Sunday, 5 May, 2013 Jamadul Sani 24, 1434Rs 25.00 Vol III No 308 19 Pages Lahore Edition

pervez ashrafchallenges naWazto live tv debate

Will shootdoWn us drones

if elected topoWer: imran

Shahbaz tamed after PPP threatens to openPandora’s box

A PTI vote is aharam vote: JUI-F

injured pakistani

prisoner inindia remains‘very critical’

Sarabjit killedover drug

money dispute

stories on page 04

stories on page 04

stories on page 04

story on page 19

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constituenc y profile – na-122(

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LAHORENAdEEm SyEd

WITH the PTI’s Kaptaan,Imran Khan pitted againstthe PML-N’s underdog,Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the NA-122 is a unique constituency

witnessing a fast-paced campaign, suggest-ing that a close fight is in the making.

The stakes are much higher for thePTI, and Khan appears pretty confident ofdefeating the ‘N’ on May 11. In 2002,Imran had lost to Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

“Losing here means taking a pasting inthe Punjab”, commented one local politi-cian. Aware of the implications, the PTI’sjuggernaut is running on full throttle in thisconstituency. Deployed in the constituencyare two well-known party personalities,Aleem Khan and Mahmood-ur-Rasheed.Well-versed in local politics, they are man-aging Imran Khan’s campaign, and theyare backed by an overwhelming number offoot soldiers, the volunteers, campaigningdoor-to-door for their supremo.

Though Imran is facing the personwho vanquished him in 2002, but that wasanother time, another country. There is asea change, and Imran is on the crest of awave and is confident of eclipsing the twoestablished mainstream parties, the PPPand even the PML-N in the Punjab. GivenImran Khan’s stature now, with his appealsoaring, it should be a cakewalk for him.His double blockbuster at Minar-i-Pak-

istan in a year reflected overwhelmingsupport and goodwill in his native Lahore– once the ‘N’ bastion.

It is an urban constituency that nowhas parts of what was before NA-94, NA-95 and NA-96. Touching Ichhra one theone side and Garhi Shahu from the other,it includes areas like Baja Lines, MayoGarden, Zaman Park, and ample part ofCanal Bank, Shadman, the GOR, ShahJamal, Rehmanpura and Samanabad.

With the predominating demographicthe urban middle class, where Imran andthe PTI are popular in the extreme withtheir mantra of change, this is where heshould bag votes in big numbers.

To his credit, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is ap-parently not overwhelmed by the ImranKhan phenomenon, and he is by no meansirrelevant. This speaks volumes about thepotential of the ‘N’ candidate who has tohis credit two consecutive wins from thisconstituency (in 2002 and 2008). This fac-tor has flummoxed the political analysts,and a close contest is being predicted.

Sardar Ayaz has a number of advantageseven when he is going up against the super-man of the PTI. It is a constituency withstrong PML-N vote bank. The previous con-tests here have been easy pickings for the ‘N’,for it has won here in five elections on thebounce – in 1990,1993,1997,2002 and 2008.

Ayaz’s politically efficacy grants himpopularity here. He is the man who re-mained in contact with his workers and lo-cals throughout the last five years,

enabling him to strengthen his positionover and above the party vote bank.

This is also an area where biradarishave historically played an important role.The Arains constitute the biggest followedby the Kambohs. Today, Sadiq is theundisputed leader of both these biradaries.By virtue of his family background he iswell-connected here too.

The PTI has a strong presence in thisarea, probably more than anywhere else.There are party offices at every nook andcorner, packed with party enthusiasts cam-paigning round the clock.

Ayaz is also trying to match the pres-ence of Imran Khan on the ground. Theother day he opened 36 offices in a day –all signs of a lively contest building up.

A CloSE GAMEWhy imran khan’s opponent deserves attention

PESHAWARSHAmIm SHAHId

Contrary to norms, the number ofwomen candidates contesting on gen-eral seats for both National andprovincial assemblies is on the rise allover Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Somuch so, that for the first time intribal history, a female is contestingpolls from Bajaur Agency, where sheis facing 21 other male candidates.

During the nomination process,around 42 females filed papers for Na-tional and provincial assembly seatsthroughout KP. At present, at least 20are in run while the remaining have ei-ther withdrawn papers or have been de-clared unfit for polls owing to variousreasons. Amongst the 20 that are still inthe run, five have remained membersof parliament (MP) in the previousgovernment on reserved seats.

Dr Faiza Rashid from Haripur andfilm star Mussarrat Shaheen are con-testing elections on general seats for thesecond time whereas the remaining arenew comers. Two female candidates in-cluding Syeda Gulnaar Shah and SajidaTabbassum are contesting polls fromthe constituency PK-53 Mansehra.Both of them are challenging ex-provincial minister Shuja Salim Khan.

Since Pakistan’s inception, BenazirBhutto, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, BegumSharin Wahab, Kulsoom Saifullah,Bilqees Minallah, Begum Nasim WaliKhan, Ghazala Tanoli and several oth-ers have contested polls on generalseats and almost of them were success-ful. However, these elected women be-longed to influential families.

Following allocation of reservedseats, women from common familiesgot access to the parliament.

Former MPs now contesting pollson general seats include Shazia Au-rangzeb and Khurshid Begum who arecontesting polls for National Assem-bly seats. Shazia Aurangzeb recentlyswitched over from Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) to PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) whereas Khur-shid Begum is contesting on anAwami National Party (ANP) ticket.Shazia Aurangzeb is challenging for-mer chief minister Amir Haider KhanHoti and former federal ministerNawabzada Khawaja MohammadKhan Hoti on NA-9 Mardan. Khur-shid Begum is also facing a number ofmale candidates on NA-14 Kohat, in-cluding PPP’s Dilawar Shah andPML-N’s Malik Asad. Dilawar Shahwas elected on an ANP ticket in 2008but recently he switched over to PPP.

Erum Fatima is contesting polls fromNA-19 on an ANP ticket where shefaces Sardar Mushtaq, Omar AyubKhan and Pir Alamzeb Shah who arestrong candidates.

Other female candidates who arecontesting for National Assemblyseats include TV journalist AneelaShaheen from NA-4 Peshawar,Najma Zeb from NA-7 Charsada, DrShaheen Zameer from NA-21Mansehra, Asma Mehmood fromNA-31 Chitral and Nusrat Begumfrom NA-34 Upper Dir. Najma Zeb ofQaumi Watan Party is challengingANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan andwhile Mussarat Shaheen is challeng-ing JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman.

Female candidates for provincialseats include Yasmeen Sheerazi fromPK-3 Peshawar, Dilruba Yousafzaifrom PK-15 Nowshehra, FarrukhKhan from PK-41 Abbottabad, DrFaiza Rashid from PK-50 Haripur,Syeda Gulnaar Shah from PK-53Haripur, Rashida Bibi from PK-56Mansehra, Gul Daana Bibi from PK-68 Tank, Hazrat Bibi from PK-72Bannu and Asma Mehmood from PK-89 Chitral.

ECP sends packingThatta SP forfavouring Tappi’selection campaign ISLAMABAD: Takingnotice of protocol givento President AsifZardari’s half-brotherOwais MuzzafarTappi, the ElectionCommission ofPakistan on Saturdaydirected the IGP Sindhto transfer Thattasuperintendent of police(SP). “The ElectionCommission of Pakistan has, after receiving anumber of complaints against SP Thatta that he isfavouring Owais Muzzafar Tappi, a contestingcandidate from PS-88, directed the Inspector Generalof Police, Sindh to immediately transfer SP Thattaand appoint a neutral officer at his place,” aspokesman of ECP said. Meanwhile, the ECP hasauthorised the presiding officers to exercise powersof a first class magistrate under the Code of CriminalProcedure 1898 (Act V of 1898) from May 10 to 12in respect of the offences punishable under Sections80, 82A, 83, 84, 85, 86 and 87 of the representationof the People Act 1976 and to take cognizance of anysuch offence under any of the clauses of Sub-section(1) of Section 190 of the said code of criminalprocedure and to try any such offence in a summaryway in accordance with the provisions of the saidCode, relating to summary trials. STAFF REPORT

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hoping for a hat-trick? LAHORE: Sardar Eye Hospital is a well-known place in Garhi Shahu. Its claim to

fame is not just that people get free medical treatment but also the fact that

they could find Ayaz Sadiq here. Ayaz Sadiq owns this hospital, and is often

around and readily available whenever in Lahore, making sure that he attends to

the people from his constituency two or three times a week. As chairman of the

NA’s Standing Committee on Railways, most people brought to him issues with

the public utility, providing him an opportunity to bond with people living in the

Railway quarters. Even otherwise Ayaz, with his mild manners, is a likeable

character. He started his political career in 1997 with a PTI ticket to contest from

a provincial seat falling in NA-122. He later joined ‘N’, and in 2002 asked for a

provincial assembly ticket, but given the shortage of candidates he was obliged

with both the national and provincial assembly seats by the Sharifs. He made the

most of this opportunity and has since never looked back, making his own niche

in the party. Ayaz Sadiq is one of those PML-N leaders of the outgoing parliament

from Lahore who has actually something to show for his political pains and

rightly deserves credit for taking care of the people while also contributing as

legislator. His friends say, Ayaz maintains that even this time round Imran stands

no chance. “The success of my campaign is based upon our performance in the

past. This is an ‘N’ constituency with voters loyal to it and Nawaz Sharif. They

know that it is only N that can deliver”, says Ayaz, adding, “Imran talks of lofty

ideals, but both the PTI candidates for PA from this constituency were Musharraf

cronies. The people do not like this,” he added. NAdEEm SyEd

kp women putting upa challenge in polls

Military deployedacross countryfor peacefulpolls: Nizami

ISLAMABADANWER ABBAS

Interim Federal Minister for Information

and Broadcasting Arif Nizami on Saturday

said Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso

has reiterated his commitment for free,

fair and peaceful polls following which

military deployment has been completed

across the country. He said no law

enforcement agency personnel would be

permitted to stay inside polling stations.

Briefing media personnel on the cabinet

meeting that had taken place earlier, the

caretaker information minister said during

the cabinet meeting the premier

reiterated his resolve to hold free, fair,

peaceful and timely polls, stressing to

strengthen intelligence coordination

among provinces and intelligence

agencies. “The prime minister has urged

the spy agencies to provide intelligence in

real time,” Nizami added. He said during

the meeting the interior secretary gave a

detailed briefing on the law and order

situation across the country, indicating

improvement, however he mentioned

that “the threat is still in place”. Nizami

said the cabinet was informed that

deployment of army throughout the

country has been completed. The

provinces have expressed satisfaction

over deployment since they have more

than the required strength of security

personnel. A quick response force of the

army, said the information minister, would

also be on the standby to respond to any

untoward incident during voting.

“However, none of the law enforcement

agencies personnel would be permitted to

stay inside the polling stations. Sensitive

polling stations would be monitored

through video. The candidates would be

provided with bullet proof rostrums.

Tinted glass and posters on window

panes of vehicles would be removed,” he

said. He said one National Assembly and

three provincial assembly candidates had

lost their lives till now, but the

government is making preparations for

peaceful polls despite all threats,

following which an emergency plan for

elections day security has been approved.

Responding to a question regarding a

level playing field for all parties in

elections‚ Nizami acknowledged that there

are security problems adding that the

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)

had also become target of terrorism. He

said the government has provided a level

playing field to all parties and no one was

stopping any party from campaigning in

Punjab. The minister said during his visit

to Balochistan he noticed that media did

not venture to cover the far flung areas of

the province where people relied heavily

on Radio Pakistan. In view of this, he

said, approval has been taken from the

premier for installation of a new radio

transmitter in Balochistan. Nizami said a

Journalists Endowment Fund has been

instituted with seed money of Rs10

million to compensate families of

journalists who are killed during discharge

of their professional duties in combat

zones. Nizami expressed hope that

Pakistan Broadcasting Association and All

Pakistan Newspapers Society would

contribute Rs 5 million each, to the fund.

He strongly condemned the attack on

Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah in a Jammu

jail. He also said the cabinet decided to

rename the Ministry of National Services

and Regulations as Ministry of Health

Coordination and Regulation.

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Sunday, 5 May, 2013

KARACHI/PESHAWARSTAFF REPORT

AT least three people were killedand dozens of others were in-jured in two back-to-back blastsnear a unit office of the Mut-tahida Qaumi Movement

(MQM) in Karachi as incidents of pre-elec-tion violence continued to take place in var-ious parts of the country on Saturday.KARACHI BOMBINGS: The first blaststruck near MQM Unit 153 office locatedin Azizabad Block 8, just a couple of kilo-meters away from the party’s headquarter,Nine Zero, while the second one torethrough the same area minutes after. Thesecond bomb was reportedly much deadlierthan the first blast as it targeted rescuers,law enforcers, volunteers and reporterswho had thronged the attack site. The in-jured included a large number of womenand children. DIG of Police (West) ZafarBukhari said it was a suicide attack.

Minutes after the attack, the outlawedTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cameout with a claim, accepting responsibilityfor the bombings, just the way it did in the

past weeks following similar attacks. According to police sources, the bomb

disposal squad did not reach the site evenafter the second blast. Police said the explo-sive device was planted in a rickshaw, amodus operandi the terrorists reportedlyused in some of their early attacks inKarachi, while the second one was strappedon a motorcycle. The sources quoted an eye-witness as saying that the second explosionstruck when a policeman challenged a mo-torcycle rider to stop but the biker detonatedthe bomb, which made the police suspectthat the second blast was a suicide attack.

MQM leader Anis Qaim Khani is saidto have narrowly escaped the bombing ashe was in the office by the time the impro-vised explosive devices went off.

MQM chief Altaf Hussain vehementlydenounced the bombings in Azizabad, andgave a call for mourning across Sindh onSunday (today). A series of bombings inrecent weeks have targeted offices and can-didates of the MQM, Awami National Party(ANP) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP),most of which took place in Karachi, Pe-shawar and Quetta in the run-up to the May11 general elections.

JI LEADER TARGETED: In Hangu, Ja-maat-e-Islami candidate from NA-39, RajMuhammad escaped a roadside bombing.

According to police, Raj was travellingto an election rally when his car struck animprovised explosive device. Raj survivedthe attack but his car was badly damagedin the incident. In Peshawar, a PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf election office was par-tially destroyed in a bomb attack.

According to police, unidentified mili-tants had planted a three kilogramme bombon the roadside near the PTI office. Policesources said that the target of the attack wasa vehicle of the law enforcement personnelbut the bomb exploded prematurely, dam-aging the PTI office.BLAST AT JI OFFICE: At least two per-sons were injured when militants hurled ahand grenade at the electoral office of Ja-maat-e-Islami (JI) in Quetta.

Fayyaz Sumbal, the deputy inspectorgeneral of police, said that two militantsthrew a bomb at the election office of theJI in Gailani Road area of Quetta.

Sumbal said two persons were injuredin the attack while the blast damaged theelection office.

KARACHIAFTAB CHANNA/ISmAIL dILAWAR

With an aim to ensure free, fair and peace-ful general elections in Sindh, particularlyin Karachi, jawans of the Pakistan Armywill take control of at least 5,500 highlysensitive polling stations from May 8,2013, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The army has been called by the Elec-tion Commission of Pakistan (ECP) underSection 255 sub-section (I) (II) in order toensure the upcoming elections are free, fair,transparent and conducted in a peaceful at-mosphere, said Sindh Chief Secretary Mo-hammad Ijaz Chaudhry.

The Ministry of Defence has approvedthe proposal and dispatched more than70,000 army jawans to all four provinces.“At least 5,500 polling stations in theprovince have been declared highly sensi-tive, a majority of which are in Karachi. Thearmy would take control of these pollingstations by May 8 and will be responsiblefor carrying and returning of ballot papersunder its supervision,” the chief secretaryadded. Reliable sources told Pakistan Todaythat the army jawans had been put at the dis-posal of the Sindh government and theycould by called up on demand of the return-ing officer or the district administration.

Sources said at least seven troopswould be deputed at highly sensitivepolling stations while four troops alongwith a police constable will guard sensitivepolling stations. A strike force comprisingarmy jawans and rangers would also be setup that will work as a quick force to thwartany untoward incident, they added.

Moreover, at least four police constableswill be deputed at normal polling stations forsafety and security of voters on polling day,they said, adding that the entire pollingprocess will be recorded through close-circuitcameras which will be installed when armytakes control of the polling stations. Whencontacted Humayun Muhammad Khan, Pak-istan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N)

candidate for PS-89, termed the army’s dep-utation in the city a good omen for electionswhich, he said, would encourage paranoidvoters to come out on May 11 and use theirright of self determination. “Inside or outsidepolling stations, army should be deployed inthe city’s polling stations along with in-creased patrolling,” said Humayun who alsocondemned Friday’s attack on an Awami Na-tional Party (ANP) candidate.

The PML-N leader, a former MPAfrom the same constituency, also hoped thatthe move would ensure transparency on theday of polling by keeping a check on rig-ging. Asif Khan, another PML-N leaderfrom Keamari, said army’s arrival would behelpful in guarding sensitive polling sta-tions in PS-89 areas like Machar Colony,Sultanabad and Okai Colony.

Also welcoming the army in Karachi,Bahsir Jan of ANP was unclear on what thetroops’ nature of deployment would be.“Army, which I think is on the way (toKarachi), would certainly make a differ-ence in the law and order here,” he viewed.

Its effectiveness, however, was linkedto the deployment pattern, he said. “The lawand order in Karachi is worse than Waziris-tan today,” he said adding that mostly inno-cent people were being punished in attacksthat were the handiwork of “terrorists andextremists” and were not politically moti-vated. “The armed forces have to control itbecause we don’t have a force to deal withterrorists who neither recognise our consti-tution nor Pakistan,” the ANP leader said.Asked if he thought use of force could reallydeliver in dealing with the never-ending ide-ological war, Jan said, “This could happenonly when the government and the civil so-ciety remain on the same page.” The ANPleader, who often wears a bullet-proof jacketafter surviving two recent attempts on hislife, lamented on discrepancies that he saidhad led to the emergence of terms like“good” and “bad” Taliban. “This makes thesituation more complicated for us,” he said.

Asked if he supported negotiationswith Taliban, Jan said table talks were theonly ultimate solution to wars. “But whoshould we talk to. There is no single office,organisation or leadership here. There isMangal Bagh, there is Wali Rehman and alot of other militant factions,” he said.

