profitepaper pakistantoday 30th september, 2012

Sunday, 30 September, 2012 dhual-Qi’da 12, 1433Rs 22.00 Vol iii no 94 19 pages islamabad — peshawar edition

KARACHIstAff report

C hIeF Justice of Pakistan IftikharMohammad Chaudhry on Satur-day said the Supreme Court wouldnot retreat even an inch from the

constitution in its dispensation of justice.Speaking to a gathering of lawyers at

the Karachi Bar, the chief justice said thejudiciary was taking all decisions in accor-dance with the constitution of Pakistan.he said the courts made all decisionswithin the framework of constitution andcould not at all digress from it.

“When the decisions were not madein accordance with the constitution, nei-ther democracy nor parliament sur-

vived,” the CJ said.he said the apex court’s order of July

31, 2012 had put an end to unconstitu-tional steps that were being taken.

Justice Iftikhar was referring to aJuly court order on the worsening lawand order in Balochistan.

The CJ added that Balochistan issuewas under hearing in the court, so notmuch could be said about it. he said thepetition relating to Balochistan issuecame from the bar, which was a surpris-ing but good move.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry saidlawyers were deeply affected by theevents of May 12, 2007 and April 9, 2007.he added that a strong bar would boostthe strength of the country’s judiciary.

ISLAMABADAnwer AbbAs

Balochistan National Party chief Sardar AkhtarMengal on Saturday said mere apologies and“packages” could not resolve the issues ofBalochistan, as the people of Balochistan hadbeen driven to a point of no return by contin-ued atrocities by successive governments,while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief ImranKhan said Balochistan was a political issue andneeded a political, not military solution.

Addressing a joint press conference withPTI chief Imran Khan after a meeting at Is-lamabad, Mengal said verbal apologies couldnot resolve the issues being faced byBalochistan unless the forces guilty of crimesagainst the Baloch admitted their mistakes,adding that the very forces had no remorsefor what they had done in Balochistan.

The BNP chief stated had the particular quar-ter had any regrets for what they did in Balochis-

tan, their attitude in the Supreme Court wouldhave been anything but aggressive. “The attorneygeneral of Pakistan, the chief law officer of thefederation, acts as a lieutenant general duringhearing of the Balochistan case in theSupreme Court,” Mengal continued.Charity: To a question on the centre givingseveral benefits to Baloch people in theBalochistan rights package and the NFC Award,

SC not to retreat ‘even aninch’ from constitution: CJg Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry says courts make

all decisions within constitutional framework

Apologies cannot appeasethe Baloch: Akhtar Mengalg BNP chief says holding elections in Balochistan in current

circumstances is impossible g PTI chief Imran Khan says

political issues need political, not military solutions

Continued on page 04

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02News

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INfoTaINmeNT

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sharifs corruption references: Court adjourns hearing until oct 10 thai sailors go ‘Gangnam style’

Sunday, 30 September, 2012

No military operation goingon in Balochistan: KairaLaLaMUSa: Minister for Information andBroadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Saturday said therewas no military operation going on in Balochistan and ifsomeone had any proof that there was, he should share itwith the government, the media and the judiciary. Talkingto reporters, Kaira said the Pakistan Army had givenassurances in the Supreme Court that there was nooperation going on in Balochistan and had also submittedan affidavit in this regard. “If there is still any mistrust inthis regard, it will be removed by the measures taken bythe government,” he added. he said Sardar AkhtarMengal’s meetings with the leadership of other politicalparties was a good sign, “but it should not be used forpolitical point scoring”. “We respect the real politicalleadership of Balochistan and welcome them back home.”he said free, fair and transparent elections were the onlysolution to the Balochistan issue. “The Baloch politicalleadership should take part in the next general elections,which are not far away and whatever decision the peopleof Balochistan will make in the polls, will be acceptable toall,” he added. Akhtar Mengal’s role remained veryimportant in the country’s politics and he should play that

role again, he said. Theinformation minister said all

political parties hadconfidence in theelection Commission ofPakistan and the Balochleaders should share

suggestions with thecommission, if any, for

free and fair elections.Kaira said soon aftercoming to power, the PPP

government had apologizedto the people of Balochistan

for the injustices meted out tothem during the past

regime. App

ISLAMABADtAyyAb HussAIn

A representative delegation on Saturdayurged the leaders of major political partiesto work for bringing electoral reforms in thecountry ensuring more participation of non-Muslims in assemblies, the Senate andother major decision-making bodies to se-cure equal rights for them.

Meeting the political leaders of variousparties, the National Lobbying Delegation(NLD) for electoral Rights of non-Muslimsdemanded including the agenda for consti-tutional reforms in their manifestos for elec-tion 2013 and to reform the constitutionand the Pakistan Penal Code.

The delegation met Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, MQMDeputy Convener Farooq Sattar, PML-QSecretary General Mushahid hussainSayed, Minister of State for National har-mony Akram Masih Gill, PML-N ChairmanRaja Zafarul haq, Jamaat-e-Islami Lahorechief Ameerul Azim and Chaudhry Man-

zoor, a former PPP parliamentarian, mem-ber PPP Manifesto Committee for elections2013 and in-charge People’s Labour Bureauto present their recommendations beforethem.

During the meetings, the political lead-ership vowed to take up these suggestionswith their parties well before the next gen-eral elections.

The NLD made recommendations inlight of the two research studies conductedby the Church World ServicePakistan/Afghanistan (CWS P/A) to makethe joint electorate work in Pakistan. Thepolitical leaders acknowledged that lawsbarring non-Muslims from assuming higheroffices in the state institutions needed re-forms. During discussion with the delega-tion Khan said, “I am shocked to hear this.We cannot progress as a country and moveforward as a nation like this.”

he also criticized certain Muslimgroups who were preaching the people ofKailash valley to convert to Islam andtermed it un-Islamic.

Khan promised that he would do awaywith all kinds of discrimination if he comesto power. “We will protect the religious mi-norities of Pakistan once we are in power,”he added. Mushahid said, “I think these areimportant points. We will take up your sug-gestions with our party leadership,” he said,“I suggest you to take up two issues first, theabsence of marriage and birth certificatesystems and registration of national identitycards, to begin with”.

Minister for Overseas Pakistanis andMQM Deputy Convener Farooq Sattar, said,“We will work with other political parties tobuild a consensus to get Mohammad AliJinnah’s famous speech of August 11 in-serted as Article 2-B in the constitution ofPakistan. This will help offset the discrimi-natory undertones of Article 2-A, and othersimilar articles in the constitution.”

Sattar said, “Our party is seriously con-sidering nomination of non-Muslim candi-dates on general seats and to award partytickets to them in the next elections.”

he also supported the delegation’s sug-

gestion that there should be reserved seatsfor the non-Muslim women. Gill assured thedelegation that he would take up the issuesof registration of national identity card andmarriage and death certificate with the au-thorities concerned and advised the delega-tion to hold a meeting with the NADRAchairman for resolving issues related withthe issuance of national identity cards.

Manzoor said, “I am all for it. This iswhat our party stands for. I will take up yoursuggestions in the meeting of our manifestocommittee and would do whatever I couldto get your views across to the all levels ofparty leadership and in the government.”

“Most of the problems you have raisedtoday and focused on during your presenta-tions date back to 1980s. I strongly feel thatwe are still being haunted by the policies ofthe Zia era,” Manzoor said. PML-N Chair-man haq said, “I am impressed by the ef-forts you have made to prepare such avaluable data and I am thankful to all of youfor sharing these suggestions. I would pres-ent these suggestions during our party’s

next meeting”. Raja said he was totallyagainst the misuse of the blasphemy laws.“There is nothing bad about this. What weneed to do is to figure out a way that it is notmisused,” he said, adding that most of suchallegations and accusations were neverprosecuted following a due course of law.

“We need to ensure that first informa-tion report is registered based on evidenceagainst the person who is accused of blas-phemy then the court should decide thematter. It is the court’s job to adjudicatelaw,” he said, blaming those who took lawin their hands and admitted that it was themost unfortunate aspect of these laws. TheNLD also met JI leader Ameerul Azim andZikarullah Mujahid, the JI secretary gen-eral, at the Jamaat office in Lahore. “Ourparty stands for the rule of law and we favorequal rights for all Pakistanis irrespective oftheir creed and customs,” Azim said.

he agreed that these were important is-sues and it was the responsibility of politicalparties to resolve the issues faced by thenon-Muslims.

Call to allocate more seats for non-Muslims to preserve minority rightsfAIsALAbAD: A horse dances to drum beats during the punjab sports festival on saturday. onLIne


03NewsedITorIalA botched up affair:

commeNT

articles on Page 14-15

Why Putin didn’t visit Pakistan.

Humayun Gauhar says;SRSD: Muslims alone are enough to kill themselves.

saad rasool says;Inherently unequal: The woes of minimum wage workers.

tajwar Awan says;Why everyone should attend madrassahs: Why take media’s opinion onmadrassahs when you can visit one a few blocks away from your neighborhood?

arTS & eNTerTaINmeNT

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foreIgN NewS

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SPorTS

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I am not married to Aditya Chopra: rani Mukerji Key architect of India foreign policy brajesh Mishra dies pakistan seek to nudge India towards exit


KARACHIonLIne

The popularity of PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), whichwas once head and shouldersclear of others, has gonedown according to a new sur-

vey, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has taken the topposition.

This was revealed by the InternationalRepublican Institute (IRI) survey basedon the opinions of six thousand peoplefrom various segments of society aboutpolitical parties and the public problemsin the July-August period.

To a question which party wouldthey vote for if elections for the NationalAssembly were held next week, 28 per-cent of the people said they would votefor the PML-N, 24 percent for the PTI, 14percent for the Pakistan People’s Partyand three percent for the MuttahidaQaumi Movement. Compared with theIRI’s February survey, the PML-N’s pop-ularity has increased by 3.7 percent,while the PTI’s popularity has sharplydropped down by 22.6 percent and thePPP’s by 12.5 percent.

The replies to this question, if takenprovince-wise, the PML-N was on the topin Punjab with 43 percent people support-ing the party, 27 percent for the PTI and

seven percent for the PPP.Against the February results, the

PML-N support has surged, as their votersrose to 43 percent from 41 percent, whilethe PTI’s came down to 27 percent from33 percent and those of PPP dropped toseven percent from nine percent.

About 79 percent people vowed to castvote in the next election, 12 percent didnot want to vote, while six percent werenot yet fully ready.Pti, aNP rejeCt iri SUrvey:Meanwhile, PTI and ANP expressedstrong reservations over the IRI surveyreport. PTI chief Imran Khan admittedthat his party’s popularity has witnessed adecline of 10 percent.

Talking to a private TV channel, thecricket-turned-politician did not acceptthe 22 percent figure of the IRI survey, butadmitted that his party’s popularity did godown but only by 10 percent.

The PTI chief maintained that ‘thesevoters did not turn in favor of someother party’ and that his party wouldsoon be able to reverse this trend. hesaid the ruling Pakistan People’s Partyhas also gone down.

ANP spokesman Senator ZahidKhan said that his party rejects the IRIsurvey, adding that it could not be con-sidered the view point of the people ofPakistan. he said such surveys were car-ried out for self publicity. he said theANP had made tremendous contribu-tions by giving relief to the people andestablished nine universities in theprovince to promote education. PML-Nleader Senator Pervez Rashid said thesurvey had proved the popularity oftheir party and people’s confidence in it.

PTI’s popularity down,

PML-N’s up: IRI survey

NEWS DESK

Claims of an affair between hina RabbaniKhar, the 34-year-old foreign minister, andBilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 24-year-oldscion of the country’s most powerful dynastyhave fuelled feverish speculation and out-rage in Pakistan since they were reported ina Bangladeshi tabloid earlier this week.

According to Blitz Weekly, the marriedforeign secretary, who has two young chil-dren with her millionaire husband, and Bi-

lawal Bhutto-Zardari, want to marry andhave been regularly talking on the telephoneand sending one another cards.

The tabloid claimed President Zardari isfirmly opposed to their alleged relationshipand had sought details of their mobile tele-phone conversations to establish the facts.

The paper cited “western intelligenceagencies” as the source of details of messagesthe ‘couple’ had sent each other.

hina and her husband have dismissedthe claims as “reprehensible” and “trash”.

According to The Daily Telegraph, somePakistan People’s Party figures said they be-lieved the claims were part of a plot by theInter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to damagehina’s reputation because it blames her forher part in facilitating a UN investigationinto thousands of missing people detainedby the security forces.

One PPP official told The Daily Tele-graph that the ISI expects the United Na-tions’ Working Group on enforced andInvoluntary Disappearances to recommendsenior army and intelligence officials becharged for their role and blame hina for al-lowing the delegation into the country. “Theyare not happy with her,” the official said.“The UN mission received a cold receptionbut hina was called in by the president tomeet him and the army chief. She crossedsome red line.” The government has not of-ficially commented on the allegations.

Meanwhile, William Gomes, a journal-ist, has claimed that the man behind the re-port in Blitz, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhuryis a cheat and fraud.

Gomes quoted a journalist Brenda Westas saying “Choudhury operates a shady web-site called Jethro Conglomerate, for which ascam alert has been posted by an organizationthat regulates the business dealings of thecommodities Choudhury sells. Choudhury

states on the Jethro Conglomerates websitethat he represents a company called Noca.Noca itself does not seem legitimate. It is notlicensed. It provides no information aboutwho owns or runs the company. The repre-sentatives they do list could be of interest tolaw enforcement. The Noca site says it is lo-cated in Canada but it gives an unpublished

Nevada phone number. There is an odor ofmobster activity connected with this enter-prise, as well as Choudhury’s involvement init. As we shall see in Choudhury’s publishedresume, Choudhury worked closely with theindicted mobster, Aziz Mohammed Bhai, whofled Bangladesh in 2009 to avoid imprison-ment for various charges, including murder.”

British paper alleges ISI role in Hina-Bilawal affair rumorsg PPP figures say they believed claims are part of an ISI plot to damage Hina’s reputation for facilitating a UN investigation into thousands ofmissing people g Journalist says man behind the Blitz report, Salah Uddin Shoaib choudhury is a cheat and fraud

Military denies differences

with Hina, warns TelegraphraWaLPiNDi: The military on Saturday rejected the rumors of differences betweenForeign Minister hina Rabbani Khar and the country’s premier spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations(ISPR) said the allegations published by UK-based Daily Telegraph about purporteddifferences between Khar and the ISI were “absurd and baseless”. “The ISI has nothingto do with this defamation campaign and neither any problem exists between theforeign minister and the agency,” an ISPR spokesman said on Saturday. he said that itwas the handiwork of those who wanted to weaken the state by creatingmisunderstandings between various institutions. “It is not something new because suchpeople have been fabricating misleading and impish stories in the past as well,” he said.The ISPR said that the British newspaper “needs to behave more responsibly andconfirm veracity of information from respective entities before printing such maliciousstories.” The spokesman termed the effort involving the agencies as “rubbish” and “partof a propaganda campaign”. “We reserve the right to take legal action on suchanonymous reports without quoting any names and sources,” he added. stAff report

QUETTAstAff report

Abdul haq Baloch, a reporter of ARYNews and general secretary of KhuzdarPress Club, was killed in his hometownon Saturday.

According to police, unidentifiedarmed motorcyclists sprayed haq’s carwith bullets on Chakar Khan Road when hewas returning home. he received seriousinjuries and died on the spot. Soon afterthe incident, police rushed to the area andshifted the body to local hospital. No grouphas claimed responsibility for the incident.

Police have registered a case against the as-sailants and investigations are underway.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Union ofJournalists President esa Tareen andSecretary General hamadullah stronglycondemned the killing of another jour-nalist and demanded the government ar-rest the culprits.

In a statement, the BUJ office bearerssaid “anti-journalism elements” who hadalready gunned down five reporters inKhuzdar, had wiped another one out. Itsaid the journalist community of Khuzdarhad been threatened by groups for theirrole in bringing the facts before the public.

ARY reporter shot

dead in Khuzdar

WASHINGTON speCIAL CorresponDent

A US peace movement, CODePINK, hasannounced that 40 American activistswill be traveling to Pakistan from Octo-ber 3 to10 on a mission to protest dronestrikes and urge friendly relations be-tween the two countries.

The group said it wants US relationswith broader Muslim world, to be based onpeace and friendship, not drone strikes andmilitary occupations. The announcementcame as a new US study Living UnderDrones by human rights researchers fromStanford and New York Universities, has fu-eled a fresh debate on the costs and benefitsof the use of the unmanned aerial vehiclesin pursuit of suspected militant targets.

The study details Pakistani civilian ca-sualties in tribal areas and says the dronestrikes have had counterproductive effects.

“In the United States, the dominant

narrative about the use of drones in Pak-istan is of a surgically precise and effectivetool that makes the US safer by enabling‘targeted killings’ of terrorists, with minimaldownsides or collateral impacts. This nar-rative is false,” the study asserted.

According to the US media reports,American officials have not commentedspecifically on the new report.

Over the years, the Obama Adminis-tration has been defending the dronestrikes as the most useful option availablein a complex environment in getting rid ofmilitants holed up in the Pakistani tribalareas along the Afghan border.

Pakistani Foreign Minister hina Rab-bani Khar said in New York on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly thisweek that while Islamabad does not differon the aim of the drone strikes, themethod currently employed, without Pak-istani permission, is illegal and in contra-vention of international law.

g Imran admits PTI popularity dropped by 10 percent

US peace delegates arriving

to protest drone strikes


04


Mengal said the Baloch peo-ple had never been strug-gling for alms or charity fromthe federation.

“We have only been strug-gling for our due rights, notcharity. The Baloch youth arenot sacrificing their lives for‘packages’ or from share in theNFC Award. We have been de-manding the ownership of ourown resources since 1947.”

he said no voice had beenraised against the genocide ofBaloch people throughout thecountry, adding that holdingelections in Balochistan in thecurrent circumstances wasimpossible.

Mengal said his purposefor being in Islamabad was notto ask the Centre of resolutionof the crisis, but to contact theSupreme Court for the missingpersons’ case only, as he hadseen a ray of hope from theapex court in the Balochistanmissing persons’ case.

To a question, Mengal saidhe had failed to seek strongpractical support from politicalparties, other than sympathies.

however, Mengal said thepolitical parties from Punjab

could rescue Balochs from thejaws of “certain forces”.

The BNP leader said de-spite providing natural gas tothe entire country, Sui andother area of the province wereyet to get gas supply.MaLik: Ruling out foreigninvolvement in the province,Mengal said, “Why is it thatonly Rehman Malik and a fewagencies can see the evil workof foreign hands in Balochis-tan, why is the media or theinternational community un-able to see the same. If anysuch thing exists, why is thegovernment silent and notraising an issue with those in-volved in the province?”

Mengal said he was proudof raising a voice for the Balochnation and speaking about the

tears of Baloch mothers so thatthe people in Punjab could be-come aware of the atrocities in-flicted upon the people ofBalochistan. The BNP chiefthanked Imran Khan for sup-porting his six-point agenda.iMraN khaN: The PTIchief said political issuescould not be resolved throughuse of military might, but bypolitical means only.

“There is no future forPakistan if the state fails toprovide justice to smallerprovinces, affected sects andminorities. It is time to createa new Pakistan and to moveahead after learning from pastmistakes,” Imran said. he saidthe worsening law and orderin Balochistan was the failureof the government, and armed

forces or the agencies wouldhave been solely responsible inabsence of a government.

he said the PTI raised avoice against the military ruleand operation even when therewas no democratic governmentin the country.

The PTI chief also ques-tioned the role of governmentin Balochistan if everything wasbeing run by the armed forces.

