E-paper Pakistantoday ISB 20th January, 2012

Stable democracycherished dream of

govt: ZardariPAGE 22

Gilani vetoed Awan’sreappointment aslaw minister

PAGE 22 PAGE 18

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pakistantoday.com.pk Friday, 20 January, 2012 Safar 25, 1433Rs15.00 Vol ii no 204 22 pages islamabad — peshawar edition

isLAMABADMASooD ReHMAN

APPEARING in the Supreme Courtin response to a show-cause noticeissued to him to explain why con-tempt proceedings should not beinitiated against him for failing to

write a letter to reopen graft cases againstPresident Asif Ali Zardari, Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani argued on Thursdaythat he did not write the letter because thepresident enjoyed complete immunity, notonly in Pakistan but also in the world asenunciated by the constitution.A special bench headed by Justice NasirulMulk and comprising Justice Asif SaeedKhan Khosa, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany,Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz AhmedChaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Jus-tice Muhammad Ather Saeed heard the case.Gilani became the second elected prime

President has immunity,why write the letter?

Prime minister in court

g Gilani tells SC

president enjoys

complete immunity

even under 18th

amendment

isLAMABADSTAff RePoRT

A seven-judge special bench of theSupreme Court directed AitzazAhsen, counsel for Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani, on Thursdayto submit by February 1 a detailedreply in the contempt of court caseagainst the premier for failing towrite a letter to Swiss authoritiesto reopen corruption cases againstPresident Asif Ali Zardari.

The bench, headed by JusticeNasirul Mulk and comprising Jus-tice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Jus-tice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice

Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice IjazAhmed Chaudhry, Justice GulzarAhmed and Justice MuhammadAther Saeed, also exempted theprime minister from personal ap-pearance before the court on thenext hearing in the contempt case.

Ahsen argued that under Arti-cle 248 of the constitution, Presi-dent Zardari enjoyed immunitywithin the country and abroad,thus a letter to reopen casesagainst him could not be writtento the Swiss authorities until hewas the president, thus a

Monitoring Desk

Mansoor Ijaz, the protagonist of thecontroversial memogate scandal, wasissued a one-year multiple Pakistanivisa from the Pakistan High Commis-sion in London, Geo News reported onThursday. Ijaz is due to appear beforethe judicial commission investigatingthe case on January 24. He has how-ever decided to keep the day of his ar-rival and location of his stay in Pakistanconfidential. Earlier, Interior MinisterRehman Malik told reporters that com-plete security would be provided to Ijazwhen he comes to Pakistan.

Aitzaz to filereply by Feb 1g PPP legal ace tells court no grounds for contempt as president enjoys immunity

Mansoor issued visa

ISLAMABAD: Prime

Minister Yousaf

Raza Gilani waves

to supporters after

appearing in the

Supreme Court on

Thursday. Staff photo

Continued on page 04

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02friday, 20 January, 2012

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PM’s entourage causes traffic nightmare Musharaf likely to delay return to Pakistan ‘due to security concerns’ Iran has never tried to close oil supply route: fM

NAB won’t arrest Qayyumif he joins probe, SC told


National Accounta-bility Bureau (NAB)Prosecutor GeneralKK Agha assured theSupreme Court onThursday that NABwould not arrest for-mer attorney generalMalik MuhammadQayyum on his ar-rival due to his indis-position, but insistedthat he would have tojoin the inquiry

against him per the court’s order. Appearing on no-tice, KK Agha told a seven-judge special bench headedby Justice Nasirul Mulk and comprising Justice AsifSaeed Khan Khosa, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Jus-tice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry,Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Muhammad AtherSaeed, which was hearing the NRO implementationissue, that though they had issued warrants forQayyum, they would allow him the time he requiredfor recovery from his illness.He said they had issued warrants as the former attor-ney general was not attending the NAB inquiry.Wasim Sajjad, counsel for Malik Qayyum, pleadedthat his client had been operated upon and his caseshould be transferred to Pakistan Bar Council as hewas a lawyer.Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany remarked that the caseagainst his client pertained to misuse of authority.The court, rejecting the plea, remarked that people re-turned the other day after undergoing a operation likeQayyum’s. It questioned was Qayyum above the law forbeing a lawyer. The court said Qayyum misused his au-thority being the attorney general.

SC directs recovery of occupied Railways’ land


The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the chief sec-retaries of all provinces as well as the defence secretaryto retrieve the Pakistan Railways (PR) land occupied bysecurity forces, Rangers, Frontier Corps (FC) and otherprivate companies, and submit a report in this regardwithin three weeks.The court also ordered the National Accountability Bu-reau (NAB) to cooperate with the PR in reclaiming theillegally occupied land. More than 3,300 acres of PRland is occupied by the army, Rangers and FC acrossthe country.A three-member bench headed by Chief JusticeIftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry praised NAB’s in-terim investigation report over the financial irreg-ularities in the Railways. NAB AdditionalProsecutor General Akbar Tarar appeared beforethe court and submitted the interim investigationreport about the irregularities in the Railways. Hesaid that NAB had recovered Rs 60 million underthe head of sale of scrap contracts awarded atthrowaway prices. He also mentioned that an in-vestigation into the award of illegal lease of PRland to the Gulf Club was in progress.

isLAMABADSHAIq HuSSAIN

NO Pakistani missionabroad has so far re-ceived a visa applica-tion fromPakistani-American

businessman Mansoor Ijaz, the mainaccuser in the memo controversy, theForeign Office (FO) said on Thursday.

“Ijaz’s visa application or pass-port has not been received by anyPakistani mission so far,” said FOSpokesman Abdul Basit in a weeklypress briefing. He was replying to aquery on some media reports sug-gesting that Ijaz had applied for avisa to the Pakistani Embassy inSwitzerland.

Ijaz is supposed to appear beforethe three-member judicial commis-sion probing the memo scandal on

its next hearing slated for January24. He was expected to visit Islam-abad to record his statement beforethe commission on the last hearingon January 16.

The FO spokesman also hintedat the resumption of full spectrum ofbilateral relations with the UnitedStates upon the completion of par-liamentary re-evaluation of ties withthe world’s sole super power. “Weare looking forward to re-engagingwith the US on issues of mutual in-terest and importance,” Basit said.

When asked how productive it isthat Pakistan and the US are con-stantly saying that we need to coop-erate but no one is actually trying todo so especially when Islamabadturned turn away US special envoyMarc Grossman, he said, “We wantGrossman’s next visit to Pakistan tobe productive. It is, therefore, im-

portant that he visits Pakistan afterwe have completed our homework.”

On the recommendations of theParliamentary Committee on Na-tional Security (PCNS) on bilateralties, he said, “We’ll lead to a positiveoutcome for both sides, Pakistan andthe US.” He said Pakistan’s desirewas to have a more stable relation-ship that was not prone to accidents.“We want a relationship that is freefrom the ups and downs of a roller-coaster ride,” he added.

With resumed Pakistan-US ties,the most important developmentwill be the restoration of the sus-pended NATO supplies toAfghanistan through Pakistani soil.

However, the FO spokesman de-nied knowledge of any proposal toreopen NATO supply routes whileanswering a query in this regard. Buta Pakistani diplomat on condition of

anonymity said the PCNS’ recom-mendations could pave the way forthe government to reopen the routesafter an apology and assurance byWashington that cross border raidslike the one on November 26 wouldnot by repeated.

To a question on a recent state-ment by a Norwegian minister thatNorway was maintaining an intelli-gence network in Pakistan, Basitsaid, “We are in touch with the Nor-wegian government and are seekingdetails on this issue.” Answering aquery on escalating confrontationbetween Iran and Saudi Arabia onthe Strait of Hormuz, he said, “Wehave always emphasised the impor-tance of resolving all issues throughdialogue and peacefully. We agreewith Russia that restraint should beshown and all issues should be re-solved peacefully.”

Pakistan not reopening NATOsupply routes as yet: FO

ISLAMABAD: A female supporter of the Pakistan People’s Party shouts slogans outside the Supreme Court building on Thursday as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza

Gilani appeared in court to defend himself in a contempt of court case. INp

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NewsCommeNtfirst day in court:

Articles on Page 12-13

The overall mood of the defence was conciliatory.

Two resignations: There is no chance we can find a silver lining to this cloud.

qudssia Akhlaque says:

Dr Taimur-ul-Hassan says:The system must go on: A win for democracy is a win for everyone.

Khan Shehram eusufzye says:The Pakhtun unarmed: Bacha Khan was firmly anchored to his commitment for peace.

ARtS & eNteRtAiNmeNt

Story on Page 14

SPoRtSAfridi hits jackpot in Bangladesh auction

Story on Page 18

Ranbir, Deepika's piano connection

music video seeksto tarnish my credibility: ijaz

news Desk

Controversial Pakistani-American busi-nessman Mansoor Ijaz has alleged thatsupporters of President Asif Ali Zardariare drawing attention to a music videofeaturing him and scantily clad femalewrestlers to tarnish his credibility, Hin-dustan Times reported.The video features Ijaz as a commenta-tor at a female wrestling competitionand has created a buzz online, withbloggers and netizens putting Ijaz toridicule.The businessman, however, has claimedthat supporters of Zardari have drawnattention to the clip in an effort to dam-age his credibility as a witness ahead ofhis testimony in the scandal, accordingto an article in the New York Times.Pakistani blog Cafe Pyala, which un-earthed the music video rejectedIjaz’s claim that it drew attention onbehalf of either Zardari or formerPakistani ambassador to US HussainHaqqani. The bloggers said they wanted to “to as-sure him (Ijaz) that we do not haveHaqqani goading us on and neither do,we think, any of the people on Twitterwho first discovered and shared thevideo out of a love for, ahem, housemusic.”“We would like to admit that we did findit — and him in it — really funny.”They said Ijaz used to appear frequentlyas a “terror analyst” on TV channel FoxNews. The blogger said he rememberedseeing Ijaz on Fox News and recognisedhim as being the same man in the video.“When I saw him on Fox News ages ago,I was like, ‘That’s that guy from thatsong,’” the blogger said.Ijaz failed to appear before a SupremeCourt-appointed commission that isprobing the memo issue on January 16.He has been directed to appear before iton January 24.

Legal experts dividedover immunity issue

isLAMABADoNLINe

FOLLOWING SC’s Thursdayhearing in contempt of courtcharges against the PM, legalexperts were left divided over

whether the president enjoyed immu-nity under Article 248 or was he ac-countable for unconstitutional acts.

Barrister Farogh Naseem said ifsome acts were considered unconstitu-tional under the decisions of supremeand high courts, then no one could getimmunity, while president’s case alsocome under a similar phenomenon.

He said the nature of amendmentin National Reconciliation Ordinancewas criminal.

On the other hand, former SCBApresident Ali Ahmed Kurd said both thepresident and the prime minister en-joyed immunity per the constitution aswell as under the international laws.

Renowned lawyer Athar Minullahsaid the constitution was supreme inthe country and no society could sur-vive in the world that did not respect itscourts. “My viewpoint is clear that theverdict of the court has come. Writingletter to Swiss authorities has nothingto do with the immunity to the presi-dent. The attorney general repeatedthis many times that Zardari had legalimmunity until the time he is the pres-ident,” he said.

Barrister Farooq Nasim said therewas no precedent in the past of a presi-dent having immunity in a criminalcase. “The court gets guidance form theprevious cases. In the modern judicialsystem, no one has immunity,” headded. Justice (r) Saeeduz Zaman Sid-

diqui said the PM did not enjoy immu-nity under the constitution of Pakistan.

He said the PM had been exemptedonly from appearing in person in thecourt. Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood said

it was not an appropriate attitude topressure the courts. Representatives ofvarious bar associations said theywould not allow any compromise on theindependence of the judiciary.

winds of confrontation mayblow again: Asma

isLAMABADoNLINe

Former President Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA) Asma Jahangir onThursday said that the atmosphere ofconfrontation will arise again, if courtschange the constitution in the name ofinterpretation. Talking to the media,she said that chanting slogans outsidethe Supreme Court (SC) is not a healthysign. She said people were no longerwilling to tolerate the government. Shesaid the tenure of the parliament shouldbe fixed for four years and after thatelections should be held.“If the courts claim they are final au-thority and rulers pronounce they havefull powers, it is not democratic behav-iour. We have to wait and see how thecourt interprets the constitution,” sheadded. Asma said that people are get-ting tired of new clashes amongst insti-tutions while their own condition getsworse. She said the current governmentwas targeted from all sides after cominginto power and has sometimes invitedself-destruction. She said this gameshould now end.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and heads of allied parties chair a meeting of parliamentarians of the

coalition parties at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.

only sc can decide on presidential immunity: nawaz

isLAMABADoNLINe

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) President Nawaz Sharifexpressed strong reservations withthe government’s deliberate viola-tion of Supreme Court orders onThursday and said the presidentialimmunity issue would only be de-cided by the apex court. He told a private TV channel in aninterview that immediate retrievalof laundered money and illegal as-sets should be ensured, and thatone should not hide behind the“lame excuse of immunity”. Stressing that president’s immunityshould and would be decided bySupreme Court, he declared thatthe Swiss cases were based in fact.Replying to a question, he said factsabout $600 million deposits inSwiss banks should be ascertained,and arrangements should be madeto return the money.Nawaz accepted the vital role ofAitzaz Ahsen in the restoration ofthe judiciary but expressed surpriseat the “change of his tone and pol-icy at this juncture”.

Political leaders see tensions easing afterPM’s appearance in SC

isLAMABADAGeNCIeS

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid(PML-Q) President ChaudhryShujaat Hussain said on Thurs-day that the appearance of PrimeMinister Yousaf Raza Gilani inthe Supreme Court would hope-fully lower tensions between thestate institutions.

He told reporters that theprime minister’s appearancealso enhanced the dignity of theapex court. About the possibilityof a decision on the contemptissue, he said certain issuesshould be resolved sooner sothat attention could be focusedon real public problems.

Meanwhile, Awami NationalParty (ANP) chief Asfandyar WaliKhan said on Thursday that theprime minister’s appearance inthe Supreme Court was a nega-tion of contempt of court.

He told reporters outside theSupreme Court building that he

had come to the apex court alongwith Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) PresidentNawaz Sharif and now he hadcome with Gilani.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief SyedMunawar Hassan also said onThursday that the prime minis-ter’s appearance in the apexcourt was a good sign, but thattrue respect for the judiciary de-manded faithful implementationof its orders.

Central leader of the Pak-istan People’s Party MinoritiesWing Napolean Qayyum saidthe PM’s appearance in SCshowed the deep respect theparty had for the judiciary.

Qayyum, who is also aspiringfor the party’s ticket for a Senatereserved seat from Punjab, saidthe PPP was ready to make anysacrifice for the continuation ofdemocracy in the country and allminority communities wouldstand by the party in ensuringthe rule of law and constitution.

Canons breached: Let’s save the slogans for political rallies.

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contempt notice should nothave been served on hisclient.

But he requested thecourt to grant him a month’stime to file a detailed re-sponse over the matter. Hesaid time was required to ac-cess and go through therecord of the National Rec-onciliation Ordinance(NRO) case. Justice NasirulMulk said access to therecord of the case could beavailed in two days’ time.

He said this was not acase of a nominal nature,thus he required at least onemonth to get prepared toargue it. “I have no access tothe record pertaining to let-ters to Swiss authorities,hence I should be given atleast one month time to lookinto it,” he contended.

Justice Nasirul Mulk,however, said the courtcould direct the National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB)and Law Ministry to providehim the documents pertain-ing to the issue. He toldAhsen that the record was

available and he could gothrough it within two days.

When Ahsen stressedfurther that the case was of avery important nature andshould not be considered inhaste, the court accepted hisrequest and directed him tofile the detailed reply byFebruary 1.

Justice Sarmad Jalal Os-many observed that deliber-ately refusing to implementthe court order was tanta-mount to contempt of court,adding that the prime minis-ter had stated that he had nointention of committing con-tempt of court. Justice AsifSaeed Khan Khosa regrettedthat the media reported theruling on the NRO imple-mentation case in an inaccu-rate manner.

Justice Ejaz Afzal Khanenquired why the govern-ment had been silent on theissue of immunity for overtwo years. To a court query,Ahsen said the apex court’sdecision would be imple-mented when PresidentZardari was no longer thepresident. He said he would

confine himself to argue onthe issue of the contempt no-tice served to the premier.To a court query, he said thelaw secretary could betterbrief the court on whetherhe had moved a summary tothe prime minister for im-plementation of the NROverdict. Justice Khosa askedAhsen to give arguments onthe question of immunity,but the counsel stated thathe would advance his argu-ments on the contempt no-tice to prove that thepremier had bona fide inten-tion under the constitutionby not writing the letter toreopen the cases against thepresident.

The court reminded himthat it had directed the lawsecretary to repeat the sum-mary to the prime ministerfor the implementation ofthe NRO verdict, but he hadnot done so. Ahsen, how-ever, contended that thistime the issue was not ofsending a summary, but acriminal proceeding againstthe premier who also en-joyed constitutional protec-

tion. “No authority of thestate could push the presi-dent into the foreign coun-try’s courts as he enjoysimmunity under Article 248of the constitution,” hestressed.

Justice Osmany askedAhsen whether the govern-ment would write a letter tothe Swiss authorities if thecourt proved that the presi-dent had no immunity, butAhsen skipped the question.

Justice Khosa asked himwhether he wanted to arguethe question of immunity,adding that the court - in itsearlier order - had ruled thatif anyone claimed to haveimmunity, they should cometo the court.

Aitzaz said his client wasan elected prime ministerand the constitution gavehim protection as well. Hesubmitted that Para 178 ofthe NRO judgement relatedto President Zardari, whoenjoyed immunity under theconstitution.

The court then ad-journed further hearinguntil February 1.

aitzaz to file reply by feb 1Continued FRom page 1

minister of Pakistan to ap-pear in court on contemptcharges. While it was beingspeculated that Gilani mightopt to apologise for notobeying the court orders, hedecided to contest thecharge. However, he said heheld the judiciary in highesteem and he was duty-bound to appear before thecourt.

“I have come today toshow my respect to thiscourt,” Gilani told the sevenjudges in the packed courtroom. The prime ministerstated that the president en-joyed complete immunityfrom prosecution evenunder the 18th Amendment,adding that a presidentelected with a two-thirdsmajority could not behanded over to the foreigncourts.

“It will not give a goodmessage to proceed againsta president who is electedby a two-thirds majority.There is complete immunityfor heads of state every-where,” Gilani said.

