst the PCB employees byCh. Zaka Ashraf, the COO Mr. SubhanAhmad and PCB directors.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

THE Pakistan CricketBoard has given somehope to the disgracedformer captainSalmand Butt and pacerMohammad Asif of

their return to cricket once their ban isover.

PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf sid thatthe cricketers would be allowed to play indomestic cricket after their sentence ofban is over.

Pakistan will allow disgraced formercaptain Salman Butt and Mohammad Asifback into domestic cricket once they servetheir bans for spot-fixing, the PCB chiefsaid.

Butt, Asif and teammate MohammadAmir were banned for a minimum of fiveyears by the International Cricket Council(ICC) after being found guilty of spot-fixing at the 2010 Lords test againstEngland.

On Wednesday, the Court ofArbitration for Sports rejected appeals

from Butt and Asif. Amir, who hadpleaded guilty, did not appeal.

Butt was banned for 10 years, fivesuspended, and Asif for seven years withtwo suspended. Amir’s five-year ban wasthe minimum the ICC could impose.

All three were jailed by a British courtin 2011 but were released last year.

PCB chairman said Butt and Asif willhave to serve their spot-fixing bans.

“They will have to serve it. Then wewill include them in first-class domesticcricket and see how they perform,” saidAshraf.

Butt on Wednesday vowed to revivehis career.

“I have completed half of mypunishment, so in 2015 I will be eligibleto play and I am motivated and fit torevive my career,” Butt told a newsconference.

Ashraf said no player should ever fix.“If he does, he will destroy his future

and bring a bad name, not only to himselfbut to his country,” said Ashraf.

Former captain Rashid Latif saidButt and Asif had a right to play aftertheir bans “provided they are fit and

have the will to play”.“I would have been disappointed if

they were let off,” Latif said.West Indies’ Marlon Samuels is the

only player to return to internationalcricket after being banned for having linksto a bookmaker. He was out of the gamefor two years, returning in 2010.

PcB to allow Butt, asif back indomestic cricket after ban

Zaka finds practical improvement in boardPCB COFFERS INCREASE TO ANOTHERRS 300 MILLION

SPORTS DESK

Mike Denness, the former Kent andEngland captain, has died at the ageof 72 after a battle with cancer.

Born in Scotland, he played 28Tests and 12 one-day internationalsin a career that spanned 22 years.He later became an ICC matchreferee.

Denness is the only Scotsman tohave captained England and led theteam in 19 of his 28 Tests althoughit was a controversial tenureespecially his strained relationshipwith Geoff Boycott. During the1974-75 tour of Australia Dennessdropped himself for the fourth Testin Sydney although later returnedafter injury to John Edrich to score

188 at the MCG which, at the time,was the highest score by anEngland captain in Australia.

In his first-class career, wherehe played for Kent and Essex, hescored more than 25,000 runs. Hewas awarded an OBE in the NewYears Honours list for services tocricket.

George Kennedy, the Kentchairman, said: “This is anextremely sad day for the Club. Wehave lost one of our great players,a very successful captain and agood friend. It is particularly sadthat this has happened during hisyear as president - a period whenthe club had two Scotsman at thehelm. Our thoughts are with Mike’sfamily and friends at this time.”

debut woe continues for sa’s smithLONDON: Graeme Smith’s first innings asSurrey captain ended in disappointment asthe South Africa star was dismissed for justtwo runs against Somerset at the Oval onThursday. Smith had been forced to watchSouth African teammate Alviro Petersen hit167 after losing the toss on the opening dayof the English County Championship FirstDivision clash 24 hours earlier.And the Proteas skipper’s luck was outagain on day two as he was dismissed byPeter Trego off the third ball he faced whenhe edged a wide delivery to James Hildrethin the slips. Surrey finished the day on 98-4,in response to Somerset’s first-innings totalof 384 all out. AgENcIES

former england captain Denness dies

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sPoRTs S

saturday, 20 April, 2013

16When people around the world think of

cricket, I want them to think of Indianapolis

– Greg Ballard, the mayor of Indianapolis

HARAREAgENcIES

ZIMBABWE remained oncourse for their first Testwin in nearly two years,ending the third day at 187for 7 with a convincing lead

of 442, as Brendan Taylor took charge on abowler-dominated day.