“Now even courts are say-ing that people are being de-tained and abducted from theprovince, and if any of theagencies is involved in theissue, it is a wrong approachand not the right solution to theissue,” he added.

Imran said his party al-ways opposed military expedi-tions in Balochistan as well asin FATA. “If the hamoodurRehman commission reporthad been made public and nec-essary actions initiated againstthose pointed out in the report,the situation in the countrywould not have come to this,”the PTI chief said.

earlier, Mengal met ImranKhan, during which the PTIchief and leader MakhdoomJaved hashmi pledged to sup-port Mengal’s proposals.

Apologies cannot appease the Baloch

ISLAMABADApp

The Supreme Courthas issued noticesto Shehnaz Sheikh,Rai Ghulam Mu-

jtaba Kharral and RehmanMalik for October 3 in thedual nationality case.

The notices were issuedin response to a reply filed byjournalist Umar Cheema.

A letter was issued toCheema to furnish details tosubstantiate the stance takenby him regarding the dual na-

tionality of certain parliamen-tarians, enabling the SupremeCourt to deal with such parlia-mentarians equally in termsof Article 25 read with Article5 of the constitution.

After receiving the re-sponse from Cheema, thechief justice ordered noticesbe issued to Shehnaz Sheikh,Ghulam Mujtaba Kharral andRehman Malik.

Interior Minister Malikhas been asked to appear andproduce the list of lawmakersin response to his claims inthe media that he knew many

dual national legislators.The SC notice said that it

appeared that the minister inhis press conference on Sep-tember 20 and 21 had men-tioned that if he was asked bythe Supreme Court or by thegovernment, he could supplythe names of parliamentari-ans and MPAs who enjoyeddual citizenship. he has thusbeen called upon to assist thecourt. The information sec-retary has also been directedto submit the transcript ofpress conference of the inte-rior minister.

SC serves notices onShehnaz, Mujtaba, Malikin dual nationality case

News

NEW DELHIAfp

Indian Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh vowed Saturdayto press ahead with reformsto further liberalise the coun-try’s still inward-lookingeconomy, undeterred bystrong political opposition.

Singh’s government an-nounced in September a sud-den blitz of reforms designed toopen the retail, aviation andbroadcasting sectors to moreforeign investment and revivean economy in which growthstalled at around three-yearlows. “We will do what is goodfor the country... reforms arenot a one-off process,” Singhtold reporters in New Delhi.

The reforms haveprompted a coalition ally topull out of the Congress-ledgovernment and a string ofprotests nationwide. But theyhave been warmly greeted bybusiness and investors, withthe Indian currency hitting afive-month high of 52.49 ru-pees against the dollar Fridayas more foreign investment haspoured in. Singh, who wasspeaking on the sidelines of theswearing-in of India’s new

chief justice, Altamas Kabir,did not outline what new stepshe plans, but analysts expecthim also to liberalize the insur-ance and other sectors.

The premier had no com-ment on a report by a govern-ment panel late Friday thatwarned India faced a “fiscalprecipice” and called on NewDelhi to phase out fuel, foodand fertilizer subsidies to reinin a ballooning deficit.

“We cannot overempha-size the need and urgency offiscal consolidation,” thepanel said, warning correc-tive moves were an “impera-tive necessity” as India’s“external payment situationis flashing red lights”.

Singh’s left-leaning gov-ernment is deeply wary of cut-ting subsidies, especially onfood, in the still heavily poorcountry of 1.2 billion people,fearing a voter backlash in gen-eral elections due in 2014.

The panel headed by for-mer Indian finance secretaryVijay Kelkar also called forstepping up sales of stakes instate-owned firmed and re-vamping India’s archaic,patchwork tax system thatdrives up company costs.

India PM vows to pressahead with reforms

BERLINAfp

A German court on Fridayrefused to allow a Muslimstudent to skip swimminglessons after she said shewas uncomfortable being soclose to bare-chested boys.

The 12-year-old, origi-nally from Morocco butgoing to school in the south-ern German city of Frank-furt, had refused to take partin swimming lessons andhad been marked down ac-cordingly.

She filed to be given theright to skip the classes,her lawyer arguing that ac-cording to the Koran, shewas not only forbiddenfrom showing herself toboys but also from seeingthe topless boys.

An administrative court

in Kassel, western Germany,rejected her application.

It said in its ruling thatshe could wear the full-body swimsuit, known asthe “burkini” already usedby several girls at herschool, which would beenough to guarantee her re-ligious freedom.

The family had chosento live in Germany wheremixed swimming classeswere the norm, the courtpointed out.

One of the aims of theschool system was to pro-mote integration and toler-ance, the court added, citinga ruling by Germany’s con-stitutional court.

The applicant wouldhave to put up with the sightof her classmates in theirswimming costumes, thecourt said.

Muslim girl cannotskip swim class:German court

Can’t do ittwice: ANFbusts heroinsmuggling

RAWALPINDIonLIne

The Anti-Narcotics Force(ANF) on Saturday seized 25kilograms of heroin from thecargo of a Pakistan Interna-tional Airlines (PIA) flight atthe Benazir Bhutto Interna-tional Airport, and arrestedtwo suspects.

According to ANF officials,an attempt to smuggle herointo London was busted whenANF officials found 25kgheroin from the domesticcargo of a London-bound PIAflight. The heroin was con-cealed in secret pockets ofclothes and crockery. The offi-cials also arrested two suspectsand started investigation. Thearrested suspects disclosedthat they had managed tosmuggle 30kg heroin to UKthrough another accomplice acouple of days back.

Continued fRom page 01

AnKArA: turkish president Abdullah Gul shakes hands with former prime minister yousaf raza Gilani before a meeting on saturday.


05


News

ABBOTTABADsHAMIM sHAHID

MULTI-DIMeNSIONAL is-sues, especially the estab-lishment of hazaraprovince and Abaseen Di-vision, would definitely in-

fluence the forthcoming election in hazaradivision, considered a stronghold of Pak-istan Muslim League since the inception ofthe country.

Both issues, along with growing influ-ence of the Awami National Party, JamiatUlema-e-Islam-Fazl and PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf and internal riftsamongst the leaguers in all six districts ofhazara seem huge hurdles before the lead-ers and stalwarts of the PML-N who areeyeing a landslide win, like in 1993 and1997.

Both factions of the PML swept the2008 general election in hazara, where itsnominees returned victorious against max-imum seats.

While the ANP and JUI-F also estab-lished their influence in the region withwinning one berth each in the provincialassembly.

however, after establishing its govern-

ment, the ANP succeeded in getting asso-ciation of most of independent MPs besideinfluential families from Mansehra,Tanawal and Batgram.

On the other hand, JUI-F leaders tookbenefit of the PML-N’s mistake and wonseats in the National Assembly.

Similarly, the PTI has also enhancedits influence by getting association of influ-ential leaders like Azam Swati, KhurshidAzam Khan, Nisar Safdar, Yousaf AyubKhan and others.

Though it is premature to say anythingabout the outcome of upcoming election inhazara region, it might be hard for any sin-gle political force to gain majority.

however, beside PML factions, theJUI-F, ANP and PTI will definitely getsome berths from the seven national and22 provincial assembly seats.

Despite their claims, the PML-N lead-ership has suffered a lot due to internalrifts. Captain (r) Safdar’s failure to addresswishes and expectations of electorates andthe party’s defeat in by-elections after thedeath of Faiz Mohammad Khan, havebadly affected the party’s reputation inMansehra.

Similar is its position in almost all ofAbbottabad and haripur districts, while

the party also seems completely uprootedin Batgram.

however, with the induction of GoharAyub Khan family and fielding of MaryamNawaz Sharif in place of Captain (r) Safdar,the PML-N could restore its lost position inboth haripur and Mansehra districts.

Compared to haripur and Mansehra,the PML-N position seems better in Abbot-tabad where its nominees could becomevictorious in case of isolation of other po-litical forces.

On the issue of renaming of NWFPKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, agitation turned vi-olent when former provincial ministerBaba haider Zaman along with his aidesand followers come out onto roads.

Besides demanding establishment ofhazara province, Zaman adopted a criticaland hostile attitude towards the PML-N.

The move affected the image of PML-N and boosted up Zaman and his aidesfrom PML-Q. So far, both Zaman andPML-Q leaders are one and united andmight be harmful to the PML-N in the fu-ture. In Batgram, Tanwal and Torghar dis-tricts, the ANP leadership has made stablegains with drumming up support of influ-ential families.

Former MNA Nawabzada Salahuddin

Saeed, sitting MPA habibur RehmanTanoli from Mansehra, family of AyubKhan of Alayee and Yousaf Tarand have al-ready joined the ANP.

however, diehard ANP stalwarts fromthe area seem unhappy with what they callundue respect to leaders of both families,as in recent past, they developed a reputefor “changing loyalties”.

But the disgruntled ANP stalwarts arefirm on continuation of association withthe party and they would honor party de-cisions regarding elections.

Like in the past, people from mostbackward and remote Kohistan district arestill divided, but a majority is loyal to thePML-N, JUI-F and ANP.

The family of late Maulana Abdul Baqirecently joined the ANP along with engi-neer Sajjad, who occupies a berth in theprovincial assembly.

At the moment, the National Assemblyseat is in PMLN’s control, while threeprovincial assembly seats are dividedamongst different political forces.

Despite serious hurdles and opposi-tion, the ANP has earned a good reputationin almost all of hazara region and it popu-larity in hazara is against the interests ofnone other then PML-N.

PML-N likely to face tough

time in Hazara in coming pollsg growing influence of JUI-f, aNP, PTI to affect Pml-N’s position in traditional strongholdg aNP steadily gaining ground after wooing influential political families, leaders

LAHore: punjab Chief Minister shahbaz sharif presents a cheque of $750,000 to the governor of Van for earthquake affected people of turkey.

AMRITSARInp

A female official of the Indian Punjab SalesTax Department has been arrested with herhusband from the neighboring Tarn Tarandistrict on charges of spying for Pakistan.

Police also suspect that the woman hadlinks with Pakistan-based terror outfits andintelligence agencies.

Secret documents and maps of sensitivearmy locations in India were found in posses-sion of the couple who were arrested on Fri-day, Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent ofPolice Kamaljit Singh Dhillon said on Satur-day. Acting on a tip off, Bhikhiwind ShOSukhdev Singh arrested Sukhpreet Kaur,working in the Sales Tax Department in Am-ritsar as a junior assistant, her husband Sura-jpal Singh of Sandhra village, who wereallegedly in touch with a Pakistan-based

smuggler.The couple often talked to the smuggler

over phone besides passing off sensitive infor-mation to him, Dhillon claimed. he said thecouple had passed sensitive defense informa-tion like that of the army cantonment of Am-ritsar, Attari/Wahga border and manyimportant maps of army cantonment areas.

“The accused also passed on road maps,photographs of bridge of harike, Beas, Goind-wal Sahib and under-construction bridge ofLahaul Spiti. For this, the accused were givenheroin and gold biscuits by the smuggler,” hesaid. Police said the accused were residingnear the Indo-Pak border area villageSandhra and Wan Tara Singh in district TarnTaran, Amritsar and had agricultural landnear the fencing on the international borderwith Pakistan. The Pakistan-based smugglersused to put the consignment of heroin andgold biscuits under the soil in their fields at a

particular spot and the accused later retrievedthe contrabands from the spot after being in-formed about it, the SSP said.

“The accused mostly adopted similartechnique of sending secret information toPakistan based agencies,” he said.

Police said Sukhpreet Kaur visited Pak-istan thrice in 2006, 2007 and 2010 on pil-grim visas managed from SGPC Amritsar.

During her visit to Pakistan, she allegedlycame in contact with Pakistani agency and thesmuggler, he said.

“We suspect that the accused are havingrelations with Pakistan-based terror outfitsand wanted terrorists of Punjab, who werestill hiding in Pakistan,” he said, adding thatSukhpreet Kaur’s brother was also the underscanner and was absconding. The arrested ac-cused have been charged under the OfficialSecrets Act-1923 and under the provisions ofthe NDPS Act, the police officer said.

Couple held in India on charges of spying for PakistanTI asks OGDCL chief to probeillegal procurements iSLaMaBaD: Transparency International Pakistan on Friday wrote to theOGDCL chairman, asking him to investigate allegations of violation of PublicProcurement Rules 2004 on procurement of multi-geo strings and spares worthmore than Rs 93 million. According to the letter, a copy of which is available withPakistan Today, Transparency International Pakistan received a complaint onSeptember 25 from M/s C-Shine International on the allegation of violation ofPublic Procurement Rules 2004 in procurement of multi-geo phone strings andspares, tender enquiry Proc-Fe/Prop/ecmp-410/2012 only from single source M/sWahal Sunful Geophysical exploration equipment company, China, through its localagents M/s Ie Service, Islamabad. Transparency International Pakistan requestedthe OGDCL to examine the complaint, and if it was correct, to rectify it. “When morethan six international manufactures… were available and most of them had suppliedmulti-geo phone settings to the OGDCL in the past, why were open tenders notinvited? “The procurement has been reported by another complaint to be of over Rs93 million, then why the OGDCL has not followed rule no 12? All procurementsopportunities over Rs 2 two million should be advertised on the authority’s websiteas well as in other print media or newspapers having wide circulation,” read theletter. Public Procurement Rules 2004 have eliminated all discretions inprocurements process and venues of corrupt practices in tendering, by makingthe procedures transparent and comprises of inbuilt checks and balances, toeliminate manipulation in tender awards. nA sAHI

Sharifs corruptionreferences: Courtadjourns hearinguntil Oct 10

RAWALPINDIInp

Rawalpindi Accountability CourtJudge Chaudhry Abdul haq onSaturday adjourned the hearing untilOctober 10 a NAB application seekingrevival of three corruption referencesagainst PML-N chief Nawaz Sharifand members of his family. Theapplication filed by the NAB calls forreopening of three corruptionreferences relating to hudabiya PaperMills, Ittefaq Foundries and Raiwindassets in which members of the Shariffamily are allegedly involved. Duringthe proceedings, an assistant ofKhawaja harris Ahmed, a seniorcounsel for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif,apprised the court that hearing overthe quashing of an FIR over thereferences was to be held at the LhC’sRawalpindi bench on October 1. Theassistant requested the judge topostpone the hearing until the saiddate. The judge subsequentlyadjourned the proceedings untilOctober 10. earlier on Sept 15, thejudge had stopped proceedings on thecorruption references after theSharifs’ counsel submitted arestraining order of the Lahore highCourt. Barrister Maqsooma Bokhari,representing the Sharif family, hadinformed the court that a divisionbench of the LhC had restrained theaccountability court from proceedinguntil the matter was adjudicated by it.In October last year, the LhC actingon a petition by the Sharifs, hadstopped the federal government fromgoing ahead with the matter. Theorder, however, had not issued anysuch directive for the accountabilitycourt at the time. The NAB hadprepared the references during theMusharraf regime in 2000 when theSharif brothers were detained in theAttock Fort. On April 4, 2001, thereferences were adjourned sine die.On August 8, 2007, the NAB filed anapplication for revival of thereferences. But the court did notproceed with the matter which wasagain adjourned sine die in August2008 because it was not routedthrough the NAB chairman.Another application filedby the NAB in February 2010 wasrejected on the same grounds. TheNAB has accused the Sharifs ofcommitting Rs 642.743 million worthof corruption in the paper mills case.The second reference – the stateversus Nawaz Sharif etc – relates tothe Raiwind assets. In the stateversus Ittefaq Foundries case,Nawaz, Abbas Sharif and KamalQureshi are accused of committingcorruption of Rs 1,063 million.



ISLAMABADKAsHIf AbbAsI

WITh excessive andruthless torture,the Islamabad po-lice on Fridaynight killed a poor

carpenter. 32-year old Sadat Ali, na-tive of Gujrnawala was tortured todeath by a cop of the Sabzimandi po-lice. he was allegedly involved in acase of kidnapping a boy.

Police sources said that last monthone Muhamamd Aslam got registereda First Information Report (FIR) withthe Sabzimandi Police Station, con-tending that Sadat Ali kidnapped hisson on June 28,2012. Sources said thatSadat and Aslam had some differencesand to settle the score Aslam in con-nivance with Superintendent of Police(SP) Industrial Area, Ishaq Waraichand Station house Officer Sabzimandiimplicated Sadat in a fake case.

On Friday evening investigation of-ficer of the case, ASI Gul Khan sum-moned the accused to the policestation for inquiry. Later on, he shiftedhim to Crime Investigating Agency(CIA) centre, where he subjected himto severe torture.

At night, ASP Industrial Area di-rected the investigation officer of thecase, ASI Gul Khan to produce the ar-rested accused in his office at the In-dustrial Area Police Station for inquiry,where ASI Gul Khan, further tortured

the accused, who succumbed to inter-nal injuries and fell on the floor anddied. his dead body was shifted to Pak-istan Institute of Medical Sciences(PIMS), where medical board con-firmed that death of Sadat happeneddue to excessive police torture.

When contacted a spokesman ofIslamabad police said that InspectorGeneral of Police IGP Bani Amin Khan

had taken the notice of this unfortu-nate incident. The spokesman said thatthe IGP had ordered strict departmen-tal action against the police officials in-volved in the case. The victim familywould be fully compensated, he added.

Police sources said that on the di-rection of the IGP, the Industrial AreaPolice registered an FIR against the SP,Ishaq Warraich, ASP Industrial Area

Dr. Khalil, ShO Sabzimandi AsjidMahmood and ASI Gul Khan for mur-dering an accused. They were bookedunder section 302/342/109 and 34.

Sources said that a police team hadbeen constituted to arrest the nomi-nated accused. A police team was intouch with the accused and there in alllikelihood the accused officers wouldsurrender by night.

Police torture ‘poor’ carpenter to deathn SP, ASP and othersbooked for murder

ISLAMABADApp

Residents of the federal capital have demandedfrom the Parliament to ban “sheesha” smoking atrestaurants, cafes and other public places as it isextremely injurious to health.

While talking to agencies, a senior citizenKashif Mahmood said that most of the five starand other hotels, restaurants and cafes in Islam-abad and other big cities of the country were offer-ing the deadly product in a variety of flavors.

he pointed out that not only boys, but teenagegirls were also seen smoking “sheesha”. The Nar-cotics Act had already been enforced in the coun-try but effective steps were needed for itsimplementation, he added.

Another citizen, Ali Khan, opined that a largenumber of teenagers including school and collegestudents were observed to be smoking “sheesha”at restaurants and hotels across the country.

every day new cafes selling “sheesha” wereopening up in the country because of its increasingdemand among the younger generation, he added.

he said it was a modern form of the traditional“hookah” in which hazardous and aromatic fla-vored tobacco was used to attract the teenagers.

Tanveer Ahmed, a student of O’ Level, saidthat almost 50 percent of students were becomingaddicted to “sheesha” smoking and it was becom-ing more popular among the female students aswell.

Different kinds of flavors were being used tolure the youth towards smoking, he said.

When contacted, Dr Imran said that smokersinhaled up to 150 times more tobacco in a singlesession than a cigarette.

“Sheesha” had been known to cause lungs dis-

eases such as cancer and the flavored smoking wasmany times more harmful to one’s health than asimple cigarette smoking, he added. he said thedeadly product had become a fashion symbol inthe society but the smokers did not know that itwas a delicious killer, which killed a person grad-ually.

If it continues to exist in our society, it wouldresult in the untimely deaths of youngsters in theyears to come, Dr. Imran warned.

According to the World health Organization(WhO), consuming the smoke for an hour wasequal to smoking 100 cigarettes. he said the gov-ernment must create awareness among the smok-ers against the harmful effects of “sheesha”smokers, besides educating them about the haz-ards of cigarette smoking.