Recalling the days hespent in jail and making apoint that he faced courts inthe past but never disre-spected them, the primeminister said the PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) leadersalways respected and hon-oured the courts and com-plied with their orders. Hesaid Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,Begum Nusrat Bhutto andBenazir Bhutto also ap-peared in courts duringtheir lifetimes, which indi-cated their respect for thecourts. He said the presenceof leaders of coalition part-ners in the court was reflec-tive of their respect for the

judiciary as well.He said he and his party

leaders had highest respectfor the judiciary and hecould not even think ofcommitting contempt ofcourt or ridiculing court or-ders. He said he appeared inperson to comply with thecourt orders that indicatedhis respect and honour forthe court. “We respect thecourts… my intention is torespect the constitution andmy associates also respectthe constitution. I decidedto appear before the courtimmediately after gettingthe notice,” he added.

Justice Asif SaeedKhan Khosa appreciatedthe presence of the primeminister in the court andsaid it indicated there wasrule of law as the chief ex-ecutive of the country hadappeared in court.

president has immunityContinued FRom page 1


PRIME MinisterYousaf Raza Gilanion Thursday said anumber of eco-nomic targets had

been met during the first sixmonths of the current fiscalyear due to the prudent poli-cies of the incumbent govern-ment.

Giving a policy statementin the National Assembly onthe economic situation ofcountry in the first six monthsof the current fiscal year, Gilanisaid despite facing challengesof floods, rains, deteriorating

law and order and global reces-sion, the economic indicatorsof Pakistan improved duringthe said period and inflationhad been reduced to a singledigit.

Gilani said political stabil-ity was a must to ensure eco-nomic stability and urged themedia to play its role in this re-gard.

The prime minister saidalthough the government hadinherited economy from theprevious government in a poorstate, economic reforms intro-duced by the new governmenthad started showing results.

He said the governmentcontrolled borrowing during

the first six months that helpedreduce the inflation to a singledigit (9.7%) for first time in thecountry’s history.

He said the expenditurewas under control with only 45percent utilisation of the gov-ernment’s budget during thefirst six months.

The prime minister addedthat fiscal deficit, which was9.4 percent, had been reducedto 7.6 percent and the inflationhad been brought down to 9.7percent from 25 percent.

Gilani said the govern-ment provided a number of in-centives to farmers thatimproved the food supply situ-ation in the country.

“It was made possible withthe help of lower budget deficitand reducing borrowing fromthe State Bank of Pakistan,” hesaid. Gilani added that pricesof essential items were broughtdown in the open market, andfood inflation, which was 20percent last year, remained ina single digit figure during thefirst six months of the currentfiscal year.

The prime minister saidthe deterioration in the indus-trial sector had stopped andthe industry was makingprogress. He said the GDPgrowth rate would be four per-cent due to enhanced agricul-tural production.

isLAMABAD TAHIR NIAZ

India has set February 1-10 asthe proposed date and dura-tion of visit of Pakistan’s judi-cial commission to India thatwould interview key peoplelinked to the investigations intothe 2008 Mumbai terror at-tacks.

According to the sources inthe Ministry of Interior, Indiahad finally responded to Pak-istan’s request for setting a datefor the visit of Pakistani judicialcommission and conveyed it toPakistan through diplomaticchannels.

India has also sought theidentity of the members andexperts making up the judicialcommission, the sources fur-ther said.

They said it was on De-

cember 26 that Pakistan hadlast asked India to fix a date forthe proposed visit during ameeting with Interior MinisterRehman Malik and IndianHigh Commissioner in Pak-istan Sharat Sabarwal.

Both sides had discussedvarious issues, including theMumbai terror attacks.

The Pakistani commissionwill record the statements ofAdditional Chief MetropolitanMagistrate RV SawantWaghule and Investigating Of-ficer Ramesh Mahale, whohave recorded the confessionalstatement of Ajmal Kasab, thelone survivor allegedly in-volved in the Mumbai attacks.

It also wanted to recordstatements of the two doctorswho carried out the post-mortem on the terrorists killedduring the attack.

Norway’s intelligence chief resigns over Pakistan gaffeOSLO: The head of Norway’s intelligence service (PST), widely criticised after the July22 attacks last year, has resigned after hinting the country has agents in Pakistan, thejustice ministry announced on Thursday. Her remarks had led the Pakistani ForeignMinistry to summon Norway’s ambassador in Islamabad on Thursday, Norwegianpaper of reference Aftenposten reported on its website. “PST chief Janne Kristiansenhas informed me that she is resigning from her post effective immediately,” JusticeMinister Grete Faremo told reporters. “The reason is that a possible breach of her dutyto maintain confidentiality has been observed through the revelation of classifiedinformation,” she added, describing the facts of the case as “extremely serious”. AfP


Severely criticising the fed-eral government for its“criminal silence” over thedeteriorating law and ordersituation in Balochistan,three senators from therestive province on Thurs-day said the people werenow using the residences ofprovincial ministers to nego-tiate with the kidnappers.

Speaking on a point oforder, Senator Abdul Rahim

Mandokhel of PakhtunkhwaMilli Awami Party (PkMAP)said that lawlessness inBalochistan and the increas-ing incidents of kidnappingfor ransom had wreckedpeople’s lives. “The housesand offices of provincialministers are used for bar-gaining with the kidnappers… the federal governmenthas become a silent specta-tor … and media is also nothighlighting the deteriorat-ing law and order situationin Balochistan,” Mandokhel

said.Senators Abdul Malik

Baloch and Wali Muham-mad Badini asked the Senatechairman to refer the issueto the Senate Standing Com-mittee on Interior. Badinisaid the killers and kidnap-pers were at large inBalochistan and the law en-forcement agencies had ar-rested no criminal so far.Senate Chairman Farooq HNaek referred the issue tothe Senate Special Commit-tee on Balochistan.

Pm goes to court!


In a show of solidarity withPrime Minister Yousaf RazaGilani, a large number ofcabinet members andleaders of the coalitionparties, except theMuttahida QaumiMovement (MQM),accompanied him when heappeared before a seven-member bench of theSupreme Court in acontempt of court hearingon Thursday. No doubt thepremier’s fate is linked tothe outcome of theproceedings, which weresupposed to be held in aserious manner due to thesensitivity of the matter buta word-to-word commentaryby electronic mediareporters made it hard forthe courtroom audience,particularly thebackbenchers, to hear theproceedings clearly. Thereporters, continuouslymurmuring over their cellphones and correspondingwith the studios of theirrespective TV channels,remained a nuisance for theaudience struggling to followcourt proceedings. A largenumber of foreignjournalists were alsoattending the proceedings.After the hearing, Gilani’slawyer Aitzaz Ahsanappeared before televisioncameras to brief about thecourt proceedings. However,he ran into an unexpectedsituation when a largenumber of lawyers startedshouting slogans, “Zardarika jo yaar hey… ghaddar heyghaddar hey” (Whoever isZardari’s friend is a traitor)and “Chief teray jaan-nisarbeshumar beshumar” (Chief,your devotees are countless).The lawyer’s onslaught againstZardari came in response toemotional sloganeering bysome workers of the PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) inGilani’s support. There werespeculations that the PPPgroup was sponsored byGilani’s former lawyer BabarAwan. Earlier, a number ofimportant political figuresand chiefs of the rulingcoalition parties, except theMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM), accompanied Gilanito the court.

Effective economic policiesshowing good results: PM

pak body asked tovisit India from feb 1

Baloch senators slam govt’s ‘criminal silence’

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PeSHAwAR: on a PfuJ call, KhuJ staged a protest demonstration against the killing of senior journalist Mukarram Khan Atif. Staff photo

isLAMABADAfP

FORMER president General (r)Pervez Musharraf came undermounting pressure on Thursdayto delay his return from self-im-posed exile as he admitted that he

would be in danger if he comes back to Pak-istan.

Friends and supporters advisedMusharraf to put off a homecoming an-nounced between January 27-30 after Is-lamabad said he would be arrested if hereturned. “Party leaders are convinced it isnot a suitable time for Musharraf to come toPakistan,” said Mohammad Ali Saif, CentralSecretary for the All Pakistan MuslimLeague (APML), the political party Mushar-raf founded after being driven out of powerin 2008. Aides fear that the civilian govern-ment, under massive pressure from the mil-itary and the judiciary, may exploitMusharraf’s return to divert attention froma series of crises likely to force early elec-tions within months. “A meeting of the partycentral executive committee has been sum-moned on January 25-26 in Dubai to makea final decision. Musharraf will chair themeeting,” Saif added.

APML Senior Vice President Moham-mad Amjad confirmed that Musharraf hadbeen advised to postpone but that a final de-cision was pending. In an interview broad-cast on BBC Radio 4 at the same time thatAmjad spoke to AFP, Musharraf admittedhe would be in danger in Pakistan.

“I do feel endangered. There is a dangercertainly, but you take your own protectionand then leave things to destiny. Nobodycan ensure you 100 percent protection,” he

said in what appeared to be a pre-recordedinterview. He admitted that his arrest waspossible but said he would “like to remainout” of the crisis currently engulfing the gov-ernment, army and judiciary.

Musharraf faces two court warrants forhis arrest - connected to the 2006 death ofAkbar Bugti and the 2007 assassination offormer prime minister Benazir Bhutto. “Ipersonally feel he should not come. The cur-rent situation is not in his favour and the at-mosphere is hostile,” Hamid Nawaz, aformer general and Musharraf’s former in-terior minister, told AFP. He said Mushar-raf’s fledgling APML was ill-prepared tocontest elections and that the former rulerwould not be safe in Pakistan. The militaryhas not publicly announced that it wouldguarantee his safety.

Musharraf likely to delay return to

Pakistan ‘due to security concerns’

LAHORE: Former president Pervez Musharraf is desperately trying to pavethe way for returning home. He has recently acquired the services of aformer Congressmen who claims that “no one knows the way around CapitolHill (Washington) better than those who have previously served in Congress”for making inroads into Pakistan, Pakistan Today learnt on Thursday.Official contract documents made available with Pakistan Today show thatAll Pakistan Muslim League (APML) chief Pervez Musharraf, through theformer president of the Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee(PAKPAC) Raza Bokhari, has entered into an agreement with a US lobbyistsfirm, M/S Advantage Associates International Ltd, to engage members of theUS Congress and Executive Branch Officials to promote his interest.According to the contract documents, signed on September 1, 2011,Advantage Associates International will work with Pervez Musharraf’s NorthAmerican Point of Contact, Raza Bokhari, to develop a strategy to representthe interest of General (r) Musharraf in the United States. Documents showthat Musharraf will pay a total fee of $175,000 – in monthly payment of$25,000 for a period of seven months beginning on September 1, 2011 andending on March 30, 2012. All monthly payments must be made on the firstof each month. However, for the last two months and the first month,$75,000 will be paid to Advantage Associates International under thisagreement. In addition, documents indicate, the APML chief will reimburseall reasonable expenses arising out of this agreement, with any expensesover $250 pre-approved in advance. However, it seems that the renownedUS lobbying consultancy could not help the former president in returninghome as Musharraf has delayed his return plan. Earlier, it had beenannounced that he would return Pakistan between January 27 and January30. APML sources claim that Musharraf had delayed his return as few of hisfriends had indicated unfavourable circumstances for him in Pakistan.Advantage Associates International is founded by former congressman BillSarpalius, who served six years as a United States congressman and eightyears as a Texas State senator. It is the first bipartisan team of formermembers of the United States Congress to offer consulting and lobbyingservices. Its partners include former Congressmen Bill Alexander, Bill Grant,Dick Schulze, Lincoln Davis, Jerry Patterson and Robin Tallon. IMRAN ADNAN

musharraf engages former congressmen

to lobby his cause in us

PesHAwArABDuR RAuf KHATTAK

Local and tribal journalists on Thurs-day asked the Taliban leaders in Pak-istan and Afghanistan to explain theirposition whether they were involvedin killing of Mukaram Khan and othernewsmen.

“No one can stop us from writingreality and we can’t be frightened intoa gag by any one,” they vowed whileaddressing a protest against the

killers of Mukaram Khan.On a call given by Pakistan Federal

Union of Journalists (PFUJ), theprotest demonstration was held underauspices of Khyber Union of Journal-ists (KhUJ) at the premise of Pe-shawar Press Club (PPC) on Thursday.

A large number of tribal journal-ists affiliated with Tribal Union ofJournalists (TUJ) also participated indemonstration.

After registering their protest, thejournalists walked out of the PPC to

record their protest opposite Canton-ment Railway Station.

Holding placards and banners in-scribed with slogans against thekillers of the tribal journalist fromMohmand Agency, Mukaram Khan,they demanded the arrest of thekillers.

While addressing the protestingjournalists, PPC President SaifulIslam Saifi said Mukaram Khan kept abalanced reporting and never becamecontroversial for any side, but his

work in Voice of America (VoA) inPashto Radio Service had resulted inhis murder. “A Taliban faction has al-ready claimed killing of MukaramKhan,” he added.

“If the militants kill journalists byworking in any American broadcast,there are many Americans here in Pe-shawar,” he maintained, adding thatworking with any US institute relatedto broadcast did not mean to be killed.

“We all are labourers and earninglivelihood for our family members

through this profession,” he said.A senior journalist from Waziris-

tan Agency said that there were sev-eral journalists were killed whileperforming their duty by unknownterrorists because they (reporters)wanted to acquaint the nation with thereality of the so-called war on terror.Yousaf Ali, general secretary of KhUJ,also expressed deep sorrows over thekilling of Mukaram Khan, saying hewas the 24th journalists killed acrossthe northwest.

Kp, tribal journalists protest Mukaram Khan’s murder

truckers’ strike cuts

oil, ghee production,

price hike fearedkArACHi

GHuLAM ABBAS

An acute shortage of edible oil is looming inthe country as a strike by privatetransporters has disrupted oil supply fromKarachi terminals for the last ten days. Asthe existing oil stocks of various edible oilproducers have hit the bottom, the prices ofvegetable oil, ghee and other edible oilproducts are likely to increase by Rs 15-20per kilogramme. “If the supply remainssuspended for another 24 hours, theproduction of edible oil is feared to behalted completely,” sources in the wholesaleand retail markets told Pakistan Today. Theimported edible oil was being supplied inthe country through private transporters,and the National Logistics Cell (NLC) hasbeen recently hired to complement privatetransporters. The Edible Oil TankersOwners’ Association (EOTOA) suspendedoperations on January 10 to protest againsta decision by the Pakistan VanaspatiManufacturers Association (PVMA), whichsigned an agreement with the NLC todistribute oil. As the commodity is nowbeing supplied only through the NLC, thedemand for oil is not being met and reducedproduction of vegetable oil and ghee hascaused a shortage in the market. Despitethe situation, the PVMA is adamant in itsdecision, and according to sources, theassociation was free to decide how to supplyedible oil in the market. Sources said theagreement with the NLC was made afterreceiving repeated complaints of oil theftand contamination. On the other hand,EOTOA Chairman Bakhtawar Khan said thetransporters would continue their protestagainst the PVMA decision, and oil supplywould remain suspended until theirdemands were met. Almost 2,500 oiltankers are engaged in the transportation ofedible oil.

Sherry presentscredentials toPresident obama

isLAMABADNNI

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United StatesSherry Rehman presented her credentialsto US President Barrack Obama inWashington on Thursday. PresidentObama welcomed Sherry to the WhiteHouse on the ceremonial occasion. Later‚during her meeting with the president ‚ shespoke about US-Pakistan relations andhighlighted the importance of a friendlyrelationship between two countries‚based on mutuality of trust‚ respect andinterests. Sherry also highlightedPakistan’s important cooperation withthe international community andparticularly its key partnership with theUnited States in defeating violentextremism in the last decade.

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:38 AM

06 friday, 20 January, 2012

News

LAHoreYASIR HABIB

AT a time when all political par-ties are engaged in wheeling anddealing for Senate electionsafter ECP’s announcement, thePakistan Muslim League-Nawaz

(PML-N) appears least worried and thelevel of activity can be gauged by the factthat only a few party leaders have submittedapplications with the party’s central secre-tariat, despite six days left in the deadlineset by the PML-N.

The PML-N started issuing forms toparty candidates for Senate polls on Janu-ary 11 and set January 25 as the deadline.However, the frequency of forms submis-sion has remained low.

Amongst major reasons behind thelow-spirited attitude is a lack of focus by

party leadership toward Senate polls, withthe party’s top brass eyeing early generalelections.

“Contrary to the notions of PML-NPresident Nawaz Sharif, party hawks wantsnap polls before Senate elections and thatis why a majority of likely candidates areconfused and have yet to decide whether togo for Senate polls or wait and vie for partyticket later,” sources said.

A PML-N senior leader was of the viewthat another factor behind the slow re-sponse was weak organisational setup andimposed decisions. Although the processhas started, candidates already knew whosenames were going to be announced eventu-ally, he added.

Compared to the PML-N, the PPP hasreceived more than 550 applications forSenate polls.

PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid told

Pakistan Today that he did not know theexact number of applications submitted sofar. “It is basically an ongoing process andit is difficult to gauge the frequency ofmovement in this regard,” he added.

PML-N Finance Secretary Sardar AyazSaddiq said per tendency prevailing in theparty, announcement for candidates weremade at the last minute even after the dead-line. He said though applications werebeing submitted, he did not know theirexact number. According to the ElectionCommission of Pakistan, the Senate elec-tion would be held on March 2. Candidatescan file their papers by February 13 and 14to contest elections.

Statistics reveal that the PPP appearsset to gain most and others parties lose allin the forthcoming elections.

The PML-N and the ANP, ruling Punjaband Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, respectively,

would also gain significantly, but the repre-sentation of the MQM in the new Senate islikely to remain unchanged.

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) is expected tolose complete representation in bothHouses of parliament.

The calculations manifested that if allmembers vote strictly for their party candi-dates and no seat adjustments are done, thePPP will emerge as the single largest partyin the Upper House for the first time in thecountry’s parliamentary history.

The PPP is expected to improve itsstrength from existing 27 to 42 senators.Only five of its 27 senators will retire inMarch, whereas the party is set to win 20 ofthe 54 seats for which elections will be held,thanks to its majority in Sindh Assemblyand better position in the Punjab andBalochistan assemblies.

At present, the PML-N has seven sena-

tors and only Ishaq Dar will be retiring inMarch. However, due to its majority in thePunjab Assembly, it is expected to win an-other seven seats and its total membershipin the Upper House will become 13. ThePML-Q will be the biggest loser in the elec-tions as 20 of its 21 senators will be retiringin March. Party President Chaudhry Shu-jaat Hussain will be the sole representativeof the party in the Upper House.

But the PML-Q is expected to get amaximum of seven seats in the next elec-tions — thus PML-Q’s strength is expectedto be reduced to just eight from the existing21. The ANP is expected to improve its po-sition in the Senate. At present it has sixsenators and only Ilyas Ahmed Bilour is toretire in March. However, the party is ex-pected to secure five seats in the election,thus its representation is expected to in-crease to 10.

