ISLAMABADStAff RepoRt

AKRAM Sheikh, the counsel for Man-soor Ijaz, on Saturday wrote twoseparate letters to Attorney GeneralMaulvi Anwarul Haq Pakistan andChief of Army Staff General Ashfaq

Pervez Kayani regarding security for his clientupon his arrival in the country for recording hisstatement before the “memogate” commission.

Sheikh expressed reservations over the re-ports that security would be provided by theInterior Ministry. In his letter to the AG, heasked why a contempt of court case should notbe filed against him for not complying withcourt orders of deploying army for MansoorIjaz’s security. In his letter to the AG, Sheikhsaid: “You had also undertaken before thecommission that you would communicate thecell number of the Battalion Commander formaking arrangement of security of person ofMansoor Ijaz and equipment/evidence whichhe is bringing along.

That you have not communicated anysuch number or name to the undersigned untildate nor have you communicated the securityarrangements so far. To the contrary one DrMujeebur Rahman Khan claiming himself tobe DIG Security & Counter Terrorism, hascalled me and informed me that he has beenappointed as the focal person to contact me ascounsel of Mr Mansoor Ijaz for providing himsecurity. He has further informed me that thisdecision has been taken in a meeting chairedby your good self attended by secretary inte-rior and secretary defence amongst others. Dr

Mujeebur Rahman Khan has further con-firmed that there shall be no other focal per-son for coordination with me on the securityof Mr Mansoor Ijaz (his person and the equip-ment containing forensic evidence). That fur-ther Dr Mujeeb had promised to fax me theaforementioned details in writing which hehas not done so until the writing of this letterdespite passage of considerable time. Thisturn of events regarding security arrange-ments was communicated to my client, MrMansoor Ijaz, who is not willing to accept thesame.” “Last evening, all of a sudden, the sameinterior minister, within 24 hours of my clienthaving obtained visa for Pakistan, has an-nounced that his ministry is going to be exclu-sively responsible for the security of my client.

SeCuRity wiLL be pRoVided undeR aRtiCLe 245 | page 04

pakistantoday.com.pk Sunday, 22 January, 2012 Safar 27, 1433Rs22.00 Vol ii no 206 22 pages Lahore edition

Mansoor’s visit hingeson army securityg Sheikh writes to COaS, aG seeking military security g asks aG why he should not be held incontempt for defying court orders on security

Govt givenwrong adviceon River Kabul

ISLAMABADAmeR SIAl

In an amazing development, Pakistan hasdecided to help Afghanistan develop waterstorage and hydel power generation on theRiver Kabul and then import the surpluspower, without knowing that developingwater reserves on the river would lead tosignificant water reduction in the RiverIndus system. An official source said thisunique commitment was given at a two-daymeeting of the Pakistan Afghanistan JointEconomic Commission held recently inIslamabad. However, he said top officialsattending the meeting did not know that 65percent share of water in Kabul Riveroriginated from River Kunhar in Chitraland building of water reserves inAfghanistan would significantly decline thewater availability in Pakistan, as the waterfrom Kabul River ultimately entered thecountry. Afghanistan is being helped by theinternational financial institutions to buildmore than 10 water reservoirs and hydelpower projects on the River Kabul.Pakistan has serious reservations over theplans as it will lead to massive watershortage for irrigation in the country. Boththe countries have no treaty on sharing thewater resources of the River Kabul thatthey mutually share.

ISLAMABADIRfAN BuKhARI

After failing to take the muchtrumpeted ‘Go Zardari Go’movement to its logical end, thePakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) has, on the advice ofsmaller opposition parties,shelved its three-step strategydevised on January 12, in a joint

meeting of the central workingcommittee and parliamentaryparty to send the PPP-ledcoalition government packing.The PML-N central leaders haddecided on January 12 in ahurriedly-called meeting chairedby Nawaz Sharif that the partyand other opposition parties

‘N’ backtracks from anti-govt strategyContinued on page 04

Continued on page 04

Continued on page 04

SRINAGAR: Indian policemen manhandle a woman during a protest rally

on Saturday to mark the 22nd martyrdom anniversary of Gaw Kadal

massacre where more than 52 people were killed and 250 sustained

bullet injuries when Indian troops opened fire on January 21,1990. afp

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02Sunday, 22 January, 2012

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lahore

Story on Page 08

NewS

Story on Page 05

foreIGN NewS

Story on Page 17

political or not, lahoris get a new food spot Supreme court works in its domain: cJ AIDS kills 28,000 in china in 2011

ISLAMABADStAff RepoRt

Former president and APML chief Gen-eral (r) Pervez Musharraf has called forholding of transparent general electionsunder the army’s supervision, formationof a caretaker government three monthsbefore the polls and permission to him fortaking part in the elections.

Addressing an audience of 168 re-tired army officers through video-link ata local hotel under the banner of ‘Pak-istan First’ on Saturday, Musharraf saidfake cases were being registered againsthim to block his return. Insisting that hewas not a coward, Musharraf said trans-parent elections were impossible underthe incumbent regime and since the armywas an institution, which ensured guar-antee for the country’s security, generalelections should be supervised by thearmed forces. However, the former dic-tator said democracy was the only answerto all issues faced by the country but in-sisted that some elements were conspir-ing to defame the army and theInter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

“Such elements are launching anti-army propaganda to weaken the coun-

try,” he said, adding that he was return-ing to his homeland to take part in thenext elections but his return was beingblocked by registration of false cases. Heinsisted that he did not aim at returningusing any foreign channel and rather wascounting on public support for his re-turn. He also expressed commitmentwith the armed forces, adding that thelast drop of his blood was for the armyand the country. ‘Pakistan First’ is aforum of retired armed forces officerswith a large representation of all threeservices from all over Pakistan andaround 93,000 members from ex-ser-vicemen association are affiliated with it.The forum claims to be non-political andhaving no affiliation with any politicalparty and supports democracy and therule of law. Top ranked former generalsattended the meeting including two fourstar generals, 17 three star generals, 25major generals, and around 50brigadiers. These included ex-GCSCGeneral (r) Muhammad Aziz Khan, ex-CNS Adm (r) Shahid Karimullah, Lt Gen(r) Khalid Maqbool, Lt Gen (r) TanwirNaqvi, Lt Gen (r) Anis Abbasi, Lt Gen (r)Salahuddin Satti, Lt Gen (r) HamidJaved, Lt Gen (r) Javed Alam Khan, Lt

Gen (r) Rehan Burney, Lt Gen (r) Ma-sood Perwaiz, Lt Gen (r) Munir Hafiez,Lt Gen (r) Syed Absar Hussain, Lt Gen(r) Sajjad Akram, Lt Gen (r) ShahidHamid, Gen (r) Zarrar Azim, Vice Adm(r) ST Naqvi, Vice Adm (r) ShamoonAlam Khan, Air Marshal (r) RashidKaleem, Air Marshal (r) Shahid Hamid,Maj Gen (r) Asif Akhtar, Maj Gen (r)Farid Faiz Ch, Maj Gen (r) FarrukhJaved, Maj Gen (r) Ghazanfar Ali Khan,Maj Gen (r) Haroon Sikandar Pasha, MajGen (r) Malik Iftikhar Khan, Maj Gen (r)Javed Aslam Tahir, Maj Gen (r) JamshedAyaz, Maj Gen (r) Sultan Habib, Maj Gen(R) Rashid Qureshi, Maj Gen (r) Tanvir-ullah and Maj Gen (r)Zafar Abbas. Theretired army officers passed a unani-mous resolution that all citizens includ-ing Gen Musharraf had the right toreturn to and live in Pakistan and contestelections according to democratic norms.

“We feel that Gen (r) Pervez Mushar-raf should be provided with a level playingfield in the political arena and also pro-vided protocol and security by the govern-ment as befits any ex-president of theIslamic Republic of Pakistan,” the resolu-tion said. The resolution also condemnedarmy and ISI bashing.

Hold polls under army

supervision, says Musharraf

Three Germansarrestedin Peshawar

PESHAWARStAff RepoRt

Police and intelligence agencies onSaturday took three Germans into custodyin Peshawar and sent them to Islamabad.Police sources said law enforcing agenciespersonnel raided their residence atUniversity Town- Peshawar where theGermans were residing illegally and tookthem into custody after sealing theresidence to send them to to Islamabad.Sources said that the foreigners identifiedas Roloff Shmith, Kriston Wild and Lorezwere staying at Park Lane at UniversityTown and did not possess legal documents.Police asked them to show their traveldocuments, which they were unable toproduce and therefore their passports wereseized. It was learnt that the foreigners hadwavered between relating themselves toGerman embassy and introducingthemselves as NGo workers. Sources saidKriston Wild was a serving German Armycolonel and had served in Kosovo andKabul and been stationed at Peshawar forthe last few months illegally. SPCantonment Dr Mian Muhammad Saeedsaid all the three Germans were sent toIslamabad for further interrogation.

ISLAMABADAGeNcIeS

INTERIoR Minister Rehman Malikhas said that Mansoor Ijaz’s namewould be placed on the Exit ControlList (ECL) if asked by the parliamen-tary committee investigating the

memo scam.“Mansoor Ijaz will be provided security

by the Interior Ministry. This is not the taskof the army or the ISI,” the interior ministersaid after reviewing arrangements at the F-9 Park where an area of 80 kanals has beenreserved for holding public meetings andprotests in Islamabad. It would be inaugu-rated by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilanisoon. Malik pointed out that the parliamen-tary committee had summoned MansoorIjaz for his testimony in the memo scam andif “he does not appear before it, the commit-tee can direct the government to put hisname on the ECL”. He pointed out that theprime minister and ministers appeared be-fore the parliamentary committees and if it

summoned Mansoor Ijaz, he should appearbefore it too. He said the government putnames of a number of people on the ECL onthe recommendation of the Public AccountsCommittee, of which Chaudhry Nisar AliKhan, the NA leader of the opposition, re-mained chairman. Malik said for the gov-ernment, parliamentary committees werevery honorable and the government wouldimplement their recommendations. The in-terior minister said the ISI was an intelli-gence agency, not a security agency and ifthe army’s security was needed for someone,then there is a constitutional way to arrangesecurity or call in the army. The interior

minister said a meeting of ministries of de-fence, interior and attorney general wouldbe held in the next couple of days to discusssecurity to be provided to Ijaz. He said thecounsel for Mansoor Ijaz would have to pro-vide all record of his (Mansoor) engage-ments to arrange for the security.

To a question, Malik said the leader of

the opposition in Punjab Assembly wouldbecome party in the parliamentary commit-tee to enquire from Mansoor Ijaz about hisinvolvement in conspiracies against thepresent and past PPP governments. Hemade it clear that whatever application wasfiled against Mansoor Ijaz would meet alllegal requirements.

Mansoor to be placed on ECL onparliamentary body’s direction: Malikg Provision of security responsibility of Interior Ministry, not army or ISI

ISLAMABAD: The US embassy in Islamabad has said it would not provide securityto Mansoor Ijaz who intends to appear before a tribunal investigating the“memogate”. It said Ijaz was a common US citizen and would be coming to Pakistanon his own wish, adding that he would be treated like other US citizens. The embassyofficials said Mansoor Ijaz would be treated as other US citizens were treated. Ijazwould not be allowed to live in the embassy, the officials added. The statement hasgiven birth to new apprehensions regarding his appearance before the commission.The Pakistani government has also kept mum over the issue. However, governmentofficials say Ijaz had not been invited in the country and he would be treated like acommon US citizen. Ijaz had requested fool-proof security through his lawyer. He gota visa from Pakistan High Commission in London two days ago and said he was allset to appear before the memo commission. But, he refused to disclose date of hisarrival due to security reasons. AGeNcIeS

US embassy says no security for Mansoor Ijaz

Mir Muhammad Azam, founder and chairman of Newage Cables (Pvt) Ltd passed awayon Saturday, January 21, 2012. His funeral prayer will be held on Sunday, January 22,2012 (today) at 2pm at his residence 95-B Model Town, Lahore. The bereaved includehis sons Asim Jalil Azam, Asif Kamal, Amer Bakht Azam, daughter Noshaba Mudassar,daughters-in-law Jaria Asim and Zahra Amer, son-in-law Dr Mudassar Khokhar, andgrandchildren Adnan Jalil Azam, Aleena Azam, Alman Jalil Azam, Sameer Mudassar,Sahir Mudassar, Ali Amer and Mehak Amer.

Newage Cables founder passes away

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03Sunday, 22 January, 2012

NewsCoMMeNTAnother petition

articles on Page 12-13

They’re easy come, easy go.

A hike again?The government may have no other option.

humayun Gauhar says:

fahd husain says:Swiss letter, and spirit: It must be written.

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad says:PM in the courthouse: Too many hyperactive spectators.

arTS & eNTerTaINMeNT

Story on Page 14

SPorTS‘It’s for umpires and Icc to rule on action legitimacy’

Story on Page 18

ustad Baqir: A journey towards recognition?

Balance and equity: Justice must be done and seen to be done.

ISLAMABADmIAN ABRAR

DESPITE disapproval by the fed-eral cabinet and the formation ofa committee to probe the con-tract to purchase 75 locomotivesfrom a Chinese company, Rail-

ways ministry official are still hopeful that thegovernment will condone the violation of PublicProcurement Regulatory Agency (PPRA) rulesfor the procurement.

An official source said that a committeeconstituted by the Prime Minister, headed bythe Deputy Chairman Planning Commissionand including secretaries of ministries of fi-nance, railways and General Manager PakistanRailways (PR) Lahore, to look into the allega-tions had recommended that the federal gov-ernment condone the deviations from PPRArules to avoid delay in procuring the locomo-tives. The source said, “the alleged violation ofrules are minor in nature and any further delayin procurement of the locomotives will be detri-mental to Pakistan Railways interests.” Anacute shortage of locomotives has stalled thefreight sector and resulted in the suspension ofmain line passenger train linkages, causing ex-tensive loss of revenue to the PR.

out of the total 75 locomotives, 50 were to

be assembled at Locomotive Factory Risalpurand the delay in finalising the transaction hasleft the factory without work. Additionally, thedelay in opening the Letter of Credit is causinga recurring financial loss of Rs 125,000 per dayas obligatory payments comprising commit-ment charges. According to Railways Ministrysummary sent for the consideration of the cab-inet, the procurement of 75 diesel electric loco-motives was approved by ECNEC onDecember 14, 2005 at a cost of Rs 12,700 mil-lion, with a foreign exchange component of Rs8,400 million. A contract agreement of$105.143 million duly vetted by the Law andJustice Division was signed between the gov-ernment and Dongfang Electric Corporation,China on December 31, 2008. A down pay-ment of $ 15.771 million, comprising 15 percentof the contract amount, was released to thefirm in June 2009. A buyer’s loan agreementwas signed with Export-Import Bank of Chinaon December 14, 2009 and an amount of $10.801 million was transferred to China EximBank and Sinosure in March 2010. However,Letter of Credit has not yet been ossied/.

The National Assembly Standing Commit-tee on Railways had referred to certain proce-dural flaws, a deviation from PPRA Rules 2004the rectification of which requires exemption bythe competent authority.

Undeterred, Railwayshopes to procure Chinese locomotives

US desperate for alternate supply route LAHORE: The US military and civil cargo passing through Pakistan is likely to increase twenty-folds during the next threeyears, but Washington is trying hard to find out some other routes to expedite the delivery and cut costs, Pakistan Today learnton Saturday. Documents made available with Pakistan Today indicate that a couple of US senators had written a letter to the USMarine Corps Commander General James N Mattis and the US Army Commanding officer Major General Kevin A Leonard, inwhich they pointed out that officials of the Customs and Border Protection-Agriculture Inspection Service (CBPAIS) and Animaland Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) had indicated that ports in Karachi were fraught with problems, with an estimatedfail rate of around 10 percent. “In fact, some military cargo is reportedly stored unprotected outside of the port’s gates,” theyadded. They underscored that the costs associated with operations in Karachi were vulnerable to significant fee increases, therebyincreasing overall drawdown costs and slowing the US military’s exit. They estimated that the US military would retrogradeabout 887,000 to 1.7 million pieces of cargo from Afghanistan to the United States by December 2014. Document show thatcurrently, the cargo was pre-screened by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and APHIS at a consolidated location inAfghanistan before it was sent to the Karachi port for a secondary wash by Pakistani sub-contractors. ImRAN ADNAN

SARGODHANNI

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturdaysaid a revolution was only possible with thesupport of the masses and new entrants in pol-itics did not have support of the people.

Addressing a public gathering in Sargodhaafter inaugurating and laying the foundationstones of a number of development projects,Gilani said some parties came into powerthrough crutches, but were washed away be-cause they did not have roots in the masses.

He said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)government was committed to providing basic

necessities of life to the people at theirdoorsteps and utilising all available resourcesfor the improvement of the masses, who werethe real strength of the democratic process.

“We are the committed persons and willremain with you today and in the futurealso,” the prime minister said. He said hecame to Sargodha to fulfil the promise of Be-nazir Bhutto, as she announced that shewould “be here as prime minister, therefore,I am here as her representative”. The primeminister said other political parties weremisguiding the masses, adding that new po-litical parties did not have any concrete pro-gramme or manifesto.

New parties lack public support: pM

No one can getimmunity sittingat home: ramdayISLAMABAD: FormerSupreme Court Jstice (r)Khalilur RehmanRamday on Saturdaysaid no one could getimmunity while stayingat home and one had togo to the court to claimit. In an interview with aprivate TV channel,Ramday said the letter,which was written to theSwiss authorities had nolink with criminal law,while the government ofPakistan did not give anyapplication in thisregard. He said one ofthe foremost obligationsof the SC was tointerpret the law andconstitution. oNlINe

Today’s

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04Sunday, 22 January, 2012

News

The government is notaware of the complete situa-tion as it was not appropri-ately briefed on the issue;the source said, adding thateven some reports writtenby the government servantsgave a wrong picture.

He mentioned a report,“Towards Kabul WaterTreaty: Managing SharedWater Resources” written bya government servant DrShahid Ahmad of PARC, fi-nanced by an international

NGo, IUCN in 2010, andcurrently posted on its web-site asks the government toresolve the water issues withAfghanistan.

The report says, “Thecurrent situation is very un-certain politically betweenthe basin states of KabulRiver basin, Afghanistanand Pakistan. The upper ri-parian, Afghanistan is de-veloping new irrigation andhydro-power infrastructurefor the benefits of futuregenerations. Afghanistan iscurrently supported by the

international communityand has relatively the upperedge in resolving the con-flicts.”

Then he directs his owngovernment saying, “AsPakistan is a more devel-oped country thanAfghanistan, therefore, thechange must start in Pak-istan to develop a mindsetto assist the neighbour inbuilding the infrastructure.”

Asking his own govern-ment to show courage, hewrites, “There must be lead-ership from the government

of Pakistan, who shouldshow the generosity of spiritwhich is an integral part ofbeing truly a good neigh-bour after resolving thepending issues of mistrust;extends an invitation toAfghanistan to explore waysin which the principles ofthe International WaterLaws could be respected,while providing a win-winsituation for both the basinstates. With good will thereare multiple ways in whichthe treaty could be negoti-ated so that both the basin

states could win; and dis-cussions on the Kabul wa-ters should be de-linkedfrom both historic griev-ances and from the otherDurand Line-related is-sues.”

What the writer missescompletely is the fact thatthe Kabul River’s majorsource is River Kunharwhich originates from Pak-istan and secondly that irri-gated farming is notpossible in majority of themountainous areas of theKabul River basin. Any such

schemes would only lead tocurtailing the water flow toPakistan. When Dr ShahidAhmad was contacted to ex-plain how being a govern-ment servant he could directhis own government, hisreply was, “I have only givena technical advice”.

The source said the ad-vice given by the report fi-nanced by the internationalNGo was similar to a reportcompiled by Indian originauthors of the World Bankwho too have proposedbuilding water reservoirs on

the River Kabul for hydelpower generation and thenexporting it to Pakistan.

He said some unfriendlyelements in the internationalcommunity were making sub-tle attempts to dissuade fi-nancing of hydel powerprojects on Pakistan’s mainrivers and were facilitatingneighbour states to developwater storages on its rivers.India recently managed to getcarbon credits from the UnitedNations for Nimoo Bazgo damin the disputed territory of In-dian-held Kashmir.

Govt given wrong advice on River KabulContinued fRom page 1

would move a no-confidencemotion against Prime Minis-ter Yousaf Raza Gilani. Theyhad also decided that in caseof failure, which they wereconsidering sure, the PML-Nwould lead a long march to-wards Islamabad and if thesecond option failed too, theparty’s lawmakers wouldtender en-bloc resignationsfrom parliament and provin-cial assemblies. oppositionLeader Chaudhry Nisar AliKhan had also hinted in apress conference outside theParliament House the sameevening that his party mightbring no-confidence motionagainst the PM. He had fur-ther announced that thePML-N, along with other op-position parties includingPML-Likeminded, PPP-Sherpao, JUI-F and JI,would give a clear roadmapto remove the PPP govern-ment in a day or two. “The

three-step strategy to re-move government had beenunanimously devised byparty’s central leaders, but itwas the resistance fromother smaller oppositionparties like the JUI-F, JI,PPP-Sherpao that forced thePML-N to drop the plan,”said a PML-N leader seekingnot to be attributed. He saidthe whole central commandof other opposition partiesdisagreed with the PML-N’sthree-step strategy and wasunanimous on the viewpointthat any no-confidence mo-tion against the PM wouldinadvertently turn into aconfidence motion for Gi-lani, as the oppositionlacked the required strengthin the House.

The source said FazlurRehman, Qazi HussainAhmed, Mahmud KhanAchakzai and Aftab AhmedKhan Sherpao rubbished thePML-N’s proposals of a longmarch and tendering resig-

nations from the assemblies,saying the options coulddamage national integrity.

“These leaders remindedNawaz that he would be un-able to pull masses fromSindh and Balochistan outfor the long march and itwould consequently providean opportunity to the PPP toplay the Sindh card … Qaziand Sherpao also cautionedNawaz that any attempt todissolve the Punjab govern-ment by his brother Shahbazwould also restrict hisparty’s growth in other threeprovinces, as this step wouldbe taken against nationalharmony,” the source said.

Khurram Dastgir Khan,PML-N deputy secretary in-formation, said no-trust de-cision was not final, as therewas a powerful argumentfrom a few leaders that a no-confidence motion againstthe PM without the requiredstrength in the House wouldmean creating legitimacy for

the government for anothersix months.

“If the no-confidencemove fails, you cannot bringsimilar move for another sixmonths,” he said, addingthat personally, he was infavour of moving no-trustmotion against the PM as itmeant withdrawing PML-N’s support for the PM, whohad been declared “dishon-est” by the apex court.

Dastgir said the PML-Nwas leaning towards thelong march option forwhich masses were beingmobilised across the coun-try. “Consultations are un-derway within the partywhether to lead only a longmarch towards Islamabador also tender resignationsfrom the assemblies. A finaldecision will be madesoon,” he added. Mean-while, Nawaz Sharif left forLondon along with his fam-ily on a 10-day personalvisit on Saturday.