The people demanded from the government toput a ban on import of all the ingredients beingused in the making of “sheesha” to eradicate themenace from the society altogether.

ISLAMABADAGenCIes

The National Institute of health (NIh) has failed toprovide government hospitals with sufficient amountof anti-venom medicine leaving snake-bite victims atthe mercy of God.

Sources said that around 30 cases of snake-bite were reported in the twin c i t ies and otherparts of the country during the recent spel l ofrains and f loods.

Snake-bite cases had been on the rise in southernPunjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Sindh due tofloods and hospital authorities were facing problems

in treating the victims due shortage of medicine forthe purpose.

Moreover, the state-run hospitals in the federalcapital including Polyclinic hospital and Pakistan In-stitute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) were also lackinganti-venom medicine.

Sources said that patients who came to the PIMSemergency were asked to bring along medicine fromprivate medical stores which was causing inconven-ience to the poor masses.

The sources further said that NIh had reduced theamount of medicine for dog bites (NT Rabies) andcurrently, the same was not provided to patients inthe state-run hospitals of the capital city.

IeSco disconnects

Sangjani water filtration

Plant electricity on

non-payment of bills RAWALPINDI

AGenCIes

The Islamabad electricity SupplyCompany (IeSCO) has discon-nected the electricity connectionof Sangjani Water FiltrationPlant on non-payment of bill ar-rears, causing the suspension ofwater supply of the Capital De-velopment Authority (CDA), theCantonment Board and Waterand Sanitation Agency (WASA).According to the sources, waterwas supplied to the CantonmentBoard, WASA Rawalpindi and theCDA Islamabad from the Sang-jani Water Filtration Plantthrough Khanpur Dam WaterSupply System. A huge amount ofmoney was due on the filtrationplant in the form of electricitybill arrears, the source informed,adding that the CantonmentBoard Rawalpindi had paid Rs. 15million to IeSCO in this connec-tion, and was ready to pay the ad-ditional money soon.The CDA did not pay the electric-ity bills of the filtration plant;therefore IeSCO disconnectedelectricity of the plant the previ-ous day.The three civic authorities weretrying to get the electricity re-sumed but the electricity supply-ing company refused to provideelectricity until the outstandingbills were cleared.According to sources, water sup-ply of the three areas would re-main suspended from today(Sunday).

Accounts of CanttBoard frozen overnon-payment of income tax

RAWALPINDIAGenCIes

Bank accounts of the Rawalpindi Canton-ment Board have been reportedly frozen dueto non-payment of income tax worth Rs.15million by the mentioned board.According to reliable sources in the Canton-ment board, tax money was being deductedfrom the payments of contractors and sup-pliers but was not paid to the Inland Rev-enue, on which accounts of the board werefrozen. The sources also revealed that theIncome Tax Department had received a payorder of Rs.10.5 million from the Canton-ment board after its accounts were frozenand it was decided that the rest of the taxmoney would be received along with thefines. When contacted, some officials of theCantonment board confirmed the news andsaid that only one account had been frozen.The board paid the income tax via a paydraft. The Cantonment board additionalChief executive Officer (CeO) denied thattheir accounts had been frozen and refusedto comment any further on this issue.

Rawal Dam water becoming too dangerous to use

RAWALPINDIAGenCIes

The water in Rawal Dam, one of the mainsources of drinking water supply for the res-idents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, is get-ting dangerous for the health of its userswith each passing day, said Dr. ShahzadManzoor, a specialist in abdominal and liverrelated diseases at the Benazir Bhutto hos-pital, Rawalpindi.Dr. Shahzad said that the catchments ofRawal Dam were filled with poultry farmsand cattle barns and streams falling into thedam were bringing in human and poultrywaste, besides bringing residues of dead ani-mals. All the waste polluted the water of thedam that was being supplied to the residentsof Rawalpindi and Islamabad after the so-called filtration process, he said.Dr. Shahzad suggested that the potablewater supply of the twin cities should bechecked in laboratory every now and then toensure the provision of safe drinking waterto the residents.

Ban SheeSha ParlIaMent!n Citizens ask lawmakers to nottake the issue of smoking sheeshain public lightly and to ban it

Too many snakes, not enough anti-venomn With the number of snakebite victims increasing in the twin cities, the NationalInstitute of Health fails to provide enough anti-venom, putting lives of many at risk


07Islamabad


KARACHIpress reLeAse

WITh a view to assess the Air Defence ca-pabilities during the ongoing annual Pak-istan Navy Maritime exercise Seaspark12, Pakistan Navy today, has successfullyfired a combination of surface to air mis-

siles. Firing of Surface to AIR MISSILeS (SAMs) carriedout in the Makran coastal Area, precisely hit their targets.Naval Chief Admiral M Asif Sandila, present on the occa-sion along with the higher Commands, witnessed the fir-ing. Congratulating the officers, CPOs and Sailors of AirDefence Battalion of Coastal Command on conductingmissile firing successfully, the Naval Chief said that thesefirings had fortified the defence of country’s coastal line.These weapons give Pakistan Navy the flexibility to oper-ate the various missiles and strengthen the ground basedAir Defence. he reiterated that Pakistan Navy was notoblivious of defence of its maritime borders and it wouldtake all possible steps for the sake of defence of the coun-try. It should be the prime objective of all of us to ensurethat resources and assets which the nation provides us atthe cost of many other important needs, are put to thebest use for achieving maximum operational effective-ness, he underlined. earlier, Commander Coast briefedthat these firing drills are part of Navy’s wide initiative toevaluate and improve its firepower capabilities. The areaof responsibility of Pakistan Navy Air Defence Battalionstretches from Sir Creek in the east to Jiwani in the westand these modern weapons and equipment will augmentthe PN’s ground based Air Defence capabilities againstaircrafts and missiles. Later, the Chief of the Naval Staffwitnessed the harbor defence exercise at Jinnah NavalBase (JNB), Ormara and interacted with officers andCPOs/Sailors. he lauded the spirit and efforts put in byall to ensure the impregnable security of JNB.

Pakistan Navytest fires missile

ISLAMABADstAff report

As many as 250 students from theNational University of Science andTechnology (NUST) gathered on Sat-urday in the NUST School of Civiland environmental engineering andpledged to save their motherland bybecoming ambassadors of peace,as School of Leadership kicked offtheir nationwide campaign titled“Shabash Pakistan”.

“Shabash Pakistan” is a nationbranding movement started by theSchool of Leadership (SOL). Thismovement had been aimed atreawakening patriotism and “Pak-istaniyat” in the youth of Pakistan.

The event kicked off with the na-tional anthem, in support of the ini-tiative. The theme of the session was“MAIN” (me). It was basically aboutwhat an individual could do to bringa change in the society by taking per-sonal responsibility for the manyproblems sewn into the social fabric.A number of interactive exercisesand activities not only made the con-cept transparent but also rational.

The trainer, Umair Jaliawalaconducted the session in a very inter-esting manner.

Talking to reporters, Umair saidthat it was high time that the youthstarted taking action about thethings they did not like in the socialsetup, because if one was being af-fected negatively by a particular sit-uation, he/she should be the firstperson to take action to change theexisting trends, instead of waitingfor others.

The session ended with an actionplanning, which was in fact an indi-vidual answer from each participantto the question “what will I person-ally do to bring a positive change?”The young blood was engaged in aninteractive and participative man-ner, which in itself was a role playinginitiative. every participant was re-quired to prove their presence. Themain session was based on a ques-tion-answer format, which provedvery effective.

Games and exercises were alsocarried out. Group discussions,which had always been a very pro-ductive way of learning and making

the youth realize their hidden pas-sions, was also carried out during thecampaign. Altogether, it was a “learn-ing with fun” journey, which turnedout to be very fruitful in the end.

Talking about the aims of suchevents, Khadeeja Khan, one of or-ganizers of the event, said that SOLlooked forward to reap the benefitsof the first objective which dealt withmaking the Pakistani youth moreloyal to the brand that is called “Pak-istan” and to make them feel proudof their heritage.

According to her, the second ini-tiative would strive to make theyouth realize their responsibility to-wards the country as they were en-couraged to launch “Social ActionProjects.”

Similarly, the third phase of thecampaign was aimed at encouragingthe youth to portray Pakistan as apositive and upbeat country on thesocial media, she said.

Furthermore, she said that thefourth phase would work towardsharvesting more awareness amongthe youth regarding the global chal-lenges that the country was presently

currently facing.The last benefit of the campaign

would be to provide a platform to thestudents to develop and polish theirleadership skills, she added.

SOL had been known for beingthe pioneers of the training industryin Pakistan. They claimed to haveprovided a platform for individuals todiscover and utilize their unquestion-able ability to elevate their livesthrough conscious endeavours. Theparticipants said that it was reallyheartening to see that in these de-pressing and gloomy times, there wasstill some hope among the youth.

It should be a proud moment foranyone who was Pakistan’s well-wisher that the youthof Pakistan was stepping forth toplay their part in such times when allseemed to be lost, and that the youthwas moving forward with the respon-sibility of salvaging Pakistan.

“Shabash Pakistan” is a series ofthree one-day sessions in four uni-versities, which would be dividedover three months. The target audi-ence was the undergraduate andgraduate students.

‘ShaBaSh PakIStan’ kICkS off at nUStg The aim of the program is to increasepatriotism and love for the people ofPakistan in the youth g More sessions totake place in 4 other universities

troubLeMAKers: Men arrested in connection with last friday’s rampage display their ‘chains’ after they were brought to a court. INP

RAWALPINDIAGenCIes

The trial court of Rawalpindi after completion ofhearing on Saturday reserved the judgment onthe petition for the de-freezing of the accounts offormer President General (r) Pervez Musharraf,whose accounts were earlier frozen in the murdercase of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf’s wife Sehba Musharraf had filedthe petition in the anti-terrorist court here re-garding the de-freezing of the accounts, whichincluded seven personal accounts of Musharrafand four other people. The Federal InvestigatingAgency (FIA) arguing against the restoration of

the accounts said that Sehba on her own had nosource of income and the balance amount of thejoint account also belonged to Musharraf.Musharraf was a proclaimed offender and unlesshe came here to surrender, the petition for therestoration of accounts could not be entertained,argued the FIA. Sehba’s counsel while conclud-ing his arguments said that any joint accountwithout proper inquiry could not be frozen.

Later, the court pronounced the completionof the hearing on the petition, but reserved thejudgment. The court also approved the submis-sion of some more documents by the petitioner’scounsel. The reserved judgment was expected tobe announced on October 3.

RAWALPINDIAGenCIes

The Nawaz Sharif Public Park located nearShamsabad on Murree Road has been in a pa-thetic condition due to the negligence of theParks and horticultural Authority (PhA).

Visitors to the park while talking to agenciessaid that the Nawaz Sharif Park was an idealrecreational place in the city some five yearsback, but now the presence of a nursery andovergrown grass gave it an ugly and untidy look.

“Despite the establishment of a separate bodyfor the management of parks, the PhA has failed

to improve the conditions of parks,” they added.Families avoided visiting the park due to the poormanagement of the authorities concerned, as thecondition of the park had been in a pathetic condi-tion. It is worth mentioning here that public parksand playgrounds are very essential for promotinghealthy activities among the citizens but unfortu-nately, the neglected parks in the city had failed toattract a good number of visitors due to their dete-riorating condition. The visitors demanded fromthe Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif andRawalpindi commissioner to take notice of the sit-uation, renovate the parks and ensure the propermaintenance of entertainment facilities in the city.

ISLAMABADAGenCIes

The Islamabad high Court (IhC) has ordered the CapitalDevelopment Authority (CDA) to present the particularsof draws and other details of the Park enclave housingScheme while hearing a petition against the alleged cor-ruption in the scheme. The next hearing of the case wouldbe held on October 3. Dr. Jamil and others had chal-lenged the alleged corruption of the CDA in the housingscheme in IhC. The high court adjourned the hearingafter listening to the plaintiffs’ views. earlier, Trans-parency International (TI) had requested the Wafaqi Mo-htasib Secretariat secretary to take notice of thecomplaints of the allottees of the Park enclave housingScheme against the Capital Development Authority (CDA)in a letter. In the letter, the allottees had alleged that the CDAallotted corner and main plots to influential persons, thus theallotments were not transparent. Moreover, the master plan ofthe housing scheme was also changed, the allottees com-plained. TI requested the CDA to take notice of the complaintsand complete the scheme early so that the allottees would becompensated for inconveniences.

8 arrested for poor

cleanliness, substandard

meat, milk saleISLAMABAD

AGenCIes

The District Food and Sanitary De-partment has arrested eight personsfor failing to maintain satisfactorycleanliness and for selling substan-dard meat and adulterated milk toconsumers.The District Food and Sanitation In-spector Malik Abdul Aziz raidedmany shops and marriage halls inthe city and nabbed their ownersover sanitation issues and adulter-ation of food.Aziz booked Imran Khan for failingto maintain a certain level of hygienein his sweet shop and registered acase against him in the Ratta AmralPolice Station. he raided SherAhmed marriage hall and arrestedthree butchers namely MuhammadFahim, Badar-ud-Din and UmarNaeem who were selling substandardmeat. Police recovered 35 kilogramsof meat from the marriage hall andregistered a case against the accused.Similarly, the Kahuta police arrestedAsif, Zamurd Khan and Javed Iqbalfor selling milk made from powderedmilk and registered a case againstthem.

Rawalpindi trial court reserves verdicton Musharraf’s accounts freezing case

Nawaz Park’s awful condition makes citizens angry

IHc orders cda to present draw detailsof Park enclave housing scheme


08Islamabad

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INTerNaTIoNal ISlamIc UNIVerSITy 9260765

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30 YeARS OF ROHTAS gAlleRY

Sixty five artists will exhibit more than165 works in what will be a testimony toPakistan’s contemporary artists and anamazing journey through their growth andcontribution to art over three decades.

daTe aNd TIme: 05:00 Pm, weeKly eVeNTVenue: THe ceNTre for arTS & cUlTUre

our drumming circle is a (free!) ongoingevent and is held every friday from 5pmto 6pm. we are having a great time, andwant to share the good time with you!our drumming circle has children ...

SePT 24 - ocT 24, 5PmVeNUe: NaTIoNal arT gallery

AnWAR MAQSOOD’S PAWnAY 14 Aug

‘Pawnay 14 august’ has broken all theatrical recordsin Pakistan with 28 performances and 15000viewers in Karachi and lahore is now ready tosweep Islamabad off its feet. for more details call 0333 3377909, 0300 9558701

SePT 1 - 25 PaKISTaN NaTIoNal coUNcIl of arTS

DRuMMing CiRCle

ISLAMABAD rAAstI tAuseef

the Argentinean AmbassadorRodolfo Martin Saravia and hiswife Susana Martin Saravia hostedan exhibition ‘The Secret Garden’,at their embassy house in Islam-

abad. The exhibition showcased exquisiteleather bags designed by ‘Krizmah’, a brain-child of the highly talented duo of Zainab Ul-mulk and Nadia Malik. According to itscreators, Krizmah was a socially responsiblebrand, which fused contemporary design withthe tradition, folklore and cultural riches ofChitral. These colorfully embroidered illustra-tions merged with the finest quality leather andyielded unique products that would go a longway in promoting exclusive Pakistani art andhandicrafts locally and internationally.

The Argentinean Ambassador recollectedhow he learnt about Krizmah during his visitto the Chitral and Kalash valley. Talking to thereporters he said, “Since my wife Susana andmyself arrived in Pakistan eight years ago, wehave been traveling constantly to North ofPakistan where we witnessed not only one ofthe most beautiful landscapes in the world,but also the performance of small vibrantcommunities working and doing excellenthandicrafts work, which preserve ancient tra-ditions of that part of the world”.

he said that In some of their visits toChitral and Kalash Valley, they had a chanceto see how women from this communitywere doing embroidered works with beauti-ful natural colors.

“Later we found out about two youngwomen Zainab Ul Mulk and Nadia Malik whoorganize this community to create with theseskills beautiful leather embroidered bags. Forthat reason, we had an idea to organize the ex-hibition of this work at the Argentine embassyto show the diplomatic community and Islam-

abad society this beautiful art of Chitral.”Taking to the press the co-founders re-

vealed how the exhibition was based on theidea of a secret garden inside each of us. Theysaid that they were delighted by the initiativetaken by the honorable ambassador andhoped that such events would continue totake place in the future to promote the vi-brant Pakistani culture.

The exhibition was also attended by thehonorable ambassadors of Spain, Cuba, Nor-way, the Australian high Commissioner andtheir wives. Alongside them were many local

and international dignitaries and icons fromthe fashion industry. The collection con-sisted of multiple designs such as the KarmaTote, Gates of Paradise and the ProsperityClutch. The event turned out to be a hugesuccess as everyone appreciated the beauti-fully unique and colorful bags, many ofwhich were sold at the spot.

Such events and exhibitions are ex-tremely necessary to promote the softer, col-orful image of Pakistanis as a nation and totackle the negativity that had engulfed us allin the recent past.

krizmah Bags exhibition at argentinean embassy enthralls all


09


Foreign News

HerAt: Afghan wrestlers compete in an impromptu ring arena in a field outside Herat on saturday. AFP

ALEPPOAfp

FIGhTING raged in a strategicdistrict of Syria’s commercialcapital Aleppo on Saturday,the third day of a rebel offen-sive to seize the city, monitors

said.The United States and Britain, mean-

while, pledged more than another $55million in funding for humanitarian aidand the civilian opposition.

The focal point of combat was Sala-heddin, a rebel stronghold on the south-west side of the city where insurgentsattacked an army position, said the SyrianObservatory for human Rights.

It also warned that the wooden-doored shops of the famous souk market-place in central Aleppo, a popular touristdestination before Syria’s violence eruptedin March 2011, were set ablaze in the

clashes between rebels and soldiers.elsewhere, the army stepped up oper-

ations on the eastern Ghuta area of Dam-ascus.

“The rebels have a strong presencethere, and the army wants to root themout once and for all,” Observatory headRami Abdel Rahman said.

Damascus-based citizen journalistMatar Ismail said the “army is taking re-venge against Damascus, and it is mainlythe civilians who are paying the price.

“The situation here is very bad, espe-cially in the eastern areas. And the regimeis executing many men summarily.”

The eastern Ghuta area of the capitaland its province is home to some of therebel Free Syrian Army’s fiercest and bestorganised battalions, including TajamoAnsar al-Islam.

On Wednesday, two car bombs struckan army headquarters in the heart ofDamascus, and Tajamo Ansar al-Islam

was the first FSA group to claim responsi-bility for the operation.

Meanwhile, fighting raged in severaldistricts of Aleppo, where rebels launchedon Thursday an all-out campaign to cap-ture the northern city, the scene of someof Syria’s fiercest violence since July 20,the Observatory said.

Battles broke out in the central OldCity and eastern Arkub districts, said theBritain-based watchdog. A total of 37 peo-ple were killed in violence across the strife-torn country, including 19 civilians, mostof them in Damascus province, said theObservatory, adding that 18 soldiers werealso killed in combat. Also on Saturday,Assad’s forces shelled localities in thesouthern province of Daraa as well as inDeir ezzor to the east. The latest violencecame a day after a total of 136 people werekilled across Syria, according to the Obser-vatory, among them 85 civilians, 20 rebelsand 31 soldiers.

Fighting rages in Syria’sAleppo, east Damascus

BAMAKOAfp

Islamists destroyed Saturday anothertomb of a Muslim saint in a northern Maliregion under their control, witnesses said.

“I saw the Islamists in Goundam de-stroy the mausoleum of Alfa Mobo, besidethe cemetery,” local municipal councillorMamadou Cisse told AFP.

