e-paper pakistantoday 24th March, 2013

Sunday, 24 March, 2013 Jamadi ul Awwal 11, 1434

STORY ON PAGE 02

STORY ON PAGE 04

STORY ON PAGE 03

Rs 25.00 Vol III No 266 19 Pages Lahore Edition

Eight soldiers killed inMiranshah attack As many as eight security officials were injured when

a suicide bomber targeted the Esha check post in

Miranshah, North Waziristan on Saturday. Sources

said that a suspected suicide bomber had exploded

his vehicle near the check post. On March 17, five

officials of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO)

were injured when a roadside remote-controlled

bomb exploded in Ghulam Khan Tehsil. PAGE 03

Musharraf to return despite Taliban threatFormer president Pervez Musharraf said on

Saturday he has been granted bail in advance

to avoid being arrested upon his planned

return home on Sunday following nearly four

years of self-imposed exile, as the Taliban

threatened to dispatch suicide bombers and

snipers to kill the former president when he

returns to Pakistan. PAGE 03

Israel and Turkey to restore diplomatiesIsrael and Turkey have agreed to restore full

diplomatic relations after Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu apologised for a deadly naval raid

against a Gaza-bound international flotilla in a

turnaround partly brokered by the US President.

Netanyahu said on Friday he “expressed apology”

to Turkey for any error that led to the death of nine

Turkish nationals in the 2010 incident. PAGE 07

Pakistan chase rare series winSunday could well be Benoni's biggest day since

Charlize Theron won the Oscar. International

cricket seldom reaches Johannesburg's East Rand

and when it does, it is unlikely to be this

meaningful. For both South Africa and Pakistan,

its Benoni or bust in their last outing before the

Champions Trophy and they will have a sell-out

crowd to do that in front of. PAGE 20

LHR 24-03-2013_Layout 1 3/24/2013 6:00 AM Page 1

Nsunday, 24 March, 2013

02

news

Good governance, law and order and holding fairelections would be the top most priorities of thecaretaker government. — Balochistan interim CMNawab Ghaus Bakhsh Barozai

LAHOREAImA KhosA

Amidst an exhilaratedcrowd of tens of thou-sands, PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)Chairman Imran Khan

on Saturday kick-started his much-awaited ‘Tsunami Plus’ rally with sixpromises to his party loyalists.

Spirits were high at the PTI gath-ering where throngs of supporters, in-cluding men, women and children,assembled to witness the second com-ing of their leader at Pakistan’s his-toric Minar-e-Pakistan. Security hadbeen tightened in anticipation of oneof Lahore’s most anticipated politicalgathering, with at least 2,000 policepersonnel, including the bomb squad,deployed at various checkpoints.

Speaking to a jubilant crowd thathad begun gathering at Minar-e-Pak-istan from the wee hours of Saturdaymorning, Khan vowed to be honestwith his countrymen if elected topower.

Talking to an impressive numberof impassioned supporters whostretched beyond the line of vision atPakistan’s most symbolic monument,Khan said that he would never mis-lead his supporters and promised thathe would never indulge in corruption.

“When I was a child, my fatherwould talk to me about rallies he usedto attend,” Imran Khan reminisced.“My fellow countrymen, I can prom-ise you that today’s meeting will godown in history books and genera-tions will speak of this rally in yearsto come.”

Promising to fight oppression,Khan reiterated his commitment tothe country, adding that he would notleave Pakistan in times of crises andhis wealth would remain at the dis-posal of the people.

Furthermore, Imran said that hewould not waste the taxpayers’money by spending it on lavish gov-ernors’ and chief ministers’ houses.

“We will break the walls of thesehouses,” he thundered to an approv-ing crowd. “We will build schools

and libraries in these palaces in-stead.”

Imran Khan denounced “dynas-tic” politics and said that his partywas and always would be based onprinciples of democracy.

Moreover, Khan promised to fightfor the rights of overseas Pakistanis.

The PTI chief also ruled out thepossibility of an alliance with currentruling political parties in the upcom-ing elections.

The weather in Lahore mirroredthe sentiments of the PTI diehard loy-

alists who wavedPTI flags and letout a loud roar ofappreciation atthe sight of ImranKhan and uponhearing each ofhis promises.

He reminded his fevered support-ers that he would never forget theirsupport and reminded them that itwas the youth of the country thatwould take the tsunami forward“TImE To SAvE PAKISTAn”:Addressing the crowd before ImranKhan’s speech, PTI President JavedHashmi said it was about time Pak-istan was saved. Urging the people topledge support for Imran Khan to sal-vage Pakistan, Hashmi said he wouldhave given up on politics had it notbeen for the youth, who with their un-wavering faith in Khan had inspiredhim to return to politics.

“I am here for change,” said Sana,while talking to Pakistan Today. “Ibelieve that it is time for change and

Imran Khan will bring the change.” “I am here because I believe in

Imran Khan,” said Omer, a student. “Ibelieve that he is the most honestpolitician in Pakistan today, and I be-lieve every single promise he hasmade.”

He said there was only one wordto describe Khan’s gathering: “Majes-tic.”

Other people present at the scenewere not so impressed.

“These people are only here be-cause of the nice weather,” saidRizwan, a rickshaw driver. “I refuseto believe there are thousands of peo-ple there.”

Another rickshaw driver, Imtiaz,however, said, “The minute ImranKhan mentioned his tsunami, Godlistened to him and sent a shower ofrain to prove his point.” SocIAl mEdIA REAcTS: Pre-ceding the March 23 meeting, PTI’s

t e c h - s a v v ys u p p o r t e r shad begunc i r cu l a t i ngI m r a nKhan’s pic-tures andp o p u l a rm e m e s .Hundreds ofPTI loyaliststweeted livefrom the

meeting, gushing about the immensepresence of PTI supporters gatheredat the scene. Imran Khan’s popularityon Twitter exploded when the hashtag#ImranKhan jumped to number twoon Twitter’s worldwide trends.

“Amazing, amazing atmosphereat the PTI rally. Enjoyed rain. The fu-ture of my kids looking secure, thankyou Imran Khan,” Huma Ali tweeted.

“Wow. This was an experience.The energy was so dynamic and ad-dictive. There is no way to describethe feeling in the crowd,” tweetedSaad Bin Javed. Journalist OmarWarraich tweeted that he had visitedObama’s inaugural ceremony and thecrowd at PTI’s rally supersededObama’s gathering by thousands.

MY FELLOW COUNTRYMEN,I CAN PROMISE YOU THATTODAY’S MEETING WILL GODOWN IN HISTORY BOOKSAND GENERATIONS WILLSPEAK OF THIS RALLY INYEARS TO COME

25 killed, 35 injured in

sheikhupurA AccidentSHEIKHUPURA: At least 25 people werekilled and 35 others injured when a coachturned turtle after hitting an electricity pollon Saturday. According to rescue sources,the Faisalabad-bound passenger bus collidedwith the poll on the Sheikhupura-FaisalabadRoad in Khurrianwala near Sheikhupura. Asa result, 23 people were killed on the spotand 37 others sustained injuries. Rescueteams reached the scene and shifted the bod-ies and the injured to District Headquarters(DHQ) Hospital Sheikhupura where twomore people succumbed to their injuriesraising the death toll to 25. Hospital sourcessaid condition of some more injured was se-rious. Some of the deceased were identifiedas Waris and Shahzad from Sialkot, Shakeeland Haider from Samundari and Abdul Raz-zaq from Faisalabad. INP

A six from the cAptAin!


news N

03

sunday, 24 March, 2013

The Election Commission of Pakistan is completely authorised

and independent in its decision therefore there must not be any

ambiguity in the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections

in Balochistan. — Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi

LAHOREstAff rePort

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chiefNawaz Sharif on Saturdaysaid that holding rulers ac-countable for their actions

was not the responsibility of military orany other institution but the people of thecountry.

Speaking to journalists at JamiaNaeemia, Nawaz said masses shouldhold every government accountable forits deeds. He said governments did notrun smoothly in Pakistan because of theinterference of either the president of themilitary. He stressed that whatever hap-pened in the past must not be repeatedagain. Moreover, he said the time hadcome for all forces to join hands to savethe country. He stressed the need for allpolitical forces to unite under one plat-form to take the country forward.

Nawaz clarified that he was notgreedy for power but if he was given anopportunity he would serve the people

humbly. He promised to provide a betterfuture for his countrymen.

The PML-N president reiterated hispledge to the nation that he would put thecountry on the path of progress no matterhow long it took for him to do so.

He added that a leader elected topower was not enough; he must serve the

people honesty and with integrity as well. Raising concerns about the coun-

try’s future, Nawaz said the electricityload shedding seemed to have no end.He reiterated that the people shouldhold President Asif Ali accountable forhis failure to address the energy needsof the country.

power to the people: nawazDUBAI

AGeNCIes

Former president PervezMusharraf said on Sat-urday he has beengranted bail in ad-vance to avoid beingarrested upon hisplanned returnhome on Sundayfollowing nearlyfour years of self-imposed exile, asthe Taliban threat-ened to dispatch sui-cide bombers andsnipers to kill the for-mer president when he re-turns to Pakistan.

“This is a pre-arrest bail, orpre-arrival bail, and it has beengranted on all cases, there is no question onme getting arrested when I land in Pakistan,”he told a foreign news agency in an interviewin Dubai.

The former army general faces charges offailing to provide adequate security to formerprime minister Benazir Bhutto before her as-sassination in 2007. He also faces charges inconnection with the death of a Baluch sepa-ratist leader.

Musharraf said he will spend the first fewdays upon his return in Karachi before goingto Islamabad to deal with his legal problems.

“My arrest warrants were merely becauseof non-appearance in the courts, not that thereis any case proven against me,” he said.“When I appear in the courts...the reason formy arrest should disappear.”

Musharraf said he had not received anypolitical or financial support from Saudi Ara-bia. “I’m not looking forward to coming onthe shoulders of external support. I have tohave the support of the people of Pakistan,”he said.TAlIBAn THREAT: Meanwhile in a Tal-iban video, Adnan Rasheed, who took part ina previous attempt to assassinate Musharraf,warned: “The mujahideen of Islam have pre-pared a special squad to send Musharraf tohell. There are suicide bombers, snipers, aspecial assault unit and a close combat team.”

“When the jackal’s death is near he headsto the town,” said Rasheed, who was among400 prisoners who were broken out of a jail

by militants in 2012.“The Pakistani Taliban is

fully prepared to deal withthis pharoah. If God is

willing, we will givethis devil what he de-serves and give satis-faction to thevictims of the RedMosque,” said Tal-iban spokesmanEhsanullah Ehsanin the video.m I l I T A n T STRAInInG: In the

footage, hooded mil-itants in combat gear

clutching AK-47 assaultrifles conduct training ex-

ercises along hills. Somepractice making a roadside

bomb, which later explodes.“Pervez Musharraf you see the death

squad around me,” said a bearded man whoappears to be their trainer, in English. “Weurge you to surrender yourself to us, otherwisewe will hit you from where you will neverreckon.”mUSHARRAF UndETERREd: Mushar-raf dismissed the threat and said they will notstop his return.

“They have been trying to ‘send me tohell’ after 9/11 which means that it’s 12 yearsnow, which means they haven’t been able todo that,” he said. “I’m not the kind to getscared, I don’t care about them.”

He said he expects the government to pro-vide him with security but so far there hadbeen no response to his request and he wasbringing private security with him.

“I’m not scared, I’m emotionally lookingforward to going back to Pakistan.”KARAcHI RAllY: In a related develop-ment, Musharraf urged the Sindh police not tomeddle with his supporters.

According to a private TV channel, theformer president said his party would hold apublic meeting at the Mazar-e-Quaid on Sun-day (today) after his arrival.

The Sindh police have withdrawn the no-objection certificate (NOC) for the publicmeeting at the Mazar-e-Quaid. According toSindh police spokesman Senior Superinten-dent of Police (SSP) Imran Shaukat, the policehad officially informed the All Pakistan Mus-lim League (APML) organisers in this regard.

Musharraf determined toreturn home despite peril

FAKHAR IMAM JOINS PML-NLAHORE: Former National Assembly speaker Fakhar Imam has

announced to join the PML-N. He announced thise decision at meeting

with PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz

Sharif in Lahore on Saturday. Political situation in Jhang District also

came under discussion during the meeting. Imam was the leader of the

opposition in the National Assembly from 1985 to 1986. He was also the

National Assembly speaker from 1986 to 1988. His wife, Abida Hussain,

joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 2006, while their daughter

Sughra Imam is a senator. The politician husband and wife had

previously quit the PML-N for Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q)

and had later joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Meanwhile‚ his

wife has said she was not joining the PML-N and would contest elections

from Jhang on a PPP ticket. stAff rePort

eight soldiers killed inmiranshah attack

PESHAWARstAff rePort

As many as eight security officials were injured when a suicidebomber targeted the Esha check post in Miranshah, NorthWaziristan on Saturday. Sources said that a suspected suicidebomber had exploded his vehicle near the check post. OnMarch 17, five officials of the Frontier Works Organisation(FWO) were injured when a roadside remote-controlled bombexploded in Ghulam Khan Tehsil. Miranshah is a hotbed ofmilitancy. The unmanned drones also repeatedly attackterrorists in the area.

ppp proposes sethi’s

name for caretaker

punjab cm

lAHoRE: The PakistanPeople’s Party has proposedthe name of senior journalistNajam Sethi for the office ofcaretaker Punjab chiefminister. In a letter to PunjabCM Shahbaz Sharif‚ PPPleader Raja Riaz said thenames of Mian Aamir andRiaz Randhawa‚ which wereearlier proposed for the slot‚have been withdrawn.Meanwhile‚ the PML-N hasproposed names of RanaSanaullah‚ Mujtaba ShujaurRehman and Iqbal Channarfor an assembly committee todecide on a caretaker PunjabCM. The PPP has alreadygiven the name of Justice (r)Zahid Hussain for thecaretaker Punjab chiefminister. Najam Aziz Sethi isan award winning journalist,editor, and media personality.He is the editor-in-chief ofThe Friday Times, a Lahorebased political weekly. Hehad previously worked as theeditor of Daily Times. Healso hosts a current-affairsprogramme on Geo TV. In1999, during former primeminister Nawaz Sharif’stenure, he was arrested byintelligence agenciesfollowing an interview withthe BBC on governmentcorruption. He was detainedfor almost a month withoutcharges. stAff rePort


newsN

04


It is better to sell Naswar instead of doing

politics in Pakistan. — Former Balochistan

Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani

Taliban threats to help JUI-F

ISLAMABADKAshIf ABBAsI

oWING to absence ofthe Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP)member from Sindh,

the commission in its first ses-sion failed to evolve consensuson the name of caretaker primeminister. The five-member com-mission, headed by Chief Elec-tion Commissioner (CEC)Justice (r) Fakhruddin GEbrahim, will decide the matteron Sunday (today).

The ECP member fromSindh, Roshan Essani, had ear-lier strongly opposed publishingof reformed-nomination paperswithout obtaining approval fromPresident Asif Zardari. He hadalso written a dissenting noteagainst the disqualification ofSindh PPP MPA Waheeda Shah.He could not attend the meetingdue to official assignments inKarachi. There were rumours inthe ECP Secretariat that Justice(r) Essani has difference withother members and not enjoyinggood relations after the ECP de-cision of publishing nomination

papers without the approval ofPresident, however, ECP Secre-tary Ishtiak Ahmed told reportersthat there was no differenceamong members. He said thatEssani was in Karachi for delim-itation of constituencies’ issue.During the Saturday meeting, thecommission remained in contactwith him for selecting caretakerprime minister.

The ECP held two detailedsessions but could not reach aconsensus. Justice (r) RiazKayani told reporters that thecommission reviewed all fournames in detail, but couldn’treach on a consensus due to ab-sence of the ECP member fromSindh as well as deterioratinghealth of CEC.

Sources in ECP told Pak-istan Today that the commissionwanted the presence of Sindhmember in the meeting at allcost so that no one could pointfinger at its final decision. Oth-erwise, the commission has amandate to decide the matterwithout Essani.

Justice (r) Essani stronglyopposed the commission’s rul-ing for printing reformed-nomi-

nation paper. After getting coldresponse from Presidency andlaw ministry, the ECP had to de-cide to get the nomination pa-pers printed without the formalapproval of the president.Though, according to the com-mission, it had a mandate to getthe nomination paper withoutthe approval of the president, butsaid member strongly opposedthe idea. Under the constitution,the commission is bound to de-cide the matter within 48 hoursafter the parliamentary commit-tee failed to reach a consensus instipulated time.

According to Article 224-Aof the constitution, the five-member ECP will have to an-nounce on Sunday (today) itschoice from among the namesof Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid,Rasul Bakhsh Palijo, Justice (r)Mir Hazar Khan Khoso and DrIshrat Hussain. Essani will alsojoin Sunday (today) meeting.Earlier, the eight member par-liamentary committee taskedwith naming the caretakerprime minister on Friday in itslast meeting remained failed toreach consensus.

PESHAWARstAff rePort

BANNED outfit Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan’s latest threats are likelyto affect the former government al-lies and could only be beneficial to

religious forces, especially to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa andits adjoining tribal regions. The TTP a cou-ple of days back threatened to target publicmeetings and rallies of the Pakistan People’sParty, the Awami National Party and theMuttahida Qaumi Movement in electioncampaign. As a result of these threats peopleare least interested in participating in theseparties’ gatherings.

Recently, a number of active and out-going parliamentarians abandoned the

ANP and majority of them had joined orwill be joining the JUI-F soon. FormerANP MNA Istibal Khan is going to jointhe JUI-F on March 27. Soon after 2008general elections, former ANP MPAShaukat Habib joined the JUI-F. Habibwas later followed by PPP Bannu DivisionPresident Malik Riaz and several others.Whereas, the Pakistan Muslim League-NMPA from Lakki Marwat, Malik Mu-nawar Khan, PPP (Sherpao) MPA fromHangu Attique Ur Rahman, ANP MPAfrom Charsada Fazal Shakoor and severalothers recently joined the JUI-F.

Sources informed that some of the po-litical activists and former parliamentarianswere joining the JUI-F JUI (F) due to Tal-iban threats. A close relative of a formerlawmaker said his relative lawmaker had

announced to join the JUI-F not only ongrounds of declining ANP ticket but be-cause of the Taliban fear. He claimed thatthe Taliban were directing people to joinJUI-F on telephone.

A JUI-F stalwart from Buner confirmedthat the ex-MNA was going to join themdue to fear of the Taliban. However, the JUI-F provincial leaders were contradicting re-ports regarding support of the TTP inestablishing cracks among the ranks of otherpolitical forces. Though the banned TTPthreats have confused leaders of the PPP,ANP and MQM regarding election cam-paign, but it also caused fear among theranks of the PML-N, the PTI and the JamaatIslami. Leaders of these political forces be-lieve that the Taliban were supporting theJUI-F in election campaign.

NEW YORKINP

The Pakistani governmentshould hold the country’sformer military ruler Per-vez Musharraf accountablefor human rights abuseswhen he returns to Pak-istan, Human Rights Watchsaid today. Musharraf an-nounced that he intends toreturn on March 24, 2013,after over four years inexile to be a candidate inparliamentary electionsscheduled for May.

Legal proceedings arepending against Musharrafin several human rightscases. In November 2011,Musharraf was chargedwith involvement in thekilling of Akbar Bugti, aBaloch nationalist leaderwho died under ambigu-ous circumstances whilehiding in a cave in August2006, after a long standoffwith the Pakistani military.