SUKKUR ONLINE

Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM)chief Altaf Hussain on Saturday saidthat his party wanted Pakistan toprogress according to the vision ofQuaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnahand Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

He was addressing an electionmeeting in Railway Ground Sukkurvia telephone. Altaf said that the lib-eral, democratic and progressive polit-ical parties in Balochistan, Sindh andKhyber Pakhtunkhwa did not have thefreedom to run their election campaignwhile conservative parties supportingTaliban have complete freedom to hold

election meetings and rallies. He asked if such elections could be

called free, fair and transparent. Altafsaid that a conspiracy was being hatchedto bring the conservative parties andsupporters of the Taliban in power.

Altaf invited the armed forces tojoin hands with the MQM, ANP andPPP in combating the terrorists in-volved in bombings. “Today, thearmed forces of Pakistan, law enforc-ing agencies and progressive politicalparties are facing difficult times. Lib-eral parties are on the target of barbaricterrorists. Bomb attacks and firing atthe election offices, rallies, and meet-ings of the MQM, the ANP and thePPP continue unabated.”

25% Pakistanis fear a

‘very high threat’ on

May 11: survey

ISLAMABAD: According to a Gilani ResearchFoundation Survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan,at least 25% Pakistanis believe there is a ‘very highthreat’ of riots and breakdown of law and order intheir constituency on May 11. According to details,a nationally representative sample of men andwomen from the four provinces was asked, “In youropinion, in your constituency where you vote, isthere a threat of riots on election day?” Respondingto the question, 25% of the respondents said veryhigh threat existed, 32% were somewhat threatenedand 42 percent said there no threat at all. However,1 percent did not give a response. ONLINE

army troops to control5,500 ‘highly sensitive’polling stations in sindh

TROOPS TO TAKE CONTROLBY MAY 8, CAMERAS TOMONITOR POLLING BOOTHS

Taliban target MQMoffice in Azizabad, kill3, injure over 35

mQm wants pakistan to prosper: altaf

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Sunday, 5 May, 2013

Sarabjit killed overdrug money dispute:jail sourcesLAHORE: The death of convicted Indian

terrorist Sarabjit Singh by his fellow

inmates continues to surround itself with

controversy, as a jail source has confided to

Pakistan Today that the Indian spy was

killed over a drug money dispute. The

source, an official deputed at the Kot

Lakhpat Jail, said that Sarabjit was involved

in peddling drugs within the jail and his

activities were in the knowledge of the jail

authorities. The source said that Amir

Tambaywala and Mudassar, Sarabjit Singh’s

alleged attackers, have a long history of

peddling drugs and both men were involved

in the drug racket involving Sarabjit. He

said that according to his information,

Sarabjit owed Rs 20,000 to Amir

Tambaywala and both men had several

heated arguments over the issue. The

source claimed that after Sarabjit’s

persistent delay tactics, Amir and Mudassar

planned an attack on him with help from a

jail employee, Talib Chief. He said that

according to information obtained from

prisoners, Amir and Mudassar managed to

intoxicate Sarabjit’s food with alleged help

from Talib. “Sarabjit was intoxicated when

he was taken out for his daily walk. It is

then Amir and Mudassar attacked him,

leaving him critically injured,” he said.

Pakistan Today made repeated attempts to

confirm the information from Prisons IG

Farooq Nazeer but his phone remained

unattended. RANA HAIdER

TV ads againstPMl-N contain fakecontent: ShahbazLAHORE: Former Punjab chief minister

Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday said TV ads

against his party contained fake content.

Addressing a public meeting in Sialkot,

Shahbaz said opponents were afraid of

PML-N’s popularity and resorted to smear

campaign against the party. “TV ads

containing fabricated content against PML-N

is the joint venture of PPP, PTI and PML-Q,”

Shahbaz told a public meeting in Sialkot.

He said that people knew that only the

PML-N had worked for the rescue and

rehabilitation of the flood-hit people in

Punjab. Shahbaz alleged that Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan had

played the role of President Zardari’s

spokesman by claiming that the president

could not be held responsible for the

current power crisis in the country. “There

is every possibility that Imran Khan also

exonerates the PPP from corruption

scandals of railways, PIA, steel mills, NICL

and rental power projects,” he said. INP

lal Masjid clericdenies support to PMl-NLAHORE: Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz on

Saturday denied that he and his

supporters had announced support for the

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

In a press statement, Aziz said the PML-

N’s role during and after the Lal Masjid

operation was an open secret and the

party’s leadership had not even condoled

the deaths of those killed in the operation.

Aziz further said that he believed that the

current system in place in the country

could not resolve people’s issues which is

why he and his supporters would not

support such a dispensation. STAFF REPORT

PMl-N is subjecting

lions to cruelty: WWf The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has lodged

a complaint with the Election Commission

of Pakistan (ECP) against the Pakistan

Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) accusing

the party of animal cruelty. According to

details, the WWF complained to the

election watchdog that the PML-N was

parading lions around in cages at their

rallies in extreme heat, endangering the

lives of the animals and subjecting them

to torture. mONITORING dESK

SWABINNI

PAKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ChairmanImran Khan on Saturdaysaid he would order to

shoot down American drones ifhe comes to power following theupcoming general election.

Addressing an electionrally in Swabi, the PTI chair-man slammed PresidentZardari and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chiefMaulana Fazlur Rehman forlooting public money.

Rejecting all allegations byFazl, Khan said, “I’ve read theHoly Quran with translationand it clearly states that onewho does not believe in the fi-nality of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) is not a Muslim. TheQuran asks us to follow the ex-ample of Prophet Muhammadand although it is impossible toreach his level of perfection, I

try my best to be like him.” Addressing a public gather-

ing in Mardan, Khan has saidno one could stop the tsunamifrom victory. The PTI chiefsaid his party had no big namesbut young leaders wouldachieve great things. He urgedthe people to vote for PTI for abetter future.

Khan said if his party cameto power, PTI will work self-lessly for the welfare of peopleand will truly address all theirproblems. He hoped people willelect honest representatives inthe general election.

Taking on the JUI-F chief ata rally in Charsadda, Khan said,“He has been favouring killingsof Pukhtoons in United States’war and was in alliance withPervez Musharraf.”

Imran Khan predicted the po-litical death of Fazlur Rehman onMay 11. “Maulana had requestedUnited States for premiership. USreports have made it clear that all

politi-c i a n shave adual char-acter,” saidthe PTI chief.Later, addressinga gathering inBuner, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, as partof his election drive,Khan accused his rivals ofusing unfair means to run theirelection campaign. Imran tar-geted the main contesting polit-ical parties, PML-N andPakistan People’s Party (PPP).He also criticised Fazl for his“friendly opposition” duringthe previous government. Hesaid Fazl used Islam to fulfillhis designs. The PTI chair-man appealed people to voteon ideology and rise above“cast and creed” in theforthcoming elections.

NEW DELHIAGENCIES

The condition of Sanaullah Haq, a Pakistani pris-oner injured in an attack by an inmate at centralJammu Jail in Indian-administered Kashmir, re-mains “very critical”, the Pakistani High Commis-sion in New Delhi said Saturday.

“Sanaullah’s condition remains very critical.He is on life support system in the Intensive CareUnit (ICU) on ventilator. Given the severity ofhead injuries, his prognosis remained grim,” saida statement by the Pakistani High Commission.

Sanaullah had suffered multiple injuries to thehead, and was airlifted on Friday to a government hos-pital in the city of Chandigarh, 250 kilometres northof New Delhi. A spokeswoman for the Post GraduateInstitute of Medical Education and Research Hospitalin Chandigarh said Sanaullah was in the intensive careunit and on a ventilator as his condition “continues toremain critical”. The Pakistani High Commission of-ficials “came to the hospital and we have given themhis medical update”, added Manju Wadwalkar, thespokeswoman of the PGIMER Hospital.

Haq was said to have entered a state of coma afterthe apparent tit-for-tat attack after convicted Indianspy Sarabjit Singh died after being bludgeoned with abrick by fellow inmates at a Pakistani prison.Sanaullah, who hails from the city of Sialkot, was at-tacked by a prisoner who was identified as a formerIndian army soldier nearly 24 hours after Singh’s

death in Lahore. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry hadtermed the jail attack on Sanaullah an “obvious retal-iation” for the killing of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh.

Singh died on Thursday in Pakistan and was cre-mated with state honours on Friday in his native villagein northwestern India. Singh had been on death rowafter being convicted by a Pakistani court 16 years ear-lier for espionage and for involvement in a string ofbomb attacks in Pakistan that killed 14 people in 1990.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Former prime minister and sec-retary general of the PakistanPeople’s Party Parliamentarians(PPPP), Raja Pervez Ashraf haschallenged Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) Presi-dent Nawaz Sharif to a live TVdebate to prove that the PPPP’sad campaign against the PML-Nwas devoid of facts.

In a press statement, Ashrafsaid that the PPPP had compiledauthentic data for its ad cam-paign to reveal the true face ofthe PML-N in front of the peo-ple. He said that charges relatingto terrorism during the PML-Ngovernment, the telephonic con-

versation between ShahbazSharif and Malik Qayyum andthe PML-N’s handling of thefloods were based on facts. Hesaid that Nawaz Sharif had 24hours to accept his challenge fora TV debate on the allegations.

If the PML-N president refusesto counter our allegations itwould prove that all charges lev-elled against his party are trueand the PML-N leaders shouldthen stop telling lies in theirelection rallies, he added.

Shahbaz

tamed after

PPP threatens

to open

Pandora’s box

LAHOREONLINE

The Lahore High Court (LHC)on Saturday disposed of a pe-tition filed by former chiefminister Shahbaz Sharifagainst a TV advertisementbeing run by Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) after the formerchief minister faced a barrageof arguments by PPP lawyers.

The court also withdrewthe interim order for withhold-ing display of the advertise-ment that had been the causeof the dispute in courts.

According to details, athree-member bench of theLHC took up the petition forhearing. PPP General Secre-tary Latif Khosa and AitzazAhsan appeared in the courtfor the hearing.

Both Khosa and Ahsanopposed the interim ordergranted by the court for pre-venting the screening of theadvertisement.

They argued that theSupreme Court (SC) had al-ready accepted the telephonicconversation as evidence andthere was no harm in makingit public. They further said thatno legal limit had been placedon its screening.

Furthermore, they arguedthat the issue of receiving ofmoney by Sharif brothers fromInter Services Intelligence(ISI) had also been mentionedin SC decision in the AsgharKhan case. They said that inthe light of the SC ruling, pro-ceedings could be initiatedagainst them and they could bebarred from contesting in elec-tions. When the court sought areply from Shahbaz Sharif’slawyer to counter argumentsmade by the PPP lawyers, hesaid that relief had been pro-vided to them and withdrewthe petition. Subsequently, theLHC disposed of the case.

STEEriNGPAkiSTAN ouTof dArkNESSToP PrioriTy,SAyS NAWAz

LAHOREONLINE

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif on Saturday saidsteering the country out of the darknessis his party’s top priority.

“Pulling the country out of dark-ness features atop the manifesto ofPML-N and this is not merely anelection pledge,” he said. While ad-dressing party workers in Lahore onSaturday, Sharif said, “We have ex-perts in all walks of life, includingeconomic experts and planners torun the ministry of water and elec-tricity in an efficient manner.” Wealso have the brains capable of lead-ing the country out of darkness andputting it on the road to develop-ment within three years, claimed thePML-N chieftain. Talking on theoutgoing Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) government, Nawaz claimed,“We are not empty handed like thePPP whose ministers did nothingexcept plundering the national ex-chequer.”

Sharif added that if voted topower, the masses would be providedgas and electricity on reasonable tar-iffs without load shedding. PML-Nunderstands very well that overcom-ing the 6,000 MW power deficit willnot be a difficult job and the crisis canbe resolved by introducing reforms inNEPRA, Sharif claimed.

After coming into power, PML-Nwould introduce hydropower, solarpower and biomass power projects anda net metering system for small con-sumers would be introduced also, hesaid. Supply of gas to power generationhouses will be ensured on a regularbasis in order to reduce the cost of pro-duction of electricity, Sharif added.

He further said special concessionwould be given to poor consumers ofLiquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) andCompressed Natural Gas (CNG). Mu-tual cooperation will be forged be-tween the federal and provincialgovernments so that no province suf-fers the way Punjab did under the PPP-led government, Sharif stated.

a pti voteis a haramvote: jui-f DERA ISmAIL KHAN:

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam –

Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana

Fazalur-Rehman on

Saturday issued a decree

(Fatwa) against Imran

Khan, saying that voting

for the Pakistan Tehrik-e-

Insaf leader was ‘haram’.

Talking to reporters, he

expressed full confidence

in his belief that Imran

was an ‘Ahmadi agent’

and Zionist lobbyist.

Moreover, he said that

Imran Khan issued a fake

decree with the reference

of Maulana Saeed Ahmad

Usmani who passed away

in 2010. ONLINE

ashraf challenges nawazto live tv debate

injured pak prisoner in india remains ‘very critical’

demos againstassault on pakistaniprisoner in ihk jailSRINAGAR: In Indian-held Kashmir, people

staged demonstrations in Sopore against

attacks on a Pakistani prisoner in Kot Bhalwal

jail, Jammu. Witnesses told reporters that

people took to the streets at main chowk and

its adjoining areas in the town and staged

demonstrations against the attack on Pakistani

prisoner, Sanaullah. They raised anti-India and

pro-freedom slogans. The witnesses said that

Indian police and troops, who were deployed

in the town to prevent protests against the

incident, resorted to baton charge and teargas

shelling to disperse the protesters. NNI

LHR 05-05-2013_Layout 1 5/5/2013 3:03 AM Page 4

lahoreSunday, 5 May, 2013

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high

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230C

LAHOREAPP

oVER 10,788 cases of measleshave been reported in Punjabduring the last five months withthe addition of 46 new casesduring the last 24 hours.

According to health departmentofficials, at least 64 deaths have been

Been reported so far, including one atChildren’s Hospital on Saturday. Most ofthe deaths occurred in Lahore,Gujranwala, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khanand Kasur.

During the last 24 hours, around 100cases of measles were reported in Punjab,including 48 in city hospitals.

Meanwhile, Health Services DirectorGeneral Punjab Dr Tanveer Ahmed saidthat a majority of the deaths in Lahorewere caused by severe pneumonia anddue to delay in reaching hospitals.

“Measles’ vaccination is available in

all hospitals of the city in ample quantityand patients are being treated for free,” hesaid. He appealed to parents to get theirchildren vaccinated without any delay andcooperate with vaccinating teams.

2m children vaccinated: Over twomillion children have been vaccinatedagainst measles in a special campaignlaunched from April 29 till May 5.

Talking to APP on Saturday, EPIAdditional Director Dr Nazir Hussain saidthat during the special anti-measlescampaign, the health department had seta target of administering vaccination to atleast three million children in Lahore andthe vaccinators had achieved the target ofover two million.

He said school children had also beenvaccinated against measles in schools.

The facility is also being provided atall government hospitals of Lahore.“Around 5,000 health workers areinvolved in the special drive,” he added.

Meanwhile Lahore EDO Health Dr

Zulfiqar Ali pointed out that 600 mobiles,165 schools and 265 fixed teams had beenassigned the task of vaccination. He said

that an epidemic control room was alsoworking at the office of the EDO Healthand could be contacted at 04299237028.

100 new cases ofmeasles reported

05

Mariam Nawaz appearsbefore local court, saysnobody is above the law

LAHORE: Mariam Nawaz, daughter of PML-N chiefNawaz Sharif, said on Saturday that no body is above thelaw that is why she appeared before a local court toexplain her position viz-a-viz a recent PML-N rally inLahore. Talking to journalists, she said she did not takeout the rally without prior permission, adding that thePML-N had a major role in formulating the election codeof conduct. Mariam Nawaz was issued a notice by a localdistrict returning officer to explain her position regardingthe rally which was allegedly taken out without priorpermission of the local authorities. “When there is mobaround you, you just cannot ask them to disperse. A rallyforms by itself,” she explained. She said NA-120 was astronghold of her party and wherever she went, she wassurrounded by her supporters. He also said that she wasnot even a candidate and it is not her prerogative to runthe campaign. The PML-N leader was then exemptedfrom appearing in the next hearing. INP

Arrest warrants issuedagainst 1,000 govt employeesfor refusing poll duties

LAHORE: Returning Officers (ROs) on Saturdayissued arrest warrants of over 1000 governmentemployees who have refused to perform election duty inLahore. The respective Station House Officers (SHOs)have also been directed to arrest these employees andproduce them in the court. ROs had summoned theemployees of different government departments inconnection with the performance of duties in 13constituencies of national assembly and 25constituencies of provincial assembly in Lahore. Someemployees held out assurance that they would performthe duties while about 1000 employees kept on pursuingevasive tactics and sending applications to avoid theduty. In pursuit to Clause 2 Paragraph (A) of Article 179of Civil Servants Act -1964 and Clause 1 of Article 178,the services of government employees can be hired toaid administrative affairs under activity of federation. Itis binding for government employees to perform dutiesduring polls and they are compensated for such duties.Those who refuse to perform election duty are liable tobe proceeded against under Articles 178 and 179 of theconstitution. Such punishment may entail terminationfrom service. Article 220 of the constitution makes itbinding on federal and provincial governments to assistthe election commission to deal with administrativematters. ONLINE

SECuriTy GuArd AT PTi’SlAhorE offiCE fouNd dEAdLAHORE: A security guard at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s

(PTI) office in Lahore was found dead under mysterious

circumstances on Saturday morning. According to details,

unidentified miscreants shot dead Muzaffar Khan who

served as a security guard at PTI’s Lahore office. Police

claimed that the security guard had shot himself as a pistol

was also recovered from the crime scene. The victim hailed

from Vehari and was staying in Lahore to earn a livelihood

for his family. INP

LHR 05-05-2013_Layout 1 5/5/2013 3:03 AM Page 5

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06

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CIne StAr ChAMbeLI 01:30pMph: 35157462 the CroodS 03:45pM

AAShIqUI 2 05:30pMobLIvIon 08:00pMChAMbeLI 10:15AM

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AudI-3ChAMbeLI 2:30, 6:45, 11:30 pMthe CroodS (3d) 05:00pMobLIvIon 09:15pM

Taliban threateningSarabjit’s lawyer: hrCPLAHORE: The Pakistan Human

Rights Commission of

Pakistan (HRCP) said on

Saturday that Sarabjit

Singh’s lawyer, Awais

Sheikh, and his family

have been receiving

threatening letters and

calls from the Taliban.