Another witness, who declined to beidentified, said, “They smashed the mau-soleum down to the level of the tomb.”

he added that “there were 11 of themand someone was filming it.”

The witnesses said the Islamists werearmed with axes and other tools.

Goundam, 90 kilometres (55 miles)from Timbuktu, is in the hands of the Is-lamist group Ansar Dine (Defenders ofFaith), which with other radicals has beendestroying local Muslim shrines sinceseizing northern Mali in April.

The Islamists say the shrines, vener-ated by local people and declared part ofthe world’s heritage by the United Na-tions, are “haram”, or forbidden in Islam.

Ansar Dine sparked widespread con-demnation when they began destroying

the renowned cultural treasures of Tim-buktu on July 1, shortly after UNeSCOplaced them on a list of endangeredWorld heritage sites.

They destroyed seven of Timbuktu’s16 mausolea of ancient Muslim saints andthe sacred door of the 15th-century SidiYahya mosque.

On September 15 militants of theMovement for Oneness and Jihad in WestAfrica (MUJAO) demolished the mau-soleum of another saint, Cheik el-Kebir,330 kilometres (200 miles) north of thecity of Gao.

Kebir’s tomb is venerated by theKunta tribe whose members live in Mali,Algeria, Mauritania and Niger.

Tuareg rebels initially seized northernMali in the chaotic aftermath of a Marchcoup in the capital Bamako, but werethemselves quickly swept aside by Is-lamist extremists who have imposedSharia law.

Control is now shared by Ansar Dine,MUJAO and Al-Qaeda in the IslamicMaghreb (AQIM), arousing fears thatthey intend to use the vast region as abase to spread their creed by violenceacross neighbouring countries.

Islamists destroy anothersaint’s tomb in north Mali

Shebab Islamistsabandon laststrongholdin Somalia

MOGADISHUAfp

Al-Qaeda linked Shebab fightersSaturday abandoned their last bastion inSomalia, retreating from the port city ofKismayo almost a year after Kenya senttroops to rout the Islamists. Thewithdrawal from the southern city thathas been a key economic lifeline for theinsurgents, came a day after AfricanUnion troops launched a major assault tofinally dislodge the rebels. “The militarycommand of Shebab mujahedeenordered a tactical retreat at midnight”from the southern city, Shebabspokesman Ali Mohamud Rage told AFP.The fall of Kismayo is the latest in astring of major losses of territory for themilitia. Residents confirmed that theIslamist fighters seemed to have movedoutside city lines and that their radiostation, Radio Andalus, was off the air.“We don’t know where they went to... butearly this morning the last militaryvehicle left the town,” said hassan Ali, aresident. “even their radio station is offair,” he added. Shebab fighters on theground also confirmed what they saidwas a tactical retreat. “We got ordersfrom our superiors to withdraw from thecity.... This is part of broader militarytactics we have set for the enemy,”Sheikh Mohamed Abu-Fatma, a Shebabcommander, told AFP by telephone. TheKenyan army said it would move into thecity soon. “As soon as we consolidate, wewill move to take the rest of the city,”Kenya Defence Forces spokesman CyrusOguna told AFP. he said the northernpart of Kismayo was under the completecontrol of the allied forces but as ofFriday night “some parts of the southwere still under the Shebab.” Rage saidthat the Shebab withdrawal was “done inan orderly manner after five years ofproper Islamic Sharia law in Kismayo,”and that his troops moved away “toprevent civilian deaths.” The port hasbeen a key source of revenue fromexports of charcoal. Residents said thatthe withdrawing Shebab bust open thegates of the main prison in Kismayo andthe police station. “Last night they havereleased the prisoners from the jail and Isaw three civilians shot dead by Shebabafter accusing them of spying, they leftand no one of them is here today,”Abdikarim hussein, another residentsaid. eye witnesses said that sporadiclooting of former Shebab administrativeoffices by a few residents was on-going.

US lawmakerholds up millionsin Egypt aidWaShiNGtON: A Republican congress-woman Friday froze a request by the Obamaadministration for $450 million in cash forthe egyptian government, saying it needednew scrutiny amid rocky US ties with Cairo.The lawmaker, Kay Granger, from Texas,who chairs the Appropriations Subcommi-tee on State and Foreign Relations, put a“hold” on the application, meaning it couldbe held up indefinitely. “This proposalcomes to Congress at a point when the US-egypt relationship has never been undermore scrutiny, and rightly so,” Granger saidin a statement. “I am not convinced of theurgent need for this assistance and I cannotsupport it at this time. As Chair of the Sub-committee, I have placed a hold on thesefunds.” The purpose of the funds could notbe immediately confirmed. But an officialsaid the money, requested Friday, was partof a package worth $1 billion that Obamapledged to Cairo last year to aid its transitionto democracy following its Arab Spring revo-lution. The New York Times reported thatthe emergency cash infusion was requestedby the US Agency for International Develop-ment because the economic situation inegypt was causing increasing alarm. Afp

Nepal says piloterror likely causeof plane crashkathMaNDU: Nepal said Saturday anerror by a “panic-stricken” pilot likelycaused the crash of an everest-bound planethat killed all 19 on board. The twin-propeller Sita Air plane had just taken offon Friday from Kathmandu and washeaded to the town of Lukla, gateway toMount everest, when it plunged into thebanks of a river near the city’s airportaround daybreak. “The pilot’s failure tomaintain the required radius is a likelycause of the accident,” said senior ministryofficial Suresh Acharya, adding the planeturned too sharply because it had notgained enough altitude. The Dornieraircraft, which crashed minutes after take-off, was headed for Mount everest, theworld’s tallest mountain, killing the 19people on board, including British andChinese everest-bound trekkers. Theplane’s right engine burst into flames afterbeing hit by a large bird, causing theaircraft to plummet into the river bank andexplode into a huge fireball. “Thepreliminary finding of the Civil AviationAuthority notices unusual manoeuvringduring the takeoff and the pilotcommunicated to air traffic control theaircraft was hit by a bird,” said Acharya. Afp

NeW DeLhi: India’s firstnational security advisor BrajeshMishra, who played aninstrumental role in shaping theSouth Asian giant’s foreignpolicy, has died, officials said onSaturday. Mishra, who died lateFriday, served as nationalsecurity advisor and principalsecretary to former Indian primeminister Atal Behari Vajpayeeduring his governmentfrom 1998 to 2004,acting astroubleshooter. PrimeMinister ManmohanSingh paid tribute toMishra, calling him“one of the most ableand influentialpublic servants of hisgeneration” whobrought “a sense ofIndia’s destiny andplace in global affairs”.The death of Mishracame a day before his84th birthday.Officialsgave nocause

of death but Indian mediareports said Mishra had beensuffering from a heart ailment.Mishra, a career diplomat,sought to fashion a broad visionof India’s foreign policy underVajpayee, who was primeminister of the hindu nationalistBharatiya Janata Party, nowsitting in opposition. he was

closely involved in theplanning for India’s

1998 nuclear teststhat effectivelymade India anuclear-weaponspower, pushed

for strongerrelations withthe United

States andsought warmer

ties with rivalPakistan and

China. Afp

Key architect of India foreignpolicy Brajesh Mishra dies


Comment10


Arif NizamiEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

why putin didn’t visit pakistan

a botched up affair

Pakistan and Russia had invested enough time andenergy in preparing for what was to be agroundbreaking visit by the Russian president toIslamabad. A lot of initial work had been done to bring

the two countries together. Zardari met former RussianPresident Medvedev, currently serving as Prime Minister, sixtimes in three years. A Russian delegation was in Islamabad togive final touches to the preparations. Islamabad was told thatMoscow now supported Pakistan’s membership of theShanghai Cooperation Organization. The sudden cancellationof the visit by the Russian president is a rebuff that could nothave been administered without cogent reasons. What isintriguing is that the FO has failed to make public the causementioned in the letter sent from Moscow. This has already ledto speculations of all types. It has been suggested that Putinhad in fact never committed himself to a bilateral meeting withhis Pakistani counterpart, indicating that the hype thus createdby the Pakistani media was uncalled for. It has also beensuggested that while Russia and Pakistan signed a number ofMoUs, Islamabad displayed little seriousness in theirimplementation. Conspiracy theorists have pointed fingersalternately at Washington and New Delhi for causing thecancellation, the former by pressuring Pakistan and the later bydissuading Russia.

The quadrilateral summit which was to bring togetherRussia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan has also beencanceled along with Putin’s visit. Two years back the forum hadapproved a number of projects vital for the region that includedCentral Asia-South Asia electricity transmission fromKyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan (CASA-1000), and the construction of rail tracks and motor roads fromTajikistan to Pakistan to create new trade routes in the region.Pakistan wants Russia to overhaul the Karachi Steel Mills,undertake several power sector projects and help prospect foroil and gas, but details of the deals are yet to be finalized.

If Zamir Kabulov, Putin’s pointsman for Pakistan andAfghanistan, is to be believed, Russia is apparently upset overnon seriousness in Pakistan in the pursuit of agreements. Whatstill inspires hope is Putin’s indirect invitation to Zardari tovisit Moscow. Russia and Pakistan share common concernsregarding the future of Afghanistan after the departure of theNATO-led troops. Both recognize the importance of theeconomic potential of the region which can be realized onlythrough mutual cooperation. While Pakistan has to retainfriendly ties with the US, it has to work seriously to removeRussian reservations. hopefully, the visit by the COAS due nextmonth would go off well.

SRSDMuslims alone are enough to kill themselves

Since I’m feeling rather stale andsomewhat fed up I thought thatinstead of writing the usual arti-cle I’m going to share some com-ments with you that I received

after my last article, ‘All you need is spark’which was about the anti-blasphemyprotests. They make for a refreshingchange from my weekly column for bothreader and writer. Plus Dr Zeba is givingme a third injection in my eyeball on Sat-urday, which was yesterday, while I’m writ-ing this on Friday, so I thought I might aswell give my eyes some rest to reduce thepressure in them.

An Indian wrote that I am suffering fromARMD – Age Related Macular Degeneration– and surmised that I must also be sufferingfrom brain degeneration. I found it a scream.Should I say that he’s suffering from ‘SRSD’– ‘Stupidity Related Self-Delusion’? But Iwon’t. Obviously I struck a raw truth-nervewhen I called India a large country with asmall country mentality. The Indian provedit. Actually I’m suffering from MacularBranch Occlusion that has to do with wearand tear. After 43 years of endless readingand writing, including 23 years on comput-ers, what do you expect?

Not all Indians are stupid. Another In-dian made a rather helpful comment, sayingwhat I need were Vitamin-B injections togive me “spark”. Actually I’m getting themfrom Dr huang haotai, the famous acupunc-turist of Islamabad.

here’s a rather witty comment from an-other Indian, allegedly made in some de-fense committee meeting: “No need to makePrithvi, Brahmos and Agni missiles or nu-clear weapons. Make a stupid 13-minutevideo and the Pakistanis will burn theircountry to ashes.” Right on. I’ve often saidthat all that the enemies of Muslims have todo is leave them to their own devices andthey will destroy themselves.

An intelligent comment came fromAmerica.

“Dear Muslims, Christians, hindus,Buddhists and Jews:

“You’re living in the age of the Internet.

Your religion will be mocked, and the mock-ery will find its way to you. Get over it.

“If you don’t, what’s happening this weekwill happen again and again. A couple of id-iots with a video camera and an Internetconnection will trigger riots across the globe.They’ll bait you into killing one another.

“Stop it. Stop following their script.“Today, fury, violence, and bloodshed

are consuming the Muslim world. Why? Be-cause a bank fraud artist in California of-fered people $75 a day to come to his houseand act out scenes that ostensibly had noth-ing to do with Islam. Then he replaced theaudio, putting words in the actors’ mouths,and stitched together the scenes to make anabsurdly bad movie ridiculing the ProphetMuhammad [pbuh].

“he put out flyers to promote the movie.Nobody – literally nobody – came to watchit. he posted a 14-minute video excerpt ofthe movie on YouTube, but hardly anyonenoticed. Then, a week ago, an anti-Muslimactivist in Virginia reposted the video withan Arabic translation and sent the link to ac-tivists and journalists in egypt. An egyptianTV-show aired part of the video. An egyptianpolitician denounced it. Clerics sounded thealarm. Through Facebook and Twitter, pro-testers were mobilized to descend on the USembassy in Cairo. The uprising spread. TheUS ambassador to Libya has been killed, andviolence has engulfed other countries.

“When the protests broke out, the guywho made the movie claimed to be an IsraeliJew funded by other Jews. That turned outbe a lie. Now he says he’s a Coptic Christian,even though Coptic Christian leaders inegypt and the United States despise themovie and want nothing to do with him. An-other guy who helped make the movie claimsto be a Buddhist.

“The men behind the movie said it wouldexpose Islam as a violent religion. Nowthey’re pointing to the riots as proof. Mus-lims are ‘pre-programmed’ to rage and kill,says the movie’s promoter. ‘Islam is a can-cer’, says the director. According to the dis-tributor, ‘The violence that it caused in egyptis further evidence of how violent the reli-gion and people are and it is evidence thateverything in the film is factual’.

“Congratulations, rioters. You followedthe script perfectly. You did the propagan-dists’ work for them.

“Derision is that much harder to control.The spread of digital technology and Inter-net bandwidth makes it possible to reachevery corner of the globe almost instantlywith homemade video defaming any faithtradition. It can become an incendiaryweapon. But it has a weakness: It dependson you. You’re the detonator. If you don’t co-operate, the bomb doesn’t explode.

“The hatred and bloodshed will go onuntil you stop taking the bait. Mockery of

your Prophet [pbuh] on a computer withan Internet address somewhere in theworld can no longer be your master. Norcan the puppet clerics who tell you to re-spond with violence. Lay down your stonesand your anger. Go home and pray. God istoo great to be troubled by the insults offools. Follow him.”

Good advice this: “Stop following theirscript…you’re the detonator… lay down yourstones and your anger. Go home and pray.God is too great to be troubled by the insultsof fools. Follow him.”

here’s the last comment from an Ameri-can professor: “Thanks for Gauhar’sthoughtful article. It rings true. There is an-other factor I would add to it. When a coun-try gets richer and has stable laws, the needfor ANY religion drops.

“In richer countries with stable laws, re-ligion becomes less and less important. Inpoorer areas with weaker laws, religion as-sumes the role of law and sets the frameworkgoverning the interaction between people. Inthese places religion is the strongest law, tobe respected by all. When religion is criti-cized or debased in anyway, it also and moreimportantly erodes the administrative struc-ture in these countries and can lead to seri-ous instabilities. hence the violent protestsabout the anti-blasphemy are not tolerated.This is true in the Southern Bible belt.”

Some may not totally agree with thislast comment, but it is partially true never-theless. It’s easier in rich non-Muslimcountries where they can separate churchfrom state and become secular (meaningtemporal or worldly) states. In Islam thatis not possible because it recognizes nochurch or clergy. Secularism is inherent inIslam because it has to do with both theworldly and the spiritual.

There are many rich states where reli-gion subconsciously determines behavior:“In God we trust”; “Commander of theFaith”; head of state also being head of theChurch of england which is tantamount toamalgamation of church and state ratherthan separation; the heir apparent unable tomarry a divorcee (until recently) or acatholic, and so forth. england has an anti-blasphemy law and even a law making it acrime punishable by death to bed the wife ofthe heir to the throne to maintain the purityof the royal bloodline. That people in richcountries don’t often let clerics determinetheir temporal affairs is more due to highlevels of education, what Muslims need themost: not wealth alone but contemporaryeducation, both of the temporal and spiritualkind. Only then will they be able to think forthemselves rather than let political clerics dotheir thinking for them.

The writer is a political analyst. He can becontacted at [email protected]

By Humayun Gauhar

My friend Asfandyar is part of arare breed of Pakistanis – he stillbelieves in the inherent virtue of

our people, is passionately hopeful of abrighter future in this land, and expendsall his efforts and intellect towards achiev-ing the idealistic goals that can otherwisebe glimpsed only in the poetry of Faiz andverses of Iqbal. Our friendship sproutedfrom a common interest in the financialmarkets, but has since jumped to the eso-teric reaches of social sector reform andinstitutional reconstruction. A few daysback, during a conversation, his tone wasexcessively despondent; he had (on some

financial due-diligence trip) visited thefactory and home of some affluent indus-trialist, and discovered the deplorable andabject conditions that in which the factoryworkers and domestic “servants” (we haveto get rid of that word!) lived – “inhu-mane”, as he described it.

This brings us to some of the mostpertinent questions of our society: havewe, as a nation, become convinced that notall people are equal? have we, quietly,given up on the dream of a classless soci-ety? have we accepted the idea that howone’s life turns out to be will, for the mostpart, be an accident of birth? And specifi-cally (keeping aside the state’s responsibil-ities of providing education, employmentand healthcare to its citizens), is there nobasic minimum, in terms of housing,salary, and ancillary benefits, which pri-vate individuals owe to their employees?

Speaking of “basic minimums”, it isperhaps appropriate to start with the min-imum wage paradigm in our society. Itturns out that we have two basic laws thatgovern this area – the Minimum Wage Or-dinance, 1961, and the West Pakistan Min-imum Wages for Unskilled WorkersOrdinance, 1969. The 1961 Ordinance isapplicable to all “industrial establish-

ments” employees (whether skilled, un-skilled or apprentices, including even do-mestic workers) but excludes those offederal or provincial governments,coalmine employees or persons employedin agriculture. The 1969 Ordinance (persection 3), places a legal obligation on allowners of “a commercial or industrial es-tablishment” to pay a minimum salary(specified in a Schedule of the Ordinance)to each employee. (It excludes persons inservice of Pakistan, defense services, ports,railways, telegraph and telephone, postalservices, firefighting, electricity, gas, watersupply and hospitals.) Additionally, it al-lows certain deductions that the employercan make from this minimum salary, incase the employer is so magnanimous as toprovide “housing accommodation” or“transport” to the workers.

Under these laws, the government(federal and provincial) have the mini-mum wages payable. Most recently, inMay of this year, the federal governmentincreased the minimum wage to Rs 8,000per month and the Punjab government in-creased it to Rs 9,000 per month.

This sets the stage; now to the prob-lem at hand: notwithstanding the idea thatRs 8,000 or 9,000 is a paltry amount for

someone supporting a family of seven andtrying to put the kids through school, thedeeper issue is that these figures aremeaningless for the countless daily-wa-gers, private employees and domestic “ser-vants(!)” who have to individuallynegotiate their salary with the conscienceof some Mercedes-driving ‘seth’. The gov-ernment, federal or provincial, has no realway of ensuring that the minimum wagestandards are being adhered to by privateemployers. The government’s sphere of in-fluence, at the very maximum, extends tothose individuals who are being employedby state run or controlled organization.

The state’s inability and lack of seri-ousness is evident from the fact that (ac-cording to labor department statistics) inLahore there are only 13 labor inspec-tors. In the entire province of Punjab,there are a total of a hundred. Is it possi-ble that in a province with a populationof over 100 million people, and thou-sands of small industries, shops andcommercial establishments, that a totalof 100 people will be able to enforce theminimum wage laws? Is it not, then, truethat we as a nation have no priority in‘fixing’ the minimum wage (and thus, byextension, the minimum basic standardof living) in our society?

Next question: is only the governmentto blame for this, or do we all share part ofthe blame?