‘N’ backtracks from anti-govt strategyContinued fRom page 1

BuSteD!: A police official looks at a German citizen who along with two others, including a German army colonel, were

arrested for setting up an illegal office in peshawar. INp

The very people from whommy client fears for his lifeand liberty are now tryingto be solely responsible forhis foolproof safety”, hesaid. “Therefore, I am writ-ing to call upon you: a) Toimmediately advise theMinistry of Interior not toget involved in the securityarrangement of my clientand to kindly confirm thesame to me maximum dur-ing the course of the day i.e21st January 2012. b) Tohelp me ensure that the di-rection of the HonorableCommission is imple-mented, in that army per-sonnel are made formallyand directly responsible formy client’s personal safety,commencing from the pointof his arrival until the pointof his departure from Pak-istan.

Please note that I needyour assurance ToDAY, sothat I can confirm to myclient the exact arrange-ments that are in place onthe ground. It is only aftermy such confirmation thatmy client Mansoor Ijaz willfinalise his travel arrange-

ments to ensure that he isbefore the commission on24th January 2012.”

Sheikh said unless “youassure me that the Ministryof Interior will not be in-volved with the personalsecurity of my client andunless, either through youor directly, relevant per-sonnel of Pakistan Army, incompliance with the com-mission’s direction, do notassure me of their logisticarrangement to ensure myclient’s personal safetyfrom the point of arrival tothe point of departure fromPakistan, I will not be in aposition to advise my clientto travel to Pakistan to bebefore the commission on24th January 2012”.

“And if this happens,the responsibility for myclient’s failure to appearbefore the commission willbe on the government,which may prompt me torequest the commission torecord my client’s state-ment outside Pakistan,something that is barredneither by law nor by theorder of the SupremeCourt. I am also sending acopy of this letter to the

Chief of General Staff atGHQ, to whom I am alsosending a direct request,”the lawyer added.

In the letter to CoAS,Sheikh said: “Now that myclient Mansoor Ijaz has ob-tained visa for Pakistan andis finalising his travelarrangements for Pakistan,I call upon you to assure meof your readiness to meetyour legal obligation tocomply with the directionof Honorable Commissionby sharing with me the ac-tual logistical arrangementthat you have made onground to ensure myclient’s personal safetyfrom the point of his arrivalin Pakistan to you ToDAY,that is exactly in accor-dance with the commis-sion’s direction. Unlessarmy personnel are goingto be directly responsiblefor my client’s personalsafety and that logisticarrangements to that endare in place, I will not be ina position to advise myclient to travel to Pakistanto be before the commis-sion on 24th January 2012as his life will be underthreat.”

Mansoor’s visitContinued fRom page 1

DERA ISMAIL kHAnReuteRS

FIFTEEN Pakistanisoldiers stood blind-folded, handcuffedto each other on abarren hilltop as one

of their bearded Taliban cap-tors held an AK-47 rifle andspoke with fury about revenge.

He left no doubt whatwould come at any second.

Pakistan’s Taliban ab-ducted the paramilitary troopson December 23 from near thecountry’s Tribal Areas toavenge military operations.

Now they have released avideo as a warning to Pak-istan’s 600,000-memberarmy, which has failed to breakthe back of the insurgents de-spite superior firepower and aseries of offensives againsttheir strongholds in forbiddingmountain regions.

“Twelve of our comradeswere besieged and mercilesslymartyred in the Khyber Agency(area),” said the militant.

“our pious women werealso targeted. To avenge thosecomrades, we will kill thesemen. We warn the governmentof Pakistan that if the killing ofour friends is not halted, thiswill be the fate of you all.”

Before death, one of themen described how dozens ofTaliban fighters stormedtheir fort in the northwesternTank district and kidnappedthe soldiers.

“They attacked us withrockets, killed a sentry. oneran away. The Taliban en-tered the fort and captured uswith our weapons,” he said,sitting in rows with other sol-diers with their arms foldedand legs crossed in front ofTaliban banners.

“They tied our hands, putus in a Datsun and took usaway.”

The video then shows themen standing quietly. Talibanchanting can be heard. “We willcross all limits to avenge yourblood,” it said, referring tofighters killed by Pakistani se-

curity forces.one of the men shoves a

clip into his assault rifle andfires a few rounds into theback of the heads of a few ofthe soldiers. “God is greatest,”the Taliban yell.

other fighters step upand take turns pumping bul-lets into the men, some wear-ing green military uniforms.Each time a soldier collapses,the man standing next to himis pulled in that direction bythe handcuffs.

The Taliban and Pak-istan’s military, one of thelargest in the world, have en-tered exploratory peace talksthat raised hopes that theirconflict, which has killedthousands of people, couldease, or even end one day.

But the talks have faltered,a senior Pakistani security offi-cial told Reuters, and the video— copied to compact discs anddistributed in street markets inareas near the porous borderwith Afghanistan — is likely toenrage the army.

Taliban video highlights

revenge on pakistan military

Mansoor to be provided security under article 245: aGISLAMABAD: Attorney General Justice (r) Maulvi Anwarul Haq said on Saturdaythat memogate scandal’s main character Mansoor Ejaz will be provided security onhis arrival under Article 245 of the constitution. In a statement, Anwar said thatprovision of security to Mansoor was taken after consultation with DefenceSecretary Nargis Sethi, as under Article 245, services of the armed forces might besought for provision of security to visiting guests. INp

SC works in its domain, says CJpkARACHI

NNI

Chief Justice of Pakistan(CJ) Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry on Saturday saidthe Supreme Court (SC)functioned in its own con-stitutional domain. Ad-dressing a lawyers’ rolesigning ceremony at theKarachi Registry ofSupreme Court, the CJ saidthe Supreme Court had al-ways worked within the

constitutional limits and itwas the responsibility oflawyers and every citizen toprotect the constitutionand to obey the law. Hesaid it was unfortunate thatit was the PCo judges thatdealt a blow to the constitu-tion in the past. Comment-ing on the lawyers’movement, the CJ said themovement was still inprogress and that lawyershad struggled for therestoration of democracy

and supremacy of constitu-tion. In the ceremony, 23lawyers, including a femalelawyer and two lawyersfrom Balochistan, were al-lowed to contest in theSupreme Court. “We wel-come the new lawyers. Wehave played our part of theinnings; now, tomorrow be-longs to you,” he told thegathering, adding that any-one of them could becomethe chief justice of Pakistanin the future.

PIC medicine reactiondeath toll reaches 30

MOnItORInG DESk

At least 30 people have dieddue to reaction of medicinesprovided by the Punjab In-stitute of Cardiology (PIC)to needy patients.According to media reports,more than 150 patients havereached different hospitalsof Lahore after reactionfrom the medicines pro-vided by the PIC.

Earlier report Page 07

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05Sunday, 22 January, 2012

News

AS SNoW fAllS: A man walks with his books in Quetta. INp

SARGODHANNI

PR I M E Minister YousafRaza Gilani on Saturdaysaid a revolution was onlypossible with the supportof the masses and new en-

trants in politics did not have supportof the people.

Addressing a public gathering inSargodha after inaugurating and layingthe foundation stones of a number of de-velopment projects, Gilani said someparties came into power throughcrutches, but were washed away becausethey did not have roots in the masses.

He said the Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) government was committed toproviding basic necessities of life to thepeople at their doorsteps and utilising allavailable resources for the improvementof the masses, who were the realstrength of the democratic process.

“We are the committed persons andwill remain with you today and in the fu-

ture also,” the prime minister said. Hesaid he came to Sargodha to fulfil thepromise of Benazir Bhutto, as she an-nounced that she would “be here asprime minister, therefore, I am here asher representative”. The prime ministersaid other political parties were misguid-ing the masses, adding that new political

parties did not have any concrete pro-gramme or manifesto.

Gilani said a number of projects hadbeen inaugurated in Sargodha and theywould play an important role in the im-provement of the people’s living stan-dard. He assured the localrepresentatives that their demands,

mentioned in their speeches and wel-come addresses, would be fulfilled andall development projects would be com-pleted in time. Referring to the presenceof a large number of women in the publicmeeting, the prime minister said thePakistan Baitul Maal had been directedto give sewing machines to deservingwomen to enable them to earn an hon-ourable living.

The prime minister said projectsworth Rs 3.5 billion projects had beencompleted in Sargodha in electricity andgas sectors by the present government.Gilani also announced upgrading themedical college being constructed in thedistrict to a teaching hospital. He alsoannounced to open regional offices ofSui Gas and Income Tax departments.The prime minister added that eachunion council would have an IT centrethat would start functioning soon.

The prime minister said when“there will be elections in 2013, I willcome to you for votes on the basis ofperformance”.

g PM says PPP govt committed to providing basic necessities to people

New parties lack public

support, says Gilani

ISLAMABADAGeNcIeS

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has saidthat Mansoor Ijaz’s name would beplaced on the Exit Control List (ECL) ifasked by the parliamentary committee in-vestigating the memo scam.

“Mansoor Ijaz will be provided secu-rity by the Interior Ministry. This is notthe task of the army or the ISI,” the inte-rior minister said after reviewingarrangements at the F-9 Park where anarea of 80 kanals has been reserved forholding public meetings and protests inIslamabad. It would be inaugurated byPrime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani soon.

Malik pointed out that the parliamen-tary committee had summoned MansoorIjaz for his testimony in the memo scam

and if “he does not appear before it, thecommittee can direct the government toput his name on the ECL”.

He pointed out that the prime minis-ter and ministers appeared before theparliamentary committees and if it sum-moned Mansoor Ijaz, he should appearbefore it too. He said the government putnames of a number of people on the ECLon the recommendation of the Public Ac-counts Committee, of which ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan, the NA leader of the op-position, remained chairman. Malik saidfor the government, parliamentary com-mittees were very honorable and the gov-ernment would implement theirrecommendations.

The interior minister said the ISI wasan intelligence agency, not a securityagency and if the army’s security was

needed for someone, then there is a con-stitutional way to arrange security or callin the army.

The interior minister said a meetingof ministries of defence, interior and at-torney general would be held in the nextcouple of days to discuss security to beprovided to Ijaz. He said the counsel forMansoor Ijaz would have to provide allrecord of his (Mansoor) engagements toarrange for the security.

To a question, Malik said the leaderof the opposition in Punjab Assemblywould become party in the parliamentarycommittee to enquire from Mansoor Ijazabout his involvement in conspiraciesagainst the present and past PPP govern-ments. He made it clear that whatever ap-plication was filed against Mansoor Ijazwould meet all legal requirements.

Mansoor Ijaz to be placed on eCl on parliamentary committee’s direction: Malikg Provision of security responsibility of Interior Ministry, not army or ISI

ISLAMABAD: The US embassy in Islamabad has said it would not provide securityto Mansoor Ijaz who intends to appear before a tribunal investigating the“memogate”. It said Ijaz was a common US citizen and would be coming to Pakistanon his own wish, adding that he would be treated like other US citizens. Theembassy officials said Mansoor Ijaz would be treated as other US citizens weretreated. Ijaz would not be allowed to live in the embassy, the officials added. Thestatement has given birth to new apprehensions regarding his appearance before thecommission. The Pakistani government has also kept mum over the issue. However,government officials say Ijaz had not been invited in the country and he would betreated like a common US citizen. Ijaz had requested fool-proof security through hislawyer. He got a visa from Pakistan High Commission in London two days ago andsaid he was all set to appear before the memo commission. But, he refused todisclose date of his arrival due to security reasons. Meanwhile, Counsel for Ijaz,Akram Sheikh on Saturday said his client would not appear before the parliamentarycommittee. Talking to private TV channel, Sheikh said the parliamentary committeewas not authorised to summon Mansoor Ijaz. To a question regarding security ofIjaz, Sheikh said that it was better to contact Husain Haqqani for the security ofMansoor Ijaz instead of asking Interior Minister Rehman Malik to provide himsecurity. Sheikh said he was considering filing a contempt of court petition againstMalik for issuing threatening statements against Ijaz. AGeNcIeS

US embassy says no security for Mansoor Ijaz

Supreme Courtworks in itsdomain: CJ

kARACHINNI

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJ) IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry on Saturdaysaid the Supreme Court (SC)functioned in its own constitutionaldomain. Addressing a lawyers’ rolesigning ceremony at the KarachiRegistry of Supreme Court, the CJsaid the Supreme Court had alwaysworked within the constitutionallimits and it was the responsibility oflawyers and every citizen to protectthe constitution and to obey the law.He said it was unfortunate that it wasthe PCo judges that dealt a blow tothe constitution in the past.Commenting on the lawyers’movement, the CJ said the movementwas still in progress and that lawyershad struggled for the restoration ofdemocracy and supremacy ofconstitution. In the ceremony, 23lawyers, including a female lawyer andtwo lawyers from Balochistan, wereallowed to contest in the SupremeCourt. “We welcome the new lawyers.We have played our part of theinnings; now, tomorrow belongs toyou,” he told the gathering, addingthat anyone of them could become thechief justice of Pakistan in the future.

PM’s vehicle number

found fakeISLAMABAD: The registrationnumber of the vehicle used by PrimeMinister Yousaf Raza Gilani toappear before the Supreme Court onFriday has been found fake.According to details, the primeminister drove to the SC on January20 in a white Toyota Land Cruiserbearing the registration number LRZ-786. The Excise and TaxationDepartment’s record shows that theregistration number on the primeminister’s car was false, as it wasallotted to a silver-coloured Hondacar owned by a citizen MuhammadRiaz Ahsan, son of ChaudhryMuhammad Ahsanullah. INp

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06Sunday, 22 January, 2012

News

lAmB oN coAlS: tribals preparing traditional Sajji in Dera Ghazi Khan as demand increases during winter. ONLINE

WASHInGtOnAGeNcIeS

THE United States will continueto focus on its efforts inAfghanistan with regards to thewar against terrorism and de-feating al Qaeda, Taliban and

other extremist organisations, the WhiteHouse said on Saturday.

“The president laid out anAfghanistan strategy that he has been

executing very deliberately and effec-tively, and we will continue to focusour efforts on executing that policythat brought a surge in forces that al-lowed us to focus our efforts on takingthe fight to al Qaeda,” White HousePress Secretary Jay Carney told re-porters. The US will pursue “the goalof disrupting, dismantling and ulti-mately defeating al Qaeda, with theother goal of stabilising Afghanistanto give the Afghan government

breathing room to help train upAfghan security forces so that wecould then draw down our forces, aswe have begun doing, and transfer se-curity lead to the Afghans by the endof 2014”, he said.

“So that process is in place. It’s aprocess that we obviously are signifi-cantly engaged in, but it includes allof our ISAF partners,” Carney said inresponse to a question on the latestdevelopments in Afghanistan, in

which six of its soldiers were killed ina helicopter crash and French threatto withdraw from Afghanistan.

“our thoughts and prayers go outto the French people and the familiesof those who lost loved ones in thistragic incident. Four French soldiersperished in Afghanistan. France is avalued member of the NATo ISAFcoalition, and their forces have servedalongside ours with valour and hon-our,” he said.

138 families forcedto become IDPsby militancy, cold

BARAINp

Hundreds of families from KhyberAgency’s militancy-hit areas have startedmigrating to refugee camps and other safeareas in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP).KP Provincial Disaster ManagementAuthority (PDMA) said that at least 138families from the Shalobar Tribe of tehsilBara moved to Jalozai Camp due to theuncertain law and order situation andintense cold weather. The internallydisplaced families are being provided withbasic amenities including shelter, food andmedical aid. Sources said that unstableconditions due to military operations,commodity shortages and intense coldweather forced residents to migrate andanother three to five thousand familiescould also migrate. Meanwhile, PDMAcalled an emergency meeting of UNHCR,WFo and UNICEF on Monday to discusssteps to provide facilities to new InternallyDisplaced Persons (IDPs).

Major politicalparties fear PTI’stsunami: Imran

OkARAAGeNcIeS

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ChairmanImran Khan said on Saturday that somepolitical parties which had always enjoyedpower in the country were fearful of theimminent tsunami of people under the PTI.Talking to reporters after meeting formerMPA and PTI leader Muhammad Asgharand his son Umar Asghar, Imran said thatsome political parties were calling the“people’s tsunami” a destruction for thecountry because they could imagine theirdefeats in the upcoming elections due tothe growing popularity of the PTI. ThePTI chief promised that his party wouldnot allow any of its members to deceivethe people of the country. He said thePTI’s upcoming rally in Quetta on March23 would bring permanent peace toBalochistan, and some key personalitieswould announce their PTI membershipon the occasion.

kABuLNNI

US envoy to Afghanistan and PakistanMarc Grossman on Saturday arrivedin Kabul to meet Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai regarding peace talkswith the Taliban.

The Afghan government recentlysaid the visit was aimed at improvingrelations between Kabul and Washing-ton, and also to discuss Afghan peaceefforts. There are reports that Gross-man’s aim is to also make clear theAfghan government’s role in the talkswith the Taliban as the Afghan presi-dent has been concerned about beingmarginalised from the talks.

Grossman’s visit comes after theTaliban said it would open a politicaloffice in Qatar before talks are held

with the US. The Taliban confirmedthat there have been “some sort oftalks” between its representatives andUS officials and agreed to opening apolitical office in Qatar. They had re-cently said holding talks did not meanacceptance of the Afghan constitution.Karzai’s chief spokesman Aimal Faizisaid the Afghan government would notignore the Afghan constitution in thepeace talks. He said the Afghan gov-ernment had stressed that the consti-tution as well as women’s rights had tobe respected as a precondition for thetalks. “The constitution is a prestigiousnational document and it has to be re-spected. No deals, under no circum-stances, will be made to bring anychanges to it or to ignore other na-tional interests,” the president’sspokesman said.

Pir Pagara becomes

PMl-f presidentPIR JO GOtH

AGeNcIeS

Pir Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi, the new PirPagara, was appointed the new chairman ofthe Pakistan Muslim League-Functional(PML-F) on Saturday. Rashdi was electedthe new president during a party meetingheaded by interim party chief SultanMehmood Khan. The meeting also paidtribute to the late Pir Pagara. Rashdi, alsoknown as Raja Saeen, was appointed thenew Pir Pagara after the death of his fatherShah Mardan Shah earlier this month. Hewas the eldest son of the late Pir Pagarafrom his first marriage. The newly-electedPir Pagara VIII, 55, started his politicalcareer during the era of General Ziaul Haqwhen he was elected MPA in the non-partyelections of 1985. He was elected to theSindh Assembly two more times. He alsoserved as minister for irrigation, works andservices in the Sindh government.

rickshaw crushestwo school children

kASuRStAff RepoRt

Two school children died in an accidentnear Khudian on Saturday morning.Reports said Irfan, grade 7, and Mansoor,grade 8, were walking to attend class atGovernment Higher Secondary SchoolKhudian when an unregistered peter-engine rickshaw crashed into them. Therickshaw driver managed to flee. A protestensued and Kasur-Deepalpur Road wasblocked. Protestors dispersed after the DSPclaimed to have arrested the accused.

US will step up efforts to

defeat al Qaeda: White House

Grossman in Kabul in

connection with peace

talks with Taliban

Magsi expresses ‘no confidence’in Balochistan govt QUETTA: Balochistan Governor Sardar Zulfikar Magsi expressed “noconfidence” in the provincial government, saying it was avoiding actionto control lawlessness and not resolving people’s problems. Addressingthe annual convocation of Balochistan University (BU) on Saturday, thegovernor said ministers had no concern for the problems of the peopleand “one proof of that is the presence of just one minister in theconvocation” of BU. Magsi resented that disfigured dead bodies werebeing found in the province. The governor said that he had spoken tothe army chief about the disfigured bodies, but added that people wouldhave to stand up and raise their voice against those who were behindsuch acts. The governor awarded degrees to 204 students. AGeNcIeS

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Sunday, 22 January, 2012

political or not, lahoris get anew food spot PaGe 08

nEWSDESk

A traffic warden allegedly sparked a protestby rickshaw drivers and students when heslapped a student at the Punjab Universityunderpass on Saturday.

During the rush hours, a traffic wardenposted on the PU bridge stopped a studenton a motorcycle from passing through whatwas termed by some as ‘a very complicatedtraffic mess’. The warden asked the studentto hand his licence over so that he could bebooked, however, the student said he hadalready been booked earlier in the day andthere was no point in booking him again.The argument heated up and the wardenthen started hitting the student. A rickshawdriver who was passing by asked the war-den not to hit the boy at which the enragedwarden turned to the rickshaw driver and

attacked him also. Reportedly, the rickshaw driver used

foul language against the warden and soonmembers of Muttahida Rickshaw Drivers’Union gathered with their rickshaws whichnumbered over 300 and blocked the trafficin protest. The students also staged aprotest against the Traffic Police outsidethe Lahore Press Club and demanded thatthe warden be asked to resign.

“This will teach the traffic wardens alesson. They have been booking people forno reason because they have to meet theirmonthly quota and this warden was sofrustrated he actually tried to use physicalforce to get a challan. Rickshaw drivers willnot tolerate this,” said Raheem Jan, a rick-shaw driver. The Traffic Police spokesman,Ali Nawaz, was not available for commentsdespite repeated attempts.

LAHOREAGeNcIeS

TWELVE more people includingwomen died of the ‘mysterious’reaction being produced by amedicine provided to the heartpatients by the Punjab Institute

of Cardiology raising the total death tollto 26 on Saturday.

More than 150 patients have beenadmitted at different hospitals of La-hore including Mayo and Jinnah hospi-tals after reaction from medicines fromPIC while the number of affected peopleand the number of deaths is also in-creasing sharply.

Meanwhile, the probe committeeformed to identify the mysterious diseasecould not reach any conclusion even aftertwo days.

Committee Head Dr Azhar said thehealth secretary has been requested toform a team to inspect the manufacturingand packing processes of the concernedmedicine factories producing the suspi-cious medicines.

Most of the patients were admitted toPunjab Institute of Cardiology, after theyhad consumed blood-thinning medicinesand had then developed this mysteriousdisease. According to sources, the diseasehas killed more than 26 people, a claimthat has been denied by the PunjabHealth Department.

A 48-member committee wasformed under Lahore Allama Iqbal Med-ical College Principal Prof Dr JavedAkram for investigating the deaths. Ac-cording to Dr Afzal Shaheen of Jinnah

Hospital, the symptoms of this diseaseinclude low count of platelets and whitecells along with marks on the body.Some patients also bleed from variousparts of their body.

other members of the committee in-clude PIC Chief Executive Prof Muham-mad Azhar, SIMS Principal Prof FaisalMasood, Prof Irshad Hussain, Prof.Farzana Chaudhry, Prof Bashir Ahmad,Prof Farkhanda Kokab, Addl. SecretaryHealth Technical) Dr. MuhammadAnwar Janjua, Dr. Zahid Pervaiz, Prof.Munazza Qayyum, Mufti Abdul Salam,Prof Nosheen , Dr Mubashir Attique,Prof Tahir Javed, Sheikh Akhtar Hussainand Ayyaz Ali.

Special arrangements have beenmade for the patients at the hospital.

Khan, while talking to a private TVchannel, said that deaths due to medicinereaction were deplorable and strict actionwill be taken against the responsible.Provincial Health Minister Dr SaeedElahi said the tragedy happened due toimproper storage of medicines. Dr Saeedpromised stern action against the peoplebehind this mishap.