The commission urged

the chief minister of

Punjab to provide security

to Sheikh. The panel also said

that a CID official tried to kidnap

Sheikh in Pakistan a day before Sarabjit’s death, when he

went to Wagah border to see Sarabjit’s family off. Sarabjit

Singh, 49, was a death row convict at the Kot Lakhpat Jail

in Lahore. On Friday, a group of other prisoners hit him on

his head with bricks after which he was taken to Lahore’s

Jinnah Hospital in a comatose state and was on a

ventilator until he died on Thursday. Sarabjit was

sentenced to death for planting bombs in Punjab which

killed 14 people in 1990. ONLINE

LAHORE: Two people were killed and two others were injured when a truck of Solid Waste Management fell downfrom the Muslim Town flyover on Saturday. Police said that the vehicle was going to Wahdat Road when it fell downdue to over-speeding. As a result, the driver died on the spot while the other three were rushed to a hospital where oneof them died.Police took the bodies to the city morgue for autopsy. Further investigations are underway. STAFF REPORT

TWo killEd AS TruCk

fAllS doWN ThE flyoVEr

LHR 05-05-2013_Layout 1 5/5/2013 3:03 AM Page 6

irAQ PrESSurEdTo STEP uPrAid ProbE BAGHDAD: Human Rights Watch has

urged Iraqi authorities to give a

government committee charged with

probing a deadly raid by security

forces on a protest camp last week

greater financial and political backing

to investigate who is responsible for

what it described as an apparently

unlawful use of lethal force. On

Saturday, the group also said it

received photos from a separate,

parliamentary investigation allegedly

taken in the aftermath of the attack

that showed the bodies of several men

lying in the protest area amid burning

cars. Some have their hands bound

and "appear, because of the way the

bodies are positioned, to have been

executed with gunshots,'' the group

said. The April 23 action against the

Sunnis in Hawija who were protesting

against the Shia-led government

unleashed a backlash of deadly attacks

by Sunnis, and battles between

gunmen and security forces that have

claimed more than 250 lives. Before

the Hawija crackdown, local and tribal

officials had been trying to negotiate a

peaceful end to a standoff between

protesters and security forces.

Authorities had wanted to enter the

camp to hunt for weapons and make

arrests related to an earlier incident in

which a nearby checkpoint came under

attack. Iraqi forces opened fire only

after they were attacked, according to

the Defense Ministry. It said 23 people,

including three members of the

security forces, were killed in the

clashes. It said "only insurgents and

extremists remained" in the camp

before it moved in, and that some of

the dead included fighters with ties to

al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's

outlawed Baath Party. The Defense

Ministry has said security forces

opened fire only after they came under

attack while trying to make arrests.

Hours after the raid, Prime Minister

Nouri al-Maliki ordered the creation of

a ministerial committee to investigate

the incident. A parliamentary

committee is also probing what

happened at Hawija. AGENCIES

07

newSSunday, 5 May, 2013

Portugal must show “our European partners that they have no

reason to doubt our commitment'' to repairing the country's public

finances — Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho N

WASHINGTONAGENCIES

US president Barack Obama said on Fri-day he does not foresee a scenario inwhich he would send US ground troopsto Syria and outlined a deliberate ap-proach to determining whether the Syriangovernment had used chemical weaponsin a 2-year civil war.

Obama insisted that the United Stateshas not ruled out any options in dealingwith Syria as the United States investi-gates whether the government of Syrianpresident Bashar al-Assad used chemicalweapons. But Obama, who has spentmuch of his presidency winding downwars in Iraq and Afghanistan, made clearhe was not inclined to send troops to

Syria, saying "I do not foresee" such ascenario. Leaders in the region that he hasconsulted on this issue agree with him,Obama said.

If Syria is found to have used chem-ical weapons, however, Obama will beunder pressure to take some action be-yond what the United States is alreadydoing. The Obama administration is con-sidering sending lethal aid to Syrianrebels. Obama, who has come under firefrom some critics in Washington whocontend he has a muddled approach toSyria, insisted the United States is notstanding by even as it waits for a chemi-cal weapons ruling.

"We're not waiting," he said. "We areworking to apply every pressure pointthat we can on Syria."

obama 'does not foresee' us troops in syria

TEL AVIVAGENCIES

iSRAELI officials have confirmed that the

country's air force carried out a strike

against Syria and say it targeted a

shipment of advanced missiles. The

officials said on Saturday the shipment

was not of chemical arms, but of "game

changing" weapons bound for the Lebanese

Hezbollah group. They claimed, speaking on

condition of anonymity, that the airstrike was

early on Friday, but no mention was made of

where it took place. "Syria has large amounts

of chemical weaponry and missiles. Everything

there is under (Assad government) control,"

Gilad said in a speech. "Hezbollah does not

have chemical weaponry. We have ways of

knowing. They are not keen to take weaponry

like this, preferring systems that can cover all

of the country (Israel)," he

said. Earlier this week,

Hezbollah leader Sheikh

Hassan Nasrallah said

his group would assist

Assad if needed in the

effort to put down a 2-

year-old uprising. Israeli

embassy spokesman Aaron Sagui would not

comment on Friday night specifically on the

report of an Israeli strike into Syria. "What we

can say is that Israel is determined to prevent

the transfer of chemical weapons or other

game-changing weaponry by the Syrian

regime to terrorists, specially to Hezbollah in

Lebanon," Sagui said in an email to the AP.

The Syrian UN Ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari,

told Reuters: "I'm not aware of any attack

right now."

INtENSE OvERfLIGHtS: It was not

immediately clear where the airstrike took

place, or whether the air force carried out the

strike from Lebanese or Syrian airspace.

The Israeli air force has so-called

"standoff" bombs that coast dozens of

kilometres across ground to their targets once

fired. That could, in theory, allow Israel to

attack Syria from its own turf or from

neighbouring Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities

reported unusual

intensive

Israeli air force activity over their territory on

Thursday and Friday. A Lebanese security

source said his initial impression was that

Israeli overflights were monitoring potential

arms shipments between Syria and Lebanon,

potentially to Hezbollah. "We believe that it is

linked to Israel's concerns over the transfer of

weapons, particularly chemical weapons, from

Syria to its allies in Lebanon," said the official,

who asked not to be named. Syrian opposition

sources, usually quick to announce

rumours of Israeli air strikes, said

they had not heard of an attack on

Syrian territory. In January

this year, Israel bombed a

convoy in Syria,

apparently hitting

weapons

destined for

Hezbollah, according to diplomats, Syrian

rebels and security sources in the region. In

2007, Israeli jets bombed a suspected nuclear

reactor site along the Euphrates River in

northeastern Syria, an attack that

embarrassed and jolted the Assad regime and

led to a buildup of the Syrian air defence

system. The Israeli strike also follows days of

renewed concerns that Syria might be using

chemical weapons against opposition forces.

israel confirms airstrike inside Syria

TOKYO AGENCIES

Japan and Turkey have signed a deal tobuild a major nuclear power plant onTurkey's Black Sea coast, a milestone forthe Japanese nuclear industry as it recov-ers from the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

On Friday, Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the $22 bil-lion contract as a "very important step"that would transform bilateral relationswith Japan into a "strategic partnership."

A Japanese-French consortium wonthe giant contract to build Turkey's sec-ond nuclear plant, Japan's first successfulbid on an overseas nuclear project sincea tsunami wrecked the power station inFukushima. Turkey weathered criticismfor teaming up with Japan in light of thecatastrophe, but "despite that, we havetaken this step," Erdogan said.

“What happened at Fukushima upsetall of us,” he said, adding that “successfulsteps are being taken now with the use of

improved technology.”Like Japan, Turkey lies in a part of

the world that is prone to earthquakes,making it essential that nuclear plants aredesigned to resist the effects of suchevents. Japanese Prime Minister ShinzoAbe, who arrived in Turkey as part of alarger Middle Eastern tour, said thatJapan had learnt important lessons from

the 2011 catastrophe."Japan will share its experience and

the lessons it has learnt and will con-tribute to the improvement of nuclear se-curity at the highest level," Abe said incomments translated into Turkish.

Abe and Erdogan also signed anagreement covering the peaceful use ofnuclear energy.

California wildfire

nearly triples in size WASHINGTON

AGENCIES

Firefighters have deployed ground crewsto battle a raging southern Californiawildfire that has nearly tripled in size as itthreatens 4,000 homes. The Springs Fire,near Malibu 60km west of Los Angeles,grew to 11,330 hectares from 4,040hectares on Friday morning. The VenturaCounty Fire Department (VCFD) said thatthe blaze was just 20 percent contained.Aerial operations ended for the night, butground crews would continue battling theblaze, the department said. Californiatypically has fires later in the year, butstrong winds and temperatures in the 90s(30s Celsius) have triggered a series ofbrushfires this week - including a new onein Glendale, just outside Los Angeles. Inthe fire near Malibu, nearly 1,000firefighters battled wind-fanned flamesthat have ripped through tinder-dry brush,threatening some 4,000 homes during theday, the VCFD said. Some celebrities,including actors Jamie Foxx and TomSelleck, live near the evacuation area,according to KTLA 5 television. Many ofthe homes were luxury ranches that hadstables of horses and other animals.

japan signs nuclear plantdeal with turkey

LHR 05-05-2013_Layout 1 5/5/2013 3:03 AM Page 7

newSNSunday 5 May, 2013

08

NEWS DESK

The politician most likely to be Pakistan’snext prime minister is a wiser man and amore mature leader than the one who gov-erned twice in the 1990s before being over-thrown in a military coup, according to oneof the women who knows him best – hisfavourite daughter Maryam Nawaz.

It would be an extraordinary comebackfor Nawaz Sharif who 14 years ago was ar-rested, thrown in prison and exiled.

For months his family did not knowwhether he would escape with his life.

“I think those years of struggle, thoseyears of hardship, those years of adver-sity, they have made a better, stronger andmore mature Nawaz Sharif,” Maryam toldThe Telegraph, as she campaigned amidthe narrow alleys and open sewers of hisLahore constituency.

“He’s a thinker now. I think there’sno hunger or greed for power. This is thetime he wants to do something for thecountry.” Pakistan goes to the polls nextSaturday in an election that marks a cru-cial milestone in the country’s democ-

racy. For the first time, a governmentwill have served a full five-year term be-fore handing on to another.

While the intricacies of Pakistan’s feu-dal politics are almost impossible for out-siders to fathom there is one thing on whichthe pundits agree: voters are tired of Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan People’sParty, leaving Sharif’s PML-N as favourite.

While he tours the country by pri-vate jet, his 39-year-old daughter hasbeen immersing herself in grass-rootspolitics, designing campaign ads andflying his flag in his prosaically namedNA-120 constituency.

Maryam has been a daily visitor, her ar-moured car making slow progress as itsqueezes past donkey carts, motor rick-shaws and throngs of supporters.

Handfuls of rose petals rain down,obscuring the windscreen as she remem-bered how her father was arrested whenGeneral Pervez Musharraf seized powerin 1999. “That was a tough time, a verytough time,” she said.

A gaggle of women pushed them-selves against her toughened window and

she opened the door to hear how a mothercould not afford to get her sick son tohospital. Telephone number noted, the carwas soon on its way.

This election has been marked by vio-lence. At least 62 people have died in po-litical attacks including a candidate for asmaller secular party, shot dead along withhis three-year-old son in Karachi on Friday- the first time that a candidate has beenkilled. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

With an affectionate smile Maryam ex-plained how a protective father lectured heron the dangers of stopping so frequently.

“I was actually using a normal car, anSUV, earlier,” she said from her front seatperch. “But my father was very annoyed.He said you have to use this car, don’t ex-pose yourself to danger.”

She is often compared with BilawalBhutto Zardari, the 24-year-old politicalheir to Benazir Bhutto, the former primeminister assassinated in 2007. It is a com-parison that makes her bristle and she in-sists she won’t be parachuted intoleadership, preferring to learn politics fromthe ground up.

While he has largely disappeared fromthe campaign, she has continued to work12-hour days for her father, juggling the de-mands of politics and her three children.

The case she makes on the streets is thatthe scale of the crises engulfing Pakistan –battered by Islamist terror group and afflictedby crippling power cuts - demands a leaderwith her father’s experience. It is a direct re-sponse to Imran Khan, the former cricketerwho has gained ground with his call for theold order to be swept away, replaced withnew faces untainted by corruption.

“Nawaz Sharif won’t be a prime min-ister who needs to spend two years takingbriefings and trying to understand the is-sues,” she said. “He’s ready to get to workon the very first day.”

His reputation for economic competenceis playing well with voters. And Maryampointed to his work building motorways andhis party’s major projects in Lahore (wherehis brother, her uncle, holds power) such asa new, much admired bus system.

Her fear is that anything other than anoutright majority will hobble his plans withthe distractions of coalition government.

Western governments will have otherconcerns, however. Sharif seems likely towithdraw support for America’s deadlydrones programme that has eliminatedmany suspected terrorists but is a sourceof massive anger in Pakistan, and he isfrequently accused of cosying up to reli-gious hardliners.

Whatever happens next Saturday, he isfaring better than his nemesis, PervezMusharraf. The former general remainsunder house arrest after returning to Pak-istan in March, accused in connection withthe death of Benazir Bhutto and of subvert-ing the constitution by dismissing judges ashe tried to cling to power.

Maryam said his plight was a sign thatdemocracy would triumph over dictator-ship but added that her family were notseeking revenge over the general who sentthem fleeing to Saudi Arabia.

“Whatever Musharraf has done to usas a family, we are ready to forgive him,”she said. “What he did to the constitution,to the law of this country, what he did todemocracy, for that we don’t have theright to forgive him.”

how nawaz sharif is more mature and ready to lead pakistan

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

THE Islamabad chiefcommissioner on Saturdayissued orders for conductingtrial of former president Pervez

Musharraf at his sub-jail residence inthe judges’ detention case. Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court(ATC) on Saturday extended thejudicial remand of the former militaryruler for a further 14 days.ATC Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidiresumed hearing of the case in whichMusharraf is accused of detainingjudges of superior courts in 2007.Musharraf’s counsel also filed a bailapplication in the court and the judgefixed a hearing for May 6. Owing to security concerns, theformer president did not appearbefore the court in person.The lawyers told the court that theIslamabad chief commissioner onApril 3, had issued a directive inwhich it was ordered that owing tosecurity concerns, proceedings ofthis case be conducted atMusharraf’s house, which has beendeclared as a sub-jail.Following this, the court aftergetting a formal approval from theIslamabad High Court, decided to

conduct the next hearing atMusharraf’s sub-jail residence.The court extended the judicialcustody of the accused and directedthe police to produce him beforecourt on May 18. The judicialremand was extended on the requestof police as investigators pleadedthat work was still underway on thecase. The court has ordered makingjudiciary’s stance, PervezMusharraf’s November 3 speech,and other material as part of therecord of the case. The former military ruler wasplaced in police custody at hishome following his arrest on April

19. In this case, he is facing chargesof imposing emergency in thecountry in 2007 and detainingsuperior judiciary including ChiefJustice ofPakistanIftikharChaudhry.

Mumbai attackstrial deferred afterprosecutor’s death

RAWALPINDIINP

The trial of seven Pakistani suspectscharged with involvement in the 2008Mumbai terror attacks was adjourned onSaturday till May 18 due to the killing of themain prosecutor in the case. According todetails, prosecutors from the FederalInvestigation Agency (FIA) asked JudgeChaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman of the Anti-Terrorism Court to adjourn the case as chiefprosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was killedin Islamabad on Friday.The judge accepted the request and adjournedthe case for a fortnight during proceedings heldbehind closed doors. It is not immediatelyknown whether the FIA will appoint a newchief prosecutor in place of Zulfiqar Ali or ifthe case will be taken over by his deputyChaudhry Azhar. Ali was killed by unidentifiedgunmen near his home in Islamabad in anexecution-style drive-by shooting on Friday.No group claimed responsibility for the attack.Besides the Mumbai attacks case, Zulfiqar Aliwas also handling the Benazir Bhuttoassassination case, over which former

president Pervez Musharraf wasrecently arrested by the FIA.

indian policeraise concernsover securityof Pakistanipilgrims

AJMERINP

Rajasthan police have raised seriousconcerns over the security of 640 Pakistanipilgrims, who are likely to visit Ajmerduring Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti’s ursamid anger over Sarabjit Singh’s death.Quoting sources, The Times of Indiareported that intelligence officials havelisted several threats to the pilgrims andrecommended cancellation of their visit.An intelligence report has warned itwould be difficult to arrange security forthe pilgrims. “The report mentions severalmemorandums and reports of recentprotests over Sarabjit’s death and threatsgiven by some organisations,’’ a sourcewas quoted as saying. The report readsthat in such a situation the Pakistanipilgrims may “become victim of anger”over Sarabjit’s death.Ajmer’s railway station is vacated when thetrain carrying Pakistani pilgrims reacheshere and they are accommodated in a localschool under tight security.The BJP, Vishva Hindu Parishad and ShivSena have staged protests and threatenedthe Pakistani pilgrims.Over 700,000 pilgrims are expected toparticipate in the urs from around theworld between May 7 and May 22. If Pakistan delegation’s trip is cancelled, it will be probably for thefirst time that devotees from theneighbouring country will not be able toattend the rituals.

Judges’ detentioncase: Next hearing atMusharraf’s sub-jail

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newS N

09

Sunday 5 May, 2013

KABULAGENCIES

AFGHAN President HamidKarzai Saturday suggested thatthe Taliban should turn theirweapons against Pakistan, esca-

lating tensions with Islamabad daysafter the two countries exchanged firealong a disputed border.

Speaking to reporters in Kabul,Karzai praised an Afghan policeman whodied in Wednesday’s border clash andthen called on the Taliban to “target theplace that is hostile to Afghanistan.” NoAfghan government, he added, will rec-ognize as an international frontier theBritish-drawn boundary with Pakistan,known as the Durand Line, which cuts intwo the ethnic Pashtun homeland.