Rivals scuttle for Senate polls as PML-N ‘plays cool’g Party insiders say only a handful of applications received g Pml-N hawks’ interest in snap polls major reason for low interest in Senate election

DHAkAAfP

The Bangladesh army on Thursdaysaid it had foiled a plot last monthby some “religiously fanatic” serv-ing officers to overthrow theelected government of Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina.

“We have unearthed a heinousconspiracy to overthrow the demo-cratic government through thearmy,” army spokesman BrigadierGeneral Masud Razzaq said in awritten statement.

“The attempt has beenthwarted with the whole-heartedefforts of army soldiers,” the state-ment said, adding that the plot hadbeen fomented by Bangladeshi ex-patriates in touch with “religiouslyfanatic army officers”.

Hasina’s government, whichcame to power in early 2009, madechanges in June last year to bolsterthe secular character of theBangladesh constitution, althoughIslam was retained as the state re-ligion.

The move sparked a series of

angry protests by Islamic activists.Razzaq said two retired officers

including a colonel had been ar-rested in connection with the con-spiracy and he named a servingofficer, Major Syed Ziaul Haq, as a“co-planner”.

“In an effort to implement hisanti-state conspiracy, Major Ziaul,now absconding, sent emails to dif-ferent serving officers to executehis operation plans on January 9and 10, 2012,” he said.

The spokesman named the out-lawed religious group HizbutTahrir for circulating Ziaul’s mes-sages.

There were rumours online latelast month about a foiled coup at-tempt after the nation’s main oppo-sition leader Khaleda Zia accusedthe government of “incidences ofdisappearances” in the army.

The army hit back, terming theallegations “provocative and mis-leading”.

The spokesman said the armyhas set up a court of inquiry on De-cember 28 to try the alleged coupplanners.

PesHAwArSTAff RePoRT

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Minister forInformation Mian Iftikhar Hussain saidif opposition parties feel the need for anearly election is an appropriate step inthe given time, then they should contactthe parliament with a unanimous pro-posal.

“Political parties without representa-tion in parliament and provincial assem-blies want the government dismissed buttheir dream would not be fulfilled” he re-marked while briefing the journalist atBacha Khan Markaz Peshawar on Thurs-day. He hoped that the Senate electionwill be held on time and opposition par-ties will play a positive role to allow thegovernment to complete its tenure.

About the Prime Minister’s (PM) de-cision to appear before the SupremeCourt (SC), he said that Awami NationalParty appreciates the PM’s decisionwhich strengthened institutions. He ap-preciated the role of Pakistan army forsupporting the fragile democratic systemand not interfering to derail democracy.He said the constitution has specified thelimits of each organ of state and if theselimits were followed, no clash betweeninstitutions was possible.

He said the independent media had

made the government responsible topeople and acted as a watchdog. He saidbefore it came into play dictators wereendorsed by state run television channelsbut no it was different.

He said the ANP will hold a publicgathering in Tehmash Stadium on 26January and hoped the media wouldcover it well.

Coup plot foiled inBangladesh: army

opp should present united

front on early election: Iftikhar

USC zonal managers’

conference heldisLAMABAD

PReSS ReLeASe

The two-day Zonal ManagersConference of the Utility StoresCorporation (USC) was held inIslamabad. Senior USC managementparticipated in the conference inaddition to 10 zonal managers andManaging Director Major General (r)Malik Farooq presided over theconference. The conference’s objectivewas to examine the overall performanceof the corporation and take concretesteps to further enhance its businessand profitability.

NHA to construct

Karachi-Hyderabad

motorwayisLAMABAD

PReSS ReLeASe

The National Highway Authority (NHA)signed a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT)contract with Malaysian CompanyBinapuri Holdings for construction ofKarachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9).NHA Chairman Syed Ali Gardezi andSenator Tan Sri Datuk Tee Hock Sengsigned the agreement on behalf of theirorganisations. The cost of the projectwas Rs 24.93 billion and it will becompleted in three years. Under thisproject, the existing 4-Lane Karachi-Hyderabad Super Highway will beupgraded into 6-Lane Motorway. Theceremony was also attended by FederalCommunications Minister Dr ArbabAlamgir Khan.

BiSP shows

women that state

is mother: farzanaisLAMABAD

PReSS ReLeASe

The Benazir Income SupportProgramme (BISP) is the first initiativein Pakistan which proves to women andthe poor that the state is like a motherfor them, BISP Chairperson FarzanaRaja said on Wednesday. She wasaddressing a seminar titled, “BISPmaking difference in the lives of thepeople”. Farzana said that at present 44such programmes were going on indifferent countries, whereas, BISP hadbeen termed one of the best amongthem. Rachid Bin Masood, countrydirector of the World Bank, IftikharMalik, senior social protectionspecialist of the World Bank, a visitingdelegation of the Ministry of PlanningCambodia, journalists, students andmembers of civil society alsoparticipated in the seminar.

NowSHeRA: A policeman gathers explosive materials from the site of a blast that killed a person

and injured three others. Staff photo

3 policemen injuredin Nowshera attack

nowsHerAINP

Four persons, including three security personnel, were injured inan attack on a checkpost on Thursday. The attacker was also killedin police firing. Police sources said police had sealed Vatar entrypoint after receiving information that suicide bombers were goingto attempt to enter the city from Punjab. Police claimed the policeparty on the check post stopped a vehicle for search when and anassailant hurled a hand grenade which exploded to injure apedestrian and three police personnel, including an SHO. Policeopened fire and killed the attacker. The injured were shifted todistrict headquarters hospital.

Raisani sees foreign hand

behind Balochistan unrestisLAMABAD

INP

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani said onThursday that foreign forces were involved in disturbing the lawand order situation in the province. Talking to reporters at theParliament House on Thursday, Raisani took exception tostatements by the United States on human rights violations inBalochistan, saying “in fact the US has been involved in humanrights violations all over the world”. As an example, he referredto the incarceration of Dr Afia Siddiqui, first in Bagram jail andthen in the United States. In reply to a question, Raisani said hisgovernment was functioning well. He rejected rumours of earlyelections, saying that polls would be held on schedule, as “hastewould be dangerous for them”.

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:38 AM

friday, 20 January, 2012

PAge 08

Cubic art exhibition held at Tanzara Gallery


THE extensive security meas-ures adopted on Thursday,when Prime Minister YousafRaza Gilani appeared beforethe Supreme Court in the

contempt of court case regarding thenon-implementation of the NRO judg-ment, caused all major roads of Islam-abad leading to the SC to be blocked.

The office-goers, working in a num-ber of public and private sector offices sit-uated at the Constitution Avenue,including the Foreign Office, Radio Pak-istan, Pakistan Science Foundation(PSF), Pakistan Council of Research inWater Resources (PCRWR), FederalBoard of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan Tele-vision (PTV), Prime Minister Secretariat,President House (Awan-e-Sadar), PakSecretariat, National Library of Pakistan(NLP) and Auditor General of Pakistan(AGP), suffered greatly due to the exten-sive security measures that caused a mas-sive traffic snarl.

With the freezing cold and rain at thetime of court proceedings, the govern-ment employees reached their work-places quite late, as the securitypersonnel consumed a considerable timein checking their vehicles. They com-plained that the establishment of picketseverywhere had brought their routine lifeto a virtual standstill.

The commuters said that the govern-ment could come up with other solutionsto uproot terrorism and ensure peace,rather than keeping the city abuzz withsecurity officials. “The prime ministerreached the SC at 9:30 am and came outof the building at 11:30 am but still Imanaged to reach my office at the time oflunch break, while majority of the em-ployees reached after me,” commented aPakistan Council of Research in WaterResources (PCRWR) employee.

Driving his white Prado, the prime min-ister reached the Supreme Court at 9:30amto appear before a bench of the apex courtin a contempt notice issued to him. He wasaccompanied by a number of the federalcabinet members, while many of them hadarrived before the arrival of Prime MinisterGilani. Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) leaderAitzaz Ahsan also accompanied the primeminister as his counsel.

Thousands of personnel of police,Frontier Constabulary and Paramilitaryforces were stationed on various roads ofIslamabad to guard the city. They barri-

caded all the important roads, includingthe Constitution Avenue, Margalla Road,Zero Point Road and Radio PakistanChowk. “About 10,000 personnel havebeen deployed in the city to protect publiclife and property,” a security official toldPakistan Today.

The snarl-ups were seen from dawntill mid day on the Club Road, IslamabadHighway, Khayaban-e-Suharwardy, At-taturk Avenue and the Kashmir Highway.The conversion of normal routes of publictransport vehicles into zigzag ones alsoirked the commuters. The public trans-port vehicles on routes 1C and 24 re-mained off from the said routes, whichwere heavily manned by security officials.

The commuters in private vehiclesalso suffered greatly due to the thorough

check of vehicles in various localities.Even ambulances were seen stuck in thetraffic. Kashif Pervaiz, a businessman,said that it had taken him almost twohours to reach the Super Market fromRawalpindi as the security officials hadsearched his car on several points. FarrahHussain, a private TV news channel em-ployee whose office is situated at theMain Margalla Road, accused the policeof blocking all roads under the pretext ofgeneral public’s safety, while only theVIPs were being protected.

Yousaf Raza Gilani is the third primeminister in the political history of Pakistanto have appeared before the Supreme Courtas former prime ministers Zulfikar AliBhutto and Nawaz Sharif had also appearedbefore the apex court in such notices.

Pm appears in court amid tight security

isLAMABAD

STAff RePoRT

The Red Zone remained sealed for the general public during the appearance ofPrime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in the Supreme Court for a contempt case onThursday. The Prime Minister appeared before the SC amid tight security as2,000 police personnel (commando, security division, traffic police), Rangers andFrontier Constabulary and lady police personnel performed security duties in theRed Zone. Islamabad Police Inspector General Bani Amin, Security AIG Majeeb-ur-Rehman and other police officers were present at the occasion. Five police pris-oner vans and six armoured personnel carriers were deployed. Police officials andRangers also patrolled the Constitution Avenue. Un-authorised people werebanned from using the incoming routes to the court and only bonafide lawyers andcard holders were allowed to enter the Red Zone. Three cordons of security weremaintained around the Supreme Court building.

woman arrested for axing husband to death


The police arrested a woman on Thursday, who had axed herhusband to death after developing differences him in the BaraKahu Police Station precincts. According to the police, Waseem Ahmed used to quarrel withhis wife Uzma Saeed often. For the last several months, thecouple had been living separately, however Waseem used tovisit Uzma’s house often to meet his two daughters and oneson. Uzma was living in the Nain Sukh Mohallah in Bara Kahu.On December 30, 2011, Waseem went to Uzma’s house to giveher money to buy medicines. He stayed at Uzma’s house, whereUzma and her sister allegedly killed him, the police sourcessaid. The following day, Waseem’s brother told the police thathe found his brother murdered with wounds on his body atUzam’s house. The police had registered a First InformationReport (FIR) of the incident and started investigation into themurder. A team constituted by Assistant Superintendent PoliceYasir Afridi succeeded in arresting Uzma Saeed and her sisterFozia Saeed, who confessed to killing Waseem with an axedeath during his stay at their home on December 30, 2011. After preliminary investigation, the police also recoveredthe murder tools, an axe and a dagger, which had been hid-den in the mattresses. The mobile phone of the deceasedwas also recovered.ISLAMABAD: firefighters busy extinguishing fire which erupted in a car outside the State Bank Building in Islamabad.oNLINE

PM’s entourage causes traffic nightmare g All roads leading to apex court closed ahead of gilani’s arrival in connection with contempt case

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:38 AM

low

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conFerence

organised by Centres of excellence in Science andApplied technologies, islamabad. in the last eightconferences more than eleven hundred papers havebeen presented and more than four thousandparticipants attended the conference. it is the largestscientific event in Pakistan which is held regularly.

caPoeira isltown

dAte ANd time: eVeRy fRidAy 6:30-7:30PmVeNUe: KHAAS ARt gAlleRy iSlAmABAd

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art thatcombines elements of dancing, ritualcombat & music in a unique synthesis ofself defense and rhythm.

SUNNy

weAtHeR UPdAteS

12°C

numun 12

After two highly successful intra-NUStepisodes, NUSt now invites you to its firstever All Pakistan event- NUmUN 2012. thisJanuary, we'd like to welcome you here at H-12and change all that you know about this placefor the better.

dAte: JAN 26 — 29, 2012 VeNUe: NUSt, H12 oPPoSite to PoliCe liNe

Food outlets insPected

dAte: JAN 09 — 16, 2012VeNUe: NAtioNAl CeNtRe foR PHySiC


Islamabad

isLAMABAD MAHTAB BASHIR

KARACHI based artist, Salman Fa-rooqi opened his contemporarycubic art exhibition on Thursday atthe Tanzara Gallery. Capitalisingon his talent for linear work

brought alive through luminous colours, heworked in ‘oil on canvas’ form.

Farooqi’s 26 large size paintings depict asense of joy and relief, which is a stark contrastto the country’s current situation.

His rendering of subject matter is stylisedand the forms are simplified in various geomet-rical configurations that are created with bothskill and spontaneity.

Quickly drawn lines in his work traverse thecanvases, creating a variety of forms where bothbold shapes and delicate details intersperse andoverlap with ease. While the lines tend to be del-icate, the colours are bold. However, they do notnegate the impact of the lines because the artistapplies the paint in thin layers and maintains the

clarity of the brilliant hues.Cubic forms, which are immediately striking

have symbolic significance in his work. In somepaintings, complete forms of various objects likehouses, pole and electricity wires, buildings andthe setting sun are clearly portrayed while othersare in abstract form.

All the paintings are done on acrylic. In oneof the paintings Farooqi has portrayed the down-town residential areas of a city. The sun is visiblebehind the buildings while electric wires andpoles also occupy an important space in thepainting. Though the city isn’t known, one canrelate to the scene, as it is quite common in allthe major cities of Pakistan.

Born in Karachi, he graduated with distinc-tions from the Karachi School of Art and hasbeen an artist for over a decade. He studiedunder the guidance of Eqbal Mehdi and has alsoworked with Sam Abbas as an artist.

He has participated in various group exhibi-tions and has also held solo shows in variousKarachi galleries. Farooqi has worked on severalmurals for private collectors and has done com-

mission work for Pakistani and Irish clients.Although he is known to experiment with re-

alism and modernism, his current work of land-scapes focuses on impressionism and it is thisthat has garnered him further acclaim and recog-nition in Pakistan.

The artist himself was not present at the ex-hibition, as he could not make it to Islamabaddue to some personal reasons, however, talkingto Pakistan Today, the Tanzara Gallery ownerNoshi Qadir said Farooqi’s work had a strongidentity and his paintings exuded a refreshingenergy. Qadir added that Salman’s paintingswere well balanced and their energy captivatedthe eye. The rich color palette and bold compo-sitions help create brilliant effects making thepainting aesthetically pleasing.

Anum Ijaz, an art lover, while commentingon the work said: “Salman Farooqi’s work wasappealing due to its skilful handling of coloursand objects and the abstract work was innova-tively done.”

The exhibition will remain open at the Tan-zara Gallery till January 27.

Cubic art exhibitionheld at Tanzara Gallery

AioU postgraduate admissionsto continue until 23rd ISLAMABAD: Admissions for postgraduate programmes atthe Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) for SemesterSpring, 2012 are in progress simultaneously across the coun-try and the last date for submitting the admissions forms isJanuary 23. Admission forms and prospectuses for MS/M.Phil and PhDprogrammes can be obtained from the main campus of theuniversity at Sector H-8, Islamabad, as well as from its 36regional campuses around the country.For admission to MS and M.Phil programmes, passing thetest of GAT (general) of NTS and to PhD programmes, pass-ing the GAT test is compulsory. NTS (general/subject) re-sults are valid for the period of two years. Those who have already passed their GAT (general/subject)test are advised to submit their applications with the previ-ous results. For more details, students can visit the websitewww.aiou.edu.pk of the university. STAff RePoRT


Islamabad Assistant CommissionerMuhammad Ali conducted a surprisechecking on Thursday of hotels andrestaurants in the Sector F-6 marketsand imposed fines amounting to Rs 1,00,000 on 8 restaurants for failing toobserve hygiene and sanitation rules.

According to a press release, theinspection team headed by the assis-tant commissioner inspected manyfood outlets, including Al-MajlisRestaurant, Khaywara Restaurant,Gloria Restaurant, Table Talk Restau-rant, Mouqa Restaurant and Street

Kafe.The district health department

sanitary inspectors also accompaniedthe inspection team. They took foodsamples from the restaurants and sentthem to the laboratories for testing.

The AC said the hotel and restau-rant kitchens were in poor sanitaryconditions and the workers had alsonot been vaccinated, which is manda-tory under the rules.

He directed the food outlet ownersto improve the sanitation conditionsimmediately and to vaccinate theiremployees. He also directed them toensure the provision of quality food totheir consumers.

Fine imposed over poor sanitation

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:39 AM


Islamabad


A‘Regional Dress Show’ was held at thePir Mehr Ali Shah Arid AgricultureUniversity Rawalpindi on Thursday.The show was a depiction of the

lifestyle and cultural traditions of the differ-ent provinces and regions of the country.The event was organised to allow students tolearn about other cultures and to create anatmosphere of harmony and intercultural in-tegration.

More than 50 students of different univer-sity departments, attired in colourful dresses

embroidered with traditional motifs and de-signs, participated in the catwalk.

The variety show included skits, parodies,plays and mimicry of singers. Famous folk lovestories of Pakistan such as ‘Heer Ranjha’,‘Laila Majnu’ etc were dramatised in the show.The final item of the event was a cultural showdiplayed the different colours and shades ofPakistani culture.

The ‘Brides Catwalk’ was the highlight ofthe show and was highly appreciated by the au-dience.

The Pathan group stood first in the DressShow competition, while the Sindh and Moderngroups got second and third positions respec-

tively.The university’s Vice Chancellor Prof Dr

Khalid Mahmood Khan, the chief guest at theoccasion, said the Pakistani society comprisedof diverse cultures and ethnic groups and thateach province and region had its own indige-nous folk culture which was fully reflected inthe traditional costumes.

He appreciated the efforts of the StudentsAffairs directorate for organising a memo-rable event and congratulated the students forparticipating in it and making it into a bril-liant evening. A large number of universitystudents and faculty members also attendedthe function.

