Rs 17.00 19 Pages Vol III No 254 Lahore — Peshawar Edition Rabi us Sani 29, 1434

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

naB begins probe into metrobus, ring roadprojects

Taking cognisance of various reports

related to major violations of rules

by the Punjab government while

undertaking metro bus and ring

road projects, the National

Accountability Bureau has decided

to investigate the cases at NAB

HQs. The project contracts

were allegedly approved without

processing the cases in accordance

with the rules. page 03

sindh govt putsonus of Karachi lawand order on globalwar on terror

Giving a “broad overview” of its five-year

performance regarding maintaining peace

in Karachi, the Sindh government on

Monday put the onus of the worst-ever law

and order in Karachi on the US-led war

against terrorism. “The geneses of this

issue is complicated but what is now

understood by many is that it is not an

ordinary law and order,” Sindh Chief

Minister Qaim Ali Shah told Monday’s sitting

of the provincial legislature. page 19

eCp to print newnomination formssans presidentialapproval

The standoff between the Election

Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and

the government over nomination

forms showed no sign of abating on

Monday, with the body apparently

deciding to go ahead with printing

new forms without waiting for the

president’s approval, while the Law

Minister Farooq Naik insisted the

president had the power to approve

the changes. page 04

sC holds police responsible forBadami Bagh violence

The Supreme Court (SC) has rejected

Punjab government’s report on the

Badami Bagh arson and directed the

provincial government to re-file the

report by March 13. A three-member

bench of the SC presided over by Chief

Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar

Muhammad Chaudhry issued an interim

order on Monday while conducting

hearing of the suo motu notice of the

Badami Bagh Lahore arson. page 02

10 male writerson the perfect woman

story on page 13

story on page 04 story on page o8 story on page 17

page 03story on page 03

story on page 16

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NTuesday, 12 March, 2013

02

NEWS

Terrorists from Afghanistancreate law and ordersituation. — Rehman Malik

MiSSionarySChoolS CloSedaCroSS Country

LAHORE: Missionary schools across the

country were closed on Monday in protest

against the Joseph Colony attack in which

a mob torched more than 100 Christian

homes following allegations of

blasphemy. “Missionary schools of Lahore

will remain closed on Monday on account

of the massacre in Joseph Colony,” Bishop

Sebastian Shaw, chairman of the Catholic

board, told reporters. Sadiq Daniel,

bishop of the church of Pakistan in Sindh

said all missionary schools in the

province, including those in Karachi,

would be closed on Monday. Missionary

schools in Southern Punjab, where many

Christians live in the main city Multan and

adjoining areas were also closed. “All

educational institutions of Christian

community will remain closed on Monday

to express solidarity with the affected of

the Joseph Colony,” Bishop Leo Rodrick

Paul said. Police in central Multan city said

they had deployed officers to protect

sensitive Christian areas including

churches and schools. ONLINE

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

THE Supreme Court (SC)has rejected Punjab govern-ment’s report on the BadamiBagh arson and directed theprovincial government to re-

file the report by March 13.A three-member bench of the SC

presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan(CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is-sued an interim order on Monday whileconducting hearing of the suo motu noticeof the Badami Bagh Lahore arson.

The interim order said “prima facie,the Punjab IG police, CCPO and city po-lice officer failed in providing protectionto the people. Different stories are beingtold to the court that election was beingheld in Loha market and a Christian com-mitted blasphemy during the elections. Itis beyond comprehension of the court howcan the inmates of Joseph Colony belinked to Loha market”.

The acting Punjab IGP, Punjab advo-cate general and other senior officers ap-peared in the court.

The court was told that election wasgoing on in Loha market when the incidenttook place and a member of Christiancommunity committed blasphemy. Duringthe Juma discourse, people were incitedand they resorted to rioting.

Justice Azmat Saeed remarked, “Youhad said with pride that people were pulledout of the blaze and no loss to life oc-

curred. Where were the people kept afterthey were evacuated from the area? Youhave said in the report that some peoplehad left the area on their own and the re-maining were evacuated by police.”

The CJP said, “Nothing can be saidabout the reasons and proceedings in yourreport. The court’s time has been wastedby the report. Police have not even con-ducted investigation to ascertain what wasthe real cause of the incident. Is there nohonest officer left in Punjab police? ThePunjab government has again talked aboutformation of a commission. If this com-mission has to meet the same end theGojra commission did, it should better beleft.”

Meanwhile, the court summoned thereport on Gojra incident and expressed re-gret when it was informed of its unavail-ability.

The CJP remarked, “Nothing is abovethe sanctity of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH). The blasphemy law is in place.Action should be taken per law. The entireRimsha case proved false earlier. When-ever any minorities-related incident hap-pens, the Punjab government staysunmoved. A police officer which the courtrestrains the government from appointingis vehemently appointed and courts ordersare blown into the air.”

He said the court should be told whostaged riots after 36 hours and “underwhose orders was area vacated”.

“The IGP should inform who he wasaffording benefit. Now even little thingscannot remain concealed and this was a

major incident. No one will be allowed toviolate the law. When the culprit had beenunder arrest, why did the riots occur?”

The CJP said there was a mode forvoicing protest. “An effective mode ofprotest was pursued in Quetta. Proteststook place but not a single glass was

smashed.”Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said it ap-

peared the area that came under attack wascommercial and the entire thing was engi-neered to get the land evacuated. “Thecourt should be informed of the value ofthe land.” Justice Gulzar Ahmad said “ri-oting continued and police played the roleof a silent spectator. Police is equally re-sponsible for the incident”.

The advocate general told the courtthat the decision to evacuate the area wasnot taken by senior officers and it was thedecision of an SHO.

SC holds police responsiblefor Badami Bagh violence

REJECTS PUNJABGOVERNMENT’SREPORT ON ARSON

INTERIM ORDER SAYS IGP,CCPO AND CPO FAILED TOPROTECT PEOPLE

QUESTIONS RIOTING WHENACCUSED HAD ALREADYBEEN ARRESTED

ISLAMABAD

ANWER ABBAS

The minority MNAs in National Assembly(NA) on Monday demanded a separate minor-ity province where they may live in peace,while the lower house unanimously passed amotion denouncing attacks on Christianhouses and properties.

The 50th session of the NA opened underthe supervision of Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor.

Federal minister Syed Khurshid Shahtried to avoid any suspension of rules to debateon the riots against Christians at Badami Bagharea of Lahore on March 10.

A minority MNA Asia Nasir from JUI-Fdemanded Shah to suspend the business of theHouse and to launch a debate on the tragic in-cident of Lahore, which Shah refused.

Responding to this, Asia Nasir flared upand said normally MPs suspend the businessof the house for their personal agendas and in-

terests; however this time when 178 Christianhouses were burnt they were not ready to sus-pend the rules to launch a debate.

“People are dying, their houses beinglooted and set on fire but the National Assem-bly prefers to take the question hour, which isa great injustice,” she said. Following this thequestion hour was suspended and a debate onthe aggression against Christians in Lahorewas initiated. Khawaja Saad Rafique fromPakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)accepted the responsibility of the incident onbehalf of his party as well as the Punjab gov-ernment. However, he pointed out variousmeasures adopted by the Punjab governmentto provide relief to the victims, adding thatcases against the accused would be registeredin Anti-terrorism courts.

Minority MNA Ramesh Lal said the inci-dent was not the first of its kind, saying he wasunable to understand riots against minorities.

“Where is the Pakistan that was dreamedby Quaide Azam,” he questioned. He saidPML-N chief Nawaz Sharif should pay a visitto Badami Bagh, adding that Nawaz flew toShikarpur immediately when a similar inci-dent occurred, for his own political gains.

At this, PML-N lawmakers started chant-ing loudly to interrupt Lal’s speech.

Federal Minister Akram Masih Gill, con-demning the incident, stated that the House

was engaging in pointscoring, while a num-ber of Christian fe-males and childrenwere without shelterand food.

He said he wasnot against blasphemylaws, and respectedthe Holy Prophet(PBUH). However themisuse of these laws, he said, was rising andadded that out of 2,500 cases a majority wereregistered against Muslims.

“Why doesn’t a mob or police react in thesame manner when such complaints are reg-istered against Muslims? Why are theircolonies not set ablaze,” he questioned.

He said when angry mob targeted theChristian colony, and in anger smashed twowindow panes of metro bus, police respondedwith batons and tear gas, resulting in the deathof a Christian female. Gill questioned why thepolice did not react in the same way whenJoseph Colony was attacked. He said if Pak-istanis do not want minorities to live with themas their country mates, they should grant them

with a separateprovince wherethey may live inpeace and harmony.

Awami Na-tional Party (ANP)MNA BushraGohar tendered anopen apology to-wards Christians onbehalf of her partyand the Pakistanination, urging theHouse to removeamendments that

were introduced by former dictator Ziaul Haq.Malik Riaz, MNA from Badami Bagh, deniedany role in the incident. However, he stated onrecord that the Christian youth was defiantlyinvolved in blasphemy.

Manohar Lal from Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) said even after passage of

64 years, minorities are still engaged in prov-ing their identities as Pakistanis.

He asked where the Punjab government,police and concerned MNA were when an-nouncements were being made from mosquesa night before. “Why was the local SHO vis-iting Christians and asking them to flee thearea instead of providing them security? Whydid the police force Christians to evacuate thecolony? Why did the MNA lead the chargedmob?” Shazia Marri from PPP held Ziaul Haqresponsible for the hatred in society addingthat Zia divided the society on the basis ofsects and religion for personal gains and de-stroyed the social structure of the country.

Criticising MNA Malik Riaz, she askedhow he could issue a decree saying that the ac-cused Christian youth had committed blas-phemy. “Was he present there,” shequestioned. “It is the saddest day in the historyof the country, when non-Muslim Pakistanisare asking for a place to find peace,” Marriadded. Wasim Akhtar also condemned the in-cident saying the Bible was disgraced by themiscreants which was sad. Earlier, MQM alsostaged a walkout from the NA to record theirprotest. Later, the House adopted a joint reso-lution unanimously condemning the incidentat Badami Bagh, demanding constitution of ajudicial commission to probe the incident aswell as booking those behind it.

Badami Bagh riots a national tragedy, declare MPsUNABLE TO FIND PLACEFOR PEACE, CHRISTIANMPS DEMAND SEPARATEPROVINCE

Why doesn’t a moB orpoliCe reaCt in the samemanner When suChComplaints areregistered againstmuslims? Why are theirColonies not set aBlaze

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NEWS N

03

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

Only men of character will

win next elections. — ECP

Addl Secy Afzal Khan

CHABAHAR

TAYYAB HUSSAIN

DEFYING repeated warn-ings from the Unites Statesof America, President AsifAli Zardari added a featherto his party’s cap by inau-

gurating the Iran-Pakistan gas pipelinealong with his Iranian counterpart Mah-mood Ahmedinejad on Monday.

Tight security had been deployed fromChabahar to the project site, called ZeroPoint, to thwart any possibility of terrorism,while the project sight and the road leadingto the site reflected that all arrangementshad been made recently.

An official said the petroleum ministerof Iran had supervised the makeshiftarrangements as there was no permanentstructures at Zero Point and except for abuilding, all arrangements were temporaryin nature.

Moreover, the road from Chabahar toGabad was bumpy and in shambles andeven the patchwork had been done only afew days back.

Estimated at $1.5 billion, the projectcalled “peace pipeline” aims at helpingPakistan mitigate its emerging energyneeds at a time when the country is facingincessant blackouts and energy shortages.

Under the plan, a 1,931 kilometre-longpipeline would be laid from Sheher, Iran toNawabshah, of which 950 kilometres havealready been laid on the Iranian side, whileanother 200-kilometre stretch would be laidby Iranian authorities on Iran-Pakistan bor-

der.Another 781-kilometre stretch would

be laid inside Pakistan up until Nawabshah.In order to reflect the determination of

the state of Pakistan towards the historicevent, President Zardari was accompaniedby a huge entourage. Besides serving andretired officials linked to the Ministry ofPetroleum and the Foreign Office, around96 journalists were also at Chabahar tocover the event.

An official told Pakistan Today thatIran had agreed to provide another $500million for the pipeline to be laid insidePakistan, while the remaining $500 millionwould be arranged through a Chinese loan.Another $500 million would be raisedthrough Gas Infrastructure DevelopmentCess, already being included in the con-sumers’ bills.

The two presidents unveiled the plaque,witnessed by a large delegation of Pakistanidignitaries including former prime ministerYousaf Raza Gilani, cabinet ministers, sen-ior officials and members of the Iraniancabinet and officials. The event was fol-lowed by prayers for the successful com-pletion of the pipeline.

Interestingly, the petroleum minister ofQatar and diplomats from UAE also flewin to Zero Point, reflecting the success ofPakistani and Iranian diplomacy on IP proj-ect despite US pressure.

In his small but historic speech after theground-breaking ceremony, PresidentZardari said the gas pipeline project wasextremely important for Pakistan and wasnot directed against any other country.

Referring to pressures from the worldagainst IP project, Zardari said the world ofIslam was facing a big challenge and therest of the world did not understand itsproblems.

“They want to help us but they don’tknow how to do it, so we have to do it our-selves,” he asserted.

“I want to say to our detractors that thisproblem will not go long. They did not be-lieve that our democracy would last long,but we managed to survive and completedfive years. They never believed that wewould have a woman speaker in the Na-tional Assembly ... but she managed well.They also did not believe that we wouldhave a woman foreign minister, but she didwell too. Now they will have to trust us,”he maintained.

He said the gas pipeline project wouldusher in a new era of progress in Pakistanand prosperity of Pakistan would be in theinterest of regional and global peace.

The president thanked Iran for extend-ing cooperation to help address the energycrisis.

Iranian President Mahmood Ahmedine-jad described the IP pipeline “peacepipeline” that would bring the two coun-tries closer.

He said the project reflected determina-tion of the two countries for mutual coop-eration for the benefit of their people.

Ahmedinejad said Pakistan and Iranwere bestowed with immense natural re-sources and they could exploit their re-sources for the good of the two countries.

“Same is true of other regional coun-

tries and regional cooperation can helpthem overcome their problems,” he said.

Referring to outside pressure on theproject, he said it had nothing to do with theIranian nuclear programme.

Alluding to the United States, IranianPresident Mahmood Ahmadinejad accused“foreign elements” of seeking to undermineIran’s relations with Pakistan and to thwartthe Islamic Republic’s progress by using itsnuclear programme as a pretext.

“I want to tell those individuals that thegas pipeline has no connection whatsoeverwith the nuclear case,” Ahmadinejad said.

“With natural gas you cannot makeatomic bombs. That’s why they should

have no excuse to oppose this pipeline.”He said the pipeline project was the be-

ginning and could be extended to the northand east of Pakistan.

Earlier upon his arrival, Zardari was re-ceived in Chabahar by President Ah-madinejad.

In a short-meeting at the airport, thetwo presidents discussed the role of peacegas pipeline in promoting regional securityand stability.

They reiterated that construction ofIran-Pakistan pipeline project would furtherbolster economic, political and security tiesbetween Tehran and Islamabad as well asall regional states.

ZARDARI, AHMEDINEJADINAUGURATE IP GASPIPELINE PROJECT DESPITEGLOBAL PRESSURE

SAY ‘PEACE PIPELINE’ NOT ATHREAT TO ANY COUNTRY,NECESSARY FOR MEETINGPAKISTAN’S ENERGY NEEDS

TO USHER NEW ERA OFPROGRESS IN PAKISTAN, ININTEREST OF REGIONAL,GLOBAL PEACE

us douBts ip gas projeCt Will Complete,repeats sanCtions’ threatWASHINGTON: The United States has cast doubts about crystallization of the

Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project and said it has serious concerns that if the

project goes forward, the development would trigger US Iran Sanctions Act.

The State Department said the United States is helping Pakistan in meeting its

vast energy needs through a number of new and existing programs. “If this

project actually goes forward, we have serious concerns that sanction will be

triggered,” Victoria Nuland said. “this pipeline, if as I said, if it actually goes for-

ward - we have seen these promise many times - will take Pakistan in the wrong

direction right at a time when we are working with Pakistan on more reliable

ways to meet its energy needs.” Asked to comment on the Iran-Pakistan

pipeline project, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland declined to

allay fears of sanctions in the case of completion of the project. She said the

US has been clear to Pakistan on the matter. Dilating on US cooperation with

Pakistan in the energy field, she said “We are also working very closely bilater-

ally to support alternative projects to provide energy that it needs,” In this con-

text, Nuland referred to US help for Pakistan in large scale energy projects that

would add 900 MW to power grid by the end of 2013, fuelling an additional two

million households. These, she said, included renovating power plants at Tar-

bella and Mangla dams, modernizing thermal plan at Guddu and Jamshoro and

Muzaffargarh. Besides, the US is also supporting Pakistan in building new dams

in Satpara and Gomal Zam as well as working to advance Turkmenistan-

Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. SPEcIAL cORRESPONdENT

not juSt a pipedreaM

naB BeginS proBe

into Metro BuS,

ring road projeCtS

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

Taking cognisance of various reportsrelated to major violations of rules bythe Punjab government whileundertaking metro bus and ring roadprojects, the National AccountabilityBureau has decided to investigate thecases at NAB HQs. The projectcontracts were allegedly withoutprocessing the cases in accordance withthe rules. In this context, all documentshave been sought from the governmentof Punjab along with names offunctionaries responsible for the awardof contracts. The NAB chairman hasinstructed that these investigations mustbe expeditiously formalised and across-the-board accountability in all provincesbe ensured without discrimination.

UNITED NATIONS

INP

The United Nations strongly condemnedthe ongoing violence in the country, par-ticularly the recent tragic events in Quetta,Karachi and this past weekend in Lahore,especially targeting religious and ethnicminorities in Pakistan.

“All human beings have equal rightto life irrespective of diversities and dif-ferences in religious or political beliefs. Itis alarming that in one year hundreds ofPakistanis belonging to different minoritygroups have been killed which is denialof right to life and disrespect of human-ity,” said Timo Pakkala, United Nationsresident coordinator, in a statement todayin Islamabad.

It said in the face of the recent attackson religious and ethnic minorities in Pak-istan, the United Nations secretary-gen-

eral had called for swift and determinedaction against those claiming responsibil-ity and perpetrating such actions. “TheUnited Nations reiterates its strong sup-port for efforts by the government andpeople of Pakistan to protect religious andethnic minorities.”

“Pakistan is embarking on an impor-tant political transition that people hopewill help realise their aspirations towardsa stable, prosperous and democratic Pak-istan. The gains that the country has madein recent years in many areas in humanrights must not be put in jeopardy by theintolerance of a few. The United Nationsurges the Government and all politicalparties to accelerate efforts to build har-mony and peace among different sectionsof society and take concrete measures toprotect the existence and identity of eth-nic, cultural and religious minorities inPakistan,” Pakkala said.

UN strongly condemns attackson minorities in Pakistan

QUETTA: Lawyers hold a rally for the recovery of missing Balochistan Prosecutor General Wasay Tareen atZarghooz Road on Monday. INP

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NEWSN

04

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

Musharraf likely to delay

his return to Pakistan. —

Ahmed Raza Kasuri

CHAHBAHAR: President Asif Zardari and his Iranian counterpart

Mahmoud Ahmedinejad unveil the plaque marking the ground breaking

ceremony of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline at Gabd Zero Point on Monday.