In February 2011,Musharraf was declared anabsconder after a court inRawalpindi accepted the in-terim charge-sheet from Pak-istan’s Federal InvestigationAgency, which named the for-mer president as one of the ac-cused in the assassination offormer prime minister BenazirBhutto. Musharraf has alsobeen charged with the illegalremoval from office and con-finement of much of the coun-try’s judiciary, including theserving chief justice of theSupreme Court, from Novem-ber 2007 to March 2008.

“Musharraf should not beallowed to elude the serious

legal proceedings against himon his return to Pakistan,” saidAli Dayan Hasan, Pakistan di-rector at Human Rights Watch.

“Only by ensuring that Mushar-raf faces the well-documentedoutstanding charges againsthim can Pakistan put an end tothe military’s impunity forabuses.” Musharraf has the dis-tinction of having suspendedconstitutional rule twice duringhis time in office, HumanRights Watch said. After declar-ing a state of emergency in No-vember 2007, he began aviolent crackdown and orderedthe detention of some 10,000political opponents –includingmost of the country’s SupremeCourt judges. The fired chiefjustice, Iftikhar MohammadChaudhry, five other judges,and several leading lawyers re-mained under house arrest andwere released only when the

opposition Pakistan Peoples’Party formed a government andtook over the prime minister’soffice in March 2008.

“Given the personalsuffering many judges en-dured at Musharraf’shands, it will be a real testfor Pakistan’s judiciary, es-pecially the SupremeCourt chief justice, to en-sure that prosecutions areimpartial,” Hasan said.“But this is a test they mustface and pass if Pakistanisto send a clear messagethat it will not allow abu-sive military leaders to es-cape accountability.”Under Musharraf’s watch,the Pakistani military andits intelligence agenciescommitted widespreadhuman rights violations,including the enforced dis-appearances of thousandsof political opponents, par-ticularly from Balochistan

province, and tortured hun-dreds of Pakistani terrorismsuspects. Political opponentsincluding high-profile opposi-tion politicians were exiled,jailed, tortured, and in some in-stances murdered. Hundreds of“disappeared,” especially frominsurgency-hit Balochistan, re-main unaccounted for and arefeared dead.

“Throughout his years inoffice, Musharraf maintainedthat he was fully aware of thebehavior of security forces inBalochistan and that they haddone no wrong,” Hasan said.“His role in the widespreadabuses in Balochistan, includ-ing ‘disappearances’ during hisrule, needs to be investigatedand appropriately prosecuted.”

Hold Musharraf accountablefor abuses, says HRW

ISLAMABADstAff rePort

Pakistan Muslim League-Likeminded(PML-LM) leader Salim Saifullah Khansaid former president Pervez Musharraf’sreturn to the country is a positive movewhich should be supported. Addressing anews conference, after an event in connec-tion with Pakistan Day, Saifullah said itwas unfortunate that the parliamentarycommittee failed to reach a consensus on

the caretaker prime minister (PM). He wasof the view that the decision for the care-taker PM’s slot should have been made atleast a month earlier. He said the ElectionCommission of Pakistan should not poseany further delay in nominating a care-taker premier. He welcomed the name ofJustice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid for the po-sition of caretaker PM saying it would bea positive move for the country. He saidthat he had always made efforts to gatherall factions of Muslim leagues under one

banner, adding that Nawaz Sharif was notworking towards that goal. Saifullah saidhe did not have any differences with Pak-istan Muslim League-Quaid but had a fewreservations over Shujaat Hussain, whohas been the party’s president since 12years. He said under the constitution ofthe party, no one could be elected as pres-ident for more than two terms. Earlier,Saifullah said women had played a vitalrole in Pakistan’s creation, citing FatimahJinnah’s example.

Musharraf’s return a positive move, says Saifullah

ecp fails to evolveconsensus oncaretaker pm

ALI DAYAN HASAN HRW

It is fortunate for GeneralMusharraf that Pakistan is

a democracy today that willneither force him back intoexile nor prevent him fromparticipating in the politicalprocess as Musharraf did

to his opponents.


LAHOREmuhAmmAd omer hAyAt

Saturday turned out to be a happeningday for Lahoris, particularly for thosewho had gone to witness the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally at thehistoric Minar-e-Pakistan.The crowd at Iqbal Park, numberinghundreds of thousands, includingwomen and children, was highlyenergetic, waving PTI flags andsinging anthems.A few highly charged PTI supporterstold Pakistan Today they had come allthe way from Islamabad to listen toImran Khan and his vision for a newPakistan.“It’s going to be a rainbow jalsa,” saidan ardent PTI supporter when it starteddrizzling in the afternoon while parts ofthe lush green ground were glowing insunlight. A steady breeze also engulfedthe area that increased the sound offluttering flags which could be hearddespite the loud music from hugespeakers placed all around the park.PTI Chairman Imran Khan wasprovided security by Punjab Police forhis journey from Zaman Park to Minar-e-Pakistan. Four Elite Force vehiclesaccompanied Khan to the jalsa venuealong with PTI’s youth wing workers.Sources said around 2,000 policemenwere on duty for the rally’s security.There were three entry points intothe venue, one of which was onlyfor women. Parts of the park hadbeen sealed with barbed wireswhile the stage had also beensealed before the top leadership’sarrival. Rescue 1122 personneland vehicles were also on duty toprovide aid to injured personnelin case of any untoward incident.

The venue was also being monitored byCCTV cameras while police officials inplain clothes had also been assignedduties inside the gathering.

Police DIG Rai Tahir said someroutes leading to the venue

had been blockedowing to securityconcerns but a fewof them wereopened after PTIofficials submitted

writtenrequests.

During the

course of Imran Khan’s much awaitedaddress to the mammoth gathering, thedownpour started once again, this timeharder than before, but the crowdshowed resolve and waited for the endof Khan’s speech. During his speech, he made a referenceto Fazlur Rehman at which the crowdstarted chanting “diesel” that put asmile on Khan’s face. “Don’t call himdiesel,” he said, and continued with hisspeech.Earlier, famous musician SalmanAhmad also addressed the gatheringand presented a song that he said wasmade especially for Imran Khan called,“Naya Pakistan”.Javed Hashmi and Shah MehmoodQureshi, in their speeches, said Khanhad left all political punditsdumbfounded with his bold decisions.Qureshi said he had been offeredministries by the Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) and had also beenapproached by Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) but he wentwith Imran Khan because he wanted tomove away from traditional politics.Hashmi resonated the same sentimentand said he would have quit politics forgood if PTI had not presented him witha platform.Azadi Chowk was packed with peoplein heavy downpour following the rallyand rickshaw drivers were demandinginflated rents while traffic was hardlymoving. There was a lot of confusionamong attendees because mobilenetworks were not working in andaround the venue and the thunderousrain made coordination efforts evenharder.A lot of people had used the Metro BusService for their commute to and fromthe jalsa venue. While returning fromthe venue on the metro bus, a passengerwitnessing a group of PTI supporterson board said to the scribe, “Nowthey’re using Shahbaz Sharif’s facilityto go home, why don’t they go by arickshaw?” Several passengers who hadnot attended the gathering were curiousover the turnout at the jalsa, askingquestions from youths wearing ImranKhan T-shirts.Meanwhile, police also arrested a manoutside the jalsa for carrying aloaded pistol with him.

WIth INPuts from rANA hAIder

lahoresunday, 24 March, 2013

low

high

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Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

4:41 6:02 12:09 3:38 6:16 7:38

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05 What a great day today. The Jalsa today

was a remarkable event. What a

crowd...Mubarik to all. –Jahangir Tareen

A main road hasbeen blockedusing giantcontainersahead of thePTI's jalsa


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sunday, 24 March, 2013lahore

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LAHOREstAff rePort

PUNJAB ChiefMinister ShahbazSharif on Saturdaysaid that theforthcoming

general elections were ofextraordinary importance asthe survival and future of thecountry depends upon theseelections.

Addressing separatemeetings of leaders and office-bearers of Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz belonging to TobaTek Singh, Jhang, Chiniot,Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin,Narowal and Sialkot districts at ModelTown, Shahbaz said that there is no doubt thatpeople want real change and not hollow slogans.

He said that change and prosperity could be broughtabout in the life of the people through solid measures ashave been adopted by Punjab government during the lastfive years.

He said that even the political opponents of the

Punjab leadership have lauded therevolutionary steps taken in education,

health, employment and other sectorsin the province due to which the

living standard of the masses hadimproved and they werebenefitting from developmentprojects.

He said the developmentactivities, uplift projects andwelfare programmes of theprovincial government havebeen widely appreciated by the

people.He said that whenever PML-

N has had the opportunity to servethe masses, it has always set records

of public service. He said that service to the people is

the pivot of the politics of PML-N andthose making claims of bringing about change

cannot hoodwink the masses. He said that if opportunity was given to the PML-N

to serve the people, the journey of development startedfrom Punjab will be extended to the whole country andPakistan will be steered out of crises and put on the roadto progress and development.

People want real change, nothollow slogans: shahbaz

chAnge of

guArd At tomB

of AllAmA iqBAl LAHORE: A change of

guards ceremony was held

on Saturday at the tomb of

Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal

on Pakistan Day.

A contingent of the

Pakistan Air Force

assumed guard at the

Mizar-e-Iqbal and relieved

the contingent of Pakistan

Rangers of their duties at

the tomb.

Incoming guards were

inspected by Air Vice

Marshal Asad Lodhi.

The ceremonial guard

mounting was followed by

a wreath-laying ceremony

by Air Vice Marshal who

offered prayers for the

national poet. APP

LAHOREstAff rePort

A woman died on Saturday when a tree fellon top of a rickshaw she was travelling induring heavy rain across the city.

According to details, the woman was

returning home in a rickshaw along withher child when a tree collapsed on top ofher rickshaw due to strong winds nearEmpress Road.

The driver and the child were alsoinjured and were shifted to the nearesthospital.

LAHOREoNILINe

Punjab Health Secretary Arif Nadeem on Saturdaydirected that vector surveillance activities should beaccelerated to check dengue breeding adding that targetedindoor spray should also be conducted in towns wheredengue larva had been reported.Presiding over a meeting of Technical AdvisoryCommittee on Dengue, Nadeem said that since thesituation was under control, there was no need to initiatethermal fogging for dengue control but technical methodsshould be applied for larvae-ceding, while targeted indoorspry strategy be adopted for dengue check. He directed the City District Government to start indoor-targeted spray immediately in Samnabad, Shalimar, RaviTown and Wahga Town where dengue larva had beenreported. He said that the government buildings andpublic schools should also be covered during the spray.He directed that inspection should be conducted in theteaching hospitals to review the arrangements for medicaltreatment of dengue patients and functioning of HighDependency Units.He also directed that revised guidelines of DengueExperts Advisory Group (DEAG) immediately becirculated among all the teaching hospitals. The meeting also decided to begin implementation onaction plan for research on dengue mosquito.

WomAn dies in tree collApse

Mission againstdengue will go on:health secy

The best 23rd March of my life; thank you Lahore for

giving us this amazings experience. The energy of the

mammoth crowd was electrifying. – Asad Umar


07

newssunday, 24 March, 2013

Without peace, all other dreams

vanish and are reduced to

ashes. – Jawaharlal NehruN

ISRAEL Israeli prime ministerapologises for naval raid against a Gaza-bound flotilla

Netanyahu, Erdoganannounce breakthroughafter a 20-minutephone call

Obama played ‘crucial’role in normalisingrelations

ISTANBULAGeNCIes

ISRAEL and Turkey haveagreed to restore fulldiplomatic relations afterPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu apologised for a

deadly naval raid against a Gaza-bound international flotilla in aturnaround partly brokered by theUS President.Netanyahu said on Friday he“expressed apology” to Turkey forany error that led to the death ofnine Turkish nationals in the 2010incident. Israel also agreed tocompensate the families of thevictims, he said. It was a surprisingturnaround for Netanyahu who hadlong rejected calls to apologise. Heannounced the breakthrough after a20-minute phone conversation withhis Turkish counterpart, RecepTayyip Erdogan. US PresidentBarack Obama helped broker thefence-mending while visitingIsrael, but the sides had beenreaching out to each otherbefore.“They agreed to restorenormalisation between Israel andTurkey, including the dispatch ofambassadors and the cancellationof legal steps against Israelisoldiers,’’ a statement fromNetanyahu’s office said. Netanyahu“regretted the recent deteriorationof relations between Israel andTurkey and expressed hiscommitment to overcoming theirdifferences in order to advancepeace and stability in the region,” itsaid. “In light of Israel’sinvestigation into the incidentwhich pointed to a number ofoperational mistakes, the PrimeMinister expressed Israel’s apologyto the Turkish people for anymistakes that might have led to theloss of life or injury and agreed toconclude an agreement oncompensation/nonliability.” Duringthe phone call, Erdogan underlinedthe importance of strongcooperation and friendship betweenTurkey and Israel. “Erdogan told[Israeli premier] BinyaminNetanyahu that he valued

centuries-long strong friendshipand cooperation between theTurkish and Israelinations,” Erdogan’s office said.COMMENTS ‘MISUNDERSTOOD’:It said Netanyahu appreciatedErdogan’s interview with a Danishpaper in which he said he wasmisunderstood in remarks at a UNconference in Vienna.Erdogan said Islamophobia shouldbe considered a crime againsthumanity “just like Zionism, likeanti-Semitism and like fascism.”His comments drew widecondemnation. Erdogan later toldPolitiken that he wasmisunderstood and was criticizing

Israeli policy. Erdogan’s officesaid: “Our prime minister acceptedthe apology in the name of theTurkish people.” Erdogan“expressed that it was saddeningthat relations, which are of vitalstrategic importance for peace andthe stability of the region, havebeen soured in recent years,” thestatement said. Al Jazeera’s ElifUral, reporting from Istanbul, saidthat Hamas, armed Palestinian

group, has sent a messageexpressing disappointment thatTurkey has accepted the apology.Israel and Turkey were once closeallies. Relations began to declineafter Erdogan, whose party hasroots in Turkey’s Islamistmovement, became prime ministerin 2003. Tensions raged afterErdogan attacked Israel for the highPalestinian death toll in an Israelicampaign aimed at stopping dailyrocket fire from Gaza on Israel inthe winter of 2008, at one pointstorming off a stage he shared withthe Israeli president at the high-profile World Economic Forum inDavos, Switzerland.COMMANDO RAID:Animosity peaked on May 31,2010, when Israeli commandosboarded a flotilla of sixhumanitarian ships on their way toGaza. Nine Turkish activists werekilled on the lead ship MaviMarmara, sparking internationalcondemnation and contentiousdiplomatic dispute between Israeland Turkey. An inquiry into theincident said Israel brokeinternational humanitarian andhuman rights law. The inquiry, whichwas later endorsed by the UnitedNations Human Rights Council,found “clear evidence to supportprosecutions” for crimes including“wilful killing; torture or inhumantreatment; wilfully causing greatsuffering or serious injury to body orhealth.” Al Jazeera’s AnitaMcNaught, reporting from Cairo,said Turkey got “almost everything itwanted” from the apology, includingacknowledgement of Israel’s“operational errors” and offer ofcompensation. “This is anextraordinary event and a completelyunexpected one,” our correspondentsaid. “This has been enormouslydamaging schism between these twocountries [Israel and Turkey]”. Israelhas imposed a blockade on the GazaStrip since June 2007 after Hamastook control of the territory. Thoughthe Israeli restrictions have beeneased, Israel still enforces a navalblockade on the territory.

TO RESTORE DIPLOMATIC TIES

In light of Israel’s investigationinto the incident whichpointed to a number of

operational mistakes, thePrime Minister expressed

Israel’s apology to the Turkishpeople for any mistakes thatmight have led to the loss oflife or injury and agreed toconclude an agreement oncompensation/nonliabilityDAMASCUS

AGeNCIes

Thousands of people have gathered in thedowntown of the Syrian capital amid tight se-curity for the funeral of a senior pro-govern-ment cleric who was killed in a mosqueearlier this week.

Security forces on Saturday sealed off allroads leading to the eighth century OmayyadMosque in Damascus where the funeral for84-year-old Sheik Mohammad Said Ra-madan al-Bouti was held. Al-Bouti, hisgrandson and 48 others were killed on Thurs-day when a suicide bomber detonated his ex-plosives inside a mosque where he wasgiving a religious lesson, state media said.Mourners carried al-Bouti and his grandson’s

coffin on their shoulders on Saturday amidshouts of “God is Great”. Al-Bouti was Imamof the Omayyad Mosque, a landmark inDamascus. Syrian state TV said PresidentBashar al-Assad was being represented at thefuneral by one of his cabinet ministers. OnFriday, Assad vowed to “cleanse” his countryof “extremists”, whom he accused of beingbehind the attack.

In a statement issued by the presidency,Assad condemned the attack and mournedBouti’s death, vowing to eradicate “extrem-ism and ignorance” in Syria. “I swear to theSyrian people that your blood, and that ofyour grandson and all the martyrs of thehomeland, will not be spilled in vain becausewe will be faithful to your ideas by destroy-ing their extremism and ignorance until wehave cleansed the country,” Assad said in thestatement on Friday. The attack was con-demned by the opposition, who raised thepossibility that the regime was behind thedeadly blast at the Iman Mosque.

The government declared Saturday a dayof mourning. Al-Bouti was the most senior re-ligious figure to be killed in Syria’s conflict. AlJazeera’s Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut inneighbouring Lebanon, said the death of Boutiwas a “very big deal”. “Among the 500 mostinfluencial Muslims in the world, he is ranked23,” she said. The preacher had been a vocalsupporter of the regime since the early days ofAssad’s father and predecessor, the late Presi-dent Hafez Assad, providing a Sunni cover andlegitimacy to their rule.

NAYPYIDAWAGeNCIes

At least 42 Myanmarrefugees have died in a rag-ing fire at a camp in Thai-land, officials have said.

Naramol Palawat, gover-nor of Mae Hong Son,said hundreds of temporarythatch huts at the Ban MaeSurin refugee camp were re-duced to ashes. She said theblaze was believed to havebeen started by a cooking ac-cident. Dozens of

other people were injured inthe fire with women, chil-dren and the elderly believedto make up the majority ofthe victims. “The latest deathtoll we can confirm throughmilitary walkie-talkies is42,” Palawat said, adding thetoll was likely to rise furtheras rescue workers search thearea. A local district officialsaid hot weather, combinedwith strong winds caused thefire to spread quickly amongthe thatched bamboo shel-

ters. Police on Saturday

said around 400 temporaryhomes had been incinerated,while the Disaster Preven-tion and Mitigation Bureausaid a school, clinic and twofood warehouses had alsobeen destroyed.

The Thai governmentpledged an investigation intothe fire at the camp, whichhouses roughly 3,700refugees. Ten camps strungout along the Thai-Myanmarborder house a total of about130,000 people, who firstbegan arriving in the 1980s.

42 MYANMAR REFUGEESKILLED IN FIRE AT THAI CAMP

THOUSANDSMOURNSLAIN CLERICIN DAMASCUS

HYDERABAD: Royal bengal tigers play in the water at the Nehru zoological park.India’s latest census counted at least 1,706 tigers in forests across the country. Asmany as 100,000 are thought to have roamed India 100 years ago. AGENCIES


newsNsunday, 24 March, 2013

08 ECP facing no pressure for

choosing caretaker PM. —ECP Secretary Ishtiak Ahmed

RAWALPINDIAPP

The President of Pakistan has granted military awards toofficers and men of Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force.