Let us, for a moment, concede the ideathat our government (federal and provin-cial) is corrupt, inept and apathetic. Let us

also concede that it will remain so, regard-less of which party comes to power (orwhich dictator claims the role of a ‘savior’).Does that mean that individuals in our na-tion, who are privileged in terms of wealthand education, do not have a stake in theissue? Just because the government can-not enforce the minimum wage, must wecontinue to pay our cook, or driver, orsweeper or guard the minimum possiblethat we can negotiate? Must we build our‘kothi’ and farmhouses in gaudy affluence,with a downtrodden “servant quarter” andsubstandard bathroom to house fiveguards? Must we close our eyes to whetherthe people who work with us, or for us,have children some place away, who arebeing denied (for want of money) the verybasic education that costs no more than atrip to our favorite restaurant?

Asfandyar, in his analysis of the issue,was correct. It is time that we shift our na-tional conscience from a ‘vertical interpre-tation of fundamental rights’ (where eachcitizen claims its rights, under the consti-tution, from the state alone), to a more‘horizontal’ approach (where, irrespectiveof the state, each citizen claims the basicfundamental rights from the other).

Now, if only, we could export this ide-alism from the pages of the newspaper,onto the practice of our lives.

The writer is a lawyer based in La-hore. He has a Masters in ConstitutionalLaw from Harvard Law School. He canbe reached at: [email protected]

the woes of minimum wage workers

Inherently unequal

By Saad Rasool


Comment 11


whose leaders are they?Why is it so that you are following a

traffic queue and waiting for your turn topass through a security barrier andsuddenly a vehicle bearing the name-plate of ‘MNA’ overpasses the whole lineand goes away without being checked?

People elect their representatives sothat the elected people (MPAs, MNAs)will become their voice; provide themrelief; make their representation atnational and international level; givethem ownership; ensure theirparticipation in the decision makingprocess; facilitate them to the fullest. Ifthese ministers do forget obligations andduties of their positions, which they oweto masses, should at least act sensiblyand carefully so that the common man’semotions may not hurt.

Things would have been much betterif the rulers would exercise theirauthorities with conscience of socialresponsibility. People do feelcompunction when they come to knowabout lip service of their electedrepresentatives: only concerned abouttheir vested interests.

Political parties are again strugglingfor canvassing but none of the politicalparty has any tangible thing to be proudof – corruption, lawlessness, terrorism,ethnic and sectarian rifts, lack of basicamenities/utilities, consistent decline inthe standard of living – you name anybad norm, that’s the way of living inPakistan.

Why people should use their politicalright to elect such insensitive andindifferent people who are doing nothingexcept breaking the trust of generalpublic which is not getting food, clothe,education, justice, and any sort ofbasic/fundamental rights to live onpeacefully?

SABA ASGHER ALIIslamabad

Ban pillion ridingIt has been seen that motorcycles are

being used as more than a bike withthree or even four adults sitting tightlywith the driver sitting on the fuel tank.This makes it too risky due to a lack ofeffective control by the driver as he leansforward to drive it.

The load of three adult passengersmakes the driver to sway left and rightand it is difficult to apply brakes in anemergency due to his difficult posture.They can result in accidents that can beavoided by enforcing the law that saysthat not more than two people can ride abike.

Another common scene is carryingmilk cans on both sides of a motorcyclethat often collide with other vehicles onthe road. A motorcycle is meant to carrypassengers and not milk cans. It issuggested that the traffic police maycheck such motorcyclists that carry threepersons and milk cans on sides thatobstruct the normal traffic to make ourroads safe for travel.

DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTILahore

Inciting to violenceSome media mongers have been

tirelessly trying to convince us thatPresident Obama has violated theAmerican Constitution by not banningthe Nakoula’ video which has outragedmany Muslims across the world.Nakoula is presently under arrest, notbecause of the video’ contents but forviolating the terms of his probation. Inmy opinion by doing so the media itselfis trying to incite people by calling thevideo as ‘US made anti-Islam video’ andby telling them that the West is trying tobully Muslims in accepting the values of‘free speech’.

By using the concept of free speech,we shall not ask the media not topublish/telecast such opinions, insteadwe shall request them to prove the point--- how come an amateurish videoproduced by an individual in Californiacould be declared as ‘US made video’;has the US government funded andfacilitated the making of the video? If soplease share the evidence. And how theWest is trying to bully the Muslims ---who are attacking Western embassiesand missions, business interests andindividuals in the Muslim world, who areburning Western countries flags, whoare indulging in violence (though mostlyagainst their own countrymen) in thedisguise of love for the Prophet.

Under ‘free speech’, press has everyright to defend its case; however for thetime being it has based its case on hollowarguments. It shall be noted that aPakistani cabinet minister, GhulamBilour’s offer of $100,000 reward formurdering the video maker doesn’t fallunder ‘free speech’ as it asks forviolence. On the same note, killing andinjuring of scores, destruction andlooting of banks, public and privateproperties, cinemas in Karachi andPeshawar on Sept 21 can’t be attributedto our love for the Prophet.

MASOOD KHANJubail, Saudi Arabia0

Editor’s mailSend your letters to: Letters to Editor,

Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey FatimaJinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302.

E-mail: [email protected]. Letters should be addressed to

Pakistan Today exclusively.

why take media’s opinion on madrassahs when you can visit one a fewblocks away from your neighborhood?

Why everyone should attend madrassahs

The love for the holy Prophet(pbuh) that was displayed byour people on Friday was un-

precedented and one has to laud thegovernment’s decision to officially an-nounce a National Day of hooligan-ism. Normally, state, like a mother,should nurture goodness, promotepeace and acceptance between people,be they religious, secular, socialists,leftists, rightist, upper, middle, lowerclass or confused. But over the years,successive governments have fuelleddifferences and have taken actions thathave only increased the number ofpeople that belong to the ‘confused’section in the society. however this ar-ticle is not meant to highlight our so-ciety’s utter failure at coexistence.What happened on Friday was just thetip of the iceberg.

Islamiyat is a core subject in ourpublic and private education systemsand nearly everyone, by the time theyare in grade 5, knows that there arefive prayers in a day, that we have toperform haj once in lifetime, that wehave two eids and we give Zakat everyyear. Surprisingly, the subject matterremains the same, beginning fromclass one to BA/BSc, especially in thepublic sector institutes. The same fiveprayers, the same haj once in lifetime,the same two eids and the same Zakat.

Meanwhile, the same childrenbegin studying science from the basicliving and non-living things to cells,atoms and electrons to string theoryand by the time they reach university,some even know how to make a nu-clear bomb.

The same children, if they are pur-suing subjects in humanities and so-cial sciences, start with A-B-C and goonto Jack and Jill and onto the Radi-ant Way and then Good Bye Mr Chipsand read essays from Milton and ex-cerpts from Virginia Woolf and poetryfrom Sylvia Plath and the Bronte sis-ters and plays from grandmasterShakespeare. Their expertise in coresubjects such as english and Urdu ismuch more advanced in comparison totheir expertise in Islamic studies. Is-lamiyat though isn’t something thatstays in the books. It becomes the ra-tionale behind everything a Muslimdoes. As Alama Iqbal says in his Re-construction of Religious Thought inIslam, ‘Islam emphasises deeds more

than the idea,’ action cannot be sepa-rated from knowledge in the Islamicframework. The BA/BSc level Is-lamiyat, too, has nothing new to offer.

Come Friday, the National Day ofhooliganism.

It was obvious that religion andlove for the Prophet meant a lot to theprotesters. They had a sense that Islamentails of them to love the holyProphet but they did not know thatloving in this context necessarily im-plies becoming like him or maybe theydid not know how to do it.

Of course they will go out and killand burn. They were never told whatreligion asks of them in this situation.Their characters were not moulded,they were never taught courses on howto be kind like the holy Prophet, howto forgive and forget like his compan-ions, what scholars and sufi teachersdo in the years they spend in helpingpeople cleanse their heart of negativityand hatred. They were taught that it isa sin to be angry, but nobody’s evershown them how not to be angry. Alltheory, no practical demonstrations.All they know of Islam is through ill-informed televangelists who comefrom the same background as theirs orfrom TV actors who perform live exor-cism and ask people to stop watching‘fahash movies’ in which they actthemselves.

Don’t blame them, blame our sys-tem.

When our knowledge of Islam re-mains well below a sane lower limit,when people keep ignoring the rolemadrassah education can play in fill-ing the blanks in character buildingthat the formal public education isleaving behind, of course our youthwill spew hate. They are hurt and no-body has taught them how to channeltheir pain productively. Some of ourpseudo liberal secular extremist broth-ers and sisters go on to say that if webecome secular all these problems willgo away. Their throw-away-baby-with-bathwater argument is so irrelevantthat it amuses me how lost their causeis. Maybe the elite 0.2 percent wants toand can be irreligious but it would takeothers a few hundred more years to beon the same plane as them.

There are many students, evenfrom private institutes, who find thatwhat is taught in universities does notgive them a complete picture of howIslam functions in a society and theyhave chosen to pursue classical Islamiclearning being taught in madrassahs.

There is no reason why studentsshould not be open to studying booksby Imam Ghazali, Imam Taimiya andIbn Jawzi, by our own Shah WaliUllah, Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi andMufti Taqi Usmani in either madras-sahs or in formal education system sothat they can reconcile the world andreligion within them and can becomevessels of peace. Discontent in heartsleads to what happened on Friday.

A combination of madrassah andformal education enables students toengage formal and Islamic scholarlytradition in their lives and their under-standing of both is drastically betterthan someone who takes the either/orapproach. They are able to get a wholepicture of reality and in practice, thisis what eradicates extremes from thesociety. even if they are studying itonly to reject and disagree afterwards,they will at least know what they aretalking about. If anything, this will def-initely improve the quality of editorialsthat are written in our mainstreampseudo liberal secular newspapers andthey will, for once, go beyond ‘taliban-ization’ and ‘extremism’ and ‘mullah’and ‘dars aunty’ while talking aboutmadrassahs which are an integral partof our society, history and culture,whether we like it or not.

Isn’t that the kind of young menand women we are looking for?

If we go beyond making fun of ourcountrymen and saying ‘yeh kahan kaIslam hay’ ‘jahil’, ‘mullah hotay hiaisay hein’, ‘niqabi ninjas danday hiutha sakti hein bas’ etc, we will see po-tential. It hurts to see all that misappro-priated love being channelled into hate– just because we are too caught up inappearances to admit the good madras-sahs can do to our society. No doubtthere are problems in the madrassahsystem as well, but if the majority getsto know what is being taught inmadrassahs, it would become easier toweed out the rotten eggs there. It is awin-win for all. When religion is suchan integral part of our society, I wonderwhy no effort is being made to improvepeople’s knowledge of it.

Why take media’s opinion onmadrassahs when you can visit one afew blocks away from your neighbor-hood?

The writer is a staff member, aLUMS graduate and is currentlypursing a Dars-e-Nizami Aalimahdegree in a women’s institute. She canbe reached at [email protected]

By Tajwar Awan



12

australian actress joins‘Dhoom 3’ cast

THeRe is an australian twist to “Dhoom 3” with

model-turned-actress Tabrett Bethell joining

the likes of aamir Kahn and Katrina Kaif in the

action thriller, which marks her debut in the Hindi film

industry. “Please welcome the lovely Tabrett Bethell

who joins the cast of ‘Dhoom 3’ today,” co-star Uday

Chopra tweeted Thursday night. “Dhoom 3” is the

third instalment of the successful action-adventure

“Dhoom” franchise and it also stars abhishek

Bachchan and Uday Chopra who were in the first two

films. Bethell started her acting career in 2008 with

Tv series “ Legend of the Seeker” and then starred in

small screen thriller “The Clinic”. She was also seen in

movies such as “Strangers Lovers Killers” and

“anyone you Want”. Prior to acting, she was a

cheerleader for the australian rugby league team

Cronulla Sharks and was also associated with

Chadwick Model agency. Courtesy toI

I am not married to adityaChopra: rani Mukerji

EveN as people on the sets of yRF address Rani

Mukerji as ‘bhabhi’, the actress ended all

speculation about her secret marriage to yash

Chopra’s son aditya Chopra while talking to a leading

entertainment newspaper recently. Clearing airs about

adi and her marriage, Rani said, “I don’t know what

people call me behind my back. People may b***h or

praise me, but unless it’s to my face, I cannot

comment on it. and on record, I say this: I am not

married.” Slamming all reports about her marriage,

Rani said, “That is an irresponsible rumor. I am a girl

from a respectable family that would take pride in

their daughter’s marriage. They don’t need to lie. I

have been brought up with lots of love and respect

and such rumors affect my family.” expressing her

thoughts about marriage, the lady said, “Marriage is a

sacred thing. When I decide to get married, I’ll do it in

a respectful manner and not in a covert way. anything

that is hidden or has a clandestine approach to it is an

affair, not a marriage. you can’t hide a marriage.

When I tie the knot, I’ll tell the world.” news DesK

ajay has now become aregular item boy

Ajay Devgn, who prides himself on being an

action hero, refused to warm up to the song-

and-dance routine on screen. In fact, his

earlier lot of films shows that. The actor had even

refused to go on stage shows because he believed

that ‘men don’t dance to earn a living.’ Clearly he

seems to have had a change of heart.In Bol

Bachchan, the actor danced to the song Chalao Na

Naino Se Baan Re and thereon began his journey as

a dancer-cum-item boy. While he is still far from

proficient in dancing and cannot match up to the

likes of a Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor or even

akshay Kumar; ajay has started enjoying the

process. and in Son Of Sardaar, the actor has

literally gone several steps ahead in the song Rani Tu

Main Raja alongside Sonakshi Sinha. The song has

both actors in a retro avatar with the masti that was

evident in yesteryear songs. Courtesy toI

M OST of us share a love-hate relationship withour pet names. Some ofus find them cute, while

others abhor them, and celebritiesare no exception to this rule. Whileon one hand, celebs are finding waysto reach out to their fans on socialnetworking sites, on the other, theywant to maintain a certain distance.

That probably explains why theydon’t want everyone and anyone get-ting familiar with them using theirnicknames. In fact, actors likeGovinda (also known as Chi Chi)and Salman Khan (who is calledSalman Bhai) have even taken of-fense to being called by their petnames by people they considerstrangers. While the former brushedit off later as a way to test who werehis ‘true friends’, the latter reportedlydid not take too kindly to being calledSalman Bhai by a popular RJ duringa radio interview, back in 2009.Salman is said to have coldly directedthe RJ to call him Salman Khan, say-ing, “Call me Salman Khan.” The RJlater explained that the actor doesnot like the fact that strangers alsocall him Salman Bhai and it was onlywhen the RJ mentioned that helooked up to him like his elderbrother, did the actor relent.

Another actor, who loathes hispet name is Rishi Kapoor. The actorwho hated being called Chintu by alland sundry, took a vow that he wouldnever give pet names to his kids thatcould embarrass them in the future.In an earlier interview, he went onrecord to say, “I hate being calledChintu, there will be no Pintus andMintus when I have kids.”

The actor stuck to his guns andmade sure that his kids — Riddhimaand Ranbir did not have any shortforms or pet names that would makethem turn red in the face.

More recently, actor hrithikRoshan, who is also called Duggu, byhis close friends and family, probablyin an attempt to change that sharedthis interesting titbit of informationabout how his fans prefer calling himhRO. however, not everyone minds,actress, Bipasha Basu, loves her petname, and says, “Bonnie is my petname. I was born a bonnie baby,round plump and healthy so myname is Bonnie! Media and fans callme Bips! By far I think I have maxi-mum nicknames! Most people havenicknames for me; Bippy, Bipsy, B,Bip, BB, Bipshaw, Bhopu, Basu, BabyBasu, Bona, Beeps! even though Ihave a beautiful name Bipasha! Nick-names are out of affection so I am

not complaining.”here’s looking at some of the most

interesting and quirky pet namesthat Bollywood celebs go by PriyankaChopra The actor has two pet names.her parents called her Mimi, afterFrench actress Mimi Rogers. her origi-nal pet name was Mithu. however,since she couldn’t pronounce it as achild, she would introduce herself asMimi. In school, the actor was calledSunshine. Actor AbhishekBachchan gave her a new petname, Piggy Chops that has managedto stick with her. Ranbir Kapoor ActorRanbir Kapoor’s mother NeetuSingh Kapoor refers to her son as Ray-mond. Why Raymond? An insidersays, “Neetu thinks that Ranbir is acomplete man. She even voiced thison a talk show saying that after Godmade Ranbir, he broke the mould.”Sonam Kapoor in an earlier interviewadmitted that she is called Giraffe byher dad, Anil because of her heightShilpa Shetty her pet name is ‘Manya’but her mom calls her ‘babucha orhoneybunch Karisma Kapur appar-ently got her name from her dad be-cause her mom liked the Italian actorGina Lollobrigidia and KareenaKapoor is known as Bebo. Ajay DevgnWhile his parents call him Raju, Kajolcalls him J. Courtesy toI

Celebs’ love-haterelationship with their pet names

T he actress has beenfinalised for SiddharthAnand’s hindi remake of thehollywood film Knight And

Day A week back, TOI told youhow hrithik Roshanin keeping

with his current streak of actionfilms, has signed SiddharthAnand’s next project. The film,an official desi remake of theTom Cruise and CameronDiaz starrer Knight AndDay, required its hero to have alean and mean acrobatic image.And hrithik, who had recentlygot into superhero shape, fit thebill perfectly. however, the huntfor his perfect partner in thisspy-on-the-run romantic thrillerwas still on. And now, we learntthat Anand has found hisleading lady. Katrina Kaif, who

was last seen on the big screenfighting goons alongside

Salman Khan in ek ThaTiger, has been roped in to

play Diaz’s Indian counterpart. Thefilm, yet untitled, goes on floors earlynext year. It is produced by Fox StarIndia. Infact, when contacted, theCeO of Fox Star Studio Vijay Singhconfirmed that Katrina has beenroped in for the venture. “Thehrithik-Katrina pairing in ZoyaAkhtar’s Zindagi Na MilegiDobara was well received by theaudience. Besides, both of them arevery popular with the youth,” saidSingh. Declaring that the film will goon floors in February, Singh added, “Itwill be shot in India and also in theMiddle east and europe.” Accordingto a source close to the project, unlikethe generic action thriller, this onewill have the leading lady sharingequal footagewiththehero. “Katrina’srole is as lengthy as hrithik’s. Shewill have to do a lot of action in thefilm as well. Both of them will haveto undergo rigorous training beforethe shooting begins,” said thesource. Courtesy toI

Katrina to play the desi Diaz



13

Pattinson accepts Stewartdidn’t sleep with Sanders

ACTOR Robert Pattinson has reportedly

accepted his girlfriend Kristen Stewart’s

explanation that she did not sleep with

director Rupert Sanders. Pattinson, 26, was said to

be reluctant to believe Stewart when she said she

had only kissed Sanders who directed her in Snow

White and the Huntsman. “Kristen and Rupert both

told their respective partners that they didn’t sleep

together. Kristen was absolutely steadfast that she

only engaged in several make-out sessions with

Rupert, but never slept with him,” digitalspy.co.uk

quoted a source as saying. “Rob didn’t believe her in

the beginning, but as time wore on, he accepted her

explanation. Kristen has given Rob passwords to her

voicemail and e-mail account to prove she has

nothing to hide, and will do anything to get his trust

back,” added the source. The couple, who met on the

set of the Twilight, have reportedly reunited. earlier

this week, Sanders’s wife Liberty Ross was seen

wearing her wedding ring for the first time since news

of the affair broke, prompting speculation that they

may also have reconciled. Courtesy Ht

Jab tak hai Jaan will be mylast film: Yash Chopra

JaB Tak Hai jaan will be yash Chopra’s final film as

director, Bollywood’s ‘king of romance’

announced. Chopra’s disclosure, made at an

event marking his 80th birthday with actor Shah Rukh

Khan by his side, took the Indian film industry by

surprise. “I think I’ve had enough, Shah Rukh,” Chopra

replied when Khan asked him about his next project. “I

have always lived according to what my heart tells me,”

he said. “I won’t make any film after jab Tak Hai jaan.”