7 held, 2 stolen cars seizedisLAMABADSTAff RePoRT

The city police on Thursday claimed to have arrested sevenpersons, including a woman, and recovered two cars, 1.2kghashish and 16 wine bottles from their possession. Accord-ing to details, Margallah police arrested a car thief, HayatKhan, and recovered a stolen car from him. Similarly, In-dustrial Area police nabbed Waheed Farooq and recovereda car from him. In another raid, Tarnol police nabbed oneAli for having 1.2kg hashish while Niolre police nabbedbootleggers, Daud and Khurram Shehzad, for having atotal of 13 bottles of liquor. Aabpara police also arrestedBoota Masih for possessing three bottles of liquor whileIshrat Bibi was arrested by the women police station forswindling Wasim Hider Kayani out of Rs 130,000.

Regional dress show held at arid University

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:39 AM


IslamabadParaguay consulate general inaugurated


The honorary Consul General office ofParaguay was formally inaugurated inthe federal capital on Thursday. SenateStanding Committee on Foreign AffairsChairman Senator Salim Saifullah Khanwas the chief guest at the occasion. Addressing the gathering, he said: “Theopening of the Paraguay Consul GeneralOffice would facilitate trade between thetwo countries.” He stressed upon en-hancing cultural and economic ties be-tween the two nations. Foreign OfficeProtocol Chief Ghalib Iqbal said the re-lationship between Pakistan andParaguay would flourish in the days tocome. He added that he hoped the rep-resentative would prove to be a founda-tion stone for future relationships.The Republic of Paraguay ambassadorto Pakistan Ausberto Ro Dri Gaze Karasaid it was a landmark for a Latin Amer-ican country to open its consul generaloffice in Pakistan. He added that itwould strengthen the growing relation-ship between Pakistan and Paraguay inthe fields of trade, culture, educationand the textile industry.The Honorary Consul General KanwarMuhammad Tariq said the Consul Gen-eral office would facilitate the business-men and other experts in investing inParaguay as well as the Paraguayanbusinessmen’s participation in tradewith Pakistan. The Consul General officewas inaugurated by raising the nationalflag of Paraguay. Various parliamentmembers, diplomats and other notableswere also present.

NHA signs moUwith universities


A Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) was signed on Thursday regard-ing collaboration in Highway Research& Engineering Technology between theNational Highway Authority (NHA)Highway Research Training Centre(HRTC) and three leading engineeringuniversities. According to a press release, the univer-sities were the National University ofScience and Technology (NUST) Islam-abad, University of Engineering andTechnology, Taxila, and University ofEngineering and Technology, Lahore. National Highway Authority (NHA) Plan-ning member Sabir Hassan, UET TaxilaVice Chancellor Dr M Abbas and theNUST director signed the MoU. Speakingon the occasion, NHA Chairman Muham-mad Ali Gardezi reiterated the commit-ment to realise highway, motorway andexpressway projects in a well-coordinatedmanner, as 98% of the country’s trafficwas associated to the road network. He termed the availability of a reliableand durable highway network, a direneed of the time to meet the domesticand regional transit trade require-ments. He said that the NHA desired tofurther expand the scope of collabora-tion with all the universities of Pak-istan. The objective of such endeavorswas to build, operate and maintain asafe and sound road network in thecountry, he concluded.

ISLAMABAD: Girls take keen interest in queen elizabeth-II’s pictures during Diamond Jubilee exhibition of her portraits at a local hotel. Sajjad aLI QUREShI

Youth can bring positive change in society: seminar isLAMABAD

STAff RePoRT

Change in Education (CIE), in collabo-ration with foreign and Commonwealthoffices, United Kingdom (UK) andBritish High Commission (BHC), or-ganised a seminar and dialogue oncommunity, Islam and youth engage-ment in a mainstream Britain.

The seminar was a discussion onthe experiences of Muslim youth inBritish and Pakistani society and theissues faced by them in today’sworld.

The seminar was attended by no-

table stakeholders, government offi-cials, dignitaries and intellectuals.Change in Education CE0 and FounderFaisal Mushtaq, Roots School SystemPrincipal Imrana Naeem, British HighCommission Second Secretary MsTasha Reilly and many other distin-guished guests attended the ceremony.The ceremony was graced by a delega-tion of youth from Britain and a largenumber of local youth.

Speaking on the occasion, FaisalMushtaq said: “I believe youth are theuntapped resource that must beutilised in the 21st century; and thisdriving force will be responsible for

growth and development of Pakistanand Britain.

An empowered youth can single-handedly change a society and the pic-ture of these regions, so I welcome youall to rise for the benefit of our commu-nities.”

The seminar was divided into twosessions at which all the panelists haddetailed discussion on the experiencesof Muslim youth in British and Pak-istani societies and the issues they facein today’s world. All the guests admit-ted that it was a great chance to have anopen interaction with independentBritish Muslim youth and community

leaders visiting from UK.The British High Commission rep-

resentative, appreciating the event,said: “This was one of the most impor-tant seminars of the year because of thepositive issues it highlighted. Its mes-sages were completely based on Islamas a religion of peace; life as a Muslimin UK and the role of youth in a peace-ful future. It immensely encouraged theyouth of our nation.”

At the concluding ceremony, amoderator, Mishaal Javed Sehgal, ap-preciated all his team and thanked theBritish High Commission for sharing acommon vision.


THE Pakistan National Coun-cil of the Arts (PNCA)arranged a musical night ti-tled the ‘Fusion of East and

West’ at the council’s auditorium topromote Pakistani music globally.

The event featured performancesby Raja Kashif from UK, Amir Mu-nawar and Mugheera Ahmed fromPakistan.

Munawar and Ahmed presented adelightful rendering of old and newUrdu hits including ghazals, filmisongs and folk songs.

The show started off withMugheera Ahmed, who has won goldmedals thrice in the ‘Music Confer-ence’, singing ‘Tum Sung Naina Laa-gay’ followed by other ghazals, and folkand film songs.

Munawar sang ‘Bohat KhubsuratHay Mera Sanam’, ‘Pyar Bahray DoSharmeelay Nain’ and a few of FaizAhmed Faiz’s ghazals, including ‘AayKuch Abr, Kuch Sharaab Aay’.

Kashif’s performances were thehighlight of the evening as he pre-sented a number of ghazals, and songs,starting off with a song dedicated tomothers titled ‘Maan Andheron MeinRoshni ki Tarah’ followed by other filmsongs and ending with the Punjabi hit‘Sajna Nay Bohay Agay Chik Taan Lai’.

PNCA Director General TauqirNasir said on the occasion that thePakistani youth was achieving per-forming arts milestones globally.

Talking about the 9 year-old SitaraAkbar who holds the world record forthe youngest person to appear for Olevels, Nasir said the country wasproud of its youth and Sitara’s per-formance was a beacon of hope forother youngsters. He added that thePNCA would continue to promote artand culture.

Meanwhile, the PNCA alsoarranged a cultural show as part of the‘Talent Hunt Bank Project’ at theFrance Colony slum area on Thursday.

The programme started with apuppet show by the National PuppetTheatre followed by singing, and dance

performances by the young artists ofthe slum.

Nasir distributed prizes among theparticipants and said the PNCA wastrying to reach out to the country’s cor-ners and specially the remote and un-developed areas and wanted tointroduce new talent into the main-stream.

“These programmes were aimed atproviding opportunities to the unpriv-ileged children. We are here to enter-tain you and educate you about art andculture,” he said.

Sonia Naasir, sung ‘Ay Waton, AyWaton’ at the occasion and was accom-panied by Alina Waris, and HashimWaris singing ‘Deindy Gali Gali Ro RoDuayan’, while Aurangzeb and AftabKhan Sono performed a break danceroutine and Shahbaz Gulzar Masihsang ‘Tere Qadmoon Main’.

Asif Sonu, Danish Bazmi, KirinAshfaq, Mariyam Maqsood, ZeeshanArif also performed on the occasion.Many senior artists, including MeenaGul and others also presented items forthe audience.

‘minorities should be included in mainstream politics’


Minority community members appealedto the government on Thursday for theminorities to be included in mainstreampolitics along with the Separate Elec-toral College. Addressing a seminar or-ganised by the World Minority Alliance(WMA), Muslim Friends of the LabourParty of United Kingdom Chairman andchief guest Muhammad Sarwar criti-cised the steps taken by the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP) regard-ing the prohibition of dual nationalityholders to contest elections in Pakistan.The Federal Parliamentary Secretaryand chief patron Mahboob Ullah Jansaid the aim of WMA was to get a spe-cial seat reserved in the United Nationsto represent the minorities all over theworld and to set up the World MinorityUplift Bank to help improve the eco-nomic conditions of the minorities andhighlight their legitimate privileges.The WMA convener Julius Salik paidtribute to the democracy and said theBritish democracy was a good exampleregarding the observance of humanrights and safeguarding the minorities’rights and privileges.

SUPARCo, AioU to

impart education

to far-flung areasisLAMABAD

APP

Space and Upper Atmosphere ResearchCommission (SUPARCO) Pakistan andAllama Iqbal Open University (AIOU)would soon sign a memorandum of un-derstanding (MoU) to extend educa-tional facilities to the students belongingto far-flung areas of the country. TheMoU will be signed to ensure access ofthe students living in the backward areasto educational facilities.

PNCA concert, talent huntshow mesmerise audience

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Editor’s mail 11friday, 20 January, 2012

form of governmentPolitical thinkers and philosophers

have given different theories on politicalinstitutions and various systems. Theyhave present different theories of govern-ment. Mostly six forms of governmentare suggested: namely, Monarchy, oli-garchy, aristocracy, democracy, moboc-racy and autocracy or dictatorship andthe best is democracy – the golden meanrule. It is the most popular form of gov-ernment practiced in the world. Twokinds of this system are important: Par-liamentary form of government andPresidential form of government, the‘Westminster model’ and the ‘Americanmodel.

Separation of powers is one of thecardinal principles. Fundamental rightsand liberties are ensured in both theforms. Electoral system is based on adultfranchise and one vote for each individ-ual. Equality before law and rule of laware two important precepts. Parliamentis supreme and has the primary functionof making laws. Judiciary interprets thelaw and is the final arbiter. They have thepower of judicial review to create the bal-ance of power.

Executive takes care of the gover-nance and is ultimately accountable andanswerable to the people. All the threeinstitutions must work within their lim-its, in order to preserve and protectdemocracy. We have been grappling withthis idea for the last 64 years and still areat a loss. We should realise the impor-tance of democratic system in our lives.No nation can progress without strength-ening its political system.

The progress of a nation depends onits system and reflects the psyche of thenation. We are impatient, incompetentand intolerant people. Tolerance is thekey to democracy. All the forces mustunite together to make Pakistan a pro-gressive and stable modern democraticstate.

JAVAID BASHIRLahore

Constitutional immunityIt is time that the issue of immunity,

its extent, applicability and jurisdictionbe defined by the Supreme Court, so thatsanity prevails and laws of natural justiceand equality before the law is upheld. Itis a universal law of jurisprudence thatcourts alone can interpret laws or clausesof constitution and not the executive ex-ercising such powers. We live in timeswhere even constitutional kings or mon-archs do not enjoy such unlimited ar-chaic powers, which place an individualbeyond reproach and accountability. Inthe words of John Adams, the secondPresident of the USA, in a democracythere is a “government of laws and not ofmen”.

People of Pakistan have suffered a lotbecause of excessive wrongs and abusesof powers by unethical individuals ingovernment, most of them being militaryadventurers, or those opportunist politi-cians who have misruled this countrythrough engineered polls. It is an unfor-tunate fate of 180 million people of Pak-istan, that inspite of our vast natural andhuman resources, the vast majority livesbelow poverty line and their lives, orproperty are no longer safe because ofpoor governance and massive corruptionperpetrated by greed and incompetenceof those who have ruled us by default.

Pakistan’s survival lies in restorationof a democratic welfare state envisionedby Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal, in-stead of a fiefdom that it has been re-duced to by men like Ayub Khan, Yahya,Zia, Musharraf and others.

GHULAM QADIRMalikwal

Political restraintGiven the gravity of political crisis

that Pakistan faces today, it is time thatpoliticians exercise restraint in public,especially on talk shows which have as-sumed a nuisance of their own.

On a recent talk show, a senator be-longing to ruling party started flashing apink folder, which he claimed to be doc-uments implicating judges of superiorjudiciary. Such irresponsible behaviourby a channel, whose owner is a benefici-ary of NRO is unacceptable in any demo-cratic environment, which bindseverybody to respect the superior judici-ary and their judgments in letter andspirit.

Those who are calling for judicial re-straint must understand that it is thisrestraint by our judiciary over the years,which has created in this country an en-vironment where corruption is encour-aged and paid establishment over theyears has resorted to usurping constitu-tion, while a pliant docile judiciary re-sorted to law of necessity in order toappease individuals at the expense of180 million people, who have beendriven to desperation by a crippling eco-nomic down-slide with no law andorder.

No individual, whatever his status,can assume unto himself right to abuselaws, plunder state resources and de-mand that he be not subjected to judicialscrutiny, just because he is elected, orholds constitutional executive assign-ment.

This country desperately requires anenvironment in which laws prevail, in-stead of whims of individuals. It is timethat criminals, whoever they maybe,must be prosecuted, instead of being letoff on excuse of political exigencies ortheir compulsions to retain their coali-tion intact. Pakistan faces a crisis thatthreatens its very survival as a viablesovereign state, and our only remedy isrule of law, where nobody can enjoy im-munity for crimes against the state, suchas tax evasion, abuse of powers andcomplicity in organized plunder of stateresources.

MALIK TARIQ ALILahore

Varsities in SindhNowadays one can hear the anger

and absolute frustration of Sindhi intelli-gentsia, educationists, academicians andintellectuals in and abroad in their sto-ries and commentaries about the wors-ening plight of educational institutionsfunctioning in the upper and lower Sindhregions, especially the University ofSindh, Jamshoro, what was once a crownjewel on the Sindhi educational and cul-tural scene is now an underfunded messwith no rescuers in sight.

Indeed, no varsity in the province isin a better shape. Greedy exploitation bythe administration goes on – corruptionreigns supreme in transactions betweenstudents, faculty and administrators. Thebrain drain of faculty continues. The fu-ture and the hope of this country, calledthe students, are crammed into over-crowded classrooms, without proper fa-cilities for teaching and studying. Thevarsities are producing armies of unem-ployed youth in the market.

Concrete changes are required in theadministration, especially in the appoint-ment of Vice Chancellors and other ad-ministration personnel, coupled withrevolutionary changes in the curriculumso as to make these varsities again thereal seats of learning and birthplace ofbrilliant brains.

HASHIM ABROIslamabad

the conflict of institutionsIt is imperative that the judiciary

must be independent, strengthen democ-racy, promote rule of law and constitu-tionalism in the land of the pure. Due tothe Supreme Court’s indifference to thecases that are pending for many yearssuch as the alleged involvement of the ISIin using taxpayers’ money and to bribethe politicians and conjuring up IJIagainst the Pakistan Peoples Party. Thepetition about this matter was submittedby Asghar Khan in 1997 to the SupremeCourt but it has shown no enthusiasmand urgency in that case as it has shownin the Memogate case.

Similarly, in the suo motu case re-garding the Kharotabad incident, no ac-tion has been taken as of yet even thoughthe police surgeon who had conductedpost mortem reports of the victims hasbeen mysteriously killed. This gives animpression to the thoughtful Pakistanisthat the SC is not a neutral arbiter whiledealing with the cases in which the estab-lishment is involved.

The PPP perceives a nexus betweenthe higher judiciary and military againstPresident Asif Ali Zardari, who has neverbeen accepted by the establishment astheir Supreme Commander. He has been

never been invited by the army to any oftheir important functions. The govern-ment’s refusal to write a letter to theSwiss authorities for reopening casesagainst Zardari has become a contentiousbetween the judiciary and the executive.The PPP, MQM, and ANP in the NationalAssembly are the ones with secular politi-cal ideology as they don’t use religion togain political power, whereas the judgesof the higher courts are protecting the Is-lamic ideology of the state.

The PPP’s mistrust of the judiciaryand the army’s mistrust of the PPP aredeep rooted. PPP founder and Chairman

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was ousted by thearmy and was later hanged by GeneralZia-ul-Haq on the verdict of judiciary.Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s governmentwas twice removed under military’s influ-ence. She was also assassinated whenmilitary dictator General Pervez Mushar-raf was ruling the country.

President Asif Ali Zardari also suf-fered long imprisonment during the mili-tary rule. This past history is causingmistrust and conflicts between the stateinstitutions.

ENGR S T HUSSAINLahore

A baptism of fireAs anticipated the Prime Minister appeared in the Supreme

Court in contempt case and presented his viewpoint. He washumble and very respectful to the court but took the same pleaas was being advocated on the floor of the house: President en-joys immunity under article 248 of the constitution; therefore,the government did not write letter to Swiss court. The attorneyof Prime Minister Aitzaz Ahsan had already spoken to the pressabout his stand that was to be taken in the court and he stuck tohis plea and now will argue his point of view in the next hearingon 1 February, 2012.

The way the Prime Minister’s caravan came to the SupremeCourt has disappointed the people at large. This could havebeen done in a low profile. PPP workers and lawyers commu-

nity who were shouting slogans outside the court was in a verybad taste. It is very unfortunate that our leaders continue to dis-play immaturity in every field of life. Nowhere in the world suchscenes are witnessed in any court of law as we experience inPakistan. We must preserve the sanctity of the Supreme Courtand not turn the premises into an ordinary office. Section of themedia was expecting miracles to happen and they made all ef-forts to pass judgments and draw conclusions which werenowhere near to the ground realities. This is a lesson for all ofthem not to pass judgements suiting to their convenience; in-stead, they should show patience in such matters.

MUKHTAR AHMEDKarachi

Another amendmentSenior PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan has

said that President of Pakistan Asif AliZardari has complete immunity as presi-dent. “There is no harm in writing a let-ter to the Swiss authorities. He enjoysimmunity in Pakistan and abroad as longas he is president,” Aitzaz Ahsan added.

If this is the case, then I think that anamendment should be made in the con-stitution of Pakistan. No one, not eventhe head of the state, should be above thelaw. Pakistan and all Muslim nationsmust dump this western legal systemwhich gives immunity to the president.

Few days ago, PPP MNA JamshedDasti very rightly said that “historyrecords that Caliphs appeared before thecourts; therefore, the president shouldnot avoid appearing before the court.”Iam also sure that this government willnot make any amendment in this regard.But it is hoped that if PTI comes intopower, they should change this law asPTI is talking about bringing change.

MUBASHIR MAHMOODKarachi

gas load managementI am a resident of Shahzad Town Is-

lamabad and like most of the country myfamily and I have also been sufferingfrom gas outages or what is preferred tobe called as gas load management.

What I have observed is that the gasoutages even continue during the dayswhen the CNG stations have been shut-down. It has also been observed that invarious other sectors of Islamabad thereare no gas outages altogether.

My question to SNGPL or any au-thority dealing with this is why is theresuch a disparity? First of all, the scheduleof the load management should be madepublic and secondly, it should be onequal basis as they claim that there is acrisis of gas in the entire country.