He was unbeaten on 80 in the secondinnings, to add to his 171 that shapedZimbabwe’s 389. Taylor, however, didn’tfind any help from the top or middle-order,which was dismantled single-handedly byRobiul Islam. The pace bowler took thefirst six Zimbabwe wickets to fall, hismaiden Test five-for and the first by anyBangladeshi pace bowler since June 2010.

But Robiul’s 6 for 55 didn’t take awayany advantages from Zimbabwe. GraemeCremer once again offered resistancebefore he was run out for 43, bettering hisprevious highest Test score from the firstinnings. He and Taylor added 79 for theseventh wicket, rounding off a very goodday for the hosts.

Zimbabwe began the day by triggeringa massive collapse in the visitors’ battingline-up. Bangladesh went on to lose ninewickets for just 32 runs, giving away theirlast five wickets without scoring a run.They ended their first innings on 134 runs,trailing by 255, but Taylor didn’t enforcethe follow-on.

Instead, he let his young pace attack put

their feet up for some time, after theirefforts in the morning put Zimbabweahead. Kyle Jarvis and ShingiraiMasakadza picked up four wickets each,while debutant Keegan Meth took two.

It was Meth’s medium-paced seam

bowling that struck first. He ended JahurulIslam’s promising 43 although the batsmanhad slowed down considerably on the thirdmorning. He had added just five runs off 35balls before he was trapped leg-before inthe 11th over of the day. Mahmudullah

prodded needlessly at an away-goingdelivery and dragged it back onto hisstumps to give Meth his second wicket.Bangladesh’s good work from the previousevening was coming undone.

Bangladesh’s over-reliance on a

defensive approach, although it lookedsensible at the onset, cost them dearly. Thesecond-wicket pair between Ashraful andJahurul added only seven runs in 10.5 overson the third morning and soon after, thebatting imploded.

Taylor guides Zimbabwe to commanding leadzImBABwE 1st innings

BRm Taylor* c †mushfiqur Rahim b Enamul Haque jnr 171

E chigumbura c & b Rubel Hossain 12

R mutumbami† c †mushfiqur Rahim b Robiul Islam 11

Ag cremer c mahmudullah b Sohag gazi 42

KO meth c Nasir Hossain b Enamul Haque jnr 21

Sw masakadza c Jahurul Islam b Sohag gazi 21

Km Jarvis not out 3

EXTRAS (b 1, lb 5, w 2, nb 5) 13

TOTAL 389

FALL OF wIcKETS 1-10 (Sibanda, 8.1 ov), 2-22 (maruma, 14.4 ov),

3-65 (H masakadza, 39.2 ov), 4-192 (waller, 81.6 ov), 5-223

(chigumbura, 91.4 ov), 6-238 (mutumbami, 94.3 ov), 7-344

(cremer, 134.5 ov), 8-344 (Taylor, 135.1 ov), 9-381 (meth, 151.3 ov),

10-389 (Sw masakadza, 152.3 ov)