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

aT least two people were killedand eight others wounded in ablast that occurred in Landiarea of the metropolitan on

Monday.According to initial reports, theexplosion termed to be of low-intensity, occurred at a cabin near thesports complex in Khurramabad areaat Landhi No 2.Later, police and rangers cordoned offthe blast site while rescue teams hadstarted shifting the dead to hospitals. Atleast eight injured people were alsotaken to different city hospitals.Police said the bomb was planted in amotor bike that was parked near thecabin. One dead man was lateridentified as the owner of the cabin.The wounded were shifted to differenthospitals to receive proper medicaltreatment. Hospital sources said thatat least two people had died whereaseight others were injured in theincident. Nearby shops were alsodamaged in the explosion. TwO kiLLEd in bAnk

RObbERy incidEnT: Twosecurity guards were killed andanother injured in Karachi whendacoits opened indiscriminate fire onthem during a bank robbery incident.According to rescue sources, theincident took place when dacoits

opened fire on the guards when theyunsuccessfully tried to loot a bankcash van in Aligarh market of thecity’s Orangi Town. The bodies of thesecurity guards were shifted to AbbasiShaheed Hospital. A dacoit was injuredin the exchange of fire and was handed

over to the police who later shifted himto a hospital. Later in the evening, thedacoits raided the hospital to free theircolleague. During exchange of fire, onepolice ASI and three constables wereinjured while the dacoits managed toescape from the scene.

two killed, eight injured in Karachi blast

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

tHE standoff between the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP) andthe government over nominationforms showed no sign of abating on

Monday, with the body apparently decid-ing to go ahead with printing new formswithout waiting for the president’s ap-proval, while the Law Minister FarooqNaik insisted the president had the powerto approve the changes.

Changes in the nomination forms sug-gested by the ECP were rejected by theLaw Ministry late last week. Barring acouple of cosmetic changes, the ministryhad rejected all amendments outright, in-cluding those seeking financial details andcriminal history of aspiring candidates.

The ECP, however, had put its footdown, defending the proposed changes asconstitutional and told the ministry torefer the matter to the president, who isthe final authority.

On Monday, the ECP had first de-cided to extend its deadline on the matterby a day given the president’s interna-tional engagement. However, later in theday, it decided to proceed with printingthe nomination forms without waiting forthe approval, claiming the president’s rolein the matter was only ceremonial, and his

approval was not mandatory.The law minister, however, differed.“Our ministry worked on it; that

takes time. We formed our comments ontheir proposed amendments,” the lawminister told reporters outside the parlia-ment on Monday.

He said the ministry furnished itscomments on the amendments on Thurs-day, with written copies of it being pro-vided on Friday.

“On Friday evening I was in Karachi,I found out that the ECP had objections onour comments.”

Naik said that the ECP’s proposedamendments and the comments of the LawMinistry were sent to the president onMarch 11. “Under rule 107 of the Repre-sentation of Peoples Conduct of Elections1977, the president has the power to ap-

prove the changes.”The commission had previously set

March 11 as the deadline for the presi-dent to approve the changes sent by theLaw Ministry, but extended the deadlineuntil March 12, as the president was outof the country.

ECP Additional Secretary Afzal Khantold reporters that the commission wouldstrengthen democratic institutions of thecountry by taking concrete steps. “The en-tire country will bear fruits of these steps.”

He added that the ECP had all therights and would strictly follow the givenelection schedule.

Khan also requested the media to re-frain from sensationalising news and tosend “serious and senior” people to coverelections. “They should take it as a na-tional responsibility.”

army officer,2 soldierskilled inorakzai blast KURRAM AGENCY: A Pakistan

Army captain and two soldiers were

killed while another two were

injured in an improvised explosive

device (IED) attack in Upper

Orakzai Agency, officials said on

Monday. “The attack took place late

last night when a security forces

convoy was targeted in Arkhanjo

Mamozai village in Upper Orakzai

tribal region,” Frontier Corps media

spokesman Major Fazl told a

private TV channel. Two other army

personnel were also injured in the

attack, the officials said. Security

forces launched a search operation

in the area after the incident.

According to the officials, most of

the region is now under the control

of the administration and the last

pockets of resistance, in Upper

Orakzai along the border of Tirah

Valley of Khyber Agency and the

adjoining Kurram Agency, are being

cleared of militants. Meanwhile, at

least 15 militants have been killed

in a skirmish with security forces in

the agency’s Manatoo area. ONLINE

pgpl ClarifiCation

In response to recent press reports,

Pakistan GasPort Limited (PGPL)

wishes to clarify that through the

PGPL Consortium it submitted a

compliant, timely, and competitive bid

in the tender for the setting up of the

first LNG import project in the private

sector. The PGPL Consortium

comprises China Harbour Engineering

Company, Gunvor, and PGPL. The

PGPL Consortium bid was submitted

on time on Feb. 18; it was not

delayed. Subsequently, the PGPL

Consortium was prequalified, along

with two other parties, and its price

bid and those of the other two bidders

were opened through a public process

on March 5. PGPL and its partners are

cognizant of their corporate

responsibilities and unequivocally

support the processing of nationally

important projects through a

transparent process in accordance

with Public Procurement Regulatory

Authority rules, international best

practices, and the law.

eCp to print new nominationforms sans presidential approval

LAW MINISTER FAROOQNAIK SAYS ONLY THEPRESIDENT EMPOWERED TOAPPROVE CHANGES

rpps decisionconcerning raja pervaizashraf final: Cjp

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP)Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry onMonday said the Supreme Court’sdecision in the rental power plantscase to the extent of Raja PervezAshraf was final.He was presiding over a three-member SC bench hearing PrimeMinister Raja Pervez Ashraf’s letterseeking formation of a judicialcommission to investigate the rentalpower case.The court issued notices to FaisalSaleh Hayat, Khawaja MuhammadAsif and the NAB chairman andsought replies from them.Waseem Sajjad advocate appeared onbehalf of Prime Minister Raja PervaizAshraf. Sajjad told the court that the “PMwants that investigation into rentalpower case be assigned to acommission”. The CJP remarked the courtdecision to the extent of Ashraf wasfinal. “If you raise questions overNAB, what would other people dovis-à-vis NAB?”.The CJP said why had the PM“addressed the letter to me.Constitution of commission aftercourt’s decision is tantamount toreviewing the decision. Your reviewpetition has been rejected forwithdrawal of the same by you”. Sajjad said the law did not debar thegovernment from constitutingcommissions. “We want the investigation madewith reference to allegations.” The CJP then remarked, “You couldfile a review petition too. Now theproblem is that federal minister andmember of assembly has raised thematter, so how can we decide itwithout issuing notice to him?”Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeedobserved, “I have been disappointedpersonally after hearing the decisionin the Arsalan Iftikhar case.” Waseem Sajjad said, “We have notexpressed lack of trust in NAB, wejust want transparent investigations.” The CJP said the lawyer alreadyknew that “former prime minister hadto quit his office too. Now thematters have gone to extreme end andnothing can be done without issuingnotices to the concerned parties”. The court later issued notices toFaisal Saleh Hayat, Khawaja Asif andthe NAB chairman and adjournedhearing of the case until March 18.

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05 The vandals who targeted Joseph Colony have

betrayed Quaid-e-Azam who had promised religious

freedom to all in Pakistan. –Jehangir Badar

LAHORE

WALEEd MALHI

SEvERAL victims of theBadami Bagh incident are stillwaiting for the promised foodand shelter, as the governmentstarted distribution of aid to the

affected on Monday. Scores of victimsgathered at the City District Governmentof Lahore (CDGL) town hall to collectthe financial aid pledged by thegovernment; however they complainedthat they were still facing poor livingconditions. Despite Punjab government’sefforts, victims of Joseph Colony arefacing difficulties. The food supply bythe government is poor, the managementof distribution is unorganised and manypeople remained without food whichcaused displays of frustration and anger.

Meanwhile 14 suspected rioters weresent to jail on judicial remand to an Anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday.

Police presented 35 suspects of theBadami Bagh incident before an ATC amidhigh security. The suspects were presentedbefore ATC No.3 judge Iran Saeed.

Officials said out of the 35 accused, 14were nominated while 21 were unknown.

A large number of relatives of theaccused also gathered outside the court,alleging that the suspects were arrested bypolice during overnight raids.

A resident of Joseph Colony who hadcome for aid said, “My name is not listedeven though I have lodged severalcomplaints. Everyone sends me to someoneelse and now the distribution process will befinished and I will be left without any aid”.Another resident said proper distribution offood and shelter was nowhere to be seen.“We have to pass our nights on the roads orfootpaths. There are many who are notresidents of Joseph Colony and are trying tosteal our right. The government should checkthoroughly before distribution,” he said.

Lahore DCO Noorul Amin Mengal

during the distribution of aid said, “We willprovide each and every possible facility tothe victims and the process of distributionwill be safe and sound. We will distinguishbetween original and fake victims througha survey”. He further said camps for all

victims have been set up and constructionof houses will be completed within threedays. Camp offices of all concernedauthorities such as LDA, WASA, andTown Administration have been asked tofacilitate victims, he said.

LAHORE

AgENcIES

Punjab Chief Minister (CM) ShahbazSharif declared the Badami Baghincident as “the worst example ofbarbarism” and said those involved inthe incident shall not be forgiven.

A meeting headed by the CM washeld at CM House during which thesituation in Lahore following theincident was discussed and restorationworks were reviewed.

The CM said the burning ofChristians’ houses was not a service toPakistan or Islam. He further said theChristians were mistreated and burningtheir houses in Joseph Colony after thearrest of the suspect was unjustified.

The episode had spoiledPakistan’s image in the internationalcommunity, he added.

Moreover, the CM said thoseinvolved in the incident were beingapprehended and would be handedexemplary punishments.Sharif alsosaid those affected by the incidentwould be compensated at all costs.

Meanwhile, the CM on Mondayasked his party’s lawmakers in thePunjab Assembly to get in touch with

their voters and start preparing forelections to ensure a PML-N victory.

He said PML-N would launch moreprojects like the metro bus service ifvoted to power after general elections.

Talking to assembly members onMonday, he said the metro bus project

was a unique gift for the citizens ofLahore. “This modern means oftransport has entirely changeddecades-old culture of publictransport,” he added.

He said he had already directedimport of more buses from Turkey in

view of the great number of travellerson metro buses.

He said PML-N would contest theupcoming elections on the basis ofperformance because it had completeda record number of developmentprojects during the last five years.

Basra seeKs shahBaz’s resignation LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Deputy Parliamentary leader in Punjab

Assembly Shaukat Mehmud Basra demanded that Punjab Chief Minister (CM)

Shahbaz Sharif resign over his failure in preventing the Badami Bagh episode.

He said it was not the first time Christians were targeted, adding that similar

incidents had occurred in Faisalabad, Sialkot and other parts of the province.

In a statement on Monday, he said Sharif was hoodwinking people by forming

committees. In fact, he said, the Punjab government sought time to hush up

the tragedy in Badami Bagh. “Had the chief minister taken serious notice of

the incidents, the Badami Bagh episode would not have occurred,” he said.

He said the PPP always took practical steps for protection of minorities and the

president had already announced financial assistance for the victims. Basra

said torching of houses had earned a bad name for the country. He said, “We

should all give due respect to all sects and minorities of Pakistan.” APP

Badami Bagh arsoncondemnable,contemptible: BadrLAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Secretary General and Leader of House in

Senate Jahangir Badar said terrorism

perpetrated by miscreants against Christians

in Badami Bagh was both condemnable and

contemptible because it was an un-Islamic,

illegal and immoral. He said these miscreants

were a source of shame and a blot on the face

of humanity. They have manifested their

mental sterility by indulging in an abhorrent

activity like this, he added. He said they had

also betrayed the founder of the nation Quaide

Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who had clearly

said there would be religious freedom in

Pakistan. He said the president had taken

serious notice of the gruesome incident and

directed the Punjab governor to submit a

report immediately.He said the announcement

of Rs 500,000 to each affected family would

greatly help in rehabilitation of the victims. He

said PPP had always stood by the minorities.

He recalled that PPP had played a leading role

in the legislative process on awarding

representation to minorities in the parliament

on the basis of their population. STAFF REPORT

Strategy discussed toavert tragedies in futureLAHORE: A meeting was held at Cathedral Church Lahore

on Monday to evolve a strategy to avoid incidents similar to

the Badami Bagh tragedy in future. The meeting was

chaired by Advisor to Prime Minister on National Harmony

Dr Paul Bhatti and included Minister of State for National

Harmony Akram Masih Gill, Badshahi Mosque Khateeb

Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, Allama Tahir Ashrafi, Maulana

Zubair Ahmad Zaheer, MPA Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, Bishop

Alexander John Malik and others. The members of the

meeting urged the federal and provincial governments to

arrest the accused with the help of TV footage and try them

under the anti-terrorism law. A committee comprising

Muslim scholars, bishops and Christian scholars was formed

which would extend support to the victims and also monitor

the situation. The meeting also declared that a person

involved in desecrating holy books and prophets does not

belong to any religion. Bishop Alexander John Malik said

Christians respected the prophets and holy books of other

religions like they respected the Holy Bible and Hazrat Isa

(AS). Abdul Khabeer Azad said strict action should be

taken against the accused. Later, the members of the

meeting visited Badami Bagh and offered prayers for the

affected people.

FRIdAY TO BE OBSERvEd AS dAY OF TOLERANCE:Clerics of various sects decided to observe a day of

tolerance on Friday to express solidarity with the

Christians of the country. Religious scholar Allama Tahir

Ashrafi demanded that those responsible for the Badami

Bagh tragedy be dealt with strictly. He demanded those

involved be tried under anti-terrorism act. AgENcIES

Worst example of barbarism: CM

Badami Bagh tragedy(

(

despite aid distribution, severalvictims remain unaccounted for

Photo by Murtaza Ali

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:12 AM Page 5

L

06

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013LAHORE

Why did the police act as bystanders while

the mobs destroyed the homes of the poor

in Joseph Colony. –Shafqat Mahmood

CIne StAr JACk the gIAnt SLAyer 02:00pMph: 35157462 A good dAy to dIe hArd 04:00pM

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SoZo goLd ZILLA ghAZIAbAd 08:00 pMph: 111-999-977 MUrder 3 11:00 pM

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MUrder 3 11:30 pMrACe 2 03:00pM

AUdI-1SUper CIneMA rACe 2 06:00pMAt royAL pALM MUrder 3 08:45pMph: 111-602-602, I Me oUr MAIn 11:00pM36118679

AUdI-2SAheb bIWI AUr gAngSter retUrn 03:15pMJACk the gIAnt SLAyer (3d) 06:00pMJACk the gIAnt SLAyer (3d) 08:15pMSAheb bIWI AUr gAngSter retUrn 10:30pM

AUdI-3

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LAHORE

WALEEd MALHI

THE Parks andHorticulture Authority(PHA) is continuouslyreplacing indigenousplants with ornamental

plants of shorter heights which are inno way a replacement for the oldtrees.

The trees along the provincialcapital main roads not just fordecoration but also serve as publicspaces where people walk, shop, meetand participate in activities that makeurban living enjoyable. Conventionalguidelines for transportation safetyregards trees as roadside fixed-objectsthat constitute driving hazards buturban foresters, designers, andplanners encourage tree planting toenhance the livability of urban streets.

The idea of planting palm or datetrees in the metropolitan is creatingunrest for the environment and aswell for the citizens of Lahore. Notonly do they require a dry climate,sandy soil but also flourish in thedesert.

Due to elimination of tall trees,the cemented infrastructure in the city

has increased the temperature. Thenon-humid and super driedenvironment is making moredifficulties for the citizens. Theauthorities apparently cannotunderstand why the trees here are soleafy and so rich in shade. Thestraight forward thing to do of courseis to cut whatever trees are leftstanding.

Cutting off trees, impropergarbage disposal, bad seweragesystem, constructions of roads are themain factors, causing environmentalpollution. Multiple developmentprojects, the widening of roads andconstruction of underpasses arecarried out at the cost of trees thatresults in the concentration of harmfulgases in the air.

There was a time when Lahore’smain boulevard was being widened,it was said that this was necessary toaccommodate the tremendously highrate of vehicles that ply on theboulevard. So the road was widened.Before the boulevard was notwidened it had in its middle beautifulshrubs and flowers and after LibertyChowk, there were lush green verges.Every time along the main boulevard,there was always had a refreshingfeel.

But then came the urge to widenthe boulevard, which was widened ofcourse, but the beautiful flowers andthe shrubs were no more there. Thelush green verges beyond Liberty hadalso gone. Instead they started

planting those odd looking date palmssurrounded by those ugly concretestructures which started sprouting likemushrooms all along the mainboulevard. This same thing is alsowitnessed along the route of BRTSand other main roads which wereconstructed in the provincial capital.

A medical expert has revealedthat 22 per cent citizens are sufferingfrom asthma, a disease caused bypollution. Air pollution has alsobecome a major problem of theprovincial capital. There are nocontrols on vehicular emissions,which account for 90 per cent ofpollutants.

Survey report claims that theaverage vehicle emits 25 times asmuch carbon monoxide, 20 times asmany hydrocarbons. Over 20,000rickshaws roam the streets of Lahore,worsening air pollution levels.

Due to elimination of tall trees,the cemented infrastructure in the cityhas increased the temperature.

Rafia Kamal, an environmentalistworking on the landscape ecology ofLahore, said rapid and unplannedurbanisation had drastically changedthe city’s landscape ecology. Newdevelopments and network of roadsare a good addition and providesolution for the expanding traffic andpopulation but the removal of somany indigenous trees andplantations can have a negative effecton the environment of the city, shesaid.

The local vegetation isdisappearing rapidly and is beingsupplanted by exotic ornamentalvarieties. The non native exotic floramay fulfill the requirements of beautyand aesthetics but they cannot replacethe damage done to the environmentby the removal of native species, shesaid.

The new ornamental plantationcomprising mostly, species of tropicalenvironments like palms cannotdiminish the increased levels of airpollution and high intensitytemperatures, she said.

Rafia said research shows thattrees with dense foliage and largesurface area are most appropriate forthe abatement of air pollution andtemperature rise. They minimise theeffect by maximum absorption ofcarbon dioxide, a major greenhousegas, and other pollutants emitted byvehicular emissions like, volatileorganic matter (vOCs), Soxes, Noxes(oxides of Sulphur and Nitrogen) andO3 (Ozone), she said.

“Our indigenous trees have moreabsorptive capability to reduce theeffect of pollution and temperaturehikes than the ornamental trees in ourpresent landscapes and road sidegreen areas,” she added.

The use of local varieties of trees,shrubs and creepers can lead to amore sustainable environment owingto their lower consumption of wateras compared to foreign tropicalvarieties, she said.

off with the treeS!PHA CUTTING OF TREES TOACCOMMODATE INCREASINGURBANISATION

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Punjab government accorded approval tothe project for restoration of unique muralscreated by the internationally acclaimedPakistani artist, the late Sadiqain, whichhave been displayed on the ceiling ofLahore Museum.

The project to safeguard this nationalheritage from the effects of humidityand weather conditions will beaccomplished with thetechnical assistance of anIndian NGO ‘Intach’which has expertise inconservation work ofthis nature. Theproject will costaround four millionrupees.

This wasdisclosed by SeniorAdvisor to PunjabChief Minister SenatorZulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, onhis visit to the Lahore Museumon Monday. He was accompanied bythe Begum Zakia Shahnawaz, PunjabSecretary Information and Culture AbdullahKhan Sumbal and Additional SecretarySyed Tahir Raza Bukhari. Museum DirectorSumaira Samad gave a briefing to Khosa onthe historic significance of the artefactspreserved in the museum. She said 48

panels of Sadiqain’s murals, having a sizeof 6x8 feet, will be restored under thisproject. Following his visit to variousgalleries in the museum, Khosa expressedsatisfaction over the conservation stepstaken by the management to protect rareartistic work of Quranic calligraphy andthose pertaining to the pre and proto historicsites of Pakistan from the stone-age to

Gandhara civilization, includingsculptures of a fasting Buddha,

plaster cast of the lionpertaining to the capital of

Asoka at Sarnath andutensils excavatedfrom Harrapa site.