MUHAMMAD AHMADIslamabad

Predicament of iranAs Iran is allegedly developing its

nuclear programme, it has become toodifficult to swallow for the rival coun-

tries. Although nuclear weapons havebeen a risk for the world peace, it isIran’s right to have access to peacefuluses of nuclear technology.

A nuclear weapon is like a gamepoint for a country. Powerful countrieswant to regulate the world as theywish. Israel has never felt at ease withthe nuclear developments of variouscountries, including Iran, Syria andLibya.

It is trying its best to annihilateIran’s developments in this regard.But Iran has another card to play as itis developing its nuclear programmeunderground, which is a red sign forIsrael.

Israel has been taking it as a secu-rity threat. On the other hand, there isan evolving flux in Iran’s defence de-velopment. Israel had recentlylaunched a cyber attack on the com-puter system of Iran. In fact, there area lot of wars in the world. Physicalwars will soon be left behind by men-tal, electronic and cyber wars.

ABDUL REHMAN KHANLahore

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: [email protected]. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

Punjab contributes over 60 percentof the GDP but bears the entire brunt interms of power shortages. The federalgovernment is heavily dependent onPunjab in order to earn wealth to run theday to day affairs of the state but if ittreats Punjab like a stepbrother, howwould it expect Punjab to earn revenuefor them? The most badly affected sectordue to energy shortages is the industrialsector. Punjab is housing a huge numberof industries but is unable to provide en-ergy to these industries.

Punjab houses 60 percent of the in-dustry with 21,000 industrial units. Pun-jab consumes 65 percent of the local

national consumption of electricity whichmeans that energy shortage in Punjabmeans an end to the income from indus-tries.

Another consequence is the mass un-employment in Punjab as over 10 millionindustrial workers, including daily wa-gers, earn their livelihood from industrialunits. Punjab industry is facing acuteshortages of both gas and electricity forthe last three years with over 700 mmcfdshortage of gas in SNGPL system and3300 MW shortage in electricity. This re-sults in massive loss in national GDPgrowth.

Sports and surgical goods sector are

facing 50 percent production loss whichis causing loss of Rs 68.77 million daily.There are 12 fertiliser units in Punjabwhich are closed due to discontinuationof gas and 4239 workers have been af-fected.

There is 100 percent loss of produc-tion in fertiliser industry. The net resultis a loss to Punjab as industry owners arerelocating their industry from Punjab toSindh and abroad. The textile industry isadversely affected as it makes losses inthe shape of taxes and earns less fromlow production.

The loss in export of textile is Rs 35million per day which is a huge loss for

Pakistan. Alone in the textile industryaround 191100 workers are unemployedbut this segment of society is heavilytaxed. Fertiliser rates are also going upand still at this hefty price the fertiliser isadulterated and impure.

For all this, the central government isnot to be blamed alone because after the18th amendment it is Punjab govern-ment’s responsibility to produce energyand use it for the provincial consumptionbut the Punjab government has alsofailed in living up to people's expectationtogether with the central government.

HAIDER ALILahore

energy crisis and the Punjab industrial sector

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:39 AM

Comment12friday, 20 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: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

mismanagement, inefficiency and intervention

two resignations

The government has got a little more on its plate than itcan handle right now with the resignations of two topofficials (Ogra Chief Sabir Hussain, and Khwaja MaqboolAhmad, Member from Sindh and Vice-Chairman, Nepra)

from its energy regulatory bodies. For far too long, thegovernment has dragged the issue of reforms in energy sector;this is something that has seriously undermined its claims ofbeing a people-friendly government and its performance on theenergy front has led to big dip in its ratings. What should ringmore bells, though, are the reasons behind the resignations ofthese officials.

The Ogra chief claims that the body is disorganised,mismanaged and inefficient. He further states that his inquiryinto illegal practices of the body is being hampered, rendering hisefforts useless. Thus, the resignation. Khwaja Maqbool Ahmadhas cited personal reasons for his resignation, though theprovincial government’s meddling into the affairs of Nepra isthought to be the main reason. This in no way casts themanagement of these organisations in a good light and leaves abad taste in the mouth regarding the government’s handling ofthe situation.

The mess that our energy sector has become is not easy toclean up. Beset with problems, ranging from mismanagement totoo much focus on fossil fuel-based energy, it is seemingly nighimpossible to set them aright. The problem does become morecomplex with some factors being beyond the control ofgovernment or the regulatory bodies – such as the fluctuations inthe international oil prices for one and less gas being available inthe country.

The problem actually seems to be how our energy profile hasbecome lopsided with too much insistence on fossil fuel instead ofrenewable energy resources. Using natural gas for electricityproduction leaves vital industries without power and rawmaterial. Also, not providing the same to the domestic users haspolitical ramifications. But that in no way exonerates thegovernment from its obligations of proper management andenergy sector reforms. If anything, these problems make it evenmore important to carry out restructuring in the fields of energyproduction, distribution and regulation. Unless some concreteaction is taken in this regard, there is no chance we can find asilver lining to this cloud.

Not too bad, as expected

first day in court

Aitzaz Ahsan being in his element wouldn't have sprungany surprises. After all, the senior lawyer is defendinghis third prime ministerial client. The first was his partychairperson and prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The

second, more significantly, was former prime minister NawazSharif, who would rather have this PPP stalwart defending himrather than any lawyer from his own party. And now it is theincumbent premier that he defends. Third time's a charm?

His plea itself was reasonable. First, that this was anextremely important case and one that requires him to have moretime to prepare his case. He asked for another date, which thecourt granted. Mr Ahsan also correctly pointed out how thecurrent case is, primarily, about determining whether primeminister Yousaf Raza Gilani has been contemptuous of the courtor not. This, he claimed, was not the case.

This is an argument that is to be based on the government’sposition on the issue of presidential immunity, on which he saidhe is going to present his case in the next hearing.

The overall mood of the defence was conciliatory. This tonewas also helped by the fact that the defendant himself was hisusual, cool self. The distancing of perpetual gadfly Babar Awan,not only from the case - though there, the government didn't havemuch of a choice since the court suspended his license - but alsofrom his old portfolio at the law ministry would have also helped.Whether Mr Awan has been marginalised or is being storedtemporarily in the arsenal is not known yet.

That cool, however, could not be displayed by all concerned.After the hearing, Mr. Ahsan could barely speak to the media dueto the spirited slogans by lawyer-activists present at the court.The slogans, interestingly enough, were from the era of thelawyers’ movement, the same ones that once cheered on MrAhsan himself.

Even though a sitting prime minister appearing in court isnothing more than the rule of law, it is still indicative of maturityon the part of the ruling party. The move from a political defenceto a legal defence would not only be more effective but would alsobe more difficult to argue away. These are heady times buthopefully uninteresting ones.

Canons breachedLet’s save the slogans for political rallies

The war on terror that started in the wake of 9/11 hascost no other country allied with the United States asdearly as much as Pakistan. Despite Pakistan’s sacri-

fices, it has never earned the credit it has deserved from itsally which has never bestowed its trust or respect on the be-leaguered country.

It is a widely held opinion that the current worsening oflaw and order in the country is a result of the backlash fromthe military operations in the tribal areas of the country.This argument is not totally without weight as action againstmiscreants in the tribal belt is always accompanied by a cor-responding increase in terrorist activities and a worseningof the law and order situation not only in KhyberPakhtunkhwa but also in other parts of the country.

During the Musharraf era, many agreements were madewith the US whose fallout and gory aftermath is only surfac-ing in recent years. The dictator not only allowed the activi-ties of the CIA in the country but also let the superpower useour airbases without any significant conditions. The fact thathe was not answerable to the electorate meant that thesepolicies of his do not have the backing of public will (quite to

the contrary). But the incumbent government has come tothe saddle of power with a considerable mandate and theonus is now on them not only to control price hike, loadshedding, unemployment but to effectively come up with astrategic policy to address the law and order situation.

The masses view their lot in life with increasing despon-dency, even after four years of democratic rule in the coun-try. The incumbent government however is too besottedwith other problems to carry the weight of the mandate theyhave been given and carry out the actions necessary to re-spect it.

One of the most pressing issues is how to deal with thelaw and order situation and the menace of terrorism and thegovernment must address it without delay. The first stepwould be to bring the civilian and military establishmentson the same page about how to address the issue of terror-ists in the tribal belt. The people of the tribal belts are suf-fering a lot due to the ineffective military operations in theregion. It is imperative that the militants must not be al-lowed to regroup and peace must be brought to the restivetribal regions of the country.

– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur RaufKhattak

Peace in the tribal beltDaily Pashtun Post

Regional Press

It seems there is no end to poli-tics, intolerance and exagger-ated reaction in Pakistan.Patience is in short supply anddisplay of disgraceful behaviour

in abundance. Thursday was no excep-tion with unwarranted and senselesspolitical sloganeering doing therounds.

It was not at an election rally or apublic protest outside the parliamentbut the venue of divisive political slo-ganeering was the Supreme Court ofPakistan. And ironically this time notby politicians or the public but by pro-fessional lawyers who created a rum-pus outside the apex court building.

The disruptive behaviour exhibitedby jiyalas in ‘black coats’ just outsidethe Supreme Court’s main foyer onThursday was downright undignifiedand most unprofessional. They bla-tantly and disgracefully violated the‘Canons of Professional Conduct andEtiquette of Advocates’ prescribed inthe Pakistan Legal Practitioners & BarCouncil Rules, 1976. The Canons beginwith the stipulation that “it is the dutyof every Advocate to uphold at all timesthe dignity and high standing of hisprofession, as well as his own dignityand high standing as a memberthereof.” Advocates are advised, by an-other canon of professional conduct,that “clients, not Advocates, are the lit-igants. Whatever may be the ill-feelingexisting between clients, it should notbe allowed to influence Advocates intheir conduct and demeanour towardseach other or towards the parties in thecase.” Unfortunately, these were notthe only canons of professional con-duct brazenly flouted by a few dozenadvocates assembled at the entrance tothe Supreme Court on Thursday.

It is a pity that in Pakistan no op-portunity is spared to politicise mat-ters even if of purely a legal nature, andself-restraint is seldom exercised. Therowdy scene was witnessed on thepremises of the Supreme Court whenhighly charged members of the legalcommunity, many of whom were partof the lawyers’ movement for restora-tion of judiciary and advocate rule of

law, behaved like an angry mob ex-pressing its opinion on a matter that isto be decided by the Court.

Two groups of lawyers in their uni-forms emerged on the scene as PrimeMinister Yousaf Raza Gilani appearedbefore the Supreme Court for con-tempt of court notice in the NRO im-plementation case. While one groupraised pro-judiciary and anti-govern-ment slogans, the other chanted slo-gans in favour of the government, as ifsome cricket match was going on.While these lawyers polluted the at-mosphere with full-throated sloganeer-ing, no attempt was made by the courtadministration or management to stopthis madness. Those who claimed to bethere in support of “azaad adlia”screamed to high heavens with slo-gans: “chief teray jan nisar bay shu-maar, bay shumaar” as if the ChiefJustice was a party to the proceedings.

After the proceedings, the primeminister’s lead counsel Aitzaz Ahsanwas unable to complete his press con-ference due to the screaming match.He was threatened by some protestinganti-government lawyers who shouted:“Hakumat kaa jo yar hai ghadaar hai,ghadaar hai.”

One wondered what was all thefuss about when the proceeding wenton smoothly and PM managed throughhis counsel to get the time and space hewanted. When the hearing ended on anapparently amicable note and tensionbetween the judiciary and the execu-tive stood diffused to some extent. Thiswas expected given that the PPP’s sea-soned and saner legal mind AitzazAhsan was finally allowed to prevail bythe government and chosen as leadcounsel for the PM. Also wisely, theparty’s belligerent vice president Babar

Awan, whose licence to practice lawhas been suspended pending contemptof court proceedings against him, waskept away from the court.

Debate and discussion in the com-ing days will revolve around Article248 of the Constitution pertaining toimmunity of President and Prime min-ister in civil and criminal cases. WithAitzaz sounding confident that he cansatisfy the court on this score, the hypeabout this legal battle appears to havesubsided for now.

The lawyers who raised slogans infavour of judiciary on Thursday actu-ally did a disservice to it by unneces-sarily dragging it into politics and bymaking it seem like a party instead ofbeing impartial – a self-defeating exer-cise that conveys lack of maturity andflagrant disregard for rule of law.

It was no occasion and no forumfor such distorted expression of free-dom of speech. It negated the spirit ofdemocracy and all norms of decency.Activism of any kind must know itslimits and be exercised with a level ofresponsibility.

Trampling of the sanctity of thecourt by anyone, least of all by thepractitioners of law, must not be al-lowed to go unnoticed by those whoregulate the license to practice andconduct of advocates. An examplemust be set so such uncivilised behav-iour is not repeated.

The writer is a senior journalistand has been a diplomatic correspon-dent for leading dailies. She was anAlfred Friendly Press Fellow at TheChicago Tribune in the US and a PressFellow at Wolfson College, Cam-bridge, UK. She can be reached viaemail at [email protected]

Cross CurrentsBy Qudssia Akhlaque

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:39 AM

Comment 13friday, 20 January, 2012

In contrast to the assault thatwas mounted against theapex court when former

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wassummoned to face a contempt ofcourt proceeding in 1997, PrimeMinister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s ap-pearance in the court was aunique experience: there were noslogans, no attack and no engi-neered gathering of diehardworkers to repeat the scene of thecourt’s mauling. January 19,2012, thus can be described as ahistoric day as an elected primeminister appeared before thejudges and reposed his trust inthe judiciary.

It must not be forgotten thatprior to his appearance in thecourt, he was bequeathed withthe support of National Assemblythat passed a resolution for up-holding democracy and reiterat-ing confidence in the politicalleadership with a thumping ma-jority. Will this government sur-vive till the election of Senate, orare we heading for an early elec-tion, is inconsequential, as theissue is broader and crucial fromthe perspective of supremacy ofdemocracy and parameters of in-stitutions.

In his address to the NationalAssembly, the prime ministerneatly summed it up when he saidif democracy goes and if the sys-tem is derailed, everyone will suf-fer. He was of course alluding tothe conspiracy theories whirlingaround suggesting an imminentfall of the present governmentthrough some out-of parliamentmachinations. No democratworth his salt can take issue withGilani’s statement, and to ignoreit for petty motives would amountto ruining what little democracywe have been able to induct in ourpolity.

The government, underPrime Minister Yousaf Raza Gi-lani, has completed four years,and will complete its term in2013. If the government, despiteall the spanners in its works, isable to do that then it would be abrilliant feat, as no political gov-ernment since the inception ofthe country, except Zulfikar AliBhutto’s first government, hasbeen allowed to complete its fullterm. Will the PPP-led coalitionbe the beneficiary, or will the ul-timate advantage accrue to par-liamentary democracy is thepoint that must be considered bypolitical adventurers.

If the coalition under PM Gi-lani is able to survive by defyingall the schemes and stratagems,the beneficiary will be the nextgovernment, nay parliamentarydemocracy. This is very simpleand no rocket science is requiredto understand this; the method ofsending a government home iswritten in the constitution, andthe power to do so has been givento the electorate. Unfortunately,in our country where true democ-racy has yet to take root everyonewho has enjoyed power has skele-tons in his closet.

Our political history is but atale of compromises, pacts andbehind-the-scenes wheeling-deal-ing for acquiring personal for-tune; no one is clean here. Butwhenever a representative gov-ernment is at the helm, desperatemeasures are initiated to pull itdown by creating a cacophony ofallegations of wrongdoing.Should this be allowed to con-tinue? No.

This must be borne in mind byopposition parties and somemedia-persons and all those whoare visibly ‘sensitive’ about theproblems facing Pakistan thattheir over-pouring desire to cutthe life of this government is asure-shot way of perpetuating theunholy cycle of democratic-unde-mocratic rule in the country. Li-aquat Ali Khan (50 months inoffice) was assassinated. His suc-cessors, Khwaja Nazimuddin (17months); Mohammed Ali Bogra(29 months); Chaudri MohammedAli (13 months); ShaheedSuhrwardy (13 months); I.I. Chun-drigar (2 months); and Firoz KhanNoon (11 months), all became vic-tims of palace intrigues.

Throughout the 1950s, two

bureaucrats, Ghulam Mohammedand Iskander Mirza, brazenlyabused their powers as head ofstate to make or break govern-ments. In April 1953, Ghulam Mo-hammed set an unfortunateprecedent when, citing the gov-ernment’s failure to resolve ‘thedifficulties facing the country’, dis-missed Khwaja Nazimuddin andinstalled Bogra in his place. WhenBogra responded by trying to limitthe Governor General’s power,Ghulam Mohammed dismissedhim too. Add to this list, the top-pled governments of BenazirBhutto twice and Nawaz Shariftwice and one gets a pretty goodidea of the state of democracy inthis ill-starred country.

It is patently clear that Pak-istan’s problems and maladies donot need palliatives under thegarb of a technocrat dispensationor any other short-sighted innova-tion. Nor do they require an inter-ruption in democracy; no do theyrequire some advice from self-proclaimed saviours of the nation,or future tellers with not a mod-icum of commitment to civilianrule. In this circus where every-body is masquerading as a law ex-pert, defence analyst andeconomic guru, the loser is thecountry itself.

The direction is clear: elec-tions according to the prescribedtimetable and government by theelected representatives of people.Above all, there should be an en-vironment of reconciliation as nosingle party can overcome thescale and magnitude of crises,ranging from power, economy tolaw and order, in the country.

After the establishment ofPakistan, the wrangling of politi-cians and dismissal of govern-ments were accompanied byintense regional conflicts betweenBengalis and West Pakistanis andbetween Punjabis and Sindhis,and Punjabis and Pakhtuns.These fault-lines exist. In this mi-lieu to think that a single partycan correct things is unjustified.To the credit of Prime MinisterGilani, he has been able to restorethe original 1973 Constitution, re-vised the criteria for NFC Awardand upheld the sanctity of parlia-ment. There should be a forwardmovement from here not a plungeback into darkness.

The writer teaches at BNU.

By Dr taimur-ul-Hassan

Remembering Bacha Khan

the pakhtun unarmedA win for democracy is a win for everyone

the system must go on

Leafing through the pages of his-tory searching for heroes who en-visaged a better world, we often

come across great names such as, Ma-hatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King andNelson Mandela, whose dignity andpoise left a deep impression on the livesof their people. One such person, lost tothe world, is Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khanfamously known as “Bacha Khan,” aPakhtun political leader whose politicsrevolved around the idea of peace andsocial reforms. These set of valuesraised him from a tradition of bloodfeuds and vendettas to one of history’sgreatest peacemakers.