BOwLINg

Robiul Islam 38-11-84-3, Rubel Hossain 30-6-87-2, Nasir Hossain

5-2-3-0, Enamul Haque jnr 47-5-133-3, Sohag gazi 22.3-1-55-2,

mahmudullah 3-0-7-0, Shakib Al Hasan 7-3-14-0,

BANgLAdESH 1st innings

Jahurul Islam lbw b meth 43

Shahriar Nafees c maruma b Jarvis 29

mohammad Ashraful c waller b Sw masakadza 38

mahmudullah b meth 3

Shakib Al Hasan c Sibanda b Sw masakadza 5

mushfiqur Rahim*† lbw b Sw masakadza 3

Nasir Hossain c †mutumbami b Jarvis 7

Sohag gazi c waller b Sw masakadza 0

Enamul Haque jnr b Jarvis 0

Rubel Hossain b Jarvis 0

Robiul Islam not out 0

EXTRAS (b 4, lb 1, w 1) 6

TOTAL 134

FALL OF wIcKETS 1-53 (Shahriar Nafees, 12.4 ov), 2-102 (Jahurul

Islam, 35.5 ov), 3-112 (mahmudullah, 41.1 ov), 4-123 (Shakib Al

Hasan, 44.2 ov), 5-124 (mohammad Ashraful, 44.4 ov), 6-134

(mushfiqur Rahim, 50.6 ov), 7-134 (Nasir Hossain, 51.4 ov), 8-134

(Enamul Haque jnr, 51.6 ov), 9-134 (Rubel Hossain, 53.4 ov), 10-

134 (Sohag gazi, 54.1 ov)

BOwLINg

Km Jarvis 16-8-40-4, KO meth 20-6-41-2, Sw masakadza 14.1-4-

32-4, E chigumbura 3-0-16-0, Ag cremer 1-1-0-0

zImBABwE 2nd innings

T maruma lbw b Robiul Islam 10

V Sibanda b Robiul Islam 4

H masakadza c & b Robiul Islam 0

BRm Taylor* not out 81

mN waller c Nasir Hossain b Robiul Islam 4

E chigumbura c Jahurul Islam b Robiul Islam 27

R mutumbami† lbw b Robiul Islam 0

Ag cremer run out (mahmudullah/†mushfiqur Rahim) 43

KO meth not out 13

EXTRAS (lb 2, w 2, nb 1) 5

TOTAL 187

TO BAT Sw masakadza, Km Jarvis

FALL OF wIcKETS 1-7 (Sibanda, 2.3 ov), 2-9 (H masakadza, 4.1 ov),

3-16 (maruma, 6.2 ov), 4-27 (waller, 10.1 ov), 5-84 (chigumbura, 22.2

ov), 6-84 (mutumbami, 22.3 ov), 7-163 (cremer, 50.3 ov)

BOwLINg

Robiul Islam 17-1-55-6, Rubel Hossain 6-0-31-0, Shakib Al Hasan

9-2-22-0, Enamul Haque jnr 11-2-34-0, Sohag gazi 9-0-24-0,

mahmudullah 4-2-19-0

match details

Toss Bangladesh, who chose to field

Test debuts T maruma, KO meth and R mutumbami (zimbabwe)

Player of the match tba

umpires BF Bowden (New zealand) and AL Hill (New zealand)

TV umpire TJ matibiri

match referee Bc Broad (England)

Reserve umpire O chirombe

ScOREBOARd

DELHIAgENcIES

Mike Hussey scored 65 not out and MohitSharma took 3-10 as the Chennai SuperKings obliterated the Delhi Daredevils by86 runs in the Pepsi Indian PremierLeague clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla inDelhi on Thursday.

The Daredevils were bundled out forjust 83 in the 18th over, in reply to theSuper Kings’ 169 for four, after MS Dhonihad won the toss and elected to bat first.

Hussey starred with the bat forChennai, facing just 50 balls with six foursand two sixes and shared in a third-wicketpartnership of 74 off just 41 balls withDhoni, that setup the challenging total.Hussey and Murali Vijay started off theinnings sedately before Vijay (18) wastrapped lbw by Morne Morkel (4-0-42-1)in the fifth over.

Suresh Raina (30) then joined Husseyat the crease and the pair added 60 for the

second wicket off 52 deliveries. Rainafaced 32 balls in his innings, striking fiveboundaries, but struggled to rotate thestrike. Once Raina was dismissed by IrfanPathan (4-0-30-1), the Super Kings beganincreasing their run-rate with Dhoni at thecrease.

Dhoni struck his first ball for four,which set the tone for his innings, whileHussey quietly accumulated his runs fromthe other end. Hussey took 41 balls tobring up his half centry, with a quick takensingle to mid-off. Dhoni eventually holedout to Jeevan Mendis on the square-legboundary off Umesh Yadav (4-0-35-1) inthe final over as he looked to clear theboundary.