Khosa alsovisited the paintingexhibition beingheld at LahoreMuseum in

connection with thecelebration of

International Women’sDay. Classical paintings and

miniature work depicting thesocial status of women in this region

of the world during different eras includingpaintings of late Anna Molka Ahmed,Amrita Sher Gill, Zainul Abideen andAhmed Chughtai and many other craftsrelated to the social life of women folkhave been displayed in the exhibition,which will continue till March 30.

Punjab govt to restoreSadiqain’s works

LAHORE Chief Minister ShahbazSharif preasides over the lastcabinet meeting of Punjabgovernement on Monday at theChief Minister House. NNI

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07

NEWSTuesday, 12 March, 2013

All human beings have equal right to life irrespective of

diversities and differences in religious or political

beliefs. – UN Resident Coordinator Timo Pakkala N

KIRKUK: Two policemen and afemale bystander were killed whena suicider bomber blew himself upin a car near the Iraqi Kurdish cityof Kirkuk on Monday. The attack indibis northwest of Kirkuk woundedaround 100 people, many of them

schoolchildren, a local official said.Iraqi Kurdistan has been hit by anumber of attacks in recentmonths as the security situationacross the country deterioratesand the regional governmentcontinues to dispute oil contracts

with Baghdad. The blast onMonday morning targeted thepolice station but also struck theadjacent girls’ secondary school.Attacks of the same nature havekilled 220 people in Iraq in the lastmonth. AGENCIES

KurdiSh iraq roCKed By SuiCide BoMBer

KurdiSh iraq roCKed By SuiCide BoMBer

KABUL

NNI

President Hamid Karzai has said the fulltransfer of Bagram prison from the US toAfghan authority would be completed thisweek after the two countries failed again tomeet the latest deadline set for March 9.

Karzai’s office released a statementafter the president met with the top UScommander in Afghanistan Gen JosephDunford, saying that the handover woulddefinitely happen this week.

“President Hamid Karzai andNATO/ISAF Commander Gen Dunfordagreed that the full transfer of Bagram

prison, initially set for Saturday, March 9will now take place during this week, al-lowing time for some of the remainingtechnical details concerning the handoverto be resolved,” the statement said.

It is understood that the latest stum-bling block to the handover was Karzaiobjecting to the US still controlling as-pects of prisoner releases. Some politicalleaders have welcomed the US reluctanceto give full authority to Afghan govern-ment in light of Karzai’s partiality to re-leasing Taliban.

“One of Karzai’s goals is to have noTaliban in prisons and have them re-leased,” Fazlurrahman Oria, National

Coalition party member said.Hamidullah Farouqi, member of the

Right and Justice party, said there are fearsthat such prisoner release plans would beswayed by personal interests. “We shouldhave doubts that these reactions [of releas-ing prisoners] are based on personal tastesand seeking political interests. Unfortu-nately, such reactions would be very dan-gerous,” he said. Gen Dunford has agreedto work with the Afghan government onthe final details including the legal aspectsrequired for the complete handover to takeplace this current week, Karzai’s officesaid. These details are believed to includethe matter of prisoner release and detain-

ment of foreign prisoners captured inAfghan-coalition operations.

The initial Bagram transfer agreementwas signed one year ago and had a Septem-ber 2012 deadline. Karzai has repeatedlydecried the US reluctance as an affront toAfghanistan’s sovereignty. He stressed thispoint again in Sunday’s statement, sayingthat all efforts must be made to make surethe handover happened this week so thatAfghanistan’s sovereignty could come intofull exercise. Karzai had announced in aspeech to parliament last Wednesday thatthe full handover would happen Saturday,but on Saturday it was delayed over the dis-agreements.

Karzai inSiStS BagraM handover will happen thiS weeK

SEOUL

APP

South Korean and US troops launched ajoint military exercise Monday as NorthKorea, which has slammed the drill andthreatened both countries with nuclear at-tack, severed its hotline with Seoul.

The start of the two-week “Key Re-solve” exercise follows a week of escalat-ing tensions on the Korean peninsula, withNorth Korea lashing out over tightenedUN sanctions adopted after its third nu-clear test last month. Pyongyang has con-demned the joint manoeuvres as aprovocative invasion rehearsal and an-nounced that — effective Monday — itwas scrapping the 1953 armistice endingthe Korean War and voiding peace pactssigned with the South.

The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaperof the North’s ruling communist party,confirmed in Monday’s edition the“complete end” of the ceasefire whichhalted the 1950-53 Korean War hostili-ties. “With the ceasefire agreementblown apart ... no one can predict whatwill happen in this land from now on,”the newspaper said. As the war con-cluded with a military armistice ratherthan a peace treaty, the two Koreas re-main technically at war.

Qaeda claims killing of 48 Syriansoldiers in Iraq

BAGHDAD

APP

Al Qaeda’s Iraqi front group claimed anattack on a convoy in west Iraq that killed48 Syrian soldiers and nine Iraqi guards,in a statement posted on jihadist forumson Monday.The soldiers had entered Iraqfor medical treatment and were beingtransported through the western provinceof Anbar on their way back to Syria whenthe attack took place on March 4,according to the Iraqi Defence Ministry.

Myanmar govt and Kachin rebels renew talks

YANGON

APP

Myanmar’s government met Kachinrebels for renewed peace talks in Chinaon Monday, an analyst said, as the rivalsseek to resolve a festering ethnic conflictthat has undermined reforms.Representatives of the KachinIndependence Organisation (KIO) — andits armed wing the KIA — metgovernment officials led by President’sOffice Minister Aung Min in the Chineseborder town of Ruili. “I think thismeeting may be a little more productivethan the previous one (in February)although we cannot expect too much,”said Aung Kyaw Zaw, an analyst withclose ties to the KIO who wasmonitoring the talks in Ruili. “Myanmartroops are not retreating from KachinState yet,” he said, adding that Chineseofficials and members of some ofMyanmar’s other ethnic groups were alsopresent for the talks.

Venezuela’s Caprilesjoins race, tussleswith Chavez heir

CARACAS

APP

venezuela’s opposition leader hasvowed to fight late Hugo Chavez’spreferred successor for the presidencynext month and the pair quicklylocked horns in an angry war ofwords. Henrique Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor, will face electionfavorite and acting President NicolasMaduro. The pair were to registertheir candidacies for the April 14 voteon Monday. The election will decidewhether Chavez’s self-styled socialistand nationalist revolution will live onin the country with the world’s largestproven oil reserves. “I am going tofight,” Capriles said at a newsconference. “Nicolas, I am not goingto give you a free pass. You will haveto beat me with votes.”

S KOREA-US DRILL KICKS OFF ASTENSIONS WITH NORTH ESCALATE

SEOUL: North Korea has cut off a RedCross hotline with South Korea as itescalates its war of words against Seouland Washington in response to a militarydrill in the South and U.N. sanctionsimposed for its recent nuclear test. TheNorth had threatened to cut off the hotlineon March 11 if the United States andSouth Korea did not abandon their jointmilitary exercise. The Red Cross hotlineis used to communicate between Seouland Pyongyang which do not havediplomatic relations. “We called at 9 a.m.and there was no response,” agovernment official from South Koreasaid. The line is tested each day.Pyongyang has also threatened to cut offa hotline with UN forces in South Korea,at the border “truce village” ofPammunjom. Tensions on the Koreanpeninsula have risen since the Northconducted a third nuclear test on

February 12, prompting new U.N.sanctions. South Korea and US forces areconducting large-scale military drills untilthe end of April, while the North is alsogearing up for a massive state-widemilitary exercise. North Korea hasaccused the United States of using themilitary drills in South Korea as a launchpad for a nuclear war and has threatened toscrap the armistice with Washington thatended hostilities in the 1950-53 KoreanWar. The North has threatened a nuclearstrike on the United States, but such athreat has been dismissed as rhetoric byanalysts, as the North does not have themilitary capacity to reach the United States.The North is viewed as more likely to stagesome kind of attack along a disputed seaborder, if it does anything at all, rather thanrisk a war with South Korea and the UnitedStates, which it would lose, according tomost military assessments. ONLINE

north Korea cuts offhotline with south Korea

European satelliterecorded Japantsunami quake

WASHINGTON

APP

A European Space Agency satellite circlingEarth was able to detect the massive 2011earthquake that ravaged Japan, killingnearly 16,000 people and causing massivedestruction, a new study said Sunday. “Theatmospheric infrasounds following the greatTohoku earthquake ... induced variations ofair density and vertical acceleration of theGOCE platform,” said a report published inthe journal Geophysical Research Letters.The Gravity Ocean Circulation Explorer(GOCE) is the European Space Agencysuper-sensitive satellite that acts like anorbital seismologist. Scientists argue thatearthquakes not only create seismic wavesthat travel through Earth’s interior, but largetremors also cause the surface of the planetto vibrate like a drum. This produces soundwaves that travel upwards through theatmosphere. GOCE is designed to captureand register these signals. According to thereport, the magnitude 9.0 tremor on March11, 2011 sent shock waves through theatmosphere that was picked up by thesatellite. “These signals were detected attwo positions along the GOCE orbitcorresponding to a crossing and a doublingof the infrasonic wavefront created byseismic surface waves,” the study said.

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:12 AM Page 7

NEWSNTuesday, 12 March, 2013

08 Amendment on nomination papers

prerogative of president’s

approval. — Farooq Naek

SC for actionagainst officialswho helpedSadiq flee

iSLAMAbAd: The Supreme Court

(SC) resumed hearing into the OGRA

embezzlement case on Monday.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Middle East

DG Nasarullah presented a report of the

case in the court. He told the court that

efforts regarding bringing back former

OGRA chief Tauqeer Sadiq to the

country had been made, adding that

the case should be taken up at the

Foreign Office level.

To which Justice Jawad S Khwaja asked

him that the FO had not mentioned this

in its report, ordering that the step

should be taken at the state level and

report be submitted to the court within

10 days.

NAB investigation officer Waqas told the

court that the co-accused and Sadiq’s

front man, Salim Shahzad was

acquitted in the case on a surety bond.

He said of the 36 witnesses in the case,

six applied for protection. The case was

referred to the NAB DG but he has not

taken any action on it so far.

The court also demanded the name of

witnesses who requested for protection

and directed the NAB DG to appear

before the court personally on the next

date of proceedings.

Justice Khawaja said the report of the

Foreign Ministry indicated that

Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE was

helping Sadiq.

Late, the court adjourned the hearing

until March 25. ONLINE

NEWS DESK

The murder of Dr Syed Ali Haider, a forty-six-year-old eye surgeon in Lahore and hiseleven-year-old son Mustafa Haider have leftLahore, the cultural hub of Pakistan, stunned,according to a report by the New Yorker.

Dr Haider and his son were killed forbeing Shias, a minority Muslim sect and oth-erwise had no enmity.

Dr Haider came from a much-regardedLahore family; his relatives were renowneddoctors and members of the judiciary. No-body claimed responsibility for his killing, buteveryone in Lahore suspected the Sunni ex-tremist militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,which has been involved in numerous attackson Pakistan’s Shia minority.

A sense of hopelessness is engulfing theShias in Pakistan. Though Lahore has re-mained relatively calm, the graffiti in Pak-istan’s financial capital Karachi foretellsmurder.

While models in latest attires advertisedesigner apparel on billboards, letters “SSP”remain painted on walls in red — standing forSipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan – the army of Com-panions of the Prophet (PBUH) – the moth-ership of sectarian militancy in Pakistan.

The sectarian battles in Pakistan have

gained force with a broader radicalisation ofsociety.

The country’s Shias and Sunnis lived to-gether peacefully until the 1970s.

The worsening of relations began duringthe dictatorship of General Ziaul Haq, whoruled Pakistan between 1979 and 1987. Afterthe 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Sunni-ledgovernments like Saudi Arabia feared that

Ayatollah Khomeini would export Shia ideasand influence.

Saudis gave financial support to Zia, whopatronised radical Wahhabi-like Sunni clericsin Pakistan. A wave of new seminariesopened, some no more than storefronts, fromwhich clerics issued fatwas and declaredShias heretics and apostates. As Pakistan gotinvolved in the Soviet war in Afghanistan

(which is also mostly Sunni), the power of re-ligious extremists grew. Many of the Talibancame from the seminaries that Zia had helpedbuild.

In 1985, in Jhang — a town in Punjab—a group of Sunni extremist clerics led byMaulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi formed theSSP.

It positioned itself as a political party,with the aim of declaring Pakistan a Sunnistate, and even won some seats in the Na-tional Assembly. In 1996, a breakaway fac-tion that felt the organization wasn’t violentenough formed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi —thearmy of Jhangvi.

After 9/11, General Pervez Musharrafbanned both Sunni and Shia sectarian militantgroups, but it did little to ebb the violenceagainst Shias.

The legal system remains notably weakwhen it comes to investigations and prosecu-tions of sectarian violence. In the early 2000s,LJ often targeted Shia professionals.

During Musharraf’s first term in office,from 1999-2003, around six hundred Shiaswere killed in sectarian violence. In 2003, TheFriday Times weekly newspaper reported thataround five hundred Shia doctors had fledPakistan in the space of a few years, aftermore than fifty of their colleagues were as-

sassinated in Karachi.By 2009, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,

or Pakistani Taliban, a coalition of militantsoperating out of the Tribal Areas of Pakistan,was carrying out lethal bombings throughoutPakistan; several former Lashkar-e-Jhangvileaders had assumed important positionswithin its ranks. And sectarian violence hasintensified. “The attacks on the Shia commu-nity increased radically in the past year. As thenational elections are a few months away, themilitants sense a lack of political will withinthe political parties to go after them,” a La-hore-based newspaper editor said.

In the summer of 2011, LJ sent an openletter to the Shia community in Quetta. Theletter, written in Urdu and signed by the com-mander of Jhangvi, read:

All Shias are worthy of killing. We willrid Pakistan of [this] unclean people. Pakistanmeans land of the pure, and the Shias have noright to be here…We will make Pakistan theirgraveyard — their houses will be destroyedby bombs and suicide bombers.

“I can’t see a future for myself in such cir-cumstances. I have a computer-sciences de-gree and want to work, but I am scared toeven move beyond the street where the Shianeighborhoods end in Quetta,” a Shia studentsaid.

Pakistan’s army of Jhangvi

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

THE Supreme Court (SC) onMonday rejected the petitionpraying for granting exemp-tion to Husain Huqqani, for-mer Pakistan ambassador to

US, from appearing in court. However, thecourt allowed him three weeks to appear,or face punitive action in the form of can-cellation of his Pakistani passport.

An apex court bench headed by ChiefJustice (CJ) Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry heard the controversial case.

During the hearing, the CJ remarked

that Haqqani had promised the court hewould return within four weeks. “HusainHaqqani should respect his testimony be-fore the court,” the CJ said.

The bench said there was democracyin the country and steps had been taken bythe government to provide security to theformer ambassador, which were apprecia-ble.

The court said it had several options,including cancellation of Haqqani’s pass-port, if he did not return.

Moreover, the bench also ordered tosend a copy of the court’s order to thecountry’s embassy in US.

Earlier, Huqqani’s lawyer AsmaJahangir submitted a petition prayingfor the grant of exemption to herclient citing security concerns,which the court rejected.

Jahangir informedthe court that herclient was unwillingto return to Pakistan

and did not trust the security assurancesgiven by the govern-ment.

Following thecourt’s probing, At-torney GeneralIrfan Qadir in-formed the benchon details of safetymeasures to beadopted for

Haqqani’s security.Qadir said foolproof security would be

provided to Haqqani during his stay inPakistan. On February 12, during the lasthearing, the SC had directed SecretaryKhawaja Siddiq Akbar to provide fool-proof security to Haqqani.

The case was brought to light byMansoor Ijaz, a US citizen of Pakistaniorigin, when he accused Haqqani of writ-

ing a memo to Admiral Mike Mullenseeking the country’s help against a

possible military coup inPakistan.

haqqani has three weeks toappear in court or else....

SC SAYS HAQQANI FACESPASSPORT CANCELLATIONIF HE DOES NOT TURN UPAT MEMO HEARING

LAHORE: A man displaying his skills during Sharqpur Sharif Jamaat Festival on Monday. ONLINE

delhi rapeaccused driverhangs himself

NEW DELHI

ONLINE

The driver of the bus in which a youngIndian woman was gang-raped andfatally injured three months agohanged himself in New Delhi’s Tiharjail on Monday, police said. RamSingh was the main accused of fivemen and a juvenile put on trial for theattack on the 23-year-old traineephysiotherapist in the Indian capital.The assault triggered nationwideprotests and an intense debate aboutrampant crime against women in India.A senior police official said Singh hadcommitted suicide in his cell early onMonday. “It is true, he’s dead,” saidthe official, who spoke on condition ofanonymity. The CNN-IBN newschannel said Singh hanged himselfwith his own clothes. Tihar jail isIndia’s highest security prison andofficials there are likely to face toughquestions about how such an incidentcould have occurred.

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NEWS N

09

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

JI to make seat adjustments

with PTI, PML-N. —Munawar Hasan

KARACHI

ISMAIL dILAWAR

GIvING a “broadoverview” of its five-yearperformance regardingmaintaining peace inKarachi, the Sindh gov-

ernment on Monday put the onus of theworst-ever law and order in Karachi on theUS-led war against terrorism.

“The geneses of this issue is compli-cated but what is now understood by manyis that it is not an ordinary law and order,”Leader of the House Sindh Chief MinisterQaim Ali Shah told Monday’s sitting ofthe provincial legislature which met withSpeaker Nisar Khuhro in the chair.

Claiming credit on his government’ssuccessful efforts for poverty reduction,job creation, economic growth and humandevelopment, Shah said the security situ-ation in Karachi remained fragile causingpain and misery to thousands of families.

“It will not be incorrect to say that it is

an off-shoot of the larger conflict that thiscountry is fighting,” he said, adding “Thiseven the military establishment had ac-knowledged in its recently–issued policystatement.”

“There is a bigger war within thecountry that requires dedicated attention,”the chief minister quoted the establishmentas saying.

Shah said given these complexities,multifaceted efforts aiming at containingdamages and deescalating conflict wereunderway.

Claiming to have reacted swiftly to the“ghastly” Abbas Town incident, the chiefminister said his government had beenable to resolve issues through engagingmultiple political stakeholders in the city.

Shah said to improve the law andorder during the last five years, the provin-cial government had increased the annualbudget to Rs 32 billion in 2013 from Rs 9billion in 2008. The PPP stalwart left manyscratching their heads by comparing 4,000killings in Karachi with 19,000 in Lahorewhere, he claimed, the law and order waseven worse.

He said in the last five years the lawenforcers had arrested over 480 targetedkillers and had detected 720 others. Thepolice had registered 505 cases of extor-tion, arresting 365 accused, in the last twoyears.

Shah said the Sindh Police had nettedmany terrorist networks, killing 37 terror-ists belonging to banned outfits, arresting410 others along with large caches of arms

and ammunition. Having inducted 10,300under training police constables in policeforce, the chief minister lamented theElection Commission of Pakistan’s bar onfurther hiring of 8,400 additional police-men “badly needed for beefing up securityin Karachi”.

Underlining his government’s “tower-ing” achievements such as the 18thAmendment, the 7th NFC Award, theAghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan, creating165,000 jobs, Thar coal project, regulari-sation of goths, legislation on women em-powerment and other projected related tohuman and infrastructure development,Shah said his government, however,recognised that these were not enough.