Meanwhile, Punjab Governor SardarLatif Khosa had taken notice over deathof people due to mysterious disease andsought reports from health departmentimmediately in this regard.PATIENTS POURING IN: over 80more patients of the mysterious diseasehave reported at different hospitals whilefive more have died, Mayo Hospital Ad-dition Medical Superintendent Dr AbdulMajeed said on Saturday. “Some 80 pa-tients including 45 in Mayo Hospital and

35 in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital were re-ferred from Punjab Institute of Car-diaoloy (PIC) suspecting dengue fever

due to some alleged reaction by adminis-tering cardiac medicines which were pro-vided by the PIC store,” he added.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

CONTACT: 042-99200688

PIC-brewed poisonkills 12 more150 more patients admitted to different hospitals with

dengue-like symptoms developed in reaction to PIC’s medicine

‘Frustrated’ traffic warden

slugs it out on citizens

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low

high

080CMoNDaY TUeSDaY weDNeSDaY19°C I 06°C 17°C I 06°C 17°C I 05°C

PraYer TIMINGSfajr Sunrise Zuhr asr Maghrib Isha

05:36 07:00 12:15 15:08 17:28 18:53

CITY DIreCTorY

reSCUe 1122

eDhI CoNTrol 115

MoTorwaY PolICe 130

PolICe 15

GoVerNor’S hoUSe 99200081-7

ChIef MINISTer’S hoUSe 99203226

fIre BrIGaDe 16

BoMB DISPoSal 99212111

MCl CoMPlaINTS 99211022-29

lahore waSTe DISPoSal 1139

eMerGeNCY helP

hoSPITalS

BlooD BaNk

faTMID 35210834-8

ISlaMIC allIaNCe 37588649/37535435

CoMPlaINT

waPDa 111-000-118

SUI GaS 1199

raIlwaYS

CITY STaTIoN (eNQUIrY) 117

reSerVaTIoN 99201772

raIlwaY PolICe 1333

aIrPorT

flIGhT eNQUIrY 114

PIa reSerVaTIoN 111-786-786

ColleGeS / UNIVerSITIeS

PUNJaB UNIVerSITY 99231257kINNaIrD ColleGe 99203781-4QUeeN MarY ColleGe 36362942GoVT. ColleGe UNIVerSITY 111-000-010UMT 35212801-10lUMS 35608000UeT 36288666lCwU 99203072SUPerIor ColleGe 111-000-078

MID CITY 37573382-3

SerVICeS 99203402-11

MaYo 99211100-9

GeNeral 35810892-8

SheIkh ZaID 35865731

SIr GaNGa raM 99200572

UCh 35763573-5

ITTefaQ 35881981-85

CMh 366996168-72

ShoUkaT khaNUM 35945100

JINNah 111-809-809

aDIl (DefeNCe) 36667275

ChIlDreN’S 99230901-3

DefeNCe NaTIoNal hoSPITal 111-17-18-19

DOcUMENTARy MAKING cOURSE

DaTe: JaN 30,2012VeNUe: lawreNCe GarDeN

Be a successful documentary maker and learn theart from the media professionals including oryaMaqbool Jan.

ThESIS DISplAy, 2012

DaTe: JaN 16 To 20VeNUe: NaTIoNal ColleGe of arTS (NCa)

all bachelors’ classes of NCa including architecture,textile, miniature paintings, sculpture, interior designand others to show their final thesis in anexhibition

CloUDY

weaTher UPDaTeS

17°C

08Sunday, 22 January, 2012

Lahore

ARAbIc cAllIGRAphy

CallIGraPhY ClaSSeS are on-going, interestedstudents can enroll throughout the year. Theduration of one module is three months. There arefour modules of learning calligraphyt: primary,secondary, advanced and higher. The course includestraditional pen and traditional paper making.

DaTe aND TIMe: JUNe 1, 2012, 4PM To 6PMVeNUe: haST-o-NeeST CeNTer

LAHOREYASIR hABIB/AlI tAhIR

THE curtain was finally raised on Sharifs’food street officially named the ‘Fort RoadFood Street’ with massive publicity blitzand pump and show on Saturday behindthe Badshahi Mosque.

This food street is a part of nine food streetsplanned by Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif.

Contrary to lofty claims made by the manage-ment of Fort Road Food Street that non-political fig-ure would inaugurate it to keep its identitynon-partisan, PML-N MNA Hamza Shahbaz, son ofCM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, formally opened the FortRoad Food Street while Sharifs’ close aide PervaizRashid, Asif Kirmani and other PML-N members ac-companied him also. The inauguration proved thatthe food street was very much a political move and itcould, like its ancestor in Gawalmandi, face demoli-tion if a different government comes to power.

Society for Development and Management ofFort Road Food Street Chairman Habib Khan, ear-lier, characterised the new food street as non-po-litical, saying it would not be associated with anypolitical party. Talking to Pakistan Today, HabibKhan argued that the inauguration was organisedby City District Government Lahore which calledMNA Hamza Shahbaz as chief guest to open theFort Road Food Street. “We have nothing to dowith the invitation to Hamza Shahbaz and otherinaugural arrangements,” he added.

Rashid Ali, resident of the area told PakistanToday that most of the buildings falling within thepremises of food street were either owned bymultinationals or people close to the ruling partybigwigs in Punjab. EDo (Finance) Moazam Suprawho registered the Society for Development andManagement of Fort Road Food Street said it wasthe first time that special by-laws and Standardoperative procedures (SoPs) were laid down toensure the longevity of food street. Law depart-ment vetted the workability paraphernalia, he

added. Management of Food Street arranged aloan from Punjab Bank with the facilitation of gov-ernment. The CDGL role in the management wasjust ceremonial and DCo Ahed Cheema had beenmade its first president.

The Fort Road Food Street is a constant re-minder of the city’s vibrant past. Its pathway islined on either side with kiosks, ready to appeasethe customers’ appetite with barbecue and freshlycooked handis. With facade lighting of old build-ings and projecting balconies, the atmosphere iswonderfully conducive to the enjoyment of thebest of Lahore. The food street has made a widerange of cuisines available in a single area. Mem-bers of middle class society will prefer them be-cause they are less expensive than hotels orhigh-quality restaurants. During the inauguralceremony of the food street, a pictorial was shownat this occasion which explained the statuses ofbuilding before and after the establishment of FortRoad Food Street. The pictures showed the differ-ences in the façade of the building used for foodoutlets before and after the project. The picture

also showed the cleanliness and the maintenanceof the Fort Road Food Street after the project wasfinished. Saima Ali, a mother of three said that thestreet was magnificently decorated and the colourtheme was highly attractive. “I think that the mainselling point of this food street which sets thisapart from others made earlier is the historical lo-cation of the street, the Badshahi Mosque has cer-tainly elevated the entire project and has added into its significance”, she said.

Suleman Azhar said the city had been given anew cultural spot where families could come andspend time together. “There are very few entertain-ment spots in the city, family usually go to restau-rants and hotels for entertainment purposes, asLahories love food, now that the this street has beenmade families can have good culture food alongwith historical sightseeing”, he said. “Now let’s seehow the managers of Fort Road Food Street main-tain this place, it would be a great challenge”, headded. one of the restaurant owners said he sawgreat future of his business and area. “Today is thefirst day but I am very hopeful,” he said.

It may be recalled that Gawalmandi FoodStreet in Lahore was the first food street in Pak-istan that was shut down. others food streets in-cluded Anarkali Food Street, Melody Food Streetand the food street in Blue Area in Islamabad,Burns Road in Karachi, the food street at Cunning-ham park in Peshawar. The idea of food streetcame to Kamran Lashari, former chairman oftourism development corporation of Punjab, andthe project itself came as a joint venture betweenLDA and TDCP. Recreated by the Parks and Hor-ticulture Authority (PHA) to recapture the idyllic,old-time atmosphere of the City, the 200-yardstreet in the heart of former Gawalmandi at Cham-berlain Road had been turned into a street andwas thronged by people of all ages.

Political or not,

Lahoris get a

new food spot

g at the fort road food Street inauguration, people demand restoration of Gawalmandi Street

g Doubt Sharifs’ intention of ‘destroying’ PMl-Q’s ‘achievement’ to establish their own

LHR 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:35 AM Page 8

09Sunday, 22 January, 2012

Lahore

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

The LUMS School of Science and Engineer-ing (SSE) held its 11th Annual AdvisoryBoard (AB) Meeting from January 16 to 19.

The Advisory Board comprises distin-guished academic and corporate leaderswho provide counsel to the Board ofTrustees, the vice-chancellor and the deanpertaining to the academic and administra-tive matters of SSE.

This year the visiting members in-cluded Dr Richard Larson (MIT), DrRobert Jaffe (MIT), Dr Steve Berry (Uni-versity of Chicago), Dr Khalid Aziz (Stan-ford University), Dr Mehmood Khan (PepsiCo), Dr Hubertus von Dewitz (Siemens)and Dr Ashok Mittal (IIT Kanpur)

Also in attendance at the meeting werethe LUMS Management Committee, DrAdil Najam (LUMS Vice-Chancellor), Dr

Sohail Qureshi (SSE Dean) and membersof the faculty.

An overview of the school’s progressand constraints provided during the meet-ing enabled the Advisory Board to makesuggestions that can contribute to thegrowth of the SSE. The AB members alsomet with the SSE students which was anexcellent opportunity for them to learnfrom people who are leaders in their cho-sen fields.

During this visit, a Research Sympo-sium was also held by the SSE on January16, which was attended by the visiting Ad-visory Board members, faculty, studentsand visitors. The symposium included aposter display that provided an opportu-nity for the SSE faculty to showcase theirresearch. The guests mingled and inter-acted freely with the different researchgroups asking them questions about theirrespective areas of interest.

Miskeen hijazi rememberedLAHORE

StAff RepoRt

Dr Miskeen Ali Hijazi was a shiningchapter of the world of knowledge andjournalism and his services areunforgettable, said Dr Mughees-ud-Din Sheikh, former dean of MassCommunication Department PunjabUniversity. He was addressing a

function organised by the Public Relations officers Association to mark the third deathanniversary of renowned journalist, critic and distinguished educationist Prof Dr MiskeenAli Hijazi, who was also a former chairman of the PU Department of MassCommunication. He said Dr Miskeen was a legend and living nations never forgot theirheroes. He eulogised meritorious services rendered by him for the promotion of healthyand responsible journalism. Hijazi was one of the great personalities ever produced by thePunjab varsity in the discipline of education and journalism. He not only loved hisstudents but always guided them in their character building. Former principal of PunjabUniversity Law College Prof Dr Dil Muhammad, former DGPR Aslam Dogar, Chief PRoDr Nadeemul-Hassan Gilani, Dr Anjam Zia, Dr Waqar Chaudhry and Wasif Nagi also paidtributes to the late Dr Miskeen Hijazi for his meritorious services.

LUMS holds SSE advisoryBoard meeting

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

THE Lahore Chamber of Com-merce and Industry on Satur-day handed over another 50houses to the flood affecteesof Basti Pir Baksh (District

Layyah) that has now become a modelvillage.

The ceremony was jointlypresided over by Punjab governmentSenior Advisor Sardar Zulfiqar KhanKhosa and former LCCI Senior VicePresident Sheikh Mohammad Arshad.Former Executive Committee MianZahid Javaid was also part of LCCIdelegation while DCo Layyah Mush-taq Ahmad Anjum was also presenton the occasion.

The model village, completed in aperiod of five months with a cost of Rs60 million, now has a school for boys,an industrial home for women, a dis-pensary, a veterinary clinic, a mosque,

a play ground and market area.Sheikh Arshad said the LCCI was

thankful to the Punjab government,particularly the Provincial DisasterManagement Authority, for providingall the logistics and required infra-structure for the early completion ofthis mega project.

He said it was one of the best ex-amples of public-private partnershipas the Provincial Disaster Manage-ment Authority, headed by KhalidSher Dil, and the Lahore Chamber ofCommerce and Industry had beenworking hand-in-hand for the last sixmonths for the constructions in thoseflood affected areas where devastationwas more than 90 per cent.

Arshad said the LCCI was alsothankful to the DCo Layyah MushtaqAhmad Anjum and the District admin-istration for their cooperation duringall construction phases.

He said that LCCI would continueto fulfill its Corporate-Social Respon-

sibility in future as well.Earlier, in his address, Khosa said

the Punjab government believed inservice to masses and it would reachevery corner of the province to ensureall facilities to the masses.

He said Chief Minister ShahbazSharif was working day in and day outto make the province a land of oppor-tunities and tranquillity and the daysare not very far when the people wouldtaste the fruit of his hard work.

The designing and town planningof the village was done by the govern-ment while construction work wascompleted by the Lahore Chamber ofCommerce and Industry.

The Lahore Chamber of Com-merce and Industry had already contributed Rs 15 million to the causeas it had donated Rs 10 million inPrime Flood Relief Fund and anotherrupees five million in Chief MinisterPunjab fund for rehabilitation of flood Affectees.

Flood affectees get

new houses in Layyah

GCU raises rs 10m for deserving students

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

The Government College University LahoreEndowment Fund Trust (GCU EFT) Lahore has raisedan amount of Rs 10 million for those the deservingstudents who cannot afford their academic charges.The amount was raised at a fundraiser chaired byPunjab Governor Sardar Muhammad Latif Khosa (anold Ravian), while GCU Vice-Chancellor Prof DrMuhammad Khaleeq-ur-Rahman, EFT President Iqbal ZAhmad, Secretary Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt andnoted businessmen from all over the countryattended the annual fundraiser. Speaking onthe occasion, Khosa said nations had progressedby the mean of developing their educationalinstitutions but unfortunately in Pakistan education was notgiven due priority. He said endowment fund trust of Harvard University, US alone stood32 billion dollars and this was what which made the America a superpower. He saidstudent unions inculcated awareness among students and played effective role in theircharacter building. He said that it is the Bukhari Auditorium of the GC University whichtaught him art of public speaking and tolerance to face criticism. “This is where I amhooted and appreciated,” he added. Prof Khaleeq revealed that the Endowment Fund hadswelled to Rs 128 million with the efforts of old Ravians. He said that he wanted toprovide free education to all GCU students, but unfortunately resources did not allow him.However, he said, despite all the budgetary deficits, he had slashed the university fee by 35percent and hostels charges by almost 50 percent. He said the university wa also givingfinancial aid to students from its own budget, besides GCU EFT would also give away 11golden and 15 silver scholarships to students this year. He said each golden scholarshipcovered the hostels and university fee of a student.

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10Sunday, 22 January, 2012

Lahore

PhD scholar represents PUin Beijing event LAHORE: Ayesha Siddiqui, a PhD Scholar in Fine Arts(Studio Practice) at Punjab University College of Art andDesign (PUCAD), has represented the PU and Pakistanin 4th Asian Art Expo held in Beijing, China, from Jan 5to 8. Earlier, the curators of the grand international artexhibition had selected paintings of Ayesha. It is worthmentioning that Ayesha has the honour of representingPakistan in 13th and 14th Asian Art Biennale (2008 and2010 respectively) in Dhaka Bangladesh and also in 3rdAsian Art Expo in Beijing last year. She has read papersin international conferences and published articles onthe contemporary painting trends in Pakistan, in variousmagazines and journals of repute. She has worked on aresearch project on Lahore Fort for Lok Virsa Islamabad.She has ten solo shows of paintings and drawings to hercredit and preparing for eleventh and also working onher book “Picture Wall of the Lahore Fort.” PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran has congratulatedAyesha Siddiqui for this honour to represent the varsityand country at the prestigious art exhibition.

US consul general honours teachers

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

US Consul General Nina Fite on Saturday honoured theteachers who completed a training that will ensure thatmore of Pakistan’s children will have the opportunity toattend mainstream schools. Nina Fite was on hand at theRising Sun and Education and Welfare Society in Lahorefor a certificate ceremony for 30 teachers whosuccessfully completed a US Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) supported course in SpecialEducation. “I am proud that our assistance supported aninitiative that reaffirms the right to education of everyindividual here in the Punjab and across Pakistan,” Fiteremarked. The teachers were the fifth graduating class ofa year-long USAID funded program that will train 750teachers in the Punjab.

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

A youth was deprived of cash and mobile phone by swindlers in the Gulberg Police Station precinctson Saturday.

According to details, some unidentified personsoffered tea to 20-year-old Akmal Abbas who fell un-conscious after taking the intoxicating tea. Theswindlers fled away from the scene with the mobilephone and cash from Akmal’s pocket. The victim wasfound by locals and taken to a nearby hospital byRescue 1122.MAN fOUND DEAD: A middle-aged man wasfound dead under mysterious circumstances in theBhati Gate Police Station precincts on Saturday.

The locals of the area found the body and in-formed the police. The police suspected that the de-ceased, yet to identified, had died of taking excessivedrug dose. The body was shifted to the morgue.fIRE cLAIMS vALUABLES: Valuables worth

hundreds of thousands of rupees were reduced toashes in different incidents of fire on Saturday.

According to details, fire broke out in the shop ofHabib Ahmed in the Madina Market, Rang Mahal dueto short circuiting, causing a loss of Rs 200,000. TheRescue 1122 personnel reached the spot and con-trolled the fire. In another incident, the upper floor ofa house in Bhaikay Wala Mor caught fire due to shortcircuiting. Moreover, fire broke out in the house ofAmjad on Nisbat Road, damaging valuables, includ-ing home appliances, worth Rs 100,000.TwO BOOkIES ARRESTED: The police claimedto have arrested two bookies in the Sabza Zar PoliceStation precincts on Saturday.

According to details, the police raided a gam-bling den upon receiving information and arrestedtwo bookies, who have a criminal history as well.The arrested were identified as Shahid and Haseeb.The police have also recovered dishes, televisionsets, mobiles phones and cash from the possessionof the accused.

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

THE health experts at the ThirdInternational e-Health Confer-ence called for a fundamentalshift in the way information wasaccessed and shared across the

health system in Pakistan on Saturday.The two-day conference, organised by

the e-Health Association of Pakistan,started at the University of Health Sci-ences (UHS). The theme of the confer-ence is “Road to National e-HealthStrategy for Pakistan”. Around 400 par-ticipants including medical students, In-formation Technology experts, healthproviders, policy makers and experts one-Health from Canada, United States,

Britain, Switzerland, Spain, East Africa,Nepal, Philippines and Afghanistan areparticipating in the conference.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony,Punjab Education Minister MujtabaShuja-ur-Rehman said that the govern-ment was taking all necessary measuresfor the administration, promotion, devel-opment and use of information technol-ogy in the province. The educationminister said that eHealth could play acrucial role in controlling epidemics, suchas polio and dengue fever, through an ef-fective surveillance system.

UHS Vice Chancellor Prof HussainMubbashar said that the better use of in-formation technology should enable theimplementation of national healthcarereforms and policy agendas, improving

the efficiency, safety and sustainability ofthe healthcare system. He announced tomake e-Health an essential part of thecurricula of various professional coursesat the UHS. World Health organisation(WHo) regional focal person for eHealthHani Farouk said that e-Health should beviewed as both, the essential infrastruc-ture underpinning information exchangebetween all participants in a healthcaresystem and as a key enabler and driver ofimproved health outcomes.

He said that the WHo had recognisede-Health as the way to achieve cost-effec-tive and secure use of Information andCommunication Technologies (ICTs) forhealth and related fields and urged itsmember states to consider drawing uplong-term strategic plans for developing

and implementing eHealth services andinfrastructure in their health sectors.

Speaking on the occasion, eHealth As-sociation of Pakistan (eHAP) President DrHaroon Roedad Khan said that the confer-ence was dedicated to Arfa Karim Rand-hawa to honour her exceptional work andher efforts in the field of information tech-nology. He announced that the “ArfaKarim Gold Medal” would be awardedevery year to the best paper on e-Health.

He said that for the successful prepa-ration of an indigenous e-Health strategy,the close cooperation between healthcareand telecommunication professionals wasessential. He said further, “The healthsystem in Pakistan is straining to dealwith the increasing cost and demandpressures and a shortage of skilled health-

care workers. We have to move away froma reliance on tools such as pen, paper andhuman memory to an environment wherepatients, care providers and healthcaremanagers can reliably access and sharehealth information in real time across ge-ographic and health sector boundaries.The only way this can be achieved isthrough formulation and implementationof world class e-Health policy.”

The aim of the conference is to iden-tify and prioritise the areas of e-Healthdevelopment in Pakistan that could leadto the formation of a National e-HealthStrategy for the country. The conferenceincludes panel discussions, paper presen-tations, scientific poster competitions,keynote addresses and workshops on thee-Health technology.

‘e-Health essential for healthcare system’

Youth looted afterbeing intoxicated

UMT signs roa with IPo

LAHOREpReSS ReleAS

In order to explore the avenues of mutual cooperation forestablishing linkages among students and industries, anew programme has been launched by IntellectualProperty organisation of Pakistan. In this connection aRecord of Agreement (RoA) between Intellectual Propertyorganization (IPo) and Centre of Law and Policy (CLP)University of Management and Technology was signed onSaturday. Pakistan IPo Director General Sajjad AhmadBhutta and CLP Director Syed Imad-ud-Din Asad signedthe agreement.

‘Clerics can help

controlling dengue’LAHORE

StAff RepoRt

Punjab Minister for Labour Welfareand Auqaf Haji Ehsan-ud-Din Qureshihas said that religious scholars havedeep respect among the masses,therefore, they should communicateprotective steps regarding dengue virusto the public in their individual as wellas collective contacts. He asked theulema to teach the people regardingcleanliness of atmosphere so that toavoid dengue mosquito, fever and otherepidemic disease during spring season.He said that Ulema can successfullyexecute the awareness campaign inmosques especially during prayer hoursto the society. While talking todelegations of Ulemas and labourers athis residence, Qureshi said that withthe cooperation of people, especiallythe Ulema dengue fever would beavoided in coming season.

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Editor’s mail 11Sunday, 22 January, 2012

The immunity issueWhat is immunity? People don’t

know anything about immunity, and theydo not want to know anything. They sim-ply know that no one is above the law aslaw treats everyone equally. There is con-fusion in the country about immunity. Ithink judiciary is the best forum to inter-pret this issue. I appeal to the Apex Courtto settle the controversy once and for-ever.

TARIQ HUSSAIN KHANKarachi

Plea for early electionsSanity demands the current govern-

ment to call for early polls as it is crucialfor the future of the country as well as forits happy climax. In Egypt, MuhammadElbradi has decided not to take part inpresidential elections even after his suc-cess in revolution just because he thinksthat the democratic system which will beformed will not be in its true essence ademocratic because of military interfer-ence in it.

He has therefore decided to continueactivities outside the political systemwith its youth. Ironically, here in Pak-istan, in spite of perceiving the threat ofmilitary coup, government has main-tained the status quo of silence in this re-gard. Considering the option fromopposition leaders for early polls will besuitable for survival of democracy.

IZHAR HUSSAINLarkana

Musharraf’s returnMedia reports say that Musharraf

says that if there is a military coup he willside with the military. The damage in-flicted to the image of Pakistan and itsarmed forces by this man can never bematched with any of the actions of theworst enemies of Pakistan. The biggestdamage was the loss of fear from thehearts of the enemies of Pakistan.