The Daredevils’ reply was stoppedbefore it even began with Sharma claimingtwo wickets in his first over, the second ofthe innings. First he had David Warner (1)playing a ball onto his stumps, then threeballs later he trapped Manprit Juneja (2) infront to leave the hosts on 13 for two.

Chris Morris (1-13) then got in on theact, trapping the captain, MahelaJayawardene (6), in front off the last ballof the fifth over. The first ball of the sixthover created even more drama for thehome side as the big-hitting VirendaSehwag (17) was caught on the square-legboundary by Hussey off Sharma. Delhiwere down and out on 30 for four.

The highest partnership of the Delhiinnings was between Mendis (12) andKedar Jadhav (31), as the pair added 31 off32 balls. But as has been the case for thehosts all season, they continued to losewickets at regular intervals.

The ‘spin-twins’ of Ravindra Jadeja(1-21) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2-18)tied the Delhi batsmen up in knots, as thepair combined for figures of 8-0-39-3.Albie Morkel, after conceding nine runs inhis first over, ended with 1-13 in threeovers with Dwayne Bravo, who picked upthree catces, claiming the final wicket toend the misery for Delhi.

Hussey, sharma obliterate Daredevils karachi suspendthree players forindisciplineKARACHI: The Karachi City CricketAssociation (KCCA) has banned FawadAlam, Sohail Khan and Khalid Latif forshowing indiscipline during the recentlyconcluded Faysal Bank Super Eight T20competition that was completed on March31. All three bans are for 12 months, withSohail’s covering all domestic games forKarachi, while the two others will not beallowed to play T20s.During television coverage of the event,the players were shown criticising theircoach Tauseef Ahmed, a former Pakistanplayer. The three players have representedPakistan on the international stage, withSohail Khan having played two Tests, fiveone-day internationals and threeTwenty20 internationals. Fawad Alam hasplayed three Tests, 27 ODIs, and 24T20Is. Khalid Latif has played five one-dayers and seven T20Is. AgENcIES

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inter-districthockeyPeshawar whitestun nowshera

PESHAWAR: Peshawar White

stunned Nowshera by 4-0 in a

one-sided affair on the second

day of the Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa Inter-District

Men Hockey Championship

being played here at Lala

Ayub Hockey Stadium on

Friday.

Vice President Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa Hockey

Association Haji Nawaz Khan

was the chief guest on this

occasion and before the start

of the match the players of

both Peshawar White and

District Nowshera were

introduced to him.

The match was started on fast

tempo and Peshawar White

took the lead in the very

4th minute through full-back

Zahid Khan on the penalty

corner conversion. It was

right winger Irfan Khan move

who travelled past three

defenders and by reaching in

the D area got penalty corner

which was nicely taken by

Zahid Khan.

After taking the lead,

Peshawar White team fully

dominated the proceedings

and did not allow Nowshera

players to play with free

hands. It was in the

13th minute when this time

Irfan slammed in beautiful

goal on the field attempt.

Irfan, who also delighted the

sitting spectators with his run

down the flank, zoomed

quickly from the center line

and when he reached at the

top of the D area he slammed

in a superb goal to make the

tally 2-0. STAFF REPORT

ztBl lift nationalwomen cricket trophy

LAHORE: Karachi Region down

Higher Education Commission in the

last match of the 8th National Women

Cricket Championship but the winners

of the title were the unbeaten ZTBL

ladies who lifted the trophy here at

the Bagh-i-Jinnah’s Lahore

Gymkhana’s ground on Friday.

ZTBL for their title received a purse of

Rs 100,000. Nida Rashid Dar (ZTBL)

with 417 runs was the best

batsperson while there were joint best

bowler in Ramin Shamim (KHI) and

Elizabeth Barkat (LHR), Sadia Yousaf

(ZTBL) with 13 wickets each. Batool

Fatima (ZTBL) had eight stumps and

took two catches behind stumps to be

the best wicketkeeper while Bismah

Maroof (ZTBL) was the best fielder in

taking eight catches and all these

ladies were awarded Rs 10,000 each

for their achievement.