The chief minister said the companiesworking on wind and coal had the capacityto enhance power generation to10,000MW by 2020. “These firms hadcommitted to investing around $20 billionin the energy-related projects in theprovince,” he said.

“There are many who have tried to un-dermine the strategic significance of thePPP’s reconciliation philosophy and strat-egy. Let me say this boldly that the politi-cal system in Pakistan can now only moveforward through reconciliation and thepolicy of live and let live,” the chief min-ister told the lawmakers amid ear-splittingnoise of desk-thumping.

The 168-member House could not un-dertake any legislation on the day and wasadjourned until Wednesday.

Shah’s speech was followed by a “crit-

ical analysis” by Leader of OppositionSardar Ahmed of the MQM, who high-lighted various shortcomings in the gov-ernment’s policies and its implementationon ground.

However, the leader of the House al-most embarrassed the MQM senior law-maker by saying that his party had justparted ways with the government andshould, therefore, take equal responsibilityfor whatever wrong had been committed.

The House adopted a resolutionmoved by PPP’s minority lawmakerSlaeem Khursheed Khokhar, to condemnattack on a Christian locality in BadamiBagh in Lahore.

Sindh govt puts onus of Karachi lawand order on global war on terror

The PPP stalwart leftmany scratching their

heads by comparing 4,000killings in Karachi with

19,000 in Lahore where, heclaimed, the law and order

was even worse

SINDH CHIEF MINISTERSAYS MULTIFACETEDEFFORTS AIMED ATCONTAINING DAMAGESAND DEESCALATINGCONFLICT UNDERWAY

PESHAWAR

PPI

Residents escaping the latest round of fightingin Khyber Agency in Pakistan’s Federally Ad-ministered Tribal Areas (FATA) say they didnot even have time to bury their dead beforeleaving their homes in the Tirah valley.

They are the latest of hundreds of thou-sands of people who have fled their homes inthe tribal belt close to Pakistan’s border withAfghanistan over the last five years of Pak-istani military operations.

According to a report by Integrated Re-gional Information Network (IRIN) of UnitedNations, conflict is not the only cause of dis-placement; natural disasters have also playeda role, creating what humanitarians call a

“complex emergency”.However, despite the existence of camps

set up for internally displaced persons (IDPs)where the government and humanitarian or-ganisations provide assistance, most choose toflee elsewhere, creating a challenge for thosewanting to help these vulnerable communities.

Over 75,000 people live in three estab-lished IDP camps (such as Jalozai, a half hourdrive from Peshawar) which houses familiesin tents or makeshift structures, and providefood aid, medical facilities and drinking water.They also serve as a central registration pointfor families arriving from areas hit by conflictor natural disaster.

Large though these camps are, they onlyaccount for 10 percent of the three-quarters ofa million IDPs, according to the UN’s Office

for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA). Humanitarian agencies are increas-ingly being pushed to take care of those whoprefer to live elsewhere; often in Peshawar andelsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

NGOs and the UN working in Pakistancarry out so-called IDP vulnerability assess-ment and profiling (IvAP) surveys to gatherinformation on where off-camp IDPs are, andthe type of support they need, from shelter andfood to healthcare and Water, Sanitation andHygiene (WASH) assistance.

They also gather information aboutwhat IDPs say they will need on returningto their homes, generally in FATA - withhousing, security and agriculture of partic-ular concern to families.

IvAP findings are then passed to human-

itarian partners in an effort to ensure that as-sistance is targeted where there is the greatestneed. The European Commission-fundedIvAP project recommends that aid agenciesprioritize assistance for off-camp families, 82percent of whom have to pay rent and live indifficult, cramped conditions.

Providing humanitarian services outsideof the camp environment can be challenging.

IDPs have direct access to facilities atcamps, but tribal customs, perceptions ofcamp life and a preference to stay with rela-tives and friends, mean a large number ofIDPs choose to live outside the camps, mak-ing it more difficult for the authorities andhumanitarian organizations to keep track ofthem and offer assistance.

“Those providing aid, and the IDPs re-

ceiving it, would be better served if distribu-tion was decentralised,” said Sobat KhanAfridi, chairman of the Tehreek-e-MutasireenKhyber Agency, an NGO set up by differentpolitical parties to assist IDPs.

“It is easier for larger organisations, espe-cially international NGOs, to operate from thecamp as it is easier to manage for them. Theproblem is that it is still difficult for all thefamilies not living at the camp to reach Jalozaiand get aid,” said Afridi. Efforts are made tokeep in touch with families who choose to liveamong relatives or rent property. The govern-ment uses mobile phone numbers to registerfamilies living off-camp, and officials try toreach families that are not registered in thisway during monthly food distributions at des-ignated points, he added.

The forgotten lives of IDPs

punjab govtreluctant to goafter lj

ISLAMABAD

APP

Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Mondaysaid the Punjab government was not takingany action against Lashkar-e-Jhangvidespite being provided a list of terrorists. “Ifthe Punjab government had launched acrackdown on banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi(LJ), the scourge of terrorism could havebeen eliminated,” Malik said while talkingto reporters after holding a meeting withAustralian Prime Minister’s Special EnvoyAir Chief Marshal (r) Angus Houston.Malik said the Badami Bagh tragedy was anexample of worst kind of governance andbanned militant outfits did not want generalelections in the country. He said federalauthorities would act if the Punjabgovernment did not crack down on thebanned LJ, which was responsible forterrorism acts in various parts of thecountry. “I had written to them to takeaction. If they do not move, I wouldrespond. The LJ has its headquarters inPunjab and the provincial governmentshould have acted against it,” Malik said.The interior minister asked why did thePunjab government not close down officesof LJ in the province. “The passage of the18th Amendment has passed on theresponsibility to tackle terrorism to theprovinces,” he said. To a question, he saidthe Taliban had become weak and weretalking about dialogue, however, enemieswere still working to destabilise the countrybut their nefarious designs would be foiledby forging unity. “We don’t want to seesuicide vests in the hands of our futuregenerations,” Malik said. He claimed thatthe backbone of proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had been brokenand LJ was behind terrorist acts beingperpetrated in Pakistan. To anotherquestion, he said Pakistan had alwayssupported Afghanistan and it should haverealised that it was Pakistan that had beenlooking after hundreds of thousands ofrefugees for years. The interior minister saidthe Afghan government should cooperatewith Pakistan and should not let anyone touse Afghan soil against Pakistan. Regardinghis meeting with Angus Houston, he saidmatters relating to immigration came underdiscussion. Malik said Australia andPakistan enjoyed good relations and hadremarkable cooperation in various areas.Air Chief Marshal (r) Houston recalled theclose relationship and the importanceattached to relations with Australia.

PESHAWAR: Christians hold a protest demonstration against Saturday’s ransacking in Lahore’s Badami Bagh area. INP

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COMMENT

Arif NizamiEditor

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

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

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

C

The US needs to understand thatnational needs have priority

who is responsible?

IRONIC that a country a quarter of whose flag represents minorities allowsthem to be persecuted one way or another. The 10 March incident in Lahoreis not a bolt out of the blue but a continuation of oppression and violence

against minorities in the Islamic Republic. Ahmadis were the target of choicealmost four decades ago, then came the Shias’ turn, followed by Hindus and nowthe Christians. It seems the country that was going to be a laboratory to testIslamic way of life has failed to achieve its basic objective.

As the protests continue across the country against a mob attack on the JosephColony in Lahore, questions are being raised, and rightly so, on the performanceof the government and its law enforcement agencies. The Punjab administration,as it admitted, had information beforehand on what was going to transpire on thatnight, but instead of taking measures to protect the life and property, a duty it isbound to fulfil under the constitution, of the residents, it opted for an easysolution: it issued orders to evacuate the area and then looked the other way whenthe extremists went on a rampage and pilfered the area, taking with them whatfew valuables the residents had in their homes. That it happened right under thenose of the Punjab Police speaks volumes about the Punjab government’spriorities. Adding salt to the injury was the fact that the FIR of the incident wasregistered late. That the Punjab CM did not listen to affectees’ pleas when hevisited the area does not help improve the government’s image. Chief Justice ofPakistan, in a suo motu notice of the incident, was also of the opinion that thegovernment failed in performing its duties while pointing out that the police hadsubmitted an incomplete report to the court, which raises questions on PunjabPolice’s credibility, competence and whether it was in cahoots with the criminals,as alleged by human rights organisations.

The Christian community staged protests over the issue, and shut down oneof country’s highly valued school systems run by the community. Some have saidthat Punjab government’s close links with extremist parties have allowed suchtransgressions happen in the first place. Had the perpetrator of Gojra incident of2009 against the Christians been caught and convicted, it might have given amessage that the government was as serious in protecting its minorities as it wasin protecting its majority. Promises that would lead to nowhere is not what theyneed right now; the government needs to take proactive measures to restore theconfidence of all minorities, and make sure that they are given the same rightsand protection that is afforded to everyone else.

WHETHER it pleases Washington or not, the decision to import gasfrom Iran is strictly in accordance with Pakistan’ national needs. Thesooner the US realises the fact the better for US Pakistan relations.

In case Washington persists in imposing sanctions on Pakistan as it did in thepast, it would be only cutting its nose to spite its face. The sanctions didn’twork in the past, there is little possibility of them working now. Only militaryrulers like Ayub, Zia and Musharraf who depended on the US support can go toany extent to please their foreign masters. Cognizant of the needs of thecountry and knowing the public sentiment, no elected government can rollback the gas pipeline project.

Washington needs to realise that dictation will not serve any purpose in aworld where American clout is gradually on the decrease. It has already failed inAfghanistan and Iran. Driven by hubris President George W Bush invadedAfghanistan, without giving diplomacy a chance. He thought that the giganticmilitary power at his disposal would enable him to enforce his will on thecountry. While Bush failed, Obama learnt little from his predecessor’sexperience. After agreeing to release the Taliban prisoners in exchange for talksthat could have led to a peaceful solution, Obama was swayed by the hawkishelement in military and intelligence agencies. He went instead for the surgewhich caused enough bloodshed without achieving the visualised goal. NowObama is washing his hands off what he called the ‘war of choice’ withoutdefeating the Taliban or reaching a negotiated settlement. Obama’s Iran policyturned out to be equally futile because this too depended on pressure rather thandiplomacy. Engagement, as pointed out by vali Nasr, was no more than a coverfor a coercive campaign of sabotage, economic pressure and cyberwarfare.

The US is once again leaving Afghanistan more insecure than it was on itsarrival. Instead of being led by a visionless Obama administration, Pakistanneeds to confer with China, Iran, Russia and India to formulate a jointapproach to bring peace and stability in the war torn country. What needs to berealised is that any attempt by a country to use Afghanistan against anotherwould be disastrous for the region. A combined effort has to be made toneutralise terrorists of all hues and colours. A secure and peaceful Afghanistanholds prospects of prosperity for all. A civil war in the country will only helpthe forces that want to destabilise the region. The continuation of hostilitieswill force the affected population to take refuge in neighbouring states inmillions. While Pakistan and Iran will have to bear the major brunt, no countrywill be safe from terrorist attacks.

The Muslim-minorities rift

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

10Politics is the entertainment branch

of industry. –Frank Zappa

journey to ajmer SharifReference your editorial "The rebuff in India", had Raja Pervaizserved the electorate, protected their lives and providedsufficient energy to keep wheels of our industry rotating, themasses would themselves have prayed for divine help inensuring victory of his political party in forthcoming elections.He should have ensured that houses, mosques, churches, schoolsand hospitals in Pakistan were lit all day long, instead of burningcandles on graves of saints. When people die in operationtheatres because of no electricity, those in power must fear thewrath of Almighty.

There is absolutely no justification for undertaking thisspiritual journey to Ajmer Sharif on poor tax-payers’ money, ashas become a habit in this country for rulers to go on free junketsand pilgrimages with their families. Such spiritual journeys areto be performed on hard earned legitimate self-earnings, not on

taxes collected to better the lives of the deprived. God helpsthose who help themselves and in the case of rulers, divineblessings are theirs if they serve their people judiciously andhonestly, take care of the poor and deprived, not allow anybodyto pilfer tax-payers’ money, and honestly do all in their capacityas per oath they take on assuming a constitutional office. In anycase, God bestows his mercy and blessings only on those whohave served humanity, delivered on their promises and seekforgiveness from the depths of their hearts, and never to thosewho having robbed the poor, offer expensive chaddars on gravesof holy saints. The prayers of poor are more likely to beanswered, especially if they have been wronged and ignored.Khawaja Ajmer Sharif was a man who devoted all his life in theservice of God and humanity, a saint known for his compassionfor the poor and downtrodden and a man who detesteddishonesty and injustices.

MALIK TARIQ ALILahore

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

AN American Professor ChristineFair in the School of Foreign Serv-ice at the Georgetown Universityhas recently co-authored an article

entitled, “A new approach for Kashmir” in the‘National Interest’ magazine with an IndianProfessor Sumit Ganguly based at Indiana Uni-versity, Bloomington, arguing that US shouldrecognise the Line of Control (LoC) dividingthe disputed territory of the state of Jammu andKashmir between India and Pakistan as an “in-ternational border” so as to transform the bilat-eral nature of this dispute into a domestic Indianproblem. Unfortunately, they have arrived atthis “new solution” by an explanation of historywhich distorts the origins of this conflict.

Their first distortion of facts is that afterpartition of the subcontinent in 1947, Kashmirabutted both Pakistan and India. This statementis historically incorrect because without theaward of the Muslim majority district of Gur-daspur to India, India could not have any directlink with Kashmir and hence no claim over it.So, conspiracy was hatched by Nehru, who ex-ploited his “intimate relationship” with vicere-ine Edwina Mountbatten to prevail uponviceroy Mountbatten to secure Kashmir forIndia when the boundary lines were beingdrawn by Cyril Radcliffe, the Chairman of theBoundary Commissions in early August 1947.Now, we do know that every flight of Air Indiato London literally carried a ‘love letter’ fromNehru to Edwina but what we don’t know isthat how many of them contained gratitude forthe ‘gift’ of Kashmir as all of Edwina’s per-sonal documents have not been made publicfor historical research as yet.

All this may have remained a ‘conspiracytheory’ or mere ‘Pakistani conjecturing’, hadRadcliffe’s secretary, Christopher Beaumont,not spilled the beans in a startling statement inLondon in 1992 revealing the fact that underMountbatten’s pressure Radcliffe did alter theboundary lines which included the award of theMuslim-majority district of Gurdaspur to Indiain order to provide her a direct land access toKashmir.

If one digs deeper, one comes across his-torical evidence in the form of a note writtenfor viceroy Mountbatten by his Indian Consti-tutional Advisor v P Menon on 17 July, 1947,about three weeks before partition, which is in-cluded in vol XII of ‘The Transfer of Power’series of documents, maliciously stating, “It

(Kashmir) does not lie in the bosom of Pakistanand it can claim an exit to India, especially if aportion of Gurdaspur district goes to (the In-dian) East Punjab”. There you go. Kashmir didnot abut India. Either the learned professors areignorant of geography or have deliberately ig-nored this fact.

This duo of Indo-American professorsthen blames the tribesmen from north-westernPakistan for starting the militarisation of theKashmir conflict stating that after the Maharajaof Kashmir had refused to accede to either Pak-istan or India, the “Pakistani forces taking ad-vantage of a tribal rebellion invaded the state”.What a fantastic fabrication of facts! To avoida historical understanding of events as they ac-tually unfolded, the authors have deliberatelyavoided the chronology of events as these hap-pened i.e., who did what and when.

The Indian propaganda blaming the tribes-men from Pakistan for ‘invading’ Kashmir andthus starting the first Indo-Pak war in 1947fooled the world for many years but truth neverretires. Nehru’s tall claim that the Indian forceswere airlifted to Kashmir on 27 October, 1947,after the tribal invasion was a blatant lie. Now,we know through two historical sources namely‘Crisis in Kashmir’ by Alastair Lamb and ‘HeirApparent’ by Karan Singh, the son of the lastMaharaja of Kashmir that Nehru’s governmentunder ‘Operation Rescue’ had dispatched fourcommando platoons of Indian army’s 50thParachute Brigade and batteries of Patiala ar-tillery camouflaged in civvies to Kashmir on 17October, 1947, well before the tribal invasion.Thus, it was the ‘great’ Nehru who first sentarmed forces into Kashmir even before the Ma-haraja was coerced to sign the accession. Thisvindicates Jinnah’s claim that the Indian acces-sion of Kashmir was not bonafide as it restedon ‘fraud and violence’, and hence would neverbe accepted by Pakistan. At least, one doesn’texpect academicians to parrot the propagandiststance of the Indian governments.

Ms Fair and Mr Ganguly then make an-other outlandish claim by arguing that due tomilitary incursion from Pakistan, the Kashmiri“Maharaja Hari Singh, now in a panic, soughtIndia’s military assistance. India agreed tocome to Kashmir’s defence only after heagreed to accede”. This is plain twisting offacts. The Indian version of Maharaja’s acces-sion to India is that he wrote a letter on 26 Oc-tober, 1947, to the first Indian GovernorGeneral Mountbatten seeking military help andin return agreed to sign the Instrument of Ac-cession of Kashmir to India on the same date,thus India was justified in airlifting troops toKashmir on the next day. Multiple historicalsources prove this Indian claim to be untrue.For example, the British historian, ProfessorLamb argues that the date of accession givenby India is false because on 26 October, therewas no contact between the Maharaja and theIndian government as he was travelling fromSrinagar to Jammu for his safety. Afteranalysing the archival material, the memoirs ofthe then Kashmiri Prime Minister Mehr ChandMahajan and the correspondence of JawaharlalNehru, Professor Lamb has exposed the con-tradiction in the Indian claim by stating that onone hand v P Menon stated that he and Maha-

jan went to Jammu in the afternoon of the 26thOctober to obtain Maharaja’s signed Instru-ment of Accession whereas Mahajan has re-lated that he and Menon flew to Jammu on27th and not 26th October to obtain Maharaja’ssignature. Even Sheikh Abdullah, who wasstaying at Nehru’s residence at that time, hasadmitted in his autobiography that the Ma-haraja had not signed the accession documenton October 26.

The more one reads, the more one findsNehru acting as the villain in the Kashmirtragedy. Kashmir being his ancestral home, hewas quite sentimental in retaining it by hook orcrook in independent India. The intensity ofobsession can be imagined from a confidentialremark he made to a British officer: “In thesame way as Calais was written on Mary’sheart. Kashmir is written on mine.” What hefelt privately, he could not express it publicly.The Indian soldiers could not be told to shedblood just because their premier was romanc-ing with Kashmir. Instead, he preferred thegarb of nationalism to justify the blatant Indianaggression in 1947. Mark his words to the war-ring soldiers in Srinagar: “The Kashmir oper-ation is a fight for the freedom of India.”

The evidence of his desperation to captureKashmir at all cost is actually strewn all overthe pages of history provided one doesn’t shuteyes to the facts. As the first prime minister anddespite being a barrister, quite well-versed inlaw, he was ready to dump all legalities anddiplomatic niceties when the issue was Kash-mir. Just imagine his fixation. About a monthafter partition and exactly a month before Indiasent her army to occupy Kashmir, he shot ananxious letter to his Home Minister SardarPatel on September 27, 1947, stating that“Things must be done in a way so as to bringabout the accession of Kashmir to the IndianUnion as rapidly as possible with the coopera-tion of Sheikh Abdullah.”