Born in 1890 in Uthmanzai, BachaKhan came from the most volatile re-gion of the British subcontinent andtook the path of non-violent politics asa means of achieving independencefrom the atrocities of the imperialist. Hebelieved that it was only through non-violence that his people could possiblyovercome social structures and hierar-chies that have congealed over a longperiod of time. His philosophy of non-violence could not be further from tru-ism as his adherence to non violencewas unconditional and as a matter offact was his way of life. He embodiedthe ideals that he was espousing whichwere acknowledged by Mahatma

Gandhi on his visit to thePukhtoon province in the fol-lowing words, “Even if thenon-violence movement failsin the subcontinent it will stillthrive in the Pakhtun provincebecause your leader BachaKhan has made you commityourself to non violence.” Suchwas the revolution sparked bythe savant called “King Khan”that during the Qissa Khawanimassacre of April 20th, 1930the Khudai Khidmatgars tookbullets to their chest but re-fused to retaliate.

Bacha Khan consideredpolitics to be the highest formof public service and through-out his life humbled himself asa social worker whose objec-tive was to liberate the massesof the South Asia in generaland the Pakhtuns in particularfrom the ignominious depthsof ignorance and obscurity sothat they could rise to their fullpotential. He preached that thecreed and fallacies held dear bythe people as article of faithwere nothing but socially re-gressive and bigoted elements.Bacha Khan throughout his lifeindefatigably advocated social

justice, women rights, judicial reforms,land reforms, education for all and thepeaceful co-existence between commu-nities regardless of their religion, eth-nicity, caste or clan. He struggled for alevel playing field for the poor who werecaught in the imbroglio of an antagonis-tic social order.

His philosophy of non-violence isstill viewed by many as the creed of theweak but for Bacha Khan it was hisstrength, a gift from the heavens as hewould call it. As J S Bright, a contempo-rary biographer of Bacha Khan would goon to say, “Ghaffar Khan is in completeaccord with the principle of non-vio-lence. But he has not borrowed his out-look from Mahatma Gandhi. He hasreached it, and reached it independ-ently. Independently like a strugglerafter truth.” He further adds, “GhaffarKhan like Shelley has come from heavento the earth, while Mahatma Gandhi likeKeats is going from the earth toheaven.”

After partition, Bacha Khan sworeallegiance to the newly found state ofPakistan but he and the Khudai Khid-matgars were looked upon with suspi-cion as they had been close to Gandhi’sCongress. Soon, the powerful andequally shortsighted mandarin classbanned Bacha Khan’s and his organisa-tion’s political activities after coming upwith trumped up charges of him collud-ing with anti-state elements. Hence, forthe first time the term “in the nationalinterest” surfaced and has since thenbeen open to many interpretations. But,he was firmly anchored to his commit-ment for peace in the region. Similarlyhis bluntly and incisively put ideas ofdevolution and power to the peopledrew strong reaction from differentquarters of the civil-military establish-ment. Hence, he had to pay a price ofliving one-third of his life in prisons forhis continuous struggle against the sta-tus quo.

Today, the teachings of a persononce stigmatised as a traitor by hiscountry have an important role in thecontemporary discourse of the nation. Ifwe take a realistic view of the storm weare caught in and the fast approachingdeluge we may come to a conclusionthat it is probably time we rediscoverBacha Khan’s message which followsthe path of modern non-violent revolu-tions. He despised religious obscuran-tism and stressed his people to salvageall options to create a socially plural andegalitarian society and never to let any-one deceive them in the name of reli-gion. Seen today, his teachings are somewhat prophetic and should be thoughtover seriously.

By khan shehram eusufzye

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:39 AM


IN LIMELIGHT

MuMBAI: they dated, parted and partied together again. Ranbir and deepika, who have done thefull relationship arc, now seem to have hit a new, and more affectionate note. At one of the manyparties that seem to bump into each other these days, the former lovers struck up a cordialconversation, during which deepika revealed that she was taking a keen interest in music. in fact,

deepika reportedly toldRanbir, that she intendedto take lessons on thepiano. the next morning,when the bell rang atdeepika's sprawlingPrabhadevi apartment,there was a very specialdelivery waiting for her.it was a piano. whilethere are no points forguessing whoengineered the veryspecial surprise, we cantell you, it is a good timeto sign up for the tutor'sposition. deepika'sslender fingers,confident with a racket,are still discovering thekeys to the musicalworld. AGeNCIeS

MuMBAI: Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan andinternational pop star Akon are all set to jam together

for a peace concert to be held first in mumbai andthen in New york. And musician Aadesh Shrivatasvais the one who is making it all possible. Aadeshsays, “that`s the plan i’ve quietly been executing.”Aadesh plans to fly to the US early in february tofinalise Akon for the concert to be held in mumbaiin march. the music composer is quite confident

of pulling it off. He says, “there’s no reason why itwon’t happen. the cause is big. And both Amitji and

Akon believe in it.” Aadesh’s album ‘Anthem of Peace’is message-oriented album on global peace. even

as Big B tweets, “music for Peace .. workingon it with Aadesh for Concert!” Aadesh

says, “i believe the message of peacewould be far more effective throughAmitji’s voice. when he talks,everyone listens. when he sings, theworld sings with him. As for Akon, heis my friend and collaborator foranything i want him for.” HailAadesh’s role to bring two mostinfluential being to promote worldpeace. ZeeNewS

Big B-AkonLoS ANGeLeS: Angelina Jolie hasreportedly told friends that she isexpecting a baby again and is into thefirst trimester of pregnancy, sourcesrevealed. the 35-year-old and her 48-year-old partner Brad Pitt alreadyraise six children together. the A-listcouple has been dropping hints forweeks about wanting another babyand friends told oK! magazine theirnew bundle of joy is on the way. “it'snot something she wants to officiallyannounce but she's at a point whereshe is telling a select group of people.Angelina is really savouring everymoment. She's having a tough timewith morning sickness but says it's allworth it,” the mirror quoted a sourceas saying. Angelina turned heads onSunday in her elegant Versace gownat the golden globes - with no sign ofa baby bump. the demands ofpregnancy will, however, force thescreen beauty to relax the eatingregime that keeps her ultra-sleek.“Because Angelina sees so muchstarvation up close, it's always hard forher to indulge in food,” a pal said. the‘Salt’ star has already begundecorating for the new arrival to theirbrood. “Angelina has cleared out herbedroom and redone it in white. Shewants it to have a zen-like feelingbecause she believes in the mind-body connection and wants her mindat peace,” a friend said. AGeNCIeS

live concertin March

the first Kodak camera came loaded and costtwenty five dollars in 1889

1895 A woman holds an early Kodak

camera which was sold with the film

already loaded. the entire camera was

returned to the factory for film processing 1920s A girl taking a photograph of a dog

wistful dog, 1970 1980s A 'free Kodak film' sandwich board in New york

4 June 2002 A policeman takes a picture witha Kodak disposable camera outsideBuckingham Palace on the final day of Queenelizabeth's golden jubilee bank holiday weekend

loNdoN: members of staff pose with awards amid waxwork models of film starsJudie

dench, morgan freeman, Kate winslet, tom Hanks and Helen mirren at madame tussauds

to mark the launch of the Awards Season Party display running from 18th January. afp

New yoRK: (l-R) Actors

Vanessa Redgrave, Ralph fiennes

and Jessica Chastain attend the

premiere of ‘Coriolanus’. afp

New yoRK:

eric messinger

and Jessica

Alba attend

the Jessica

Alba launches

Honest.com

party. afp

eASTMAN KoDAK: 130 years of history – in pictures

once-dominant eastman Kodak – hit by the decline of

the photographic film business – has filed for bankruptcy.

in ‘the Corinthians’, a photo book more than 200

Kodachrome photographs have been brought together as

a lasting reminder of the film stock of the last century.

waseem Noorlaunchesjewellery and bridal collection

news Desk

Fashion designerWaseem Noor haslaunched his latest bridaldresses and jewellerycollection at his flagshipstore in Lahore. WaseemNoor jewellery collectionconsists of formalelegant designs that canbe worn at weddings orother formal fuctionswhereas the bridalcollection includesheavily embellisheddresses that are craftedon wedding themes suchas the mehndi ceremony.Amir Mazhar of SavvyPR and Events organisedthe launch of WaseemNoor Jewellery andBridal Collection. The event was attendedby many noted celebs,including fashiondesigner Saim Ali whoappreciated this latestprêt line.

Los AngeLes ReuTeRS

JOHNNY Depp’s14-year ro-mance withFrench actressand singer

Vanessa Paradis has hitthe rocks, People maga-

zine claimed, and the cou-ple are living largely sepa-rate lives. In a cover storyfor this week’s issue ofPeople called ‘Love GoneWrong’, the celebrity mag-azine quoted several un-named sources as sayingthe pair’s relationship isnearing an end. The ‘Pi-

rates of the Caribbean’star, 48, and Paradis, 39,never married but havebeen together since 1998and have two children.They divide their time be-tween France and theUnited States. Peoplemagazine noted that thepair have not appeared onthe red carpet together formore than a year, missingboth the Cannes film festi-val in May 2011 and theGolden Globe Awards inBeverly Hills on Sunday,where Depp was a presen-ter. “According to multiplesources....(they) are all butofficially finished,” Peoplesaid. Depp’s representa-tives did not return callsfor comment on the Peo-ple story, which hits news-stands on Friday.

Bruno Mars ‘clean’of cocaine chargeLOS ANGELES: A Las Vegas judge dismissed the co-caine possession case against pop star Bruno Mars afterhe successfully completed court-ordered drug educa-tion classes and community service, even exceeding theamount of hours he was told to serve. Mars, whose realname is Peter Hernandez, was arrested in September2010 after a bathroom attendant at the Las Vegas HardRock Hotel caught him with “a baggy of white powder”,later found to be cocaine, according to a police reportat the time. He pleaded guilty to a charge of possessingcocaine and received a $2,000 fine, 200 hours of com-munity service, drug counselling and was told to stayout of trouble during a year of informal probation.Bruno performed all the requirements and exceeded the200 hours of service. Mars’ original guilty plea was nul-lified and will not show up on his record. The ‘Grenade’

singer, 26, burstonto music chartsin 2010 after collab-orating with rapperB.o.B on ‘Nothin’On You’ and GymClass Heroes’Travie McCoy on‘Billionaire’. He iscurrently nomi-nated in six cate-gories at theupcoming GrammyAwards in Febru-ary. ReuTeRS

Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis

near split

Ranbir, Deepika's

piano connection

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:40 AM

15

Don 2 to be screened atBerlin Film Festset

Angelina Jolie,Brad Pitt get

for baby no. 7!

LoS ANGeLeS: lindsay lohan has reportedly been served with a lawsuit by a man whobelieves that she played a role in the death of osama Bin laden. the man named thomasA. green also alleges that the actress “might be a high end prostitute”. green, who says heis a former U.S marine, claims that he spoke tolohan on facebook after she contacted himabout an online business he was setting up.tmz.com claims to have obtained a copyof the lawsuit in which green isattempting to sue the actress for‘engaging in unfair businesspractices’, with his representativeserving lindsay with the lawsuit asshe walked into her probationaryhearing court on tuesday, themirror reported. in the suit, greenapparently writes that hequestioned lindsay until sherevealed a conspiracy about thedeath of Bin laden. “(thomas) set outto command (lohan) to twitter andstated if (lohan)acknowledges this is anosoma Bin ladden op allcivilians in past wrongdoing will receiveclemency,” the lawsuitread. AGeNCIeS

Man sues LiLo over role in

18 march 1947 A tiny mB camera (nolarger than its namesake, a matchbox).eastman Kodak designed and built 1,000of these cameras for use by oSS agentsand underground forces during world war

8 Jan 2007 the Kodak eASySHARe V1003zoom 10.0 mega pixel digital cameras areshowcased at the international Consumerelectronics Show in las Vegas

CAlifoRNiA: (l-R) marc

Anthony, Jennifer lopez and

Jamie King attend a press

event for their new show

‘Q'ViVA! tHe CHoSeN’. afp

New yoRK: Actor Justin

Bartha and actress elizabeth

Banks attend the Cinema

Society and Blackberry Bold

screening after party for

‘Haywire’. afp

Adele joins ‘Titanic’ in her 16-week chart reign

Los AngeLes ReuTeRS

British singer Adele’s multi-platinumselling album ‘21’ scored its 16th weekat No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albumchart on Wednesday, entering an elitelist of only five albums to cross the thatmark in the past 20 years. ‘21’, whichhas been selling more than 100,000copies each week for 33 weeks, joinedthe ranks of the soundtrack to the 1997box-office phenomenon ‘Titanic’,Whitney Houston’s soundtrack to 1992film, ‘The Bodyguard’, country croonerGarth Brooks’ ‘Ropin’ The Wind’ andBilly Ray Cyrus’ ‘Some Gave All’, also in1992, all of which crossed 16 weeks atNo. 1. Recently disbanded Christianrock group David Crowder Band madethe highest chart debut this week at No.2 with new album ‘Give Us Rest’, selling50,000 copies. Irish alternative rockband Snow Patrol debuted their sixthstudio album, ‘Fallen Empires’, at No.5, following Black Keys’ ‘El Camino’and Drake’s ‘Take Care’. Adele alsosnatched the top spot on the DigitalSongs chart with ‘Set Fire to the Rain’from last week’s No. 1, Jason Mraz’s ‘IWon’t Give Up’, which fell to No. 9.

What is this ‘Artist’ movie that's winning all the awards?

If you’ve paid even passing at-

tention to end of the year

lists/Academy Award prog-

nostications, you’ve heard

much about ‘The Artist’. It

won a Best Picture prize at the Golden

Globes this past weekend and is guaran-

teed to be one of the 5-10 Oscar best

picture nominees when that list is an-

nounced next Tuesday, Feb. 26. The

film, which has earned a mere $9.2 mil-

lion domestically only opened on 4

screens in the US, later expanding to

its current 216. Chances are, though,

that you probably haven’t been able

to see it. So what do you need to

know before seeing the movie:

• It’s silent. Duh! Every-

one knows that, you say. Well,

everyone does not know that.

As reported by The Telegraph,

“a small number of refunds”

were offered to unaware

Brits. For those of you who

have never seen a silent

movie, this means that the

people don’t talk and there

are no sound effects (save

for one or two scenes).

When people “talk,” the di-

alogue is presented in inter-

titles. The film does have a

musical score, which we’ll

mention later.

• Like silent films from the early

20th century, the film is shot in a 4:3 as-

pect ratio, which means that the screen

assumes the boxy outline of an old tele-

vision set, as opposed to the widescreen

picture seen in today’s theatres.

• It’s in black and white.

Though that’s sort of fudged. It was

“shot by cinematogra-

pher Guillaume

Schiffman in

colour and

then mono-

chromed in the lab.”

• It co-stars an awesome dog

named Uggie.

• The Gallic team behind the

film—director Michel Hazanavicius,

Schiffman, composer Ludovic Bource

and human stars Jean Dujardin and

Berenice Bejo—have previously worked

together on a pair of French spy spoofs.

• The film was shot in Los Ange-

les at a series of locations with Holly-

wood resonance: the Orpheum and Los

Angeles theatres, the Bradbury Build-

ing (famous from several noir thrillers,

Chinatown and as the gloomy setting

for the end of Blade Runner), and

even the former home of early

film star Mary Pickford.

• The film’s sound-

track is an expert pastiche of

silent cinema film scores, save for

one section in which a huge chunk

of Bernard Herrmann’s ‘Vertigo’

love theme is used to telegraph emo-

tion during the film’s climactic

scene. It’s one of the cinema’s

most memorable pieces of

film music, so it sticks out

in a fairly obvious way.

So go forth and watch

this black and white silent

film. Don’t be afraid. You’re

not going to fall asleep,

trust us.

news Desk

An actress who has starred with LeonardoDiCaprio and Russell Crowe has been ban-ished from her home country of Iran - be-cause she posed nude in a French newsmagazine, the Daily Mail reported onThursday. Golshifteh Farahani says she hasbeen contacted by the Iranian government,telling her that she is no longer welcome inthe country and advising her not to returnhome. The offending photo - a black-and-white 'art shot' featuring the 28-year-oldFarahani posing against a black backdropwith her hands strategically placed over herbreasts - was first published in Madame Le

Figaro. The image was then posted on herFacebook page, drawing visitors fromaround the world - including Iran and theMiddle East. While many criticised her 'in-decency', others praised her for 'thecourage to remove a taboo among thewomen in Muslim countries'. Iran's angerat the image is not just because of Fara-hani's nudity - she has also made it knownthat her decision to pose is in protestagainst restrictive Islamic codes. Indeed, itis why the now-Paris-based actress left Iranlast year. Farahani has had a mercurial re-lationship with her home country. Shebegan acting in theatre at the age of six andher first film, ‘The Pear Tree’, earned the

then 14-year-old the Best Actress award atIran's annual Fajr Film Festival. She imme-diately became a leading actress in herhome country, yet her performance in the2007 film ‘Santoori’ has never been seen inIran and is still banned. She starred in ‘MFor Mother’, which after a huge success inIran was chosen to represent Iran for theBest Foreign Film at the Academy Awardsin 2008. Farahani's role as a nurse in Rid-ley Scott's ‘Body of Lies’ made her the firstIranian to act in a major Hollywood film.As a result she was banned from leavingIran, and - now that she has left the countryand is living in Paris - she appears to bebanned from returning.

Iranian actress banned from returning home after posing nude in french magazine

death of Osama Bin LadenMuMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan's ‘don 2’ will bescreened at the 62nd Berlin international filmfestival, to be held from february 9-19. the moviewill have a mainstream release in germany, witha dubbed version in german. Along with Shah

Rukh, Priyanka Chopra and director farhan Akhtartoo, will attend the screening. “it is an honourand a privilege for us to have our movie screenedon an international platform,” producer RiteshSidhwani said in a statement. AGeNCIeS

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:41 AM


16 Foreign News

LonDonAfP

A former British official has admitted forthe first time that Britain was responsiblefor a James Bond-style spy plot involving afake rock in Moscow that contained elec-tronic equipment.

Russia accused British diplomats sixyears ago of using the bizarre scheme tosend and receive electronic messages, acharge London had until now denied.

But Jonathan Powell, chief of staff tothen-prime minister Tony Blair, told theBBC that Russia had used the incident to

bring in a law to crack down on foreignnon-governmental organisations.

“There’s not much you can say. The spy rock was embarrassing,” Powell said ina programme to be broadcast by the BBCon Thursday.

“They had us bang to rights. “Clearlythey had known about it for some time andhad been saving it up for a political pur-pose.” Russian television had in January2006 broadcast footage of what it said wasa British agent picking up a fake rock in aMoscow street.