Meanwhile in the final match of the

championship Karachi defeated HEC

by five wickets. HEC gathered 160

runs and that was achieved by

Karachi in 46.2 overs.

Scores:

heC women: 160 in 49.2 overs (Aliya riaz 51, 4x4s, 1x6, 84

balls, Sidra Amin 33, 5x4s, 49 balls, Sumaiya Siddiqui 14,

2x4s, 24 balls, reema Aman 14, 3x4s, 31 balls, ramim

Shamim 3-39, Kainat Imtiaz 1-28, Kanwal naz 1-24)

Karachi region women: 161-5 in 46.2 overs (Ayesha Zafar

37, 3x4s, 1x6, 57 balls, Aiman Anwar 27*, 3x4s, 38 balls,

Kainat Imtiaz 22, 2x4s, 58 balls, Iram Khalid1-15, rahma

hasan 1-28)

result: Karachi region women won by 5 wickets

player of the match: Aliya riaz (heC women)

toss: Karachi region women

Umpires: Abid naqvi & humaira Farah

referee: Khalid niazi

Scorer: Masood Ahmed

kINNAIRD COLLEGE GIRLS WIN

CENtENARy BASkEtBALL

tOuRNAMENt : Kinnaird College

girls won their Kinnaird College

Centenary Basketball Tournament

beating Home Economics College in

the final here.

Kinnaird College achieved the win

over Home Economics College with a

score of 37-21

For the winners Ramsha Ali with 10

was the prominent players while the

losing side fought well through Kanza

Saddique who got seven scores. Umar

Rana and Muhammad Naveed

supervised the match.

Later Ramsha Ali (Kinnaird College)

was declared the Best Player of the

Tournament while Kanza Saddique

(Home Economics College) was the

Best Offensive Player and Aimal Ijaz

(Sacred Heart Convent School) Best

Defensive player. In the end chief

guest Dr Rukhsana David (Principal

Kinnaird College) gave the prizes to

the winners and other participants.

In the Junior Section, Sacred Heart

beat SHCS club 19-17. Amna of

SHCS club was the Highest Scorer

with 11 while Sacred Heart Isbah got

the 8 of eight. The match were

supervised by Aqib Javed and

Muhammad Naveed. STAFF REPORT

sPoRTsS

saturday, 20 April, 2013

17You’ll have to ask him is he’s going to

stay or not, I don’t speak for others,

I’m not at the club – Luis Figo

VALENCIAAgENcIES

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano wasrewarded for his commitment to theSpanish Open with a first round of 69 tolie just one shot off the lead in Valencia.

Fernandez-Castano travelled to ElSaler immediately after competing in theMasters at Augusta, where he wasdisappointed to finish 20th after being incontention for much of the week.

The 32-year-old admitted he wouldnot be playing if any tournament otherthan his national Open had been on theschedule, the only European Tour eventin Spain in 2013 due to the financialcrisis.

But his effort was rewarded with around containing four birdies and just onebogey that was good enough for a shareof fourth place behind leaders Felipe

Aguilar of Chile, France’s Gary Stal andDenmark’s Morten Orum Madsen.

“I played some steady golf and had acouple of lucky breaks too,” saidFernandez-Castano, who has not finishedbetter than 30th in his last fiveappearances in the event.

“I holed some nice putts even thoughthe greens were not the best this afternoonso overall I think it’s a very good start forthe week.” Playing partner Miguel AngelJimenez failed to record a single birdie inhis round of 76, but was just pleased to beback playing for the first time sincesuffering a broken leg while skiing inDecember last year.

“It’s very nice to be back, it’s been along time away from competition,” the49-year-old told Sky Sports 2. “I waslooking forward to playing thistournament and I recovered as quick as Ican and am very pleased to be here.