SITARA-I-BASAlATThe ISPR said that the officers and men who have beenconferred with Sitara-i-Basalat included: Major MalikAbrar Ahmad (Shaheed), FF, Captain Fasih Babar Amin(Shaheed), AC, Captain Mannan Ul Hassan (Shaheed),AC, Captain Tariq Jamal (Shaheed), SSG, Sepoy AshiqAli (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Khurram Shahzad (Shaheed),FF, Sepoy Imam Hussain Shah (Shaheed), FF and SepoyZohaib Iqbal (Shaheed), FF, NAVY, Lieutenant Com-mander Mohsin Farooq Khan, PAF, Squardon LeaderBilal Hassan Babri (Late).

TAmGHA-I-BASAlATThe officers and men who were awarded with Tamgha-i-Basalat are: Lieutenant Colonel Yasar Nawaz Janjua, Arty,Major Muhammad Imran Tariq, Arty, Captain HaiderNawaz, AC, Lieutenant Zahid Mehmood, SSG, NaibSubedar Gul Bahar Khan (Shaheed), Punjab, Naib Sube-dar Muzaffar Hussain (Shaheed), FF, Naib Subedar MirDaraz Khan (Shaheed), CMI, Dfr Hafiz Tariq Ali (Sha-heed), AC, Havildar Bismillah Jan (Shaheed), FC KPK,Havildar Muhammad Sharif (Shaheed), Punjab, HavildarSyed Ali Ahmed Shah (Shaheed), Baloch, Havildar Ghu-lam Yasin (Shaheed), Baloch, Havildar Muhammad Sadiq(Shaheed), FF, Havildar Sajawal Khan (Shaheed), FF,Havildar Sabir Khan (Shaheed), FF, Havildar MuhammadNaseer (Shaheed), FF, Havildar Muhammad Ali (Sha-heed), Baloch, Havildar Shakil Mubarik (Shaheed), AK,Lance Havildar Liaqat Ali Khan (Shaheed), Punjab, NaikTariq Khan (Shaheed), FC KPK, Naik Istehar Ud Din,Engrs, Naik Muhammad Shabbir (Shaheed), Engrs, NaikMuhammad Yaseen (Shaheed), Punjab, Naik MuhammadKamal (Shaheed), FF, Naik Muhammad Amir Khan (Sha-heed), FF, Naik Shakil Aslam (Shaheed), FF, NaikMehboob Ali (Shaheed), Baloch, Lance Naik Kamran Ali(Shaheed), FC KPK, Lance Naik Muhammad YousafKhan (Shaheed), FC KPK, Lance Naik Inayat Ullah (Sha-heed), FF, Lance Naik Muhammad Hassan (Shaheed), FF,Lance Naik Muhammad Saeed (Shaheed), Sindh, LanceNaik Zahid Ali (Shaheed), Baloch, Lance Naik KhalidMehmood Tabbassam (Shaheed), HQ PR (Sindh), SepoyZakir Hussain (Shaheed), FC KPK, Sepoy Bahadar Shah(Shaheed), FC KPK, Sepoy Ali Bad Shah (Shaheed), FCKPK, Sepoy Khan Afzal (Shaheed), FC KPK, SepoySheraz Ahmed (Shaheed), FC KPK, Swr Sana Ullah (Sha-heed), AC, Sepoy Khalid Shabir Ali, SSG, Spr Raid UllahKhan (Shaheed), Engrs, Spr Muhammad Hussain (Sha-heed), Engrs, Spr Muhammad Naveed Yousaf, Engrs, SprMuhammad Aqeel (Shaheed), Engrs, Sepoy Ali Akbar(Shaheed), Punjab, Sepoy Sikandar Zeb (Shaheed), SSG,Sepoy Muhammad Irfan (Shaheed), Punjab, Sepoy SajjadAhmed, Punjab, Sepoy Ahmad Nawaz Khan (Shaheed),Punjab, Sepoy Muhammad Awais Ur Rehman (Shaheed),Punjab, Sepoy Muhammad Adrees (Shaheed), Punjab,Sepoy Zaheer Ud Din Babar (Shaheed), Punjab, SepoyWasif Mehmood (Shaheed), Punjab, Sepoy Haji Muham-mad (Shaheed), Punjab, Sepoy Muhammad Sajid (Sha-heed), Punjab , Sepoy Tariq Aziz (Shaheed), Punjab,Sepoy Muhammad Younis (Shaheed), Punjab, SepoyAamir Yasin, SSG, Sepoy Inam Ullah (Shaheed), SSG,Gnr Mohsan Khan, Arty, Sepoy Abid Hussain, FF, SepoyTanveer Hussain (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy MuhammadUsman (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Imran Hussain (Shaheed),FF, Sepoy Shahzad Ahmed (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy SherNawaz (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Sohail Khan (Shaheed), FF,Sepoy Asfandyar (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Khurshaid Khan(Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Waqar Ahmed Abbasi, FF, SepoyShahzad Ahmed (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Syed Abbas AliShah (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Zeeshan Khan Jadoon (Sha-

heed), FF, Sepoy Wakeel Ahmed (Shaheed), FF, SepoyAbid Ullah (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Shayan Javed (Sha-heed), FF, Sepoy Muhammad Akhtar Pervaiz (Shaheed),FF, Sepoy Ziafat Khan (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Tahir Abbas(Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Zia Ullah, FF, Sepoy Rambel Khan,FF, Sepoy Chand Aftab (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Rab NawazAli (Shaheed), FF, Sepoy Muhammad Waseem (Sha-heed), FF, Sepoy Imtiaz Ali (Shaheed), FF, SW MajeedMasih (Shaheed), Sindh, Sepoy Ahmad Khan (Shaheed),SSG, Sepoy Zafar Nasir (Shaheed), Sindh, Sepoy AhmedKhan (Shaheed), Sigs, Sepoy Mukhtiar Ali (Shaheed),Baloch, Sepoy Muhammad Sharif (Shaheed), Baloch,Sepoy Ghazi (Shaheed), Baloch, Sepoy MuhammadNazeer (Shaheed), Baloch, Sepoy Arshad Iqbal (Shaheed),Baloch, Sepoy Muhammad Arif (Shaheed), Baloch,Sepoy Babar Ali Dogar (Shaheed), Baloch , Sepoy SaqibMehmood (Shaheed), Baloch, Sepoy Younas Khan (Sha-heed), Baloch, Sepoy Ejaz Ahmed (Shaheed), Baloch,Sepoy Muhammad Awais (Shaheed), Baloch, Sepoy Zee-shan Haider Khan (Shaheed), Baloch, Sepoy ZulfiqarAhmed (Shaheed), Baloch, Sepoy Mukhtiar Ali (Sha-heed), Baloch, Sepoy Muhammad Nawaz (Shaheed),Baloch, Sepoy Muhammad Atif Tariq (Shaheed), Baloch,Sepoy Muhammad Naveed Ul Haq (Shaheed), AK, SepoySohrab Iqbal (Shaheed), AK, Sepoy Imran Wali (Sha-heed), HQ PR (Sindh), Sepoy Abdul Razzaq (Shaheed),HQ PR (Sindh). NAVY, Lieutenant Zia ur Rehman, CDA-I Muhammad Naseer, LMGT (M) CD-III MuhammadHassan Khan, MAR-I Mukhtar Hassan, CDT-I ShahidQayyum, UWT-I Syed Waseem Abbas Kazmi.

HIlAl-I-ImTIAz (mIlITARY)The officers who have been awarded with Hilal-i-Imtiaz(Military) included: Major General Shahzad Sikander,Engrs, Major General Mian Mohammad Hilal Hussain,Arty, Major General Tariq Javed, AK, Major GeneralGhayur Mahmood, T Bt, FF, Major General AsgharNawaz, Engrs, Major General Nadir Zeb, AC, MajorGeneral Muhammad Iqbal Asi, Sindh, Major GeneralNazir Ahmed Butt, FF, Major General Jamil RehmatVance, ASC, Major General Muhammad Ejaz Shahid,Arty, Major General Amir Azeem Bajwa, Sigs, MajorGeneral Tariq Ghafoor, FF, Major General Akhtar Wa-heed, AMC, Major General Salman Ali, AMC, NAVY,Rear Admiral Khawaja Ghazanfar Hussain, Rear AdmiralKhan Hasham Bin Saddique, Rear Admiral Zafar Mah-mood Abbasi, PAF, Air Vice Marshal Arshad Quddus, AirVice Marshal Sohail Aman.

SITARA-I-ImTIAz (mIlITARY)Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military) was granted to the officers in-cluding: Brigadier Salman Akbar, Arty, Brigadier JamilSarwar Malik, EME, Brigadier Mansur Mahmud, ASC,Brigadier Ashfaq Ahmad Solehria, Sigs, Brigadier SohailHamid, Sigs, Brigadier Shafqat Nawaz Khan, Punjab,Brigadier Mowadat Hussain Rana, AMC, Brigadier TahirAziz Ahmed, AMC, Brigadier Farhat Abbas Shah, EME,Brigadier Khalid Mukhtar Farani, Punjab, Brigadier ZarMohammad, Arty, Brigadier Tahir Saddique, Engrs,Brigadier Saad Ullah Fatmi, Engrs, Brigadier Muham-mad Asif Khattak, CMI, Brigadier Salawat Khan, Punjab,Brigadier Rizwan Ali Khan, AC, Brigadier Syed HaiderAli Naqvi, Baloch, Brigadier Muhammad Shafi Ghazi,Punjab, Brigadier Fahim Raza, Arty, Brigadier Abid Hus-sain Bhutta, AC, Brigadier Mubashir Wasim, FF,Brigadier Kamran Waheed, Sindh, Brigadier Naseer UdDin, AD, Brigadier Hamid Mahmood, Punjab, BrigadierNaveed Sarwar, Ord, Brigadier Ghazanfar Ali Bhatti,Baloch, Brigadier Zulfiqar Ali, Arty, Brigadier SamiAkhtar, Arty, Brigadier Mazhar Mumtaz Qureshi, AD,Brigadier Abid Saleem, Engrs, Brigadier MunawwarAlam, Arty, Brigadier Aftab Afzal, T Bt, CMI, BrigadierMohsin Farooq, Arty, Brigadier Tariq Zaman, Engrs,Brigadier Nazir Ahmad, S Bt, Arty, Brigadier RaheelAshraf, AEC, Brigadier Fahim Ahmad Khan, ASC,

Brigadier Syed Hasnain Bokhari, EME, Colonel HaroonRashid, AMC, Colonel Muhammad Tahir Saleem, Engrs,Colonel Saif Ullah Khan, Ord, Colonel Javed Iqbal, Arty,Colonel Junaid Shamim, Punjab, Colonel MohammadSarwar Alam, Sigs, Colonel Muhammad Aaqeb Akhtar,FF, Colonel Ehsan Ul Haq, EME, Colonel Saeed AhmedGill, EME, Colonel S Masood Raza, Baloch, ColonelMuhammad Asif, AD, Colonel Shams Ul Haq, CMI,Colonel Rizwan Shaikh, Sindh, Colonel Akhtar HussainBangash, AMC, Colonel Karamat Hussain Shah Bokhari,AMC, Colonel Shahid Sultan Khan, AMC, NAVY,Commodore Asif Hameed, Commodore Ahmed Saeed,Commodore Sajid Mahmood, Commodore NaseerAhmad, Commodore Shahid Sohail Rao, CommodoreImran Akram, Commodore Syed Asad Karim, Com-modore Zahid Iqbal, Commodore Saleem Iqbal, Com-modore Imran Ahmad, Commodore Syed Arshad Ali,Commodore Syed Naseer Ud Din, Commodore Muham-mad Saqib Fazal, PAF, Air Commodore Shahjahan SattarKhan, Air Commodore Kahlid Mahmood, Air Com-modore Khawar Hussain, Air Commodore Aasim Zaheer,Air Commodore Noor Abbas, Air Commodore HumayunViqar Zephyr, Group Captain Muhammad Safdar, GroupCaptain Muhamamd Afzal, Group Captain ShahzadZafar Dogar, Group captain Omer Sharif, Group CaptainM Arif Burq, Group captain Tahir Mukhtar, Group Cap-tain, Salman Mahboob, Group Captain Gohar MajeedKhan and Group Captain Shahid Nadeem.

TAmGHA-I-ImTIAz (mIlITARY)The officers who have been awarded with Tamgha-i-Imtiaz(Military) included: Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Amir Rana,Avn, Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Qadir Nur, Ord, LieutenantColonel Ijaz Ahmad, Ord, Lieutenant Colonel Zarar Raz-zaque, Engrs, Lieutenant Colonel Taqdees Ur Rehman,Baloch, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Younus, Sigs,Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Rehan Javed, Sindh, Lieu-tenant Colonel Sadaqat Hussain Shah, Sigs, LieutenantColonel Malik Tahir Majid, AD, Lieutenant ColonelMuhammad Irfan Naziri, AC, Lieutenant Colonel ShahidIqbal, Sigs, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ayaz, Sindh,Lieutenant Colonel Nadeem Afzal, Baloch, LieutenantColonel Asghar Hussain, Arty, Lieutenant Colonel Muham-mad Siddique, AK, Lieutenant Colonel Bahadur Shah, NLI,Lieutenant Colonel Ashar Rizwan, AK, Lieutenant ColonelMuhammad Abjad Hussain, ASC, Lieutenant ColonelMuhammad Asif, Arty, Lieutenant Colonel Masood Ali Jaf-fery, Arty, Lieutenant Colonel Amjad Javed, Arty, Lieu-tenant Colonel Syed Muhammad Ather Shakel, Baloch,Lieutenant Colonel Zaffar Khan, FF, Lieutenant ColonelSaqib Malik, NLI, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad TahirNasir, FF, Lieutenant Colonel Humayun Obaid, Engrs,Lieutenant Colonel Arslan Zahoor, Engrs, LieutenantColonel Zahid Hussain, AC, Lieutenant Colonel Muham-mad Nadeem Anwar, GL, Lieutenant Colonel Zahid Riaz,ASC, Lieutenant Colonel Sukhawat Hussain, CMI, Lieu-tenant Colonel Usman Aleem, Punjab, Lieutenant ColonelZia Ahmad Khan, AK, Lieutenant Colonel Abrar HussainKhan, Punjab, Lieutenant Colonel Atteeq Ahmed, EME,Lieutenant Colonel Nasir Ali, FF, Lieutenant ColonelMubashir Aziz, ASC, Lieutenant Colonel M Athar Babar,Punjab, Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Rehan Zafar, AC, Lieu-tenant Colonel Imtiaz Bashir Warraich, CMI, LieutenantColonel Ejaz Hussain, TBt, Punjab, Lieutenant ColonelWisal Mohammad, FF, Lieutenant Colonel Tariq Nisar,Arty, Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Sabur Solehria, AD, Lieu-tenant Colonel Basharat Ahmad Noor, S Bt, Avn, Lieu-tenant Colonel Ch Shafqat Mahmud, Arty, LieutenantColonel Nadeem Zafar, Arty, Lieutenant Colonel Irfan Ha-neef Chaudary, Baloch, Lieutenant Colonel MazharShafique, EME, Lieutenant Colonel Rashid Ghani, EME,Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ahmad Khan, EME, Lieu-tenant Colonel Nayyar Shazad, Ord, Lieutenant ColonelNadeem Fazal, AMC, Lieutenant Colonel AhmadMuqeem, AMC, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Irfan

Ilahi, AMC, Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Rashid, AMC,Lieutenant Colonel Mrs Nilofar Mustafa, AMC, LieutenantColonel Mrs Abeera Choudhry, AMC, Lieutenant ColonelMiss Tahira Tanveer Kausar, AFNS, Major MuhammadDawood, AK, Major Muhammad Sikandar Azam, ASC,Major Imran Hussain, AD, Major Muhammad IshtiaqKhattak, Engrs, Major Munir Anwar Khan, Punjab, MajorMuzaffar Ahmed Majoroka, AC, Major Ikram Ullah Khan,FF, Major Zaheer Ghani, Avn, Major Farrakh Razi, Arty,Major Qazi Riaz Ullah Bangash, FF, Major Zulfiqar Ali,Sindh, Major Hazrat Jan, NLI, Major Tahir Salim, Arty,Major Asghar Ali Qureshi, AK, Major Farukh Saeed, Arty,Major Fayyaz Hussain, Arty, Major Muddassar AhmadShaikh, Baloch, Major Zahid Iqbal, Baloch, Major SardarKhurram Khan Durrani, Baloch, Major Haroon Ur Rashid,CMI, Major Syed Kamran Hashmi, Punjab, Major AmirShafiq Khan, Sigs, Major Muhammad Naseem HassanKhan, EME, Major Umair Ahmed, EME, Major SyedMansoor Ahmad, AMC, NAVY, Commander MubashirMahmood, Commander Syed Rizwan Khalid, CommanderAzeem Sadiq, Commander Shifaat Ali Khan, CommanderMuhammad Ashraf Bhatti, Commander Ahmed Hussain,Commander Khyber Zaman, Commander Syed Riaz ZakirHasnain Abdi, Commander Saeed Ul Hassan, CommanderArshad Mohyudin, Commander Rao Ahmed Imran Anwar,Lieutenant Commander S Mohabbat Shah, LieutenantCommander Muhammad Iqbal, Lieutenant CommanderZulfiquar, PAF, Wing Commander Syed Ali Zaidi, WingCommander Muhammad Shafique Siddique, Wing Com-mander Muhammad Ehsan Ul Haq, Wing CommanderGohar Ul Hassan Syed, Wing Commander AurangzebAhmed, Wing Commander Salman Masood, Wing Com-mander Muhammad Asif Aslam, Wing Commander ArifMahmood, Wing Commander Imran Siddiqui, Wing Com-mander Adnan Qadeer, Wing Commander Tariq Iqbal,Wing Commander Muhammad Ikram Ul Haq Noor, WingCommander Muhammad Usman Malik and Wing Com-mander Muhammad Nasir Javed.

cHIEF oF ARmY STAFF commEndATIon cARdThe officers who have been awarded with Chief of ArmyStaff (COAS) Commendation Card for 200 NorthernAreas Flying Hour are, Lieutenant Colonel MuhammadZahid Kamal, Major Abbas Hussain Awan, Major AhmadArsalan, Major Muhammad Amin Katkazai, Major JavedAlam, Major Muhammad Noman Ahmed and MajorAbdul Nasir Khan.

Chief of General Staff Green Endorsement for 1000Safe Flying Hours was awarded to Lieutenant Colonel ShahMuhammad Faizan Ur Rehman, Major Syed Ali AdilNaqvi, Major Shahid Ahmed, Major Muhammad AsifKhan, Major Tahir Altaf Malik, Major Wajeeh MurtazaKhan, Major Jehangir Abdullah, Major Muhammad ZubairRehan, Major Waqar Ali Shah and Major Javid Bashir.