Regarded as the country’s king of celluloid romance,

Chopra has also proved his mettle with intensely

emotional and tragic movies, many of which went on to

become box-office blockbusters. Courtesy Ht

When felton left Watson heartbroken

EMMa Watson says she once had a crush on

“Harry Potter” co-star Tom Felton, but the

actress was left heartbroken after he said he

considered her a sister. “Between the ages of 10 and

12, I had a really terrible crush on Tom Felton, to the

extent that I would go into work in the morning and

look down the numbers on the call sheet to see if he

was going to be in,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted Watson

as saying. “We love a bad guy, he was a few years

older and he had a skateboard - and that just did it

really. He totally knew (about the crush) and the thing

is that he’d tell everyone, ‘I see her in a younger,

sisterly way,’ and it just broke my heart. It still does,”

she added. In the “Harry Potter” series, Watson

starred as Hermoine Granger, while Felton played her

on-screen nemesis, Draco Malfoy. Courtesy toI

D IReCTOR Ang Lee says hebroke every rule in “Life of Pi,”which premiered Friday,bringing the best-selling novel

into stunning 3D life with aproduction featuring anunknown Indian actor, fourtigers and the world’s biggest

wave machine. Thefilmmaker, who wonOscars for “Brokeback

Mountain” and “CrouchingTiger, hidden Dragon,” hadto pull out all the stops to

get Yann Martel’s 2001novel of the same

name on screen.The story,centered arounda shipwreckedIndian boycalled Pi who

survives in alife raft witha Bengaltiger, posed

obvious casting difficulties. The overridingtheme of the search for God was also notstandard hollywood fare. “I rememberthinking to myself that no one in theirright mind... how do you sell this thing?”Lee recalled. his first solution came in theguise of Suraj Sharma, a hitherto unknown17-year-old from Delhi who tagged alongwith his brother to the audition, thenfound himself being picked out of 3,000others. “It was my brother. he had to goto the audition and I went with him,”Sharma said at the premiere. For themovie’s other key ingredients, Lee casthis net even wider, creating a hollywood-financed, but international productionthat sounds almost as fantastical as thestory itself. The results are spectacularscenes that lend themselves especiallywell to the 3D experience, with flying fishshooting out of the screen, and surrealisttrips by the camera into a deep populatedby luminous jellyfish and whales. havingsecured his human star and a number ofbackups, including a rude French cookplayed by Gerard Depardieu, Lee needed

only to fill the main supporting role: thetiger. The animal, who goes by the nameRichard Parker, is mostly the creation ofCG special effects. But the all-importantphysical references that provide a basefor the wizardry were provided by fourreal tigers.

Animal trainer Thierry Le Portier, aveteran of big cat scenes in “Gladiator,”found three of the animals in Franceand one in Canada. The “more docile”episodes, such as when Richard Parkeris seasick, were modeled on theunusually cuddly Canadian tiger, Leesaid. But his portrayal of the intimateconnection between his scared characterand the hungry tiger was all acted infront an invisible beast. “Summoningthe most advanced digital filmmakingtechnology to deliver the most old-fashioned kind of audience satisfaction,”Variety said. But there were thumbsdown over what some critics saw as thestory’s over-earnestness. “Torpid,preachy, faux high-minded and‘prestigious,’” said the Village Voice. Afp

ang lee breaks every rule in new ‘life of Pi’ film


14Infotainment


thai sailors go ‘Gangnam Style’

The “Gangnam Style” craze hasreached Thailand’s navy, which is among thelatest to mimic the globally popular

dance video. In a video posted, a few dozen smilingsailors from the Third Naval Area Commandperformthe rodeo-style dance and other hip-shaking movesat their base on the popular tourist island of Phuket.Lt. Cmdr. Patiroop Khemtis said Friday officers tookthree days to film and edit the video, instructingparticipants to mimic the moves in the originalvideo by South Korean singer PSY. It was shown atthe base’s annual party and posted to YouTube. Thevideo shows white-uniformed sailors in sunglassesgalloping through their offices and officers in scubagear shimmying up the beach. AGenCIes

Maverick west Indian batsman Chris Gayle is dancing down the wicket

at the world twenty20, performing his own energetic version of global

hit “Gangnam style”. the eccentric dance, based on a wacky series of

horse-riding moves, has become a worldwide sensation for south Korean

musician park Jae-sang, attracting over 295 million viewers. AFP

An electrician from penglai in northern China’s shandong province has

built a robot that is able to pull a cart big enough for three adults to ride

in. the robot is controlled using a computer mouse on the cart’s right

hand armrest and stepping on or off the gas pedal causes it to move

or stop. The TeLegRAPh

A PPLe Inc Chief executiveTim Cook apologized Fri-day to customers frus-trated with glaring errorsin its new Maps service

and, in an unusual move for the con-sumer giant, directed them to rivalservices such as Google Inc’s Mapsinstead.

The rare apology follows Apple’slaunch of its own mapping serviceearlier this month, when it beganselling the iPhone 5 and rolled outiOS 6, the highly anticipated updateto its mobile software platform.Users complained that the newMaps service - based on Dutch nav-igation equipment and digital mapmaker TomTom NV’s data - con-tained geographical errors and gapsin information, and that it lackedfeatures that made Google Maps sopopular from public transit direc-tions to traffic data and street-viewpictures.

“We are extremely sorry for thefrustration this has caused our cus-tomers and we are doing everythingwe can to make Maps better,” Cooksaid in a letter to customers releasedon its website, adding that the com-pany “fell short” of its commitmentto deliver “the best experience possi-ble to our customers.”

Unusually, he suggested thatcustomers download rival mappingservices available in Apple’s AppStore while the company improvesthe product. “While we’re improvingMaps, you can try alternatives bydownloading map apps from the App

Store like Bing, MapQuest andWaze, or use Google or Nokia mapsby going to their websites and creat-ing an icon on your home screen totheir web app,” he said in the letter.

Apple is typically loathe to toutrival services and the contrite apol-ogy by Cook is an indication of howApple is changing under the chief ex-ecutive who took over last year fromco-founder Steve Jobsjust before hisdeath. It also took the additionalstep of prominently displaying therival services on its Apps Store. “It isa bit unusual but at the same time,Tim is keeping Apple’s commitmentto provide the best user experiencefor customers,” Sterne Agee analystShaw Wu said.

“A key reason for Apple’s successis keeping customers happy so wethink this is a good move.”

“People forget that Google Mapsstarted out inferior to Mapquestand Yahoo Maps,” he added.

Apple’s home-grown Maps fea-ture — stitched together by acquiringmapping companies and data frommany providers including Waze, In-termap, DigitalGlobe and UrbanMapping — was introduced withmuch fanfare in June by softwarechief Scott Forstall. It was billed asone of the key highlights of the up-dated iOS6 software.

But errors and omissions in themaps service quickly emerged afterthe software was rolled out, rangingfrom misplaced buildings and misla-belled cities to duplicated geograph-ical features.

NEW APPLEThe last time Apple faced such

widespread criticism was in 2010,when users complained of signal re-ception issues on the then-newiPhone 4 model.

A defiant Jobs at the time re-jected any suggestion the iPhone 4’sdesign was flawed, but offered con-sumers free phone cases at a rare,90-minute press conference called toaddress those complaints. WhileApple fixed the issue, Jobs had apol-ogized to users only after he wasspecifically asked if he was sorry. healso said the issue was shared by allthe major manufacturers, naming ri-vals Research in Motion, Samsungelectronics and hTC Corp. Cookhimself played a key role in convinc-ing Jobs to tackle the negative pub-licity that arose around that issue,something he was initially reluctantto do, according to his biographer.“Finally Tim Cook was able to shakehim out of his lethargy,” WalterIsaacson said in his biography on thelate Silicon Valley icon. “he quotedsomeone as saying that Apple wasbecoming the new Microsoft, com-placent and arrogant. The next dayJobs changed his attitude.” It re-mains to be seen how fast Apple canfix the mapping glitches. Jobs hadbeen in a similar position when heallowed email synchronization soft-ware MobileMe to launch in 2008, todeadly reviews. The mercurial CeOtook the group to task for it and re-placed the group’s head. The service

is now folded into the iCloud prod-uct. Mapping is a complex processthat takes a lot of resources andyears to perfect, said Marcus Thielk-ing, co-founder of Skobbler, makerof the popular GPS Navigation 2app, built using the crowdsourcedOpenStreetMap platform.

“It helps a lot if you have greatdata to start with,” he said, addingthat it appears that different data-base were thrown together in build-ing Apple Maps. “They (Apple) canoffer incremental updates and that’swhat they will do.” Cook said thatmore than 100 million iOS devicesare using the new Apple Maps andthat the more people use Maps, thebetter it will get. he also offeredsome hints on why the company de-cided to remove Google Maps.

Apple launched the Google-pow-ered Maps “initially with the first ver-sion of iOS” and created ahome-grown version of the service asit wanted to provide more features,Cook said. “As time progressed, wewanted to provide our customerswith even better Maps including fea-tures such as turn-by-turn directions,voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps,” he said in the letter.

Google provides turn-by-turnnavigation on Android-based de-vices but the popular feature was notavailable for Apple devices. AppleMaps replaced Google Maps in iOS 6and the Google service is now onlyavailable through a browser.

Shares of Apple fell 2 percent toclose at $667.10 on Nasdaq. AGenCIes

‘Star trek’ ‘Gangnam Style’ parody

YeP, “Gangnam Style” is just as weird inKlingon. Still, it’s one thing to slap together a“Gangnam Style” parody with a couple of your

buddies from the pool. It’s another thing entirelyto think up lyrics in Klingon, dress up in costumes,choreograph and perform a “Star Trek” version of theviral K-pop song. Whether you like “Trek” or not,you’ve got to admire the effort that went into “KlingonStyle.” But to be honest, this video, directed by emilyMcGregor, will likely be more meaningful to fans ofthe science-fiction franchise, particularly “The NextGeneration.” But even if you don’t catch the referenceto the love triangle between Worf, Riker and Troi,there are a few laughs in “Klingon Style” that arecontext-free. Like when Data dances — that’s an in-joke, but it’s also just funny. While it’s definitely alow-budget production (another thing Trekkers oftensee past), at least no one got fired over this. In fact,the “geektastic” folks at Comediva that made “KlingonStyle” have a couple more “Trek”-related bits up theirfuturistic spandex sleeves. Courtesy Huffpost

Apple CEO apologizes for Maps flaws, recommends rivals

‘Crime reducing’ cardboardpoliceman is stolen

Acardboard policeman used as a crimeprevention aid has been stolen from asupermarket. The six-foot tall life-size

figure, named PC Bobb, was placed in a Sainsbury’sLocal store to deter shoplifters. The model wasstolen and photos of it have appeared on socialnetworking sites, including appearing at severalhouse parties since being stolen from the shop inShafton, Barnsley. A Sainsbury’s spokesman said:“It is bizarre that someone would want to steal ourcardboard copper PC Bobb. We’d got used tohaving him being around and hope he is returnedin one piece.” Forces had argued the cut-outswould boost public confidence, deter criminals andmake the police more ‘approachable’. An essexPolice spokesman said: “The trial of the cardboardpolice officers shows they had very little effect oncrime or antisocial behaviour and we will not becontinuing with their use.” tHe teLeGrApH

A Connecticut man responding to hissister’s call for help during an appar-ent burglary at her home next door,shot and killed a masked intruderwho turned out to be his own teenageson, state police said on Friday. TylerGiuliano, 15, was wearing a ski maskand appeared to be armed when hewas shot on Thursday by his father,who authorities declined to identify,said Lieutenant J. Paul Vance, aspokesman for theConnecticut StatePolice. The father’s sister, who lives

next door, was home alone before 1a.m. when she called him to reportsomeone trying to break into herhome. The father went over to inves-tigate and was approached by amasked person dressed entirely inblack and holding a shiny object, po-lice said in a statement. “Believing thesuspect was armed with a weaponand about to attack him, the (father)discharged his personal handgun atthe suspect,” police said in the state-ment. Giuliano was pronounced dead

at the scene.”(he) was lyingon the ground in the drive-way with obvious gunshot in-juries, holding a weapon,” thestatement said. “We trulydon’t know. We’ll look at thefamily dynamics, (his) schoollocker, cell phone, computerto figure out what’s goingon,” Vance said. AGenCIes

Google CeO eric Schmidt, joinsstaff in Seoul in a Gangnam Styleline dance with Korean pop sensa-tion Psy. On a visit to the Seoul of-fice of Google, eric Schmidt tookpart in a Gangnam Style dancealongside Korean pop sensationPsy. A dozen or so other peoplejoined Mr Schmidt in performingthe trademark moves from Psy’s

hugely successful Gangnam Style.“With K-pop, we had a whole indus-try of extraordinarily high qualitymusic that was largely not availableoutside of Japan and Korea and acouple other countries. YouTubemade it mainstream and global,” MrSchmidt said. “I think there will bemany other such breakouts andsuch great talents. I think the story

here is not really aboutYouTube or Google.It’s about the fact thatthere is an amazingtalent all around theworld that could notbe discovered beforeand that now has aglobal audience, whichthe talent can benefitfrom financially, withrecognition, lifestyle etcetera.” news DesK

Man shoots burglar, turns out to be own son

Google boss dances GangnamStyle with K-Pop’s Psy


sunday, 30 september, 2012

Page 18

Petrova upsets radwanskato win Pan Pacific open

PALLEKELEAfp

Steven Finn took 3-16 and Luke Wrightnotched an aggressive 76 to help eng-land beat New Zealand by six wickets inthe Super eights group one match inthe World Twenty20 here on Saturday.

Wright smashed five sixes and asmany boundaries off 43 balls andadded 89 for the third wicket with eoinMorgan (30) as england comfortablychased down a modest target of 149 in18.5 overs at Pallekele stadium.

Wright and Morgan, who hit a fourand a six, made sure the defendingchampions cross the line after losingopeners Craig Kieswetter (four) andAlex hales (22) by the seventh over.

Wright hit two sixes off TimSouthee to reach his half-century offjust 33 balls and then smashed twomore off part-timer Rob Nicol to bringengland within 23 runs of victory. evenafter Morgan and Wright fell in quicksuccession, the target was never out ofreach.

The victory gives england, who lostto the West Indies in their openingmatch by 15 runs, a chance to stay inthe tournament. New Zealand, who lostto Sri Lanka will be out if West Indiesbeat the hosts later Saturday.

england captain Stuart Broad ex-pressed delight at his team's win.

"It's nice to bounce back. Finn set

the tone with the new ball. The wicketwas a lot drier and it did turn a bit. Wenow have a huge game on Monday,"said Broad of the game against SriLanka which will decide their semi-final fate.

Taylor felt the target was notenough. "I thought it was a decent scorebut no enough at the end of the day. Wehad our moments but we couldn't capi-talise on them," said Taylor.

earlier, James Franklin scored 50before he was run out in the final overto help New Zealand, who won the toss,to 148-6 in their 20 overs.

Franklin hit four boundaries andtwo sixes off 33 deliveries. New Zealandwere in a spot of bother at 67-4 in the12th over before skipper Ross Taylor(22)and Franklin lifted them with a 40-run stand. Finn provided a doublebreakthrough, dismissing Martin Gup-till (five) in the second over of the in-nings before having dangermanBrendon McCullum in his next, caughtat third man off a miscued shot for ten.

It became 43-3 when Nicol wascaught at deep square leg, trying to liftoff-spinner Graeme Swann who fin-ished with 1-20 off his four overs. Kane

Williamson (17) added 25 with Taylorbefore he edged left-arm spinnerDanny Briggs to wicket-keeperKieswetter. Finn returned for a secondspell to dismissed Taylor, caught atdeep mid-wicket. Finn's previous bestof 3-22 were against India in 2011.

Wright, Finn star in england win over NZ gangnam gayledances downwicket at T20

PALLEKELEAfp

Maverick West In-dian batsman ChrisGayle is dancingdown the wicket atthe World Twenty20,performing his ownenergetic version ofglobal hit "GangnamStyle". The eccentricdance, based on awacky series of horse-riding moves, hasbecome a worldwide sensation for SouthKorean musician Park Jae-Sang, attractingover 295 million viewers on YouTube thisyear. Gayle's first Gangnam-style celebra-tion came in the match against Ireland,when he grabbed two wickets, and he re-peated it after dismissing england's JonnyBairstow on Thursday in Pallekele. "I needa producer to produce my gangnam musicvideo...Know any? however I am shootinga amateur gangnam style video tmrw...Willpost video," Gayle wrote on Twitter. exiledengland batsman Kevin Pietersen tried tocopy Gayle while he was carrying out hisduties as a TV commentator at the ongoingtournament and described it as "one of themost interesting celebrations in cricket".

new ZeALAnDM. Guptill lbw b finn 5r. nicol c bairstow b swann 11b. McCullum c wright b finn 10K. williamson c Kieswetter b briggs 17r. taylor c Hales b finn 22J. franklin run out 50n. McCullum not out 16D. bracewell not out 2extras: (b3, lb7, nb1, w4) 15total: (for six wickets, 20 overs) 148fall of wickets: 1-7 (Guptill), 2-20 (b. McCullum), 3-42 (nicol),4-67 (williamson), 5-107 (taylor), 6-146 (franklin)bowling: briggs 4-0-36-1, finn 4-0-16-3 (w1), bresnan 4-0-29-0 (w1), swann 4-0-20-1, broad 4-0-37-0 (w2)enGLAnDC. Kieswetter b Vettori 4A. Hales b n. McCullum 22L. wright c taylor b bracewell 76e. Morgan c bracewell b Mills 30J. buttler not out 5J. bairstow not out 5extras: (lb3, w4) 7total: (for four wickets, 18.5 overs) 149fall of wickets: 1-21 (Kieswetter), 2-38 (Hales), 3-127 (Morgan),4-142 (wright).bowling: Mills 4-0-23-1 (w1), southee 2-0-32-0, Vettori 4-0-20-1, n. McCullum 4-0-22-1 (w1), nicol 3-0-29-0 (w1), franklin1-0-12-0, bracewell 0.5-0-8-1 (w1)result: england won by six wicketstoss: new Zealandumpires: simon taufel (Aus) and Asad rauf (pAK)tv umpire: steve Davis (Aus)Match referee: Javagal srinath (InD)

sCoreboArD

PalleKele: england cricketer luke wright plays a shot during the Icc Twenty20cricket world cup's Super eight match. AFP

COLOMBOAfp

PAKISTAN will look to extend their domi-nant form and put India on the brink ofelimination when the old foes clash in theWorld Twenty20 on Sunday. Pakistan

have never beaten India in either the 50-over WorldCup or the World Twenty20, but Mohammadhafeez's men start as favourites in the much-awaited Super eights game in Colombo.

Pakistan are the team in form, winning bothmatches in the preliminary league before stunningtop-ranked South Africa by two wickets in their firstSuper eights game on Friday.

In contrast, Australia annihilated India by ninewickets later the same evening, leaving MahendraSingh Dhoni's men needing to beat Pakistan andSouth Africa to stay in contention for the semi-fi-nals. But if Australia beat South Africa and Pakistandefeat India in Sunday's double-header, both win-ners will advance to the semi-finals from what wasbilled as the "group of death".

Pakistan seamer Umar Gul, an unlikely herowith the bat against South Africa with a power-packed 32 off 17 balls, said: "When we play Indiathere is lot of pressure because our people alwayswant us to win.

"The same is the case in India, so there will bepressure on both teams.