In any situation, the perception ofstrength of the opponent is the biggestdeterrent against aggression. And if fearof our power and our resolve to use ourpower is removed from the hearts andminds of our enemy, then believe me,everything is lost.

And the proof of my statement canbe gauged by the fact how easily Afghanforces have been attacking and killing themen of a nuclear power in the past.Moreover, how easily Musharraf allowedIndia to build fence along the Line ofControl, which is not allowed as per in-ternational law.

SYED NAYYAR UDDIN AHMADLahore

The year 2012What good 2012 can bring? All over

the world, the people are holding im-mense expectations as if somethingmiraculous will happen that would un-tangle us from the devil’s snare of social,economic and political repercussions.We see the economies of this intercon-nected, globalised and increasinglyshrunken world crushed almost irrevoca-bly after the great 2008 global economicrecession and its revival will take time.

HADIA MUKHTAR SINGAPURIKarachi

Children of lesser godsWe, the common people of Pakistan,

are the lowest class of people in theworld. We have to face torture and men-tal pain at home as well as outside. Whenwe leave for offices in the morning wehave to leave with empty stomachs dueto absence of gas.

We cannot iron our clothes due toabsence of light. While going to office wehave to face abuses of traffic and policesergeants. We have no right even to driveour cars freely on the roads as theseroads are for politicians, judges, primeminister, president and the VIPs of Pak-istan.

on 19 January, we could not reach intime because our prime minister wasgoing to appear before the SupremeCourt. We are inferior common Pakista-nis born to be insulted and maltreated bythe authorities and the police. It doesn'tmatter even if I don't reach to theSupreme Court in my personal case thathas got fixed after a decade. It only mat-ters that the Prime Minister reachesthere with his undue, illegal and unjusti-fied protocol just to take adjournmentfrom the Supreme Court.

For God sake’s, Mr Prime Minister,politicians, VIPs and police officials, es-pecially belonging to traffic cadre andthose deputed on pickets in red zoneand in the Supreme Court, have pity onus – the inferior Pakistanis. Stop tortur-ing us mentally, physically and finan-cially.

DANIAL KHANRawalpindi

a calculated moveIt is an unfortunate reflection on the

shallowness of thinking of the Pakistanimedia as well as politicians that themere possibility of postponement ofGeneral (Retd) Pervez Musharraf’s re-turn to Pakistan is being interpreted asa sign of weakness.

The fact is that, as per his press talkin London on January 19, he has noteven finally decided about postponingthe date of his return. Even if he doesso, it will be a strategic move on his partand obviously anyone has the right toexercise such freedom.

Actually, these frivolous reactionscoming from various quarters representthe inner desire of many people who arescared and who want that the formerpresident should not return at all. Theyknow that once he is back on the na-tional scene, he will expose many ofthose champions of democracy whohave been hiding behind the screen ofpublic ignorance – and they don’t wantpeople to know the facts.

All right thinking Pakistanis whohave had enough of those who presentlyhold the reins of power in Pakistan feelthat the country needs a leader who un-derstands their problems and is willingto do something about them.

The present government has giventhe nation nothing but lawlessness,corruption, price rises and destruc-tion of public entities that were oncethe country’s pride, such as PakistanSteel Mills, PIA and Pakistan Rail-ways.

The people want a leadership thathas given positive results in the past andwho is better than General (Retd) Per-vez Musharraf to deliver this, especiallynow that he has formally entered poli-tics and is ready and willing to play hisdue role in national affairs.

MUHAMMAD YAHYA ASIFKarachi

a show of humility or pomp and gloryMr Yousaf Raza Gilani – the prime

accused in “a case of a brazen and bla-tant failure or refusal of the Federal Gov-ernment to obey and execute therelevant judgment and directions of theSupreme Court” (as observed by the five-member apex court bench in Jan 10 ver-dict), who happens to be the primeminister of Pakistan – decided to “bowbefore the law” in a carefully orches-trated pomp and ceremony that unfoldedThursday morning on the ConstitutionAvenue in the capital.

Fearing that heavens will start fallingat around 9:30am or soon afterwards,our law enforcing agencies laid a siege tothe so-called “Red Zone” in a pre-dawndeployment. Then nobody was allowed toenter the zone on their vehicles and peo-ple, including lawyers, litigants and jour-nalists, had to traverse miles to reach theSupreme Court building.

Follies of those who matter in thiscountry did not end here. The primeminister emerged himself driving a Prado

in a motorcade of dozens of escort vehi-cles with sirens wailing and roaring heli-copters hovering a few meters above. Hewas waving cheerfully to the partycrowds and well-wishers assembled inthe vicinity of the apex court. All this in-deed exposed the prime minister’s trueintention in adopting a ‘solemn’ ap-proach to ‘respectfully’ and ‘humbly’ sur-render before the highest judicial forum– in sheer negation of the equity thatenunciates equality among all citizensbefore law.

If the prime minister had been sum-moned, none other than the court itselfshould have ensured that its dignity anddecorum does not get jeopardised andcompromised, come what may. It shouldhave acted robustly to jealously guard itsesteem, particularly when it was thought-ful of the 1997 event of summoning aprime minister and the ensuing rowdy-ism and ransacking at the hands of amob. Therefore, it should have autho-rised someone – from its administration

– to watchfully examine the nitty-grittyof the prime minister’s arrival in ad-vance.

The PPP leaders who flocked theapex court to show solidarity with theirparliamentary leader in fact succeeded inadvocating their, what many believe,“martyrdom” case more magnificentlyand prophetically than their chief res-cuer, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, flanked byconstitutional wizard Raza Rabbani, whowere picked by the prime minister some-what belatedly but purposely to defendhim in Court Room No 4 on that eventfulday.

It was none other than RehmanMalik – our ambitious interior ministerwho once dreamt of getting the covetedcommand of the ISI – who orchestratedthis pomp and circumstance. Speaking inthe Senate of Pakistan later in the day, he‘regretted’ for scrambling helicoptersahead of the prime minister’s arrivalwhile responding to criticism of the fol-lies. But, there was no use to cry over

spilt milk. Sanity should have prevailedfrom the outset.

Mr Malik deserves all the praise ashis cameo appearance in this episode tooworked wonders for his party and thegovernment. However, the court, per-haps mercifully and thankfully, exemptedthe prime minister from appearing inperson on Febuary 1, otherwise repetitionof the Jan 19 unbridled show of powercould have once again landed lawyers,judges, journalists and litigants, espe-cially the general public, who live in thecapital or travel on the Constitution Av-enue, into a quagmire of inconveniencesand troubles that descended along withshowers in the Red Zone on Jan 19.

Also, it saved the people of Pakistanfrom watching live the second act of“shock and awe” drama produced by pyg-mies who still fondly look forward to cap-turing any chance to preside over acongregation of giants.

ASAD SIDDIQUILahore

Bravo! pakistan tigers‘Pakistan beats England’ was the breaking news of the day.

The people of Pakistan were waiting for a long long time for thismoment. Bravo! our cricket team! You really deserve thepraise. After what happened a year ago in England, whichlanded three of our top cricketers in jail and with bans on play-ing international cricket, it was only but a befitting reply thatour team has come up with. What really made it worth some-thing was the way we defeated them.

Saeed Ajml literally knocked them over, spun them out andUmar Gul in the second innings and made sure that no Englishbatsman was able to make a stand on the pitch.

If they continue their performance, we can surely win thisseries and show the English the true spirit of cricket and what itmeans to challenge the Pakistan Tigers.

NASEEMA ZAHEERToranto, Canda

Protecting the corruptA section of media, under the garb of

analysts-cum-anchors, would like us tobelieve that Prime Minister Gilani hasdone us a favour by presenting himselfbefore court, although his administrationhad deliberately defied implementationof Supreme Court orders on NRo in2009 and destroyed almost every institu-tion of the state.

Given their arguments, it seems to bedestiny of this unfortunate nation to beplundered endlessly by a handful of menwhose greed has no limitation. Can I askthem, which law allows crooks and rob-bers to get away with their ill-gottenwealth, if they have accumulated this bysuccessfully duping people of Pakistan by

getting elected on public offices withfalse promises to serve them, or by hav-ing occupied executive assignments aspaid servants?

The looted money belongs to the un-fortunate taxpayers and neither Mushar-raf nor the Charter of Democry (CoD)had any right to decide that such crimescould be waived off without due processof law.

We have to decide whether Pakistanwill be reduced to safe haven for elitecorrupt members of paid establishment,or those who were elected, or will therebe rule of law in Pakistan?

There is no precedence in recent his-tory where nations have developed, whilethe state has failed to enforce rule of lawwithout any discrimination as to caste,

creed or social status.In every society there is corruption,

theft and crime, but once caught, thesecriminals must be punished, if we wantto survive. Crimes are supposed to becommitted by criminals and thugs in themanner of thieves who take steps toevade being caught by police and not as amatter of right, as if it were perks ofholding an office.

our PM deserved ovation if he hadshown some remorse or regret, instead ofconsidering that he has done us a favourby presenting himself before theSupreme Court, when he had been forcedto do so by circumstances beyond hiscontrol.

MALIK TARIQ ALILahore

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

This is with reference to NasimZehra’s article “Objection m' lord” (21Jan). Her analysis of prime minister'sappearance in the contempt notice in theSupreme Court is not much differentthan any analysis that we witness dailyin TV talk shows that mostly are subjec-tive and not objective. Ms Zehra's con-clusions also do not substantially pointto any reform/improvement.

I object to the unnecessary coverageand publicity given to the event by themedia prior to the date of hearing. Sowhat if the PM was summoned in theapex court. We all trumpet that everyoneis equal before law, if we believe in thisthen this was just another appearanceand did not warrant the artificial hype asif heavens are going to fall.

It is so strange that a case that is stillto be argued in the court of law is openlydebated by media to influence the courtand try to thrust own opinion on thecourts. This drama goes on in the nameof 180 million people who are least both-ered on these issues. Such acts otherwiseattract provision of contempt of court.

If our media stops giving live cover-age to such events the undue hype willnot be created. In fact, TV channels are amajor contributing factor in creating anundue and unnecessary atmosphere ofuncertainty and rowdyism by coveringthe event.

There is a mad race going on be-tween various TV channels to give"breaking news". Sooner or later, theSupreme Court will have to put restric-

tions on lawyers and party loyalists whoare damaging the sanctity of the institu-tion. Actually after the historic move-ment by lawyers and civil society in theyear 2007 for the restoration of the judi-ciary, undue discussions in media andpolarisation of lawyers’ behaviour is in-terfering and affecting the neutrality ofour courts.

Chief Justice should take suo motuon lawyers’ activities in the SupremeCourt premises and ban raising of slo-gans in favour of judges and the govern-ment. It should also condition themanner in which media propagates thecases under review in the SupremeCourt. These steps will strengthen thejudiciary and remove self-created appre-hensions as if judiciary is against the

government.Lastly, the writer has rightly sug-

gested to the Chief Justice to ban suchactivities, but this alone will not help tillsuch time as media is also debarred ininitiating debates on these cases andstops live coverage. We must show pa-tience and wait for the judgment, once itis out it may be debated for any durationbut not before that.

Pakistan is passing through its mostcritical period since its existence. We allhave to be patient and show better senseof responsibility, ridiculing own institu-tions will not help. As responsible citi-zens, all of us must show maturity andthe anchors in media are no exception.

MUKHTAR AHMEDKarachi

“objection m’lord”

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Comment12Sunday, 22 January, 2012

Arif NizamiEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302Karachi – Ph: 021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

The long and short of it

a hike again?

The prime minister has decided to take a leaf out ofthe Raja Ashraf manual: giving a deadline whichcannot and will not be met. This is not because thehonourable PM is not to be taken for his word but

because it is clear that the crises can only be solved in thelong run and six months is not it.

But while the PM is serving up some appeasement for thepublic, the ECC is also preparing to serve a concoction of itsown making. The committee presided over by the financeminister has approved of a price-hike in electricity tariffs(which Nepra is not on board with yet). This is to pay off theinterest on the loan that it has taken to deal with the IPPs’liabilities. What is being engineered is a ‘debt swap’ whichwill partially allay our circular debt demons and assist inrestructuring the energy sector in the long run. But in theshort run, this will amount to the consumer bailing out thegovernment and the IPPs. But the short run is what theconsumer cares about because, as they say, in the long runwe’re all dead.

The fact that these problems are not widely understood –and that the media also compounds the confusion with itspopulist pandering – means that this step will also be seen asevidence of the government’s bad governance. While it istrue that the incumbent dispensation’s lollygagging in thepast four years has not helped matters, it cannot be deniedthat revising pricing strategies and phasing outunsustainable subsidies is the first step to deal with thecrises.

The government really is in a bind here. The fiscal crunchthat it is experiencing is debilitating. Its budget deficit isslated to rise to almost Rs 1.53 trillion (if it puts thesovereign guarantees that it has given for this debt swap onthe books). If the government continues its spending binge(of which the subsidies in the energy sector are but anexample), it also needs to generate the money. It can’t keepadding to its debt because it will hit the wall soon and thereis no bailout on the cards. It can either raise taxes or tariffs –both at which the public balks. or it can print money whichmeans more inflation. Thus, the public pays no matter what.

Therefore, rationalising tariffs is a necessary evil thegovernment has to deal with. These crises have been in themaking a long time and there is no short-run palliative. Thesectors have been mismanaged and it’s about time that aproper strategy was developed for the long haul.

of tensions and extensions

another petition

The Supreme Court’s direction to the government tosubmit a written assurance within two weeks that ithas no intention of sacking the CoAS and the DGISI has come at a time when there have been signs

of thaw in the frosty ties between the civilian and militaryleadership.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry was hearing on Friday a petitionseeking to block any attempt by the government to removethe army and ISI Chiefs. Attorney General Maulvi AnwarulHaq rubbished the claim and drew the court’s attention toPrime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani rejecting the perceptionin his recent statement. The AG also objected to themaintainability of the petition, which he believed, was filedon the basis of conjectures but it was overruled with the CJtelling him: “That’s why we have issued you notice. Thecountry needs improvement in the state of affairs”.

The order issued by the bench is reminiscent of a similarassurance sought by the apex court in october 2010following media reports that the government was planningto reverse the March 16, 2009 notification of reinstating thesuperior court judges dismissed by Musharraf. And the lawministry had to comply with the direction despite the PM’sassurance in the National Assembly that he had no intentionof withdrawing the executive order.

As for the aforesaid case, the petitioner has raised a pointthat after giving extensions to the CoAS and ISI chief, thegovernment cannot remove them before time. There can be acounter-argument to this misplaced logic: If the governmentis empowered to extend the service of a civil or militaryofficer, how can it be restrained from curtailing the extendedtenures.

But having said that, the government cannot initiate anysuch move especially when the tension between the civilianand military arms of the state, originating with Memogate,seems to have abated to some extent. All that is needed is todiscourage such petitioners who’re bent upon creatingconfusion when the country is already faced withmultifaceted crises.

Balance and equity

With so much to say and such little space tosay it in, best to KISS – ‘Keep ItSimple, Stupid’.

I know how bad this government is,but I don’t want it to go because I seenone better to replace it, none that canrealistically win elections. Best to letthe system proceed. It’s as simple asthat. I hate the British Westminsterparliamentary system but I reluctantlyaccept it because it has national con-sensus. Thus, I don’t want it to bemade to collapse lest it destroys ourcountry. It’s as simple as that. Putsimply, our ruling elite’s priorities areall wonky because it is so alienated:while the country dies they worryabout a memo and a letter. It’s essen-tially a power struggle within the elitethat the people have nothing to dowith.

The irony is that the one whom theNational Reconciliation ordinancedidn’t benefit could be the fall guy.While the Supreme Court called theprime minister “dishonest”, he raisedhis stature by first getting whatamounted to a vote of confidence andthen going to the Supreme Court. Hewon this round, but the fight contin-ues. No one knows where it will end.

There are certain immutable cor-nerstones of justice.1. Respect for the constitution which

divides power between threebranches of government – parlia-ment-legislature, executive and ju-diciary. It is a fine balance. Eachmust work in synchronicity, notconflict, by recognising the limitsof their domains. Independencehas limits that end where the do-mains of others begin. Any trans-gression and balance is lost.

2. Balance and equity must always beseen to exist.

3. Justice must not only be done, itmust also be seen to be done.

4. Impartiality. Justice cannot be se-lective. It must be blind.

5. Justice delayed is justice denied.6. Justice must be egalitarian. No one

is above the law, least of all judges.The law must apply equally to all.

7. one cannot be a judge in one’s owncause.The absence of any of these cor-

nerstones means absence of justice.To heal the wounds of our national

psyche, it is imperative that we removeall doubts and misgivings by discover-ing the truth behind all allegations and

suspicions. 1. Rescind the NRo, certainly, but

balance and equity demand thateveryone who got away underother devices must also be madeanswerable. otherwise, justice willbe selective.

2. Rescind the Saudi deal that par-doned the Sharifs and hear all thecases against them. Would anyoneinnocent accept a pardon? Anyoneinnocent would consider acceptinga pardon an insult and insist onclearing his name.

3. Rescind the general pardon for DrA Q Khan and find out whether hereally sold national secrets or notand who else was involved, if any.Would anyone innocent accept apardon? Anyone innocent wouldconsider it an insult and insist onclearing his name.

4. Being a judge in one’s own cause isinequitable and unbalanced. Thus,equity and balance demand thatparliament being the highestbranch of government with theupper hand hears the charges lev-elled against the chief justice in the2007 reference against him andnot the Supreme Judicial Councilsince being judged by one’s peersis tantamount to judging in one’sown cause. It is most incumbentfor judges to be seen to be withoutblemish, else how will people haveconfidence in their impartiality?The chief justice has always main-tained that the charges against himwere facetious, so he should haveno compunction in proving it.

5. Parliament must determinewhether the executive orderrestoring the sacked judges is inline with the constitution. The cuteargument that they were neversacked is just so much sophistryand slight of semantics.

6. Justice delayed is justice denied.Air Marshal Asghar Khan’s caseholding fire must be decided ur-gently. None of his letters to vari-ous chief justices was answered.The registrar refused to receive hishand-delivered letter. Where’s im-partiality?

7. Equity and balance means thatsomething cannot be legal at onetime or in one set of circumstancesand illegal at another time and an-other set of circumstances. What iswrong is wrong and what is right isright. Thus, Provisional Constitu-tional orders caused by deviationsfrom the constitution can either belegal or illegal, not both. Changingtimes and circumstances havenothing to do with it. The doubt inmany minds is: was the PCo of2000 made legal because it en-abled a certain set of judges to re-main in office and the 2007 PComade illegal because some of thesame judges lost their jobs becauseof it and another set benefited? Isthis balanced and equitable? Is itjust? The ‘upholding a principle’argument becomes flippant andinane when applied when conven-ient and not when inconvenient.

Now wait for them to say: onelearns!

8. The Charter of Democracy is anunusual document untypical ofPakistan’s warring politicians. Notadhering to it is typical. As theCoD requires, no judge who hasever supported any deviation fromthe constitution and taken oathunder any PCo should ever againhold the office of judge at anylevel. only when all these cornerstones

are met and all doubts and suspicionsremoved will the judiciary be seen tobe impartial and pristine. If you don’thave it in you to do all this, forgeteverything and declare them ‘past andclosed transactions’ which the judici-ary has been known to do.

The question is: since the primeminister has taken oath under the con-stitution to uphold the constitution,how can he write a letter to the Swissauthorities to reopen the cases againstthe president when the constitutiongives him immunity?

Wouldn’t that be tantamount to vi-olating his oath by violating a consti-tutional clause? Can Supreme Courtjudges who have also taken oathsunder the constitution and are swornto uphold it insist that the prime min-ister causes such a letter to be written?Isn’t that tantamount to insisting thathe violate the constitution? Isn’t suchinsistence itself a violation of the con-stitution?

All this kafuffle considering theconcept of immunity doesn’t exist inIslam. Aren’t we supposed to be an ‘Is-lamic Republic’? And to say that im-munity didn’t apply to Musharrafbecause he was an ‘illegal’ presidentwhile it does to Zardari because he is‘legal’ is to forget that the SupremeCourt that included the current chiefjustice legitimised Musharraf’stakeover and took and gave oathsunder the PCo of 2000. When you tryto be too cute, you look clownish.

The concept of self-notice or suomoto becomes questionable when un-dertaken at will without a process todecide where self-notice is justifiedand where not. Is it impartial, equi-table, balanced and just that whilehundreds of lawyers who are officersof the court contemn the judiciary byshowering flower petals on a self-con-fessed murderer are ignored, theSupreme Court finds time to take self-notice of Atiqa odho’s bottles whilethe hunger and incremental degrada-tion of teeming millions goes unno-ticed? Surely it couldn’t possibly bebecause she is beautiful, could it?Could it be because she is in GeneralMusharraf’s party? Kidhar hain niga-hain, kidhar hai nishana – ‘Where isthe target, where the aim’.

oh! Before I forget, do read the ar-ticle ‘Absolut Justice’ by Amir Zia inthe January 2012 edition of Newsline.Drunks should raise a toast to it, espe-cially in the legal fraternity.

The writer is a political analyst. He can be contacted at hu-mayun.gauhar786@gmail.com

By Humayun Gauhar

the quality of justice should not be strained

It was during the Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal’s tenure inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa that acts of terrorism started tospread. These acts later on increased in frequency and in-

tensity and that left an indelible impact on the province in par-ticular and the country in general. Not only did these acts takethe precious lives of hundreds of people along with causing sig-nificant material losses but they also took a heavy toll bythwarting any possibilities of investment (either by locals orforeigners).

The incumbent government though has made efforts tobring peace to the region by calling upon traditional tribal jir-gas amongst other things but the central government has notcompletely backed these efforts with its support. Resultantly,

the intensity of terrorism has increased in many areas such asSwat and the tribal regions.

Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has said time andagain that the incumbent provincial government has takensubstantive steps for the development of the province. He hasalso stressed that the masses will soon start reaping the bene-fits with the completion of these developmental projects acrossthe province.

The CM has reiterated that his government is mindful ofthe problems of the masses and is trying to address these prob-lems through the undertaking of these development projects.But the completion of these projects would mean nothing ifpeace was not restored and terrorism curtailed.

– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur RaufKhattak

Terrorism and developmentDaily Pashtun Post

Regional press

LHR 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:36 AM Page 12

Comment 13Sunday, 22 January, 2012

A judgement is a judgement

Swiss letter, and spirit

It is actually not that compli-cated. Are the judges alwaysright? No. Should their

judgements always be followedin letter and spirit? Yes.

Here's why: The rule of lawdepends on this. And modernsocieties depend on the rule oflaw. That is how the systemworks. It doesn't always producepristine justice, and neither doesit always punish the guilty or re-ward the wronged. But these odddiscrepancies are the price soci-eties pay for maintaining order,preserving a structured way oflife and ensuring that the gov-erned are governed in a civilisedmanner.

What we are witnessing asthe NRo hearings unfold is a vi-olation of this basic principle ofmodern governance. In the day-to-day wrangling between thejudges and the government, wetend to lose sight of the macro-problem this tussle is generat-ing: a problem which will returnto haunt us if it is not settled asper the norms of modern socie-tal requirements.