So, much before the tribal invasion, Nehruhad plans to gobble Kashmir. Now we knowthat deep down in his heart only he knew per-fectly well that he would not hold anyplebiscite while he made a pledge to the con-trary before the world community. It was thispassion for Kashmir that didn’t allow any ra-tional thinking on his part. This unreasonableattitude was noted by several leaders who triedto talk sense to him. For example, US PresidentTruman termed Nehru’s stance on Kashmir“silly” and “disagreeable” whereas President JF Kennedy found his sense of superiority “of-fensive”. Kennedy’s ambassador to India JohnKenneth Galbraith lamented that he “had noluck” in convincing Nehru to hold the prom-ised plebiscite. How weak was India’s stancefrom the very beginning can be understoodfrom the advice given by their first High Com-missioner to Pakistan, Sri Prakasha to LordMountbatten that “for the sake of peace allaround”, the “wisest thing” India could do wasto hand over Kashmir to Pakistan—an adviceflatly rejected by Premier Nehru and neverheeded by subsequent Indian prime ministers.

The writer is an academic and journalist.He can be reached atqizilbash2000@yahoo.com

how india gobbledKashmir

Nehru and his machinations to keep the valley

Eye on historyBASHARAT HUSSAIN QIzILBASH

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:13 AM Page 10

COMMENT CTuesday, 12 March, 2013

11You have enemies? Good. That means

you've stood up for something, sometime

in your life. –Winston Churchill

decadence ofthe society

WHEREAS theworld hasmoved in one

direction, where safe-guarding human rights,learning modern scienceand technology, and pro-moting peace and har-mony are pivotal for aprosperous society, Pak-istan has gone in a com-pletely oppositedirection, where there isno regard for humanrights of minorities, noinclination to study andmake “legitimate” scien-tific inventions. Take for example the Maasai tribe in EasternAfrica, which has decided to opt for modern education and abol-ishment of violent practices – while we run around like barbariansburning people’s houses down.

Within the Massailand, on border of Kenya and Tanzania, liesa thick jungle – a man standing on high rock, holding a radar de-vice to track a pride of lions was not a man of science, but a tribalman – illiterate and uncivilised – helping the naturalists protectthe endangered wildlife. Maasai tribe – one of the oldest tribes ofthe Nile valley – is known for their warrior skills and ferocitywith which they protect their cattle from lions. Now, they are will-ing to give up this meaningless hatred in order to conserve theirenvironment. Another age old tradition that the women of Maasaitribe have raised their voice against is female genital mutilation(FGM) or female circumcision. In a documentary “Maasai at thecrossroads”, filmmaker Teri Geriselen tells us about transition ofthe tribe from primitive cultural practices to modern development.They achieved this without compromising on their traditions.Keeping their simplelife style intact, Maa-sai people now be-lieve adapting toways of the newworld, particularlyeducating their chil-dren is paramount fortheir survival.

Humans or homosapiens are a productof evolution span-ning over thousandsof years. Likewise,our world is con-stantly changing andthe only attribute thathas led to the sur-vival and growth ofhuman species is its ability to adapt to those changes – environ-mental and societal. Failing to cope with the changing trends ofthe world would result in gradual decline of society to the pointof complete annihilation. History is witness to collapse of greatempires that could not – and in most situations denied to stayabreast with changing times. Islamic world is faced with the sim-ilar dilemma. While holding on to the fundamentals of the reli-gion, Muslims forget that over 1,400 year old teachings cannotmake their society productive and fit enough to compete with themodern world.

There are few lessons that the Islamic society can learn froman age old tribe of the Nile valley – will to survive and letting goof their inhuman, violent practices to become part of the developedworld. We don’t have to go deep into our memory lane to look atthe ugly picture of the Pakistani society. On 9th March, a mob ofangry, religious zealots burnt down over a hundred houses belong-ing to the Christian community in Lahore. The reason: alleged blas-phemy by a member of the minority community, who was arrestedby the police three days prior to the devastation. The behaviour issimilar in nature to a charged elephant bull, high on testosteroneravaging the forest and adjoining villages and trampling any un-fortunate being that comes in its way. What is the solution to mad-ness of such a magnitude? Either the beast is kept in isolation unlessit comes to its senses or in extreme situations, shot down.

The civilised and developed world has already started to iso-late us for our blood thirst and primitive views and practices. Pak-istan’s human rights record is far from exemplary. Its democraticgovernments and military regimes have done equal damage to thefabric of this society by introducing “the mad elephant” into thefold. The discrimination that began from constitutionally declar-ing Ahmadiyya community as non-Muslims translated into vio-lence against Shias and Christians; while our proverbial hatredtowards Hindus – cause of the Partition – resulted in dehumani-sation of the society at large.

Despite my desperation to believe in a tolerant and prosperousPakistan, political environment in the country, public sympathy forthe “cause” of extremist organisations like Laskar-e-Jhangvi andpolitical protection for such organisations make me think other-wise. Therefore, the only solution to save this sinking ship is toundo past practices and teachings that inculcate hatred and intoler-ance in society and start afresh on a clean slate; writing with an inkof peace, love and tolerance.

The writer is a journalist and social critic based in Lahore. Shecan be reached at nudrratkhawaja@gmail.com, she tweets at:@twistturnlock

Is there a chance for a tolerant and prosperous Pakistan?

Iam apprehending a situation where I mighthave no option except to vote for either Gu-jarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi or Con-gress vice-President Rahul Gandhi. Both

have thrown their hats in the ring. True, neitherthe BJP has announced Modi officially as its can-didate for prime ministership in the 2014 parlia-ment elections, nor has the Congress nominatedRahul for the position. Yet, it is clear who the twoparties have in mind.

My predicament is that I do not consider ei-ther of them the prime ministerial timber. Theymay be suitable for the offices they occupy, butdo not deserve to be elevated. However, bothhave made their presentation speeches as Modidid at New Delhi this week and Rahul before theCongress conclave at Jaipur. The two are notsimilar in any way. Yet both left none in doubtabout what they seek when they exhorted thepeople to prepare themselves for the new Indiawhich the two foresaw as a fresh, dynamic coun-try that would take them over the green moun-tains into a sunny valley.

The comparison ends here. They are so dif-ferent and so distant from each other that they donot come anywhere in either character or com-portment. Modi hides his anti-minority stance be-hind the flourish for development. He is stillinvolved in some court cases arising out of theethnic cleansing carried out in Gujarat in 2002 andmay find him involved in the days to come.Therefore, it would be unfair to regard him as theright person for the highest executive position.Rahul is a babe in the woods, lionised by the Con-gress which his mother, Sonia Gandhi, heads. Heis found out of depth whenever he is asked ques-tions on serious matters. He was not interested inthe budget speech and left in the middle eventhough he was late to arrive. His knowledge aboutpolicies is rudimentary and reactions off the mark.For example, on the liberation of BangladeshRahul said that whenever his dynasty decided to

do something, it had come out with flying colours.He should have realised that East Pakistan wasliberated by the Bangladeshis themselves. Indiadid help, but its role was secondary.

Leave Rahul and Modi apart, the ominous partof the forthcoming elections is that they would beprobably the dirtiest, divisive and most violentpolls ever held in India. The nation would be ar-rayed on the lines of religion and caste. A countrywhich is already ill at ease because of never-endingcorrupt cases and scams might have to go througha phase where no method would be consideredmean enough by the contestants to win votes.

The BJP seems to have concluded that thecountry has already veered towards Hindutva.Otherwise, BJP President Raj Nath Singh wouldnot have gone to attend a meeting at Haridwarduring the Kumb Mela where the Sangh parivarand the extremist sadhus chalked out the strategyto revive the demand for building Ram temple,the symbol of Hindutva. Understandably, the con-clave of Sangh parivar does not bother about thecases pending against the BJP leaders for demoli-tion of the Babri masjid. The Congress-led gov-ernment does not want to accelerate the pace of

disposal of such cases. It looks as if the partywants to ride two horses at the same time. It doesnot want to follow a clear-cut policy on secular-ism, fearing that if it were to do so, it would alien-ate the wavering Hindus. On the other hand, theparty is certain that the liberals would have no op-tion except to vote for it if and when Modi be-comes the BJP’s candidate.

The Congress, particularly the BJP, is not as-sessing the country’s mood correctly. An averageperson, or the aam admi, is secular in tempera-ment and does not want to join issue with the fa-natics when he labours under the impression thathe can defeat them at the polls. It happened thatway in 2004 when the BJP thought that its slogan

of ‘India Shining’ was sure to return it to power.In fact, the adoption of Hindutva by the BJP mayhelp the Congress since a Hindu does not feel in-secure about his religion in India. Had it been so,he would have founded the Hindu Rashtra longago because 80 percent of the country’s popula-tion is Hindu.

It is clear from the current political situationthat no party is in a position to get a majority—the minimum requisite figure of 273 in the LokSabha which has the strength of 543 members. IfModi is adopted by the BJP, he may scare awayits allies without which the party cannot form thegovernment. Janata Dal (United), one importantally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance(NDA), has already announced that it would notaccept Modi as the prime ministerial candidate.Under the circumstances, it is difficult to believethat the BJP, which is keen to come back to power,will still go ahead and nominate him.

Yet I wonder why it is incumbent on us toconfine our choice to the BJP and the Congress.Both have been tested, tried and found to be hope-lessly wanting. In the first, the saffron considera-tions have crept at every level. In the second,

corruption has come to dominate every segmentof government’s activity. Also, there is not muchof secular foundation left on which the party’s ed-ifice rested once.

Maybe, either the non-Congress or the non-BJP combination would emerge to provide an al-ternative to the country. Whether there is a formalconstitution of a third front or not is not yet clear.But the general perception is that the nation cannotbe left at the mercy of the Congress or the BJP. Thevoters do not want a choice where they would haveto either jump into the sea or the river. Why is thenation doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past?

The writer is a senior Indian journalist.

doomed to repeat the mistakesThe choice is between BJP and Congress when we need a third option

Border crossingKULdIP NAYAR

What is the solution to

madness of such a

magnitude? Either the beast is

kept in isolation unless it

comes to its senses or in

extreme situations, shot down.

NUdRRAT KHAWAjA

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:13 AM Page 11

A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of

pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there

is no love. — Francis Bacon in Complete Essays

arts

ATuesday, 12 March, 2013

12

how Many CopieSdoeS it taKe to Bean aMazonBeStSeller?

Amazon, the biggest bookseller in

America, is also famously one of the most

tight-lipped. Sales rankings are available

on the Web site and are updated hourly,

but the company doesn’t provide

information on how many unit sales it

takes to make a title an Amazon

bestseller. Like everyone else, PW couldn’t

get sales numbers from Amazon, but by

studying the print bestseller list for a two-

week period, we were able to determine

that a title in Amazon’s top five averages

1,050 print copies sold across all

channels, including other retailers, on a

typical day. And because the general

industry thinking is that Amazon accounts

for about 30% of print sales, that means

it likely takes around 300 copies per day

to reach Amazon’s top five, depending on

the day of the week and the time of year.

How was PW able to get this number? We

looked at Dark Horse’s The Legend of

Zelda: Hyrule Historia, a 300-page

collection of historical information,

concept art, and chronology of the famous

Nintendo video game series. NEWS dESK

Steven SpielBergon a two-dayviSit to MuMBai

Hollywood’s versatile filmmaker Steven

Spielberg is on a two-day visit to

Mumbai. The filmmaker, who has

collaborated with Reliance Big

Entertainment for his film Lincoln, will be

meeting and interacting Indian

filmmakers on Monday evening. We will

also see Speilberg in conversation with

India’s biggest star Amitabh Bachchan. “I

shall attempt to elaborate later ... but for

now just wish to leave you with the

thought of the meeting with Steven

Spielberg tomorrow (Monday) and to

welcome him to the country and be in

conversation with him amongst a

relevant audience that connects itself

with the fraternity,” the 70-year-old

posted on his blog. It is spileberg’s third

visit to India. His second visit in 1983

was a tourist visit and he spent few

months in Kolkata, Jaipur and Udaipur.

Speileberg’s wife and children are in New

Delhi for a two week meditation and yoga

camp. Sources say that this is Spielberg’s

first visit to India and the purpose of the

visit is organizational discussion and

meeting with the members of Indian film

industry. His wife and son have also

accompanied him. While Monday’s

programme is more official, it is learnt

that on Tuesday Spielberg’s wife intends

to go for shopping with her husband and

son. NEWS dESK

Theater group DRAMALINE of the Lahore University of Management

Sciences visited Stuttgart from February 24 to March 3, 2013. The

“Kulturkabinett” and Pakistani Student society headed by Usman Khalid

at Uni Hohenheim, organized the exchange of the Pakistani students in

cooperation with the University of Hohenheim. Highlight of their visit

was DRAMALINE’s performance of Neil Simon’s comedy “Rumors” on

March 2, 2013 in the Katharinensaal of the EUROFORUM at the

University of Hohenheim. NEWS dESK

DRAMALINEperforms in Stuttgart

NEWS DESK

Koena Mitra’s heartbreaking account of surviving adisastrous nose job and how she is still heckled be-cause of her sexy image

Koena Mitra, who shimmied her way into publicgaze with sensuous dance numbers and glamorousroles, is now best remembered for a career that fizzledout and a botched-up nose job that still strikes fear inthe hearts of aspiring starlets. But for this Kolkatagirl, born in a conservative and religious fam-ily, the battle is far from over.

TOI caught up with Koena at hersuburban residence, where she greetedus in a LBD showing off her killercurves and confidence that belied thetrauma she has gone through. Notevery showbiz aspirant loses her face,her fortune and lives to tell the tale.Koena is back from Los Angeles, shetells us, where she studied film edit-ing. And she went to the Kumbh aswell. Atonement? She does not flinch.But with remarkable equanimity,Koena takes us through the tu-multuous years of her life onthe periphery of Bollywood.

Koena was always anaberration in the industry.“People assume that if youare an actress, you mustnot be very educated,”says the post graduatein Psychology. “I amglad I did my Mas-ters,” she says, look-ing back at the timewhen she had toconvince her par-ents - her mom isa school teacherand dad a CAthat show-biz is whats h e

wanted.Bollywood happened with a special song in Ram

Gopal’s varma Road. But it was Sanjay Gupta’sMusafir in 2004 that catapulted her into the league ofthe girls-to-watch-out for.

With the giddying attention, came the disastrousdecision - to get a nose job. “After the surgery mybones started swelling up. Even the doctors gave upand said that only medicine and prayers will work,”she recalls with an imperceptible shudder.

Doctors gave her six months. “I sat athome initially. But I could not take it

any more and started going out withthat face of mine,” she says. It was

a brave decision, especially forsomeone in the limelight.Koena’s face was so disfiguredthat it made it difficult for herto smile. And even though shewas ready to accept her al-tered appearance, peoplewere not. “I didn’t hide any-thing. But people spoke and

wrote the worst kind of aboutme,” she says, her voice ris-

ing.“Even now, rank

strangers tell me what Ishould have done. Tothem, I say, ‘You haven’t

given me work, you are notfeeding me, why are you try-

ing to tell me what I shoulddo?”‘

The incident openedKoena’s eyes to the uglier sideof stardom. “Some of my best

friends left me,” she says turningpensive, “Maybe I was too honest.”

It took her a few more correctivesurgeries to get things right. “Sud-

denly I was this trendsetter. Whenevera cosmetic surgery goes wrong, peoplesay I was the first brave one to talkabout it,” she says with a wry smile.

The damage to her face was noth-ing compared to the damage to her ca-reer. Offers were trickling in again, butnothing seemed to work out, till a friendfrom Los Angeles called her and askedfor an audition tape. Koena hired a cam-

era team, sent the tape and was liked.

Brangelina’Swedding clash withAniston’s nuptials?

NEWS DESK

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, could see their marriagetaking place on the same day as Jennifer Aniston’s, as theHollywood hunk got a wedding licence at the end of lastmonth - which states that the couple must have theirnuptials in the next 90 days. A source told the Sun thatPitt and Jolie have left themselves short of time to sort outtheir wedding because of the licence deadline. The sourceasserted that a few months is nothing when someone isplanning a wedding - especially one as major as Pitt andJolie’s. The insider said that the couple may get marriedin May just after the Cannes Film Festival ends, asthey’ve got their hearts set on tying the knot in France.Meanwhile, Aniston is finalising her plans to walk downthe aisle with screenwriter fiance Justin Theroux, earlierthere had been talk that she would be going to Pitt’swedding, despite him leaving her for Jolie. But the sourcesaid that all the goodwill could just vanish if Pitt’swedding date comes close to hers as it will be seen as anattempt to upstage Aniston’s wedding and there will be abattle over Hollywood guests. The source added thatAniston knows that they will be judged on who had thebetter wedding by pulling in the biggest stars.

Doctors gave up, said onlyprayers could work: Koena Mitra

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:13 AM Page 12

Human feeling is like the mighty rivers that bless the earth: it

does not wait for beauty — it flows with resistless force and

brings beauty with it. — George Eliot in Adam Bede

13ARTSTuesday, 12 March, 2013

A

mirza WaheedMinister Magnanimous.

“@ndtv: Home Minister Sushil

Kumar Shinde: Can’t give back

Afzal Guru’s body, his family

can come to pay respects”

mohammedhanifThe intention is to waste

lives, to embroil political

struggle in a repetitive and

deadening confrontation with

brutality, fear and secrecy

jemima Khan Definition of confidence? Imransaying goodbye to his sons lastweek, “Well boys, next time youcome to Pakistan, I’ll be itsleader.” Gulp.

mehreen zahra-maliK The white in the Pak flag represents

minorities and is separate and away

from the green. It was left there so

we could smear it with blood

aysha raja Real treat hanging out with

Cecil Chaudhry Jr. on Coffee

Republic. If you missed it the

show will be uploaded soon

notaBle tWeets

“The perfect woman, you see [is] a

working-woman; not an idler; not a fine

lady; but one who [uses] her hands and

her head and her heart for the good of

others.”

— THOMAS HARdY

“If there were no Frenchwomen, life

wouldn’t be worth living.”

— FRIEdRICH ENGELS, COLLECTEd WORKS

“She was everything I wanted. She was

beautiful and charming, with a quick

sense of humor, and she supported me

in everything I did.”

— NICHOLAS SPARKS, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

“She is a woman of honour and

smartness whose wild leaves out luck,

always taking risks, and there is

something in her brow now, that only

she can recognize in a mirror. Ideal and

idealistic in that shiny dark hair! People

fall in love with her. She is a woman I

don’t know well enough to hold in my

wing, if writers have wings, to harbour

for the rest of my life.”

― MICHAEL ONdAATJE, THE ENGLISH PATIENT

“You are the only woman who has a

sense of gaiety, a wise tolerance — no

more, you seem to urge me to betray

you. I love you for that. [...] I don’t

know what to expect of you, but it is

something in the way of a miracle. I am

going to demand everything of you —

even the impossible, because you

encourage it. You are really strong. I

even like your deceit, your treachery. It

seems aristocratic to me.”

— HENRY MILLER TO ANAïS NIN, ALITERATE PASSION: LETTERS OF ANAïSNIN & HENRY MILLER, 1932-1953

“A goodlookin horse is like a goodlookin

woman, he said. They’re always more

trouble than what they’re worth. What

a man needs is just one that will get

the job done.”

― CORMAC MCCARTHY, ALL THE PRETTY HORSES

“You boys can keep your virgins. Give

me hot old women in high heels with

buttocks that forget to get old.”

― CHARLES BUKOWSKI, LOvE IS AdOG FROM HELL

“…but till all graces be in one woman,

one woman shall not come in my

grace. Rich she shall be, that’s certain;

wise, or I’ll none; virtuous, or I’ll

never cheapen her; fair, or I’ll never

look on her; mild, or come not near

me; noble, or not I for an angel; of

good discourse, and excellent musician

and her hair shall be of what colour it

shall please God.”

— WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, MUCHAdO ABOUT NOTHING

“A being breathing thoughtful breath,

A traveller between life and death;

The reason firm, the temperate will,

Endurance, foresight, strength, and

skill;

A perfect Woman, nobly plann’d,

To warn, to comfort, and command;

And yet a Spirit still, and bright

With something of angelic light.”

— WILLIAM WORdSWORTH, “APERFECT WOMAN”

“A perfect woman’s but a softer man.”

— ALExANdER POPE

10 male writers on the perfect womanThis week, we listened to Slate’s Gentleman Scholar advise a Miss Bianca on how to attract a writerly boyfriend. Though his response was clever indeed, we’re not sure it was overly helpful, so we thought we’d lend a

hand by going straight to the source, and finding out what writing men have to say about their ideal women. Now, bear in mind: some of these quotes come from the mouths of characters, and as such must be taken

with a grain of salt. That said, we all know that everyone’s characters spring from some part of themselves, so their words bear repeating here. Straight from the horse’s mouth, then: ten male writers on what they look

for in a female mate after the jump. Just be warned — the results may make you think twice about wanting to date a literary man. cOURTESY FLOvORWIRE

NEWS DESK

Film studio Warner Bros. has acquired the rightsto an untitled project about the rise and fall ofAmerican former road cyclist Lance Armstrong,a subject that Paramount Pictures also is plan-ning to bring to the big screen.

The project is being developed by Atlas En-tertainment’s Charles Roven and Alex Gartnerand will be scripted by Scott Z. Burns and di-rected by Jay Roach, entertainment blogDeadline reported.

Roach is known for directing comediessuch as the Austin Powers series and “Meet theParents”, although he also has won Emmyawards for the made-for-television films“Recount” and “Game Change”, both in-volving political themes.

The deal includes the life rights offormer cyclist Tyler Hamilton, who wasa teammate of Armstrong’s on the USPostal Service Team.

In January, press reports said Para-mount and Bad Robot, the productioncompany of J.J. Abrams, were work-ing on a film about Armstrong’s con-troversial career.

Those companies acquired therights to adapt the book “Cycle of Lies:The Fall of Lance Armstrong” by New YorkTimes reporter Juliet Macur, who has coveredthe cyclist’s career since his recovery from tes-ticular cancer and documented his dramatic fallfrom admired seven-time Tour de France win-ner to disgraced drug cheat.

Macur’s book will be pub-lished in June in the US byHarperCollins, which paid theauthor an advance of more

than $100,000.Armstrong had denied

using performance-en-hancing drugs for adecade, but he told Oprah

Winfrey in January that hetook banned substances and

received blood transfusionsthroughout most of his racing

career and during all the Tour deFrance races he won.

Prior to that admission,Armstrong had been strippedof his seven consecutive

Tour de France titles between1999 and 2005 after refusing

last year to defend himself fromdoping allegations compiled by the

US Anti-Doping Agency.He told Winfrey in an interview

aired on her OWN network that, in hisopinion, it would have been impossibleto win the Tour de France over thatseven-year period without the aid ofbanned substances.

In issuing a 1,000-page report lastOctober detailing Armstrong’s involvement

in a “doping conspiracy”, USADA said the USPostal Team “ran the most sophisticated, profes-sionalized and successful doping program thatsport has ever seen”.

the woman whotaught george wBush how to paint

Ever since we discovered former President GeorgeW. Bush’s hidden painting talent, we’ve been dyingto know where he learned to whip up self-portraitsand dog renderings. Thankfully, the woman behindthe creative transformation of Dubya has comeforward to tell her tale of swapping brushes with theworld’s new favorite outsider artist. Bonnie Flood isan artist and painting instructor in Cumming,Georgia who, according to Fox News in Atlanta,spent one month teaching George the ups anddowns of her craft. Flood is an occasional workshopteacher in Florida, which is how Mr. Bush came tohear of his eventual mentor, and she ventured all theway to Boca Grande to teach the former POTUSand his sister-in-law, Maggie, for up to six hours aday. So what does Flood have to say about hermonth in paradise with GWB? “He has such apassion for painting, it’s amazing,” the art instructorexplained to Fox News. “He’s going to go down inthe history books as a great artist.” NEWS dESK

Two Hollywood filmson Lance Armstrong

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:13 AM Page 13

NEWS DESK

From Sports Illustrated to People toits namesake magazine, Time Inc.,was always an innovator. But nowwhen the troubled magazine indus-try is facing its greatest challenge,the company Henry Luce founded isstruggling to find its way in a digitalworld. Time Warner Inc.’s decisionto shed its Time Inc. magazine unitlast week underscores the challengesfacing an industry that remains wed-ded to glossy paper even as the useof tablet computers, e-readers andsmartphones explodes.

Although the new devices mightseem to present an array of opportu-nity for Time Inc.’s 95 magazine ti-tles, many publishers have found thedigital transition troublesome. Digi-tal editions of magazines representedjust 2.4 percent of all US circulationin the last half of 2012, or about 7.9

million copies, according to the Al-liance for Audited Media.

Although that number morethan doubled from a year earlier, it’shardly gangbusters growth, consid-ering that the number of tablets inthe US also more than doubled lastyear to 64.8 million, according to re-search firm IHS.

The fact that so few tablet own-ers are buying magazines on theirdevices is a concern because both adand circulation revenue from printeditions have fallen more than 20percent since their peak near themiddle of the last decade. And, ac-cording to forecasts, there’s no re-covery in sight.

“We have to get much better atcapturing those (digital) readers,”said Mary Berner, president of TheAssociation of Magazine Media.

Before publishers can accom-plish that, they need to address a

number of problems, experts say.First, the range of free content on theWeb has given some readers the im-pression that it’s not necessary topay for the digital versions of mag-azine stories. Also, there’s no indus-try standard for pricing. Publishersaren’t in agreement over whether toinclude free access to digital copiesas part of a print subscription.

There are technical challenges,too. It’s been difficult for magazinemakers to create compelling digitaleditions that fit every screen size andresolution.

Berner acknowledges that cus-tomer confusion is part of what’spreventing the magazine industryfrom selling more digital copies. Sheis working with industry players likeTime Inc., Hearst Corp., Conde Nastand Meredith Corp. to standardizeboth the format of magazines andthe way they are sold.

NEWS DESK

“WE can'tchange thepast, butl i f e s t y l echoices can

help to affect our future”. Maureen Talbot,Senior cardiac nurse at the British HeartFoundation. Fatty arteries may not just bea curse of modern unhealthy lifestyles, sayresearchers who used scans to look at theheart health of mummies.

A study in The Lancet of 137 mum-mies up to 4,000 years old found a thirdhad signs of atherosclerosis. Most peopleassociate the disease, which leads to heartattacks and strokes, with modern lifestylefactors such as smoking and obesity.

But the findings may suggest a morebasic human pre-disposition.

Previous studies have uncovered ath-erosclerosis in a significant number ofEgyptian mummies but it had been specu-lated that they would have come from ahigher social class and may have had lux-urious diets high in saturated fat.

To try and get a better picture of howprevalent the disease was in ancient popu-lations, the researchers used CT scans tolook at mummies from Egypt, Peru, south-west America, and the Aleutian Islands inAlaska. They found that 47 or 34%showed signs of definite or probably ath-erosclerosis. Where the mummies' arterialstructure had survived, the researcherswere able to attribute a definite case of ath-erosclerosis by looking for the tell-talesigns of vascular calcification.

In some cases, the arterial structurehad not survived but the calcified depositswere still present in sites where arterieswould have once been.

AgE-RELATEd

As with modern populations, they

found that older people seemed to be morelikely to show signs of the disease.

The researchers said the results werestriking because they had been able to lookat the disease in people living in disparateglobal regions, with different lifestyles andat different times.

Study leader Professor Randall Thomp-son, of Saint Luke's Mid America Heart In-stitute in Kansas City, said: "The fact thatwe found similar levels of atherosclerosisin all of the different cultures we studied, allof whom had very different lifestyles anddiets, suggests that atherosclerosis mayhave been far more common in the ancientworld than previously thought.

"Furthermore, the mummies we stud-ied from outside Egypt were produced nat-urally as a result of local climateconditions, meaning that it's reasonable toassume that these mummies represent areasonable cross-section of the population,rather than the specially selected elitegroup of people who were selected formummification in ancient Egypt."

He said it is commonly thought that ifmodern humans could emulate pre-indus-trial or even pre-agricultural lifestyles, thatatherosclerosis would be avoided.

"Our findings seem to cast doubt onthat assumption, and at the very least, wethink they suggest that our understanding

of the causes of atherosclerosis is incom-plete, and that it might be somehow inher-ent to the process of human ageing."

Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurseat the British Heart Foundation, said: "Thissmall study takes us back in time to givean insight into the heart health of people inthe ancient world. "However, we simplydon't know enough about the diet andlifestyle of the people studied to saywhether behaviour or genetics lies at theroot of the heart problems observed.

"We can't change the past, but lifestylechoices can help to affect our future. "Byeating well, quitting smoking and keepingactive, you can help to protect your heart."

Time spin-off highlightsrisks facing magazines

'Magic mouse floats'above the desk andwill stop your wristhurting after hoursat the computer

It is the kind of trick performed by

illusionists who want to make you

believe something is floating mid-air.

But this new gadget will soon let

people perform similar stunts in the

office or at home - and there is no

magic involved. Prague-based design

studio, Kibardindesign, have created

a levitating wireless computer mouse

known as Bat. The sleek design

includes a mouse pad and mouse with

a magnetic ring, which allows it to

float in mid-air. It levitates at a

height of 40mm on its own or 10mm

beneath the weight of your hand.

Other than looking futuristic, Bat can

also stop nerve damage and

dysfunction in people's hands.

It is specifically designed to prevent

those using a mouse from

experiencing carpal tunnel syndrome

- the painful hand, fingers, and wrist

condition that is often associated with

prolonged use of a mouse.

Despite already grabbing the

attention of the public, the product is

still in its testing phase and not

available to buy just yet.

When it is released it will come in two

simple colours - black and white.

Vadim Kibardin was born in 1974 in

Russia and graduated from Ural State

Academy's of Architecture and Art

Industrial. NEWS dESK

Canon launches newproducts in pakistan

KARACHI: Canon unveils new

products from the IXUS, LEGRIA and

PowerShot N series in Pakistan.

Four new digital compact cameras

were released in the IXUS range.

The IXUS 255 HS, IXUS 135, IXUS

132 along with the IXUS 140 support

new advanced features such as

Hybrid Auto Zoom, Intelligent Image

Stabalization for video and stills, Eco

mode and WiFi. The Singapore based

Canon launched two new LEGRIA

AVCHD flash Memory Camcorders,

the LEGRIA HF G25 and LEGRIA HF

R46. All new “prosumer” LEGRIA HF

G25 has an array of manual functions

and expandability options while the

LEGRIA HF R46 includes a new Baby

Mode, designed for chronicling a child’s

growing years. If you are looking for

a compact and agile camera to aid in

capturing and sharing life’s beautifully

unexpected moments need to look no

further then the PowerShot N. The new

PowerShot N boasts a new unique

pocket-sized form factor and new

features that will excite and boost the

creativity of avid shutterbugs, street

photography enthusiasts and

lomography fans. AgENcIES

infotainment

ITuesday, 12 March, 2013

14Do you realize if it weren't for

Edison we'd be watching TV

by candlelight? –Al Boliska

China fishes over 2,000 deadpigs from Shanghai river

Workers in China are continuing to collect dead

pigs from a river near Shanghai, with more than

2,000 carcasses reportedly recovered so far.

Officials say they have to act quickly to remove the

pigs, as the Huangpu River is a major source of

drinking water for the city. They are investigating

the cause of the deaths and suspect the pigs were

dumped by farms upriver. Bloggers have criticised

what some see as a slow government response.

Workers aboard boats are using long-handled

rakes to pull out the bloated carcasses, which

started appearing in the river on Thursday,

according to reports. "We have to act quickly to

remove them all for fear of causing water

pollution," Xu Rong, an environmental official, told

state-run Global Times newspaper. He added that

the cause of the pigs' deaths may be determined in

a few days. It is still not clear why the animals

were dumped in the river in the first place or who

was behind it, says the BBC's Martin Patience in

Beijing. It is suspected that the pigs may have

come from farms in neighbouring Zhejiang

province, local reports say. Officials say water

supplies have not been affected so far and they are

closely testing samples from the river, but the

public remain wary. "Is this water still drinkable

after dead pigs were found floating in it?" 60-year-

old Liu Wanqing was quoted by state-run China

Daily newspaper as saying. "The government has a

responsibility to conduct a thorough investigation

and provide safe water to residents." NEWS dESK

heart disease presentin ancient mummies

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:13 AM Page 14

MOHALI

AgENcIES

Michael Clarke has stressed that thedramatic axing of four players includingthe vice-captain Shane Watson for thethird Test in Mohali was due to acontinued failure of some players to meetthe standards set by the team. Watson flewhome after being told he and three otherplayers would not be considered for thematch and is considering his Test future,although his departure was also largelyspurred by the fact that his wife LeeFurlong is due to give birth soon.

Watson, James Pattinson, MitchellJohnson and Usman Khawaja failed tocomply with an order from the coachMickey Arthur to provide feedback onwhere they and the team could improveafter the embarrassing loss in Hyderabad.But Clarke said the decision, made by

Arthur, Clarke and the team managerGavin Dovey, was an example to playersthat no longer would they get away withcutting corners. “No doubt it’s been atough day,” Clarke said late on Monday.“I want the public and the media tounderstand, don’t get me wrong, it’s notjust about one incident. Firstly on this tourour performances have been unacceptableand there has been some stuff off the field[that has been unacceptable] for thestandards an Australian cricket team needsto present itself to achieve what we aretrying to achieve ... I know it is a toughday, a really tough day and it’s a toughdecision, but at the end of the day ifpeople are not hitting those standardsthere are going to be consequences.

“Our head coach gave us two days offafter the second Test, it was aboutfreshening yourself up, get your rehab[done], your recovery, do what you have

to do, get everything right for the next twoTest matches, because the next two Testmatches are as big as you might have inyour career and you have an opportunityto turn this series around.

“We were asked to do one thing fromthe head coach. It was giving informationback to the head coach about not onlyimproving your game - what you’ve learntfrom the first two Test matches - but alsohow can you help this team turn thingsaround and have success.

“It was a very simple task. Yes, it tooka lot of thinking because you had to lookat your game and where you thought youcould improve, what you had learnt andwhat you could do to help this team levelthis series. In my opinion, for the fourplayers to not do it, not only does it let theteam down, it also shows a lack of respectfor the head coach and in the Australiancricket team that is unacceptable.”

SPORTS

STuesday, 12 March, 2013

15I was very pleased with both the bowling and batting

efforts in Dunedin and we plan to build on that in

Wellington. –New Zealand coach Mike Hesson

BLOEMfONTEIN

AgENcIES

Abatsman to see off more than half theovers, bowlers who could continuallyapply pressure, and committed fieldingon the biggest ground in South Africa,is what Misbah-ul-Haq felt he needed in

Bloemfontein. In other words, “everything went wrong,”and he admitted as much.

Everything from selection - Pakistan were a seamershort - to the toss, where AB de villiers was happyMisbah sent him in, to the efforts with bat and ball.

On a flat pitch, Misbah conceded that although hewould have preferred a target of around 280, “even ninean over was chaseable,” to fall so far short was not agood reflection on Pakistan. The bowling waschallenging - there was some swing from LonwaboTsotsobe and some bounce from Ryan McLaren - but itwas not impossible to score. What Pakistan lacked wassomeone with the temperament to stay at the crease.Mohammad Hafeez was unlucky - “what can you do?”Misbah said in response to questions about the run-out -but Nasir Jamshed and Younis Khan chased widedeliveries, Asad Shafiq misdirected a hook, Misbah wasfound wanting against the short ball and Shoaib Malikdid not pick a slower one.

“We needed someone to bat through,” Misbah said“It’s difficult when you are losing wickets to chase a totallike that. Wickets in hand is key. You want your mainbatsmen to go in and keep scoring.”

Having conceded a large total, it was important thatPakistan’s batsmen showed more discipline than theirbowlers. The attack did not escape Misbah’s criticism.“We did not manage to take wickets, we could notmanage to create pressure and the fielding wasmediocre,” he said.

It is not the time for crisis talks yet, though. Misbahchose to take a measured view of the defeat. “Everybody

knows what we did wrong. We need to improve the areaswe are bowling, build more partnerships and everybatsmen who is set needs to carry on.”

Not so for South Africa. Even though the next matchis five days away, AB de villiers said the boost this hasgiven the team will serve them well for the rest of theseries. “We’ve got confidence now,” he said. “We had areally good performance with a lot of pressure on us.”

Expectation on South Africa was low before thisseries because they appeared an unsettled unit. It is onlyone performance but already they look ready to shelve

that notion as the former bit-part players had starringroles. Colin Ingram, Farhaan Behardien and RyanMcLaren were under the most scrutiny coming into thematch and all three put in impressive performances.

Ingram had to build an innings and a partnership, andfaith in him appeared low when de villiers came in atNo.3 instead of him. “It’s taken us a while to come upwith some sort of plan for batting. When we have a solidfoundation, like we did today, it’s a good time for me tocome in,” de villiers explained. “I enjoy playing againstthe spinners and I can work it around a little.”

Ingram followed soon after and helped de villierscreate the “game changer,” with a 120-run stand. “Wehussled between deliveries, we showed intent and weshowed two good cricket brains,” de villiers said. “Weplayed the spinners well so it was easy for me to bat withColin.” Behardien showed his ability to finish, somethingthat he has not managed to do so far. The end result wasthat the bowlers went into the second half with anadvantage and McLaren exploited it fully.

On his home turf, he used the short ball well andformed an important part of the seam quartet that tiedPakistan down. McLaren has not had his standoutperformance in ODI cricket yet, and with Dale Steynreturning and Morne Morkel close to recovery, he neededto do something to prove his worth.

“It’s probably the most pleasing thing of all to watchRyan develop,” de villiers said. “Every game I have everplayed against, he has been a real fighter and even thoughhe struggled in the past, to see him perform like this isgreat. He looks comfortable at this level now.”

With an all-round effort from his charges, de villiersfound the captaincy less of a burden and “felt more incontrol.” He was also able to gauge the level ofcommitment from the men he commands, and on theevidence of this effort, he was satisfied. “I can see guyswanting to be in this team and perform in this team,” hesaid. Even those who didn’t do that emphatically inprevious games.

Misbah ponders all-round failure

MOHALI

AgENcIES

Shane Watson is contemplating his future inthe game after being axed from the squad forthe Mohali Test on disciplinary grounds andthen leaving the tour tobe with his pregnantwife. Watson was oneof four playerspunished by the teammanagement forignoring team orders.

Since being namedMichael Clarke’s vice-captain in 2011,Watson’s Twenty20and ODI displays haveremained strong but hisTest appearances havebeen neither consistentnor convincing. Hisstruggles in Indiadespite being one ofonly two batsmen tohave made a Testhundred on the subcontinent were a majorcontributor to Australia’s 0-2 deficit.