It showed a transmitter hidden insidethe rock and said it had been used by

British diplomats to pass messages.Russia’s security service, the FSB, then

alleged that Britain was making covert pay-ments to pro-democracy and human rights groups.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin,the country’s president at the time, intro-duced a law shortly afterwards restrictingall foreign funding to NGOs.

A spokesman for Britain’s foreign min-istry told AFP that the government did nothave any inappropriate relationships withRussian NGOs.

“But we don’t comment on intelligencematters or individual cases,” he added.

kAnDAHArAfP

Asuicide bomber killed atleast seven people andwounded eight Thursdayin an attack at Kandaharinternational airport in

war-torn southern Afghanistan, offi-cials said.

Women and children were amongthe casualties and pools of blood andbody parts were scattered around theburned-out wreckage of six vehicles atthe scene of the attack, an AFP re-porter said. Witnesses said two of thevehicles belonged to NATO specialforces, but a spokesman for the Inter-national Security Assistance Forcesaid there were no ISAF casualtiesand he had no information that mili-tary vehicles were involved.

“Seven civilians, including twochildren, were killed in today’s suicideattack. Eight civilians including twochildren and one woman, have beeninjured in the blast,” provincialspokesman, Zalmay Ayobi, told AFP.

Witnesses said the bomber triedto ram his Toyota sedan into ISAFcars as they were leaving the firstentry point to the vast airport com-plex, which has both military andcivilian sections.

The Taliban, the militia leading a10-year insurgency against the Afghangovernment and tens of thousands ofNATO troops, claimed responsibility.

Spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmaditold AFP the target was “the bullet-proof vehicles of foreign forces”.

The army commander for south-ern Afghanistan, General Hamid War-dak, said the attack was “on foreignspecial forces at the entrance gate ofKandahar international airport”.

The Taliban, toppled in late 2001in a US-led invasion, are fighting na-tional troops and a US-led foreignforce of some 130,000 troops deployedto the impoverished and war-ravagedcountry. The Islamic hardliners an-nounced earlier this month that theyplanned to set up a political office inQatar, widely seen as a move towardspeace negotiations with Washingtonand its Western allies.

They said this did not mean theyhad surrendered in the war againstcoalition forces but that they woulduse their political wing alongside theirmilitary to achieve their aims.

A key US demand for any progressin negotiations is that the Talibanabandon violence.

Kandahar is the spiritual capitalof the Taliban and southernAfghanistan is a key battleground that

continues to see persistent violencedespite a surge of US troops in 2010and 2011. In neighbouring Helmandprovince on Wednesday, two attacksjust hours apart killed 16 people andwounded more than 20 others.

A suicide bomber on a motorcyclekilled 10 civilians and two policemenin the first attack at a bazaar, while anintelligence official was among thedead in a second blast caused by amine, which was claimed by the Tal-iban. General John Allen, com-mander of NATO’s InternationalSecurity Assistance Force, said thatthose attacks showed that “(Talibanleader) Mullah Omar has lost all con-trol over Taliban insurgents”.

“Otherwise he would immediatelydenounce these attacks and order his‘forces’ to stop attacking innocentAfghan civilians,” Allen said.

“This latest act of violence furtherconfirms that the insurgency has de-clared outright war on the people ofAfghanistan and will stop at nothingto continue to use terrorism and in-timidation to advance their own ma-lign and selfish ends.” The UnitedNations said the number of civilianskilled in violence in Afghanistan roseby 15 percent in the first six months oflast year to 1,462, with insurgentsblamed for 80 percent of the killings.

Protests grip

maldives amid

standoff with judgesCoLoMBo

AfP

Hundreds of protestors have taken to thestreets in the Maldivian capital Male amida standoff between President MohamedNasheed and the judiciary, officials andresidents said Thursday. Anti-government activists demonstratedovernight keeping up pressure onNasheed who initiated the arrest Mondayof the head of the country’s criminal courton charges of misconduct and favouringopposition figures. A senior figure in theopposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP),Mohamed Jameel, was also re-arrested onWednesday as police investigate him andthe party for allegedly spreading hate-speech, DQP leader Hassan Saeed toldAFP. The government has accusedJameel, a former justice minister, ofmaking public remarks that Nasheed wasworking under the influence of “Jews”and “Christian priests” to weaken Islamin the Maldives. “Hundreds of peoplestaged demonstrations early thismorning, but there were no fresh arrests,”a government official in Male, who askednot to be named, said when contacted bytelephone. The government onWednesday raised fears of Islamicextremism taking hold in the IndianOcean atoll nation, which is best knownfor its upmarket tourism and as adestination for honeymooners. Theforeign ministry said it said it was“extremely concerned” by an increase inextremist rhetoric used by the government’srivals that could lead to “stigmatization,stereotyping and incitement to religiousviolence and hatred”.

NAto chief

worried by Russia’s

Kaliningrad build-upViLniUs

AfP

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen onThursday urged Russia to refrain frombuilding up its military near the alliance’sborders, saying it was a concern for the28-nation organisation.Rasmussen questioned Russian moves tobolster its forces in its Kaliningradterritory, which borders NATO membersLithuania and Poland, part of Moscow’sCold War-era stamping ground.“These Russian statements are of course amatter of concern for NATO allies,” hetold reporters in Lithuania’s capitalVilnius. “It is a complete waste of Russianfinancial resources, because it is a build-up of offensive military capacitiesdirected against an artificial enemy, anenemy that doesn’t exist,” he said.“NATO has no intention whatsoever toattack Russia,” he added, speakingalongside Lithuania’s President DaliaGrybauskaite. Moscow has warned that itplans to deploy Iskander missiles inKaliningrad, and earlier this month,Russian media reported that an S-400Triumph anti-aircraft missile systemwould go into service there in April.Russia repeatedly has said it will beforced to take additional measures if itfails to agree with NATO on a missiledefence shield.NATO powerhouse the United Statesinsists a shield is needed against potentialthreats from Iran, but Russia countersthat anti-missile facilities planned inPoland would undermine its own security.Rasmussen said it was time for a realitycheck. “It doesn’t make sense to build upoffensive military capacities in theKaliningrad region. I would encourage theRussians to face a new reality, we are notenemies, we are not adversaries, weshould be partners and it would be ofmutual benefit if we develop peacefulcooperation,” he said.

libya number

two flees protest in

uprising cradleBengHAZi

AfP

The deputy head of Libya’s NationalTransitional Council was manhandled byprotesters on Thursday in the cradle ofthe uprising that ousted Moamer Kadhafilast year, witnesses said.Abdelhafiz Ghoga, who also serves asofficial spokesman for the interimgovernment, had to be escorted awayafter being mobbed by angry students atthe the University of Ghar Yunis inLibya’s second-largest city Benghazi, theNTC’s wartime base.Ghoga escaped unharmed from theassault but had to endure a tirade ofabuse from the protesters who accusedhim of opportunism because of hisbelated defection from Kadhafi regime,the witnesses said. Students have beendemonstrating on the Ghar Yunis campusfor weeks to protest against the perceivedlack of transparency of the administrationthat took over after Kadhafi’s ouster andthe prominent position in it of a numberof his longtime lieutenants.

Suicide attack killsseven at Afghan airport

Britain used fake rock to spy on Russia, ex-official admits

KANDAHAR: uS soldiers inspect the site of a suicide attack near the gate of Kandahar international airport on Thursday. afp

g Bomber rams car into iSAf vehicles as they were leaving the

first entry point to the vast airport complex

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:41 AM

Foreign News 17friday, 20 January, 2012

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Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali AkbarSalehi on Thursday deniedTehran had ever tried to closethe Strait of Hormuz, the vitalshipping route at the centre of

increasing international tension.“Iran has never in its history tried to

prevent, to put any obstacles in the wayof this important maritime route,” hesaid in an interview with NTV televisionduring a visit to Turkey.

Iran threatened in December toclose the narrow and strategic waterway

— a chokepoint for one fifth of theworld’s traded oil — in the event of amilitary strike or the severe tighteningof international sanctions.

That set up a tense standoff with theUnited States which sent a second air-craft carrier to the region as Tehran an-nounced new naval maneuvers in theStrait within the next few weeks.

“We want peace and stability in theregion ... But the Americans ... want torun certain countries from our zone,”Salehi added. “I appeal to all the coun-tries of the region, please don’t let your-self be drawn into a dangerousposition.” Washington should be willing

to hold talks with Tehran with no pre-conditions, he said.

Iran’s military in 1987 and 1988 laidmines in the waters of the Strait of Hor-muz and the Gulf to make the channelhazardous for oil tankers from Iraq, withwhich it was at war. In April 1988, a USwarship struck one of the mines andnearly sank. The US military subse-quently launched Operation PreyingMantis, destroying two Iranian oil plat-forms and several vessels. Mines left overfrom that conflict, and from the 1990-1991 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, werebeing picked up in the coastal waters inthe northern Gulf up to a decade later.

Iran has never tried to close oilsupply route: foreign minister

British Pmpledges to build‘fairer’ economy

LonDonAfP

British Prime Minister David Cameronpledged Thursday to build a “fairer”economy which hands power toindividuals and prevents excesses thatcontributed towards the global financialcrisis. Cameron, addressing a pressconference in central London, said thecurrent global debt storm provided acrucial platform for reform to create a“socially responsible and genuinelypopular capitalism.” The premier addedthat his Conservative-Liberal Democratcoalition government would cap bonusesfor the majority of workers at state-ownedbanks at £2,000 ($3,100, 2,400 euros)for a second year running.“While our economic challenge starts withdealing with our debts and achievinggrowth, it mustn’t end there,” Camerontold reporters. “We must aim higher thanjust coping with the storms that areaffecting the international economy.“I believe that out of this currentadversity we must aim to build a bettereconomy, one that is truly fair andworthwhile,” Cameron said.The Conservative leader gave little policydetail but said he would introducesimplified legislation for the creation ofcooperatives, in an attempt to boostemployee and customer involvement inbusinesses. The coalition will alsointroduce new anti-abuse rules to make itharder for big businesses to avoid payingtheir fair share of tax.

Syria forces kill

four top activistsniCosiA

AfP

Syrian security forces killed four leadingpro-democracy activists in an ambush innorthwestern Idlib province onThursday, the Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights said. The activists, whohad gone into hiding with armedopponents of the Damascus government,were shot dead in the Zawiya hills closeto the border with Turkey, the Britain-based watchdog said, withoutimmediately releasing their names.Elsewhere, one civilian was killed andseven others wounded during shelling ofBab Hud, a neighbourhood of theflashpoint central city of Homs, said theObservatory. In the eastern protest hubof Deir Ezzor, the body of a young manarrested after being shot during an anti-regime protest was found. Governmenttroops shot and wounded a soldier whotried to defect at a security checkpoint inDael, in the restive southern province ofDaraa, said the watchdog. TheObservatory said security forces killed 13civilians on Wednesday, adding to a UNestimate of more than 5,400 people whohave died since March.

india book fest reaches out to muslimsover Rushdie

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Organisers of India’s Jaipur LiteratureFestival met with Muslim groups onThursday seeking an agreement to enableauthor Salman Rushdie to speak at theevent after protests against his work.Several Muslim leaders have called forRushdie to be banned from attending thefestival due to lingering anger over his1988 book “The Satanic Verses”, which was alleged to have insulted thereligion of Islam.He had been due to appear at the first day of the festival on Friday, but hisname was dropped from the scheduleover fears for his security.“We had a meeting today with differentMuslim organisations,” festival producerSanjoy Roy told reporters in Jaipur. “Wepresented our point of view and we heardtheir point of view.”Roy confirmed that Rushdie would not beat the start of the five-day event, a freeannual fair that attracts tens of thousandsof Indian and foreign book fans, butadded that he hoped Rushdie wouldattend at some stage.Rushdie, a British citizen who was born inMumbai, spent a decade in hiding afterIranian spiritual leader AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989calling for his death over “TheSatanic Verses”.The row over Rushdie appearing at thefestival was triggered by demands fromthe influential Darululoom Deobandseminary in northern India that he shouldbe kept out of the country.Roy gave no further details aboutThursday’s discussions but said that theJaipur organising committee wasdetermined to uphold the principle of freespeech. “First and foremost, we stand forthe freedom of expression,” he said. “Thefestival has always stood by issues ofminority communities and otherreligions. “This is a platform where weallow for free speech as long as it is donein a peaceful and democratic way.”Political leaders in Rajasthan state, ofwhich Jaipur is the capital, said they hadbeen lobbied by Muslim groups opposedto Rushdie’s visit, which would pose amajor security challenge amid thedispute. “Representatives of some Muslimorganisations met us and appraised oftheir feelings and objections,” Rajasthanchief minister Ashok Gehlot said. “Iwouldn’t like any untoward happening,and we will ensure it.” The Jaipur festival,which Rushdie attended without incidentin 2007, has mushroomed in recent yearsinto a major literary, business and socialoccasion in the Indian calendar. Amongthe speakers this year are biologist andauthor Richard Dawkins, Indian best-selling novelist Chetan Bhagat and UStelevision star Oprah Winfrey.

ISTANBuL: Thousands of Turkish people march to the offices of Armenian newspaper ‘Agos’ during a commemoration ceremony forslain journalist Hrant Din on Thursday. Dink, one of the most prominent voices of Turkey’s shrinking Armenian community, was killedby a gunman on January 19, 2007. afp

LonDonAfP

Hollywood star Jude Law is among 19new victims of phone hacking byBritain’s News of the World tabloid whohave received payouts from RupertMurdoch’s media empire, their lawyerssaid Thursday.

Former British deputy premier JohnPrescott and Chelsea footballer AshleyCole were also among the claimantswhose settlements, totaling tens ofthousands of pounds each, were con-firmed at the High Court in London.

Law, the star of “Alfie”, was paid£130,000 ($200,000, 156,000 euros),his lawyer said. Lawyers said Murdoch’sempire has now settled a total of 36 com-pensation claims arising from the hack-ing scandal, which led to the closure ofthe News of the World in July and em-broiled the police and the government.

Mark Thomson, a lawyer for some ofthe victims, said the claimants had been“extremely brave to take on and succeed

against a massive and influential multi-national media organisation.”

“They can take the credit for trigger-ing the new police investigation, theparliamentary inquiries and the Leve-son Inquiry. They should be verypleased with what they have achieved,”he added. He said the majority of peoplepursuing damages claims had now set-tled with News Group Newspapers, thepublisher of the News of the World, butthat others would press ahead with atrial scheduled for next month.

Other settlements confirmed Thurs-day were Jude Law’s ex-wife Sadie Frost,Australian singer Dannii Minogue, andWelsh rugby player Gavin Henson, theex-husband of singer Charlotte Church.Jude Law and the other victims were notin court for the announcement.

News International, the parent com-pany News Group and British newspaperarm of Murdoch’s US-based News Cor-poration, has set up a compensationscheme for victims of phone hacking in abid to avoid further costly civil lawsuits.

Among those it settled last year werethose by British actress Sienna Miller,Law’s ex-girlfriend, who reportedly re-ceived £100,000, and James Hewitt, theformer lover of Diana, Princess of Wales.

It has also made a payout of £2 mil-lion ($3.1 million, 2.4 million euros) tothe family of murdered British school-girl Milly Dowler, while Murdoch madea personal donation of £1 million tocharities chosen by her family.

Revelations that the News of theWorld hacked her phone caused publicoutrage when they emerged in July lastyear, turning the long-simmering issueinto a major public scandal.

Prime Minister David Cameronlaunched the Leveson Inquiry into theethics of the press which has heard froma string of hacking victims and mediafigures in recent months.

Police have arrested several peopleincluding Andy Coulson, a former Newsof the World editor and media chief forCameron, and former News Interna-tional boss Rebekah Brooks.

Allegations that police were tooclose to Murdoch’s papers also claimedthe scalps of Scotland Yard’s top officerand another senior policeman.

Jude Law among new UK hacking settlements: lawyers

Jude Law

g Salehi says washington should be willing to hold talks with tehran with no preconditions

Ali Akbar Salehi

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:41 AM


Kvitova struggles asSerena, Sharapova cruise

DUBAiAfP

PACEMAN Umar Gul took 4-63to help Pakistan beat the world'sbest Test team, England, by 10wickets in the first Test insidethree days here on Thursday,

gaining a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.The 27-year-old fast bowler dismissed An-drew Strauss (six) before lunch and then ac-counted for Alastair Cook (five) and KevinPietersen (nought) in his hostile nine-overfirst spell on a spin-friendly Dubai Stadiumpitch. Spinners Abdul Rehman (3-37) andSaeed Ajmal (3-42) -- his second 10-wickethaul in Tests -- supplemented Gul to helpPakistan bundle out England for 160.

Pakistan notched the required 15 runsin 3.4 overs to hand England their first de-feat in 10 Tests, since losing to Australia atPerth in the 2010 Ashes. England's batsmen,wrecked by Ajmal's career-best 7-55 in theirfirst innings of 192, were again cluelessagainst the spin and played some rash shotsas they sought to score runs on the pace ofGul. Jonathan Trott top-scored with 49, butfell to an irresponsible shot, trying to force a

short delivery from Gul and being caught bywicket-keeper Adnan Akmal, who finishedthe match with seven catches. Trott, whopassed the boundary of 2,000 runs when hereached 18 in his 24th Test, hit six bound-aries during his 111-ball knock but becameGul's 150th wicket in his 41st Test.

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul Haq ad-mitted he had not expected to win so com-fortably. "We didn't expect that it wouldcome so easily," he said. "Ajmal put us in astrong position with his seven wickets inthe first innings and we batted well to takea good lead." Strauss expressed frustrationover his side's abject surrender.

"Obviously it's disappointing to losein this manner," he said. "We lost fiveearly wickets and it's disappointing to batlike this but we are not going to press thepanic button and will show resilience inthe second match." England had anotherdisastrous start as Strauss was adjudgedcaught behind, pushing Gul to the legside and seeing the ensuing edge welltaken by the wicket-keeper. Strauss in-stantly challenged the verdict but was leftto trudge off the field after television um-pire Steve Davis of Australia upheld the

original decision. Soon after the lunchbreak, Gul produced a sharp rising deliv-ery that caught Cook in two minds as theleft-hander gloved it to Adnan, who hadno trouble in gathering it. KevinPietersen, who has yet to score big ontour, made it 25-3 when he hooked a Gulbouncer straight into the hands of deepsquare-leg fielder Abdul Rehman, leavingEngland in more trouble at 25-3.

Ajmal then got in on the act when hetrapped Ian Bell plumb in front of the wicketfor four. Bell wasted England's second refer-ral as television replays showed he was hiton the back leg, in line with the stumps.Rehman ended a fifth-wicket partnership of39 by dismissing Eoin Morgan (14) caughtbehind, while Ajmal trapped Matt Prior toleave England at 87-7.