In fact, the larger principleof judicial sanctity overrides theomissions and commissions ofindividual judges, or benches oreven collective judgements onparticular cases. What is at stakeis the running of the state aboveand beyond the harsh realities –and dictates – of power politics.

Let us put this in the presentcontext. First, the good part: theseven member bench of theSupreme Court hearing the NRocase summoned the prime min-ister and he appeared beforethem on Thursday. This very act– howsoever grudgingly it mayhave been done – fulfilled the

requirements of a functioningstate. By answering to the sum-mons, the prime minister gavethe right message to the nationthat he bows before the majestyof the exalted court. The courtacknowledged this by saying itwas a great day for the rule oflaw.

The form was spot on. Thesubstance was not. Herein liesthe bad news.

The court has given a judge-ment, and the government doesnot like it. It feels the court hasnot judged it on merit; rather ithas allowed personal grudges tooverride its sense of justice andfairplay. The government doesnot say this publicly, but its min-ions are not so circumspect. In-nuendos fly like a hail of burningarrows. The likes of Babar Awanare in fact as nuanced as asledgehammer crashing into aglass door.

Let us for a moment assumethat the NRo judgement isfaulty. Let us also assume thatordering the government towrite a letter to a foreign govern-ment against its own president(and party co-chairman) is – tosay the least – unfair. Even ifthese assumptions hold true,does it mean the government, onthe basis of its genuine griev-ances, has the right to refuse im-plementing the judgement?

Supplant the governmentwith an individual, and the argu-ment becomes clearer. If a courtconvicts a person on murdercharges, and we know he did notcommit the murder, what doeshe do? He appeals to a highercourt, and then a higher one, tillhe reaches the apex court. Eventhere if his appeal is turneddown, he is sent to jail on deathrow. He may be an innocentman, and he is paying the priceof a faulty judicial system, but hestill goes to jail. There are nu-merous cases where people heldon death row are released years– and even decades – later whena fresh investigation proves theywere innocent and the court waswrong. The single individual suf-fers a bad judgement becausethere is nothing more he can do.A judgement, good or bad, is al-ways implemented.

The government is no differ-

ent as far as this principle is con-cerned. The fact that it is defyingthe court because it can, and theindividual cannot, violates thefundamental spirit of the law. Ifthe powerful can flout judge-ments while the weak can't, thenthe basis of the rule of law is un-dercut, and the glue that holds amodern and civilized society to-gether will begin to come apart.

This is no rocket science. Butthe logic is crippled when itsmashes into the harsh realitiesof realpolitik. Consider this aclash of political science versuspolitical practice. The formercarves out broad frameworksunder which political entitiesand players can practice the artof politics for the greater good.The latter focuses on the pursuitof naked power.

And naked power is whatcontinues to define politics aspracticed in Pakistan. PPP is noexception. In fact, given a simi-lar situation, other parties arelikely to respond in a generallysimilar fashion. The past is proofenough. Power politics has itsown logic and unfortunately thislogic is perceived as conven-tional political wisdom in Pak-istan. This may in some measureexplain the dysfunctional stateof governance in the country.

Politicians are by natureruthlessly practical. It is only thesteel cage of laws and expecta-tions of the electorate that keeptheir power lust in check. Thisway they are forced to balancetheir own individual ambitionsagainst the notion of larger soci-etal interests. When this equa-tion is imbalanced, and nakedpower begins to dominate largerprinciples, we find ourselves in asituation that we are seeing inthe NRo case.

It is not really that compli-cated. For the greater good ofthis republic, the letter must bewritten.

The writer hosts a prime-time talk show on ARY News.He has worked as DirectorNews of Express News andDunya News and Editor TheNews, Islamabad. He can bereached atfahd.husain1@gmail.com or onTwitter @fahdhusain

PM Gilani’s appearance inthe Supreme Courtbrought to light a num-

ber of important trends. Firstand foremost, the appearanceindicates that that the govern-ment has now decided to fightthe case legally rather than po-litically.

Babar Awan talked morepolitics than law while defend-ing the government’s position.He gave the impression ofplaying to the gallery. He tookup issues that were irrelevantfrom a legal point of view. Hetalked about the injusticesdone to the PPP, including de-nial of justice to Zulfikar AliBhutto (ZAB) and BenazirBhutto. He referred to the cre-ation of Bangladesh in 1971,darkly hinting that the NRocase could lead to the separa-tion of Sindh. He spoke aboutthe PPP being always a victimand after ZAB and Benazir, agrave was now being preparedfor President Zardari.

PM Gilani on the otherhand appeared before thecourt along with the governorsof the four provinces and theleaders of ANP and PML(Q) asan expression of the recogni-tion of the majesty of thecourt. He was respectful butfirm. He said he had no inten-tion to defame or ridicule thesuperior judiciary. “That is notmy intention. We have thehighest respect for your deci-sion (NRo verdict), but at thesame time, the constitution isin between.”

The court took notice ofthe gesture and Gilani was ex-empted from personal appear-ance in future. Thereplacement of Babar Awan byAitzaz Ahsan who was in the

forefront of the struggle for therestoration of independent ju-diciary indicated that the gov-ernment wanted to pursue thematter with due respect to thecourt and strictly on legalgrounds.

A good beginning. Thishowever should by no meansprovide an assurance that thePM is off the hook now. Hisfate and that of Zardari hingesnow on whether Aitzaz is ableto convince the court that thepresident enjoys blanket im-munity from all types of crim-inal cases. As things stand, thejustices do not subscribe to theview.

This bring to an end thehype created by a section ofmedia which had predictedthat the hearing would be briefand lead to some extraordi-nary decision by the apexcourt in the contempt pro-ceedings.

outside the SupremeCourt building, the media trialof the government leaderscontinued. Without waitingfor the judgment on the issueof presidential immunity,Mian Nawaz Sharif demandedthat PM Gilani must write theletter to the Swiss authoritiesto open the cases againstZardari.

While Aitzaz Ahsan wasbriefing the media outside thecourt, a group of lawyersshouted “Zardari ka jo yaarhai, ghaddar hai ghadar hai.”They were, thus, killing twobirds with one stone. They haddecided that while Zardari wasthe real culprit, Aitzaz whowas fighting the contempt caseagainst Gilani in the apexcourt was also a traitor. Thisamounted to putting pressureon the court also to deliver ajudgment of their liking. Ifanybody vindicating Zardarithrough legal means was atraitor, those accepting AitzazAhsan’s plea automaticallyalso fell in the same category.

This brings us to anotherimportant social issue. Like asection of the media, a sectionof the legal community too isnot willing to wait for thecourt’s judgment. They wantthe accused to go unheard anddemand a verdict of their lik-

ing. Unfortunately the trendsis becoming all too common.Unless this is retrained, thiswill lead to terrible conse-quences for society.

The minorities are theworst victim. Pressure exertedby radicalised lawyers is mak-ing it difficult for a member ofthe minority community ac-cused of blasphemy to hire acounsel.

When the trial of MumtazQadri, the self confessed killerof Governor Taseer, started ata Rawalpindi court, a crowd ofextremist lawyers and madras-sah students descended on thebuilding in support of Qadri.The authorities had to drivethe judge to a makeshift courthastily set up in a heavily pro-tected building in Islamabad.

The judge who foundQadri guilty of the crime andsentenced him to be hangedreceived death threats. He hadto be shifted outside the coun-try, along with family, as theadministration believed itcould not provide him securityinside Pakistan.

In the presence of theseextremist lawyers, it is difficultfor a court to pass a judgmentnot liked by them. It is timethe bar associations step in torein in their radicalised mem-bers and the law colleges makenecessary amendments in thecurriculum to instil in theirstudents a respect for law andan acceptance of judgmentsagainst their wishes.

It was interesting to notethe reaction of the MQMwhich is one of the govern-ment allies to PM Gilani’s ap-pearance in the court. Whileother coalition leaders accom-panied the prime minister toshow respect for the court andsolidarity for the PM, theMQM declined to join thecompany. MQM leaders werehowever present at the presi-dent’s dinner in the evening.The message: We are with youto enjoy the perks and privi-leges but don’t expect us to bewith you at a moment of trialand tribulation.

The writer is a formeracademic and a political an-alyst.

Keeping calm and carrying on?

pM in the courthouse

By Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

By Fahd Husain

LHR 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:36 AM Page 13

loNDoN: kate winslet has revealedthat she left the set of her newmovie Carnage "smelling of sick"every night as she had toprojectile vomit over and overagain for one key scene. The 36-year-old actress admits thatthe excess vomit made the setrather unpleasant to work on,but she enjoyed every momentof it. "I'm actually quite proud ofmy vomiting! It was everywhere: inmy hair, down my cleavage, and I'dgo home every night totallydisgusting and smelling of sick, but Iloved it," Contactmusic quoted heras telling People magazine. Thefilm, directed by roman Polanski, isbased on the hit Broadway playGod of Carnage. AGeNcIeS

FRAAz MAHMuD

TA L E N Tknows noboundaries. Ifit is in apalace, it can

also be found in a hut. Butthe talent that flourishes ina hut is usually exploiteddue to lack of opportunitiesand resources. A poor artiststruggles throughout hislife to get mastery over hisart but people never givehim the status he deserves.

Specialist Banjo playerUstad Baqir Raza Khan isalso a victim of such ex-ploitation. He was born inDistrict Ferozpur, now inIndia, in 1947, but his par-ents migrated to Pakistanafter partition. He wasvery much interested inplaying banjo even fromhis childhood, so despiteextreme poverty, hebought his first banjo in1963 and devoted his lifeto get mastery over it.

His love for musictook him to Radio Pak-istan where he learnt thescience of banjo from var-ious musicians. In 1982,he got approved in theradio and Central Produc-tion Unit recorded histunes. While working forthe radio, he worked withvarious singers, musicians

and directors. He played banjo for

Madam Noor Jahan’s someever green numbers whichinclude Ve tu qarar merapayar mere haniyan,Sonay di taveetri and Kokame paya mahiya. He alsoplayed banjo for a songTere ishq nachaya kar kthayya thayya with SaainAkhtar, for Sad lo ik waarMadinay walay G withAlam Lohar, for Dunyapese di o yaar with MehdiHassan, for Tere ishqnachaya gali gali with Ma-sood Rana and for Rukhdolday te akh meri withMadam Afshan.

The musicians withwhom he worked are: Debo

Bhatacharya, Tafu Khan,Master Abdullah, Nazir Ali,Kalay Khan, K K Rajan,Kamal Ahmad, WajahatAtray, Anayat Ali andWazir Afzal. He alsoworked with famous filmdirector Masood Butt whois still active in Lollywood.

Despite working withsuch big names and, beinga part of all time hits, no-body knows about UstadBaqir Raza today. He is liv-ing at a small village in Dis-trict Kasur and leading amiserable life. He is not asingle example rather arepresentative of all the de-prived artists of the countrywho demand nothing butrecognition.

14 Sunday, 22 January, 2012

IN LIMELIGHT

mumBAI: after roping in the hottest stars of the industry to burn the stage with their stellardance acts over the years, the world’s biggest viewers’ choice award - Zee Cine awards 2012is proud to announce that Bollywood’s “Silk”iest leading lady is all set to rock the stage atthe glitzy ceremony in Macau this year. following the announcements of Srk & PriyankaChopra as hosts and Shahid kapoor’s dancing tribute to Dev anand, the latest addition tothe glitzy star performers’ list will be the current darling of Bollywood – Vidya Balan! after

her universally applauded performancein this year’s runaway hit ‘The DirtyPicture’ Vidya’s oomph quotient hasshot through the roof and the actresshas been brought on board to raise atoast to India’s southern sirens at ‘PanBahar presents Zee Cine awards 2012’.as Balan performs to a medley ofchartbusters from southern cinema, hermoves will bring out the unmistakableflavor and inimitable style of thedancers from south Indian cinema.Burning down the stage with theraunchy ‘Naka Muka’, Vidya will finishthe performance with a flourish,shimmying to her own ‘ooh la la, oohla la’ ditty. “My performance this yearat Zee Cine awards 2012 will beinspired by the immensely entertainingstyles of some of the most iconicsouthern sirens including Silk. let’shope the audience has as much fun asI do when I perform live at TheVenetian® Macao!” said Vidya. AGeNcIeS

Vidya to set Zee Cine Awards vomitWinslet had toon fire

Ustad Baqir Raza Khan:

loS ANGeleS: Avatar star Sam Worthingtonhas said James cameron is concentratingon making the sequel outdo the original,which was the highest-grossing film of alltime. the Australian actor, who played thelead male role in the blockbuster, hasreportedly signed up for Avatar 2 but saysthere is no set date for production to start."We've talked about the sequel but Jimdoes what he wants to do," Worthingtonsaid, referring to cameron. "that's thething. he'll do the sequel when it's achallenge for him. he doesn't have to do itfor the money and he's not going to be toldwhat to do. "And when he does it, it'sexciting for an audience. that's who hemakes movies for. "I think he's kind of

waiting and digesting the movie so he canunleash a movie that takes Avatar andexplodes it and expands it even better."cameron announced there would be twosequels to the oscar-winning film in 2010.In an interview he gave some idea of whathis audience can expect when the filmseventually make it on to the big screen."part of my focus in the second film is increating a different environment - adifferent setting within pandora," he said."And I'm going to be focusing on the oceanon pandora, which will be equally rich anddiverse and crazy and imaginative, but itjust won't be a rainforest. "I'm not sayingwe won't see what we've already seen;we'll see more of that as well." AGeNcIeS

Avatar sequel will be even better: Worthington

MaCaU: Dia Mirza attends the red carpet

event before the Zee Cine awards 2012. afp

MUMBaI: Bipasha Basu poses

during the promotion of

upcoming film ‘Jodi Breakers’. afp

MaCaU: farhan akhtar and his wife adhuna attend the red

carpet event before the Zee Cine awards 2012. afp

SaNTa MoNICa: actress hilary Swank

arrives at oVo opening night of Cirque Du

Soleil at Santa Monica Pier, California. afp

lahore: filmstar Meera poses

during the Bolan awards. INp

lahore: actress Nadia

performs during the

33rd Bolan awards. INp

A journey towards

recognition?

LOnDOnAGeNcIeS

Johnny otis always said he identified farmore with black culture than his ownGreek origins Johnny otis, dubbed the“godfather of rhythm and blues”, has diedaged 90. The bandleader, who had beenunwell for several years, passed away athis home in Los Angeles, his managersaid. Best known for the track Willie andthe Hand Jive, he also wrote Every Beat ofMy Heart, a hit for Gladys Knight and thePips in 1961. “He is one of the greatest tal-

ents of American music and he was a greatAmerican,” said music historian TomReed, adding “He could do it all.”

Musician Johnny Otis dies aged 90

repeatedly for film scene

LHR 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:38 AM Page 14

15

divorce

LOS AnGELESAGeNcIeS

ETTA JAMES, who has died atthe age of of 73, had a rich,contralto voice that breathedlife into a host of musical gen-res, from blues to jazz, R&B to

soul. Many top performers cited her as ahuge influence on their careers, but she hadto wait 40 years before winning major recog-nition from the music industry. She begansinging in the 1950s, battled substance abusefor the best part of a decade, then bouncedback to win a string of awards and bring hermusic to a new audience. Jamesetta Hawkinswas born in Los Angeles on 25 Jan 1938, theillegitimate daughter of a 14-year-oldAfrican-American girl and a white fatherwhom James never met. In her autobiogra-phy, James says she was convinced that herfather was Minnesota Fats, the famous poolhustler but, "I didn't have the courage, ormeans, to confront him". Like many blackartists of the time she began singing gospelin a church choir in Los Angeles before shewent to live with relatives in San Francisco.She got together with two other girls to forma group which was auditioned by the late leg-endary bandleader and impresario, Johnnyotis. "I was just a little schoolkid," she saidin 1974, "and I was bumming around atbeing a delinquent. "[Johnny] asked me toaudition for him and, I will always remem-ber, I was so bashful that I had to go intothe bathroom and sing from there."

At Last Immediately spotting her potential,

otis rearranged her first name and trans-formed her vocal group into The Peaches.

Their first record, Roll With Me Henry,topped the R&B charts in 1955 - althoughsome radio stations objected to the sugges-tive title. The Peaches disappeared fromthe scene and James set out on a solo ca-reer, scoring some minor hits and experi-menting with various musical stylesincluding rock 'n' roll. In 1960 she signedto the legendary Chess Records where theboss, Leonard Chess, decided James wouldfind success as a ballad singer. In 1961 shereleased the album, At Last, which featureda string of her previous R&B hits. The titletrack, a cover of a 1941 number first per-formed by Glen Miller, was to become hersignature tune, much played at weddingsbecause of the sweet orchestral arrange-ment. In all, she achieved no fewer than10 chart hits between 1961 and 1963.

Raunchy Despite her success with ballads, James

did not neglect the rougher edge of hervoice, recording the blues standard, Call MyName, in 1966. In 1967 she moved to FameStudios in Alabama where she wrote andrecorded one of her most beautiful, andbest-known songs, I'd Rather Go Blind. De-spite her success, she found it difficult tobreak out of the black music market and itwas a British blues band, Chicken Shack -fronted by Christine Perfect - later McVie,who took the song into the UK charts in1969. The 1970s saw her career begin to fal-ter under the pressure of her heroin addic-tion and the consequent legal problems.She spent months either in rehab, or in jailwhere she was sent for various offences, in-cluding failed payments and driving stolencars. "I was hooked for fifteen years," shelater recalled. "I resorted to it when moneygot really short and things got really tough.I used to get sick all the time, miss gigs,turn out bad shows and generally got on thewrong track." In 1974 she was sentenced toa drug treatment programme, in lieu of jail,and spent 17 months in a psychiatric hospi-tal. It marked a turning point. "It took agood-hearted judge to make me stop andexamine myself," she wrote in her autobi-ography. However, when she finished herrehab she became involved with a formerdrug user and went back onto heroin. Sherecalled the next few years as the lowestpart of her life, struggling to get gigs to paythe rent. It wasn't until 1988, after treat-ment at the Betty Ford Clinic, that she fi-nally beat her addiction and releasedSeven Year Itch, an album that was ashowcase for a new, more raunchy style ofsinging. In 1994 the music industryawarded her her first Grammy for a collec-tion of Billie Holliday songs, MysteryLady.Her warts and all autobiography, ARage to Survive, was published in 1998.

James cameron

is the king of...

preston!LOS AnGELES

AGeNcIeS

Until last week, the closest thing toHollywood I'd seen in the ramshackleworking class suburb of Preston inMelbourne's north was Hail lead actor(and ex-con) Daniel P. Jones drivingaround Preston Market carpark. Now that's gonna change with newsthat Mr 3D himself, James Cameron,has opened the first internationaloffice of his 3D production business inPreston (of all places) withcinematographer Vince Pace. To cribfrom the press release: Cameron said he hoped the company,Cameron Pace Group, would make iteasier for television and filmmakers toadopt 3D technology. Andrew Wight, producer of 3D featureSanctum, was appointed managingdirector of CPG's Australian office. Hesaid the company would allowfilmmakers in Australia to use thesame technology Cameron used inAvatar. He said Melbourne was chosenbecause it was home to manyinternational sporting events,including the Melbourne Cup andgrand prix. Its filmmaking communityhad also 'embraced' 3D technology, hesaid. The Preston site includes officeand warehouse space where thecompany will store 3D cameras,production and servicing equipment.There will also be a 3D screeningroom. No word as yet whether MessrsCameron, Pace and Wight will also bestepping out for dumplings atPreston's legendary one NoodleFriendship... but let's hope they get todiscover this and other gems in theirmost unlikely new location.

Obituary: Etta James

mumBAI:celebrations arealready on tobring in hrithik'ssister, Sunaina's40th birthday onJanuary 22, 2012.We hear dotingdad RakeshRoshan has justgifted hisdaughter a high-end sedan, whichshe adores. And,hrithik andSuzzane Roshanhave planned asurprise birthdaybash for the lady.Said our source,"Both father andson have decidedto make Sunaina'sbirthday special.to top it all,Sunaina herself isbusy with theproduction oftheir film Krrish3." AGeNcIeS

Hrithik Roshan plans big bash for sisterManya files for

MaCaU: Zeenat aman

attends the Zee Cine awards

2012 red carpet event. afp

MaCaU: Shah rukh khan and

wife Gauri attend the Zee

Cine awards red carpet. afp

lahore: an artist

performs during the

33rd Bolan awards. INp

LAHOREAGeNcIeS

The cafe trend has become sopopular these days especially inLahore. We witness some greatcafes now depending upon dif-ferent tastes and for differentage groups. Not only the foodthe ambiance of these cafes issimple outstanding. These cafesare a regular spot for teenagers,housewives for their kitty par-ties and also business for theirmeetings over a cup of coffee.Ze grill followed the same trendand recently opened its Art Cafewhich is the first Art Cafe inPakistan. The special feature ofthis café is that different artistshave displayed their paintingsin the café. Along with paint-ings another interesting as wellas entertaining feature is livemusic where various traditionalmusical instruments are played.The ambiance of the café is very

artistic because of these specialfeatures. Barrister Aitzaz Ahsandid the opening ceremony ofthis café along with the owner

of Ijaz Art Gallery. Many artistswere present at the openingceremony. Lahore Art Council’sdeputy director Zulfiqar Ahmad

Zulfi, Zeba David was also pres-ent. Micho Salahuddin who waspresent at the ceremony saidthat,” People now have devel-oped a concept of live musicand paintings. They prefer anice atmosphere. Ceramics andgraphic designers have also dis-played their work. The food isalso amazing and offers a greatmenu”. Zeba David said that,”We love the idea of this caféwhere everyone can sit togetherand have food as well as admirethe paintings. Even if you don’tbuy it you can at least appreci-ate art.” The owner Mansoorsaid that he hoped people willlike the food as well as the café.He also mentioned that peopleappreciate their food. It will bea very good combination of artand food. Aitzaz Ahsan saidthat,” This concept shouldwork, it has added to the cul-ture of Lahore. He appreciatedthe café.

Pakistan's first art cafe

MUMBaI: Manisha koirala is facing relationship trouble once again. The actress, once highlyacclaimed for her roles in movies like ‘Dil Se,’ ‘khamoshi’ ‘Bombay’ and ‘1942: a love Story’,is in the news for her marital troubles. The 42-year-old Manisha who married her longtime friend and businessman SamratDahal in June 2010, went through aturbulent time with her husband. Justsix months after the wedding theactress declared on a socialnetworking site that she wasn’t happywith her marriage and her husbandhad become her “worst enemy.” Thecouple then apparently patched upand all was well, or so it seemed. Butrecently, at a party hosted by Manisha,she allegedly announced to herfriends that she had filed her divorceand was ready to move on in life. Thedevelopment follows close on theheels of reports that Manisha hastaken refuge in the wellnessUniversity, 80 miles away fromChennai, where she apparently islearning how to cope with stress anddepression. well we sure do hopeManya stays strong during this toughtime and tries to get her bearingssoon. AGeNcIeS

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Sunday, 22 January, 2012

16 Foreign News

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The Muslim Brotherhood’s party has won47.18 percent of seats in the Egyptianparliament, the electoral commission an-nounced on Saturday as it gave the finalresults from marathon polls.