There is little doubt Watson’s T20 career

will continue for he is schedule to return toIndia in April for the IPL, where he had alsoindicated he would return to bowling for hisfranchise rather than his country. In ODIs hehas the lure of the 2015 World Cup to sustainhim. But it is now plausible that at 31 he has

played his final Testmatch. “Any timeyou’re suspended for aTest match unless youdo somethingunbelievably wrong,and obviouslyeveryone knows whatthose rules are ... I thinkit is very harsh,”Watson told reporters atthe team hotel inChandigarh. “At thispoint in time I’m at astage where I’m sort ofweighing up my futureand what I want to dowith my cricket ingeneral, to be honest. Ido love playing, there

is no doubt about that, but at this point in timeI’m going to spend the next few weeks withmy family and just weigh up my options of

just exactly which direction I want to go.“There are lot more important things in

life - I certainly do love playing cricket andthat passion is still there and I feel like I’min the prime years of my cricket career.From that perspective I still feel like I’ve gota lot to give. But from a holistic perspectiveI’ve got to sit down with my family anddecide which directions they are.” Watson,along with James Pattinson, UsmanKhawaja and Mitchell Johnson were toldthis morning by the coach Mickey Arthurthat, in an unprecedented decision, theywould not be considered for the third Test.After the loss in Hyderabad, inside three anda half days, Arthur had asked every memberof the squad to let him know three points onhow their individual performances and thoseof the team could be improved. These fourplayers did not comply with the directive.

Watson said he had been going to tell theteam management that he would need to missthe fourth Test to be with his wife, who is dueat the end of the month, but had beeninformed of his axing before he could do so.“I was about to communicate that to Mickeyand the leadership group today but theyobviously beat me to it by telling me I wasn’tselected for this Test match,” he said. “Also

overnight, things have changed and Leewasn’t going to tell me things had changedbecause she knew how much it meant to meto be able to play this Test match. It was duein a couple of weeks but it’s looking like

things have sped up a little bit.” With fourplayers unavailable, Australia’s squad is downto 13 players for the Mohali Test, and ifwicketkeeper Matthew Wade’s ankle does notheal, they will have to pick a team from 12.

Watson may quit Test cricket after axing

fawad takes giantstrides in cricketSYdNEY: Fawad Ahmed’s cricketing

journey began in a graveyard in his village

in northwest Pakistan but could yet

culminate in an Ashes Test for Australia at

the home of cricket, Lord’s.

Friends and former team-mates of the 31-

year-old, who fled to Australia in 2010

claiming he was targeted by extremists and

now wants to play for his adopted land

against England, said his talent was

obvious at an early age but he never got

the chance to shine in Pakistan.

Syed Qamar, 35, who captained him in the

northwestern town of Swabi, told AFP that

even as a young man he was a match-

winner, baffling batsmen with the

leg-spinner’s full repertoire of deliveries.

“He was a highly talented bowler, his main

advantage was his height and he could

deliver leg-break, flipper, googly with

ease,” he said. Ahmed played a handful of

First-Class matches in Pakistan, taking a

wicket in his debut match for Abbottabad in

2005, but Qamar said he became

frustrated as there was little chance for him

to break into the national side from Swabi.

Ahmed’s relatives refused to discuss him or

the threats against him, but family friend

Mohammad Asghar insisted they were

genuine, though there is no record of

militants threatening cricketers in Pakistan

or of attacks on domestic matches.

Indeed, some of Pakistan’s best players

have hailed from the restive northwest —

former One-Day captain Shahid Afridi is

from the lawless tribal district of Khyber

and fast bowler Umar Gul is from Peshawar.

Ahmed’s former team-mate Maqsood Ali,

38, said he always played with a steely

determination. “Unlike most bowlers who

shout and show excitement on taking a

wicket, Fawad would behave very normally

and remain quiet,” he told AFP. “Cricket

was his passion. When he was not selected

for the national team, he told me ‘I will

play international cricket at any cost’.”

Ahmed was granted a permanent

Australian visa in November and quickly

made a name for himself bowling for the

Melbourne Renegades in the Twenty20 Big

Bash League. He will be eligible to play for

Australia once is granted citizenship, and

the Cricinfo website reported that Cricket

Australia (CA) is lobbying authorities to

fast-track his application to make him

available for the start of the Ashes in

England in July. AgENcIES

It’s not just about one incident: Clarke

shane Watson

At this point in timeI’m at a stage whereI’m sort of weighing

up my future and whatI want to do with my

cricket in general

Michael Clarke is nothappy with the standardsof behaviour within histeam on the India tour

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:13 AM Page 16

SPORTS S

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

16We analysed the game and we deserved to win. The first half we made two

mistakes and conceded two goals but in the second half we were on top and

had a lot of chances so it was a good game. –Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez

LONDON

AgENcIES

KEvIN Pietersen’s 186against India in Mumbaihas been voted the top Testbatting performance of2012 in the sixth annual

ESPNcricinfo Awards, announced today.vernon Philander took the Test bowling awardfor his five-for against England at Lord’s.

Pietersen’s innings was instrumental inEngland turning the Test series around aftertheir loss in the first match; they went on towin the series 2-1, their first series win inIndia in nearly 30 years. Philander’s 5 for30 was his fifth five-wicket haul in the firstten Test matches of an extraordinarilyprolific career. Geoff Boycott, one of thejudges, said: “It was the importance of theoccasion that made his performancespecial. The No. 1 and 2 teams wereplaying, he picked the top batsmen first upand grabbed the initiative. It put Englandon the back foot right away.”

The one-day batting award went tovirat Kohli for his unbeaten 133 in India’schase of 320 against Sri Lanka in the CBSeries. The innings was an 86-ballblitzkrieg that kept India alive in the CB

Series when they achieved a target of 321in under 37 overs. The ODI bowling awardwas taken by Thisara Perera for his 6 for 44against Pakistan in Pallekele, in which hetook wickets with the first balls of threespells, leading Sri Lanka to a 76-run win.

The T20 winners were Marlon Samuelsfor his 78 in the World Twenty20 finalagainst Sri Lanka, a match where 13batsmen made single-digit scores; andLasith Malinga’s 5 for 31 against Englandearlier in the tournament.

The awards were decided by a 14-member jury that included former playersRahul Dravid, Ian Chappell, Ramiz Raja,Geoff Boycott, Sanjay Manjrekar andRussel Arnold, and ESPNcricinfo’s seniorwriters, who all picked their top threeperformances in each category fromshortlists of nominees.

Saeed Ajmal, who became the firstplayer in the history of the awards to benominated in all three bowling categories,did not win an award, though he swept thereaders’ choice category.

Save for Malinga, who won the ODIbowling award in the inaugural year of theESPNcricinfo Awards, in 2008, the otherwinners are all first-timers. In the six-yearhistory of the awards, virender Sehwag,Lasith Malinga, Umar Gul and Dale Steynhave each won two awards; SachinTendulkar tops the table with three wins.

COLOMBO

AgENcIES

Bangladesh amassed their highest totaland captain Mushfiqur Rahim chalked uptheir first test double century on thefourth day of the opening game againstSri Lanka on Monday.

Resuming on 438 for four, Bangladeshwent on to make 638 all out by tea, afirst-innings lead of 68. Sri Lanka thenreached the close on 116 for one withTillakaratne Dilshan unbeaten on 63 ona lifeless pitch where bat has dominatedball from the start. It was the second half-century of the match for Dilshan whowas accompanied back to the pavilion byKumar Sangakkara (49 not out).

The only wicket to fall was that ofopener Dimuth Karunaratne for three afterhe top-edged a hook off Shahadat Hossainto Abul Hasan at fine leg. With one dayleft, the game seems destined to end in atame draw. Mushfiqur, on 198 at lunch,picked up two singles after the resumptionand celebrated his double hundred bypunching the air and kissing the turf.

The diminutive batsman wasimmediately out for 200, trapped lbw byNuwan Kulasekera off the next delivery.

Mushfiqur's gritty 321-ball knocklasted 438 minutes and included 22 fours

and a six. "It was one of my dreams toscore a test double hundred," the 24-year-old told reporters. "I thought that if I gotthe chance to bat for a long time and if Igot a partner at the other end, I would liketo score big.

"Fortunately Ash (MohammadAshraful) and Nasir (Hossain) battedreally well so I had partners. We weresaying beforehand that if someone getsset they must carry on and get a bighundred and that's what we did."

After Ashraful (190) had added onerun to his overnight score, Hossain (100)joined in the run feast and became thesixth centurion in the match.

Hossain's maiden test hundred cameoff 151 balls and contained nine fours.

He and Mushfiqur added 106 runsfor the sixth wicket before Dilshan hadHossain caught by Sangakkara.

The total by Bangladesh, ninth andlast in the test world rankings, eclipsedthe 556 they compiled against WestIndies in Dhaka in November. "Weneeded my innings badly because SriLanka scored huge and we needed toavoid the follow-on," said Mushfiqur.

"That was our first target. Our secondtarget was to make sure we passed theirtotal." The second and final test inColombo starts on Saturday.

Test records for skipper Mushfiqurand Bangladesh

SOUTH AFRIcA

Sri Lanka first innings 570-4 declared

Bangladesh first innings (overnight 438-4)

jahurul Islam c chandimal b Eranga 20

Anamul Haque b Mendis 13

Mohammad Ashraful c Mathews b Herath 190

Mominul Haque c Mathews b Kulasekara 55

Mahmudullah st chandimal b Herath 0

Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b Kulasekara 200

Nasir Hossain c Sangakkara b dilshan 100

Sohag gazi c vithanage b Mendis 21

Abul Hasan not out 16

Elias Sunny c chandimal b dilshan 0

Shahadat Hossain b Eranga 13

Extras (b-2, lb-1, nb-7) 10

Total (all out) 638

Fall of wickets: 1-23 2-65 3-170 4-177 5-444 6-550 7-581 8-

618 9-618

Bowling: Kulasekara 27-3-94-2 (nb-1), Eranga 34-4-122-2

(nb-6), Herath 62-11-161-2, Mendis 36-3-152-2, Mathews 9-2-

18-0, dilshan 26-5-75-2, Thirimanne 2-0-13-0

Sri Lanka second innings

d. Karunaratne c Abul b Shahadat 3

T. dilshan not out 63

K. Sangakkara not out 49

Extras (nb-1) 1

Total (for 1 wicket) 116

Fall of wickets: 1-17

Bowling: Shahadat 5-1-18-1 (nb-1), Abul 5-0-15-0, gazi 9-1-

37-0, Sunny 5-0-14-0, Mominul 3-0-13-0, Ashraful 1-0-10-0,

Mahmudullah 2-0-9-0

ScOREBOARd

pietersen, philandertake test awards

Kevin Pietersen’s 186against India inMumbai was acounter-attacking gem

BRIDGETOWN

AgENcIES

Zimbabwe’s stuttering return to test cricketcontinues in Barbados on Tuesday whenthey start their first series in more thanseven years against West Indies.

Zimbabwe ended a six-year hiatus fromtest cricket two years ago but have playedjust four single tests over the last 19months, leaving them with sparseexperience ahead of the Caribbean trip.

The two-test series against the Windies

is their first since India toured Zimbabwein September 2005 after which a playerdispute over political interference led to arapid decline in their fortunes.

The opening encounter in Bridgetownis followed by a second test in Dominica,starting on March 20. It is the last forZimbabwe under coach Alan Butcher, whodeparts his post after the trip, leaving theteam’s future direction unclear.

Captain Brendan Taylor was criticallast month of a decision to leave homeseveral key support staff from the tour

party, including batting coach Grant Flowerand bowling coach Heath Streak.

Marlon Samuels returns for the WestIndies after a two-month injury break andfast bowler Shannon Gabriel, who debutedat Lords last year, has been recalled.

Offspinner Sunil Narine has beenreplaced by Shane Shillingford in their 13-man squad.

The West Indies registered a whitewashin three one day internationals and twoTwenty20 matches against Zimbabwe overthe last three weeks.

Zimbabwe hope to make upfor lost time in test arena

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:14 AM Page 17

PRETORIA

AgENcIES

A friend of Oscar Pistorius claims theParalympic star is “on the verge of suicide” ashe is forced to sell off his belongings to fight acharge of premeditated murder.

“Blade Runner” Pistorius, 26, is accused ofmurdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp aftershe was shot dead at his home last month.

The Olympian claims he shot her through abathroom door thinking she was an intruder.

Close friend Mike Azzie, who Pistorius refersto as Uncle Mike, said the sportsman was a“broken man” after he was tasked with selling hisracehorses to raise money to pay for spirallinglegal fees. Speaking in a BBC3 documentary,‘Oscar Pistorius: What Really Happened?’, Azziesaid Pistorius regularly talks about Steenkamp ashe awaits his next court appearance on June 4. Hesaid: “He just always seems to mention Reevaand to ask us to pray for her and her family. “Butmost of all, you’ve got to understand that we arethere for him and we will always be his friend.“He has no confidence in his tone of voice and heis just a man that is almost like someone that is

walking around in circles and doesn’t knowwhere he is going. “I would say that, just speakingto him, that he is a broken man and that I wouldgo as far to say that he would be on the verge ofsuicide. It really worries me.”

According to the documentary makers,Mentorn Media, police in Johannesburg said theyhave requested all records of phone calls andmessages exchanged between Pistorius andSteenkamp on the day she was killed. Officersadded they were also sifting through a “massive”number of texts on Steenkamp’s phone, producerssaid. There are no plans for police to enter into aplea bargain with Pistorius’ legal team for a lessercharge, the show’s makers claimed.

MYANMAR

AgENcIES

Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol is eager tobuild on his early success in Myanmar witha second Asian Tour victory at the AvanthaMasters which starts on Thursday.

The classy Thai won the Asian Tour’sseason-opening Zaykabar Myanmar Openlast month and is hoping to extend hisOrder of Merit lead at the €1.8 million

(approximately US$2.3 million)showpiece, which is tri-sanctioned by theAsian Tour, European Tour andProfessional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).

“I want to maintain my Asian Tourranking, that is why I’m playing in theAvantha Masters. It will also have strongWorld Ranking points. It will be my thirdtime competing in the Avantha Masters andI am hopeful of finishing better than mybest result which was tied 17th last year,”

said Chawalit. He will be among a talentedpool of Asian Tour winners at the JaypeeGreens Golf Course including countrymanThongchai Jaidee, Jeev Milkha Singh ofIndia and Liang Wen-chong of China, whohave a combined total of six Asian TourOrder of Merit crowns. There will be astrong Thai representation this week withArnond vongvanij, Kiradech Aphibarnrat,Prom Meesawat, Chapchai Nirat,Thitiphun Chuayprakong, Gunn

Charoenkul, Panuphol Pittayarat andChinnarat Phadungsil all in the elite field.

Chawalit, a four-time Asian Tourwinner, hopes to etch his name among theillustrious winners at the Avantha Masters,who have all been Asian Tour members inthe last three seasons. Andrew Dodt ofAustralia won in 2010, S.S.P. Chowrasia ofIndia tasted success in 2011 and Jbe Krugerof South Africa secured a maiden win lastyear. “If I’m lucky, I’ll have a chance towin. In this game, you always need luck. InMyanmar, I drove the ball really and puttednicely. Winning in Myanmar was good asit has given me a lot of confidence for therest of the year and I hope to win again.

“My four Asian Tour titles have allbeen in full-field tournaments and it’ll benice to add a co-sanctioned tournamentonto my resume. I remember I have comeclose previously in the Malaysian Openand China Open but missed out on thewin. I led for three rounds in Malaysia butlost to Thongchai,” said Chawalit.Chawalit will enter the Avantha Masterswith a fine-tuned swing which has beenhis recipe to success so far this season.

“In the pre-season, I practised a lotwith Thammanoon (Sriroj) back home andI worked on my ball position at address.The ball was previously more on the leftheel but I’ve moved it a bit more to thecentre which seems to be working out forme as my body was moving too fast in thedownswing,” said the Thai.

Chawalit gunning for Avantha Masters title

golden beatCables in lahoreveteran cricketLAHORE: Golden Eagles beat Amar cables

by three wickets in the final of the Lahore

Veteran cricket league here on Monday at

Stags cricket ground Model Town.BRIEF ScORES: Amar cables batted first reached 197/5 in 30

overs. Ameer Akbar 37, zahid Umar 20, dastgir Butt 16, Shahid

Mansoor 61 runs not out & Muhammad Arif 33 runs not out.

golden Eagles bowling Asif Mehmood 2/24, Muhammad Hafeez

2/28 & Tanzeel Hussain 1/46 wickets. In reply golden Eagles

answered with 199/7 in 28.3 overs. Ameer Ali 42, jamshaid Ali 41,

Asif Mehmood 28, Muhammad Yaqoob 22 & Muhammad zubair

23 runs not out. Amar cables bowling Tariq Rasheed 2/43, Rauf

Wain 1/34, Ahmad Shohab 1/29, Tariq Hussain Raju 1/33 & Ameer

Akbar 1/12 wickets. Ahsan Raza and Qaisar Waheed were the

umpires. Mian Muhammad Aslam was the match referee &

zahoor Alam was the scorer. End of the match chief guest chief

Executive PvcA Nawab Ashiq Hussain Qureshi gave away the

winning trophy and 50,000) to golden Eagles captain.

Muhammad Salman Khan and runners up trophy and 25000 to

captain Amar cables Ameer Akbar. STAFF REPORT

ppCBl win StateBank Cricket LAHORE: PPCBL won the 9th SBP

Governor Cup Inter Bank Super Series

Cricket Tournament -2012-13 here at

Bagh-i-Jinnah ground on Monday.

PPCBL won the toss and invited SBP

Lahore’s team to bat first. In T20 Final

SBP Lahore’s Cricket Team could score

169 runs for loss of 6 wickets. Openor

Batsman Junaidd Ali scored 59 runs,

Mubeen Hamid made 33 runs. From

PPCBL Muhammad Waheed took three

wickets for 26 runs in 4 overs.

In reply PPCBL chased the target of 170

runs in 18.5 overs for loss of 4 wkts only.

Juma Khan scored 50 runs in 26 balls and

the 2nd top scorer was Mr. Muhammad

Waheed with 46 runs not out. Zafar Gohar

and Muhammad Mohsin took 2 wickets

each from SBP Lahore.

Deputy Governor SBP Mr. Kazi Abdul

Muktadir awarded the winner’s trophy to

the captain of PPCBL and the cash prize of

Rs. 100,000/- (Rupees One Lakh only).

SBP Lahore stood at 2nd place with

runners up trophy and cash award of

Rs.50,000/- STAFF REPORT

national Beachnetball in april LAHORE: National beach netball

championship will be played from April 19

at Sea View Clifton Karachi with top

teams of the country taking part.

“It is a very important event which will

help in selecting our national team to

feature in the World Beach netball

championship being played in South

Africa,” said Mudassar Arain, President,

Sindh Netball Association here on

Monday. He said SNBA and Pakistan

Netball federation are jointly organizing

the premier activity in which ladies teams

will also be taking part in their own part

of the championship. The participating

teams, are, (men and women), Army, Air

force, Police, Wapda, Railways, Navy, High

Education Commission, Sindh, Punjab,

KPK, Blouchistan, Islamabad, FATA, AJK,

LUMS University, LGS and TCS. “The

event offers a handsome prize of Rs

200,000 and trophies will be also be given

to the first three position holders “,he

said. STAFF REPORT

four matchesdecided in lahoreLAHORE: Four Matches were decided in

District Football Championship here on

Monday at Model Town Football Academy

Ground and Raiders Football Club

Grounds.Young Union F.c, Lahore United F.c, Mughalpura Football club

and Saleem Khan F.c earned victories against their respective

rivals. Young Union F.c beat Samanabad F.c 2-0 Shahbaz and

Anjum produced one goal each in the 23rd and 60th minutes.

Lahore United F.c beat Shaheen F.c (cMH) 3-0. Ahit, Muslim

Butt and Abdul Rasheed shared one goal apiece.

Mughalpura Football club scored a narrow 1-0 win over Model

Town F.c. Farooq Aziz scored the lone goal of the match in the

40th minute.