Fernandez-Castano leads Spanish Open

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

PAKISTAN captainMisbah-ul-Haq ledSNGPL to the President’sCup after his departmentalteam beat WAPDA in thefinal on Friday. It was

Misbah’s second major domestic title as acaptain after he led Faisalabad Wolves toSuper Eight T20 Cup last month.

A strong performance from the SuiNorthern Gas Pipelines Limited top order,combined with Asad Ali’s incisivebowling, helped SNGPL take thePresident’s Cup One-Day tournamentagainst Water and Power DevelopmentAuthority with a 32-run victory in Karachi.SNGPL were put in to bat and the openersput on a commanding 125-run stand. OnceMohammad Hafeez fell for 58, Azhar Alicame on to score 33 in a 40-run partnershipwith Taufeeq Umar. Umar Akmal failedagain, finishing a dismal tournament where

he scored only 79 runs in 6 innings. Furthercontributions from the captain Misbah ul-Haq (34) and Khurram Shehzad (42)helped SNGPL to an imposing 283 for 8 atthe end of their fifty overs. This finishedMisbah’s glorious run in the tournament,where he averaged 64 and a strike-ratetouching 120. WAPDA’s Nasir Malik wasthe most effective of the bowlers, taking 3for 45.

WAPDA struggled initially in theirreply, losing two wickets with just 8 on theboard. Rafatullah Mohmand, who hadstarred in the tournament with threecenturies on the trot and an unbeaten 91,was only able to make 7, as WAPDA wereon the back foot early on. Sohaib Maqsood(57) and Ali Azmat (39) put on a 100-runstand to help steady the innings.Mohammad Ayub’s unbeaten 66 helpedkeep the team afloat, but wickets continuedto tumble around him. Ultimately therequired rate got out of hand as they faced10-11 an over going into the final ten.

Asad Ali took 4 for 37, all of which

were bowled, to keep WAPDA undercheck. WAPDA ended their innings on251 for 9, giving SNGPL a 32-run victory.Asad Ali finished as the highest wicket-takers list, with 14 wickets in 6 matchesat 17.07.

This title marks the third for Misbahul-Haq this season, where he has also wonthe Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 andPresident’s Trophy.ScORES: SngpL 283-8 in 50 overs (Mohammad

hafeez 58, 64 balls, 7 x4s, taufiq Umar 79, 78 balls, 8

x4s, Azhar Ali 33, 51 balls, 1 x4s, Misbah-ul-haq 34, 35

balls, 3 x4s,1 x6s, Khurram Shahzad 42, 42 balls, 4 x4s,

Junaid Khan 2-57, nasir Malik 3-45, Saad nasim 2-34)

WApdA 251-9 in 50 overs (rafatullah Mohamand 7,

Sohaib Maqsood 57, 71 balls, 6 x4s, 2 x6s, Ali Azmat

39, 57 balls, 1 x4s, 4 x6s, Aamer Sajjad 29,Mohammad

Ayub 66*, 60 balls, 9 x4s, Asad Ali 4-37, Mohammad

hafeez 1-58, yasir Shah 2-50), result: SngpL won by

32 runs, toss: WApdA, Umpires: Ahsan raza and

Shozab raza, tV Umpires: Saleem Badar, reserve

Umpire: Kamal Marchant, referee: Anwar Khan,

official Scorer: Salman Siddiqui, press Scorer: Wasim

Abbas, prize Money

sNgPL win President’s Cup

LoCAL News

LoCAL News

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GEO SUPERKKR v Super Kings 03:30 PMRCB v Royals 07:30 PM

STAR SPORTSRacing: F1 World - Qualifying

04:20 PM

ESPNBarclays: Queens ParkRangers vs. Stoke City07:24 PM

STAR SPORTSBarclays: Fulham vs. Arsenal7:25 PM

ESPNMotoGP World Qualifying11:00 PM

sPoRTs Ssaturday, 20 April, 2013

18There are a few bumps and

bruises from West Ham on

Wednesday – Alex Ferguson

wAtCh It LIve

MANAMA AgENcIES

Ferrari started practice for this weekend’sBahrain Grand Prix as they concluded it inChina with a one-two.