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)won 235 seats in the new People’s Assem-bly, or 47.18 percent, committee headAbdel Moez Ibrahim said. The ultra-con-servative Salafist Al Nur party is in sec-

ond place with 121 seats or nearly 25 per-cent, while the liberal Wafd Party followswith nearly nine percent. The FJP se-cured 127 seats on party lists and its can-didates won another 108 infirst-past-the-post constituency votes, ac-cording to the results announced on Sat-urday. The landmark election was thefirst since the overthrow of veteran pres-ident Hosni Mubarak in February lastyear. It was launched in November andcarried out in three stages

The People’s Assembly, or lower

house of parliament, is made up of 498elected MPs and 10 appointed by the rul-ing military. It will hold its first sessionon Monday. once elections for parlia-ment’s upper house, or Shura Council,are concluded in February, the two cham-bers are to choose a 100-member panel todraft a new constitution. A new presidentis then to be elected by June under thetimetable set by the military rulers whoannounced that candidates can registerfor the presidency from April 15.

But there is widespread belief that

the SCAF, to which Mubarak handedover power, will continue to hold on tosome sort of power after the transition.The military has been the backbone ofEgyptian politics ever since the fall ofthe monarchy in 1952, and every presi-dent since has emerged from the topranks of the armed forces. In Egypt’scomplex electoral system, voters castballots for party list candidates to makeup two thirds of parliament, and directvotes for individual candidates for theremaining third.

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FRANCE appeared to lessenthe prospect of an earlywithdrawal from the 10-year war in Afghanistan onSaturday, stressing its

commitment to the country after anAfghan soldier killed four of its troops.

Defence Minister Gerard Longuetand Chief of Defence staff AdmiralEdouard Guillaud flew into Afghanistanfor emergency talks a day after the pres-ident threatened to order a swift exit ofits 3,600 troops on the ground. Paris re-acted furiously after an Afghan soldieron Friday shot dead four unarmed sol-diers and wounded 15 others as theycompleted a work-out on the trainingbase they shared with Afghan troops.“The entire point of this visit is to assessthe position that we have to take,”Longuet told reporters after arriving inKabul to make recommendations toPresident Nicolas Sarkozy on the futureof the deployment. The French role inthe US-led NATo mission is unpopularat home and Friday’s killings come lessthan 100 days before presidential elec-tions. Longuet appeared to distancehimself slightly from the prospect of animmediate withdrawal, saying: “Themission remains exactly the same, tobring about a stable force” and “to han-dover” to the Afghans. “We must reflectin order to support a mission that is asuccess.” France is one of the largestcontributors to the 130,000-strong US-

led NATo force fighting the Taliban andtraining Afghan soldiers to take respon-sibility for security by the end of 2014when foreign troops are scheduled towithdraw. Longuet refused to be drawnabout the possibility of an early with-drawal, saying only: “I’ll talk about thatwith the president, he’s my only boss.”Friday’s attack was the second time in amonth that French troops were shotdead by a man in Afghan army uniform,bringing the country’s overall death tollto 82 since troops deployed in 2001.

Longuet held talks with GeneralJean-Pierre Palasset, the French com-mander on the ground at their mainbase in eastern Afghanistan, and wasthen due to meet General Nazar, com-

mander of the 3rd Afghan armybrigade. on Sunday, the French minis-ter will meet Afghan President HamidKarzai, the Afghan defence and interiorministers, US commander GeneralJohn Allen and other senior command-ers in the International Security Assis-tance Force. A classified report leakedto The New York Times says attacks byAfghan soldiers on NATo soldiers areincreasing and are a “systemic” prob-lem, rather than rooted in isolated in-cidents. The report puts the killingsdown to a decade of contempt that eachside has for the other, and profound illwill among both civilians and soldierson both sides. It downplayed the role ofTaliban infiltrators in the incidents.

Mogadishu govtvows to eradicateShebab militia

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Somali transitional government forces vowedSaturday to rid Mogadishu of all “violentelements,” a day after a major offensiveaimed at dislodging Al-Qaeda-linked Shebabmilitia from the capital. “There are still a fewpockets of resistance of the defeatedterrorists. They launched at least sixdesperate counter-attacks last night, but theTFG (government forces) and AMISoM(African Union Mission in Somalia) troopshave repelled them,” a government militaryofficial said as the Shebab vowed to fight on.“our forces consolidated the positions theycaptured yesterday and the situation is quietthis morning, but the military campaign toeliminate violent elements from Mogadishuwill continue,” added the official, AbdulahiMohamed. Meanwhile an official inGalmudug, a semi-autonomous province ofcentral Somalia, said a foreigner had beenkidnapped there. The foreigner of unknownnationality was on the airport road near thetown of Galkayo “when two pickup trucks fullof gunmen stopped the vehicle and took himaway,” he said. Mohamed said six Somaligovernment troops had been killed and 18wounded since the start of the offensive inMogadishu. An AFP photographer said threeSomali soldiers and a government officialwere killed when Shebab fighters attacked aconvoy including journalists near the frontline. Mohamed said Friday’s offensive left 22Shebab fighters dead, a claim denied by therebels, who also said they withdrew fromsome positions for tactical reasons. “TheChristian enemy and their allied apostateSomali troops attacked our positions fromfour directions,” Shebab spokesman SheikAbdulaziz Abu Musab told reporters.

China faces ‘biggerchallenges’ inDragon year: wen

BEIJInGAfp

China will face “bigger challenges” in thenew Year of the Dragon its Prime MinisterWen Jiabao warned Saturday, as hepledged economic reforms to improvewealth distribution, state media reported.“We are going to face bigger challenges inthe new year,” Wen said in a meeting withtop officials, ahead of Monday, thebeginning of the Year of the Dragon, themost favorable and revered sign in the 12-year Chinese zodiac. The prime ministersaid China had made a good start to theTwelfth Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) “at atime of an austere and complicatedinternational economic situation”. The newyear is set to be key politically, as PresidentHu Jintao ends his second term as partyhead and hands over to a successor, widelyexpected to be Vice President Xi Jinping,kicking off a once-in-a-decade leadershiphandover. The new party head will takeover Hu’s presidency in March 2013, whenPremier Wen Jiabao and his governmentwill also step down. Wen said the maingovernment objective was maintainingprice stability alongside rapid economicdevelopment. Last year, Beijing made somegains in the battle against inflation, as therate went down from 6.55 percent in Julyto 4.1 percent in December. However, thegross domestic product growth of theworld’s second largest economy continuedto fall: 10.4 percent in 2010 to 9.7 percentin the first quarter of 2011. In the second itwas at 9.5 percent, to 9.1 percent in thethird, 8.9 percent in the fourth. Swissinvestment bank UBS has forecast China’sGDP growth could slow to less than 8.0percent in the first quarter.

Police kill senior

Qaeda in Iraq leaderBAGHDAD

Afp

Police killed a senior leader of Al-Qaeda’sfront group in Iraq in clashes whileattempting to arrest him on Saturday, theinterior ministry said in a statement. MajidHassan Ali, head of the Islamic State ofIraq’s operations in the main northern cityof Mosul, was killed and 19 Al-Qaedafighters, two of them Palestinian, arrestedin the gunfight south of the city. “The thirddivision of the federal police ... killed thechief of the ISI in Mosul,” the statementsaid. It said Ali, who is also known as AbuAyman, was hiding in the village of Rufaila,just outside Mosul, a former Al-Qaedabastion in which the jihadists retain afoothold, when federal police forcesconducted an assault on the area. “Duringthe arrests, heavy clashes erupted betweenthe police and the terrorists,” the statementsaid. “During these clashes, he was killedand 19 terrorists were arrested, includingtwo Palestinians.” Federal police officersrecovered magnetic “sticky bombs”,roadside bombs, and several bags ofexplosives, as well as weapons andammunition as a result of the operation,according to the statement.

roadside bomb kills 11

in Syria prison trucknICOSIA

Afp

A roadside bomb killed 11 detainees beingtransported in a Syrian prison truck in Idlibprovince in the northwest on Saturday, theSyrian observatory for Human Rights said.“Eleven prisoners were killed in theexplosion which targeted a prison truck onthe road between Idlib town and the villageof Mastumeh,” the Britain-based group’schairman, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP bytelephone. A number of security personnelaccompanying the prisoners were wounded,Abdel Rahman said, without being able toprovide details. Separately, the observatoryreported that a member of the security forceswas killed in fighting between dissidents andsoldiers at Kfarnebel, in the Zawiyamountains of Idlib province, with troopsusing heavy machineguns.

Brothers win almost half of Egypt parliament seats

mAle: maldivian riot police detain a demonstrator on Saturday. Dozens of anti-government activists were arrested in the maldivian capital as the government accused them of whippingup religious extremism. afp

France pledges commitmentto Afghanistan despite killings

KABul: french Defence minister Gerard longuet stands in front of the four coffins offrench soldiers to pay his respects during a ceremony at Kabul Airport on Saturday. afp

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Foreign News 17Sunday, 22 January, 2012

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THE Yemeni parliamentadopted on Saturday a lawgiving veteran President AliAbdullah Saleh immunityfrom prosecution in return for

stepping down under a Gulf-brokeredtransition deal.

The law adopted gives Saleh, inpower since 1978, “complete” immunity,and also offers partial protection fromlegal action to his aides. The final textsays Saleh’s lieutenants cannot face pros-ecution for “actions that were politicallymotivated and carried out in the exercise

of their duties,” but specifies that theamnesty “does not apply to acts of terror-ism.” The transitional government of na-tional unity, which is led by theparliamentary opposition, had submitted11th-hour amendments on Friday reduc-ing the scope of the amnesty offered tothe president’s aides following a publicoutcry. The immunity pledge, which wasa key element of the hard-won Gulf dealthat Saleh signed in November, has beenstrongly criticised by Western humanrights groups and the United Nations.

UN High Commissioner for HumanRights Navi Pillay said earlier this monththat anyone who had committed abusesduring the mass protests in Yemen that

erupted in January last year must not beallowed to evade justice. Pillay urged de-cision-makers in Yemen to respect theprohibition in international law againstamnesties for gross human rights viola-tions. Leaders of the protest movementhave also kept up demonstrations againstthe immunity pledge demanding thatSaleh and his cohorts be put on trial.

Parliament also adopted a law ap-proving Saleh’s longtime deputy, VicePresident Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, asconsensus candidate in the election forhis successor, which is due to be held onFebruary 21. There had been speculationthat mounting violence in the south andeast between the army and Al-Qaeda

linked militants might trigger a delay tothe poll. But a senior official of Saleh’sGeneral People’s Congress (GPC) party,Sultan al-Barakani, insisted on Wednes-day that the vote would be held on time.

The Gulf-brokered transition agree-ment foresees that Hadi will be the solecandidate but his nomination has beenstrongly criticised by the protest move-ment because of his close links withSaleh. Barakani said that, ahead of theelection, the veteran president, who re-mains in office on an honorary basis,would travel abroad. “In the coming days,he will visit the sultanate of oman andthen Ethiopia before travelling to NewYork for treatment” for wounds he sus-

tained in a bombing at the presidentialpalace last June, the GPC official toldAFP. “once he has completed his treat-ment in New York, he will return toYemen to continue to leading the party.”

Late last month, Saleh announced hisintention to visit the United States “inorder to create favourable conditions ...for the presidential election.” But a seniorofficial declared shortly afterwards thatthe trip had been cancelled following arequest from his ruling party that he re-main in Yemen until after the vote. onTuesday, US Secretary of State HillaryClinton criticised Saleh’s failure to goabroad, saying that he had given an un-dertaking to do so.

Yemen MPs approve controversial Saleh immunity law

Maoist landmine

attack kills 12

policemen in IndiaPAtnA

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A landmine attack by Maoist rebels ineastern India killed at least 12 policemenand injured three others, authorities saidon Saturday. The attack, targeting a policevehicle in Jharkhand state, was to protestagainst the killing of one of the top Maoistleaders Koteswar Rao — better known asKishenji — by security forces last year,police said. “The Maoists triggered apowerful landmine targeting the policevehicle in Garhwa district,” senior policeofficial Suman Gupta told AFP bytelephone from state capital Ranchi. Thepolicemen were apparently trapped by theMaoists in a forested area of the district,Gupta added. The Maoist insurgency,which began in 1967, feeds off landdisputes, police brutality and corruption,and is strongest in the poorest and mostdeprived areas of India, many of whichare rich in natural resources. The attackwas the latest in a series of rebel strikeson often poorly trained police battlingthe Maoist rebels, fighting to overthrowall state and national authorities. Lastmonth, another landmine attack byMaoist rebels in the same state struck aconvoy of a senior politician, killing 10policemen and a young boy. Theincreasingly lethal insurgency hasspread to around 20 of India’s 29 statesand has been described by PrimeMinister Singh as the country’s biggestinternal security threat.

festival reading of

rushdie book stirs

anger in IndiaJAIPuR

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Indian police examined television footageon Saturday pending any formalinvestigation after Salman Rushdie’sbanned novel “The Satanic Verses” wasread out at a literary festival. Rushdie wasforced to withdraw from appearing at theJaipur Literature Festival due to securityfears when some Muslim groups threatenedto demonstrate at the event over theallegedly blasphemous book. Fellowauthors at the festival expressed theiropposition to the campaign against Indian-born Rushdie, and on Friday writers HariKunzru and Amitava Kumar read outpassages of “The Satanic Verses” from thestage in protest. “We are examining thefootage,” deputy inspector general of Jaipurpolice Biju George Joseph told AFP. “Theauthors have been told to stick to theirtopics and not enter any controversy.” “Itwas only some sentences taken from thebook, they did not have a copy of the bookitself,” he added. Muslim activists said theywould register their claims with the policethat the reading was illegal. “We willdiscuss the matter with our people and afterthat we will lodge a formal complaint withpolice,” Engineer Salim, who represents theRajasthan Muslim Forum, a Jaipur-basedumbrella organisation, told AFP. “It is anoffence. Action must be taken against thosewho did it,” he said.

NABluS: palestinian demonstrators bang on pots as they march in this West Bank city to protest against the government’s recentlyannounced economic austerity measures on Saturday. afp

zAGREBAfp

Croatia geared up Saturday for a refer-endum on entry into the EuropeanUnion, a vote that political leaders heresay will shape the future of the Balkancountry 20 years after independence.

Surveys in the last few monthshave consistently showed that around60 percent of Croatians will say ‘yes’ inSunday’s vote, allowing the former Yu-goslav republic to join the bloc in July2013. An anti-EU protest in the capitalZagreb, which managed to attract onlysome 200 mostly elderly people, endedin scuffles with police Saturday as pro-testers tried to remove an EU flag fromthe main square.

Five people were detained, includ-

ing the organisers. Political leadersacross the board have lobbied hard fora positive outcome of the referendumand on Saturday Croatia’s leadingdailies emphasized the benefits ofmembership in the bloc, seen as abreak with the volatile Balkans region.“Croatia’s (2009) entry into NATo andthe EU definitely separates us from la-tent political insecurity of the rest ofthe western Balkans,” commented theinfluential Jutarnji List daily.

In a column entitled “Decision onEU: Chaos or Stability” the paper saidthat “for Croatia EU entry is an issue oflasting peace and stability”. on FridayPresident Ivo Josipovic gave a televisedaddress to the nation when he urgedvoters to “Say ‘yes’ to Croatia, say ‘yes’to Europe.” He said the outcome of the

vote was “one of the most importantdecisions in Croatia’s history”.

In the 1990s, when other post-communist countries in central andeastern Europe were strengtheningtheir democracies and paving their waytowards EU integration, Croatia’s EUaspirations were halted by the 1991-95war with rebel Serbs and its legacy. Itwas not until 2000 that the election ofpro-European rulers enabled Croatia’stransformation into a genuine parlia-mentary democracy eligible for EUcandidate status. However long andoften thorny accession talks thatopened in 2005 dampened enthusiasmfor the EU, and the current economiccrisis within the bloc has eroded it fur-ther, so for many Croatians Sunday’svote will be a pragmatic one.

hamas says Meshaal

wants to step

down as leaderGAzA CItY

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Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, whosurvived a 1997 Israeli assassination bid,has confirmed he wants to step down aftereight years in the post, the Islamistmovement said Saturday. “Political bureauchief Khaled Meshaal has notified Hamas’sconsultative council that he does not wishto be a candidate for the movement’sfuture leadership,” a statement said. SeniorHamas figures have asked the Damascus-based Meshaal to reconsider, the statementsaid. They urged him to leave it to theconsultative council to decide “on the basisof the higher interests of the movement,”stressing that it was “not a purely personalmatter.” Meshaal, 55, will remain active inHamas “in the service of the people, themovement and the Palestinian cause,” thestatement stressed. The political bureau isHamas’s principal decision-making bodyand its members are elected by secretballot by the much larger consultativecouncil. The next elections are expected tobe held in July or August, Hamas sourcessaid. Among the leading candidates toreplace Meshaal, are his number two,Mussa Abu Marzuq, who also lives in exile;the leader of the Hamas government inGaza, Ismail Haniya, and anotherprominent Gaza Hamas figure, MahmudZahar. The Hamas confirmation thatMeshaal wants to step down comes amidpress reports of growing friction betweenthe Damascus-based leadership-in-exileand the movement’s Gaza wing, which hasruled the territory since ousting forcesloyal to Palestinian president MahmudAbbas in 2007. A series of meetings whichMeshaal has held with Abbas in recentmonths in a bid to reconcile the twofactions and unify their rivaladministrations have reportedly drawncriticism from some Gaza leaders.

croatia gears up for key vote on EU entry

aIDS kills 28,000

in China in 2011BEIJInG

Afp

AIDS killed 28,000 people in China lastyear, and another 48,000 new infectionsfrom the HIV virus were discovered inthe country, according to an officialreport on Saturday. In China 780,000people live with the HIV virus, of which154,000 developed AIDS, a report jointlyproduced by China’s Ministry of Health,the Joint United Nations Programme onHIV/AIDS and the World Healthorganization said. In September 2011there were 136,000 people receivinganti-viral treatment for the disease, itsaid, making the treatment coverage rate73.5 percent, an increase of 11.5percentage points compared to 2009.The report, quoted by China’s officialstate media Xinhua, said some newtrends had appeared, notably “a rise inthe number of imported cases and thosetransmitted sexually”. Sexual relationsare the first source of contamination ofthe HIV virus in China, where a hugeblood contamination scandal erupted inthe central Henan province in the 1990s.

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DuBAIAfp

ENGLAND batsmanJonathan Trott onSaturday refused tobe drawn into the on-

going controversy over Pak-istani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal'saction, saying it was up to thegame's governing body and of-ficials to decide.

The prelude to the three-Test series was surrounded byAjmal's mystery delivery whichhe claimed to unveil againstEngland. Ajmal took a careerbest 7-55 and 3-42 to help Pak-istan rout England by ten wick-ets inside three days, triggeringdoubts over the legitimacy ofhis bowling action which wasalready questioned and clearedin 2009.

Former England pacemanBob Willis sparked the contro-versy by saying he has problemswith Ajmal's doosra -- a deliv-ery bowled with the same ac-tion but turns the other waythan an off-break.

When asked about Ajmal'saction, Trott said: "It's not re-ally my place, I've played

against the bowler before andwe've been pretty successful.

"With regards to deliveryaction and stuff, that wouldn'tbe beneficial for us to worryabout the legitimiacy of some-one's action, it's important thatwe won the next game and don'ttake our attention off that," saidTrott. "It's their (on-field um-pires) job, its not our job to doanything with regards to oppo-sition players, we've got toworry about outselves. The factof the matter is we are 1-0 downand we've got to win the nextmatch."

The second Test starts inAbu Dhabi from January 25.Dubai will stage the thrid andfinal Test from February 3-7.The teams will also play fourone-day and three Twenty20internationals.

Trott, 30, praised Ajmal butrefused to accept Englandneeded specific preparationsagainst him.

"of course, whenever some-body takes ten wickets whetherseamer or spinner, I don't thinkyou go around preparing for aspecific type of bowling or aperson you try and make sure

that your game is in goodorder," said Trott.

Trott said he was confidentEngland can stage a comeback.

"Since I have been a part ofthis team for two and a bityears, we've had a few losses,but we have managed to bounceback in the following games, soit's a case of hopefully beingable to do that again," he said.

England team directorAndy Flower said he has hisown views on Ajmal's action.

"I don't think that (Ajmal'saction) has got into the guysheads," said Flower on Friday.

"our job is to deal withwhatever bowlers bowl againstus and the ICC's job is to policethe guy. I have got my own pri-vate views and talking aboutthem here is not going to helpany situations," said Flower.Flower accepted England'sthree-day capitulation was ashock. "It was a bit of a shock.We played and batted poorly.Test cricket is a tough game. Ifyou give people an opening likethat they will punish you. ThePakistan side is good enough todo that," said Flower, a formerZimbabwe batsman.

pOA DISpElS IMpRESSION Of RIGGING plAN

Page 20

Sunday, 22 January, 2012

Challenging the status quo

DUBaI: england's Jonathan Trott looks on during a training sessionat the ICC Global Cricket academy. REUTERS

‘It’s for umpires and ICCto rule on action legitimacy’

DUBaI: Pakistan's captain Misbah-ul-haq and teammates during a practice session at the ICC Global Cricket academy in Dubai Sports City. afp

Ijaz Butt justifiesdecisions of his tenure

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

Much criticised former chairman of thePakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt hasinsisted that the present performance of thenational team has vindicated the decisionstaken by the board during his tenure. "Pak-istan has achieved the unthinkable by up-setting England in the first Test. Whateverwe did to revive our cricket team is vindi-cated," Butt said. The former Test cricketerfaced lot of criticism during his three yearstint as the chief of the PCB before being re-placed by present chairman, Zaka Ashraf inoctober last year. Many critics and formerplayers blamed Butt for a one-man show inPakistan cricket and not respecting seniorplayers especially after his standoff with for-mer one-day skipper, Shahid Afridi, whichled to his sacking as captain. "When we de-cided to appoint Misbah-ul-Haq as captainfor all three formats of the game there waslot of criticism directed at me and theboard. But he has lived up to the expecta-tions and faith we had in him. "Misbah hasshown he is a mature and sensible captain,"he insisted. Butt, whose tenure saw the at-tack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009 andthe spot-fixing scandal in 2010, said he hadtaken decisions keeping in mind the longterm benefits of the Pakistan cricket. "I amhappy to see the team doing so well for thepast many months," he said. Butt attrib-uted the consistently good performances tomore discipline among the players and inthe team. "The players are taking pride intheir performances and there is competitionfor places in the team which is a good andpositive sign," he said. Butt said the teammanagement deserved a lot of credit for in-stalling a new disciplined culture in theteam. He said he might have made mis-takes in his tenure but his intention was al-ways to see Pakistan cricket team do well."At the end of the day the board and theplayers are partners and should have onecommon aim to see Pakistan win," hestressed. Butt, however, said Pakistanwould have to work harder to win the seriesagainst England. "England is a top side so

the players need toremain focused.