Karzai’s comments—his strongest re-marks yet since the border clashes—maycomplicate US-led efforts to mediate apeace settlement and to ship militaryequipment out of Afghanistan throughPakistan as most international troops pre-pare to leave the country by the end of

2014. “Without cooperation with Pak-istan, we will never be able to reach sta-bility in Afghanistan,” cautioned HarounMir, a Kabul-based political analyst. “Weneed their assistance for negotiations withthe Taliban but we also depend on themfor our economy.”

A Pakistani Foreign Ministryspokesman had no immediate commenton Karzai’s remarks. Karzai, who hasbeen trying to persuade the Taliban to en-gage in peace talks, called on members ofthe insurgency to stand in support of Mo-hammad Qasim Khan, the policemanwho was killed in Wednesday’s clashes,saying he died in defense of his country.

Afghanistan and Pakistan disagreeover who started Wednesday’s fighting.Kabul says Pakistani troops built a borderoutpost within Afghan territory. Islamabadhas denied that claim, saying the outpostis on its side of the border, and condemnedthe attack of Afghan security forces onPakistani troops as unprovoked. Thedeadly clash sparked an outpouring ofanti-Pakistan sentiment in Afghanistan.

Protesters chanting “Death to Pakistan”

took to the streets of Afghan cities over thepast few days, calling for an end to Pak-istan’s alleged interference in its internal af-fairs. On Saturday, thousands of protestersdrove to the district of Khewa, the home ofthe slain Afghan policeman, to mourn withhis family, according to a provincial official.

Crowds also gathered in theprovinces of Nuristan, Khost and Uruz-gan in support of Afghan security forcesand chanting anti-Pakistan slogans. Thiscomes a day after thousands of protesters

marched in Kabul, with some setting thePakistani flag on fire and calling for war.

On Saturday, Karzai reiterated that“Afghanistan will never recognize theDurand Line.” He also accused Pakistanof supporting the Afghan insurgency.

“I once again call on the Pakistanigovernment to take the path of brother-hood and good friendship withAfghanistan, as terrorism and extremismhas not done them any good,” saidKarzai. In his remarks Saturday, Karzaiplayed down the fact that his office hasbeen receiving money from the CentralIntelligence Agency over the past decade.

“This is nothing unusual,” saidKarzai, noting that Afghanistan is heavilyreliant of international assistance.

Karzai said he recently met the CIAstation chief in Kabul on the matter. “Ithanked him for the support given to usover the past 10 years and I asked him tocontinue this support,” Karzai said.

The CIA payments to Karzai’s officewere previously reported by The NewYork Times. A Taliban spokesman wasnot reachable for comment.

KABULNNI

Diplomatic sources on Saturdayrevealed that the Taliban havebeen asked to issue adeclaration distancing itselffrom al Qaeda and committingitself to peace talks before itcan open a political office inQatar. According to a report by TheGuardian, conditions were laiddown by the Qatari governmentwith the backing of Kabul andthe US for the Taliban to openpeace talks.These involved making anunambiguous public break withglobal Jihad and promising touse the office in the capital cityof Doha as a base fornegotiations with the US andthe Afghan government, ratherthan as the seat of a governmentin exile or for fundraising.At a three-way meeting outsideBrussels last week, attended byAfghan president HamidKarzai, US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry had askedPakistan’s army commander

General Ashfaq Kayani todemonstrate his stated supportfor peace talks by puttingpressure on the Pakistan-basedTaliban to make the declaration.David Cameron made the sameappeal to Kayani at Chequers inFebruary.However, the Pakistanidelegation told British officialsthat Islamabad’s influence overthe Taliban was far fromabsolute. The Taliban sentrepresentatives to Doha lastyear with the aim of pursuingtalks with the US, but the peaceprocess stalled over a failure toagree terms for the release offive Afghan insurgentcommanders held atGuantanamo Bay.President Barack Obama’srestated commitment this weekto close the prison camp hasrevived hopes that releasescould be back on the table, butit is far from clear whether theTaliban would acceptconditions it rejected last year,including the pledge that theprisoners released would stay inDoha, under Qatari supervision.

uS urges amicableresolution of Pak-Afghan

border disputeWASHINGTON

INP

Describing recent incidents of borderclashes as troubling, the United States onFriday urged Afghanistan and Pakistan toresolve their dispute peacefully andbilaterally.“We are aware of recent incidents along theborder. Whenever these occur, they aretroubling. We encourage both sides to trypeaceful resolution of the border issues,”the Pentagon press secretary said in astatement.According to details, George Little toldreporters at an off-camera news conferencethat the border spat needed to be workedout between Afghans and Pakistanis.“If we can support these efforts, we will,” hesaid adding that the US was helping the twocountries resolve their disputes peacefully.“Our operations to my knowledge are notaffected,” Little concluded. During the high-stakes battle in the Goshta district of easternNangarhar province on Wednesday night,Afghan forces claimed overrunning aPakistani-held border crossing and pullingdown a gate unilaterally erected in the area.The incident triggered a string of anti-Pakistan demonstrations, with thousands ofpeople in a number of Afghan cities takingto the streets.

8 terroristskilled inupper orakzai

UPPER ORAKZAI ONLINE

Security forces on Saturday killed eightterrorists in operations. While someunidentified people barging into the house of atribal leader and gunned him down. Securitysources said operations were conducted atQismat Tanga and Sheen Qamar areas ofUpper Orakzai, which resulted in the death ofeight militants besides the destruction of theirthree hideouts. Meanwhile, a landmine planted on theroadside at Bezoot area of Orakzai Agencyexploded with a big bang, but fortunately noloss of life took place.On the other hand, some unidentified personsbarged into the house of tribal leader HaiderKhan and killed him in the Sanober area ofTehsil Bara of Khyber Agency.

Gas supply toparts ofbalochistansuspended

QUETTAAPP

Gas supply was suspended to parts ofBalochistan on Saturday after Sui SouthernGas Company’s gas pipeline exploded in PatFeeder area near Dera Murad Jamali.

Official sources revealed that an increasein gas pressure caused the explosion in thepipeline supplying gas to Quetta and otherparts of the province from Shikarpur.

Unknown men had attempted to blow upgas pipeline in the same area one month ago.The plan was foiled, police sources said.

Local administration, along with bombdisposal squad (BDS) reached the scene andcordoned off the area. Officials said that therepair work would begin after security clear-ance was issued.

taliban told to distanceitself from al Qaeda beforeopening Qatar office

karzai suggests AfghanTaliban target Pakistan

CHAmAN: Army soldiers

transport polling material

through a helicopter on

Saturday. INP

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Pakistan’s progressElections are round the corner. Party campaigns are at itspeak. Parties in the race are making tall promises to theelectorate that they will bring an end to all thepredicaments that confront Pakistan today. They arepromising to bring an end to problems of this country. Theyare making strong commitments to bring the economy ofPakistan back to its feet. Undoubtedly, all their rhetoric vis-

à-vis the predicaments of the masses of this country are

close to reality. The electorate vividly remembers these

commitments, and that is what makes it difficult for them

to believe in the tall promises that parties are making to

them. Is there a way out of this for the people? Yes, there is.

People should use their right to vote judiciously; vote for only

those who are sincere and have a good past track record.

M FAZAL ELAHI

Islamabad

coMMent

Aziz-ud-Din AhmadEditor

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

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

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

C

The new US Special Representative to Afghanistan and PakistanEnter James dobbins

More parties under attack

IF the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and religious parties, especially the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), thought they could get away without risk till the date of the generalelection, Friday brought them a shocker. The three major attacks of the day,

included the targeted killing of an Awami National Party (ANP) candidate in Karachi,but, more significantly, a PTI election office in Peshawar and a JI candidate in Hanguwere also targeted. This added dimension to the terror attacks leaves more questionsabout how much chaos shall be suffered before the next election takes places.

To add to this toll, a member of the Sunni Tehreek’s (ST) Ulema Board was alsogunned down in Lahore. The attack appears to be connected with the spate of electionviolence; but again it is not clear who was behind the attack. Law enforcementagencies suggested the attack was aimed to provoke a response, but the ST candidatefrom NA-120 managed to calm down party activists. But without addressing thequestion of who is responsible, it appears like the situation will keep getting worse,with the trail of violence increasingly encroaching towards the one province that hadmanaged to escape, Punjab.

Is there a pattern to the trail? And does the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) havea clear, coherent plan on how it intends to derail the next general elections? Are thereother actors involved, who are settling personal scores under the cover of the fearimposed by the TTP threat? The job belongs to law enforcers and intelligenceagencies, but neither appears to be up to the task. It is certainly not the most conduciveof circumstances to be calling upon people to elect a new leadership from. Thequestion is: were the three attacks freak events, with no relation to the TTP threat, andmore due to local rivalries, or do these mark a new trend within the TTP? Or is there aterror network other than the TTP that is out to derail the elections? There are manyquestions and barely any answers. Whoever is behind the attacks, if the PTI and JI hadthought their criminal silence on attacks on other major parties would exempt themfrom being targeted, it appears this shall not be the case. All political parties shall haveto unite against the terrorists out to derail the system, and political ideologies shallhave to be cast aside. Those looking for some answers should turn to Imran Khan’srally in Peshawar. Direct threat or no direct threat, it is clear that no political partyshall escape these elections without having to put their workers on the line for the sakeof votes and democracy. Survival and commitment shall be the two pillars of thesepolls; barring any major tragedy.

SECRETARY of State John Kerry telephoned President Zardari on Friday anddiscussed Pak-US bilateral relations. What is significant, Kerry also announcedthe appointment of James Dobbins, a senior diplomat, as US Special

Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. One would readily agree with Kerry thatthis is a pivotal moment for both Afghanistan and Pakistan where security issues areinterconnected. The nomination has raised eyebrows. It has been asked how a personwho had supported Pentagon’s failed policy of COIN despite Joe Biden’s warning ofAfghanistan turning into another Vietnam-like quagmire could act as a lead USdiplomat in the region.

As things stand the Afghan National Security Force which is to replace the foreigntroops lacks the sophisticated weapons systems that gave an edge to NATO forces againstthe Taliban. With the Afghan economy unable to sustain such a large army and the USunlikely to continue to finance the Afghan defence expenditure year after year, there isa need to look for a political solution of the insurgency. Many think some sort ofunderstanding with the Afghan Taliban might have been reached by now if Washingtonhad got rid of its militaristic thinking earlier. Now that the Taliban know the US wouldbe leaving within 19 months and there would be a new Afghan president after theelections due next year, they are reluctant to talk to Karzai. Despite Taliban having setup their office in Qatar, they have shown little willingness to hold negotiations with theUS either. Meanwhile, other complications have arisen. Though Pak-US relations haveimproved a bit, they are still marred by mistrust. Similarly, relations between Pakistanand Afghanistan have touched a new low. Unless things change the situation wouldprovide the militants an opportunity to play havoc in the region. Dobbins therefore hasto work for greater understanding between the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

James Dobbins faces tough agenda ahead. There are regional rivalries and thefears among neighbours that Afghan territory could be used to their disadvantage. ForAfghanistan to be at peace the governments of all these countries will have to beconvinced that the arrangement being visualised secures their interests. The Talibanand the Afghan government have to be brought together on a power sharingarrangement with mutually acceptable modifications to the existing constitution. Whatneeds to be ensured is that the negotiations lead to a stable and peaceful Afghanistanwhich neither hosts nor collaborates with international terrorists. In 2011, whenDobbins and Shinn wrote “Afghan Peace Talks, A Primer” for RAND Organisation,they observed that Pakistani military did not yet seem ready to cut ties with theterrorist groups with which it had long been associated. One wonders if they wouldstill hold the view after Gen Kayani’s latest pronouncement.

Sunday, 5 May, 2013

10

Think: why are we perennially taking the wrong path?

The most courageous act

is still to think for yourself.

Aloud. –Coco Chanel

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusivelyEditor’s mail

WITH elections nighthere’s no point inmaking predictions.With so many assas-sinations though,

we should make a ‘Democracy’s Re-venge Park’ in memory of its martyrs.

What will happen will happen, thoughone can say that barring some horribleevent elections will go ahead unless theanti-Taliban parties of the three provincesbeing targeted by terrorists boycott them.Unlikely, for they would be out in the cold,but it would throw a big spanner in theworks. My worry is: will all big players ac-cept their validity given that terrorism ob-structed their campaigns and they get fewerseats than they expect or if Imran Khan’sTsunami turns out to be a splash? Credibil-ity of elections is at stake, as is the system.

Last week I was part of a panel discus-sion on ‘Pakistan at the Crossroads’ in theIslamabad Literature Festival of the OxfordUniversity Press organized beautifully byMs. Ameena Saiyid and her team. They de-serve praise and congratulations. I learnedsomething when some Baloch Pathansvented their anger on the panel, I particu-larly, for not knowing what we were talkingabout. They had attacked Prof. Dr. RasulBakhsh Rais a day earlier during a paneldiscussion I was moderating. I realized howmuch they wanted to differentiate them-selves from the Pathans of Pukhtoonkhwaand how much anger and resentment theyharbour against the State. When I thankedthem for adding to my knowledge and sug-gested that we should all think about howto assuage their anger and bring them backinto the mainstream, they suddenly mel-lowed. Afterwards they climbed the stageand the person who hectored me kissed myhand, thanked me and said that he wouldgive me a return ticket to come to his placein Balochistan to eat ‘sajji’, the deliciouswhole roast lamb they cook on wood fire.

Afterwards we continued our discus-sion outside the building in a most civi-lized manner. I realized that there is goodin everyone if only we searched for it andhow easy it is to bring the alienated toone’s side with a little love, understand-ing and sympathy. The big lesson is thatone can co-opt people with honey insteadof poison. We keep using poison all thetime against a people we don’t know anda place we have never seen.

When has Pakistan not been at acrossroads, not faced a decision thatwould change the course of its history?Not being used to normalcy we would feelunwell if we were not at a crossroads atany time. Sadly, we always take the wrong

turn. But let it continue for this is an evo-lutionary learning process and we the peo-ple will eventually find the correct path.

And that is precisely the point: whereasa crossroads gives one four roads to choosefrom, we are actually at a fork. One is thecorrect path that leads to water that is thesource of life and the other the wrong paththat leads to destruction of mind and body.As Muslims we have no option but to takethe correct path or Shaarey, the path thatleads to the well. We have always taken theSatanic path rather than the Divine path forwe have abdicated our thinking to the clericmasquerading as scholar who abducted ourfaith long ago and now tells us what our re-ligion is and how we ought to practice itwhen God has already told us so in theQuran. Please dwell on the two words Ihave used – ‘faith’ and ‘religion’, ‘Iman’and ‘Deen’ – for we have made them intotwo different things and foisted the‘Mazhab’ of a man-made Sharia on us todivide the Muslim community. God’sSharia or guidance is already in the Quran.Faith is what matters: how one practices itis religion that is enunciated clearly in theQuran, so why do you need the cleric?Don’t get lost in debates about how manyangels can stand on the eye of a needle.That is neither faith nor religion but dogma.Clerics have turned religion into a collec-tion of dogma, customs and rituals some ofwhich pre-date the faith and become theself-appointed bureaucrats of religion runby churches, de facto and de jure.

So let us see whether on May 11 wetake the correct path or the incorrect oneonce again. The four roads at this cross-roads are all incorrect paths on which rul-ing class misguides us. The correct path hasto be found through experience, throughfailure. That is evolution. As Hazrat Ali(RA) said, “Unfortunate is the man whoknows no failure for he doesn’t get achance to know God.” I would add that hedoesn’t get a chance to see his own small-ness either in the larger scheme of things.

Actually, the wrong path can often leadto the right path through successive mis-guidance and abdication of one’s ownthought process. That is what I was indicat-ing when I said a few weeks ago that what-ever the outcome of the elections it will notbe good in the short term but will enhancethe realization that we are on the wrong pathand need to find the correct one. And wewill. My heart tells me so, as does my head.

Think: why are we perennially takingthe wrong path? Is it that we are collectivelystupid or that the roadmap given to us bybeneficiaries of the iniquitous status quomasquerading as leaders is incorrect so as topreserve their own benefits and privileges?

Think: why was the prosecutor in theBenazir murder case assassinated? By put-ting blame on Gen Musharraf, PervezElahi and others, did her real murderersperhaps drop a veil on themselves by send-ing us on the wrong path? With Musharrafunexpectedly returning and giving a can-did statement to the investigation team,the veil is in danger of being lifted.

Think: why was Khalid Shahinshah,one of Benazir’s security men standingalongside her on the stage while she wasspeaking making suspicious gestures? Whywas he killed a few days later? Why washis killer killed in turn? You don’t have tobe a genius to take your thinking in the

right direction. Think: don’t go by drawingroom hearsay and teahouse gossip.

Think: will General Musharraf bealone on trial for Benazir’s murder orwill it expose her real killers? They mustbe besides themselves with worry. Is thatwhy they are desperate that he should ac-cept exile again so that they are off thehook? If he agrees they would send himoff with another honour guard.

Think. Why are terrorists rampant inthree provinces and not in the Punjab?Who do the Taliban want in power? Re-ferring to Mullah Omar’s Afghan gov-ernment, the then prime minister NawazSharif said on November 17, 1998: “Weneed a Taliban type system in Pakistan”,and “The Taliban are running the govern-ment better.” What does that tell you?

Think. Why does would-be delivererImran Khan keeps making excuses forthe Taliban, as this newspaper editorial-ized the other day? If Imran wins big somuch the better for these two softies onthe Taliban in the Punjab would negateone another and Nawaz Sharif will findit difficult to form a viable coalition gov-ernment that will make space for obscu-rantists. While we want God’s Islam wedon’t want the mullah’s ‘Talibanisation’.

Think: Nawaz Sharif used his heavymajority in the National Assembly topass the 15th Amendment that wouldhave brought us very close to becomingTaliban clones. Mercifully, before theSenate could pass the Act into law Sharifcommitted political suicide. This electionis not likely to get him a two-thirds ma-jority again but the danger of being softon the Taliban remains. Think.

Think. For 33 years Pakistan’s politicshas revolved around pro-Bhutto and anti-Bhutto forces. That is evaporating but nowour politics revolves around pro- and anti-Taliban forces, a backward movement ac-tually. But then how else does one getobscurantist forces of darkness out of oursystem, just as it seems that we are on thecusp of getting fascism out of our system– the use of the most progressive rhetoricto further the most retrogressive ends, likestrengthening feudalism by nationalizingindustry and breaking the urban back?