The officers who have been awarded with MetallicFlight Safety Wing and COAS Commendation Card for1500 Safe Flying Hours included, Lieutenant ColonelMohammad Pervez Khan, Major Zaheer Ghani, MajorAbdul Majid, Major Qazi Imran Khan, Major SajjadAhmad, Major Masood Sarwar, Major Taimur NisarKhan, Major Talal Akbar, Major Asad Mansoor Khan,Major Mehmood Faisal Malik and Major Khayam Z Din.The officers who have been awarded with COAS Com-mendation Card for 2500 Safe Flying Hours included,Colonel Asim Mahmud Qureshi, Colonel Rehan Maq-sood Alam, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Tariq, Lieu-tenant Colonel Muhammad Afzal Kamal, LieutenantColonel Syed Faisal Hassan Rauf, Lieutenant ColonelQazi Sameer Samad, Lieutenant Colonel Farakh MustafaSaleem, Major Shahzad Farooq Major Musa Raza. Lieu-tenant Colonel Ali Abid Raza has been awarded withCOAS Commendation Card for 3500 Safe Flying Hoursand Lieutenant Colonel Raja Khalid Majeed has beenawarded with COAS Commendation Card for 4500 SafeFlying Hours.

President grants Military awards to arMed forces Personnel

ISLAMABADoNLINe

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturdayconferred civil awards on the eve of Pak-istan Day celebrations in an investitureceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The ceremony was attended amongothers by Prime Minister Raja PervaiezAshraf‚ Senate Chairman Syed NayyarHussain Bokhari‚ National AssemblySpeaker Dr Fehmida Mirza‚ formermembers of the federal cabinet‚ senators‚services chiefs‚ foreign diplomats andsenior civil and military officials.

Recipients of Nishan-e-Imtiaz in-cluded Saadat Hassan Manto‚ late MehdiHassan‚ late Munir Ahmad Khan‚Muhammad Irfan Burney‚ SherryRehman and Dr Asim Hussain.

Hilal-e-Imtiaz was given to lateFauzia Wahab‚ Ansar Burney‚ Abida

Parveen‚ late Josh Malih Abadi‚ AnsarParvez‚ Ahmad Chinnoy‚ Anwar Maq-sood‚ Fatima Surriya Bajiya‚ MasoodKhan‚ Major-General Ahmad Bilal‚ ZiaMohiuddin‚ Khalid Abbas Dar‚ HamidMir‚ late Abdul Hafeez Kardar and lateFazal Mahmood.

Sitara-e-Shujaat was awarded toMaulana Hassan Jan Shaheed.

Recipients of Sitara-e-Imtiaz in-cluded Air Commodore MuhammadKhalid Banori‚ Dr Qamarul Haq‚ Dr Sar-fraz Khan Niazi‚ Dr Muhammad AliJawwad‚ Prof Dr Muhammad Al-Tamash‚ Dr Wajid Ali Khan‚ Dr AamerAli Syed‚ Dr Shaista Masood Khan‚Shaista Zaid‚ Sarmad Ali and TariqMalik. President’s Pride of Performancewas awarded to Shahida Minni‚ ShahPari Naghma and Shahida Latif. Tamgha-e-Shujaat was awarded among others toShazia Ramzan and Kainat Riaz.

Zardari confers civil awards on pakistan day


news N

09


Terrorism and dialogues can’t

move ahead together. — KP

Governor Shaukatullah

ISLAMABAD INP

Adelegation of SenateStanding Committeeon Defence and De-fense Production islikely to visit

Afghanistan on March 25 for thefirst parliamentary dialogue be-tween the two countries.

The committee’s chairman, Sen-ator Mushahid Hussain told a pri-vate TV channel that the three-dayparliamentary dialogue would act asa force multiplier for Pak-Afghanrelationship.

The two countries have tradi-tionally had a complicated relation-ship characterized by mutualsuspicion. Ethnic issues, border dis-putes and lately differences overcounter-terrorism strategies havebeen the major sources of diver-gence between the neighbors de-scribed by President Karzai as

‘conjoined twins’, but lingeringmistrust between their spy agencieswidened the gulf.

Lawmakers visit to Afghanistanis followed after the acting head ofthe Afghan intelligence service,Hassamuddin Hassam, secretly vis-ited Pakistan in December in a bidto narrow their strategic difference.

His visit took place after a sui-cide attack on the Afghan NationalDirectorate of Security (NDS) chiefAssadullah Khalid.

Acting head of the Afghan spyagency’s visit to Pakistan was aimedat investigating a suicide attack on

Afghan spy chief Asadullah Khalidafter the Afghan government hadclaimed that the attack had beenplanned in Quetta while PresidentHamid Karzai accused an unnamedforeign intelligence agency of hav-ing masterminded it.

Pakistani security forces report-edly arrested two Afghan nationalsin connection to the incident. Ac-cording to the sources, Afghan spyagency was satisfied by the investi-gation and cooperation of Pakistan.

In the meantime Pakistani andAfghan officials also agreed on astructured military and intelligencedialogue and their army chiefs,heads of intelligence and directorsgeneral of military operations havebeen meeting regularly.

A major step forward towardsbuilding trust between the nationswas taken after the arrest of a high-ranking Pakistani Taliban leaderMaulvi Faqir Muhammad by theNDS at the end of February.

senate body to visitAfghanistan on 25th

BOdy cHaIRmaN sayspaRlIamENtaRydIalOGuE WIll act asfORcE multIplIER fORpak-afGHaN tIEs

WASHINGTONoNLINe

China and Pakistan reached a formalagreement last month to construct a thirdnuclear reactor in Punjab that the Obamaadministration says will violate Beijing’spromises under an international anti-nu-clear weapons accord.

The secret agreement for the Chashma 3reactor was signed in Beijing during a visitby a delegation from the Pakistan Atomic En-ergy Commission from February 15 to 18,according to US intelligence and diplomaticofficials quoted by the Washington Times.

The agreement calls for the state-runChina National Nuclear Corp to construct a1,000 megawatt power plant at Chashma,where two earlier Chinese reactors were built.

China last month issued an internal no-tice to officials within its nuclear establish-ment and to regional political leaders urgingcare to avoid any leaks of information aboutthe nuclear deal, which Beijing expects willbe controversial, said officials who spoke on

condition of anonymity. The reactor deal hadbeen in the works for several years andprompted high-level US government effortsto block the sale because of concerns that itwill boost Pakistan’s nuclear weapons pro-gramme. The China National Nuclear Corp,China’s main nuclear weapons producer, hasbeen linked in the past to Pakistan’s nucleararms programme by US intelligence agen-cies. During the 1990s, the corporation soldthousands of ring magnets to Pakistan thatwere used in centrifuges that produced highlyenriched uranium for weapons.

Recent US intelligence reports indicatethat China is in the process of modernisingIslamabad’s nuclear arsenal. The arms coop-eration is said to include development of anew warhead for Pakistan’s missiles, as wellas assistance in reprocessing spent nuclearfuel. A Congressional Research Service re-port published February 13 stated that “Pak-istan’s nuclear arsenal probably consists ofapproximately 90-110 nuclear warheads, al-though it could be larger.” “Islamabad is pro-ducing fissile material, adding to related

production facilities, and deploying addi-tional delivery vehicles,” the report said.“These steps could enable Pakistan to under-take both quantitative and qualitative im-provements to its nuclear arsenal.” The reportwarned that spent fuel from Karachi andChasma nuclear power plants are vulnerableto theft or attack. The Obama administrationhas not publicly contested the nuclear coop-eration between the two countries in the pastto avoid upsetting US covert efforts againstIslamic terrorism in the region.

The new reactor sale also will underminethe Nuclear Suppliers Group, a voluntary as-sociation with no enforcement mechanismsthat is viewed as a key tool in the Obama ad-ministration’s effort to prevent the spread ofnuclear weapons.

China in 2004 joined the group andagreed not to sell additional reactors to Pak-istan beyond the two reactors sold earlier.Under Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines,China is not permitted to sell nuclear goodsto any country that is not part of the UN In-ternational Atomic Energy Agency.

karzai seekstaliban’s helpin reopeningschools

KABULINP

President Hamid Karzai on Saturdayasked the Taliban not to prevent studentsfrom equipping themselves witheducation and cooperate with hisadministration in reopening closedschools.While marking the new academic year byringing a school bell in Kabul, thepresident highlighted the importance ofeducation, calling it the only way ofmaking Afghanistan self-sufficient.“I urge the people who attack schools onboth sides of the Durand Line (Afghan-Pakistan border) to avoid torchingeducational institutions, because itamounts to enmity with sons of the soil,”the president remarked.Arson attacks on schools, poisoning girlstudents and spraying their faces withacids, were acts of enmity with humanityand a contemptible attempt at keeping theAfghans in a perpetual state ofdependency, Karzai said.The education ministry says 464 schoolsremain closed due to insecurity indifferent parts of Afghanistan.“If you want Afghanistan not to bedependent on others, you should supporteducation because it can make the countryindependent. I you prevent education, thecountry is pushed into slavery,” Karzaisaid in his message to the Taliban.

ghaus Bakhsh takesoath as interimBalochistan cm

QUETTAoNLINe

Nawab Ghaus Bakhsh on Saturday was sworn inas caretaker chief minister of Balochistan. In aceremony here at Governor’s House, BalochistanGovernor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsiadministered oath to Nawab Ghaus BakhshBarozai. Former Balochistan CM Aslam Raisaniand other political leaders also participated in theceremony. The event was attended among othersby opposition leader Nawabzada Tariq Magsi,ex-ministers, former legislators and governmentofficials. The formation of the interim cabinet isalso expected after the caretaker chief ministertakes oath. Barozai has vowed that the interimcabinet would be formed on merit andannounced soon. He said he would strive toensure transparent and timely elections in theprovinces besides making efforts to maintain lawand order during this interim setup. Earlier,former CM Aslam Raisani and opposition leaderTariq Magsi agreed to the name of Barozai forthe slot of interim chief minister.

lifetime security fortwo former pms tocost rs 5m per month

ISLAMABADINP

The outgoing first democratic government at theend of its five years term but before departurehas finalised the decision to provide security totwo former prime ministers for lifetime.According to details, the Pakistan People’s Party(PPP)-led federal government has issueddirectives for providing security to former primerministers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja PervaizAshraf for lifetime. For the purpose, services offour SPs Captain (r) Ilyas, Sajid Kayani,Mustansir Hussain and Sardar Sadaqat besidestwo DSPs, 150 inspectors and constables havebeen acquired. In accordance with the plan twoSPs, a DSP and 75 constables and inspectorswould provide security to each former PM. ThePM House has also asked IG Islamabad toprovide 16 police vehicles in this regard.The security to two former PMs would cost Rs5 million per month.

lightning claimslives of 3 fc men

HANGUoNLINe

At least three security personnel were killedwhile five were seriously injured when lightningstruck in the area of Orakzai Agency onSaturday. According to media reports, threesecurity personnel deployed in the area ofGodala were struck by lightning during heavyrain. They were killed on the spot while fiveothers were moved to the hospital for treatment.

china to supply nuclear reactor to Pakistan

Recent US intelligencereports indicate that China is

in the process of modernisingIslamabad’s nuclear arsenal.The arms cooperation is saidto include development of anew warhead for Pakistan’s

missiles, as well asassistance in reprocessing

spent nuclear fuel.

QUETTA: Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi administers the oath to Interim Chief Minister Ghaus Bux Barozai on Saturday. oNLINe


nAdrA’s blunderI am a senior citizen of Pakistan and my CNIC number is35201-7795098-1. As I am above 70 years, my card is withoutany expiry date. Last night, after watching an ad on a TVchannel, I wanted to check my registration as a voter andpassed on my CNIC number to 8300, the number that theNADRA has set up for this purpose.

Imagine my surprise when the reply that came to my cellphone told me that I was supposed to cast my vote at a booth

on Amir Khusro Road, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, Karachi East.This is beyond comprehension as I am a resident of Lahoresince almost 22 years, residing at 77, Block X, DefenceHousing Authority, Lahore. This is also exactly the sameaddress written on my CNIC.

If this is how the NADRA is working, I cannot imaginehow many other blunders it may have made. Would anyonefrom NADRA tell me how can I cast my vote in Lahore,where I reside and rightly entered in my CNIC?

ASGHAR BIN SHAHID JAFRILahore

coMMent

Arif NizamiEditor

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

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

Email: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

C

politicians haven’t mended their ways as suchA colossal failure

into the fire

shakedown in ppp

NOW that elections are only a few weeks afar, everything seems to be fallinginto place. All assemblies have been dissolved peacefully and caretakersetups in their place are in the process of being installed. However, there

remained a few kinks in the democratic process that need to be ironed out. One suchissue was holding of dual offices by President Asif Ali Zardari, one being his partyPPP’s co-chairmanship and the other being the president. As the constitution is clearon the issue and courts showing no leniency, Lahore High Court in particular whichis hearing a petition on the issue and has asked the president to relinquish one of theposts, why the issue was dragged so long served possibly no other purposes butpolitical mileage resulting out of the confusion and tension.

The president currently holds no post in the party while Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has been appointed party’s patron-in-chief, him being less than 25 yearsof age and thus not qualified for the post of chairman. The other prominentchanges include former governor Sardar Latif Khosa and Barrister MasoodKausar who have been elected unopposed as PPP central secretary general andcentral secretary information, respectively.

Zardari’s decision to quit the post of co-chairman is a good one but the reasongiven for this does not make any sense. The party’s new secretary general, SardarLatif Khosa, said that the post of co-chairman was abolished as it was not aconstitutional post of the party. One might ask if it was not a post in the party’sconstitution, why was it allowed to exist this long? The decision has been taken inan apparent effort to thwart LHC’s pressure in the dual office case. While leavingthe party not under any name that ends with Bhutto, Zardari may have taken a riskthough there seems to be no considerable threat to the Bhutto family’s dominationover the party. Zardari could, however, take over the post of chairman if he is notre-elected president later this year, and thus come back to a position of strength.

Though Jehangir Badr, Naheed Khan and Ghinwa Bhutto all have filed paperswith the ECP to allot the name Pakistan Peoples Party to them, and JehangirBadr’s sidelining in the new scheme of things after his 14 years of serviceappears to be an outcome of his claiming the name of the party to himself, thereactually appears to be no threat to Zardari and Co to lose control over the party’sname. What’s good about this whole shakedown is that the young patron-in-chiefand the king-in-the-making, Mr Bilawal, will learn the art of politics by actuallyjumping in the pool and swimming with the proverbial sharks and crocodiles,instead of just using the name of his mother and grandfather to secure votes.

POLITICIANS are never tired of claiming that they have leant from theirpast mistakes. This is only partly true. Yes, the government did not useNAB to frame opponents and the opposition did not approach the army for

intervention. There was however no shortage of malice and a hunch to discovernew shortcuts to get rid of the opponents. The SC order to declare Shahbaz Sharifineligible for public office was considered by the PPP a God sent opportunity. Itused the short period of the Governor’s rule to fish in the troubled waters ofPunjab. The PML-N on its part was never tired of issuing calls for early elections.The demands climaxed early last year with Sen Ishaq Dar claiming the governmenthad lost mandate and snap polls were needed to test its legitimacy. Nawaz Sharifsought the initiation of the memo case against Hussain Haqani requesting the SCto “unearth the dreadful conspiracy, which maligned Armed Forces of Pakistanto trade away the sovereignty of the country and to barter away the existenceand future of Pakistan”. Shahaz Sharif frequently took recourse to inflammatorylanguage, promising last year to drag Zardari in the streets of Lahore.

Mutual suspicions stood in the way to consensus on a caretaker prime minister.Ch Nisar Ali put up names that he knew would be unacceptable to the PPP for theirperceived partiality. His subsequent statements indicated that he wanted only theElection Commission to decide the issue. After Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Ch Nisarfailed to agree, the later gleefully predicted that the parliamentary committeewould not be able to resolve the issue. To put the spanner in the works, he choseto address a press conference while the final round of talks was about to startsaying that here would be no agreement in the committee. Making no secret ofhis keenness to send the matter to the ECP, Ch Nisar has put the Commission inan embarrassing situation. If it decides on a PML-N nominee, it would beaccused by the other side to be working in collusion with the opposition party.

That the political parties were unable to reach an understanding on thecaretaker prime minister in six days is a colossal failure. This indicates that thepolitical leadership still remains intolerant and is incapable of give and take andcompromises that are part of the normal democratic culture. The failure wouldraise uneasy questions. How would this leadership resolve the controversies thatdivide ethnic groups, social classes, different tiers of society and importantinstitutions inside the country? How would it resolve the controversies raging inthe region? Would our leaders simply get up and leave the negotiating tablewhen the national interests demand otherwise?

Good for the party, and the people


10

“the nation will be the land of the free only when it is the land of the brave.”

The person, be it gentleman or lady,

who has not pleasure in a good novel,

must be intolerably stupid. –Jane Austen

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

THRICE did the army nearlyintervene during the lastgovernment and thrice did itstop at the cusp, like thricedid Caesar refuse the crown

knowing it was not laurels but made ofpoisonous thorns. It is in the nature ofman to inter the good with the boneswhile the bad, embroidered with lies andexaggeration lives on. This is no time forintervention. None is.

Generals are not trained to run coun-tries. They have no generic solutions toour myriad problems so they only tinkerwith the system and create a feel good fac-tor for a time. Mistaking wish lists for ide-ology they confuse strategy for tactics.They don’t realise that the political systemis the problem. Without ideology theycannot properly address it. They don’tknow how to legitimise any new systemso they follow the standard operating pro-cedure: accountability inevitably donebadly and pointless referenda. When I toldPresident Musharraf that a presidentialsystem cast in our historical milieu inwhich parliament and executive were sep-arate and independent of each other wouldbe better for us, his answer was, “I agreewith you 200 percent, but how to do it?”That is the problem. You have to let thenew system evolve naturally.

Army intervention not only signifiesfailure of politics but also of society forelecting and tolerating inept and corruptleaders. Worse, those heading govern-ments wouldn’t get the chance to exposethemselves and our decrepit, degenerate,alien political system, a bad clone ofWestminster, would get yet another leaseof life instead of hurtling towards its des-tiny through the natural evolutionaryprocess. However, when a coup becomesinevitable that too is part of political evo-lution for it almost always is the conductand performance of politicians that makesthe ground fertile for it.

Best to let politics take whatevercourse it will so that we get this systemout of our systems and learn that democ-racy is not equal to elections, improve-ment of the human condition bottom upis. Let there be elections and let the newgovernment govern – or misgovern morelikely. If it does well none would be hap-pier than you and I. But if it falls flat onits face and Pakistan starts going furtherdown the drain, then intervention couldbecome inevitable and you, America or Ican do nothing to stop it. Only Allah can.The army doesn’t want to go down in his-tory as an institution that upheld the con-stitution while the country perished. Theclock is ticking, the “petty pace of time”continues apace.

Our politicians should realise this lestthey pave the way yet again for army in-tervention after some fashion. There are

some things that man wants and there aresome things that nature demands. Whenit comes to survival nature takes over andcharts its own course, man and his socialand political constructs and wishful think-ing be damned.

There was a cartoon in this newspa-per last Friday showing six of our top po-litical leaders pulling at Pakistan’s flagfrom different ends, tearing it apart totake their piece. It happened in 1971when Bhutto, Mujib and Yahya tore Pak-istan asunder while all West Pakistanileaders bar Asghar Khan stood by mutelyor applauded. Our leaders should realisethat their common and collective task isnot to play multi-dimensional tug-of-warwith the national flag and shred it but tohoist it to its zenith. The army is taskedto save the flag from being torn apart be-fore the nadir. Let’s hope that doesn’thappen and these become our last elec-tions, for it is neither good for the coun-try’s natural evolution nor for the army.