Saleem Khan F.c outplayed Afshan F.c 2-0 as Nawaz and

Nazeer scored the 27th and 67th minutes goal. Matches for

Tuesday, PAF F.c vs Ideal F.c at Raiders ground, Publican F.c vs

Bata F.c at MFTA, chief college F.c vs Mujahid F.c at MFTA, Pency

F.c vs Universal Bab cargo F.c at MFTA. STAFF REPORT

MIAMI

AgENcIES

TIGER Woodsbelieves the hardwork he puts in offthe course makeswinning easier after

securing his biggest victory since2009. The former world numberone won the WGC-CadillacChampionship in Miami afterfinishing on 19 under.

Woods finished two shots clearof Steve Striker, while GraemeMcDowell, Adam Scott and SergioGarcia finished on 14 under.

The final round saw awelcome return to form for worldnumber one Rory McIlroy whofinished eighth after a 65. Woodsadmitted the hard work meant hewas able to be in contention after54 holes.

He said: “I enjoy being there.That’s why I work my tail off andto lift all those weights, hit allthose balls and spend thosecountless hours out there is to be inthat position.

“That’s why I prepare so hard,is to be there. I enjoy being there.”McDowell said he was happy withthe way he was playing afterstaying in contention well into thefinal day.

He said: “All in all, I’mecstatic the way I’m playing. “Theway I drove it this week, my ironplay, just everything, really. “Theputter let me down the last coupledays, but that’s been a part of mygame that’s been extremely strongthe last couple weeks, so nocomplaints.”

McIlroy had come in forintense scrutiny after poor recentperformances and was glad toshoot a final round 65. He said: “Iprobably wear my heart on mysleeve a bit with my golf. If I havea bad round, it’s sort of like the endof the world, but if I play a goodone, I’m happy again.

“You know, that’s just the wayit goes. I was pretty down aboutmy game coming into this week,but a few days like I’ve played,you know, it does my confidence aworld of good.”

Mcilroy boosted by closing 65dORAL: Rory McIlroy cut a much happier figure after a closing,bogey-free 65 wrapped up his week in the WGC-CadillacChampionship at Doral. Following last-week’s mid-round exit in theHonda Classic, McIlroy was under tremendous scrutiny going into theseason’s second World Golf Championship but rounds of 73-69-71-65saw him post a total of 10-under-par. “I feel a lot better. Regardless ofthe score, I hit a lot of good shots over the last three days,” he told SkySports. “I am really happy compared to the start of the week althoughthere is still a bit to go. I made a lot of birdies and eagles this week soit is a case of limiting the mistakes.” McIlroy revealed he will not alterhis playing schedule in the build-up to The Masters at Augusta, withjust one tournament - the Shell Houston Open at the end of this month- on the agenda. “I am excited about the next few weeks but I willkeep the schedule the way it is. It will be a couple of weeks of hardwork and then Houston before going on to Augusta.” AgENcIES

hard workstill key fortiger woods

‘Broken’ Pistorius ‘onthe verge of suicide’

SPORTSS

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

17There's a need to win always and to get better. There's a need to perform

on every surface on every tour. A lot of people ask me questions if I can

play abroad and yes I feel I can win abroad as well. –Anirban Lahiri

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:14 AM Page 18

INDIAN WELLS

AgENcIES

Former champion Maria Sharapovasurvived a tough battle with Spain’s CarlaSuarez Navarro on Sunday, winning 7-56-3 to book her place in the fourth roundof the BNP Paribas Open.

The Russian world number three,seeded second at the elite WTA event, brokethe Spaniard twice in a closely contestedfirst set that featured several lengthybaseline rallies and lasted almost an hour.

Sharapova then broke the Spaniard’sserve twice more in the second set, sealingvictory in one hour 40 minutes when her21st ranked opponent hit a forehand long.

“That was a tough match,” Sharapovatold reporters after winning her thirdround encounter on a sunny afternoon atthe Indian Wells Tennis Garden. “She’s aquality player and she’s capable of playingreally good tennis.

“She’s dangerous. She’s beaten topplayers in grand slams before. She has areally solid game, a lot of variety, but shecan hit the ball, as well. I certainly hadsome trouble today.” Sharapova, wholanded her fourth grand slam singlescrown at last year’s French Open, knowsshe needs to raise her game a few notchesif she is to win her first WTA title of theseason at Indian Wells. “There are a fewthings I definitely want to improve for thenext one (match), but I was happy I gotthrough on not a great day,” said theformer world number one, who lost in thesemi-finals at the Australian Open inJanuary and also in Doha.

The statuesque Sharapova, championhere in 2006, will next face Spaniard LaraArruabarrena-vecino, who pulled off aminor upset by beating 14th-seeded ItalianRoberta vinci 2-6 6-4 6-4.

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska ofPoland was also given a tough workout,

overcoming Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-7 6-3 6-4, but fifth-seeded Czech PetraKvitova advanced smoothly with a 6-2 7-6 win against Lesia Tsurenkoof Ukraine. Sixth-seeded Italian SaraErrani had to work alittle harder thanthe 6-3 6-1scorelinereflected as shebeat Sweden’sJohanna Larsson toimprove her win-loss record for theyear to 20-7. Errani,who clinched theseventh WTA title of hercareer in Acapulcolast month,broke heropponent’sserve twice in

the opening set and three times in thesecond to win in one hour 21 minutes.“The score was 6-3 6-1 in the end, but forsure it wasn’t that easy a match,” said the25-year-old Italian, who is known for herdoubles prowess. “Many of the pointswere very long and she’s a very strongplayer. It was a much tougher match thanthe score.” Errani, who reached her first

grand slam singles final at last year’sFrench Open, was delighted to

become the first WTA playerthis season to post 20 match

wins. “For sure I’m veryhappy about that,” Errani

said with a smile. “I likecompetition much

better than practice,so I play a lot oftournaments and alot of matches.For the momentI’m doing well.”

MIAMI

AgENcIES

FORMER world numberone Tiger Woods pickedup his biggest victorysince 2009 after winningthe WGC-Cadillac

Championship in Miami.The American finished on 19 under

par, after a final round 71, to claim his76th PGA Tour victory and his 17thWorld Golf Championship title.

He finished two shots clear of SteveStricker, while Graeme McDowell, PhilMickelson, Adam Scott and SergioGarcia finished on 14 under.

The final round saw a welcomereturn to form for world number oneRory McIlroy who finished eighth aftera final round 65.

McIlroy was on fire and flew up theleaderboard. The Northern Irishmanbegan perfectly after an eagle on the firstfollowed by birdies at five, 10, 11, 16and 17.

“I’m quite happy with where mygame is at compared to where it was atthe start of the week,” McIlroy told SkySports 2.

“There is quite a bit to go, but scoreslike today and shots like that over the lastthree days definitely give me confidence.

“I limited the mistakes. I made a lot

of birdies and eagles but I made a lot ofbogeys too.

“I’m a lot happier with where mygame is and a lot happier for the next fewweeks.”

McIlroy will make just one morestart before the Masters in April, butafter a solid end to the tournament hewas in no mood to alter his preparation.

Woods will go in the first major ofthe year full of confidence after he wonthe event for a seventh time.

The 37-year-old was firmly focusedon winning in Miami. An impressive 19footer on the second seemed to kickstarthis round, and although an accurateapproach on the third left him with agood shot at another birdie his putt endedup just to the left of the hole.

However, at the fourth he made nomistake with the putter for his 26thbirdie of the week. A wayward shot onthe eighth saw him in woodland beforeanother recovery led to par.

A birdie at 10 extended Woods’ leadto six, while a two-putt at 12 made littledifference to the outcome.

After finding the sand at 16 Woodsthen found the rough before holing abogey for his first dropped shot of theround.

Another poor tee shot meant little onthe last as he finished with anotherbogey.

Second-placed Stricker lost groundafter a bogey on three, before movingback to 15 under with birdies at five andsix, while others around dropped theirgame, Stricker upped his eight under parefforts at 10 and 13.

McDowell birdied the opening two,but he was in trouble after finding thebunker twice on five to drop back to 15under.

He missed a good opportunity toclose the gap on Woods when a mid-range putt just missed on the eighth hole.

A bogey at 11 was erased by a chip-in at 13, while a birdie at 17 wascancelled out by a horrible double bogeyon the last.

Garcia had a solid final round withthree birdies on the back nine soured bya bogey on the last to add to his his birdiefour on the first.

Mickelson made a fantastic startwith birdies at one and two, but hedropped a shot on three after missing arelatively simple par putt.

The four-time major winner made upfor it on five, before an accurateapproach on the eighth set up a birdie.

Mickelson got sloppy with droppedshots on the ninth then 11th ending hischallenge, as he shot a 71.

Scott’s blemish-free final round sawhim finish with eight birdies and 64, inwhat was his best round of the week.

INDIAN WELLS

AgENcIES

World number one Novak Djokovic wastaken to three sets as Fabio Fognini battledback in a hard-fought second round clashin the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Djokovic, champion in Indian Wells in2008 and 2011, had looked on course for acomfortable passage when his opponentfailed to win a game in the opening set.

The Serb had won 10 of the first 11games when Fognini fought back to win thesecond set before Djokovic wrapped up a6-0 5-7 6-2 victory. The win meantDjokovic took his un beaten 2013 record to14-0 as he bids to add to the AustralianOpen and Dubai Duty Free titles.

“Mentally I was there,” said Djokovicafter the match. “Confidence level is highobviously because of the run I had thisyear. Game wise, everything works. I hada very bad game at 4-2, couple of unforcederrors, got him back in the match. Nextthing you know, we’re one set all and acouple of tight games.

“But look, I’m not concerned. I know Ihave been in this situation before where Ihad minor setbacks in a match, especiallyin the opening matches where I’m trying to

get used to the court, the conditions, and soforth. He’s a good player on this surface.

“He loves playing on slow surfaces. Hemade me work. He made me earn my

points. In the end, I have done what Ineeded to do.” Andy Murray overcame anabysmal start to see off the challenge ofunheralded Russian Evgeny Donskoy.

Playing for the first time since losingthe Australian Open final to Djokovic, theworld number three found himself 5-1down in the opening set against a playerranked 80 places below him.

Murray recovered some composure butstill dropped the first set before clawing hisway back to win 5-7 6-2 6-2.

“I wasn’t so concerned with the wholeof the first set or the start of the match,” theBrit said on Sky Sports 4.

“I went 5-1 down and after that Iplayed pretty well. I had four or five breakpoints at 5-5, didn’t quite get them and hecame out with some big shots. “And thegame where I got broken at 6-5, I maybeplayed one bad point. But he did come upwith some big shots and big forehandwinners so I was happy with the way Iplayed after that, I created a lot of chances.

“I haven’t played a lot of matches so Ididn’t take the points as soon as I would

have liked, but I hit the ball well at the endof the match. “I hope I play better at eachmatch. I haven’t played well here the lastfew years and I just need to get matchesunder my belt.” Murray’s third roundopponent will be Yen-Hsun Lu of ChineseTaipei, who saw off Slovakian MartinKlizan 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/5).

Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro won6-3 6-4 against Russian NikolayDavydenko and Nicolas Almagro won 7-56-1 over fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver. Marin Cilic, seeded 12th here,reached the last 32 with a battling 7-6 (9-7)6-2 win over Spain’s Albert Ramos whileanother seed, Mardy Fish, was also pushedhard in a 6-3 3-6 6-4 result againstAmerican compatriot Bobby Reynolds.

However, two seeds fell at the second-round stage with Juan Monaco going down7-5 6-0 to Marinko Matosevic and JeremyChardy succumbing 6-2 2-6 6-4 to BjornPhau. There were also wins for Jo-WilfriedTsonga, Tommy Haas, Kei Nishikori,Carlos Berlocq, Sam Querrey and GrigorDimitrov.

punjab KarateC’ship at SahiwalLAHORE: Punjab Karate championship

will be held from March 30 at Sahwail

under the auspices of Punjab Karate

Association. “In all, 18 districts of the

province will show case their talent in the

event which is both for men and women

“,said Muhammad Bashir Butt,

Secretary,PKA,while talking to APP here

on Monday. He said Lahore will be

defending the title in the two-day meet

which aims at unearthing new talent to

broaden the base of the game. He said

the aim of holding of women

championship is to pay special attention

on promoting karate among female folk of

the province. Secretary,PKA said men will

be taking part in eight weight categories

including 50kgs,55kgs,60kgs,65kgs, 75

kgs and above 75kgs,individual kata and

team kata while women will be displaying

their potential in 48ks,52kgs, above 52

kgs and individual kata. Former provincial

minister for food, Malik Nadim Kamran

will be the chief guest the prize distribution

ceremony on April 31. STAFF REPORT

Djoko, Murray made to sweat in Indian Wells

36th heCintervarsityBasketballfrom todayKARACHI: The Aga Khan University is

organizing the 36th HEC Zone-G Inter-

University Boys U-27 Basketball

Championship starts from today with the

support of Sindh Basketball Association

(SBA).

Eleven Teams representing reputable

Universities across Karachi are taking part

in the Tournament. The championship

matches will be played on knockout basis

at the AKU Sports Centre Gymnasium.

Participating Teams are as follows:

Greenwich University (GU), Sir Syed

University of Engineering & Technology

(SSUET), Institute of Business

Management (IoBM), Institute of Business

Administration (IBA), University of

Karachi (KU), Iqra University (IU), PAF-

KIET, Aga Khan University (AKU), Dow

University of Health Sciences (DUHS),

ZIauddin University (ZU) and NED

University.

Four matches will be played on the

opening day and the inaugural match will

be played between host team Aga Khan

University and PAF-KIET.

Dr. Imran Siddiqui, Associate Professor,

Department of Pathology & Microbiology,

AKU will inaugurate the Tournament at

2:00 PM. STAFF REPORT

woods wins in Miamifor 76th tour title

SPORTS STuesday, 12 March, 2013

18I wanted a change, I'm a risk-taker. There were so many good things

about the opportunity, to go to a team that is struggling and hopefully

be a part of something that makes them become great. –Lewis Hamilton

wAtCh It LIve

STAR SPORTSAFC Champions League 2013Buriram United vs. FC Seoul04:25 PM

Sharapova, Radwanska advance at Indian Wells

STAR SPORTSAFC Champions League 2013Buriram United vs. FC Seoul03:55 PM

STAR CRICKET2012-13 Airtel Prof. D B Deodhar Trophy08:20 AM

LHR 12-03-2013_Layout 1 3/12/2013 5:14 AM Page 19

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

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

ISLAMABAD

AgENcIES

rEITERATING the gov-ernment’s resolve to holdthe forthcoming elec-tions in a transparent

manner, Prime Minister Raja Per-vez Ashraf on Monday saidchange in a democratic countrywas only possible through ballot.

The prime minister said thiswhile separately meeting parlia-mentarians including Syed In-ayat Ali Shah, Suraya Jatoi, andQasim Ali Shah at the Prime’s

Minister House. He said thedemocratic government hadserved the people of Pakistanwith devotion and commitmentas the PPP believed in servingthe nation. “Development workcarried out in the last five yearsis unparalleled in the history ofthe country.”

The premier emphasised therole of free, fair and transparentelections for a strong and durabledemocracy to take roots in thecountry. “Parliament has strength-ened the Election Commission ofPakistan to ensure that the peo-ple’s choice is transparently re-flected into the formation ofgovernment.”

Ashraf said parliament wascompleting its constitutional term,which was an important milestonefor attaining political and demo-cratic maturity in Pakistan.

Separately, talking to Aus-tralian Prime Minister’s SpecialEnvoy Air Chief Marshal (r)Angus Houston, who called onthe prime minister, Ashraf saidPakistan was committed to elim-inating human trafficking.

Ashraf said Pakistan was com-mitted to the Bali Process and elim-inating sufferings caused due tohuman trafficking.

Houston briefed Ashraf onthe policies and efforts beingmade by the Australian govern-ment to check human trafficking and reiterated thatAustralia would work closelywith Pakistan to reduce humantrafficking.

The envoy suggested that Pak-istan raise its representation in theBali Process to the ministeriallevel, which was accepted by theprime minister.

Change possible only through ballot: pMASHRAF SAYSPAKISTAN COMMITTEDTO ELIMINATINGHUMAN TRAFFICKING

ISLAMABAD

NNI

Opposition leader in the National AssemblyChaudhary Nisar Ali Khan on Monday dis-patched a letter to Prime Minister Raja PervaizAshraf proposing three names for caretakerPM. Source said the PM Secretariat had con-firmed receiving the letter forwarded by Nisar.

The proposed names include Justice (r)Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice (r) Shakirullah Janand Rasool Baksh Palejo. Nisar said one nameout of the three would be dropped followingdiscussion on March 16. He renounced thestatement of Qamar Zaman Kaira regardingnames of caretaker prime minister, saying hisparty could not propose names of Kaira andJahangir Badar for interim PM. He said thePakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) gave a positiveresponse over the three names put forth byPML-N, adding that the PML-N did not give

any name from Punjab. The opposition leader said that a spokesper-son of the federal government termed theirgiven names as a joke. He said PML-N hadalso completed consultation over the name ofcaretaker chief minister in Punjab.

nisar sends names of opp’snominees for interim pm to ashraf

uS troops killedin afghan‘insider attack’WARdAK: Two US soldiers in Afghanistan

have been shot dead in a so-called insider

attack, US and Afghan sources say. A

number of Afghan troops also died in the

shooting at a remote military base in

Wardak province, not far from Kabul. The

US military called the attack a “betrayal”.

The killer - a member of the Afghan

security forces - was shot dead at the

scene. Last year more than 60 Nato troops

were killed by Afghan security personnel

or insurgents posing as them. The gunman

- a member of the Afghan army or police -

opened fire as US special forces and

Afghan commandos held an early morning

meeting. Another 10 US troops were

wounded, the US military said. The

number of Afghan casualties has not been

made public. The attacker was also killed

and the US-led special operations task

force said the area had been secured.

Wardak province is the scene of particular

tension between the Afghan authorities

and US troops fighting Taliban militants.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had

ordered US special forces to leave the

province by the middle of this month

because of allegations of torture and

disappearances carried out by Afghan

troops working with them. Earlier on

Monday, police in Kabul said two civilian

lorry drivers were killed and one wounded

when they were fired on by an Isaf

convoy. The international security force

Isaf said soldiers had opened fire to

protect themselves when the two drivers

failed to comply with a warning. AgENcIES

Bangladeshcracks down onopp after violencedHAKA: Police said they had detained the

deputy head of Bangladesh’s main

opposition party and a string of top party

officials in a major crackdown after clashes

rocked the capital Dhaka on Monday. The

arrests came after police in armoured

vehicles fired rubber bullets to disperse

opposition demonstrators, turning the

streets of central Dhaka into a

battleground for nearly an hour. Police

stormed the headquarters of the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and

took into custody Fakhrul Islam Alamgir —

who as acting secretary general is second

in command of the party — and dozens of

senior BNP officials and activists, driving

them away in prison vans. “We’ve detained

him (Alamgir),” Dhaka police spokesman

Masudur Rahman told AFP. Other detained

BNP leaders included its chief

parliamentary whip, an ex-mayor of Dhaka

and two former ministers including an ex-

air force chief. “They attacked police and

created panic and anarchy,” deputy police

commissioner Mehedi Hasan told reporters,

adding police broke open a room at the

BNP headquarters and found 10 small

homemade bombs. A spokesman for the

BNP was not immediately available for

comment. Police staged the arrests after at

least four small homemade bombs

exploded at the BNP rally which was being

held in front of the party headquarters.

The blasts triggered clashes between about

5,000 brick- and rock-throwing BNP

supporters and police who responded by

firing rubber bullets. AgENcIES

19

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