Think. Is only Musharraf on trial butthe judges too? That is good: let judgesand lawyers expose themselves by theirown hand and inadvertently save the ju-diciary, a vital institution in a democracyand an Islamic state, instead of being‘martyred’ again to return as heroes.

The next government will be a wob-bly caretaker and it will be a miracle if itcompletes its term. Let it fall on its faceso that the system can be exposed forwhat it is and we can move on and hope-fully get on to the correct path.

Think. Why do I think that even if elec-tions don’t take us out of the quagmire weare headed in the right direction albeit onthe wrong path? Not because I am an incor-rigible optimist who grasps at silver liningsin the darkest of clouds but because only byrepeatedly taking the wrong path will thisman-eating system eventually collapse andour eyes and minds finally open to recog-nize the correct path. Then we will see.

The writer is a political analyst. Hecan be contacted athumayun.gauhar786@gmail.com

HumAyuN GAuHAR

‘democracy’srevenge park’

Survival and commitment shall be the two pillars of these polls

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coMMent CSunday, 5 May, 2013

11The truth will set you

free, but first it will piss

you off. –Gloria Steinem

IN a week’s time, on May 11th, 2013, the‘tired, poor, and huddled masses’ of ournation, yearning to breathe free, will onceagain be afforded their democratic right to

caste their vote, and elect fresh representativesfor governance. And this exercise, of casting theballot, is arguably the most sacred privilege in ademocratic dispensation. It is the singular virtuethat sets apart a democracy from other forms ofgovernment. It represents the single mostimportant right, through the exercise of whichwe choose to be governed according to our ownaspirations, and can claim to be masters of ourown national destiny.

As a result, in essence, the casting of theballot is not simply a privilege, but more im-portantly, the most solemn responsibility ofeach one of us.

In theory, it is fascinating that every fiveyears we get to (legally and constitutionally)overthrow the government. In Pakistan’s case,however, the theory is as far as the fascinationextends. Because at the shores of the theory,start the bare sands of reality. And the realityis this: the impending election, divorced fromindividual passions that any of us might havefor certain political parties, is a choice betweenelecting the lesser of the evils.

Lets start with getting the obvious out of theway: the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and itsallies (namely: PML-Q, the ANP, and the MQM)are not, at least realistically, in a bid to form thegovernment in the center. There is an outsidechance that some combination of these parties re-turn to some form of power (in case the electoralprocess returns such a split that none of the otherparties can form a government in themselves, orwith a possible coalition, and the small fragmentsmagnet together to scratch out a weak govern-ment). In realization of their abysmal perform-ance over the past five years, and no plausibleexcuse to hide behind, these political parties (es-pecially the PPP) do not even seem to be makinga serious bid for political power. There have beenno major political rallies or jalsas by the incum-

bent coalition partners, no sloganeering on tele-vision talk-shows, and no real presence in signif-icant parts of even those constituencies wherethey had previously won in the 2008 elections.

The contest, effectively, is then just a two-party race: that between the entrenched politi-cal machinery of PML-N and the newly mintedand untested (but ever so exuberant) razakaarsof PTI. And this race, for all intents and pur-poses, will be decided in the plains of Punjab,which is the ‘home-ground’ of the PML-N forseveral decades now.

The PML-N is contesting on the slogan oftheir performance in Punjab, compared to the restof Pakistan, over the past five years. Their claimis that, while the rest of the Pakistan faced cor-ruption charges, and despondent performance bythe federal government and respective provincialgovernments, Punjab, under PML-N has made(marginal) advances (in terms of infrastructureprojects). And using this as a tool – mixed withhalf-baked dreams about how they ‘created’ theatomic bomb, and were ‘considering’ sellingelectricity to India in their previous government– they are trying to pose as the only party with(some) track record of good governance. But intheir rhetoric of past performance and good gov-ernance, they forget to mention the episode ofransacking the Supreme Court, being in bed withthe khakis (in fact, being the creation of Army),and the Asghar Khan claims (now sanctified, inpart, by the Supreme Court). Nonetheless, whencompared to the PPP regime, this appeal of thePML-N, even if it is simply a case of picking thelesser evil, does not seem as bad.

The appeal of PTI is more primitive, ideal-istic, and untested in nature. Having emerged asa national political force to reckon with onlyabout two years back, believing in them is an act

of faith. Not having been in power, ever, they donot carry the baggage that other major politicalparties carry. The plight of the people of Pakistancannot be pinned on them as a party (though itcan be pinned on several individual members ofPTI). And having admirably worked out andpublished policy papers on different sectoral re-forms, their appeal to the nation, at the hear of it,is one of “trust me! I can fix this”. And what theylack in experience of governance, is made up bythe exceptional fan-following (even cult) of theirleader. While supporters of other political parties,when asked, say that they are voting for ‘PPP’ or‘Noon-League’, the PTI supporter, in all con-stituencies across Pakistan, would proudly de-clare that they will be voting for “Imran Khan”.And his appeal, as an individual, of being astraight-shooter and honest man, seems sufficientto drown out the fact that his party is flanked byfaces that have never been straight-shooters orhonest individuals. Khan Sb.’s rhetoric of theother parties being a ‘drama’ with the same char-acters taking turns on center stage, seems enoughto veil the Achilles’ heel that his party too is fartoo populated the same tested and discardedcharacters, this time in different costumes.

Less than a week of campaigning is left,which will be followed by voting and swear-ing-in of the new government. As we all gearup to caste our votes, and then wait for the re-sults with abated breath, it is hard to wish foror pray for the success of any individual party.The only prayer that I find myself articulating,is that for Pakistan.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. Hehas a Masters in Constitutional Law fromHarvard Law School. He can be reached at:saad@post.harvard.edu

The impending choice

SAAd RASOOL

Are the Tailban above thelaw and the Constitution?

doomedelections?

RE L E N T L E S Sand mercilessbombings andviolent attacks

by the Taliban directedagainst the leaders and mem-bers of three major parties,the ANP, the PPP and theMQM, have dissolved themorale of the state. If suchincidents continue, there is areal danger the electionswould be reduced to a merefarce, a sick joke practicedon the helpless, captive peo-ple of Pakistan.

In times like these, people naturally look to our national “saviors”for help: both the traditional saviours clad in khaki and the new sav-iours clad in black robes. As the Chief Justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry declared in Islamabad lately: “In recent years the judiciaryhas successfully emerged as a saviour...”

The SC judges have been hyper active during the last couple ofyears, continually issuing judicial and contempt notices to the shiver-ing babus and puny politicians on anything their majesties deemed ap-propriate. Yet, suo motto actions and court summons took a back seatin this game of political tag. Isn’t the horrendous massacre of about50,000 of our citizens, men and women, civilians and soldiers by theTaliban, not enough to warrant such notices from the judiciary? Isn’tthe massive loss of human life in our country of greater public impor-tance than the price of a samosa or the transfer of a section officer, forwhich the judges have issued notices at the blink of an eye?

Our grand saviour has been shouting pearls of wisdom such as,“Nobody is above the law” or “ Everyone has to respect the Con-stitution.” Really? May one humbly ask the Chief Justice if theselofty admonitions are applicable to the armed Taliban also? AreTailban above the law and the Constitution? If not, what actions hasthe judiciary taken against them?

On the contrary, it seems that our bold and independent judici-ary would go to any lengthto avoid invoking the ireof the Taliban/Jihadi mur-derers. We are all aware ofhow the courts have re-leased and set free most ofthe terrorists accused ofexecrable crimes on oneflimsy ground after an-other, thus giving themleeway to continue withtheir carnage.

As far as our otherlongstanding traditionalsaviour, the Army, is , itlives in a cabalistic worldof it’s own, issuing arcane and enigmatic speeches once in a whilethat leave the public scrambling to figure out the true message em-bedded in their statements. People have practically given up tryingto remind the Army of its constitutional duty to defend the countryfrom our internal enemy, the Taliban/Jihadists.

It is now being reported that the Army has decided to deploy about50,000 troops on the Election Day in order to ensure that elections arefree and fair. But impartial elections are not a product of a single day;they are a culmination of a long period of uncorrupt management.

Free and unfettered campaigning by the political parties is thevery essence of democratic elections. And if half the number of po-litical parties and their candidates are effectively prevented fromdoing so because of targeted threats, attacks and bombings that hin-der their political meetings, while the other half of the political par-ties and their candidates are able to campaign in complete freedomand security, then the elections cannot be deemed free and fair byany stretch of the imagination.

Imran Khan made a shockingly false statement, shocking even byPakistan’s political standards, when he claimed that the Taliban hadno hand in murdering Benazir Bhutto. Will he also say that they arenot responsible for all the suicide bombings and attacks that havekilled tens of thousands of our civilians? He is trying these new tacticsof appeasement either because he is so desperate to get votes or outof fear and behind-the- scenes coercion by the Taliban forces.

The same goes for those supine, fundamentalist political partieswho have gotten a free pass from the Taliban. Their silence and ac-quiescence of the Taliban’s atrocities will come to haunt them, es-pecially after the elections, when Taliban will come to collect theirpound of flesh from them.

There can be no doubt that if murderous attacks, lethal threatsand ensuing mayhem by Talibans/Jihadists are not immediatelystopped, then the elections would amount to a farce, a gross viola-tion of Pakistan’s electoral laws and its Constitution, and wouldstand in complete disregard of the guidelines set by internationallaws such as the Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Electionsadopted by the Inter Parliamentary Council in 1994.

In that event, the nation might as well be prepared to face a fierymaelstrom of such intensity that will obliterate any vestiges of na-tional stability, viability and hope.

The writer is a US-based corporate attorney, author andindependent analyst. He can be contacted at: tausifkamal@hotmail.com

A choice between electing the lesser of the evils

TAuSIF KAmAL

Free and unfetteredcampaigning by the

political parties is thevery essence of

democratic elections.

LHR 05-05-2013_Layout 1 5/5/2013 3:04 AM Page 11

arts

ASunday, 5 May, 2013

12A man is a worker. If he is not thathe is nothing. –Joseph Conrad

COURTESY THE GUARDIAN

Charles Moore's authorised life of Thatcher isclear-eyed and rich in telling detail.

It is a tricky deal being an authorised biogra-pher. Charles Moore's big advantage over thosewho have previously tackled Margaret Thatcheris that he has been provided with material deniedto them. Of the arrangement that he was offeredby his subject, he writes: "I would have full ac-cess to herself… and to her papers. She wouldassist all my requests for interviews with others,including access to members of her family." Withher support, the Cabinet Office was persuaded toallow him to truffle among all the governmentpapers of her time in power, including those doc-uments subject to the 30-year rule.

The potential trap is that the writer will be-come imprisoned both by the weight of mate-rial and a sense of obligation to the person whounlocked it. A further challenge confrontingMoore, one of Britain's most prominent Con-servative journalists, was to rise above his ownsympathies for her politics, candidly acknowl-edged in the preface and often expressed on tel-evision since her death, and to remainclear-eyed about his subject.

In this, the first of two intended volumes, hegenerally, and often superbly, overcomes thosehurdles. He mines his sources skilfully withoutbecoming their captive. His prose is more con-sidered and his conclusions more nuanced thanhis partisan journalism. He is not afraid to addressthe contradictions and tease out the inconsisten-cies of his subject. Nor to be critical, sometimesdeeply so. The result is to paint a much moremultidimensional portrait of Thatcher than thecaricature heroine adored by the right or the devilincarnate loathed by the left.

Her early life is illuminated in much greaterdetail than before. Moore had the great good for-tune to come by a treasure trove of more than 150candid private letters between Margaret Hildaand her older sister, Muriel. We discover a muchmore sexual creature than earlier biographers

have supposed, one acutely aware of her femi-ninity, with a pre-Denis love life which was com-plicated and completely ignored in her ownmemoirs. One boyfriend was passed on to Murieland went on to become the sister's husband. Wealso learn that her marriage to Denis was not asblissful as it is usually depicted. He suffered anervous breakdown in the 1960s which some oftheir friends believed was triggered, at least inpart, by his wife's obsession with her burgeoningpolitical career. He may even have contemplateddivorce. He disappeared to South Africa and fora while it was uncertain whether he would everreturn. Her ravenous and lifelong appetite forfacts and arguments contrasts with her muchslighter interest in personalities. A niece is quoted:"The Robertses are not very good at feelings."That lack of emotional intelligence was one ofthe flaws that eventually provoked key membersof her cabinet to regicidal revolt.

Moore is a patrician Old Etonian and a HighTory. So another of his challenges is to make theempathetic leap necessary to get inside the headof a grammar school girl who was born over ashop in Grantham. He makes a decent stab at it,but can't always resist lapsing into pedantic snob-bery. Quoting letters in which she writes "he andI", he adds a lordly "[sic]" to tell the reader thathe knows, as the young Thatcher did not, that thisis not strict grammar. One is therefore very sur-prised to find this old stickler for the English lan-guage using spellings that many considervulgarly American: "realized" for "realised", "or-ganize" for "organise", "privatization" for "pri-vatisation". Motes and beams, Charles.

I quarrel with some of his judgments. Hegives too little attention to the inner-city rioting,mass unemployment and savage deindustrialisa-tion that disfigured her first term and is generallythin on the wider context in which she operated.He takes the conventional view about the Falk-lands war, the triumphant note on which this vol-ume ends. Writing "she had indeed provedherself to be the Iron Lady", he implies that noother prime minister would have had the audacity

to send the taskforce to the south Atlantic. Thetruth is, she had little choice. The alternativewould have been her resignation. To be fair, he isbalanced enough to also note why the Falkandssowed the seeds of hubris. "In her mind, it helpedto create the dangerous idea that she acted bestwhen she acted alone."

The prose is intricate, elegant and lacedwith dry humour. The rather obvious title –taken from her self-mythologising speech to the1980 Tory party conference – is actually decep-tive. Unlike some of her eulogists, who write asif her reign was almost divinely ordained,Moore rightly suggests that it was in many waysa fluke. She surprised nearly everyone when shesupplanted Ted Heath as Tory leader. If JimCallaghan, another of the men who fatally un-derestimated her, had not funked calling an elec-tion in the autumn of 1978, before the winter ofdiscontent destroyed his authority, she mightwell have fought just one election and lost it andthere would never have been such a thing asThatcherism. Moore places appropriate empha-sis on her ideological zigzags on the way to thetop and her insecurities once she got there, in-cluding the capitulation to the miners in 1981because she was not yet ready for battle.

When IRA prisoners at the Maze went onhunger strike, she privately admired theircourage. "You have to hand it to some of theseIRA boys" is a brilliantly revelatory quote.While insisting in public that she would nevernegotiate with terrorists, secretly her govern-ment did just that. Moore is also capable ofsome piercing criticism of aspects of herrecord. Writing of the sale of council houses totheir tenants, the signature policy still regardedby most Tories as a stroke of genius, he blamesit for "the gradual build-up of a housing short-age which, in 1979, had not existed".

This biography will not radically transformanyone's fundamental view of MargaretThatcher, but it immensely adds to our knowl-edge and understanding of the longest-reigningprime minister of the democratic age.

Margaret thatcher: The authorised biography,Volume One: Not for Turning by Charles Moore (book review)

NEWS DESK

“iRON Man 3" is expected tolaunch America's summerblockbuster season with a bangthis weekend, having alreadytaking global box offices by

storm, industry analysts say. RobertDowney Jr returns as the metal-suited Mar-vel superhero, in a sequel to the last "IronMan" movie in 2010, but also playing offthe back of last year's comic-book mega hit"The Avengers," which also featured him.

The film, starring Gwyneth Paltrowand Ben Kingsley as well, has alreadymade nearly $200 million around the worldin the last week, and could earn a similarsum in its first weekend in North America.

"The summer firework show has al-ready begun for most of the world. Disney'scash rocket... is expected to light up the boxoffice with $165 million," said Jeff Bock,box office analyst at industry tracker Ex-hibitor Relations. That may be short of thebest opening weekend box office ever --$207 million for "The Avengers" -- but itwould be the biggest "Iron Man" debutafter $98 million for the first one in 2008and the second three years ago.

Downey Jr was in suitably relaxedmood when promoting the movie recentlyahead of its US release, bantering with Pal-trow, whose character's teasing romancewith his reaches new levels in this movie.

"These guys are wimps, okay? The suitis not that bad," Paltrow said after DowneyJr and metal-clad co-star Don Cheadle com-plained about how heavy their suits were, andhow much they had to wear them on set com-pared to Paltrow. The "Iron Man" star shotback: "And Gwyneth by the way, she did

come in and she was having a ball, and herkids were there and she was in rockin' shape,so it was all nice and easy. I think she wore itonce or twice. "It's an accumulative issue,"he joked at a Beverly Hills press conference,before acknowledging: "I admit, we'rewimps." In the new movie, Tony Stark, hisbillionaire playboy character who transformshimself into "Iron Man," faces formidableterrorist The Mandarin, played by Kingley.

There are two baddies in all, withAnglo-Australian actor Guy Pearce playingevil scientist Aldrich Killian, who has de-veloped a fluid that can turn people into su-perhuman mutants. "These movies are onlyever as good as their bad guys," said

Downey Jr, paying tribute to his co-stars --who in turn heaped praise on the US staractor, who makes fun of his past problemswith drugs and the law. "The truth is thatthese movies work because Robert has a re-ally big picture creative mind about whatthese movies should feel like," said Paltrow.

"He is always asking... how can wemake it feel like something we care about,and we want to watch. So I think... that'swhy the movies keep working, and they'renot a weaker carbon copy of the one be-fore." Box office analyst Bock noted thatin China, "Iron Man 3" made $21.5 millionin just one day, a record he said -- com-pared to $18 million taken by "The

Avengers" there over two days last sum-mer. "In fact, 'Iron Man 3,' straight out ofthe gate, may be the top movie of the sum-mer," he said, adding that it was "definitelyplaying like a pseudo-sequel to" last year's"The Avengers." So will there be an "IronMan 4?" "We never could have knownwhat and who was going to come togetherfor the third Iron Man. Usually, the third ofanything struggles to even meet the firsttwo, let alone the first one," said DowneyJr. "So in all earnestness, things are verymuch in flux right now. Marvel has theirplans and we're all living and growing, sowe'll see what happens," he added. "Thefuture, as usual, is uncertain."