While consensus is part of theessence of democracy, our predators thatpass for politicians cannot even agree ona caretaker prime minister and Punjabchief minister because they are driven byself-interest, not national interest. Theprime minister and leader of the opposi-tion couldn’t agree on one, the parlia-mentary committee failed and now thematter is with the Election Commissionwhose decision will be final – so too inPunjab. How sad! Can you believe thatthe gentleman with Jeffersonian preten-tions who crafted this convoluted processwas in the run for this meaningless job,though it would have enhanced his pro-file no end – ‘former prime minister’what? He is actually proud of gifting usthe last three amendments to the consti-tution that have built gridlock into thesystem. Great going.

It doesn’t occur to anyone that in areal democracy there is no concept ofcaretakers. Outgoing governments holdelections under their watch and woe be-tides them if they fumble or rig. Butwhere no one trusts anyone, and not with-out reason, they need ‘neutral’ caretakers.Is it possible to find ‘neutrality’ givenhuman nature? What is needed is intellec-tual honesty, a good upbringing and valuesystem, a real education, a good trackrecord and strong faith. Only a well-pro-grammed robot can possibly be neutral.Anyone who is someone has an opinionand track record. Opinions and perform-ance attract controversy. A person withoutcontroversy is a person without opinionor achievement.

There is the view that PresidentZardari has given Nawaz Sharif yet an-other haircut because he will now ‘gra-ciously’ agree to Sharifs’ nominee ascaretaker prime minister (to ‘save democ-racy’ of course) provided that the Punjabchief minister is his nominee, for Punjabis, as Bhutto said, “the bastion of power”.Win Punjab and you win Pakistan. Buthang on: there’s a flaw here. The Sharifswere clever enough to dissolve the Punjabassembly after the National Assembly, sothe date of selection of caretaker primeminister comes before the selection ofPunjab chief minister. What if Sharif getshis prime minister and later, if he can, re-nege on agreeing to Zardari’s chief min-ister, pleading that such promises are notwritten in the Quran as Zardari did toSharif when he gave him his first haircut?It’s a filthy situation.

Into this fire has jumped General Per-

vez Musharraf of his own volition, put-ting life and liberty on the line. ‘Into theFire’ could be the title of his next book.Knowing my close friendship withMusharraf and that I helped write his au-tobiography ‘In the Line of Fire’, peopleinevitably ask me why would Musharrafwillingly return to face trials, tribulationand possible assassination? I won’t saythat Musharraf knows something I don’tfor that’s cute fudging.

To understand why, read the chapter‘The Potter’s Wheel’ in Musharraf’s bookto understand the mindset of a soldier.Every military academy is like a potter’swheel, its bosses the potters or milliners.A young cadet is their clay that they makemoist and malleable, place on the wheel,spin it ferociously, mould him and thenthrow him in a red-hot furnace. When thepotter’s work is done out of the furnaceemerges a soldier with a different mindsetand worldview. He believes he is born todie for his country for it is his duty tosave it from enemies foreign and native.His ultimate reason for existence is to laydown his life and become a martyr andvictor – shaheed and ghazi – at the sametime. On top of the mind of a soldierMusharraf has the mind of a commando.The word defeat is not in his lexicon.Musharraf had planned to remain Presi-dent till 2013 and then leave a victor. I be-lieve he would have. Instead, he wasforced to resign earlier, a defeat for him.He has to return and convert defeat intovictory even at the cost of his life. He isnot conditioned to sit abroad and watchhis country slide into disaster. He istrained to try and save it. It is an impera-tive that a civilian cannot understand.What seems impetuosity in a soldier-commando is instinct, ‘not listening’means not agreeing with the civilianworldview in which self-survival is cen-tral. Musharraf believes in destiny; he isready to embrace it willingly. So forMusharraf to jump back into the fire isbut natural. Got it?

Musharraf has many sterling qualitiesthat our politicians lack. He doesn’t speakwith a forked tongue; in fact his outspo-ken truthfulness has often got him intotrouble. I know, for I had to argue to re-move a lot from his book. He is honestand very patriotic. His wife and childrennever threw their weight around and takeadvantage of his position. His architectdaughter Ayla was known to take taxiswhen he was president while the heir ap-parent progeny of our politicians make anuisance of themselves with motorcadesas long as their father’s. I can go on, butwhy labour the point?

A man’s has to do what he has to do.Musharraf is a man and is doing it. Patri-otism is the driver: Benazir Bhutto was nosoldier but she was one hell of a fighter.She returned to Pakistan willingly andembraced martyrdom. I hope and praythat Musharraf does not, but there aremany traitors after the blood of this pa-triot. What I fear most is another high-profile assassination as an excuse topostpone elections. Not just Musharrafbut the Sharifs, Zardari, Imran Khan andthe chief justice are in the line of fire.Hopefully there’s no such tragedy again,but they should all watch it. “The nationwill be the land of the free only when itis the land of the brave.”

The writer is a political analyst. Hecan be contacted [email protected]

humAyuN GAuhAr


coMMent Csunday, 24 March, 2013

11

picking thecaretakers

It is not the employer who pays the wages.

Employers only handle the money. It is the

customer who pays the wages. –Henry Ford

something that the politicians should havenever left to an unelected institution

Iam writing this onSaturday, latermorning, as mem-bers of the Election

Commission of Pakistansit in a closed-door meet-ing to pick the next care-taker prime minister fromamong the four names for-ward to them by the outgo-ing government andopposition. “Forwarded tothem” is actually an incor-rect depiction of the events.More accurate would be tosay that since a committeeof the National Assembly, comprising of eight members – four eachfrom the Treasury and Opposition benches – after due deliberations,could not agree on who the caretaker prime minister should be, thenominations have arrived with the Election Commission of Pakistan,per the process mandated in Article 244A of the Constitution.

For those unaware of the details, let’s start with the process first:Article 224 1(A) of the Constitution requires that upon the “dissolu-tion of the Assembly on completion of its term, the President, or theGovernor, as the case may be, shall appoint a caretaker Cabinet.”Furthermore, the same constitutional article provides that “the care-taker Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President in consul-tation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition” ofthe outgoing Assembly, and that the same process will be followedby the governor in the provinces. And in case, the leader of the houseand opposition “do not agree on any person to be appointed as a care-taker Prime Minister or the care-taker Chief Minister”, the processlaid down in Article224A shall be followed.

Article 224A statesthat in case there is noagreement between theleader of the house andopposition on the care-taker leader (Prime Min-ister or the ChiefMinister), “they shall for-ward two nominees eachto a Committee, compris-ing eight members, hav-ing equal representationfrom the Treasury and theOpposition” (and a simi-lar six-member committee for the provinces). This committee “shallfinalise” the caretaker leader “within three days of the referral”, failingwhich “the names of the nominees shall be referred to the ElectionCommission of Pakistan for final decision within two days.”

In accordance with this process, four names were put forth forthe position of the caretaker prime minister (Rasul Bakhsh Palijoand Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid as opposition nominees, andJustice (retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso and Dr Ishrat Hussain as gov-ernment’s nominees). Since the prime minister and leader of theopposition could not agree on one final name, the candidatureswere sent to a Parliamentary Committee, which too failed to agreeon any single name, and thus the four names are now under dis-cussion before the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The extent of the rift in our partisan divide is evident from theinability of our political forces to agree on a name for the caretakerprime minister. At its core, the issue is not so much about the qual-ifications and integrity of the proposed nominees (all the nomineesare individuals of considerable stature). Instead, the problem seemsto be an inherent distrust among the government and oppositionforces, manifesting in the fact that no one is willing to accept thatthe other side can propose an impartial name.

Failure of the parliamentary committee to reach a consensus, interms of the nominee, was announced by the members “with a heavyheart”. Some claimed it to be a failure of politics. Others have saidthat this is a failure of the constitutional system that does not allowtoo much room to members of the committee to negotiate – theyhave ‘just’ three days to negotiate, and have no ability to add namesto the list of nominees. And it has been advocated that, in the nearfuture, a constitutional amendment should ‘fix’ these deficiency inorder to enable the elected representatives to arrive at a consensus.

But all these are mere excuses. The constitution allows signif-icant room for political forces to arrive at a consensus. The systemis not flawed. The failure can only be attributed to the individualsand the distrust that persists in our polity, and not to the design ofthe constitutional process. The politicians were unable to trust andagree with one another.

In the next few hours or days, the Election Commission willvote on and pick the caretaker prime minister. And this announce-ment will be the sounding gun for the campaigning fervour. All eyeswill then be fixed on the caretakers and the Election Commissionof Pakistan. And as the rumble begins, we would all be well-advisedto vote for and elect a brand of polity which, though partisan in com-plexion, can find a way to put aside their bickering and agree on is-sues that are beneficial towards our collective national ambition.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. He has a Masters inConstitutional Law from Harvard Law School. He can be reachedat: [email protected]

sAAd rAsooL

ON 23rd March, 1940, the famous“Lahore Resolution” was passedwhen the Muslims of the Indiansubcontinent realised after waking

up from a long slumber that their love forfreedom was above all other imaginable humandesires. So they waited for 24th March, 1940, toactually celebrate the famous first step takentowards the journey that would ensure theirfreedom in the near future. One entire day wasconsumed by inaction, until it dawned upon ourleaders that the event that was to be celebratedhad actually passed on the preceding day. Couldit be possible that our forefathers were asforgetful of important dates as we Pakistanispresently are, or did we, by chance or by design,miss an important chapter of our valuablehistory while growing up in a complex society?Nine years before the Lahore Resolution,another important event that took place on 23rd

March was the hanging of an indigenousrevolutionary Bhagat Singh in the now bustlingPakistani city of Lahore.

History books available outside the purereach of Pakistan’s historians have suggested, orrather directly stated, that the actual resolutionwas approved on 24th March, 1940, and onlymoved on the preceding day. What is it with thespell of dates that mesmerise us as a nation? Isit necessary to blatantly support fabrications andforget the real events that actually happened onany particular day of our collective history? Thewalls of glass that we have erected around us toshield ourselves from the destructive truth dis-ease, usually shatters when most Pakistanis findthemselves in the unforgiving position of de-fending the validity of their national custommade historical dates abroad, especially in theUnited Kingdom where a great part of the Indiansubcontinent’s history rests documented.Maybe, the situation would have been differentif we had erected mirrors around us instead.

Excavation of historical facts from historybooks proves beyond the slightest shred of doubtthat 23rd March is actually celebrated passion-ately by Pakistanis as the day when the policy-makers and leaders of the country realised for thefirst time after the emergence of Pakistan andIndia as sovereign countries, that they couldachieve the target of becoming the “Asian tigers”.The day was not commemorated officially or un-officially from 1941 to 1956, and only came tobe known as Pakistan Day when the first consti-tution of the country was promulgated on 23rd

March, 1956. When the constitution was abro-gated by General Ayub Khan, the national gov-ernment decided to preserve a dead and spiritlessday for reasons that are now lost to history.

Further digging into history books and otherrelated references reveal that the initial draft ofthe resolution was loosely worded and was not adefinitive agreement of any sorts. The founder ofPakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah was alive whenthe important day passed on 23rd March, 1948.Interestingly enough, the day came and passed bysilently without any mention of the Lahore Res-olution by anyone in the government or other-

wise. Nevertheless, 23rd March is an importantday in the history of the Indian subcontinent’sfreedom struggle against the British rulers whenthree fiery revolutionaries namely Bhagat Singh,Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were ex-ecuted in Lahore on the same day in 1931.

History tells us that Bhagat Singh was intro-duced to radical philosophies and concepts at avery young age as his family was already brim-ming with indigenous revolutionaries, both oldand young, when he was born. Therefore, his in-troduction and subsequent involvement with thestruggle for independence was only a naturalpath that he would have walked upon. YoungBhagat was greatly influenced by JallianwalaBagh tragedy and ardently supported MohandasGandhi in his Non-Cooperation Movement.Later, he lost interest in the Congress and otherpolitical parties, and instead became involved inrevolutionary organisations until he followed hisdestiny into the Hindustan Republican Associa-tion (HRA), which was later renamed on BhagatSingh’s insistence as the Hindustan SocialistRepublican Association (HSRA) in 1928.

Bhagat Singh was elevated to the level of alegend in his own time after he killed a Britishpolice officer named John Saunders in an act ofrevenge committed as a protest against the mur-der of a local leader Lala Lajpat Rai who wasassaulted by a low ranking police official on theorders of the then Superintendent of PoliceJames A Scott. Shivaram Rajguru, SukhdevThapar and Chandrashekhar Azad were theother three revolutionaries who aided BhagatSingh in his plans. Bhagat, Rajguru andSukhdev later surrendered themselves to the po-lice and were sent jailed.

Later, Bhagat and his comrades went on a116-day hunger strike in jail while fighting forthe equality and rights of his country in the faceof ruthless imperialism. On receiving news of

the hunger strike, Mohammad Ali Jinnah ac-knowledged the services of Bhagat Singh for thecause of Indian independence while JawaharlalNehru visited the prisoners at Mianwala Jail andtermed them as heroes of the independencemovement. Bhagat Singh was executed on 23rd

March, 1931, along with his two comrades inthe now Pakistani city of Lahore. “I have beenarrested while waging a war. For me there canbe no gallows. Put me into the mouth of a canonand blow me off,” stated Bhagat Singh’s last let-ter. The place where he was hanged changesname between Bhagat Singh Chowk and Shad-man Chowk while recently a few other propos-als have also been put forth.

Sometimes Pakistani historians have sacri-ficed their own identity and the identity of thecountry by showing undue tilt towards Islamichistory while preserving important events inwords. Why do we have to take inspiration fromMuslim revolutionaries only? What kind of obe-dience has been drilled into us that has made usshort-sighted? Bhagat Singh was a son of thesoil and he sacrificed his life to attain for hispeople complete freedom from the unforgivinggrip of imperialism. He gave the Indian freedomstruggle a different direction and outlook bymerging secular ideas into his philosophy. Oftenhe would talk about how British imperialismwas a scourge for all Indians, irrespective oftheir class, creed and colour. He committed hisefforts to the downfall of the same imperialismthat Pakistan’s right wing so ardently opposesin the present times. Only this time, the playeris different but the game remains the same.

Permanently naming Shadman Chowk of La-hore as Bhagat Singh Chowk would not threatenour national security. The pressure groups whofeel that the same place should be named as“Khatim-un-Nabiyeen” should know that BhagatSingh did not preach religion but dedicated hissoul in all its entirety to the service of his countryand his people. He might have been a Godlessman, but he served His best creations with utmostpassion, respect and dedication. We should notforget that among many other men of stature, thecity of Lahore is indebted to Bhagat Singh andhis comrades who electrified the city’s atmos-phere with their unbound insanity and thebustling life and energy of Lahore today showshow the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province hasretained the strength to produce another hero andrevolutionary when the need arises. So while ourleaders and people remember a day that neverwas on the 23rd of March every year, the leastthey could do is to acknowledge the services ofShaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh on the same dayand maybe accept him as Pakistan’s national herobecause he did not fight for the supremacy of anyreligion but for the dignity and independence ofhis people. Young Bhagat’s passion showed in hiswritings and following are his words:

“Lovers, lunatics and poets are made of thesame stuff.”

As long as we do not recognise BhagatSingh and others like him, as says the ideologyof Pakistan, 23rd of March would never be a truenational day.

The writer is a staff member.

lost in timeWhat a true pakistan day should be

KhAN BABrAK yousAfzAI

Failure of the parliamentarycommittee to reach a

consensus, in terms of thenominee, was announcedby the members “with a

heavy heart”.


“The chains of love are never so

blinding as when their links are

made of gold. ” — Royal Tyler

ARTS

Asunday, 24 March, 2013

12

emmA WAtsonstrips doWn formother nAture

Emma Watson is all grown up and

taking it off for Mother Nature! The 22-

year-old actress shed her Gryffindor

robe to pose topless for photographer

James Houston’s new book, Natural

Beauty, which will raise funds for

nonprofit Global Green USA. The

brunette bombshell shared one of the

sexy pics from the book on her Twitter

page this week and the sultry snapshot

is a far cry from the young child star

who won our hearts as Hermione

Granger in “Harry Potter.” It seems that

the stunning actress wants to remind

her fans that she’s definitely not a little

girl anymore! And this isn’t her first

attempt at departing from her good-girl

image. Check out the vid to see more

of Emma’s transition from sweet child

star to gorgeous Hollywood hottie!

NeWs desK

Sanjay Dutt said on Thursday

he is ‘shattered’ by the Supreme

Court verdict sentencing him to

five years in prison in the 1993

Mumbai blasts case. He said he

will complete all his pending

films, and that he ought to be

strong in these trying times for

his family and children. “I have

already suffered for 20 years

and been in jail for 18 months.

If they want me to suffer more I

have to be strong. I am heart

broken because today along

with me, my three children and

my wife and my family will

undergo the punishment,”

Sanjay said in a statement.

Sanjay, who has been asked to

surrender within four weeks and

has projects estimated at

Rs.100 crore riding on him,

added, “I have always respected

the judicial system and will

continue to do so, even with

tears in my eyes. I am going to

complete all my films and won’t

let anyone down. I am

overwhelmed by the support of

my fans the industry people, the

media and all the well wishers.”

Sanjay is currently married to

Manyata, with whom he entered

wedlock in 2008. She is his third

wife. The actor has two children

with Manyata - twins Shahraan

and Iqra - and elder daughter

Trishala from his first wife Richa

Sharma. The actor, who was

convicted under the Arms Act

for illegally possessing weapons,

had been awarded six years

imprisonment by the TADA

(Terrorists and Disruptive

Activities (Prevention) Act)

court. However, the apex court

reduced the sentence from six

years to five years. This

effectively means that Dutt will

be in jail for three years and six

months as he has already

undergone 18 months

imprisonment. The apex court

Thursday upheld Sanjay’s

conviction under the Arms Act in

the terror attack for illegal

possession of a 9 mm pistol and

an AK-56 rifle. The Supreme

Court also upheld the death

sentence of Yakub Abdul Razak

Memon in the 1993 Mumbai

blasts case and commuted the

death sentence of 10 others in

relation with the blasts, in which

a series of 13 car bomb blasts

ripped across Mumbai. Several

actors and filmmakers from the

Hindi movie industry came out

on social networking sites to

share how “good-hearted” the

53-year-old, Bollywood’s much-

loved “Munna Bhai” really is. “I

know in my heart that I have

always been a good human being,

respected the system and always

been loyal to my country. My

family is very emotional right now

and I have to be strong for them.

I am shattered and in emotional

distress. I am sorry I can’t come

down and meet you all. God is

great and he will guide me

through this,” Sanjay added.

Sanjay, the son of Bollywood

legends Nargis and Sunil Dutt,

has films like the Zanjeer remake,

Policegiri, Munna Bhai 3 and P.K.

in the works. NeWs desK

I am shattered and in emotionaldistress: Sanjay Dutt

NEWS DESK

‘Turbanator’ Gurpreet Singh Sarin happensto be luckier than Bollywood actress ShilpaShetty. The young man of Indian origin,who made it to the top 40 on the “ AmericanIdol” reality show, says he didn’t face anyracial discrimination on his journey toachieving a fusion of Indian classical musicand western music.

“I am very thankful I did not face any-thing like that (racism) from the judges orany other people,” the US-based Gurpreettold IANS over the phone from New York.