But if SaeedAjmal, UmarGul and otherbowlers con-tinue theirform Pak-istan can get

more victo-ries," he

said.

Mani asks PCB to stoprunning after BCCI

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

Former ICC President Ehsan Mani has ad-vised the Pakistan Cricket Board to stop"wasting time" in trying to convince theBCCI for resumption of bilateral cricket tiesbetween the two countries. "The Pakistanboard is wasting its time because cricketties between the two countries have alwaysbeen influenced by politics between the twogovernments," Mani said in a television in-terview. "Instead of running after the In-dian board and trying to convince them,the PCB should utilise its energies in seek-ing government help and support in orderto get bilateral ties resumed," he said. Manisaid efforts needed to be made to get theIndian government to give clearance for bi-lateral matches. "That is why this matterhas to be resolved at the political and gov-ernment level and not by the boards. It isimportant for Pakistan and India to playcricket but this is something for the politi-cians to realise," he added. Since ZakaAshraf took over as Chairman, PCB hasmade several attempts to convince theBCCI to give a go ahead for Pakistan'sscheduled tour to India next year which hasnow been shelved due to various reasons,mainly the organisation of the Asia Cup inBangladesh in March. Mani said it wasmost unfortunate that Pakistan was notgetting any international cricket. "I thinkthe ICC need to do more to get teams tonow play in Pakistan. That is why it is goodthat the PCB has also taken the initiative byinviting Bangladesh," he said. "It is time in-ternational teams played in Pakistan whichis a nation of 180 million people most ofwhom are passionate aboutcricket and deserve tosee international cricketat home," he added.The PCB has sent itsChief operating officerSubhan Ahmad toDhaka to convince theirCricket Board to senda securitydelegationto Pakistanahead ofthe seriesto be heldin April.

LAHOREASheR Butt

THE Pakistan olympics Associationwill this coming March would seelot of trading carried out with its

president Lt Gen ® Arif Hasan facingtough opposition in the PoA elections.

Although Gen Arif claimed to havethe support of 75 officials, his immediaterivals Qasim Zia, President PakistanHockey Federation and Maj Gen (retd)Mohammad Akram Sahi, President Ath-letics Federation of Pakistan too claimedto have got ample support to overthrowGen Arif from presidency.

The PoA on Saturday revealed acomplete procedure of rules that shouldbe followed for the coming elections dur-ing which at least 96 sports officials willcast their votes and in case the court pro-ceedings of three federations took finalshape then there would be 104 voters.The procedure was given for the first timebecause there has never been a situationwhen voting had taken place.

The PoA has for the first time sincethe inception of the Pakistan olympicsMovement chalked out an election proce-dure which was never been come intoforce. And PoA president after consult-ing the PoA constitution and the IoCCharter issued the elections rules.

Addressing a press conference on Sat-urday at the olympics House, Gen Arif dis-pelled the impression that he wasmanipulating a move to rig the elections.

H was flanked by Ch Yaqoob,Shaukat Javed and PoA secretaryKhaliq Khan. “We have formed an Elec-tion Commission having three advo-cates in the body and have sent to theaspiring candidates. And if the candi-dates have any objection to any rulethey can approach the Election Com-mission following the procedure laidout in the constitution.

“Ali Raza (advocate) is the chairmanof the commission while Dr Irfan Ma-sood Sheikh (advocate) and Lt Col ®Khalid Hussain are its members andowais Waheed (advocate) is the secre-

tary. And all that has been done accord-ing to the Article IX (4) (a) of the con-stitution,” he mainatined.

Islamabad olympics Association Pres-ident Brig Arif Mahmud Siddiqui on Fri-day termed the formation of the electioncommission as Gen Arif’s move to gethimself elected for the third term.

The LoA President termed the movenot only as unethical but also contrary toIoC Charter. He further said, since GeneralArif Hasan himself (so far) is contesting theelection himself he should not be appoint-ing his hand picked election commissionwith absolute powers without any repre-sentation from the General Council of PoAor the other contenders. IoA considers themove as uncalled for and non transparent.Therefore IoA will protest against thismove, Brig Arif Siddiqui added.

Gen Arif, however, stated that theyhave also requested the olympics Commit-tee of Asia and the International olympicsCommittee to send their representatives tomonitor the elections. “We wanted to keepeverything transparent and following the

procedure an email has been forwarded toall the candidates with the nominationforms and now they have enough time toreturn their nomination papers. We havenot given any cut off date for collecting theforms and instead emailed all the relevantdocuments to them,” he added.

He said that Khaliq Khan has eventalked to Asif Bajwa, secretary PHF onphone informing him about the procedureand no one has filed any objection so far.

He further stated that there was alsocontrasting reports on show of hands orsecret balloting. “PoA constitution isclear in this regard and where its is silentit is stated that IoC charter should be fol-lowed which calles for secret ballot. Andif anyone have any objection on that heshould ask the Election Commission. Wewould be willing to suggest to the ElectionCommission to have an agent of everycandidate with the ballot boxes at thetime of shifting and counting of the votes.

Like all the other candidates, QasimZia and Gen Akran Sahi, Gen Arif alsoclaimed to have the support of 75 officials.

Arif reveals polls procedure for transparency

LHR 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:40 AM Page 18

Sports 19Sunday, 22 January, 2012

MELBOuRnEAfp

DEFENDING championNovak Djokovic blitzed hisway into the Australianopen fourth round on Sat-urday, conceding just two

games as big guns Andy Murray andJo-Wilfried Tsonga also easedthrough. The Serbian top seed, yet todrop a set in Melbourne as he chasesa third consecutive grand slam title,destroyed hapless Mahut 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in just 74 minutes.

Last year's beaten finalist Mur-ray, the British fourth seed, had notrouble dispatching FrenchmanMichael Llodra in a night match thatfeatured some crowd-thrilling rallies.And French sixth seed Tsonga, wholost to Djokovic in the 2008 Mel-bourne final, was also in a hurry, de-molishing Portugal's Frederico Gil,ranked 107th, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

Djokovic, who set the tennis worldalight in 2011, barely broke sweat as hereached the round of 16 in Melbournefor the sixth straight year. He lookedin ominous form as he set up a clashwith two-times grand slam championLleyton Hewitt after the Australian'sgutsy four-set win over Canadianpower-server Milos Raonic in thenight match on Rod Laver Arena.Djokovic leads Hewitt 4-1. Mahut, whoshares the record for the longest-evertennis match of 11 hours and five min-utes with John Isner at Wimbledontwo years ago, struggled with a leftknee injury on his 30th birthday."Credit to Nicolas. obviously, he hadsome strapping around his knee and I

felt sorry for him," Djokovic said."Evidently he was not moving well,

he was not able to perform his best,but he didn't want to retire and hewanted to stay all the way so I wishhim happy birthday." Djokovic, whobroke Mahut's serve eight times andmade only eight unforced errors in the20 games, is bidding to become thefifth man to win three consecutivegrand slams after winning Wimbledonand the US open last year. Murray wasalso in commanding form, seeing off46th-ranked Llodra 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 andwill play Mikhail Kukushkin of Kaza-khstan in the round of 16. He was al-ways in control of the erraticFrenchman, breaking six times andhitting an impressive 48 winners.

Meanwhile Tsonga, the top-ranked French player, said not havinga coach had done him no harm at allafter seeing off Gil to set up a matchwith Japan's 24th seed, Kei Nishikori.

Tsonga parted company with long-time coach Eric Winogradsky lastApril and has since been on his own,

but in that time he has reached thesemi-finals at Wimbledon and the USopen quarter-finals. After putting Gilto the sword on Saturday, the 26-year-old Tsonga said he saw no pressingneed to recruit a replacement mentor.

"I mean, it's not the first one(tournament without a coach), so Ifeel good. I'm oK," he said. "You canalso improve your game by yourself.I've improved a lot. "I'm here becausemaybe I had a coach, but now I feellike I have to follow my opinionmaybe a bit more."

Tsonga, unbeaten in eight matchesthis season after winning his eighthATP singles title in Doha, said he in-tended to go it alone until results forceda rethink. Gil was the first Portugueseman to reach the third round at a grandslam. In other action on Saturday,Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer, a semi-finalist last year, saw off Argentina'sJuan Ignacio Chela 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 andwill play Richard Gasquet in the nextround. French 14th seed Gael Monfilsbowed out in five sets to Kukushkin.

Djokovic and Murraypower into fourth round

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Satur-day unveiled the trophy of the ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhutto WomenCricket Challenge Cup here at theGaddafi Satdium conference hall.

Captains of all the six participatingteams - Kainat Imtiaz (Sindh), SalmaFaiz (KPK), Sana Gulzar (Punjab),Nahida Bibi (Balochistan), MariamHassan Shah (Federal) and Sana Mir(ZTBL) - were present on the occasionand had a photo session while holdingthe trophy. The Zarai Taraqyati BankLtd supported tournament will startfrom January 22 (today) and will beplayed at the Gaddafi Stadium and theKinnaird College ground.

The first edition of this T20 compe-tition is being participated by nationallevel players who have been divided intosix teams including Punjab, Sindh, Khy-ber Pakhtoonkhaw, Balochistan, Fed-

eral Capital and the ZTBL. These teamshave further been divided into twopools, with the winner of each poolqualifying for the final. The openingceremony of the event will be held onJanuary 22 at the Kinnaird CollegeGround while the final will be played onJanuary 24 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.Two matches will be played on the

opening day while three matches a dayhave been scheduled later on, with twoto be played at the Gaddafi Stadium andone at the Kinnaird College ground. Thewinner will be given Rs 100,000 andthe runner-up team will be awarded Rs50,000 while the Player of the Tourna-ment would get Rs 25,000 and thePlayer of the Match receives Rs 10,000.

lahore: The captains of all the six participating teams of the Shaheed Mohtarma BenazirBhutto women Cricket Challenge Cup hold the trophy at an unveiling ceremony. STaff pHOTO

pCB unveils Bhutto WomenCricket Challenge Trophy

MELBOuRnEAfp

Serena Williams Saturday said she was un-concerned at being the last American stand-ing at the Australian open, and backed thegreat tennis nation to rise again as new starsmature. The 13-time grand slam queen, whohammered Hungary's Greta Arn 6-1, 6-1 tomove serenely into the fourth round, saidplayers like John Isner and Sloane Stephensshowed the United States had a bright future.

She was speaking after no Americanman reached the last 16 for the first timein the open era, among editions US playershave entered. Vania King, the only otherAmerican woman left on Saturday, wasbeaten by Ana Ivanovic. "I think SloaneStephens played really well. I think shejust played tough players," said Williams,referring to the 18-year-old's loss to Svet-

lana Kuznetsova. "Svetlana is a grand slamchampion and she (Stephens) almost camethrough in that. I think John (Isner)played really well. He played marathonmatches, so that was tough.

"Andy (Roddick) unfortunately had toretire, it wasn't necessarily his fault. I thinkwe are all doing pretty well. I'm still in thetournament. We're just all fighting." Rod-dick was forced to retire with a hamstringstrain while playing Lleyton Hewitt, USnumber one Mardy Fish went out to Ale-jandro Falla and five-set specialist Isnerexited at the hands of Feliciano Lopez.While Williams' sister Venus skipped Mel-bourne because of an autoimmune disease,inexperienced Stephens was beaten in thesecond round. But Williams said she didn'teven think of her nationality when shestepped on court. "I really don't think whenI go out there that I'm the last American,"

she said. "I just think, you know, I'm tryingto come in here and win this match, playthis girl. That's all I really think about."And Williams was in ominous form as shedominated Arn, the world number 92, towin in less than an hour on Saturday. The32-year-old Hungarian had a break pointin the opening game, but could not pressher advantage as Williams stepped up tooverpower her opponent and run awaywith the match in 59 minutes.

Williams broke Arn twice in the first setand three times in the second as the Hungar-ian wilted on the big stage of a grand slamcentre court. But Williams, playing only hersecond tournament since the US open lastSeptember, said she still had some way to gobefore she was fully match-fit. "I'm nowherenear where I want to be, but I'm trying to playthrough it," she said. "I'm really rusty -- I'mjust trying to play through the rust."

americans set to rise again: Serena

MelBoUrNe: Serena williams of the US hits a shot against Greta arn of hungary in theirthird round australian open match. afp

Mr, Jr Mr PakistanContest finals today

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

The 60th Mr and Junior Mr Pakistan Com-petition and National Bodybuilding Cham-pionships finals will be held on January 22here at Alhamra Hall. According to SheikhFarooq, secretary Pakistan BodybuildingFederation, the competition is being held incollaboration with the Wapda Sports Boardand is being participated by musclemenfrom all the four provinces Punjab, Sindh,Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islam-abad, Tafa, Army, olice, HEC, Railways andWapda. Lt Gen ® Arif Hasan HI(M) will bethe chief guest of the prize distribution cere-mony and give the trophies to the winners.

ameen threatenskhan with legal action

LOnDOnAfp

Mustafa Ameen, the International BoxingFederation official at the centre of the AmirKhan world title fight controversy, threatenedlegal action against the British star on Friday.Khan lost his WBA and IBF light-welter-weight titles on a split decision to Americanopponent Lamont Peterson in Washingtonon December 10. But Ameen, an IBF officialwho was ringside but had no official role atthe fight, was accused by Khan of interferingwith the judges' scorecards. "Amir Khan isgoing to have to apologise," Ameen told SkySports News. "I'm going to tell you that I amalready in the process - you are hearing it first- I will litigate this. "I am already in discus-sions with some of the most successful legalfirms in Britain regarding the slander, the li-bellous statements that have been madeagainst me by Amir Khan and other individu-als in the press and I intend to fully seek aremedy in a legal form, in a court of law.

adnan has no guiltreplacing brother

LAHOREStAff RepoRt

Pakistan's young wicketkeeper AdnanAkmal says he has no guilt over replacing hiselder brother Kamran in the national team."No, there is no such feeling that I am takinghis place in the team. our family believesthat whoever plays for Pakistan should givehis best and contribute to the team doingwell," PTI quoted Adnan from Dubai. 26-year-old Adnan, who stood out in first Testagainst England with his sharp keeping andimpressive batting, said he was proud to bethe third Akmal brother to play for Pakistan."There is no competition among us brothers.We try to support each other all the time.Kamran is presently out of the team but heis playing domestic cricket and is there forme," said Adnan who has been Pakistan'sregular wicketkeeper in Tests since late2010. "Kamran was the first in our family toplay for Pakistan and is the eldest. So obvi-ously he has a special place for us," he said.Adnan became the third Akmal brother toplay for Pakistan after Kamran and Umarand he had 45 dismissals behind the stumpsin 11 Tests he has featured in so far. Kamran,30, played in 53 Tests, 137 oDIs and 38Twenty20 International matches after hisdebut in 2002 but has not been selected forthe national team since 2011 World Cup. Hislast appearance was in World Cup semifinalagainst India at Mohali. Adnan said he wasdelighted to be part of a team that has beendoing well in Tests in the last one year. "Yesit is a good feeling to be part of a winningteam and I think we are doing well becauseeveryone contributes in some way to theteam," he said. Adnan, who scored a match-winning 61 against England, said he hadfaced no pressure while at the crease. "No,there was no pressure I was just watchingevery ball and than deciding what to do.When you are playing for your country thanyou are expected to do well and contributein some way to the team," he said.

kIMBERLEYAfp

Sri Lanka celebrated a rare success Friday ona tour to South Africa with a five-wicket victoryin the fourth one-day international.

Big knocks from captain Tillakaratne Dil-shan (87), man-of-the-match Thisara Perera(69) and Dinesh Chandimal (59) lifted the vis-itors to 304-5 after the home side reached 299-7 with skipper AB de Villiers (96) to the fore.

After keeping close to the six-run-an-over target at the De Beers Diamond oval formuch of the innings, the Sri Lankan batsmanhit out against a South African attack sorelymissing rested fast bowler Dale Steyn.

Unfortunately, the win came too late forthe tourists to affect the five-game serieswith the Proteas taking a winning 3-0 leadthree days ago thanks to a four-run win in arain-hit Bloemfontein contest.

But the outcome in this northern Capecity did emphasise the steady improvementof Sri Lanka after a nightmare openingmatch in which they were bowled for 43 tosuffer a humiliating 258-run loss.

"This was a fantastic effort as we werehoping to restrict South Africa to 250 or 260runs," said Dilshan, "and on a personal noteit was nice getting a big score again."

Sri lanka turn the tide on Sa

South AfRIcA

A. petersen c tharanga b herath 37

G. Smith c Dilshan b malinga 68

A.B. de Villiers b perera 96

c. Ingram lbw b Kulasekara 1

J.p. Duminy c Sangakkara b perera 36

f. du plessis c Sangakkara b herath 5

W. parnell run out (tharanga) 21

R. peterson not out 23

V. philander not out 2

eXtRAS (b4, w6) 10

totAl (7 wkts, 50 overs) 299

fall of wickets: 1-84 (petersen), 2-171 (Smith), 3-172

(Ingram), 4-242 (Duminy), 5-250 (De Villiers), 6-252 (Du

plessis), 7-289 (parnell)

BoWlING: malinga 10-0-57-1 (4w), Kulasekara 8-0-40-1,

Senanayake 10-1-53-0, perera 4-0-34-2 (2w), mathews 1-0-6-0,

Dilshan 8-0-60-0, herath 9-0-45-2

SRI lANKA

u. tharanga c De Villiers b tsotsobe 6

t. Dilshan c Duminy b tsotsobe 87

K. Sangakkara c petersen b peterson 32

D. chandimal b tsotsobe 59

l. thirimanne c Duminy b philander 13

t. perera not out 69

A. mathews not out 21

eXtRAS (b4, lb5, w6, nb2) 17

totAl (5 wkts, 48.4 overs) 304

fall of wickets: 1-17 (tharanga), 2-100 (Sangakkara), 3-168

(Dilshan), 4-194 (thirmanne), 5-246 (chandimal)

BoWlING: morkel 8-0-43-0 (2w), tsotsobe 10-0-51-3 (1w),

philander 6-0-39-1 (2w), parnell 9-0-52-0 (1nb), Duminy 4.4-0-

37-0, peterson 6-0-47-1, Du plessis 5-0-26-0 (1w)

Result: Sri lanka win by five wickets

man of the match: thisara perera (SRI)

Series: South Africa lead five-match series 3-1

toss: South Africa

ScoReBoARD

LHR 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:40 AM Page 19

Sports20Sunday, 22 January, 2012

THE previous week has witnessedsome major sporting convulsions;Pakistan making a mockery of Eng-land’s number one ranking was one

of them. Then there were massive local ri-valries that concluded on both ends of thestatus quo in Spanish football and theNBA. Meanwhile the chasing pack is vyingto change the monopoly over majors of thetop three ranked players in tennis.

pAKIStAN oVeRpoWeR the BeSt

The monotonous landslide in Dubai, thatsaw Pakistan outmaneuver the English sidein every possible way culminated an 18month search for redemption for Pakistan.Having a 1-0 lead might not be decisive as faras the series is concerned but the overpow-ering performance, against the world’s best,has completed the transformation of ourcricket side – from being the butt of globalscorn to now being a veritable cricketingpower. The fact that the zenith of our recentpast has been traced against the side againstwhom we located our nadir in an unceremo-nious summer of 2010 is truly the icing onthe cake. All the same, we must guard againstcomplacency – something that captain Mis-bah-ul-Haq has been keen on ensuring – be-cause England is too good a side to performas wretchedly again. And yes, labeling theEnglish performance as ‘wretched’ is incred-ibly generous on the part of this writer.

Being on the receiving end of a 10-wicket bashing flattered England to be hon-est; had their tail not wagged in both theinnings they would’ve had been staringdown the barrel of an innings and 200 oddrun mauling. To be fair, the English bowlersdid a reasonable job, and toiled hard on anot-so-conducive wicket. But their battingleft a lot to be desired (generosity again);and it’s hard to envisage a formidable lineupputting up similar shifts in the next twomatches. However, one should take nothingaway from Pakistan who stuck to their game

plan, and executed it masterfully. The tri-umph against England is the biggest coupthat the Pakistani side has conjured up inthe realm of test cricket for many a year.

Whilst it was a genuine team perform-ance, there are two individuals that standout – two talismanic figures that have beenthe vanguards of Pakistan cricket’s resur-gence over the past year or so. While Mis-bah-ul-Haq the batsman has been adependable wall throughout this transfor-mation, it’s Misbah-ul-Haq the captain thathas possibly been the best thing to happento Pakistan cricket for over a decade. It’sthe off-field stability and the dressing roomharmony, that Misbah has synthesized,that has resulted in the on-field metamor-phosis of a team that was shrouded byscandals not so long ago. Then there isSaeed Ajmal – the man of the match atDubai; a top three bowler in all three crick-eting formats – who has evolved into thebest spinner – if not the best bowler – inworld cricket during the same time span.

Lesser mortals would have succumbedto the disparagement following St Lucia2010 and Mohali 2011, but the fact that therespective careers of Ajmal and Misbahpicked up after these demoralising lows,speaks volumes about their mettle and re-solve – the two characteristics, that despitehaving all the cricketing talent in the world,Pakistani players have failed to put onshow, especially in the current millennium.If the team can continue to showcase thismental fortitude and grit, we’ll continue toclimb up the pecking order in cricket.

chAlleNGING the top thRee

The top three in men’s tennis; NovakDjokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federercombine for a mammoth 30 Grand Slam ti-tles between them. In fact, over the pastseven years since the Australian open in2005, there has only been a single major titlewhich has not been won by someone calledDjokovic, Nadal or Federer – Del Potro’s USopen triumph in 2009 being the sole anom-aly. While it’s Federer and Nadal who havethe biggest shares of the pie – amassing 26of the aforementioned 30 majors – it isDjokovic who is the current man to beat,winning three of the four majors last yearamongst scores of other titles. Having tocompete with one of them would have beena gargantuan task; but now with three hu-mongous mountains to climb to reach prom-ised land, the chasing pack are clutching atstraws to trace any inkling of optimism.

of the men striving to change the statusquo in tennis and break their respectiveGrand Slam noughts it’s Andy Murray’sname that inevitably stands at the head ofthe queue. Murray’s “so close yet so far” ex-ploits in majors have been well documented,not only in this column but any piece of ten-nis literature that the readers might get theirhands on. Now with Ivan Lendl pulling thestrings attached to the Scott’s neurons,things might finally come together for theworld number four – since the Czech has hisown final hurdle melancholies to share withMurray. Murray is on collision course withthe current favourite Djokovic for a semifinal showdown, and if the two meet it couldbe an ideal opportunity for the Lendl-Mur-ray team to assess themselves against the

very best in the world.Nevertheless, the Muhammad Ali of ten-

nis, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga might lie in the waitfor Andy Murray in the quarters, and theFrenchman has his own duck breaking to doat the biggest stage in tennis. If matters goaccording to seeding, Murray versus Tsongawould be the pick of the quarters, and onethat Djokovic will be on the watch out for.