‘iroN MAN 3’ blASTS offuS bloCkbuSTEr SEASoNVEENA MAlik

ENJoyS boldPhoToShooT

NEWS DESK

Veena Malik has done a bold photoshoot for

her forthcoming Bollywood film Zindagi 50-50

in which she plays a sex worker. She says she

loved shooting in a bikini. Veena wore a black

bikini during the shoot. She is said to have

done extensive research for her character and

met sex workers to understand their body

language and the way they talk. "I love

shooting in all those sexy bikinis. It will be

one of my boldest photoshoots for the

character Madhuri which is realistic rather

than bold. This is a true story of a girl. I have

given more than my hundred percent thanks

to Madhuri, the character I am playing," said

Veena. The actress is also working in Haroon

Rashid's The City

That Never

Sleeps.

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13artSSunday, 5 May, 2013

A

God gives the nuts, but he does

not crack them. –Franz Kafka

NEWS DESK

Bandra may lose one of its stars toSoBo. Now that he has a growingbaby, Aamir Khan has been planningto shift to a bigger house. With thedeals in and around Bandra not work-ing out to his liking, the actor is fo-cused on Parel and Worli.

According to sources, the actor islooking at a 5 BHK pent house or du-plex ideally in SoBo and his staff isin talks with various builders. Hemay also buy an entire floor and con-vert two penthouses into one.

Aamir currently owns two flatsin Bandra west. While, he and Kiranlive in a 3 BHK apartment in Marina,his brother stays at a 2 BHK flat inBella Vista. "He needs more spaceand ideally would have liked to stayon in Bandra. He was looking for apenthouse in one of the high-rises inthe area but the deals fell through," asource told us adding: "Since, a two-month search has not yielded a prop-erty of his choice, he has decided toshift focus towards SoBo, and is now

considering Lower Parel or UpperWorli. However, it will take sometime to finalise the deal."

Interestingly, a source close tothe developments had a slightly dif-ferent story: "For the past four-fivemonths Aamir has been scanning var-ious properties. And now it seems hehas finally found a place that he likes.Only his wife, agent and few closefriends know the location."

Even after the deal is signed, itwould take Aamir some time to packall his belongings and memories —including an archive of rare familyphotos, vintage film costumes, innu-merable awards and fan lettersamong other things, from the housewhere he has spent the most part ofhis life. With the actor busy shootingfor Dhoom 3, it will be up to Kiranto oversee the shifting process.

Interestingly, both Salman andAamir, who have been living in theapartments they grew up in, are shift-ing homes. Salman is reportedly ac-quiring an entire building in Bandrawest.

b ULLEH Shah (1680-1757) was a Punjabi poet hail-ing from Kasur. He was educated under Shah Inayat,but rejected his scholarly education and elite family

status, instead choosing to roam the streets dancing andsinging his kafis for the populace. His poetry covers manythemes, including love, Sufism, and social rebellion.

Tu nahion, main naaheen, vay sajnaaWithout you, I am not, my belovedKholay de parchawayn waangon, ghoom rahaanmann maanheenLike a shadow amidst ruins, my heart wandersJaan bolaan toon naalay bolain, chup rahwaanmann naaheenWhen I speak, you speak inside me and my heart can’tbe silencedJaan sowan toon nalay sowayn, jay turaan toonraaheenWhen I sleep you sleep with me, when I walk, you’rethe pathBullah, shoh ghar mere aaya, jinndree gholghumayeenO Bullah, the Beloved visited me, and I tossed awaymy existence in his nameTu nahion, mein naaheen, main naaheen, vay sajnaaWithout you, I am not, my Beloved.

TRANSLATEd By SARA KAzmI

aamir khan plans to shift home

NEWS DESK

WHEN two Bollywoodstars tie the knot, there'sincreasing speculationabout them being seen to-

gether on screen. But Saif Ali Khan,who's paired up with Ilean D'Cruzfor his next film, isn't too keen toappear with his wife of six monthsin movies.

"It's something that happens tome when I'm working with her, I'mnot as interesting on screen," ad-mits Saif, "I become like how I amwhen I am with her, which is notinteresting. Normally, an actor iscompetitive, and that makes forgood chemistry on screen. Thechemistry goes a bit flat whenyou're too comfortable." The last

time Kareena and Saif came to-gether for a film was in 2009, forKurbaan. Before that, they wereseen in Tashan, but their first filmtogether was JP Dutta's LOC:Kargil. Now, however, Saif and Ka-reena are maintaining a studied ap-proach towards working together.Or let's say not working together.It's not like they aren't offers forendorsements, especially after theywed, but they are not interested.

"It's really difficult to maintainyour identity as an individual whenyou're in a relationship like ours.People are constantly asking youabout your relationship. You're pro-moting your film and someone asksyou about the relationship and thatanswer is made into the headline.The way around it is the way Ameri-

cans do it. Daniel Craig is mar-ried to Rachel Weisz, you won'teven know, he doesn't talk abouther, he's not seen with her exceptfor in some private function. Andthey're both known for the workthey do. Even a brand endorse-ment for us as a couple,we don't want to do itbecause we don't wantto be projected likethat, we want to beprojected as in-dividuals, whohave a personalconnection witheach other. Butin the public, theless you see ustogether, the bet-ter," says Saif.

My ChEMiSTry WiTh kArEENAGoES A biT flAT oN SCrEEN: SAif

Salman khan’sNGo comes to aidof drought-hitMaha districts

NEWS DESK

Bollywood star Salman Khan's 'Being

Human' foundation has come forward to

offer help in the drought-hit Marathwada

region of Maharashtra. The foundation

will provide 2,500 water tankers with a

storage capacity of 2,000 litres each to

the drought affected districts of

Marathwada from May 6 to 31, according

to an e-mail received recently by the

Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner

from Salman's 'Being Human'

Foundation. Beed Residential District

Collector B M Kamble said they had also

received a mail regarding this from the

divisional commissioner yesterday. "We

have received an e-mail that Beed

district will get 750 water tanks from

'Being Human' foundation. We have

informed the Divisional Commissioner

for distribution of these tanks," Kamble

said. Per the e-mail, the NGO would

supply 750 water tankers to Beed, 500

each to Osmanabad and Jalna, and 250

each to Aurangabad and

Nanded. People of the

Marathwada region have

been facing acute water

scarcity caused by

uneven distribution of

rainfall

in the

state.

bulleh Shah – TuNahion, Main Naaheen

STAr WArS dAy:May the fourthbe with you!

NEWS DESK

May 4th is a special day for fans of the

Star Wars franchise. Over the years,

celebrations of Star Wars day have

gained audiences and a structure. For

instance, in 2011 and 2012 has been

organised the Intergalactic Star Wars

Day in Toronto. It had trivia games, a

costume contest and projections of

short movies about the Star Wars uni-

verse. The proceeds of the event were

given to charity. Unfortunately, there

is no event this year. To counter the

celebrations, the Star Wars’ official

Youtube page has released a Public

Service Announcement video jokingly

entitled “Say No to May the 4th“.

Styled as a vicious attack ad, the

video criticizes celebrators and the

Force, respectively dubbed “traitors to

the empire” and a phenomenon “used

for mind control, levitations of deadly

weapons and haunting of the living.”

‘GrEAT GATSby’premiere shineswith diCaprio, Jay-zon the red carpet

NEWS DESK

Wednesday's premiere of The Great

Gatsby in New York drew so many

celebrities that even Jennifer Lawrence

found herself feeling starstruck. After

walking the red carpet, the actress

nearly fell over herself trying to catch a

glimpse of the film's executive producer,

Jay-Z. "Oh my God, there's Jay-Z," the

Oscar winner enthused, while a group

of VIPs including Gatsby star Leonardo

DiCaprio and Sacha Baron Cohen con-

verged in a VIP area outside Avery

Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. As for di-

rector Baz Luhrmann, he is more im-

pressed by Jay-Z's work ethic than his

fame. "He was an amazing collabora-

tor," Luhrmann gushed of the hip-hop

mogul who is making inroads in Holly-

wood with Gatsby and an upcoming An-

nie remake.

LHR 05-05-2013_Layout 1 5/5/2013 3:06 AM Page 13

NEWS DESK

NASA is inviting members of the public tosubmit their names and a personal mes-sage online for a DVD to be carriedaboard a spacecraft that will study theMartian upper atmosphere.

The DVD will be in NASA’s Mars Atmosphere andVolatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which is sched-uled for launch in November. The DVD is part of themission’s Going to Mars Campaign coordinated at theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for At-mospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP). The DVDwill carry every name submitted. The public also is en-couraged to submit a message in the form of a three-linepoem, or haiku. However, only three haikus will be se-lected. The deadline for all submissions is July 1. An on-line public vote to determine the top three messages tobe placed on the DVD will begin July 15.

“The Going to Mars campaign offers people world-wide a way to make a personal connection to space,space exploration, and science in general, and share inour excitement about the MAVEN mission,” saidStephanie Renfrow, lead for the MAVEN Education andPublic Outreach program at CU/LASP.

Participants who submit their names to the Going toMars campaign will be able to print a certificate of appre-ciation to document their involvement with the MAVENmission. “This new campaign is a great opportunity toreach the next generation of explorers and excite themabout science, technology, engineering and math,” saidBruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from

CU/LASP. “I look forward to sharing our science with theworldwide community as MAVEN begins to piece to-gether what happened to the Red Planet’s atmosphere.”MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring andunderstanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The space-craft will investigate how the loss of Mars’ atmosphere tospace determined the history of water on the surface.

“This mission will continue NASA’s rich history ofinspiring and engaging the public in spaceflight in on-going Mars exploration,” said David Mitchell, MAVENproject manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centerin Greenbelt, Md. MAVEN’s principal investigator isbased at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Labo-ratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. The univer-sity will provide science operations, science instrumentsand lead Education and Public Outreach. Goddard man-ages the project and provides two of the science instru-ments for the mission. Lockheed Martin of Littleton,Colo., built the spacecraft and is responsible for missionoperations. The University of California at BerkeleySpace Sciences Laboratory provides science instrumentsfor the mission. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,Pasadena, Calif., provides navigation support, the DeepSpace Network and the Electra telecommunicationsrelay hardware and operations.

infotainment

ISunday, 5 May, 2013

14

GooGlE rECoGNiSES‘PAlESTiNE’ oNSEArCh ENGiNEhoMEPAGE

CoMiNG SooN: A cure for gray hair?Researchers are working

on a true anti-graying

cream that could make

people produce their own

youthful colors again. So

far, it’s worked in just a

few people who have lost

pigment in their hair and

skin not from age, but

from a condition called

vitiligo. Because the cause of vitiligo pigment loss is

the same as one possible cause of graying in old age,

however, the prototype cream might be a step toward

a real anti-graying cream. (But what would we do

without those Just For Men commercials?) The cream

worked in just five people in a preliminary study, so

it’s likely a long way from becoming a commercial

product. If it does turn out to work in more people, it

could be a great thing for those who have vitiligo,

most of whom live with the condition for the rest of

their lives. As for other graying folks, it would be the

first anti-graying product that actually addresses the

root of the problem instead of just hiding gray hair,

Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the Federation

of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Journal, said in a press release. The FASEB Journal

published a paper about the cream this week. The

European researchers found some of the changes in

what proteins vitiligo patients make compared to

people without vitiligo. They also found that a couple

different chemicals accumulate in vitiligo-affected

skin: peroxynitrite and hydrogen peroxide (Yep, the

same stuff that’s often used in bleach). NEWS dESK

NASA invites public to send names and messages to Mars

NEWS DESK

A George Washington University biologist has discov-ered a new meat-eating dinosaur in northwest-ern China. James Clark, the Ronald B.Weintraub Professor of Biology, locatedthe fossil remains in an out-of-the-way re-gion of Xinjiang in China in 2006. Thenew dinosaur specimen is saidto be just over threefeet long andl i k e l yweigheda p -prox-

imately three pounds. According to Clark, the only partof the new meat-eating dinosaur that was visible on thesurface was a small part of the leg. The biologists werepleased to also unearth a skull hidden in the rock. The

new dinosaur specimen is called Aorun zhaoi, whichis a reference to the Dragon King in the Chi-

nese tale Journey to the West. Though thefossil is small, the biologists point out thatthis particular dinosaur died when it wasyoung. Jonah Choiniere, Clark’s former

doctoral stu-dent, said that

microscopic de-tails of the dinosaur’s

bones revealed that itwas approximately a

year old when it passedaway. Choiniere is now

a senior researcher at theEvolutionary Studies In-stitute at the Universityof the Witwatersrand

in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica. According to the

biologists, the new meat-eat-ing dinosaur lived more than 161 mil-lion years ago during the first part ofthe Late Jurassic Period. Aorunlikely hunted lizards and tiny rela-

tives of today’smammals andcrocodi l ians .

Humor is the first of the

gifts to perish in a foreign

tongue. –Virginia Woolf

Google has recognised the Palestinians’

upgraded UN status, placing the

name “Palestine” on its search engine

instead of “ Palestinian Territories,” a

company spokesman said on Friday.

The domain name www.google.ps,

Google’s search engine for the

territories, now brings up a homepage

with “Palestine” written underneath

the Google logo. The change took

effect on Wednesday, Google

spokesman Nathan Tyler said in a

statement. “We’re changing the name

‘Palestinian Territories’ to ‘Palestine’

across our products. We consult a

number of sources and authorities

when naming countries. In this case,

we are following the lead of the UN...

and other international organisations,”

he said. The UN General Assembly in

November upgraded Palestine to the

status of non-member observer state

by a vote of 138 votes in favour, nine

against and 41 abstentions.

Palestinian authorities have since

begun to use the “State of Palestine”

in diplomatic correspondence and

issued official stamps for the

purpose. Israel questioned Google’s

decision. “This change raises

questions about the reasons behind

this surprising involvement of what

is basically a private Internet

company in international politics --

and on the controversial side,”

foreign ministry spokesman Yigal

Palmor told AFP. NEWS dESK

NEWS DESK

NASA is inviting members of the public to submit theirnames and a personal message online for a DVD to be car-ried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upperatmosphere. Scientists in the US have created a robot thesize of a fly that is able to perform the agile manoeuvres ofthe ubiquitous insects. This “robo-fly”, built from carbonfibre, weighs a fraction of a gram and has super-fast elec-tronic “muscles” to power its wings. Its Harvard Universitydevelopers say tiny robots like theirs may eventually beused in rescue operations. It could, for example, navigatethrough tiny spaces in collapsed buildings. The develop-ment is reported in the journal Science. Dr Kevin Mafrom Harvard University and his team, led by Dr RobertWood, say they have made the world’s smallest flyingrobot. It also has the fly-like agility that allows the insectsto evade even the swiftest of human efforts to swat them.

This comes largely from very precise wing move-ments. By constantly adjusting the effect of lift and thrustacting on its body at an incredibly high speed, the insect’s(and the robot’s) wings enable it to hover, or to performsudden evasive manoeuvres. And just like a real fly, therobot’s thin, flexible wings beat approximately 120 timesevery second. The researchers achieved this wing speed

with special substance called piezoelectric material, whichcontracts every time a voltage is applied to it.

By very rapidly switching the voltage on and off, thescientists were able to make this material behave like justlike the tiny muscles that makes a fly’s wings beat so fast.

“We get it to contract and relax, like biological mus-cle,” said Dr Ma. The main goal of this research was tounderstand how insect flight works, rather than to build auseful robot. He added though that there could be manyuses for such a diminutive flying vehicle.

“We could envision these robots being used forsearch-and-rescue operations to search for human sur-vivors under collapsed buildings or [in] other hazardousenvironments,” he said. “They [could] be used for envi-ronmental monitoring, to be dispersed into a habitat tosense trace chemicals or other factors.

Dr Ma even suggested that the robots could behavelike many real insects and assist with the pollination ofcrops, “to function as the now-struggling honeybee pop-ulations do in supporting agriculture around the world”.

The current model of robo-fly is tethered to a small, off-board power source but Dr Ma says the next step will be tominiaturise the other bits of technology that will be neededto create a “fully wireless flying robot”. “It will be a fewmore years before full integration is possible,” he said.

Robotic insect: World’s smallest flying robot takes off

biologist discovers new meat-eating dinosaur in china

STudy fiNdSCArCiNoGENS iN liPSTiCk

A new study of 32 popular lipsticks

and lip glosses uncovered nine metals

including lead, aluminum, chromium,

and cadmium, some at levels that

could be toxic, researchers say. The

UC Berkeley study found that, in

particular, average lipstick users (who

apply lipstick an average of 2.3 times

a day and are estimated to ingest 24

milligrams of lipstick per day) could be

in danger of overexposure to

chromium, a carcinogen that has been

linked to stomach tumors. For heavy

users (who apply as often as 14 times

daily), some lipsticks could also result

in an excessive exposure to aluminum,

cadmium, and manganese, USA Today

reports. Though lead was found in 24

of the products tested, it “is not the

metal of most concern,” says a study

co-author, because in no case did the

level exceed the acceptable daily

intake. Two takeaways from the study:

The FDA needs to “wake up and pay

attention,” the co-author says, and

heavy lipstick users should perhaps

“use it less.” NEWS dESK

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SSunday, 5 May, 2013

15I don’t want to sound politicallyincorrect but what will they do if Ienter? Shoot me?. –Shah Rukh Khan

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

THE Pakistan cricket team's 6-day training camp began atAbbottabad with all playerspresent. It is being held at the

Hill Station to acclimate players toEngland-like-weather, organisers said.

Coach Dav Whatmore is supervisingthe camp while legendary Pakistaniplayers Javed Miandad and Wasim Akarmwere also present. Pakistan will visitEngland later this month to play two One-Day International matches each withIreland and Scotland and then participatein the International Cricket Council (ICC)Champions Trophy in England in June.

On the opening day at the AbbottabadCricket Stadium, the team had a two-hoursession, spending most of it in physicaland fielding drills. The stadium is at analtitude of 1260 metres above sea level,surrounded by hills, and the playerswanted to ensure they acclimatisedthemselves with the conditions first. Theforecast suggests that temperature willstay pleasant through the day, but coulddrop to single figures at night.

"The mood is pretty good here," DavWhatmore, the Pakistan head coach, toldreporters. "We are very keen to extract asmuch as we can in the six days by trainingin the conditions, which are similar towhere we are going to play much of ourcricket in the next two months.