“I was conscious that there must bepeople who might be ignorant and racistand did not understand where I come from,but I was just focussed on my singing, andmoving on to the next level of competi-tion,” added the singer, earned the ‘Tur-banator’ moniker thanks to the colourfulturbans he sported on “American Idol”.This is quite unlike what Shilpa Shettyfaced in Britain when she was a part of “Celebrity Big Brother” in 2007. She wasbullied by the other contestants and theracist attacks attracted a furore from severalquarters. Ultimately, Shilpa won the com-petition.

But even while Gurpreet is now out ofthe show, he is happy he has been “able toeducate people about myself through mypassion and dream, and that has been a

blessing”. He left the judges, global celebri-ties like Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj andKeith Urban, with his talent and even made“American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest do thebhangra on the show, which airs on channelBIG CBS LOVE.

A trained classical singer, the 22-year-old belongs to a familywith an inclinationfor instrumentslike the tabla,sitar and flute.Through themusic platform,G u r p r e e twanted to showhow the twoworlds - Indianand western - canbe brought to-gether.

“One rea-son why Iwanted to be onthe show wasto show

everyone how I can incorporate Indian clas-sical music into American music. Therehave been artists like Norah Jones whohave incorporated Indian classical influ-ences and I got an opportunity to do thesame,” he said. A student of Computers andInformation Science at a university in NewYork, Gurpreet has Bollywood in mind too.However, his influences include artists liketabla maestro Zakir Hussain, sarod expertAmjad Ali Khan and late sitar maestro RaviShankar, who expanded India’s presence on

the world map with their talent. Gurpreet admits that as a contestant

on “American Idol”, he served as an in-spiration and encouragement for otherIndian-origin youngsters in the US. Hesays he received immense supportthrough the online medium.

“I would get messages from myfans saying that being an Indian, I am en-

couraging them and I am their role model.For me that was a wonderful opportunity. Iwasn’t even conscious how large a role

model I had become,” Gurpreet said. He,however, wants to finish his stud-

ies first before giving him-self completely to the

music world and isthankful about theexposure he gotthrough “Ameri-can Idol”.

faced no racism: desi‘American idol’ contestant

LiLo to spend aweek withCharlie Sheenbefore rehab

NEWS DESK

Lindsay Lohan will be spending a week with Charlie Sheen beforeundergoing 90 days of rehabilitation, as ordered by the court, accordingto reports. A source told the New York Post that the troubled star alsowants to go to Brazil. Her plans with Sheen also include a guestappearance in his comedy series, Anger Management. The job next weekwill take two days to shoot, though it has been reported that the 26-year-old actress will stay in Los Angeles for at least an additional week.Lohan’s lawyer Mark Heller has revealed that in the episode, Lohan willplay a patient who falls in love with the therapist, played by Sheen.


I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart’s

affections and the truth of the imagination. What

imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth. — John Keats

13artssunday, 24 March, 2013

A

MEHR TARARVoh dil kaye teray liye bey-

karar ab bhi hai... Voh ankh

jis ko tera intezaar ab bhi

hai.... #FaizAhmedFaiz

RAZA RUMIMein muhabbat hun aur

woh nafrat/So usey bhi

mujhi sey khatra haye”

#Urdu #poetry Akhtar

Shumaar

MAHA KHAN PHILLIPSThank you to the lovely kids

at Beaconhouse schools. Your

questions keep making me

think, it’s great to have

readers like you.

MEHREEN ZAHRA-MALIKHur daagh hai is dil mein

bajuz daagh-e-nadamat

ADEEL HASHMIThe only permanent thing in

life is dementia.

NOTABLE TWEETS

NEWS DESK

He may be a Jersey guy, but he’s beenliving a Manhattan lifestyle.

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi has put hisManhattan penthouse on the market,and a peek inside shows 7,452 squarefeet of pure luxury. And it better beluxurious and then some, consideringhe just put the place on the market for$42 million, a mind-blowing priceeven for New York real estate.

According to the listing, the du-plex includes a lower-level foyer,giant great room, five bedrooms withtheir own separate bathrooms, ascreening room, wood-burning fire-place, 11-foot ceilings, and multiplelandscaped terraces. Some of thoseterraces, states the listing, have a “Zenquality,” while the largest one ismeant for entertaining. All have viewsof the surrounding city. Oh, and theapartment, located in SoHo’s New

Museum Building, comes fully fur-nished.

The 51-year-old – who is marriedwith four kids and also has a mega-mansion in Middletown, New Jersey– paid a mere $24 million for the padin 2007, and reportedly put millionsinto renovating the place, but it’sprobably fair to say that if he gets hisasking price, he’ll still be making akilling. We reached out to the listingagent, The Corcoran Group’s DeborahGrubman, to find out a little moreabout the home, namely what war-rants the $42 million price tag (espe-cially when otherseeminglyjust-as-amazing celeb-owned NYC apartments are currentlylisted in the $20-million range evenafter being redone). Is it the views?The swanky building? The fancy fin-ishes? But a spokesperson for theagency told us the listing is “a nocomment situation.”

Jon Bon Jovi selling NYCPenthouse for $42m

NEWS DESK

Hollywood actress Jessica Albaadmits she didn’t always makethe right choices in her actingcareer, but launching her eco-friendly lifestyle company hasmade her more creative. “mycompany has weirdly allowedme to be more creative in myroles. It helps me work withpeople I love and appreciate,”contactmusic.com quoter Albaas saying. “For me, acting was alot about making the rightchoices and trusting myinstincts. I didn’t always listento my gut and make the rightchoice,” she added. The 31-year-old actress, who hasdaughters Honor, four, and 20-

month-old Haven with husbandcash Warren, launched hercompany after becoming amother. It deals in organically-produced nappies, baby wipesand bath products. Alba fearedbig brand baby products couldbe harmful to her children. “It’sreally hard to find babyproducts that use non-toxicchemicals that mums can trust.major corporate brands thatlabel their products eco-friendlyor non-toxic are usuallyreferring to the way they maketheir packaging, not theirproduct,” she said. The actresshas also written her own booktitled, “The Honest life”,dispensing tips on living well,parenting and healthy eating. “I

absolutely do thesethings. That’s whyI wrote the book.There’s lots ofoptions, likedeliveryservices forfreshproduce thatis organic, ifpeople justwant to do acouple ofthings in thebook that aresuper-easy.You can takewhat youwant fromthe book,” shesaid.

Didn’t always make right choices:

jessicA AlBA

saif ali Khangets into a tiffwith CISF atairport

NEWS DESK

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan on Thursday had a tiff with securitypersonnel at the Chowdhary Charan Singh airport here after he wasasked to vacate the VIP lounge. An ugly row ensued when theactor sat in the VIP lounge and was asked to move out by theCentral Industrial Security Force (CISF) as he was not in thelist of VIPs entitled to the facility. “When the actor refused tomove out and tried to throw around his weight, he wasforcibly evicted from the lounge,” said an airport source.The furious actor then created a scene, only to sober downwhen senior officials intervened. Saif Ali Khan hadarrived in Lucknow to take part in the shooting of BulletRaja two days back and was headed to New Delhi. Afterthe tiff, he waited in the open area like any othertraveller and left on a Jet Airways flight. Confirmingthe incident, CISF commandant Gyanendra Kumartold IANS that the actor was asked to leave afterairport officials brought it to their notice that he wasan unauthorized occupant of the VIP lounge. Theactor could not be reached for comments.

Beyonce, Girls Aloudmembers were on kidnap listKevin Liverpool, 35, and JuniorBradshaw, 32, accused of planningto rob and kill singer Joss Stone hadalso written names of singerBeyonce Knowles and members ofGirls Aloud in their kidnap diary,reports dailystar. The diary entriesincluded - chop off arm, legcrossbow and decapitate them. Thediary was seized from the Longsightflat in Manchester Liverpool andBradshaw shared. The jury at ExeterCrown Court heard how Liverpoolhad written detailed notes on Stone’sbackground, career and album sales.The court also heard how detectivesfound reminders to buy a semi-automatic gun, a silencer, infra-redequipment and a Ninja sword for thealleged attack in Devon. NeWs desK

NEw YORk: Drew Barrymore steps

out in bright floral pants.


NEWS DESK

A Target store needs to be accessi-ble by people with disabilities, sowhy not the Target website? That’sthe aim of advocates who areincreasingly argu-ing in lawsuitsthat websitesmust alsocomply withthe 1990A m e r i -c a n sW i t hD i s -abili-ties Act.That theoryhas been dis-missed by a fewcourts in the past, but the Na-tional Federation of the Blind andthe National Association of theDeaf have seen several recent legalvictories, including settlements

with both Target and Netflix, theWall Street Journal reports. Therehave also been many victoriesachieved without litigation, lawyers

say. The aim of the law-suits is to get things

like spokendescrip-

t i o n sof photos and

text boxes (forcustomers who

are blind), captions or tran-scriptions of multimedia (for cus-tomers who are deaf), and websitesthat are navigable without a mouse(for customers with motor disabili-

ties). A lawyer for the NFB pointsout that there’s more market share

in it forcompanieswho mod-

ify theirw e b -s i t e s ,but op-ponentsof thei d e af e a rf r i v o -l o u sl a w -s u i t s —and pointout that itis quite

costly toretrofita web-site to beaccessi-ble.

NEWS DESK

Scientists still think a spacerock slammed into Earth 65

million years ago in a cata-strophic collision that wiped out the

dinosaurs and most other species. But a new theorypresented this week suggests that the space rock

was a speedy comet, not a hulking asteroid aspreviously believed, reports the BBC.

Dartmouth researchers came up withthe theory after determining that

the amount of sediment—specifically extraterrestrial

iridium and osmium—that got thrown into the at-mosphere at the time of the collision was less thanis commonly believed. Then they factored in thesize of the 120-mile-wide crater that the collisioncreated in the Yucatan Peninsula. A massive, slow-moving asteroid didn’t compute. “So we said,‘How do we get something that has enough energyto generate that size of crater, but has much lessrocky material?” explains one of the Dartmouth re-searchers. It had to have been something relativelysmall and fast. “That brings us to comets.” Not allscientists are convinced just yet, however, notesthe Science Recorder. It’s possible that an unusu-ally fast asteroid could have done the trick.

Woman losesteeth due tovery strong tea

Tea: It’s good for you, but only if you

don’t drink too much of it. And by

“too much of it,” we mean a pitcher

made with 100 to 150 tea bags.

That’s how much a Detroit woman

drank each day, and doctors

eventually realized that her years of

back, arm, leg, and hip pains were

caused by the tea habit, according to

the New England Journal of Medicine.

It seems the high level of fluoride—

brewed tea has a bunch—was to

blame, the Detroit Free Press

explains. It caused a bone disease

known as skeletal fluorosis, and also

made her teeth brittle. They all had to

be removed. After counseling, the

woman is no longer drinking tea and

is doing better. NeWs desK

now on facebook:weather forecasts

So a friend invites you to a picnic via

Facebook, but you just can’t be

bothered to click over to another site

to see what the weather will be like?

Well, the social network is now saving

you that step (and trying to make

sure you stay on Facebook even

longer). As of today, event pages—as

well as some pages for public places,

like parks and cities— will include

weather forecasts, TechCrunch

reports. It notes that the feature is

only on pages where the information

makes sense (i.e., not on your News

Feed). Weather Underground is

providing the data, and there will be

an option to click over to the site if

you need further info. NeWs desK

INFOTAINMENT

ISunday, 24 March, 2013

14Mystery creates wonder and

wonder is the basis of man’s desire

to understand. –Neil Armstrong

pope francis to wash,kiss inmates’ feet

At least he’s washing them first: The new pope

plans to wash and kiss the feet of juvenile

delinquents in a rare gesture next Thursday, the

Guardian reports. Instead of holding Holy Thursday

mass in either St Peter’s basilica or the basilica of

St John in Lateran, Pope Francis will celebrate in

the chapel of a penal institute for minors in Rome.

There, he will clean 12 inmates’ feet in a gesture

to honor Jesus’ treatment of his disciples after the

Last Supper. More recently, Benedict XVI washed

the feet of lay people during his first two years,

but did it only with priests after 2008. John Paul II

washed the feet of homeless men in 1980 but also

stuck with men of the cloth after that. The Vatican

says Francis’ gesture will continue his tradition as

archbishop of Buenos Aires, when he held the

mass of the Lord’s Supper in simple settings like

shelters, hospitals, and prisons. For the record: Holy

Thursday is the day before Good Friday. NeWs desK

french guy poses aspilot, makes it to cockpit

Apparently Philippe Jernnard thought that donning

an Air France shirt and a leather jacket with

epaulets on its shoulders would be enough to let

him pass as a pilot. Alas, it was not, but it did get

him all the way to the cockpit of a US Airways flight

before he was arrested last night. Seems the 61-

year-old French man had a ticket on the flight from

Philadelphia to West Palm Beach, but got upset

after spoke with the boarding attendant and was

denied a seat in business class, the Philadelphia

Inquirer reports. Fox 29 Philadelphia reports that

Jernnard boarded, then strolled right up to the

cockpit and ended up sitting in the jumpseat behind

the captain, telling the flight crew he was an Air

France pilot. He was also carrying an Air France bag

and “some identification that looked like he was a

crew member from Air France,” a Philadelphia police

captain says. But when he couldn’t provide the proper

credentials—and the original boarding attendant

spotted him in the cockpit—he was made to take his

seat in the cabin and then later arrested. NeWs desK

how much caffeine istoo much?Dr. Eric Prystowski, an electrophysiologist with the

St. Vincent Heart Center of Indiana, says we still

don’t know why caffeine affects some people more

than others. He says caffeine has rarely been

shown to be the primary cause of heart rhythm

problems, but too much caffeine could make them

worse. However, he adds caffeine isn’t as bad as

people make it out to be and people with heart

rhythm problems can still have a couple of cups of

coffee per day. Dr. Prystowski says the bigger

question is with energy drinks. He says research

hasn’t shown what the combination of caffeine and

other ingredients in energy drinks such as sugar and

various herbs could do. Dr. Prystowski

says the herbs used in

energy drinks aren’t

regulated and haven’t

been studied much to see

what kind of affects they

could have. NeWs desK

nAsA probe reveals dark side of the moon

deaf, blind sue to makeonline shopping accessible

SOME parts of the moon haven’t

seen the sun in millions, and even

billions, of years but an unmanned

NASA spacecraft is shedding light

on these lunar lands of permanent

darkness. A new video from NASA’s Goddard

Space Flight Center Scientific

Visualization Studio explains just

how the agency’s powerful

Lunar Reconnaissance

Orbiter (LRO) is collecting

data on the moon’s

coldest, darkest

craters. Earth’s axis is

titled about 23.4

degrees from

vertical, meaning

sunlight reaches

every surface, even

the north and south

poles, for at least part

of the year. The moon,

meanwhile, is tilted just

1.6 degrees, nearly

perpendicular to the

direction of the sun’s light.

This means that there are some

deep craters near the moon’s poles

that haven’t seen the sun for over two billion

years. Scientists are interested in the moon’s

permanently shadowed regions because they

are thought to have the right conditions to

trap volatiles like water, which would normally

vaporize and escape into space, according to

NASA. In fact, LRO helped confirm the

presence of water ice on the moon along with

other lunar probes from Japan and India. In

October 2009, LRO detected the presence of

frozen water when its sister craft, Lunar

CRater Observation and Sensing

Satellite, crashed into a

permanently shadowed crater

near the moon’s south

pole. NASA launched the

$504 million LRO

mission in June 2009.

The spacecraft is

equipped with a suite

of instruments,

including a laser

ranging tool, to

create the most-

detailed ever

topographical maps of

the lunar surface of its

mysterious shadowed

regions. The lunar probe

also has tools designed to

measure temperature and

neutron absorption in the moon’s

darkest corners. And while the sun

can’t get into the moon’s permanently

shadowed regions, LRO’s Lyman Alpha

Mapping Project (LAMP) instrument can detect

how faint light from others stars reaches some

of these craters. NeWs desK

comet, not asteroid,wiped out dinosaurs


sPorts

Ssunday, 24 March, 2013

15We knew it was going to be a tricky

period of play for us. – Steven Finn

DOMINICAAGeNCIes

Shane Shillingford grabbed another fivewicket haul to bowl West Indies to a secondsuccessive test win over Zimbabwe but thistime in front of a delirious home towncrowd in Dominica on Friday.

The tall spinner again wreaked havocwith five wickets for 34 as West Indies wonby an innings and 65 runs inside three dayswith Zimbabwe bowled out for 141 in theirsecond innings, well short of forcing thehome side to bat again.

Zimbabwe, beaten by nine wickets inlast week's first test in Barbados, offeredlittle resistance after being asked to bat atthe start of the third day in Roseau still 206runs behind the West Indies who declaredon the overnight total of 381 for eight.

A regular procession of wicketsemphasised the gulf in class between thetwo sides as Zimbabwe had no answer tothe turns and bounce of Shillingford in thefinal match of the series. They otherwisegave away their wickets cheaply to part

time bowlers like Darren Sammy andMarlon Samuels. Zimbabwe were bowledout some 30 minutes before tea, justexceeding the post-lunch defeat theysuffered on the third day of the first test inBridgetown. The 30-year-old Shillingford,whose image was plastered all over posters

and t-shirts at Windsor Park on his homeisland, took 19 wickets to be named man ofthe series - easily beating the record WestIndian wicket haul for a two-test series setby Courtney Walsh in New Zealand in1995. Shillingford also took five wickets inthe first innings.

Zimbabwe's second innings collapsecame soon after he entered the fray todeliver a consistent diet of balls that dartedaround the crease and left the inexperiencedbatsmen looking bewildered. Only openerVusi Sibanda stuck it out but surrenderedhis wicket for 35.

"The wicket was a bit slower but thebounce a bit more consistent but we had aplan we kept to and it paid off,"Shillingford said as he also accepted theman of the match award.

For Zimbabwe the series was an eye-opening return to the test arena after a14-month hiatus. But they showed littleimprovement from the side thrashed byNew Zealand last year when they lost aone-off test in Napier by an innings and301 runs.t

BENONI AGeNCIes

SUNDAY could well be Benoni's biggest daysince Charlize Theron won the Oscar.International cricket seldom reachesJohannesburg's East Rand and when it does, it

is unlikely to be this meaningful. For both South Africaand Pakistan, its Benoni or bust in their last outing beforethe Champions Trophy and they will have a sell-outcrowd to do that in front of.

The series has got steadily more competitive as it hasprogressed, so the 8,500-odd people can expect a fieryaffair especially because there is more than just a trophyon the line for both teams. Reputation tends to mean morethan silverware in bilateral ODI series anyway.

For South Africa, it is a chance to give their homefans a format to cheer them in that is not Test cricket andto prove to them they have developed as a limited-oversunit. After winning all five longest form fixtures, SouthAfrica's Twenty20 and ODI squads did not follow suit.They are in transition but even a phase of change cannotgo on without some reward.

Sporadically, South Africa have had it. They blewPakistan away in Bloemfontein and defended stoically atthe Wanderers. But consistently, they have not. Whenforced into situations from which they have to respondunconventionally, they struggle - an indication that theevolution into a complete unit is still, as Gary Kirstenwould put it, in process.

For Pakistan, the picture may not be that big. Theyare more likely to be focused on the immediate goal ofleaving this tour with enough to be able to call it asuccess. Misbah-ul-Haq indicated at the very beginningthat he expected the Test phase to be difficult but thelimited-overs contests to be the area in which Pakistancould push South Africa and even topple them over.