On this occasion, however, it wasFelipe Massa who led the way ahead ofFernando Alonso around the desert-basedBahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, 20miles south of capital Manama.

The suggestion is, in the wake ofAlonso’s victory in Shanghai last Sunday,Ferrari are steadily taking up the mantle asthe team to beat this season.

Qualifying and their one-lap paceremains an issue, but come race day theMaranello marque have proven so far theyhave the staying power for a long-haultitle battle.

Massa, a former two-time winner in2007 and 2008, posted a lap time of oneminute 34.487secs as track temperatureshit 45 degrees with an air temperature of33, by far the hottest so far this year.

Ferrari had cleverly waited until anhour into the 90-minute session, withmuch of the dust and sand removed fromthe track, before finally showing what theyare capable of.

Alonso, a three-time winner here,finished just 0.077secs adrift, withMercedes’ Nico Rosberg the best of thechallengers to the Ferrari pair as theGerman was 0.134secs adrift of Massa.

With Rosberg and team-mate LewisHamilton clearly running differentstrategies, the Briton - third in his last tworaces - was down in 13th position,1.305secs off the pace.

Massa leads the way for Ferrari in Bahrain

taylor defendssuarez inclusionon Pfa shortlist

MANCHESTER: ProfessionalFootballers’ Association chief executiveGordon Taylor has defended the presenceof Luis Suarez on the shortlist for thePlayer of the Year award.Suarez’s main rivals for the award areGareth Bale, who has also been nominatedin the Young Player category, and Robinvan Persie, who won it last season beforeleaving Arsenal for Manchester United.In a short-list that includes no defenders orgoalkeepers, and no representation fromchampions Manchester City, the biggestsurprise is the absence of Swanseaforward Michu, who many believe to bethe signing of the season. Instead, Chelseaduo Juan Mata and Eden Hazard areincluded, in addition to ManchesterUnited’s unsung hero Michael Carrick,who at 31, finally gets his firstnomination.There is no doubt Suarez has been one ofthe most effective players in the BarclaysPremier League this year. However, hisreputation has been damaged by the eight-match ban he received for racially abusingPatrice Evra at Anfield last season.Given his blatant handball also deniedGhana an appearance in the 2010 WorldCup semi-finals and the periodicallegations of diving, some would arguehe hardly deserves to be acknowledged byhis peers. But Taylor, whilst acceptingSuarez will always be a controversialfigure, feels the Uruguayan’s on-pitchperformances, including 29 goals, forLiverpool this term, make him worthy ofinclusion. “Sometimes controversy travelswith players,” said Taylor. AgENcIES

MONTE CARLOAgENcIES

RAFAEL Nadal’s bid for aninth successive MonteCarlo Masters crownremained on track with astraight-sets defeat of

Philipp Kohlschreiber.Nadal was rarely troubled by the

German, turning in a typically dominantclay court performance to see off theworld number 21 6-2 6-4 in 81 minutes.

He did not allow Kohlschreiber abreak point as he extended his winningstreak in the principality to 44 matches -his only defeat coming in 2003 toGuillermo Coria.

Nadal has looked strong since comingback from a seven-month injury lay-off inFebruary, claiming the titles in Sao Paulo,Acapulco and Indian Wells after returningwith a runner-up performance in Vina delMar.

He will next face Grigor Dimitrov,who continued his improved form of latewith a 6-2 6-4 defeat of Florian Mayer.

Sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

breezed past Jurgen Melzer 6-3 6-0 butfourth seed Tomas Berdych wassurprisingly ousted 6-4 6-2 by ItalianFabio Fognini.DjOKOvIC FINDS INNER

STRENGTH IN MONTE CARLO:

Novak Djokovic came from a set down tobook a quarter-final place but second seedAndy Murray crashed out in less than anhour at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Djokovic pulled through against JuanMonaco to join third seed Rafael Nadal,who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in straightsets. However, that was in sharp contrastto the fortunes of US Open championMurray, who won only three gamesagainst Stanislas Wawrinka, with TomasBerdych and Juan Martin del Potro - thefourth and fifth seeds respectively - alsoexiting the tournament.