"Anything can happen. We will give it our bestshot. India is a very good team, but we know eachother's strong and weak points. In T20 it all de-pends on how a team plays on that day."

India, winners of the inaugural WorldTwenty20 in South Africa in 2007, failed to win

even one Super eights game in the next two edi-tions, in england in 2009 and the Caribbean in2010. Skipper Dhoni, however, put a positive spinon his team's do-or-die scenario ahead of the sold-out game at the 35,000-capacity Premadasa Sta-dium. "It is always good to be in a situation whereyou have to win every game," he said. "There is noscope for complacency and that is a good thing. Youhave to be at your best throughout.

"hopefully we can go out and express ourselveswithout worrying too much about the result." India

and Pakistan have played just two official Twenty20internationals against each other, both during the2007 tournament.

The league match in Durban ended in a tie be-fore India won the bowl-out. The two sides metagain in the final in Johannesburg, which India wonby five runs in the final over.

Before the current showpiece started, Pakistandefeated India by five wickets in a practice matchin Colombo on September 17, with Kamran Akmalsmashing an unbeaten 92 off 50 balls. Pakistan,

chasing India's commanding 185-3, slipped to 91-5before Akmal and former captain Shoaib Malikturned the game around with a brilliant unbrokenstand of 95 off 46 balls. Akmal plundered six sixes,including the winning shot off seamer Irfan Pathanwhich sailed over the cover fence. Malik remainedunbeaten on 37 off 18 balls.

Cricket ties between the neighbours, suspendedafter the Mumbai attacks in 2008, are set to resumein December when Pakistan tour India for threeone-dayers and two Twenty20 games.

Pakistan seek to nudge India towards exit

After losing first match against Australia, Indiawill take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their secondmatch in the Super eights at R Premadasa Sta-dium, Colombo on Sunday (September 30). Thismatch will start at 19.00 hours (PST). It will bethe third Twenty-20 match between the twoteams as well as in the Twenty-20 World Cup.Pakistan have won one and tied one in twomatches played against India in Twenty-20 WorldCup. Pakistan add India played out a thrilling tieat the Twenty-20 World Cup at Durban on Sep-tember 14, 2008, with Misbah-ul-haq run out offthe last ball of the match. But the Twenty-20cricket rules didn’t allow for the spoils to beshared, and it was India that prevailed in thebowl-out. Virender Sehwag, harbhajan Singh and

Robin Uthappa were Dirty harry-accurate, whileYasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi allmissed by a fair distance as a sell-out crowd cele-brated an enthralling finale. India defeated Pak-istan by five runs when two teams met secondtime in the final of the tournament at Johannes-burg on September 24, 2007. India won the inau-gural Twenty-20 World Cup whenMisbah-ul-haq’s attempted scoop landed in thehands of Sreesanth at short fine leg. Pakistanstarted the final over needing a manageable 13,though with their last pair at the crease. That be-came 12 from six after Joginder Sharma bowledthe widest of wides, then 12 from five after Mis-bah-ul-haq played and missed. he played and hitnext time, launching Joginder Sharma’s nervy fulltoss down the ground. Six from four; one strokewould do it. But the Indian juggernaut - they haddefended totals in their last three games - hadjust enough momentum: Misbah-ul-haq's shot

proved too ambitious against a bowler of JoginerSharma’s modest pace. The first match of the daywill be played between South Africa and Australiaat the same ground. This match will start at 15.00hours (PST). It will be the ninth match betweenthe two teams in Twenty-20 cricket and first inTwenty-20 World Cup. Both teams have won fourmatches each in eight previous outings.

perforMAnCe In twenty-20 CrICKet:tyPe P W L t N/r SUCCeSS%India 39 20 17 1 1 53.84Pakistan 61 37 22 2 - 62.29Ind v Pak 2 1 - 1 - 75.00

perforMAnCe In twenty-20 CrICKet:tyPe P W L t N/r SUCCeSS%South Africa 50 32 17 - 1 65.00Australia 55 29 23 2 1 55.45S.A v Aus 8 4 4 - - 50.00

Keen contest on cards between arch-rivals

S.PERvEz QAISER

Comment


PunjAb YOuTH FeSTivAl 2012

Sports 16


PALLEKELEAfp

SRI Lanka crushed West Indiesby nine wickets in their WorldTwenty20 Super eights groupone match at Pallekele stadium

on Saturday. West Indies were restrictedto 129-5 in their 20 overs, with MarlonSamuels (50) and Dwayne Bravo (40)the team's main contributors.

Sri Lanka chased down the target in15.2 overs for the loss of just one wicket,with Mahela Jayawardene scoring anunbeaten 65 and Kumar Sangakkaramaking 39 not out. The top two teamsfrom each of the two groups will qualifyfor the semi-finals.

Sri Lanka's spinners kept West In-dies' big-hitting batsmen to a modesttotal of 129-5. Ajantha Mendis took 2-12in his four overs while Jeeven Mendisfetched 1-12 as West Indies, who won thetoss and opted to bat, found it hard toscore freely in their 20 overs on a dry

Pallekele stadium pitch. Marlon Samuels(50) and Dwayne Bravo (40) were themain run-getters, lifting their teamthrough a 65-run third wicket partner-ship after West Indies lost Chris Gayle(two) and Johnson Charles (12) at thesame score of 16. Samuels hit two sixesand four boundaries during his 35-ballknock before he holed out in the last over.

Mendis, who came on to bowl thefifth over of the innings, had Charlesstumped off the fifth ball of the overwhich was a maiden. Paceman NuwanKulasekara then had the dangerousGayle caught behind off the first ball ofthe next, leaving a 30,000 holiday crowddelighted. Bravo hit four boundaries andtwo sixes during his 34-ball knock beforehe holed out to Jeevan Mendis. Big-hit-ter Kieron Pollard also failed, as he wasbowled by Mendis for one. earlier, de-fending champions england beat NewZealand by six wickets in another groupone match, to keep in contention for asemi-final place.

Sri Lanka crushWindies in World T20

west InDIes

J. Charles st sangakkara b Mendis 12

C. Gayle c sangakkara b Kulasekara 2

M. samuels c Dilshan b Mathews 50

D. bravo c Dilshan b J. Mendis 40

K. pollard b Mendis 1

A. russell not out 19

D. sammy not out 1

extras: (b1, lb3) 4

total: (for five wickets, 20 overs) 129

fall of wickets: 1-16 (Charles), 2-16 (Gayle), 3-81 (bravo), 4-

90 (pollard), 5-123 (samuels)

bowling: Mathews 4-0-31-1, Kulasekara 4-0-28-1, Malinga 4-

0-26-0, Mendis 4-1-12-2, Herath 2-0-16-0, J. Mendis 2-0-12-1

srI LAnKA

M. Jayawardene not out 65

t. Dilshan c ramdin b rampaul 13

K. sangakkara not out 39

extras: (b2, lb1, w10) 13

total: (for one wicket, 15.2 overs) 130

fall of wickets: 1-22 (Dilshan).

bowling: rampaul 4-0-39-1 (w4), edwards 2-0-24-0 (w5),

narine 4-0-23-0, sammy 4-0-28-0 (w1), russell 1-0-11-0,

Gayle 0.2-0-2-0

result: sri Lanka won by nine wickets

toss: west Indies

umpires: steve Davis (Aus) and Aleem Dar (pAK)

tV umpire: simon taufel (Aus)

Match referee: Javagal srinath (InD)

sCoreboArD

LAHORE stAff report

The registration for participation in thefourth stage of the Punjab Youth Festival,which is the District level, is continuingand today (Sunday) is the last day to becataloged for the festival activity at thislevel of events.

The Punjab Youth Festival 2012 beganon August 26 from Neighbourhood andVillage level and after passing throughUnion Council and Tehsil levels, it will beentering into the district level. In its firsttwo phases, after creating record of partic-ipation, the festival’s third stage also car-ried massive participation in which apartfrom sports events several other competi-tions were also held to involve people ofdifferent segments.

In the Tehsil level too there was aroundhalf a million people’s involvement insports, painting, photography, healthybaby, kitchen gardening, cooking, familydressing, pet keeping, cultural modeling,handicraft, science modeling, horticulture,debate, essay writing, naat khani, qiratcompetitions etc.

The data collected from all over theprovince, alone sports events got around45,000 involved in 19 events contested atgeneral public, schools (secondary and el-ementary) level both boys and girls while

the rural sector saw around 20,000 peoplecompeting in bull, dog, horse, donkey cart,bull cart races, tippling/ pigeon flying, bestagriculture and best livestock. In paintingand photography there was involvement ofnearly 5000 people and in healthy babycompetition there was also the same num-ber of competitors.

The events of cooking, dress designingand healthy baby competitions also sawmore than 20,000 ladies and children par-ticipation at different venues of theprovince. Apart from Sport Board Punjab,Population Welfare, Social Welfare, Live-stock and Dairy Development, educationand Tourism Departments collaborated tohold the all the events of Tehsil level. Andnow the District level will start from Sep-tember 30 in other parts of the provinceand the activity at this level will concludeon October 6.

Meanwhile in one of the remainingevent of Samanabad Town in Lahore acricket match was played at Dungi Groundin which Khan XI of UC 93 beat Sheikh XIof UC 106 while at some of the towns in La-hore the prize distribution ceremonieswere held. The prize distribution was heldfor the participants of Gulberg town atGhalib Market and Ittifaq Sports Complex.PML N MPA Dr Saeedul hassan andRamzan Saddique were the chief guests atthese venues.

Registration continuesfor District level

Ten Sports float shows world T20 match in lahore.

COLOMBOAGenCIes

Defending champion Australia and formerwinner england qualified for the semi-finalsof the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 SriLanka 2012 after recording their second suc-cessive victories in Group A in Galle on Satur-day. Pakistan captain Sana Mir wasdisappointed by the loss. "It is tough to digestthis loss. We don't have too much interna-tional exposure, so this was a stage that we alllooked forward to, and it is very disappointingto lose in this manner. "We didn't want toconcede more than 130 runs, but even withthat, when we came out to bat, we tinkeredwith the batting in order to make use of thePowerplay overs, but it didn't work,” she said.

Sana added that continued opportunitiesagainst the top teams were the only way theteam could improve. "We played Australiathree years ago in a warm-up, and haven't

played against them since,” she said. “I thinkit is important to play against the top teams."We really look forward to playing the biggerteams. It is about playing and improving, andthat can happen only if we regularly playagainst the top sides like england and Aus-tralia," she said. Looking ahead at the lastgroup match against India, Sana said: "Wewant to go out on a high, and there’s no biggermotivation than beating India. We've workedhard and it’s disappointing, but we can't fightthe weather. If we have to go out, we may aswell go down fighting."sCores In brIef: at gIcS, australia beat Pakistan by 25 runs(d/l method), australia 146 for five, 20 overs (Jessicacameron 42, alyssa Healy 36, lisa Sthalekar 29; Sadia yousuf2-39), Pakistan 38 for three, 9 overs (qanita Jalil 13; ellysePerry 2-19), Player of the match – Jessica cameron (australia),at gIcS, england beat India by nine wickets (with 17 balls re-maining), India 116 for 6, 20 overs (Poonam raut 51, mithali raj35*; laura marsh 2-22), england 118 for one, 17.1 overs (char-lotte edwards 50*; laura marsh 39; Sarah Taylor 25*, reemamalhotra 1-23) Player of the match - charlotte edwards.

Australia, englandladies in semis


Sports17


TAOYUAN: Serbian tennis player Novak

Djokovic returns the ball to Spain's

Nicolas Almagro during an exhibition

tennis game at Linkou Stadium. AFP

Inter-universityrugby begins

LAHOREstAff report

The first round of Super rugby 15League inter-university tournamentstarted here at the Lahore university ofManagement and Sciences ground. President Pakistan Rugby Union FawziKawaja was the chief guest during theLums and University of Lahore match.UOL started very positive and wonmatch easily in the end.Forward Mujadid scored two tries withfinal score being score UOL 32 andLums 07.In second match University of Man-agement and technology (UMT) beatsGarrison Degree College by 39-10, Ab-dullah of UMT score two tries whileGuhfran from Garrison score one try.

chelsea downarsenal tocement top spot

LONDONAfp

Chelsea cemented their position on top ofthe Premier League as Juan Mata inspireda 2-1 victory over London rivals Arsenal onSaturday. Roberto di Matteo's side movedfour points clear of second-placed Man-chester United, who host Tottenham inSaturday's late game, thanks to Mata's sec-ond-half winner, after Gervinho had can-celled out Fernando Torres's opener.Inevitably, Chelsea captain John Terry hadto endure taunts from Arsenal fans afterthis week's Football Association verdictthat he was guilty of racially abusing QPR'sAnton Ferdinand in a Premier Leaguematch last October. But Terry had the lastlaugh as Chelsea, unbeaten in the leaguethis season, secured their first win at theemirates Stadium since November 2009and handed the Gunners their first leaguedefeat of the campaign. "It was a big chal-lenge to play against a quality side like Ar-senal," said Chelsea manager di Matteo."We are very pleased. We were excellenttoday and deserved the win. "FernandoTorres was excellent, his contribution wasvery good. It was right to pick John Terry,he showed his leadership again today. "Wepressed Arsenal and didn't allow them tofind their rhythm," the former Chelsea andItaly midfielder added. Meanwhile, Arsenalmanager Arsene Wenger slammed a poordefensive display that will raise fresh ques-tions about whether the Gunners, withouta major trophy in seven years, can chal-lenged for the title. "I am deeply disap-pointed," the Frenchman said. "We gavetwo cheap goals away, they had three shotson goal and scored two goals. It is unac-ceptable to give goals like that away in thebig games. "We lacked real authority anddecisiveness at the back." Chelsea took thelead in the 20th minute when Spain for-ward Torres produced an instinctive close-range volley from Mata's free-kick.

There was an odd scare here and there but by andlarge, Pakistan safely ensured their passage into theSuper eights of the T20 International World Cup. Bythe time this article goes into print, Pakistan willhave played against South Africa and will be gearingup for the small matter of a clash against archrivalsIndia with a tasty tie against the Aussies to follow.Topping the group has come at a price as Pakistanhas been lumped in the pool that appears to be thetoughest at least on paper. however, Pakistan hasbeen hugely successful in the shortest format andwhile clashes against Australia and South Africa arenever easy, they must head into these ties thinkingthat they are the better side.

Over the years, Pakistan has unearthed a talentat these tournaments; Sohail Tanvir announced him-self in the inaugural tourney while Mohammad Amirmade his mark in the subsequent edition. This tour-nament may belong to another left hander albeit abatsman in the form of Nasir Jamshed. Unlike thelatter two, Jamshed has played for Pakistan before

and impressed as well but for one reason or the otherhas found himself on the wrong side of the rope.

This time though, he seems determined to makehis chance count with impressive performances sofar not only in the T20 World Cup but also in thematches leading up to it. Saeed Anwar’ boots weresomewhat temporarily filled by the now disgracedSalman Butt but in Jamshed we finally may havefound a worthy successor to the left handed maestro.There is a touch of Graeme Smith in the way he flicksthe ball of his pads but as Nathan Mccullum will at-test, his repertoire is not limited to the leg side andnot just restricted to playing rolling shots. he maybe an aggressive batsman by default but unlike the‘talented’ Umar Akmal, he looks like a proper bats-man when playing his shots. No surprise then thatIan Chappell, an incredibly hard man to please hasbeen impressed by the 22-year old.

The future definitely looks bright for Nasir butwe must not risk going overboard with the plauditsor our expectations. While he appears to be techni-cally sound and without a glaring deficiency, a muchsterner test of his skills will come when he tourscountries like england and South Africa. One aspect

he can definitely improve though is his fitness whichwill in turn help him play longer innings and moreimportantly will further his chances of playing in thelonger format. Dav Whatmore will do well to get himof the diet Inzimam used to enjoy.

This scribe predicted that the Pakistani batterswill find the going easier in this tournament while ourbowlers may struggle and that has been the case sofar but come the business end of the tournament, thebrittleness in our batting lineup is likely to come tothe fore and our bowlers will be required to step uplike they have done so many times in the past. Ajmalcan only do so much in four overs and as evidencedagainst Bangladesh, he is human after all and canhave a bad day. Gul’s bad days though are becomingincreasingly frequent and it is quite ironic that a re-cent advertisement for a fizzy drinks company hashighlighted that. Considering we have no other fastbowlers (Tanvir and Sami obviously do not count) itis imperative that he finds the key to his Gul-dozer.

Pakistan’s next three opponents will all posevarying challenges and while all three promise to befiercely contested; the clash between Pakistan andIndia stands out for obvious reasons. Pakistan will

be looking to exact revenge for Mohali knowing fullwell that their record against India in ICC tourna-ments is nothing to write home about. The men ingreen recently defeated Team India in a warm upgame and one could feel the intensity being unusu-ally high for a practice match. Come Sunday thoughand this intensity will be increased tenfold with lifeacross both countries coming to a standstill and alleyes glued to television sets hoping and prayingthat their team prevails.

Pakistan: A land of talent!

CHICAGOAfp

The United States emerged victorious from a pulsating first day'splay in the 39th Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club on Friday,dominating the afternoon fourballs to take a 5-3 overall lead. Ina format that habitually favours the europeans, Davis Love'steam took the fourballs 3-1 after sharing the alternate ball four-somes 2-2 in the morning's play. All 24 players were in actionduring a day which started so promisingly for europe but whichended so positively for the United States who are out to regainthe trophy lost in Wales two years ago. "Just everybody playedreal well and hung in there and had a lot of fun. Seemed like asthe sun came out, we just got better and better," Love said.

The American heroes were rookie Keegan Bradley,showing passion and talent in securing two points with PhilMickelson, who was winning a record ninth US cap, andBubba Watson who fired up the big Chicago crowd with hisattacking game. "This is one of the most emotional daysplaying in a Ryder Cup that we'll ever have," Mickelson said."It gets emotion out of every player, good or bad, and thishas been one of the biggest highs that we've had. "I just loveplaying with Keegan. he's just played so good all day and it's

just kept me up the whole time. It's been awesome." TigerWoods was out of sorts for most of the day, losing twice withestablished partner Steve Stricker. "I didn't play very goodthis morning at all," Woods said. "I was hitting it awful andnot doing anything well. But I hit it good this afternoon."

USA dominate first day of Ryder Cup

loNdoN: chelsea's Brazilian midfielder oscar (r)runs with the ball as arsenal's welsh midfielderaaron ramsey (l) looks on during the englishPremier league football match between arsenaland chelsea at The emirates Stadium. AFP

MUHAMMAD BUTT

Comment

medINaH: Justin rose of england watches his tee shot from the2nd during The morning foursomes on the second day of play forThe 39th ryder cup at medinah country golf club. AFP


watch it LiveTEN SPORTSworLD t20

Australia V South Africa03:00PMPakistan V India07:00PM

Sports 18


Sharapovaunsurprised byyear-end withdrawals

BEIJINGAfp

World number two Maria Sharapova saidSaturday she was not surprised to seeplayers withdrawing from the end-of-year "Asian swing" tournaments afterSerena Williams pulled out of the ChinaOpen. The 25-year-old Russian, whosevictory at Roland Garros in June com-pleted her career Grand Slam, said the"long" WTA season meant that by thetime Beijing came along energy levelswere often down. "This is the end of theyear for us and you know it's a prettylong season of 10 months of playing tour-naments back to back," she said. "Thereis no doubt towards the end of the seasonyou are not as fit as you are in the begin-ning, maybe don't have as much energy,because the last Grand Slam of the year(US Open) was only a couple of weeksago. "You try to give your all for that.And then also we had the addition of theOlympics this year. So it was an incredi-bly busy summer for everybody."