So far, they have. They've exposed the hosts' obviousweaknesses and demonstrated some of their own majorstrengths. They will want one more big effort to underline

those and there would be no better place to that than inthe decider. Instead of one player, it will be South Africa's

collective mental strength under scrutiny as they findthemselves in a must-win situation. Understandably, it isnot a major tournament knockout game and it may haveabsolutely no bearing on one, but is still a test of charactermore than it is one of skill and if South Africa havelacked in either department, it is the first. The team willhave to take responsibility as a whole and watching howthey work together in trying to win the series will be moreimportant than any individual brilliance.

Similarly, Pakistan's big match temperament will bechallenged. Twice, they have needed to come back in therubber and twice they have. Both times, they've got thebit between their teeth early. If that happens again, theyare likely to run away with it. If it doesn't, they will haveto be up to clambering their way out of trouble. ShahidAfridi showed how to do it at the Wanderers but it maytake more than one firework to light up the contest.

However, the victory for Pakistan would give themtheir first win in a bilateral series over South Africa whileWillowmoore Park is best known for two things: it wasthe first ground in the country to have floodlights and itwas the venue of Dennis Compton's 300 in a first-classmatch in 1948-49

"It's two great teams and it was bound to happen thatthe results would go up and down like a rollercoaster,"said David Miller who is not surprised that the series isdeadlocked going into the final match.

"Whenever you come to different conditions, youstruggle and not sure when you're starting a series, whatyou can do in these sorts of surfaces, but after winningtwo games and levelling the series 2-2 and after seeingdifferent players perform, we are a bit sure and you growyour confidence," said Misbah-ul-Haq. SmITH oUT oF FIFTH odI: Graeme Smith hasbeen ruled out of the fifth Momentum ODI betweenSouth Africa and Pakistan at Willowmoore Park inBenoni on Sunday because of a chronic left ankle injury.Smith has been given a period of rest and rehabilitation.The selectors have not yet named a player to assist ascover for Smith.

Zimbabwe taughtlesson as futuresits at crossroads

DOMINICAAGeNCIes

Zimbabwe have described their losingreturn to the test arena after a 14-monthhiatus as a "massive disappointment" andknow their future potential is at acrossroads after two heavy defeats in theWest Indies. Captain Brendan Taylor saidhis inexperienced side had much higherexpectations before setting off on theirCaribbean tour but return home having alsolost all their international limited oversencounters. The defeat in Barbados wastheir first test action since New Zealandthrashed them by an innings and 301 runsin January 2012. Still, Zimbabwe hoped todo better than lose by nine wickets in two-and-half-days before West Indies wrappedup the second test in Dominica by aninnings and 65 runs in around the sametime. "It's been massively disappointing.We have been taught a proper lesson,"Taylor told reporters in Roseau after thetour came to an end on Friday. "It hurts tobe in this position but the West Indies werea far better side than us." Zimbabwe endeda six-year break from test cricket two yearsago but played four single tests over 19months before taking on the West Indies. Itwas their first two-test series since Indiatoured Zimbabwe in September 2005 afterwhich a player dispute over politicalinterference in team selection led to a rapiddecline in their fortunes. They havereturned a far cry from the doggedlycompetitive side of the 1990s and face are-examination of their test status at homein a two-match series against Bangladeshnext month. Only the performances ofpace men Kyle Jarvis - who took fivewickets in the first innings in Bridgetown- and debutant bowler Tendai Chataracould be classified as positive.

pakistan chase rare series win

Home town hero spins West Indies to test success

BENONIAGeNCIes

The childhood game of being able to makebelieve is considered a useless skill later inlife but maybe it isn't. People deploy it inmany situations: mock job interviews orpreparing to tell a loved one somethingimportant by acting it out in front of the dogfirst. In the case of the South African cricketteam, they could use it by imagining the fifthODI against Pakistan is a World Cup final.

In a few ways, it could be. It's a winner-takes all situation, the teams have been at itfor the last few weeks so the competition hasbeen sustained and public expectation ishigh. When South Africa have been facedwith exactly the same set of conditionsduring a World Cup, they have never comeout successfully. But in bilateral series theyhave had little trouble. Three times over thelast three years, South Africa have enteredthe final match level with their oppositionand twice they've won, against India andPakistan in 2010 and 2011 respectively.Both times it was spoken about as proof that

they are not chokers. Still, it did not translateinto success at the World Cup. That's whythe outcome in Benoni could have nobearing on the upcoming ChampionsTrophy or South Africa's state of mind goinginto it. If they lose, they will probably haveless to live up to in England and if they win,it will be a case of more of the same unlessthey can go on to claim silverware in June.

Where it can make a difference is bytesting AB de Villiers' captaincy and thecollective capacity of the squad to pulltogether when it matters. Consistency is outof the window, as a unit and individually,as no-one except de Villiers himself hashad a decent run. De Villiers' showingswith the bat are not a reflection on hisleadership as he still appears uncertaindespite saying he is settling in. He hasmade too many questionable decisions,most recently getting Colin Ingram to bowlthe over that handed Pakistan theadvantage in Durban. He changes fields toooften and even needlessly, and issometimes at loggerheads with the bowlersabout where they want their men.

a test for de Villiers and an inconsistent sa

West INdIes WoN the toss ANd eLeCted to fIeLd

zImBABWe fIrst INNINGs 175

West INdIes fIrst INNINGs 381-8 deC

zimbabwe second innings

V. sibanda lbw b sammy 35

h. masakadza c ramdin b Best 17

B. taylor c Powell b shillingford 7

C. ervine c Gayle b shillingford 8

s. Williams c Chanderpaul b shillingford 6

m. Waller c sammy b samuels 20

t. mawoyo c sammy b shillingford 0

G. Cremer c samuels b shillingford 20

P. utseya not out 10

K. Jarvis c sammy b samuels 1

t. Chatara c Gabriel b samuels 0

extras (b-8, lb-9) 17

total (all out, 42.2 overs) 141

fall of wickets: 1-37 2-64 3-64 4-73 5-92 6-96 7-114 8-138 9-141

Bowling: Best 7-2-11-1, roach 3-0-12-0, Gabriel 3-0-19-0,

shillingford 15-4-34-5, sammy 5-1-13-1, samuels 9.2-0-35-3

West Indies won first test by nine wickets and the series 2-0.

sCoreBoArd

aB dE VIllIERs' captaINcy WIll BE uNdERscRutINy IN tHE dEcIdER, as WIll sOutH afRIca'saBIlIty tO ImpROVE ON a HIt-aNd-mIsspERfORmaNcE IN tHIs OdI sERIEs sO faR


AUCKLANDAGeNCIes

ENGLAND'S batsmen begantheir struggle for a foothold inthe final Test after Steven Finnled the tourists' fightback with

the ball on day two at Eden Park. Finn (sixfor 125) was eventually rewarded for hispersistence as New Zealand were bowledout for 443 shortly after tea.

Then as the Kiwi attack foundconspicuously more swing than Englandmanaged for five sessions, Nick Comptondug in on the way to 50 for two at stumpsafter Alastair Cook had gone cheaply.England responded on Saturday with ninewickets for 193, courtesy principally of MattPrior's five catches behind the wicket andFinn, having taken one for 250 after Cookwon the toss Friday. Peter Fulton's 136 andhis second-wicket stand of 181 with KaneWilliamson (91) nonetheless helped to giveNew Zealand a dominant total, in which thetop nine all contributed in at least double-figures. Finn was somewhat flattered by hisjoint career-best figures, thanks to a lateburst of four for 13 in 14 balls to close thehome innings soon after tea.

There were also two wickets for JamesAnderson, one with a very good ball and theother with a long hop, to take him level withDerek Underwood on the all-time list ofEngland's most successful Test bowlers and

within three of 300. On Saturday morning,Anderson expertly found Williamson'soutside edge in backward-defence as thenumber three went caught behind after a199-ball stay, in which he had hit 15 foursand looked a class act throughout. Stoicopener Fulton stayed put, mustered just fiveruns out of 24 in the first hour's play onanother sunny day. He almost ground to ahalt, having passed his maiden hundred onFriday night, as England starved him ofscoring opportunities through his favouredleg-side. Fulton took 100 balls to score 28runs, after reaching three figures, including

23 spent stuck on 124. That sequence wasbroken when he clipped an Andersoninswinger aerially through midwicket forthree to take his total leg-side runs to 101.

Ross Taylor tried to energiseproceedings but followed a six and four overmidwicket in one Monty Panesar over bychipping a return catch tamely back at theslow left-armer. When Fulton's seven-and-a-half-hour innings then ended with aspectacular catch behind down the leg-sideby Prior off Finn, England sensed anopportunity. But they were to bedisappointed before lunch when danger man

Brendon McCullum successfullyoverturned Paul Reiffel's decision, tosurvive both caught behind and lbw whenFinn thought he had him one way or theother for a second-ball duck.

sPorts S


16It seems impossible that after dominating the first and

second half we have drawn the match. – Vicente Del Bosque

england battle back on day two in nZeNGLANd WoN the toss ANd Chose to BoWL

NeW zeALANd fIrst INNINGs (oVerNIGht 250-1)

P. fulton c Prior b finn 136

h. rutherford c Cook b finn 37

K. Williamson c Prior b Anderson 91

r. taylor c&b Panesar 19

d. Brownlie c Compton b Anderson 36

B. mcCullum c Prior b trott 38

BJ Watling c Prior b finn 21

t. southee c Prior b finn 44

B. martin c trott b finn 10

N. Wagner not out 2

t. Boult c Compton b finn 0

extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-1) 9

total (all out, 152.3 overs) 443

fall of wickets: 1-79 2-260 3-289 4-297 5-365 6-373 7-424

8-436 9-443

Bowling: Anderson 30-8-79-2, Broad 30-6-94-0 (nb-1), finn

37.3-8-125-6, Panesar 47-17-123-1, trott 6-3-9-1, root 2-1-5-0

england first innings

A. Cook c Watling b Boult 4

N. Compton not out 12

J. trott lbw b Boult 27

I. Bell not out 6

extras (w-1) 1

total (for two wickets, 25 overs) 50

still to bat: Joe root, Jonny Bairstow, matt Prior, stuart Broad,

steven finn, James Anderson, monty Panesar

fall of wickets: 1-8 2-44

Bowling: Boult 10-4-26-2, southee 6-4-12-0, Wagner 2-0-6-

0 (w-1), martin 7-4-6-0

Previous results: first test - match drawn, second test -

match drawn

sCoreBoArd

Wiggins slipsfurther in catalunya

CATALUNYA: Dan Martin extended his

lead of the Volta a Catalunya but Bradley

Wiggins lost time after a hectic finale

forced late splits in the peloton on stage

five. A series of roundabouts on the run-

in Lleida and a searing pace of more than

60kmh saw the bunch break up just

under 1km from the line. Irishman Martin

defied convention by deciding to contest

the sprint as he searched for bonus

seconds and reaped the benefits with a

ninth-placed finish. However, Wiggins

had earlier chosen to sit up in order to

stay out of trouble and fell victim of the

splits, finishing in a large group nine

seconds down. AGeNCIes

NEW DELHIAGeNCIes

Nathan Lyon took 5-94, but Indiamanaged to eke out a four-run leadby stumps, ending the the secondday of the fourth test againstAustralia in Delhi on Saturday on266 for eight. Bhuvneshwar Kumarhad 10 at the end, having lost partnerRavichandran Ashwin to Lyon thefinal ball before stumps, caught onthe crease for 12. Lyon bowledunchanged for 21 overs, buildingpressure, with the quicks alternatingfrom the other end, never letting up.

The hosts failed to build on theexcellent start from their openers,and, given that they have to bat laston this track, they will need theirlast two wickets to build a

substantial lead. Resuming the dayon 231 for eight, Australia weredismissed for 262 within the firsthour of play, but not before PeterSiddle brought up his maiden testfifty three deliveries into the day.

Four overs later, however,Siddle defended to one that didn't 'tturn as much as he expected, losinghis off-stump for 51 and givingAshwin the ninth five-wicket haulof his short career of 16 tests. Siddlewithstood the Indian bowlers for136 deliveries and found theboundary four times. Pragyan Ojhaput an end to Australia's resistancewith his first wicket of the innings,as James Pattinson edged the armball to Virat Kohli in the slips,becoming Ojha's 100th test victimin his 22nd test.

India take small lead despite Lyon’s fiveAustrALIA 1st INNINGs

eJm Cowan b Ashwin 38

dA Warner c Kohli b sharma 0

PJ hughes b sharma 45

sr Watson st dhoni b Jadeja 17

sPd smith c rahane b Ashwin 46

ms Wade c Vijay b Ashwin 2

GJ maxwell c sharma b Jadeja 10

mG Johnson b Ashwin 3

Pm siddle b Ashwin 51

JL Pattinson c Kohli b ojha 30

Nm Lyon not out 8

extras (b 5, lb 7) 12

total (10 wickets; 112.1 overs) 262

Bowling: Kumar-9-1-43-0, sharma-14-3-35-2, Ashwin-34-18-57-

5, ojha-26.1-6-75-1, Jadeja-29-8-40-2

fall of wickets: 1-4 (Warner, 1.4 ov); 2-71 (hughes, 20 ov); 3-

106 (Cowan, 32 ov); 4-115 (Watson, 38.5 ov); 5-117 (Wade, 40.4

ov); 6-129 (maxwell, 46.2 ov); 7-136 (Johnson, 53 ov); 8-189

(smith, 81.2 ov); 9-243 (siddle, 102.1 ov); 10-262 (Pattinson,

112.1 ov)

INdIA 1st INNINGs

m Vijay c Wade b siddle 57

CA Pujara b Lyon 52

V Kohli lbw b Lyon 1

sr tendulkar lbw b Lyon 32

Am rahane c smith b Lyon 7

ms dhoni c Watson b Pattinson 24

rA Jadeja lbw b maxwell 43

r Ashwin lbw b Lyon 12

B Kumar not out 10

yet to bat: PP ojha, I sharma

extras (b 12, lb 16) 28

total (8 wickets; 68.1 overs) 266

fall of wickets: 1-108 (Pujara, 25.1 ov); 2-114 (Kohli, 27.5 ov); 3-

148 (Vijay, 40.4 ov); 4-165 (rahane, 45.4 ov); 5-180 (tendulkar,

47.5 ov); 6-210 (dhoni, 52.5 ov); 7-254 (Jadeja, 63.2 ov); 8-266

(Ashwin, 68.1 ov)

toss: Australia elected to bat

umpires: rA Kettleborough, Aleem dar

third-umpire: s ravi

referee: rs madugalle

Bowling: Johnson-17-3-44-0, Pattinson-14-1-54-1, siddle-12-3-

38-1, Lyon-22.1-3-94-5, maxwell-3-0-8-1

sCoreBoArd


sPortsS


17My relationship with the manager is very good. We

have got a lot in common - tactics and the way we see

football is similar. – Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina

Wapda liftnational WomenWeightlifting title

LAHOREstAff rePort

Wapda securing 91 points won theinaugural National Women WeightliftingChampionship 2013 on Saturday. Army with 64 was at second positionwhile Railway getting second positionhaving got 40 points. RESULTS (BODY wEIGHT, wEIGHT LIFTED)

48 kg: Kirin Shahzadi , Army, 46.50, 36, Noor-

ul-Huda, Punjab, 45.84, 28, Saima Manzoor,

Wapda, 44.44, 27.

53 kg: Samina Ghafoor, Wapda, 52.74, 50,

Naila Suleman, Railway, 51.58, 25,

58 kg: Neelam Riaz, Wapda, 57.52, 45, Amna

Muneer, Army, 56.58, 40, Dania, K.P.K., 58.00, 32

63 kg: Sumaira Tayyaba, Wapda, 59.36, 52,

Hina Nazir, Army, 61.52, 40, Riffat Naz,

Balouchistan, 63.00, 32,

69 kg: Nadia Maqsood, Railway, 64.70, 42,

Razia, Army, 65.08, 41, Rabbia Razaq, Punjab,

65.59, 36

75 kg: Saira Bano, Wapda, 72.74, 55, Razia

Parveen, Wapda, 75.00, 47, Sabiha, Army,

69.50, 45

75-plus kg: Zeenat Parveen, Wapda, 104.12,

70, Saira, Army, 91.70, 47, Kanwal Shazia Butt,

Punjab, 88.36, 46.

rijas defeatmaple leaf to winlow goal polo

LAHOREstAff rePort

Rijas defeated Maple Leaf by one goalmargin to take the Bonanza Low GoalPolo Cup here on Sunday. It was in fact Atif Yar Tiwana who scoringall the six goals lifted Rijas to 6-5 win. In the subsidiary final, Sakuf having half agoal advantage overpowered its superiorteam Sabiha Foods 7-4. the matches weresupervised by Malik Azam Hayat Noon &Kashif Jamal while Chief Guest of the daywas Col Aslam Zaidi.

rose, haas soarin orlando;mickelson cut

ORLANDOAGeNCIes

Justin Rose and Bill Haas finished the daytied at the top of the leaderboardfollowing the second round of the ArnoldPalmer Invitational in Orlando.Rose had led at the end of the first roundbut dropped two shots today en route to asecond-round 70 - in contrast to Haas,who produced an impressive 66. The pairwere one ahead of John Huh.

recari on therun in carlsbad

CARLSBADAGeNCIes

Spain's Beatriz Recari surged into thehalfway lead at the LPGA Tour KiaClassic courtesy of a second-round 67 atAviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California.Recari picked up five birdies on Friday inher second straight bogey-free round tomove to eight under heading into theweekend.American Paula Creamer (68) andAustralia's Karrie Webb (70) were jointsecond.Creamer had an up and down round, withsix birdies interspersed with bogeys on thefifth and 14th holes, while Webb startedbrightly with three birdies on the firstseven holes but only deviated from parthereafter by bogeying the par-three 14th.

SEPANGAGeNCIes

Sebastian Vettel mastered the trickyconditions to make it back-to-backpole positions to start the new FormulaOne season. A short burst of rainstruck the Sepang International Circuitfive minutes from the end of thesecond period of qualifying ahead ofSunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

It made for an all-guns-blazing topshoot-out on the intermediate wettyres, with reigning triple worldchampion Vettel again emerging topdog to claim the 38th pole of his F1

career. The surprise is who will startalongside him on the front row asFerrari's Felipe Massa managed toedge team-mate Fernando Alonso atthe death. It will be the first time inthree years Massa has started fromsuch a position on the grid, going backto the opening Bahrain Grand Prix ofthe 2010 season.

Behind the leading trio will beLewis Hamilton, who admittedcoming into the weekend his lack ofconfidence in his Mercedes in thewet, but who temporarily was onpole before falling down the order.Red Bull's Mark Webber and Nico

Rosberg in his Mercedes occupy thethird row of the grid, followed byAustralian Grand Prix winner fromlast weekend in Kimi Raikkonenwho lines up seventh on the grid.McLaren team principal MartinWhitmarsh had expressed his hopeahead of qualifying for some rain tospice things up and give his driversa chance.

But Jenson Button could onlymanage eighth and Sergio Perez10th, with Force India's Adrian Sutilseparating the McLaren duo. Therain certainly played its part in Q2also, preventing Lotus' Romain

Grosjean and Force India's Paul DiResta from getting in a second timedrun, and with it a crack at the top 10.The Frenchman will start 11th aheadof Sauber duo Nico Hulkenberg andEsteban Gutierrez who line up 12thand 14th either side of a strong 13thplace for Daniel Ricciardo in hisToro Rosso. As for Di Resta, he hadtwo attempts at a second hot lap, butran wide on his first run as rain wasstarting to fall over one area beforespinning through 270 degrees at thesame corner on his second effort. TheScot will now start 15th alongsideWilliams' Pastor Maldonado.