Djokovic was forced to come frombehind for the second day in a row andcredited his “inner strength” after beatingMonaco 4-6 6-2 6-2.

The Serbian, who had been tested byMikhail Youzhny in the second round, lostserve four times as he battled past Monacoin just over two hours to book a tie against

Finn Jarkko Nieminen, Del Potro’sconqueror.

It is his first clay-court tournament ofthe year and comes less than a fortnightafter he twisted his ankle during a DavisCup tie against the United States.

Djokovic said: “It’s another big testobviously, again a two-hour match.

“Obviously I’m not physically outthere feeling my best.

“Somehow it feels that I always missthat half a step. But I’m trying, I’mfighting. “After I lost the first set today[Thursday], I tried to find that innerstrength - I found it again so that’s apositive thing. “Every day brings a newchallenge and we’ll see what happenstomorrow [Friday].”

Second seed Murray was demolished6-1 6-2 by 13th seed Wawrinka, whowon 75 per cent of his service points andbroke his higher ranked opponent fivetimes to record his fifth win in 13meetings with the Scot. Murray, whomade 24 unforced errors, told a post-match press conference: “When I startedmaking a lot of errors he was able todictate all of the points from there.

MIDDLEBURG AgENcIES

South African rider Robert Hunter claimed victory in spectacularfashion on the second stage of the Mzansi Tour after a 189km ridefrom Lydenburg to Middelburg on Thursday. Hunter prevailed ina sprint finish in five hours, five minutes, 25 seconds (5:05:25) inwhat was the longest stage of the International Cycling Union(UCI) graded tour. David Maree of team Tasol GT, who was closebehind Hunter, finished second, while Christian House of RalphaCondor JLT finished third. An early six-man breakaway sawMaree, House, Willem Smit (Team Bonitas), Shaun Ward (TeamNuwater), Dan Craven (WCCA Mixed Team) and Neil McDonald(Fedgroup ITEC) open a wide gap just 10 kilometres into thestage, leaving the peloton two minutes behind.

Hunter wins Mzansi Tour’s second stage

nadal powers on intomonte carlo quarters

fcc win inter-varsityBasketball LAHORE: Forman Christian College,Lahore successfully organsied thet FCCInter-Varsity Basketball Championship2013 with their own team winning thetitle. The final match was played betweenFCC and PAC and FCC won after toughcompetition by 45-34 scores as a result ofwhich PAC got 2nd Position. The Rector,Dr. James A. Tebbe was the Chief Guest atthe closing ceremony who distributedprizes among the winners. STAFF REPORT

wenger skips outon song repeat

LONDONAgENcIES

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hasconfirmed the club will not try and buyback unsettled midfielder Alex Song fromBarcelona in the summer. The Cameroonmidfielder was a regular at Arsenal underWenger, playing 204 times before his£15million transfer to the Catalans inAugust last year. Since then, the bigmoney move to Barca has not paid off forSong as he has failed to hold down aregular first team place even when thecurrent La Liga leaders have beendepleted by injuries. And as a result, itwas reported recently that the midfielderwas unhappy in Spain and was pining fora move back to north London with theGunners happy to assist. Wenger hasmoved quickly to dispel the rumours andhas also encouraged Song to stick it out atCamp Nou and prove his doubters wrong.“There is no buy-back [clause] in hiscontract,” Wenger said. “I heard that hewants to give it a go for another season,which you can understand because it’s thefirst season [with Barcelona].“I think he’s a quality player andsometimes the players have to persistwhen it doesn’t go well and not changetheir mind too soon.“My personal advice for him would be togive it another go and after two seasons hecan still make a decision.”Song signed a five-year deal withBarcelona.

KHI 20-04-2013_Layout 1 4/20/2013 2:58 AM Page 19

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 79, Sector 24, Korangi Industrial Area Karachi.

saturday, 20 April, 2013

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