"We decided to come to Abbottabad,with its obviously cooler conditions, as it'svery warm in Lahore at the moment. Wehave also prepared pitches with grass onthem to try and simulate conditions likethose in England. While one cannotrecreate it exactly, this is the best wehave." The day started with fielding drillsas Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeezand Asad Shafiq had a rigorous slip-catching session while rest of the players

went through regular fielding practice.There wasn't much bowling as thegroundstaff worked on preparing thecentre pitches for batting practice onSaturday. Except Junaid Khan, all playerspicked for the Champions Trophy arrivedfor the camp, while five emerging fastbowlers were also called in to train withthe national squad. Junaid, who lives inSwabi, about two hours away fromAbbottabad, is expected to join the squadon Saturday. Thirty minutes into thecamp, Javed Miandad made anappearance. He said he was there tomotivate players and had come on therequest of the PCB chairman. One of thesidelights of the day was the race betweenNasir Jamshed and Saeed Ajmal. Theusual sprinting drill was amusinglyconverted to a competition between thetwo, with the 35-year-old Ajmal beatingthe 23-year-old Jamshed by a big distance,leaving the latter out of breath.

PAKISTAN wANT BATSMEN TO

SuPPORT BOwLERS: As the camptraining of the Pakistan cricket team rolledinto action at Abbottabad, the entire focusis being laid on the improvement inbatting as the bowlers of the nationalorder have already been through rigoroustraining at Karachi under the supervisionof Pakistan bowling legend, formercaptain Wasim Akram.

The Pakistan squad for ChampionsTrophy spent the second day of theirconditioning camp in Abbottabadfocusing on their batting, reportedCricinfo. The players had a full-fledgedsession under the guidance of formerplayers Javed Miandad and WasimAkram, while the regular coaches, DavWhatmore and Mohammad Akram, tooka backseat. Misbah-ul-Haq, NasirJamshed and Umar Amin were batchedtogether for a batting session withMiandad, while the bowlers - Mohammad

Irfan, Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan - alsospent time working on their batting withhelp from assistant coach Shahid Aslam.Ajmal, who is expected to play asignificant role with the ball, showed hehas worked on his batting with a coupleof eye-catching shots - a back-foot cut anda slog over midwicket. Asad Shafiq, whoscored four consecutive half-centuriesrecently in the President's cup one daytournament, had an extended battingsession for two hours. In the absence ofYounis Khan, Shafiq will shoulder extraresponsibility in the Pakistan middleorder. "I have batted on a track that helpedboth bowlers and batsmen, a pitch similarto what we are (expecting) to get inEngland," Shafiq said after the session."My confidence is already up afterplaying in South Africa. I am trying toavoid being complacent and maintain myrhythm from these training sessions."

"My plan is to bat for big runs as Iknow the responsibility in his [Younis]absence has gone up. As a team, weunderstand how important it is to scoreruns to support our bowlers, as our groupis a tough one. It's in our minds that wehave to be ready and have to give ourhundred per cent to winning the openinggame." Akram, who arrived today for atwo-day visit, cited batting as the key ifPakistan are to succeed. He said that theteam's chances in Champions Trophy are'bright' but batsmen need to contributeregularly. "If our batting clicks, ourbowlers will follow it up on a good note,"Akram said. "Our strength has been thebowling. Even in my era, we never feltcomfortable chasing the target. So ourbatsmen need to score runs. "The areindeed preparing well, but we need to seehow they execute the plans there in thematchesm," he said. "I always deemPakistan as a favourite for suchtournaments and with a proper planningwe can beat any team any where."

Pakistan cricket teamcamp starts in Abbottabad

SPORTS DESK

Experienced batsmen Gautam Gambhir andYuvraj Singh were left out of India's 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, thecountry's cricket board said on Saturday.

Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan,who last played a 50-over match for Indiain June 2011, got the nod ahead of Gambhirwhile wicketkeeper batsman DineshKarthik, who can also open the batting, wasrecalled after almost three years.

The other opener in the squad, MuraliVijay, was a surprise inclusion as the right-hander last played an ODI against SouthAfrica in January 2011 and has failed toscore a fifty in his 11 matches in the format.

Yuvraj, who made a fairytale comebacklast year after battling a rare form of lungcancer, could not find a place in the Indianmiddle-order with selectors preferringright-handed batsman Rohit Sharma aheadof him. Fast bowler Umesh Yadav returnedfrom his back injury while allrounder IrfanPathan also got a recall. OffspinnerRavichandran Ashwin and legspinner AmitMishra were the two specialist slowbowlers in the squad.

India, the reigning 50-over worldchampions, are in Group B and will playthe opening match of the June 6-23tournament against South Africa in Cardiff.Pakistan and West Indies are the otherteams in the group.

SQUAD: Mahendra Singh Dhoni(captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan,Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina,Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja,Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, IrfanPathan, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar

Kumar, Ishant Sharma, R. Vinay Kumar.VERSATILE KARTHIK READy FOR

ANy ROLE: Ever since he burst on to thedomestic scene as a teenager more than adecade ago, Dinesh Karthik has beenconsidered as a prodigious talent with thebat. Add to it his skills as a wicketkeeperand exceptional fielder and he becomes anall-round package. But without consistentperformances, talent doesn't get you too far.As a result, it wasn't a surprise when Karthikwas dropped from the Indian team after anordinary outing during the tri-series inDambulla where he scored 33 runs in fiveinnings against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.Similarly, after a season in which Karthikwas at his consistent best, nobody wassurprised when Karthik returned to India'ssquad for the Champions Trophy, to beplayed in England from June 6. Even theman himself wasn't surprised. "I am happyabout it [selection]. I've been batting well

and it feels good when your efforts arerewarded," Karthik said. He has been inexceptional touch while batting at No. 3 forMumbai Indians during the IPL - 331 runsin 10 matches at a strike-rate of almost 140- and it has come at the back of a run-heavydomestic season. In the season-openingCorporate Trophy, he emerged as thehighest run-getter with 301 runs from threeinnings for India Cements. Then in the RanjiTrophy, even though it was a disappointingseason for Tamil Nadu, Karthik was by fartheir top scorer with 577 runs at 64.11.

Then came the domestic one-dayers. Andeven though Tamil Nadu failed to progress tothe all-India knockouts of the Vijay HazareTrophy, Karthik scored at least a fifty in eachof his five innings. As a result, despite playingonly five games, he finished as the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament. "Allalong [these three years], I have been workinghard in domestic cricket," he said. "I have been

trying to be as consistent as possible. And itfeels good enough to score virtually everytime I bat these days." The confidence drawnfrom such consistency means Karthik wasn'tweighed down at the prospect of replacing anODI stalwart like Yuvraj Singh. ThoughKarthik hasn't yet been spoken to either by theselectors or team management about hisspecific role in the team, the squadcomposition hints that he may well be requiredto bat in the middle order. And he is up for thechallenge. "That is what I have done even

earlier, so I am ready to play any role that theteam management expects of me - whether aspecialist batsman or a keeper-batsman."

Over the last two years, Karthik hasbeen working with his personal coachPrasanna Agoram, the South Africannational team's performance analyst. Andthe efforts have culminated in Karthikbeing recalled to the national squad,incidentally for a tour to the same countrywhere Karthik made his international debutmore than eight years ago.

Sl mull over recallingout-of-form iPl players

SPORTS DESK

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will hold a meeting

next week to decide whether it should

make a request to the BCCI to release

some of the under-performing Sri Lankan

cricketers in the ongoing IPL so that they

can partake in preparations for the Cham-

pions trophy. Nine of the ten Sri Lankan

players playing in the IPL are part of Sri

Lanka's 15-member squad for the Champi-

ons trophy. "We have been discussing this

issue recently but have not taken a firm

decision," Nishantha Ranatunga, the SLC

secretary, said. Sri Lanka have arranged a

limited-overs triangular tournament at

Pallekele as preparation for the Champions

trophy in England. The three teams in the

preparatory tournament, Sri Lanka Rest

(team selected for England), SLC Com-

bined XI and Sri Lanka 'A', are due to play

a total of seven fifty-over matches from

May 12 to 20.

Gambhir, Yuvraj out of India’s squadicc champions trophy 2013(

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Sunday, 5 May, 2013

16Podolski was a little bit rusty (against United) because he had not played a lot,

but I believe it is his best position maybe because on the flanks he needs to work

so hard and he is more a finisher than anyone else in the team. –Arsene Wenger

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

THE Pakistan Table TennisFederation wants to removeambiguity and allmisunderstandings on the

process of team selection and the team’sparticipation in different internationalevents. An official of the PTTF said: “It isto clear the air and all speculations wherebyit is being construed that Pakistan is not

being represented in various internationaltournaments and players are being deprivedof their participation.

“PTTF with its President Riaz Ahmadand Secretary Ahmer Mallick is working inan organized and efficient manner incomplete adherence to its constitution andthe necessary guidelines issued by PakistanSports Board,” said he in a press release.

“The PTTF enjoys full support andconfidence of the majority of its affiliatedunits. And the Pakistan Olympic

Association issued an illegal affiliation to anon-entity comprising of persons which arenot at all engaged with table tennis any morewithout any merits only on account of thefact that PTTF decided to comply with thedecisions of the august higher courts ofPakistan and the decision of the Pakistan.

“The ongoing conflict within the POAis well within the knowledge of ITTF,ATTU and all other Table Tennis Sportsregulatory authorities. “All top rankingplayers are aware of the prevailing situation

and majority of them did not participate inthe trials conducted by fake/illegal entity.“In view of the above, it needs to beunderstood that no sports team is allowedfor foreign participation without permissionof Ministry of Interprovincial Coordinationand the players, as well as the delegatesnominated by the legal and genuine body oftable tennis duly recognized by PakistanSports Board, Ministry of InterprovincialCoordination, can represent Pakistan in anyforeign tour and competition,” he added.

SPORTS THIS WEEKALI AKBAR

THE Pakistan Tennis Federation’sappeal against the unprecedenteddefault of the Pakistan Davis Cup

team in Burma has been summarilyrejected. It is felt that the complete reportshould be placed on record in the fainthope that we might do some inwardlooking as opposed to the customarylashing out at one and all:

“The ITF’s Davis Cup Committee, ata meeting held on Tuesday, 30 April 2013,denied the appeal by the Pakistan TennisFederation against the decision of the ITFreferee at the Davis Cup by BNP ParibasAsia/Oceania Zone Group II tie betweenPakistan and New Zealand in Yangon,Myanmar on 5-7 April. The refereeawarded the tie to New Zealand due to anunplayable grass court. It was the view ofthe Committee that the Pakistan TennisFederation did not organise the tie to therequired standards, notably with regard tothe quality of the two available courts.Pakistan was given special approval bythe Committee in March to play the tie ona neutral ground as the home nation. TheCommittee noted that the poor quality ofthe original match court led the referee to

designate the practice court as the matchcourt. Following the deterioration of thesecond court, specifically during thesecond match, the referee determined thatthis court was now unplayable and a riskto player safety. The referee also deemedthat the court would not become playablein the next 24 hours due to its poorcondition, and awarded the tie to NewZealand. The Committee cited Regulation44(d) of the ITF Davis Cup Regulationswhich states that “the referee may call offa tie and award the victory to the visitingnation if the home nation fails to providea playable court as per Regulation 38”;and Regulation 44(e) which states that“the decision of the referee is final”.Regulation 38 refers to the surface of thecourts and playing conditions. As per theDavis Cup Regulations, the PakistanTennis Federation has the right to appealthe decision of the Davis Cup Committeeto the ITF Board of Directors. The DavisCup Committee is chaired by ITFExecutive Vice President Juan Margets(ESP) and also comprises ArmandoCervone (ARG), Guy Forget (FRA –observer), Tom Gorman (USA), GeoffPollard (AUS), Charles Trippe (GBR) andSlobodan Zivojinovic (SRB).”

There has been the usual aggressive

response from PTF about fighting the caseto the very end. They would be welladvised to refrain from embarrassing thenation any further. A little, nay, a lot ofintrospection is in order. This scribe hasbeen inundated by calls from formernational champions, Davis Cup playersand tennis lovers, who feel spectacularlylet down by the shenanigans of the usualsuspects who have hijacked tennis fromright under the noses of their bosses.

These people, almost unanimously,feel that with the PTF president away onposting in Sudan, the decision making ofPTF has been left in the hands of peoplewho have a vested interest. They feel thatpeople, who are making money throughumpiring, should not be allowed to formopinion because everything would bemanoeuvred to favour their interests.tHE quEStIONS tHAt BEG tO

BE ASKED ARE:

1. Who is in charge at PTF?

2. Are those calling the shots tennis

players and have enough experience to

take decisions?

3. Who took the decision to host the tie

in Myanmar? Was it the coach of a

player as is claimed by the former

players?

4. Was there a vested interest for

someone in holding the tie in Myanmar,

where a certain coach was director of

tennis and had been tasked with

bringing Davis Cup matches to the

country? Interestingly, the scheduled

Group 3 ties to be held in Myanmar have

since been cancelled.

5. The two people who were sent to

prepare for the tie, were they paid by

PTF?

6. Did they also umpire for the ITF

during the tie?

7. Since they did such a terrible job of

preparation and (if) they received

money for umpiring, why have they not

refunded their ticket and expense

money?

8. Should these White Badge umpires

not be taken to task for their conflict of

interest and incompetence?

9. Why is the PTF treasurer still in

office, in total disregard of the National

Sports Policy?

10. Is the selection and assets

disbursement process of the PTF for the

upcoming players fair and equitable?

The affairs in Pakistan tennis havearrived at crisis levels, these formerplayers feel. They feel that matters cannotbe left in the hands of people whoseamateurish and opportunistic handling of

affairs has brought international shameand ignominy on our country. They feelstrongly, that a committee be formed,consisting of former players with a provenrecord, through whom decisions of thePTF may be channeled. This advisoryCommittee would report directly to thepresident. The first report would be that ofthe Myanmar debacle.

Forming this committee would takethe monkey off the PTF leadership’s backand would also allow for a moredemocratic way of running things ratherthan through a clique of vested interests.The PTF president would be deflectingcriticism that continues to come his wayin his absence. This could only be goodfor tennis.

There are plenty of former playerswith decades of experience who would doan excellent job for PTF. The names are nosecret. Whether the PTF does some inwardthinking and change its managementmethods is up to the president. Good cancome in the aftermath of the Myanmartrauma. But the PTF has to refrain fromlashing out at critics and the ITF and learnfrom their mistakes. The culprits should beidentified and if deserving of punishment,should be fired. This affair is too seriousfor no heads to be rolling.

PTTf removes ambiguityabout selection, other issues

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Pakistan rubgy team underwent finalselection and training camps at Sharjahfor its participation in the upcomingHSBC Asian 5 Nations Championship2013.

The squad was short listed after atrials and selection process over the pasttwo months. The selection committeeconsisted of newly-appointed head coachMR Roger Coombs who was wellsupported by Yahya Bhatti and Anwar ulHaq Zaffar.

PRU President Fawzi Khawajacommented on the selection: “I would

like to thank Coombs and the SelectionCommittee on their diligent work inselecting the National Team, I have fullconfidence in their selection.

“The team selected is a combinationof experience and youth with a possible8 new caps who are mostly boys fromthe University league started last year byPRU. The team also include 5 UK-basedplayers which will add strength to thedquad. The mood of the Team is upbeatand Pakistan is looking towards a winthis year.” tHE SquAD:

forwards: Aftab Ashraf Qureshi,

Ammar Ali Shigri, Arslan Zahid

(Captain ), Azmat Khan Niazi, Hammad

Safdar, Khawar Ashraf, Muhammad Ali

Khan, Muhammad Babar, Rehan

Mansoor, Saqib Murtaza, Syed Xeeshan

Rizvi, Taimur Zia Butt, Shahraiz Azmat

Malik.

Scrum halves: Muhammad Galib

Javed, Shakeel Ahmed

Centers/f. backs: Adnan Saeed

Niazi, Ahjay Liaqat Hussain, Imad Ali

Nasir, Juniad Imtiaz Malik, Khalid

Hussain Bhatti, Muhammad Abdullah,

Muhammad Manan Naseem, Saad Arif,

Umer Islam Butt, Umer Usman.

Head Coach on tour will be Roger

Coombs and Manger on tour will be

secretary Punjab Rugby Association

Khuram Haroon.

pakistan name team forasian 5 nations rugby

SHARJAH: the

Pakistan rugby team

busy preparing for

the upcoming event

during a practice

session at Sharjah.

Some probing questions from the ptF

NATioNAl,JuNior kArATEbEGiNS

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The 22nd National KarateChampionship and National JuniorKarate Championship began at CrescentSports Complex, Faisalabad. At the endof the day, WAPDA is at top whileArmy is at second position.On the day three medals competitionswere decided with Wapda winning twogold medals while Punjab getting one.In senior Individual Kata Israrul Haq ofWAPDA won gold medal while Sajjadfrom Army won silver while SaeedAhmed from Balochistan and GhulamAli from Railways got bronze medal. InTeam Kata event Israrul Haq, AbdulKhaliq and Ali Waqas of WAPDA wongold medal, Muhammad Arshad,Muhammad Sajjad and Akhter Munirfrom Army won silver while Railwaysand Sindh got bronze medal.In Junior Individual Kata ShahbazSaleem from Punjab clinched goldmedal while Furqan from Balochistanwon sliver medal and MuhammadBashir from Railways and NehmatUllah from WAPDA got bronze medal.Preliminary rounds of all weightcategories were completed and finalswill be held on Sunday. ClosingCeremony will be held at 4:30 pm andLt. Gen. Syed Arif Hasan HI (M) willbe the chief guest.