TOKYOAfp

NADIA Petrova wrenched thePan Pacific Open title fromholder Agnieszka Radwanskaas the Russian shocked the

world number three 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 in atopsy-turvy final in Tokyo. "I feel amaz-ing. This is the biggest tournament I everwon and this is a great accomplishment,"said a jubilant Petrova, ranked 18th in theworld. "At the beginning of the tourna-ment I didn't expect to be here because Ihad a back injury, so it's delightful to behere right now." The victory caps a highlysatisfying week for the 30-year-old aftershe stormed back from one set and 1-4down to beat sixth seed Sara errani andwent on to beat eighth seed SamanthaStosur in the last two rounds.

For Petrova, whose only previous winover Radwanska came in Tokyo in 2008,it was a second title of the season follow-ing her victory at 's-hertogenbosch, and12th overall. She was handed a winner'scheque of $385,000 and will move up to14th in the world. The 23-year-old Rad-wanska, who became Poland's first GrandSlam finallist of the Open era at Wimble-don this season, had to be satisfied withthe runner-up prize of $192,000.

She said: "her biggest weapon is herserve, for sure, but to be honest, her re-turn was not bad today. I really had toserve very good to win my game, so herserve and return were really working forher today. "I was really trying to get thetitle again this year, but unfortunately shewas playing too good." Petrova fired a siz-zling service return winner on a breakpoint to take an early 1-0 lead beforewhitewashing the first set by finishing offwith an ace on her second set point.

A struggling Radwanska saved fourbreak points to keep her service in the firstgame of the second set and pulled off herfirst break when Petrova hit a forehandinto the net to move up 2-0. Petrova lapsedinto making errors and took only one pointeach in the following three games beforekeeping the sixth game, but Radwanska hitthree aces in a row and a service winner tocomfortably even it at one set all. Neitherhad a break chance in the final set until thescore went to 4-3 for Petrova, who took abreak point in the eighth game thanks toRadwanska's two double-faults.

Petrova upsets Radwanskato win Pan Pacific Open

As the year’s last Grand Slam came to aclose, action swung to the business end ofthe Davis Cup World Group starting withthe semis. The draw pitted Spain againstthe United States, while the Argentineswere to lock horns with the Czech, overthe weekend. From the looks of it bothwere enticing encounters, featuring someof the world’s top men players.

Despite Nadal’s absence, who wassidelined with a recurring knee problem,Spain had a formidable team with thelikes of world number 5 David Ferrer,12th ranked Nicolas Almagro and worldnumber 24 Marcel Granollers completingthe line-up. On the other side of the net,the United States, who had overcome astrong French side on the red clay earlierin April, comprised of world number 10John Isner, world number 26 Sam Quer-rey and the best doubles team in theworld, the Bryan brothers. heading intothe weekend’s fixture, both the teamswere tied at 5 wins a piece in their overallhead to head record, with Spain havingwon their last encounter in Texas last yearon their way to lifting the coveted trophy.

evidently, the Americans had thedaunting task of subduing the Spanisharmada on their beloved red clay, a sur-face on which they thrive. With the homecourt advantage, the Spanish were wellpositioned to try and neutralize the bigserves of Isner and Querrey. On theopening day, Ferrer kicked things offagainst Querrey in front of his homecrowd in Gijon. he broke Querrey’s first

service game, but the lanky Americancame back to recoup the break in theeighth game, and broke serve again inthe 10th game, to give U.S. the openingset. But Ferrer, ruthless as ever on thecourt, was not to be denied on the day.Brimming with confidence from a semi-final showing at the US Open, Ferrer wasbusiness-like as usual. he raced throughthe next two sets, before finally closingout the match in the fourth and givingthe Spaniards a 1-0 lead.

The second rubber saw Almagro goup against Isner, who had been instru-mental in America’s wins over Switzer-land and France earlier in the year.Almagro barely managed to scrape out awin after a thrilling five set tussle lastingfour hours and 16 minutes. So the de-

fending champs ended the first day’s ac-tion with a 2-0 advantage, just one winaway from another Davis Cup final. TheAmericans had some respite, as theBryans carved out a 7-5/7-5/3-6/6-3 winover the duo of Marcel Granollers andMarc Lopez on the second day. however,Ferrer put the final nail in the coffin andsealed the Americans’ fate by virtue of his6-7/6-3/6-4/6-2 victory over Isner on acloudy Sunday afternoon. The victory ledFerrer to an impressive 21-4 singlesrecord in the competition and extendedhis perfect 16-0 winning singles streakwhen playing in home ties.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Ar-gentina was playing host to Czech Repub-lic on the dirt in Buenos Aires. Withworld number 6 Tomas Berdych leading

the Czech charge, accompanied by thewily veteran Radek Stepanek, the hostshad their work cut out for them. Worldnumber 8 and 2009 US Open champ,Juan Martin del Potro opened proceed-ings on day one and got off to a flier witha comfortable straight sets win overStepanek. Del Potro was playing againstmedical advice after hurting his wrist atthe US Open and he broke down in tearsas he gave his victory speech.

The second rubber was a more closelycontested affair. In an impressive come-back, Tomas Berdych dug deep to rallyfrom two sets to one and 1-4 down in thefourth to beat Juan Monaco. In front of araucous, 1300 Latin American crowd in-side the Parque Roca, with football legendDiego Maradona and former tennis glam-our girl Gabriela Sabatini amongst theaudience, Berdych went on a nine gamewinning streak before sealing victory.With the tie leveled at one match a piece,both the teams had a lot riding on in thedoubles. The Czech pair of Berdych andStepanek clinched the crucial rubber in aone-sided match and put Czech Republicin the driving seat heading in to the finalday. With Carlos Berlocq filling in for theinjured Del Potro, the writing was on thewall for the hosts as Tomas Berdych,wearing the same shirt he wore at theOlympics, gave his nation the unassail-able 3-1 lead over the home team.

Czech Republic now hosts Spain inthe final on 16-18 November, a rematchof the 2009 final when Spain was victo-rious. With the home court advantage tothe Czechs and history backing Spain,the tennis fans are in for some excitingtennis ahead.

Davis Cup: Semifinal showdowns

ToKyo: winner Nadia Petrova (r) and runner up agnieszka radwanska pose as theyhold their trophies during the awarding ceremony after their Pan Pacific open final. AFP

amir, mccloskey indec rematch talks

MONITORING DESK

Amir Khan might rematch Paul McCloskeyin December, a year and a half after a one-sided fight that ended in a technical decisionin Khan's favor. BBC Sport reports that therehas been talk between the camps of AmirKhan and Paul McCloskey for a rematch onDecember 8 or 15 in Manchester, a year anda half after they first met in a sloppy, ratherone-sided affair that went Khan's way on atechnical decision. McCloskey's managerFrancie McNicholl told BBC that he was con-tacted by "Khan's people" earlier this week."Both parties are serious. The dates beingmentioned are 8 or 15 December in Man-chester," said McNicholl. McNicholl said adecision is likely in the next week. Khan (26-3, 18 KO) is looking to stop a two-fight skid,and the December date will be his first withnew trainer Virgil hunter, who has replacedFreddie Roach. McCloskey (24-2, 12 KO) hasbeen shaky since the Khan defeat, with a de-batable win over Breidis Prescott, a TKO lossto veteran DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley,and a Sept 22 win over Manuel Perez whereMcCloskey just seemed to lack rhythm, orspark, or something like that. McCloskey is atotally decent fighter, but he's never been onKhan's level and never will be, so I'm feelinga little indifference to this idea -- consideringKhan's on a bad run and McCloskey haswanted the rematch since their first bout, it'snot that bad an idea, and it gives Khan achance to go back home for a fight, too. Iguess what I mean to say is I mostly justdon't care if this happens or not. If it does, itcould be worse, and if it doesn't, it's not thatgreat a fight, and I already have no doubtthat Khan can and should beat McCloskeyagain. Losses to Lamont Peterson andDanny Garcia haven't changed that.

BeIJINg: maria Sharapova of russia speaksat a press conference during the china opentennis tournament. AFP

SABA AzIz

Comment

ivanovic eases throughChina Open first roundBeijiNG: Former world number one Ana Ivanovic eased into the second roundof the China Open on Saturday, defeating American Christina Mchale in straightsets 6-3, 6-2. The 24-year-old Serbian played aggressively from the start, hittingbig first serves and powerful forehand drives which Mchale, ranked 28 in theworld, was unable to match. Ivanovic's returns from Mchale's service game weretoo good for the 20-year-old, with the French Open champion of four years agobreaking the American in the eighth game of the first set and twice in the second."I think that was the best service game I have ever had," said the eleventh seed,who wrapped up victory within an hour, agreeing that it had been a "perfect" startto the Beijing tournament. "The last match I played, in Tokyo, I served terribly. Itwas probably the worst I served in a very long time, so I was really determined todo better today," she said. "I really took more time and focused on that because Iknew I could serve well and I did it in practice. So I had attention to serve welltoday, and it worked well and I'm very pleased." The world number 12 will playAmerican Varvara Lepchenko, who defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, inthe second round. Ivanovic admitted she didn't know much about her next oppo-nent but was aware that "she serves big" and has "a powerful game". Afp



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

19

UNITED NATIONSAfp

M USLIM foreign ministers calledFriday for laws against incite-ment to “religious hatred” asthey condemned an American-

made film mocking Islam that sparkeddeadly protests.

Ministers from the 57-nation Organi-zation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) saidthat freedom of expression had to be usedwith “responsibility.”

They called on governments aroundthe world “to take all appropriate meas-ures, including necessary legislationagainst these acts that lead to incitementto hatred, discrimination and violence”based on religion.

OIC foreign ministers met on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly, wherethe “Innocence of Muslims” Internet filmhas been widely condemned, along withthe death of four US diplomats killed in thewake of violent protests in Libya over theUS-made video.

In a statement, the ministers con-demned “intolerance, discrimination, pro-filing, negative stereotyping,

stigmatization, religious hatred and vio-lence against Muslims, as well as denigra-tion of their religion” caused by the releaseof the film and blasphemous cartoons.

“These Islamophobic acts stand in vi-olation of the freedom of religion and be-lief, guaranteed by international humanrights instruments, and have deeply of-

fended” Muslims around the world, thestatement added.

“We acknowledge the importance offreedom of expression, but at the same

time stress the need to ensure that thisfreedom should be exercised by all with re-sponsibility and in accordance with the rel-evant international human rights laws.”

The ministers called for “global aware-ness about the dangerous implications ofincitement to religious hatred, discrimina-tion and violence.”

The alleged maker of the video,Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, was arrestedand detained without bond Thursday in LosAngeles for breaching the terms of his pro-bation for a 2010 banking fraud conviction.

US President Barack Obama con-demned the film but made an impassionedplea for freedom of speech at the UN sum-mit. Several Muslim ministers have calledfor international legislation to prevent re-ligious attacks.

“The alarming increase in the numberof acts that defame religions and therebypeople who adhere to such religions, havenow serious implications for internationalpeace and security,” Turkey’s Foreign Min-ister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

The “time has come to establish deni-gration of all religions and their followersas a hate crime. We have to take swiftmeasures,” he added.

WASHINGTONspeCIAL CorresponDent

The infamous filmmaker behind the anti-Is-lamic video faces up to three years in federalprison after being arrested Thursday for al-leged probation violations.

Probation officials have recommended a24-month term for Nakoula BasseleyNakoula, prosecutors said in court, accord-ing to the Los Angeles Times.

The Coptic egyptian-American, whosefilm posted on the YouTube led to bloody at-tacks on American diplomatic missions andincurred global condemnation, particularlyby Muslims, faces a maximum of three yearsin prison if found to have violated his parole,a report in the paper said.

Nakoula was arrested Thursday and or-dered back to jail during a hearing, whichtook place amid high security, with the pub-lic only allowed to watch through a videofeed in a separate courthouse blocks away.

Until his arrest Thursday, Nakoula andhis family had been in hiding, and his attor-ney said he had received threats to his safety.

The Times reported that MagistrateJudge Suzanne h. Segal ordered Nakouladetained, citing a “lengthy pattern of decep-tion” by the man, adding that he poses “somedanger to the community.” Nakoula couldface up to three years behind bars, it said.

Released under supervision from a 2010conviction for bank fraud, Nakoula faceseight charges of probation violation includ-ing making false statements to authoritiesabout the film. When probation officialsquestioned him about the video, Nakoula al-legedly claimed his role was limited to writ-ing the script, and denied ever using the

name “Sam Bacile” in connection to the film,said Assistant U.S. Attorny Robert Dugdale.

Dugdale said there is evidence Nakoula’srole in making the video was “much more ex-pansive” than penning the script. Prosecu-tors said Nakoula could face new criminalcharges for lying to federal officials.

Dugdale said none of the violationsNakoula is accused of relate to use of the In-ternet, even though his probation termsspecify he was not permitted to possess oruse a device with access to the Internet with-out permission from his supervisor.

According to the Times, Nakoula’s attor-ney, Steven Seiden, asked that his client be re-leased on $10,000 bond, saying that he wasnot a flight risk. he also said his client wouldbe in danger at the downtown MetropolitanDetention Center because of what he said wasa large Muslim population at the lockup.

however, prosecutors told Segal theyhave been assured that the Metropolitan De-tention Center has protocols to house “in-mates of notoriety,” and contended thatNakoula would possibly be safer in custody.

They said Nakoula was a man who “sim-ply cannot be trusted” and whose deceptionshad caused “real harm.”

Using several aliases, Nakoula was ableto deceive people into working on the filmwithout realizing they were dealing with aconvicted felon, Dugdale told the judge. henoted that Nakoula had applied for a pass-port in one name, obtained a driver’s licenseunder another and used a third name —which he spelled various ways -– whileworking on the film. Another mystery, Dug-dale pointed out, was Nakoula’s access tomoney, citing witnesses who received checksfrom the man for their work on the film.

LARKANAstAff report

Ten newborn babies have died at Children’shospital due to suspension of electricity dur-ing the last 24 hours.

Per reports, four children died on Fridaynight, while the condition of several othersturned critical in the intensive care unit(ICU) after electricity went off last night. Sixmore children died on Saturday morning, thechannel reported. It said that diesel was alsonot available for the hospital’s generator.

Children hospital Medical Superin-tendent (MS) Afsar Bhutto said that fourchildren had been brought in serious con-dition. They were provided treatment butcould not be saved, however, six more

died due to late delivery. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul ebad Khan

and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah havesought report of the incident, while DeputyCommissioner Asadullah Bhutto has con-vened an emergency meeting with the hos-pital staff, including its MS.

Meanwhile, Professors Saifullah Jamro,Khurshed Ahmed Abbasi, Anwer Ali Shaikhheld a press conference and said that thehospital currently had only 140 beds in all ofits wards. he said that despite the comple-tion of 180-bed Institute of Child healthcareat a cost of Rs 137.075 million, the buildingwas not functional because it was not beingprovided electricity. They said the equip-ment procured for the hospital was lying idlebecause of no electricity.

NEW YORKApp

President Asif Ali Zardari has reiter-ated Pakistan’s principled stance tocontinue all political, moral and diplo-matic support to the Kashmiribrethren, who have rendered countlesssacrifices for upholding their dignityand freedom, pleading for equity andjustice and the fulfillment of the prom-ise for the effective exercise of theirright to self-determination, as envis-aged in the relevant UN resolutions.

he was talking to Mirwaiz Umar Fa-rooq, chairman of All Parties hurriyat

Conference, who called on him in NewYork on the sidelines of UNGA session.Foreign Minister hina Rabbani Khar,Ambassador Sherry Rehman and Ambas-sador Masood Khan were also present.

Zardari reiterated his call to the inter-national community to focus its attentiontowards the plight of Kashmiri people, whohave been waging a legitimate struggle fortheir right to self-determination over sixdecades, despite sufferings huge losses andhuman rights violations. APhC ChairmanMirwaiz Muhammad Umar Farooqthanked the president for the support ex-tended to the people of Jammu and Kash-mir in their struggle for self-determination.

Petrolprice likelyto drop by Rs 6

ISLAMABADonLIne

The government is planning to reducepetroleum prices by Rs 6 per liter follow-ing a decrease in international prices ofoil, sources said on Saturday.

Sources said the Oil and Gas Regu-latory Authority (OGRA) had sent asummary to the Ministry of Petroleumand Natural Resources and suggested adecrease in petroleum prices by Rs 6 perliter from the first week of October.

Sources further said that OGRA hadrecommended decreasing the prices ofhigh speed diesel (hSD) by 40 paisas,light diesel oil (LDO) by 14 paisas, andkerosene oil by 40 paisas.

To maintain the 60 percent paritybetween the prices of petrol and CNG,OGRA has advised the ministry to re-duce the CNG price by Rs 5.70 per kg.

After this reduction, the new price ofpetroleum products would be as follows:petrol, Rs 102.45 per liter; hSD, Rs113.16 per liter; LDO, Rs 96.22 per liter;and kerosene oil, Rs 101.23 per liter. Thenew price of CNG would be 93.58 per kg.

Muslim foreign ministers call for ‘religious hatred’ laws

Zardari reiterates Pakistan’sstance on kashmir

Anti-Islam filmmakerfaces 3-year prison term

Power disruption kills at least 10newborns in Larkana hospital

ISLAMABADstAff report

With two major opposition parties – thePakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – join-ing the voice of Balochistan National Party(BNP) chief Akhtar Mengal, two key coali-tion partners – the Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid(PML-Q) – on Saturday took the Balochnationalist to task, terming his six-pointsagenda and his tirade against the armedforces as “inappropriate”.

It was PML-Q Information SecretarySenator Kamil Ali Agha who confrontedthe defiant Baloch leader, warning himagainst “imposing” his six-point formulaupon the entire Baloch nation.

Wondering what kind of the ideasMengal was floating, Agha termed the sixpoints as premature. Strongly criticizingMengal’s views for holding the armed

forces and intelligence agencies responsiblefor worsening law and order situation inBalochistan province, Agha questionedthat his remarks against the armed forcesof the country did not reflect even an iotaof truth. Agha said that all stakeholders, in-cluding the tribal chiefs of Balochistanshould sit together and come up with ajoint strategy to resolve Balochistan unrest.he said that the Balochistan issue was nota simple one and rather it was a very com-plicated issue. The situation in Balochistancould not be resolved by implementing ‘sixpoints’ proposed by Mengal and rather allthe stakeholders should sit together to se-riously resolve the matter, he asserted.

“Akhtar Mengal wants to impose hisproposals. he has been a fugitive for a longtime and now he is trying to impose hisideas and this is an inappropriate ap-proach,” Agha said.

The PML-Q leader, however, said thatAkhtar Mengal could play his due role in re-

solving Balochistan issue but the media andthe nation has to seek views of all the stake-holders. he said that Balochistan unrest wasimportant but this could only be resolved bytaking concrete measures. he said the coali-tion government had announced Balochis-tan package which should be admired.

Meanwhile, Religious Affairs Ministerand senior PPP leader Khursheed Shahtermed Mengal’s statement as “inappropri-ate”, adding that he should abstain frommaking such comments.

Talking to the media at the inauguralceremony of PCR laboratory in Sukkur,Shah said that provinces were given au-tonomy after bringing in amendments inthe constitution. Referring to the state-ment of PML-N chief, Khursheed Shahsaid Nawaz Sharif should tell what elsecould be done for the people of Balochis-tan. Shah said his party had no issues ifthe election commission could hold localbody polls and the general elections.

PPP, PML-Q reprimand Mengal on tirade against army

KArACHI: supporters of the sunni tehreek protest

against the anti-Islam film on saturday. STAFF PhoTo


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profitepaper pakistantoday 30th september, 2012