Vettel masters Sepang for second straight pole

KUALA LUMPURAGeNCIes

Thai rising star Kiradech Aphibarnrat is in position oferasing his defeat at the Maybank Malaysian Openthree years ago.

He has pulled two shots clear with a four-under-par 68 in the second round on Saturday.

The big-hitting Thai known for his grip-it and rip-it style of golf which somewhat mirrors John Daly'sgame, returned this morning to finish the secondround after play was abandoned on Friday.

The halfway cut was set an even-par 144 with 73players making the cut. World number three LukeDonald of England will not feature in the last tworounds after shooting a three-over-par 147.

Kiradech made eight straight pars when play wasresumed at 7.45am at the Kuala Lumpur Golf andCountry Club but kept a cool head on a rather steamymorning. He was rewarded for his patience with abirdie on 18 after hitting an exquisite approach tothree feet.

MIAMIAGeNCIes

FIFTH seed Juan Martin DelPotro suffered a surprise earlyexit at the ATP & WTA SonyOpen on Friday night. He lost to

Tobias Kamke in a rain-interrupted second-round encounter in Miami. The worldnumber seven, playing in his first match atthis year's tournament after being handed afirst-round bye, crumbled after failing toconvert two set points at 5-2 in the first set.The German dominated the second setwhen play resumed following the weatherdelay and ran out a 7-6 (7/5) 6-1 winner toreach round three of a Masters 1000 eventfor the first time in his career. "I saved twoset points at 5 2 and somehow I came backin that set and had the chance to win it,"Kamke said on www.atpworldtour.comafter eliminating last weekend's IndianWells runner-up. "The second set, after thebreak, I felt even better. Then in the

beginning, he missed some easy forehandsand he was a little bit frustrated, I think. "Hedidn't play obviously his best tennis, but stillI think I did a good job and pretty satisfiedwith that." World number one NovakDjokovic enjoyed a straightforward routeinto round three - after taking to the courtlater than expected due to a three-hour raindelay and 27-minute power cut.

He took just 53 minutes to hammerCzech Lukas Rosol 6-1 6-0. "It is a greatstart," the Serbian top seed said. "AfterIndian Wells, I tried to rest. There aredifferent conditions here, but Friday wasperfect for tennis. I enjoyed every momentof it and I love this court." Third seedFerrer advanced to the third round withouthaving to set foot on court as his Russianopponent Dmitry Tursunov withdrew dueto a stomach bug. Ferrer will next faceFabio Fognini after the 32nd seed fromItaly toppled Frenchman Michael Llodra6-4 6-1. Ferrer's fellow Spaniard AlbertRamos also advanced, upsetting 12th-

seeded Argentinian Juan Monaco 6-2 4-66-3. Seventh-seeded Serbian (7) JankoTipsarevic (Ser) beat Dudi Sela (Isr) 6-26-4, while 11th seed Gilles Simon endedLleyton Hewitt's run by defeating theAustralian 6-3 6-3. James Blake had sixbreaks of serve en route to seeing off 24thseed Julien Benneteau in just over an hour.

He was not the only seeded casualty inthe men's draw, with Jeremy Chardy (22),Florian Mayer (23) and Marcel Granollers(31) also crashing out - at the hands ofXavier Malisse, Grega Zemlja and JurgenMelzer, respectively. Thirteenth seed KeiNishikori did advance, though - as didTommy Haas (15), Alexandr Dolgopolov(19), Kevin Anderson (26) and SomdevDevvarman. In the women's event, LaurenDavis made the most of her 'lucky loser'status by beating fellow AmericanMadison Keys 6-1 5-7 7-6 (9/7). Davis washanded a place in the draw after secondseed Victoria Azarenka of Belaruswithdrew citing an ankle injury.

del potro out of miami;djokovic through

Kiradech moves two clear at Malaysian Open


sPorts Ssunday, 24 March, 2013

18I had a good birdie putt on the 18th hole and that made my

back nine a bit easier. That was the turning point because after

that, I birdied the second and third holes. – Prom Meesawat

wAtCh It LIve

STAR CRICKET4th Test: Indiav Australia09:00 AM

PTV SPORTS5th ODI: Pakistanv South Africa01:00 PM

saleem fc toclash withusmania districtfootball semis

LAHOREstAff rePort

The first semi-final of the DistrictFootball Championship -2013 will beplayed between Saleem Khan FC andUsmania F.C on Sunday here at the FaisalTown Football Ground Lahore.Bata and Lums F.C are other two teamsthat have gone into the semi-final. Bataqualified for the semi-final defeatingUniversal Cargo F.C by huge margin 8-1while Lums F.C win over Gulshan-e-RaviFC 2-1 with Fahad Alam and Hussain onegoal each in 14 minutes & 46 minutes.From loser single goal was produced bySulman.Monday Fixture: Lums F.C Vs Bata F.C(4:30pm) at Model Town Football Club /Academy Model Town.

police inter-rangeWeightlifting,powerlifting on 26th

LAHOREstAff rePort

Punjab Police Inter-range Weightliftingand Powerlifting Championship 2013will be held on March 26th and 27th atPolice Headquarters Lines Rawalpindi. Punjab Police Sports Board is organizingthe championship since 1986 and thepowerlifting since 2012 regularly. According to organizing secretaryRiasat Ali Sahi, national weightlifterand powerlifter who is also sportsofficer Rawalpidi Police Lines teamsfrom Lahore Range, Gujranwala,Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, PunjabConstabulary, PRTC Farooqabad,Jhelum, Sargodha training centre willparticipate in this two-daychampionship. Mohammad MasudRaza SP Headquarter and chairmanorganizing committee Mirza TahirSikander will perform the openingceremony while chief guest AzharHameed Khokhar, CCPO Rawalpindirange will distribute medals,certificates, trophies to the winners,prominent weightlifters andpowerlifters include Kashif Barkat,Aqeel Javed Butt, Haroon BinRasheed, Naeem Butt, Sanam Arif,Nadeem Butt, Risat Ali Sahee,Mohammad Asghar, Rashad AkeelAslam, Majeed Doggar, MohammadRizwan.Ghulam Mustafa and others.Officials include Khawaja Samiuddin,Syed Ali Raza Shah Sports OfficerPunjab Police, Shahadat Ali, Salamat.

messi, higuainkeep Argentinaon course

SAN JOSEAGeNCIes

Lionel Messi kept Argentina in chargeof their South American qualifyingcampaign for the 2014 World Cup byinspiring a 3-0 win over Venezuela onFriday. Messi scored once and set uptwo goals for Gonzalo Higuain at theMonumental Stadium to leaveAlejandro Sabella's side four pointsclear at the top with 23 points after 10matches. Argentina controlled thetempo from the outset, looking to findgaps in the visitors' defence at everyopportunity. It was the Argentinacaptain who tested Daniel Hernandezearly on with two shots at goal beforeproviding the ball for Higuain to openthe scoring on 29 minutes.

KIEVAGeNCIes

Germany coach Joachim Low declared itwas job done after his side claimed acomfortable 3-0 win in their World Cupqualifier in Kazakhstan. The win gaveGermany a five-point lead at the top ofGroup C and Low was satisfied with whathe saw from his team. "It was our duty towin here, of course, and I think it was allover at half-time," he said on ZDF television

"We led 2-0 and took the pace out of thegame and that is why there was less rhythmin the game in the second half, but we onlycame here to win and we did that."

The game also saw Germanysuccessfully play without an out-and-outstriker, Mario Gotze sharing the attackingresponsibilities with Mesut Ozil andThomas Muller in a similar system to theone used successfully by Spain. "It gives usanother option and an alternative," said Low."It's not like we want to do away with the

classic number nine, but we want to be a bitmore unpredictable.

"We have Miroslav Klose and MarioGomez and we still need players like that."Bastian Schweinsteiger and Gotze's quickfiregoals in the 20th and 22nd minutes unlockedthe game before Muller wrapped up victoryfor the Germans. Kazakhstan now travel toGermany for the reverse fixture on Tuesday,playing just a stone's throw away from thehome ground of their midfielder HeinrichSchmidtgal in Nuremberg.

efficient germany display pleases low

SEPANGAGeNCIes

Red Bull have led the chorus of discontentsurrounding the excessive rate of tyre-wearheading into Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

On a track more representative of whatcan be expected for the rest of the season,the degradation of the Pirelli rubber hasbecome a cause for concern. Slow-motionreplays throughout Friday's two 90-minutepractice sessions showed considerablechunks of rubber falling away as the carsslid around a variety of corners at theSepang International Circuit. The heat ofaround 35 degrees centigrade, and the high

humidity, do not aid matters, and there areconcerns that, even without rain that oftenoccurs late in the afternoon and so couldaffect the race, a driver may have to makeas many as four pit stops. Mark Webber'sfrustration was evident after practice as heoffered a cursory summation, stating: "Thewhole category is geared around tyres atthe moment.

"Everything is around tyres. Tyres,tyres, tyres, tyres, tyres!" After topping thetimesheet in the morning, Webber finishedfifth quickest overall at the end of the daybehind Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus, withthe Finn narrowly ahead of SebastianVettel. Like team-mate Webber, the

reigning triple world world champion wasnone too impressed either with how quicklythe tyres fall away. Simply asked about hispotential for the race, Vettel replied: "Itlooked pretty okay, but quite a mess if youlook at how long the tyres last. "It doesn'tlook very nice, I would say. I hope we haveenough tyres to survive the race.

"Tyre-wear was pretty severe foreveryone, so obviously you go around wayunder the potential of the car. It is not a lotof fun, but that is how it is." It is understoodPirelli were asked towards the end of lastseason to design a range of tyres thatdegraded a little more quickly as boringone-stop races were starting to appear.

Webber bemoans ‘tyres, tyres, tyres’

wimbledon court 1 roofunder considerationLONDON: A move to install a roof above Court No 1

at Wimbledon remains under consideration - but no

final deal has been taken, the All England Club have

insisted. The success of the roof on Centre Court

has prompted Wimbledon to look at proposals for

the 11,500-seat neighbouring court and a report

today said the go-ahead could be unveiled as early

as next month. But a club spokesman said on

Friday: "Our position has not changed. A roof on

Court No 1 remains under consideration but there

has been no final decision." AGeNCIes


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


ISLAMABADtAyyAB hussAIN

ATHREE-MEMBER delegation ofPakistan Muslim League-Like-minded (PML-LM), led by partychairman Salim Saifullah Khan, isall set to have a critical meeting

with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif on Sunday(today) to demand that 24 National Assem-bly (NA) constituencies be left vacant byPML-N for likeminded candidates underthe seat adjustment formula, PakistanToday has learnt.

Sources in the likeminded group saidinitially PML-N had agreed to allocate 31NA seats for them but now they are offer-

ing only 13 seats. “This U-turn has sentshock waves within the likeminded groupand the decision of Sharif brothers has an-gered candidates of PML-LM followingwhich some candidates are mulling joiningother political parties, including PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Mus-lim League-Functional (PML-F) instead ofshaking hands with PML-N,” said sources.A senior party leader said a rift has alsobeen created within the likeminded groupas Salim Saifullah had contacted JavedHashmi seeking an alliance with the PTIwhile Hamid Nasir Chattha, Arbab Ghu-lam Rahim and their supporters have beeninching towards Pir Pagara of the PML-F.Others, including Humayun Akhtar, Ha-roon Akhtar and Kashmala Tariq have de-

cided to join the PML-N.“The PML-N leaders have told PML-

LM that that their candidates have poten-tial winning candidates on 13 seats, in allprovinces,” said the source. However, hesaid, Arbab Rahim is a strong candidate inSindh, while Saifullah brothers are alsostrong in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and IsrarKhan Tareen is also likely to secure hisseat in the upcoming elections fromBalochistan. Regarding the expected meet-ing with the PML-N, the source said PML-N had to “finalise terms of the alliance,”warning that the likeminded group wasready to explore other options. Sourcessaid according to the current agreement,following an alliance, likeminded leaderswill contest elections on PML-N tickets.

The PML-N, in turn, has agreed to allotparty tickets for the National Assembly to13 likeminded politicians. Sources in thelikeminded group, however, said they haveput up the condition of contesting electionsunder their own party’s banner and wantthat both parties establish separate parlia-mentary boards for issuance of tickets.They added that Chattha will try to con-vince Nawaz of the same, arguing that thelikeminded group has potential winningcandidates on 31 seats. Sources added thatthe top leadership of PML-LM was undera lot of pressure after several leadersstarted establishing contacts with PTI andPML-F, due to which they decided to meetNawaz in a bid to finalise issues pertainingto seat-adjustment.

likeminded leaders to meetnawaz in ‘make or break’ moot

KARACHIstAff rePort

Dozens of MQM workers and sup-porters on Saturday protested againstdelimitation of 11 constituencies inKarachi, rejecting what they saidwas a discriminatory move by theElection Commission of Pakistan(ECP).

MQM chief Altaf Hussain, in astatement issued from London, ex-pressed lack of confidence in the ECP.“Changing electoral constituencies inKarachi alone is a conspiracy to dividethe vote bank of MQM,” he said,adding that workers and supporters ofMQM would not allow such a conspir-acy to succeed come what may.Dozens of protesters, holding placardsand chanting anti-ECP slogans, gath-ered outside the Sindh election com-mission’s office to demand immediatewithdrawal of the ECP’s notification.MQM’s Faisal Sabzwari said issuingsuch directives with polls just 48 days

away was questionable.The protest was led by former

lawmakers from MQM includingBabar Ghuari, Faisal Sabzwari andHaleemur Rehman. They also metSindh Election CommissionerMehmoob Anwar and conveyed theirconcerns to him. “Why is Karachi andits dominant party being targeted,”Sabzwari said talking to media per-sonnel. Demanding immediate with-drawal of the ECP notification, theformer provincial minister said such

hasty decisions made MQM questionthe impartiality of the election watch-dog. The MQM leader said his partyhad complete constitutional and legalrights at its disposal against the dis-criminatory decision.

Altaf, talking to MQM Co-ordi-nation Committee, said the decisionof the ECP to alter electoral con-stituencies in Karachi was illegaland unconstitutional. He said thecommission was taking prejudicialactions against the people ofKarachi. People were forced to ques-tion the neutrality and impartiality ofthe commission, he said. Altaf fur-ther said such decisions had the po-tential to break Pakistan apart. Hesaid no lessons had been learnt fromhistory and if the decision was notoverturned, it would be highly detri-mental to the country.

He said the mandate of MQMwas being stolen, and it was theirconstitutional and democratic rightto protest against such an act.

MQM protests against ECP’sdelimitation orders in Karachi

presidentgrants 6 monthsextension to 13 judges

ISLAMABADoNLINe

On the advice of the prime minister,President Asif Zardari on Saturdayconfirmed grant of six months extension intenure of six additional judges of the LahoreHigh Court and seven Peshawar High Courtjudges. The LHC judges are Justice AbdulSami Khan, Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi,Justice Shujaat Ali Khan, Justice Ayesha AMalik, Justice Shahid Waheed and JusticeAli Baqar Najafi. The summary states thatthe Judicial Commission of Pakistan hadforwarded these nominations to theParliamentary Committee on JudgesAppointment in the Superior Courtsrecommending six months extension in theirtenure as Additional Judges of Lahore HighCourt. The committee unanimously agreedwith the nominations of JudicialCommission and requested the PM toadvise the president for according hisapproval. Accordingly, acting upon theadvice of the PM, the president hasconfirmed grant of six months extension intenure to the Peshawar High Court. ThePHC judges are Syed Afsar Shah‚ Lal JanKhattak‚ Ikramullah Khan‚ Abid LatifKhan‚ Muhammad Daud Khan‚ MusarratHilali and Malik Manzoor Hussain.

Zardari quitspost of pppco-chairman

NEWS DESK

Faced with a challenge from the assertivejudiciary, President Asif Ali Zardari has quitthe political office of co-chairman of thePakistan People’s Party and made his sonBilawal its “patron-in-chief”. “PresidentZardari is no more the co-chairman of thePPP. The main body of the PPP has beendissolved and his son, Bilawal BhuttoZardari, has been elected the party’s patron-in-chief,” said a close aide to 57-year-oldZardari. Earlier, Bilawal, 24, was thechairman of the PPP. The decision wasmade to off-set pressure from the LahoreHigh Court, which had asked Zardari to acton its suggestion that he should quit hispost in the PPP as the president is expectedto be impartial.The High Court has alsoasked the president not to indulge inpolitical activities. During the hearing ofthe case, Wasim Sajjad, the government’slawyer, had informed the court that the PPPwas a”private organisation” and hadnothing to do with politics.Sajjad had alsoinformed the court that the party that hadheaded the government was the PPP-Parliamentarians, which was registeredwith the Election Commission. “We hopethe president will get relief from the HighCourt after quitting his political office,”said the aide to Zardari, who did not wantto be named. After appointing Bilawal thepatron-in-chief, PPP leaders plan to get theparty registered with the ElectionCommission on March 25. The PPP-Parliamentarians had recently applied forthe arrow as its symbol for the generalelection to be held on May 11. In lastmonth’s intra-party election, formerfederal minister Makhdoom Amin Fahimand former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashrafwere elected president and secretarygeneral respectively. Under thereorganisation of the party, Fahim, Ashrafand former premier Yousuf Raza Gilaniwill lose their party posts. Gilani wassenior vice-chairman of the PPP. Apartfrom Bilawal, only three new officialshave been elected by the PPP. FormerPunjab governor Sardar Latif Khosa willbe the secretary general, former KhyberPakhtunkhwa Governor Masood Kausarthe information secretary and AmjadIkhlaq the finance secretary. Ahead of thegeneral election, the Election Commissionhas allocated symbols to most parties butit has to decide in the case of the PPP.

9 killed in karachi

on pakistan dayKARACHI

stAff rePort

At least nine persons, including a woman and a girl, werekilled and several others injured in separate incidents ofviolence in different areas of the port city on Saturdaywhile Rangers arrested more than 200 suspects duringtargeted search operations. According to police, uniden-tified armed men gunned down two people in the Usman-abad area of Lyari and fled the scene. Another personidentified as Fazal Rehman was killed in a firing incidentin Zaman Town. Tortured dead bodies of a boy and a girlwere recovered from Ilyas Goth, Liaqatabad C-1 Area.Both were shot in the head. The bodies were shifted toAbbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities. Anothertortured dead body of a man was found near NazimabadNo 2. In a separate incident of firing, a man was killednear Rizwia Society police station. At Nazimabad Un-derpass, a goods-laden speeding truck rammed a motor-cycle, leaving two people, including a woman injured.The injured were rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital butboth succumbed to their wounds on the way. The de-ceased were identified as Shajahuddin and Roubi. Thetruck driver responsible for the accident managed to es-cape from the scene leaving the vehicle on the spot whichcaught fire due to the accident. The fire was broughtunder control by three fire tenders. Meanwhile, firing in-cidents continued in different areas of the city duringwhich more than 15 people were reportedly injured.

PESHAwAR: A beautiful rainbowappeared over the city after rainfall on Saturday. INP


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e-paper pakistantoday 24th March, 2013