Pathan, kallis strollto big win for kkr

EDEN GARDENS

The Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to aneight-wicket triumph over the RajasthanRoyals in their IPL clash on Friday night, asYusuf Pathan (49 not out) and Jacques Kallis(33 not out) added an undefeated 78 to sealvictory at Eden Gardens. The win was socomfortable for the Kolkata outfit that Kalliseven tried to nurse Pathan to a first IPL fiftyin over three years. But when he clubbed aBrad Hogg full-toss for four, the game wasup with 16 balls to spare. Sanju Samson hadearlier racked up a solid 40 for the Royalsagainst his former employers, facing 36 ballsand hitting two sixes. Shane Watson, whostruck a run-a-ball 35, was the only otherRajasthan batsman to make any realimpression with the bat. The pair put on 44for the third wicket, as the Kolkata spinnerskept a tight wrap on the run rate. SSenanayake opened the bowling andproduced a fine spell of 2-26 in his fourovers, while Suresh Narine, the West Indianoff-spinner, was at his miserly best, givingaway just 20 runs in his spell. Owais Shahclubbed 24 off 22 balls late in the innings, butit wasn't enough as the Royals closed on just132 for six. Pathan, at his brutal best,smashed three sixes on his way to a 35-ballknock that also included three fours. Kallis,meanwhile, was at his serene best, facing 30balls and hitting a six and two fours. Earlier,Manvinder Bisla (29) and Gautum Gambhir(12) had chalked up a breezy 41 for the firstwicket, to ease any nerves in the Kolkatadug-out. Gambhir was smartly stumped offWatson, before Bisla was caught in the deepoff A Chavan. The win was Kolkata's fourthfor the season, and kept them just about in thehunt for the playoffs. The Royals, despite thebig loss, stay in third place in the standings.KOLKAtA KNIGHt RIDERS: MS Bisla

(wk), G Gambhir (capt), YK Pathan, JH

Kallis, EJG Morgan, DB Das, R Bhatia, S

Narwal, SMSM Senanayake, Iqbal

Abdulla, SP Narine

RAJAStHAN ROYALS: R Dravid (capt),

AM Rahane, SV Samson, SR Watson, STR

Binny, OA Shah, DH Yagnik (wk), AA

Chavan, JP Faulkner, GB Hogg, SK Trivedi

myanmar trauma too serious for no heads to be rolling(

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Sunday, 5 May, 2013

17The greens were a lot faster today [Friday]

than they happened to be yesterday

[Thursday] afternoon. –Rory McIlroy

MADRIDAGENCIES

NOVAK Djokovic, RafaelNadal and Roger Federerappear at the sameclaycourt event for the first

time this season with the MadridMasters a key test just three weeks outfrom the French Open. The tournamentreturns to traditional red clay after acontroversial experiment with blue clayin 2012. The surface drew strongcriticism from Nadal and Djokovic whothreatened not to return to play in theSpanish capital if it wasn't changed.

However, ATP president BradDrewett outlawed the use of blue clayand so seven-time French Open winnerNadal and world No 1 Djokovic willreturn for another potentially fascinatingclash. Djokovic ended Nadal's eight-year reign as champion in Monte Carloin the last Masters event a fortnight agowith such a devastating display that theSerb is now hotly tipped to become justthe eighth man to complete the careerGrand Slam and claim his first French

Open title at Roland Garros. Nadalbounced back to claim an eighth title atthe Barcelona Open last week withoutdropping a set, but with Djokovic,Federer and Andy Murray all set to be inthe draw this week, Nadal faces a muchsterner test to lift his third title in Madrid.

Federer seemed to be the leastconcerned amongst the furore over thesurface last year as in typically serenestyle he won the tournament for a record

third time and he told the tournament'sofficial magazine that he loves comingto Madrid, despite the home fans'obvious affection for his long-time rivalNadal. “I enjoy playing in Madrid. Theyput up a great event, there is always afantastic atmosphere when I play.Spanish people love tennis, Rafa is sucha hero in Spain but I feel like theyappreciate me and the other top playersa lot as well and that is great,” said the

world number two. Federer will returnto action for the first time since losing toNadal on the hard courts of Indian Wellsback at the beginning of March as hetook the availability of Monte Carlobeing the only optional Masters event forthe top players to continue training inSwitzerland. Murray will also look to gethis clay court season up and runningafter a disappointing early exit toStanislas Wawrinka in Monte Carlo.

Tennis heavyweightsreturn to Madrid

OEIRASAGENCIES

Third seed AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova fought back froma first-set whitewash to beat un-seeded Romina Oprandi prevail 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Friday to reach the

women's final of the ATP/WTA Por-tugal Open. The 19th-ranked Russ-ian winner will bid for her secondtrophy this season after Monterrey,when she plays fourth seed and 2012finalist Carla Suarez Navarro, whobeat Estonian defending championKaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-1 in 66 minutes.

Pavlyuchenkova had few early an-swers for Oprandi's blistering clay-court game in the quick opening seton a sunny spring day after a weekof cold. But once she hit her stride,the seed began to dominate as theinitial flush of success faded for the53rd-ranked challenger, playing onlythe third WTA semi-final of her ca-reer. Oprandi saved match points asPavlyuchenkova tried to serve outfor victory, losing serve in theprocess for 6-1 in final set. But agame later it was all over when shebroke back.

Oprandi came to the court afterbeating Russia's French and USOpen winner Svetlana Kuznetsovain the quarter-finals at the EstadioNacional. Her previous best show-ings were WTA semi-finals inPalermo in 2010, and 's-Hertogen-bosch a year later. She will return tothe ranking top 50 after dealing withinjury in 2012. Victory in Saturday'sfinal would make Pavlyuchenkovathe second Russian champion hereafter Maria Kirilenko five years ago.

pavlyuchenkovareaches final in portugal

OEIRASAGENCIES

Second seed StanislasWawrinka advanced to thequarter-finals of the PortugalOpen with a hard-foughtvictory over Spain's AlbertRamos in Oeiras on Thursday.Ramos shocked the Swiss witha stunning first set butWawrinka recovered to claim a1-6 6-3 6-4 triumph and set upa last-eight meeting withGastao Elias. Portuguese wild

card Elias, 22, overcameDenis Istomin 3-6 6-1 6-4to reach his first ATPquarter-final. Spain'sTommy Robredo alsoadvanced, thanks to astraight-sets win overRobin Haase. TheDutchman was broken

twice in each set as Robredoeased to a 6-4 6-4 victory.Third seed Andreas Seppi ofItaly will be the next test forthe Spaniard after he toppledAlejandro Falla 6-4 6-0.

In the women's draw, thirdseed AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova advanced tothe semi-finals after a battlingwin over Elena Vesnina. Itlooked to be plain sailing forthe world number 19 after shesecured the opening set 6-3 buther fellow Russian was notgiving up and took the secondon a tie-break.

The third also went to adecider but this timePavlyuchenkova was to get theupper hand to close out a 6-36-7 (3/7) 7-6 (7/3) win. Shewill face Romina Oprandi nextafter the Swiss shocked former

US Open champion SvetlanaKuznetsova. Kuznetsova hasslipped to 45 in the world andOprandi made short work ofher more illustrious opponent

as she clinched to a 6-2 6-2victory. The other semi-finalwill be between defendingchampion Kaia Kanepi andCarla Suarez Navarro after

both claimed straight-sets winson Thursday. Suarez Navarrowas a 6-2 6-4 winner againstMonica Puig while Kanepi sawoff Ayumi Morita 6-4 6-3.

wawrinka battles into last eight in portugal

Atlas reaches 17th AsianIndividual Squash finalLAHORE: Aamir Atlas made his way to the final of FMC

17th Asian Individual Squash Championship, 2013 by

defeating M Asyraf Azan in the semi-finals at Mushaf

Squash Complex, Islamabad on Saturday.

In the final he will face Abdullah Al Mezayan of Kuwait who

beat Farhan Mehboob in the other semi-final.

In the ladies category, Low Wee Wern of Malaysia will take

on Annie Au Hong Kong in the final.

RESuLtS:

mEN’S SEmI fINAL:

Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) Beat Muhammad Asyref Azan

(11/5,11/6,11/6(3-0))(30 min)

Abdullah Al Mezayan (KUW) Beat Farhan Mehboob

(PAK)(11/8,11/3,14/2(3-0))(45 min)

WOmEN’S SEmI fINAL:

Low Wee Wern (MAS) beat Joey Chan(HKG)

(11/7,4/11,11/4,11/9(3-1))(48 min)

Annie Au (HKG) Beat Delia Arnold

(MAS)(9/11,11/6,12/10,11/9(3-1)) (54 min). STAFF REPORT

ferrer downshanescu to reachsemis in oeirasOEIRAS: David Ferrer moved closer to

his fifth ATP final of the season as he

eased into the last four of the ATP

Portugal Open in Oeiras with a straight-

sets win over Victor Hanescu. Spaniard

Ferrer, who has already lifted titles in

Auckland and Buenos Aires so far in 2013,

did not have it all his own way against his

Romanian opponent but eventually

prevailed 6-4 7-6 (7/2) in one hour and

40 minutes. Next up for the top seed is

Italian Andreas Seppi, who has yet to win

in four meetings with Ferrer. Seppi, the

third seed, prevented an all-Spanish

semi-final with a 6-4 6-3 victory over

eighth seed Tommy Robredo, the 2005

runner-up here. It was a better day for

another Spaniard, though, as qualifier

Pablo Carreno-Busta continued his

impressive run with an upset victory over

fourth seed Fabio Fognini. Carreno-Busta,

who beat fifth-seeded Julien Benneteau in

the opening round, battled back from a

set down to beat his Italian opponent 3-6

6-4 6-4 and claim his maiden appearance

in the last four of an ATP tournament.

Carreno-Busta's victory prevented the

semi-final spots being filled by all of the

top four seeds as his next opponent,

number two Stanislas Wawrinka, also

progressed through. The Swiss, whose

only final appearance so far this year saw

him beaten by Ferrer in Buenos Aires,

brushed aside Portugal's Gastao Elias 6-4

6-4. Wawrinka said on

www.atpworldtour.com: "I feel good and I

am really happy to be in the semi-finals

again. "I am confident in my form this

year. It is better than last season. I hope

I can get some more big results." In the

women's event, Saturday's final will be

contested between third seed Anastasia

Pavlyuchenkova and number four Carla

Suarez-Navarro. Pavlyuchenkova had

looked to be heading for the exit

door after losing the first set

to love against in-form Swiss

Romina Oprandi but the

Russian battled back for a 0-

6 6-3 6-1

triumph.

AGENCIES

unseeded brands stunsTipsarevic in MunichmuNICH: Top seed Janko Tipsarevic saw his

bid for glory at the BMW Open in Munich end

on Friday as he was knocked out in the

quarter-finals by unseeded German Daniel

Brands. Tipsarevic was seeking his second title

of the year but the Serbian came unstuck

against world number 69 Brands, who

progressed through 6-3 4-6 6-4 in a match

that lasted one hour and 37 minutes. Brands

will now face defending champion and

compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber, who also got

the better of a Serbian opponent as the fourth

seed saw off Viktor Troicki 6-3 7-6 (7/3).

Three of the four semi-final spots were claimed

by Germans with third seed Tommy Haas also

progressing through with a 6-4 6-1 victory

over his countryman Florian Mayer, the sixth

seed here. Standing in the way of world

number 14 Haas and the possibility of a home

winner is Ivan Dodig, who added fifth seed

Alexandr Dolgopolov to his impressive list of

notable scalps this week. AGENCIES

LHR 05-05-2013_Layout 1 5/5/2013 3:07 AM Page 18

GEO SUPERRoyals v Warriors 07:30 PM

ESPNMotor Cycle Racing Qualifying02:30 PM

STAR SPORTSBarclays League: ManchesterUnited vs. Chelsea08:25 PM

SportS SSunday, 5 May, 2013

18I remember when my late brother Bruce was young, he was just

an ordinary kid. He was always full of energy, full of life and

you can say that he was borderline hyperactive. –Robert Lee

wAtCh It LIve

Waah karigarbeat okara inVeteran CricketLAHORE: Waah Karigar beat Okara

Veteran by 8 wickets and qualified for

the regiobnal semi-final of the 15th

National Senior Cricket Cup. Playing at

the Racecourse park cricket ground,

Okara Veterans batting first were 181

all out 29.5 overs. Rao Nadeem 42, Asif

Mehmood 29, Adnan Amjad 28 &

Farzand Ali 21 runs. Amir Ali bowling

well 5/21, Muhammad Pervaiz 2/37,

Muhammad Mujtaba 1/38, Asif Iqbal

1/32 & Aftab Ahmad 1/19 wickets. In

reply Waah Karigar 182/2 after 27.1

overs. Usman Tahir 72, Amir Ali 24 &

Muhammad Pervaiz 68 runs not out.

Okara Veteran bowling Farzand Ali 1/35

& Afzal Haq 1/5 wickets. Qaisar

Waheed, Muhammad Asif Umpire,

Khalid Niazi Match Referee, Muhammad

Arif was the scorer. STAFF REPORT

Sir Syed GirlsSchool win NetEffect Netball LAHORE: Net Effect Netball Program

2013 for of girls successfully completed

on Saturday at Sir Syed Girls College,

Wah Cantt and was organized by Pak-

istan Netball Federation in collaboration

with International Netball Federation &

Islamabad Netball Association. In the fi-

nal match Sir Syed School beat Hi Tech

College 7-2 goals and were declared the

champion of Net Effect Program 2013.

In the third position match FG School

no.3 moved past FG School no.2 by 8-0

goals. The technical officials of the event

were Qudsia Raja, Shazia yousaf, Uzma

Waqar, Riffat Jahan, Sher Saleem, Yasir

Javed & Parvez who supervised the

matches. Amanullah Khan, Secretary

Sports, POF was the chief guest and dis-

tributed the trophies, shields, certifi-

cates and netballs among the winner,

runner and 3rd position holder teams.

Mudassar Arain, Secretary, PNF and Ms.

Zile Erum, Secretary, Islamabad Netball

Association and other dignities were

also present in this occasion.

RESuLtS:

1st Semi Final: Hi Tech beat FG

school no.3 by 3-2 goals

2nd Semi Final: Sir Syed School

beat FG School no.2 by 12-1 goals.

STAFF REPORT

kinnaird Club in

Women Cricket final LAHORE: Kinnaird Cricket Club

defeated Ravi Club in the second semi-

final of the All Pakistan Inter Club

Women T-20 Cricket Tournament With

77 runs win, Kinnaird Cricket Club will

take on Shah Faisal Women Cricket

Club in the final. Bating first Kinnaird

made 167 in 20 overs. Bima Maroof

69, Sidra Amin 65, Sana Mir 14. Hafsa

Amjad and Faryal Awan took 1 wicket

each. Ravi were all out in 17.5 overs

scoring 90 runs. Komal Feroze 24,

Bakhtawar Iqbal 15. Sana Mir, Bismah

Maroof took 2 and Qanta Jalil took 1

wicket. Women of the match: Bismah

Maroof. Today third place match will

be played between Lahore College

Club and Ravi Club at Kinnaird College

Cricket ground. STAFF REPORT

local newS

SPORTS DESK

Sebastian Loeb emerged froma bruising third day of RallyArgentina with a 39.8 secondlead after watching a string ofrivals run into trouble.

Loeb, chasing an eighth-striaght WRC victory inArgentina in his Citroen DS3,largely just needed to keepeverything pointing in the rightdirection as Sebastian Ogier,Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-MattiLatvala all ran into trouble.

"It was a very hard day fortyres and the cars," Loeb saidon WRC.com. "I didn't haveany problems but I had to pushhard because Ogier waspushing hard also. I expected itto be difficult and it was. I willtry to be cautious tomorrow[Saturday] but I still have tokeep a rhythm."

Overnight leader Ogier got

off to a strong start in hisVolkwagen Polo R, claiming afifth win in six stages on theopening run of the morning,

contested amid fog and mud.That extended his lead to 17.7seconds, but the advantage wasgone on stage seven when he

got into a slide and missed histurn. The mistake cost him 40seconds and his lead as hedropped to third. A puncture in

the afternoon would deal aneven heavier blow to hischallenge.

Hirvonen also suffered apuncture on stage eight to lose35 seconds, but that was smallpotatoes compared to the sixminutes he lost on the nextstage thanks to an electricalglitch.

Latvala could not avoid thepuncture curse either as Loebdrove off into the distance.

By the end of the day, Loebled Ogier by almost 40seconds, with Evgeny Novikovtaking advantage of thecarnage around him to climb tothird, ahead of Latvala andThierry Neuville, withHirvonen down in sixth.

The rally concludes onSaturday with four morestages, a little under 78kilometres separating Loebfrom another title.

loeb capitalises as rivals falter in argentina

Jutanugarn clingson to lead in VirginiavIRGINIA: Thai teenager Ariya

Jutanugarn found the going much tougher

on day two of the Kingsmill Championship

but managed to cling on to a one-shot lead

in Virginia. The 17-year-old used a

blistering start to sign for an opening round

of 64 on Thursday, good for a two-shot

lead. On Friday, however, she cancelled out

three birdies on the opening nine with

three bogeys coming back for a par 71.

However, Cristie Kerr, her closest

challenger on Thursday, could do no better

to drop into a share of fourth, and so it was

Angela Stanford and Stacy Lewis who took

over in second place, having shown their

consistency with rounds of 68 matching

their opening efforts. Nobody else in the

field could match 68 on Friday, with Suzann

Pettersen and Sandra Gal firing 69s to join

Kerr on five under. AGENCIES

JOHANNESBURGAGENCIES

Michael Hollick crammed 17 points intohis third round at the Royal Swazi Openon Friday, moving into a three-point leadwith one round to play. “It’s been greatleading. I’m just trying to play it one shotat a time, and today I kept quite focused.Every time my mind starts to wonder I tellmyself to slow down!” Hollick said.

The Durban local's cool demeanourhides the fact that it’s his first time leadinga professional tournament, but he’sfocused on staying in the moment at RoyalSwazi Sun Country Club. “This is myfirst time leading, and we’ll have to seehow tomorrow goes. “You can onlycontrol yourself, not what other people do.If I can go in there with a cool head it

should be a good outcome.” The 25-year-old was excited about teeing up in the finalthree-ball on Saturday, where he will bejoined by Jean Hugo and James Kingston,who hold a combined total of 24 SunshineTour titles. “The more you play in bigmoments, the easier they become,” said

Hollick. “It’s never going to be easy, butit’s better if you’ve been through thesesituations before. Playing with thoseexperienced guys will bring a bit of calmto the situation, and I’m sure it’ll be a goodday.” Hugo could have filled an aviarywith the three eagles he made on Friday,which helped him on his way to 17 pointsfor the third round. The 2008 Swazi Openchampion reached an impressive 37 pointtotal to finish three points off the pace.

“Today I made three eagles and inthis format that’s great for points,” Hugosaid. “My first eagle was a four-ironinto the fifth and I hit it to 10 feet andsank the putt, and then I holed it fromoff the green on seven. I hit anotherfour-iron into the 17th and it stoppedabout four feet short and I sank the putt,so overall I'm very happy.

hollick takes lead at Swazi open

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

Sunday, 5 May, 2013

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