ReAl IN BARcA’S pocKet

Spanish champions Barcelona again camefrom behind to give their archenemy theproverbial hand gesture in the shape of a 2-1 triumph at the Santiago Bernabeu in thefirst leg of the Copa Del Rey quarter final.Barca would now be the overwhelmingfavourites to progress into the semis withthe second leg due at the Nou Camp in thecoming week – which would be the1875421st El-Classico being played out inthe last year or so. Real Madrid have nowwon 22 of the last 24 games in all competi-tions and much to the agony of the Madridfaithful the two losses have come at thehands of Barcelona. Mourinho has triedeverything to curtail Barcelona’s hegemonyover El-Classico – deploying three holdingmidfielders to disturb the Catalan side’spossession play in the latest edition for ex-ample – but he is failing to do one over thearchrivals, which has resulted in threehome defeats for Real against Barca in thepast 12 months. Even with a five point leadover the European champions in La Liga

and being in the last 16 of the ChampionsLeague, Madrid’s season is on the verge ofdisintegration. Nonetheless, despite thehullabaloo surrounding the game every sin-gle time, the scribe believes that El-Classicois an overhyped, overblown, over-politi-cised footballing show in an undoubtedlyskewed league anyway – for genuine pas-sion and rivalry the old Firm derby beatsEl-Classico any day.

chANGe of GuARD IN l.A?

The Clippers took a massive step in theright direction by overcoming their LosAngeles rivals Lakers last Sunday 102-94at the Staples Center arena, as the formercontinues its quest of coming out of theshadows of the latter. Chris Paul had a biggame with 33 points, six assists and threesteals with Blake Griffin providing ablesupport with 22 points and 14 rebounds.Kobe Bryant had a huge game for the Lak-ers with 42 points, but it wasn’t goodenough to save his side from a momen-tous defeat – that ended the 16-time NBAChampions’ five game winning streak.Lakers had won 16 of the past 22 meetingsand three of the four games last season,but with Chris Paul coming to the fore, theClippers look a formidable unit this year.Heading into Sunday’s conquest Paul av-eraged 16.1 points and 8.8 assists pergame, and the all-star guard is the onebeing touted as the defining factor thatcan turn the tilted intra-city rivalry finallyin the Clippers’ favour and making hisside a force in the NBA, after having spentages lurking in periphery of the leagueand under the apparition of their illustri-ous neighbours. And if the ChaunceyBillups inspired 91-89 win over defendingChampions Dallas Mavericks is anythingto go by, it’s not only the Lakers that needto be wary of the Clippers’ resurgence.

As far as fan following inPakistan is concerned,no football fixturestands outmore thanArsenaltaking onMan United

fRoM 1997 till 2005, Arse-nal-United matches were‘the’ match-ups of the year.

By far the top two sides in thecountry for most of that era, theycompeted for most of the avail-able silverware and while Liver-pool, Newcastle, Leeds or Chelseawould occasionally throw a spannerinto the works. From the undoubted‘big two’, it evolved into the notorious‘big four’ – which has recently been ex-tended into an unmitigated ‘big six’.

The fact that the popularity of football inPakistan was on the up – owing mostly to an in-crease in cable connections and augmentationof Premier League coverage – in the abovemen-tioned epoch, football devotees were primarily di-vided into two major categories: Arsenal fans andMan United fans. And even though Arsenal’s recentdecline has meant that there is not as much at stakewhen the two sides lock horns, as it was around 10years ago, the respective fan bases in our country en-

sure that it still is the most keenly followed EPL game.Ever since Arsene Wenger took on the reins at the

North London club in 1996, the club rivalry withUnited and scores of individual rivalries shot up!Wenger and Ferguson might bear resemblance to

longtime chums nowadays, but there was a timewhen they couldn’t bear the talk of the otherand loathed each other from the locus of theirheart – much to the intrigue of football follow-ers. Then there used be a plethora of player en-

mities; starting off with the Ian Wright–PeterSchmeichel rivalry, where the legendary Arsenal

striker customarily failed to get the better of thebig Dane, and the Englishman’s frustrationeventually culminated in a well-documentedtwo-footed lunge on the former Unitedgoalkeeper in one of their last encounters.Martin Keown’s leap over Ruud VanNistelrooy after the Dutch strikermissed the spot kick at old Traffordin September 2003 – the start of theseason in which Arsenal rewrote

history and finished the seasonunbeaten as the ‘Invinci-bles’ – is another mo-ment etched in thehistory books of this leg-

endary duel. However,

arguably the most notable player rivalry, not only inthis fixture but in the history of the Premier Leaguewas contested between Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira– skippers of their sides for so long and the midfieldengines and heartbeats of their respective clubs.Who can forget the tunnel clash before the gamekicked off at Highbury in February 2005, whenKeane famously shouted out to Vieira, “I’ll seeyou out there”. The Frenchman scored in thegame, but United won the game 4-2 in what wasone of the most entertaining and feisty matchesin the history of the two clubs’ matchups.

Being the top dogs in the country, andgreat rivals to boot, also mean that the twoEnglish giants have played out some of the

biggest matches in the history of theEnglish game. Ever since

Wenger’s side did the dou-ble in 1998 to slashUnited’s dominance inthe 90s the two teamshave served up some ofthe tastiest encounters.From ‘butter fingeredBarthez’ in 2001; Ar-

senal rubbing it in, bylifting the league tro-

phy after a 1-0 win at old

Trafford in 2002; the ‘pizza gate’ episode in 2004after United ended Arsenal’s 49 match unbeaten runin controversial circumstances; the two sides outdo-

ing each other in the semi final and final of theF.A Cup in 2004 (United) and 2005 (Arse-

nal) respectively; Arsenal doing the doubleover United thanks to Adebayor’s late win-ner at old Trafford and Henry’s famous

last gasp headed winner – one of proba-bly one and a half headers that he

scored in his entire Arsenal ca-reer – in 2006-07; United’sCristiano Ronaldo inspiredwin over Arsenal in theChampions League in2009 – still referred to as“Black Tuesday” by Arse-nal fans and recently the8-2 thrashing at old Traf-ford, the revenge forwhich Arsenal would loveto serve up today.

Tonight’s game at theEmirates between the twogreat rivals sees possibly

two of the most mundanelineups that the fixture has

seen over the past 15 years or so.There are no two ways about thefact that the current United side is

no way near the one of the best sidesunder Alex Ferguson, and eventhough Arsenal are showing a quasiresurgence, this is still far from beingWenger’s best group as well. How-ever, with Arsenal chasing Chelseafor the coveted fourth spot and

United trying to fend off the chal-lenge of their noisy neighbours for theEPL title, there is still a lot resting on

the game. And of course with ThierryHenry and Paul Scholes returning, itwould just be like the good old days…

Challenging the status quoPakistan thump England, the first major of the year is up for grabs

in Australia and rivalries simmer in Madrid and Los Angeles

kunWAR kHuLDunE SHAHID

ALL BASeS CoVeReD

The greATesT rivAlry of The Premier leAgue erAJ.k WALI

Comment

LHR 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:41 AM Page 20

Sports 21Sunday, 22 January, 2012

THERE is very little notto like about Australia.It is everything that thefirst world should beand more. What sets itapart is the mood ofthe people, friendly,

positive, confident in the fact that theircountry is functioning like it shouldand the future is assured. All this is ev-ident at Melbourne Park, where two ofthe greatest sporting sites are located.The iconic Melbourne Cricket groundon one side of the Yarra river and theRod Laver Arena on the other.

Yet, the Arena is only a part of the entirecomplex that makes up the Australian openfacility. There is the HiSense arena, whichis also covered as is the Laver arena. Thereis the Margaret Court Arena which en-genders some of the best atmosphere ofthe tournament as the entry is open togeneral ticket holders and is always vi-brant and noisy. This is also the locationwhere Markos Baghdatis suffered ameltdown creating a record of sorts, de-stroying four perfectly good racquetsduring his match against StanWawrinka. At the end ofthis mayhem, Baghdatislooked up at his support-ers with a sheepish grinand then proceeded totake the third set fromWawinka.

There is much thatMaria Sharapova shouldbe thankful for. Her father,Yuri Sharapov had soldeverything and moved toFlorida to train his youngdaughter under the eagleeye of Nick Bolletieri. It didnot take her long to repaythis trust, winning Wimble-don at seventeen years of age.Since then she has stayed inthe top ten but the results havebeen harder to come by, a series of in-juries hampering her. But her businessempire has blossomed into a multi-million dollar empire. Her's is one ofthe most highly sought after en-dorsements in tennis.

But to watch Sharapovaplay tennis is sheer torture.Every time she hits the ball,she let's out a highpitched scream thatmust be disconcertingfor her opponent.Worse still, the screamdrowns out thesound of the ballimpacting her rac-quet, somethingthat is vital to

her opponent in figuring out how hardshe has hit the ball and how much spinis on it. The screamers will claim thatthis is their natural exhalation as theyhit the ball, but surprisingly, they don'tscream when they are practicing.

Many old timers claim that these play-ers are taking undue advantage and thatthis should be reined in. MartinaNavratilova is one of those who thinkscreaming borders on cheating and shouldbe stopped. Certainly it takes away from thegraceful spectacle that a tennis match is. Itis however doubtful whether the authoritieswill take any steps that will upset the playerhierarchy.

Novak Djokovic, on the otherhand, plies his trade in complete si-lence, marked only by the squealing of

his shoes on the Plexi-cuhion pavement.His opponent,

N i c o l a sMahut is

t h eloser oft h e

longest match in history, two years agoat Wimbledon. He is clearly over-matched as he is unable to serve andvolley against Djokovic's impenetrabledefence. The competition ant the top ofmen's tennis is so tough that it has en-gendered players with almost no weak-ness and with court speed and defencethat has never been seen before.Djokovic is one such beast of a player,someone who made Rafael Nadalthrow up his hands and say that hedoes not know how to beat him.

The only players with a chanceagainst Djokovic would be the strokeplayers like Federer and Del Potro,players who can attack him and hitthrough the court.

Djokovic is scheduled to meet AndyMurray in the semifinals. Murray has addedIvan Lendl to his already extensive en-tourage in a bid to inculcate some backboneinto his game. But it is Murray's fragile tem-perament that is holding him back, some-thing that invariably lets him down in thefinal stages of tournaments. Federer isscheduled to play Nadal in the semis andthis should be another nervy contest as Fed-erer has a mental block against his archrival. Meanwhile, Djokoic continues his ef-fortless dismantling of Mahut's game, mak-ing hardly any unforced errors and servingwith pace and accuracy. It was the serve thathad impeded his progress to the top andonce, in early 2011, he had fixed it, there wasno stopping him. He remains the odds onfavourite for the title.

Another player who has set the Aus-tralian open alight is Bernard Tomic, therising Australian. on the surface, Tomic hasnothing outstanding in his repertoire, buthe has great feel, mixing up the pace andspin of his shots. on Friday night, he had anepic battle with Dolgopolov, a Ukrainianwho plays a similar style. Both used a de-lightful array of slices and spins, taking oneback to the days when John McEnroe usedto slice and dice his opponents into submis-sion. But Tomic is no McEnroe and mightnever become one, unless he improves hisserve and court movement. He certainlypromises to be a contender at the majortennis events as does the talented Dolgo-polov.

Aisam Qureshi is still in the men's andmixed doubles draw. He has a quite

winnable men's doubles match againsta Canadian-German team and should

justify his number eight seeding byreaching the quarters in bothevents. one wanted to get hisviews on his prospects but a re-quest for an interview wassmoothly evaded. This was quite

disappointing because this columnhas been one of his biggest support-

ers and he has been giving interviewsto all and sundry at the venue.

hE was called calm. A euphemism forboring. He was called dependable. Aeuphemism for boring. He was called

methodical. A euphemism for, yes youguessed it, boring. The quintessential Pak-istani cricketing fan, whose cricket (ir)ratio-nality relies more on pathos rather thanlogos, does not take to liking Misbah easily.When they look at him, they see not a tech-nically sound batsman but one whose strikerate is about as exciting as room tempera-ture. When they look at him, they see not thewins in which he was instrumental but theysee that lop that rested easily in the hands ofSreesanth in 2007 and the climbing requiredrun-rate on the scoreboard in Mohali. Whenthey look at him, they see not a staid andsolid skipper but a stolid one.

Thus, when he was selected as our cap-tain ahead of the much-loved Lala, manypeople’s dislike of him grew even more vis-ceral. His (deceptively) risk-averse behav-iour is anathema to the average Pakistanifed incessantly on an addictive concoctionof socio-cultural endorphins and socio-po-litical adrenaline.

There is no arguing with the Misbah de-tractors: after all, you can’t reason some-body out of something they weren’treasoned into. And this is what Misbah nay-saying is/was: unreasonable. How can weselect somebody as a captain who isn’t evenan automatic selection for the team, theysay. He is so conciliatory with the cricketingpowers that be, they say. He is everythingPakistani cricket is not, they lament.

But here’s the thing about Misbah: hejust doesn’t care. Just like his batting, he hasgone about this captaincy business with adogged determination. Despite the barrageof criticism about his ‘listlessness’ and ‘defen-sive’ cricket in the last year, Misbah has beenat it, engineering a paradigm shift in thisteam. Unlike the change the other Khan Niazifrom Mianwali wants to bring, this is not atsunami but a slow and sure trickle.

Let’s do some simple number-crunch-ing for those still not on the Misbah band-wagon yet. Under his captaincy, Pakistanhas been unbeaten in the past six Test se-ries it has played. Yes, two of these wereagainst Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but twoof these were also wins against Sri Lankaand New Zealand. That is not to forget thetwo draws against the Proteas (one of whichwe could have won had he dared but couldhave lost too), and the drawn short seriesagainst the Windies.

But even those who had been sayingthat Team Misbah had not been given anadequate Test up till now must now alsohold their peace after the ‘pommelling’ ofthe Poms. England is after all the big one,the numero uno of Test-playing nationsthat gave a comprehensive thumping nottoo long ago to the erstwhile numero uno.This is a side that has four batsmen in theTop Ten in the ICC rankings, cleaned outfor under 200 in consecutive innings. Thisis after all the team with a bowling attackthat has gone on a romp of 18.17 wicketsper Test in the last year.

Not an easy team to beat one would saybut Misbah’s methodical team made it lookso in the first Test.

And he has led from the front not only

in terms of giving the team a strategicgame-plan but also with his relentless bat.In 11 Test innings as captain, Misbah-ul-Haq has scored 632 runs at an average of90.28 with seven fifties and one century.

Many would argue that Pakistan hasdone well in Tests under Misbah because hiscaution is the text-book Test match tem-perament and that these defensive tacticswould fare badly in the oDIs of today whereachievable targets are growing faster thanthe BCCI’s coffers and run-scoring is fastand furious. To these people, one would saythat Team Misbah has been no mean shakesat these mean oDIs either. Consider. UnderMisbah, Pakistan has played 18 oDIs andwon 15 of them. Not bad, not bad at all.Then why this constant whinging about thedefensiveness of Misbah especially giventhat his approach works?

For Pakistanis fed on cricket builtaround a stinger of a pace attack, this ‘laylow, go slow’ approach (which now centredaround our spin doctors and seamers) wasdissonant and disorienting which could ex-plain the criticism against Misbah’s ‘apolo-getic’ cricket. But it’s critical to understandthat Misbah was picking up the pieces of abadly shattered outfit.

His critics say Pakistan are not playinglike Pakistan under Misbah. Precisely, be-cause Misbah understands that now is thetime for Pakistan to not play like Pakistan.His approach may be defensive but his strat-agems are well-crafted. His on-field leader-ship has been near faultless. From bowlingselection (who but a fearless leader gives aspinner the 6th over in the first innings of atest) to field placement have been the rightcalls. That tuk-tuk (the onomatopoeic mock-ery of him) is not just the sound of his reliablebat but that of the clockwork of the ‘best crick-eting brain in the country’ (Geoff Lawson).

His off-field leadership has been re-markable too. Knitting a team together thathas been badly scarred, nay lacerated, bycontroversies is no mean feat. Saying thathe is ‘defensive’ is no criticism (Take note:Zaheer Abbass). Given the state Pakistancricket was in, that ‘offensive’ cricket is bet-ter cricket is not a value judgement we werein a position to make. Yes, the attacking in-stinct is missing (as many would rememberfrom the 2010 Test against SA and the sec-ond oDI against SL) but so is the losing in-stinct. Rebuilding the team takesprecedence over attacking cricket.

As Waqar Younis (perhaps the onlyman whose efforts in rebuilding this teamare more underappreciated than Misbah’s)has acknowledged, “I have to give fullcredit to Misbah as he has stabilised theteam and leads from the front....He makesthe boys feel comfortable and relaxed sothey actually enjoy their cricket.”

Misbah has said, “Entertainment canwait.” And this is where I disagree with him.Because winning is entertaining enough forme. Those crying out that his approach isboring, would they we rather revert to the‘exciting’ days of 2010? Because watchingAmir deliver the bowling spell of his life andfind out the next day that he is involved inspot-fixing is not entertaining. Watchingthe world number one team capitulate inback-to-back innings is. Uninterestingtimes for Pakistan cricket. But ‘uninterest-ing’ here is not a euphemism for ‘boring’.Looking forward to the second Test!

AnuM YOuSAF

Comment

on Team MisbahThe captain we don’t deserve,but the captain we need

ALI AkBAR In MELBOuRnE

SpoRtS thiS Week

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Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.

Sunday, 22 January, 2012 22

kAnOAfp

GUN battles and coordinatedbomb attacks targeting secu-rity forces have spread chaos inNigeria’s second-largest cityKano, with some 162 people re-

ported dead in the streets on Saturday.A 24-hour curfew was also imposed on

Kano, the largest city in Nigeria’s mainly Mus-lim north and which exploded into violence onFriday evening, with eight police and immi-gration offices or residences targeted. Themain newspaper in Nigeria’s north reportedthat a purported spokesman for Islamistgroup Boko Haram had claimed responsibilityfor the violence, saying it was in response toauthorities’ refusal to release their membersfrom custody. Scores of such attacks in Nige-ria’s north have been blamed on Boko Haram.

Some 20 huge blasts could be heard in thecity as a suicide bomber attacked a regional po-lice office and a car bomb rocked the outside ofstate police headquarters after the attacker fledand was shot dead, police sources said. A num-ber of other police posts were targeted, includ-ing a secret police building, as well asimmigration offices. Gunshots rang out in sev-eral areas, and a local television journalist wasamong those shot dead as he covered the vio-lence. At least 11 police officers were believed tobe among the dead. An AFP correspondentcounted at least 80 bodies in the morgue atKano’s main hospital, many of them with gun-shot wounds. The toll was thought to be higher.

Around 100 people waited outside the morgueto collect their relatives’ remains. Residents re-ported bodies in the streets, and officials fromthe Red Cross and the National EmergencyManagement Agency said they were working tocollect bodies and deliver them to morgues.They declined to provide figures on the numberof dead, saying they would do so later.

A police source on condition of anonymitysaid dozens were killed. “There are heavy casu-alties around the police headquarters,” the po-lice source said. “A lot of civilians have been shotby the attackers. It’s difficult to give a death toll,but the number of the dead runs into dozens.”Details began to emerge of the attacks, whichwere said to include at least two suicidebombers. At state police headquarters, a would-be suicide bomber sought to join the convoy ofthe police commissioner, the police source said,but jumped out of the car and sought to escapewhen officers opened fire. He was shot dead, thesource said. President Goodluck Jonathan de-clared a state of emergency on December 31 inparts of four states hard hit by attacks blamedon Boko Haram. Kano was not included. Mostof the recent major attacks have taken place inthe country’s northeast. The limitations of theNigerian authorities were recently highlightedwhen the alleged mastermind of a ChristmasDay attack outside a church that killed 44 peo-ple escaped police custody in suspicious circum-stances. Attacks specifically targeting Christianshave also given rise to fears of a wider religiousconflict in the country, with Christian leaderswarning they would defend themselves. Somehave even evoked the possibility of civil war.

162 killed in newviolence in northern Nigeriag Islamist group Boko Haram thought to be behind attacks

civilian aid to pakistan uninterrupted, says US

lANDIKotAl: Security officials survey the rubble of a school which was hit by explosives on Saturday. afp

afghans must leadpeace talks withTaliban, says karzai

kABuLAGeNcIeS

Afghan President HamidKarzai on Saturday insistedAfghans to lead the process oftalks and reconciliation withthe Taliban and other Afghanarmed groups, saying the talksbelonged to Afghans. “Peaceprocess and talks belong toAfghans and no foreigncountry or organisation candeprive the Afghan nation ofthis right,” President Karzaitold the parliament whileinaugurating its second year.He said his government wouldno longer oppose the Talibanoffice in Qatar if it helpedbring peace to Afghanistan.“Afghanistan hoped that theTaliban would open theiroffice inside their owncountry, or in an importantIslamic country like SaudiArabia or Turkey. However,despite all these and becauseof the inclination of theAfghan people for peace andto end the pretexts for war, wedo not oppose the Talibanoffice in Qatar and we haveagreed on this. We haveagreed to the establishment ofan office for the Taliban inQatar for the sake of peace andfor the sake of achieving theaspiration of peace,” he said.

officer killed, two

troops hurt in kurram

PARACHInARAGeNcIeS

An army officer was killedand two security personnelwere injured in separateincidents in Kurram Agencyon Saturday. The firstincident took place in theTalai area of Central KurramAgency where a landmineexplosion killed PakistanArmy’s Lieutenant AttaMuhammad. A securityofficial was injured in ahand-grenade attack inAmlook Killay area. He wastaken to Tall Hospital. Inanother incident, militantsattacked a security forcesvehicle in the Chapri area ofLower Kurram with aremote-controlled explosivedevice, leaving a soldieridentified as Bashirullahinjured.

WASHInGtOnAGeNcIeS

The United States has not interruptedcivilian aid to Pakistan in the aftermath ofthe NATo attack on November 26 thatkilled 24 Pakistani soldiers, the US StateDepartment has said. “Civilian assistanceto Pakistan continues and has not beeninterrupted since the tragic November 26incident,” the State Department said.Islamabad furiously closed down NATosupply routes after the strike on the twoborder posts. Since the passage of theKerry-Lugar-Berman legislation in october2009, the US government has disbursed$2.2 billion in civilian assistance, includingapproximately $550 million in emergencyhumanitarian assistance, the StateDepartment said. In financial year 2011,the United States disbursed approximately$855 million (not including any emergencyhumanitarian assistance) to Pakistan, thestatement said. “our non-humanitariancivilian assistance funds are spent in fivepriority sectors: energy, economic growth,stabilisation of the border regions,education, and health,” it added.

US costs soar for newwar supply routesLAHORE: The United States is paying sixtimes as much to send war supplies totroops in Afghanistan through alternateroutes after Pakistan’s punitive decision inNovember to close border crossings toNATo convoys, according to an internetsource which quoted the Associated Press.Pentagon figures provided to the AP showit is now costing about $104 million permonth to send the supplies through alonger northern route. That is $87 millionmore per month than when the cargomoved through Pakistan. While USofficials have acknowledged that usingalternate transportation routes for Afghanwar supplies is more expensive and takeslonger, the total costs had not beenrevealed until now. The Pentagon providedthe cost figures to the AP on Thursday. USofficials said the elevated costs are likely tocontinue for some time, as US-Pakistantensions remain high. NEWSDESK

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