Stuart Broad (17) and Graeme Swann(39) delayed the inevitable by putting on 48for the eighth wicket before Rehman dis-missed Broad and Chris Tremlett off succes-sive deliveries. Ajmal took the last wicket bygetting Swann caught, much to the delightof his team-mates and the few hundred peo-ple in the stands. In the morning, Adnanhad boosted Pakistan's lead with a gutsy

second Test half-century. Adnan scored acareer-best 61, adding another 50 runsafter Pakistan resumed at 288-7. Adnan,who hit eight boundaries during his 129-ball knock, put on a 30-run stand for theninth wicket with Ajmal, who made 12. His

previous best of 53 came againstBangladesh in Dhaka last month. Swannhad Adnan stumped to finish with figuresof 4-107. The second Test starts in AbuDhabi from January 25, while the third willagain be played here from February 3-7.

Pakistan thrash the world’s best

dUBAi: Umar gul (l) celebrates with his teammate Abdul Rehman (R) the dismissal of Jonathan trott. afp dUBAi: Saeed Ajmal celebrates after dismissing graeme Swann (not in picture) as James Anderson turns away. REUtERS

eNGLAND, 1st innings: 192 (M. Prior 70, G. Swann 34; SaeedAjmal 7-55)PAKISTAN, 1st innings: (overnight 288-7)Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Swann 88Taufiq umar b Broad 58Azhar Ali c Prior b Broad 1Younis Khan lbw b Trott 37Misbah-ul Haq lbw b Swann 52Asad Shafiq c Prior b Anderson 16Adnan Akmal st Prior b Swann 61Abdul Rehman b Anderson 4umar Gul c Morgan b Broad 0Saeed Ajmal c Cook b Swann 12Aizaz Cheema not out 0eXTRAS: (b2, lb5, nb2) 9ToTAL: 338fall of wickets: 1-114 (umar), 2-128 (Ali), 3-176 (Hafeez), 4-202(Younis), 5-231 (Shafiq), 6-283 (Misbah), 7-288 (Rehman), 8-289(Gul), 9-319 (Ajmal)BowLING: Anderson 30-7-71-2, Tremlett 21-6-53-0 (nb1), Broad31-8-84-3 (nb1), Swann 29.5-3-107-4, Trott 8-2-16-1overs: 119.5eNGLAND, 2nd innings:A. Strauss c Adnan b Gul 6A. Cook c Adnan b Gul 5

J. Trott c Adnan b Gul 49K. Pietersen c Rehman b Gul 0I. Bell lbw b Ajmal 4e. Morgan c Adnan b Rehman 14M. Prior lbw b Ajmal 4S. Broad c Shafiq b Rehman 17G. Swann c Shafiq b Ajmal 39C. Tremlett c Hafeez b Rehman 0J. Anderson not out 15eXTRAS: (b4, lb1, nb2) 7ToTAL: 160fall of wickets: 1-6 (Strauss), 2-25 (Cook), 3-25 (Pietersen), 4-35 (Bell), 5-74 (Morgan), 6-87 (Trott), 7-87 (Prior), 8-135 (Broad),9-135 (Tremlett)BowLING: Gul 19-5-63-4 (nb2), Cheema 7.2-1-9-0, Hafeez 2-0-4-0, Ajmal 17.3-4-42-3, Rehman 12-2-37-3overs: 57.5PAKISTAN, 2nd innings:Mohammad Hafeez not out 15Taufiq umar not out 0ToTAL: (for no loss) 15BowLING: Anderson 2-1-7-0, Broad 1.4-0-8-0overs: 3.4Result: Pakistan won by 10 wicketsToss: england, umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Bruce oxenford(AuS), TV umpire: Steve Davis (AuS)Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)Second Test: January 25-29, Abu Dhabi.

SCoReBoARD

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Pakistani all-rounder ShahidAfridi was the most expensive of ahost of international stars sold atthe inaugural auction for the newBangladesh Premier League onThursday as he fetched $700,000.

The former Pakistani captainhit the jackpot in a secret biddingprocess after he became the targetof all six teams in the Twenty20cricket tournament to be heldnext month.

"Shahid Afridi was bought for$700,000 dollars, the highest inthe BPL auction, by our teamDhaka Gladiators," teamspokesman Minhaz Khan toldAFP.

Hard-hitting West Indiesbatsman Chris Gayle was sold toBarisal Burners for $551,100 andhis compatriot Marlon Samuels toDuronto Rajshahi for $360,000,according to live telecast by pri-vate Channel 9 Television.

The BPL is the Bangladeshianswer to Indian Premier League(IPL), which revolutionisedcricket when it burst on to thescene in 2008 with a high-octaneblend of international star play-

ers, Twenty20 matches andcelebrity glamour.

West Indian Kieron Pollardwas sold to Dhaka for $300,000and Bangladeshi all-rounderNasir Hossain for $200,000 toKhulna. Ex-Pakistani captainShoaib Malik and West Indiesbatsman Dwayne Bravo eachlanded $150,000.

Seventeen foreign playerswere put on auction with a baseprice of $100,000 including SriLankan greats Muttiah Muralitha-ran and Chaminda Vaas, NewZealander Scott Styris and Zim-babwe captain Brendan Taylor.

Ex-Australian Stuart MacGillwas one of 36 players auctionedwith a base price of $50,000. The

leggie was sold to Dhaka at thebase price.

Indian company Game Onbought the rights of the first sixeditions of BPL for around $44million dollars last year. Six fran-chises were bought byBangladeshi companies with aminimum price of one milliondollars.

Uncle twenty20 drivescricket fans in UAe

DUBAiAfP

Zaman Khan is fast becoming the face of cricket in the United ArabEmirates during international matches as he waves a green andwhite Pakistan flag to make his country's players feel at home awayfrom home. The 54-year-old from Hafizabad in the central Punjabprovince in Pakistan is a chauffeur in Dubai and has not missed asingle match ever since Pakistan was forced to play here due to secu-rity fears back home. On grounds, Zaman drives the fans crazy,chanting slogans for his players. His big moustaches he grows everytime a match approaches make him recognizable in every stand hesits. "It is great fun," Zaman told AFP. "I love watching cricket andpeople around me love my attire, the flag, my moustache and my slo-gans, so I am happy to have this double enjoyment -- watchingcricket and getting popular." Cricket had been a childhood interestfor Zaman. His native town, in the Gujranwala district, was knownfor its export quality rice but the sprawling fields were mainly usedfor a game of village cricket by youth. "I used to play a lot of cricket,"remembers Zaman. "Once television came to my village I used towatch cricket for hours and then I got a chance to attend a few gamesin Lahore before I came here for a living." Once Pakistan was forcedto play its home series on neutral venues, Zaman along with hisfriends started to take time off to watch his team play. "It is de-plorable that we can't hold our cricket in our homeland and prob-lems in Pakistan also make us expatriates sad, but the plus point isthat a lot of people here who have nothing for entertainment got thechance of their lives," said Zaman. And Zaman relishes the prospectof sitting besides Pakistan's most popular fan Sufi Abdul Jalil, fa-mous as Uncle Cricket -- or Chacha Cricket in Urdu -- who is alsotouring here for Pakistan-England Tests and limited over matches.

dUBAi: Shahid Afridi (R) as he warms up with teammates during a practice session at the dubai Cricket Stadium in thegulf emirate. afp

Afridi hits jackpot in Bangladesh auction

JAZZ CuP

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:41 AM

Sports 19friday, 20 January, 2012

DUBAiAfP

RIVAL captains Misbah-ulHaq and Andrew Straussshowed surprise at England'scapitulation which saw themlose the first Test against

Pakistan by ten wickets here onThursday. Pakistan, led by pacemanUmar Gul (4-63) and spinners AbdulRehman (3-37) and Saeed Ajmal (3-42), wrapped up England's second in-nings at 160 before notching therequired 15 runs for a win with twodays to spare at Dubai Stadium.

Ajmal took a career best 7-55 torock England for a paltry 192 in the firstinnings. Pakistan scored 338 to take adecisive 146-run lead. And the mannerof victory surprised Misbah.

"Obviously we were not expecting itwould finish so early, but I guess all thecredit goes to the bowlers. No teamwould have expected such a victoryagainst the world number one," saidthe Pakistan captain. The victory gavePakistan a 1-0 lead in the three-Test se-ries. The second Test will start in AbuDhabi from January 25. It also gaveMisbah seven wins in 13 Tests as cap-tain since taking over in October 2010.

"We are trying to be one of the bestteams in the world, but I think it's stilla long way to go, we have to just im-prove much more than this, and we arejust on the right path," said the 37-year-old Pakistani captain. Misbah praisedhis bowlers. "It's a wonderful perform-ance by our bowlers, they stuck to theirtask and it was total variations of Ajmalon which they made mistakes. It's avery big win for us which will increaseour self confidence," said Misbah. ThePakistan captain however expects Eng-land to bounce straight back. "When

you are number one team there issomething that makes you number one,they have good quality cricketers, theyare fighters and they can really comehard on us," he added.

England captain Strauss said Pak-istan surprised them after they won thetoss and batted on day one. "We werecaught off guard in the first session ofthe first day on a very flat wicket, fromthen on Pakistan was in front and neverlet us back into the game and you needto congratulate them for the way theyplayed," said Strauss, who made only19 and six. Strauss, under whom this isEngland's first defeat in ten Tests,pointed a finger at batsmen.

"Obviously we are disappointed bythe way we batted in the both innings,primarily in the first innings because itwas not a 50 for five wicket. So youneed to learn some lessons from thatand move forward. "The most impor-tant thing is not to be too carried away

by the result and obviously learn thelessons from that and make sure youdon't make those mistakes again," saidStrauss, who added that he was notworried about the number one ranking.

"This is not the time for us to beworrying about number one or any-thing like that. What we need to do ismake sure we don't play this type ofcricket we played in this game in thenext Test and that is what our focus ison. "The feeling of disappointment is agood motivation to make sure that itdoes not happen again," said Strauss.Strauss, whose team played the firstTest since beating India in August lastyear, refused to agree England wereunder-prepared. "Our preparationswere good so there was nothing in theback of our mind that we were under-cooked or underprepared and to thatextent we are all surprised by howthings turned out. "But it has hap-pened, it is done and finished."

Misbah, Strauss surprisedat England capitulation

LAHoreSTAff RePoRT

Pakistan’s former captain and coachWaqar Younis feels that the spot-fixingscandal and other controversies, whichhit Pakistan cricket in 2010, only madethe players stronger and is a one of themajor reason for the team's consistentperformance in the last 18 months.

Waqar, who stepped down as thehead coach of the Pakistan team last Sep-tember after the tour to Zimbabwe due topersonal and health reasons, said theplayers have responded well to all thecriticism. "I am really proud of them the

way they have responded to all the criti-cism and skepticism that has come theirway following the spot-fixing scandal,"said Waqar while commenting in a televi-sion interview on Pakistan’s win againstEngland. "After the spot-fixing scandaland controversies, I thought the playerswere determined to show everyone whatPakistan cricket is all about.

"I felt they realised that the only way torespond to the crisis was to perform welland let the results speak for themselves. It isnot that this team has been doing well in re-cent months, it has been performing consis-tently well for the last 18 months," he added.The former pacer also said the fact that Pak-

istani team is doing well despite some ad-verse conditions, is a big plus. "Look at theadverse conditions we have faced in last fewyears. Teams are not touring Pakistan. Thenwe had the spot-fixing scandal. Still for theteam to do so well it is a big plus for us," hepointed out. Meanwhile, another formerTest captain Rameez Raja was also all praisefor the team, said that the players were per-forming like a well gelled unit.

"The Pakistan team is playing like a welloiled unit and every player appears to beaware of his role. Misbah has led the sidewell. They now play the game at their ownpace and wait for the opponents to wiltunder the pressure," said Raja.

Spot-fixing scandal made the team stronger

LonDon ReuTeRS

This summer's London Olympics are at riskfrom athletes cheating at the behest of ille-gal betting syndicates trying to fix resultsor parts of competitions, the head of Inter-pol said Thursday.

Ronald Noble, general secretary of theFrench-based international police agency,said the prevalence of sports events beingfixed suggested that the Olympic Gameswould also be targeted by gambling rings.

"I've got to believe since it's occurringso much in football and other sports wehave reason to believe there is a risk of it oc-curring in the Olympics," Noble told re-porters in London. "The president of theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC)hassaid that he and the Olympics should beconcerned about irregular or illegal bettingoccurring in the context of the Olympics."Noble's warning echoes that of BritishOlympics minister Hugh Robertson whosaid this month the integrity of the Gamescould be shattered by the "enormous"threat from those trying to fix results.

That prompted Betfair, the world'slargest betting exchange, to agree to shareinformation with the IOC on potentiallysuspect gambling. Noble said the greatestproblem was competitors rigging part of

events. Cricket has been a high-profile vic-tim of this so-called "spot fixing" in Britainwith three international Pakistan playersjailed by a London court in November forrigging parts of a match against England in2010. Earlier this month, an English do-mestic cricketer also pleaded guilty to tak-ing money in order to bowl badly in atelevised game. "What we're finding more

and more is not just the outcome but bet-ting on something unusual that will happenduring the competition itself," Noble said.

"That's becoming the area where mostof the betting is occurring rather than theoutcome." Noble, who said there was nospecific intelligence that the Olympics werea target for any terrorist attack, said Inter-pol would be sending a team to London to

help British officials with identity checks ofthose trying to enter the country.

Thursday, a committee of British law-makers said it was shocked at the numberof times strict checks had been waived atUK airports and ports because they had be-come too busy, blaming the Home Office(interior ministry) for a lack of supervision.

Home Secretary Theresa May said lastNovember Britain would never know forcertain how many suspected terrorists werewaved into the country since July 2011,when border officials suspended somechecks on European Union nationals.

Noble praised Britain's border regimesaying it was one of just a few countrieswhich routinely checked the Interpoldatabase which holds details of 31 millionfraudulent identities, saying Britain hadperformed 139 million such inquiries."The only problem the UK appears tohave is the number of people at the immi-gration posts," he said. He said that situ-ation was far better than for mostcountries bound by the Schengen Agree-ment, which eliminated border controlsbetween about two dozen Europeanstates. "Only a couple of the Schengencountries are systematically screening ourdatabase which puts all Schengen coun-tries at risk," he said, blaming a lack of po-litical will and the "absence of a tragedy."

desperate PCB outto convince B’deshto tour Pakistan

LAHoreSTAff RePoRT

The PCB has sent its chief operating officerto Dhaka to push the Bangladesh CricketBoard to go ahead with its tour to Pakistan inApril. After some unusual delay on part ofthe Bangladesh board to give dates to thePCB for the visit of its security delegation toPakistan, the PCB has sent COO SubhanAhmad to meet with BCB officials. "Themain purpose is to send someone to go andpersonally express condolences with the BCBand family of Manzur Ahmed the chief exec-utive of the BCB who expired this month," aboard official said. But there is no doubt thatthe PCB is desperate to see some progressbeing made on its invitation to the BCB tosend its team to Pakistan. Reports that someBangladeshi players and the team's foreignstaffs are reluctant about touring Pakistanbecause of security situation has also left thePCB worried. "Yes we do want to see someprogress about the tour and the first step hasto be the visit of the Bangladesh security del-egation which was supposed to come to Pak-istan this month," the official said. Reportssaid that Subhan will also be giving a de-tailed security plan to the BCB, which wasprepared after the PCB met with interiorminister, Rehman Malik, and other interiorministry and police officials. "We intend toshow them the detailed security plan for thetour so that their apprehensions can be dealtwith," PTI quoted a source as saying. NoTest-playing nation has visited Pakistansince militants attacked the Sri Lankan teamin March, 2009 in Lahore, killing six Pak-istani policemen, a van driver and injuringsome of the visiting players. PCB chief, ZakaAshraf, has in recent days, said in the mediathat the security situation has improved inPakistan and will improve further so it istime for the ICC and member countries tostart sending teams to the country.

President, Pm, PCBchief congratulate team

LAHoreSTAff RePoRT

President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime MinisterSyed Yousuf Raza Gallani and PakistanCricket Board Chairman Zaka Ashraf havecongratulated the Pakistan team for theirmagnificent win in the opening test matchagainst England in Dubai. Pakistan beatEngland in the first test match of the three-match rubber by 10 wickets with SaeedAjmal and Umer Gul playing a pivotal role.In his message, the President felicitated andlauded the PCB management and playersfor a convincing win against England, thetop ranked test team in the world. The Pres-ident expressed the hope that the nationalteam will continue to perform with zeal andteam spirit and win more laurels for thecountry in the times ahead. He wished thePakistan team and its management everysuccess in the next matches. Prime Minis-ter Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani also congratu-lated the Pakistan team on winning the testmatch against England. The Prime Ministerapplauded the excellent performance ofevery member of the team particularly thesuperb bowling by spinner Saeed Ajmal.“It’s the team work that brought such a bigwin for Pakistan team that made thewhole nation proud. Captain MisbahulHaq, Ajmal, Gul and the other membersof the team deserve a pat on their backfor such a brilliant win, said Zaka Ashraf.

Kamran to playin Bd to regainplace in team

LAHoreSTAff RePoRT

Discarded Pakistan wicketkeeper KamranAkmal has decided to skip Pentangular Cup- one of the country's premier domesticevents - in order to regain his place in thenational team. Kamran got permission toskip the Pentangular Cup tournament thatbegan at different venues in Pakistan andplay in Bangladesh Premier League in orderto regain his place in the national team.Dropped from the Pakistan team after the2011 World Cup, Kamran said he had optedout of the Punjab team. "I have got clear-ance from the Pakistan board as I feel byplaying in overseas events I have betterchances of making a comeback and alsokeeping in touch with international cricket,"Kamran said. In contrast former captain,Shoaib Malik has returned from Bangladeshto play in the Pentangular Cup in order toconvince the selectors that he can still con-tribute to the national team. "I wanted toplay in the Pentangular Cup and prove myform to the selectors because I want to re-vive my Pakistan career as soon as possibleand I know I have a lot of cricket left in me,"he said. Malik, who has been included in thePunjab team, was playing in the Bangladesh50-over league before deciding he wanted toreturn home for the domestic event. ThePentangular Cup is a first class tournamentplayed between the four provinces and theFederal areas team. The PCB in order to en-sure that top players take part in the com-petition have only agreed to issueconditional NOCs to players interested inplaying in the cash rich Bangladesh PremierLeague next month. Number of Pakistaniplayers including Mohammad Sami,Shahzaib Hasan have been playing in theBangladesh 50-over league this month buthave returned home for the domestic event.

Sri lanka shakes up

cricket after poor runCoLoMBo

AfP

Sri Lanka shook up the domestic cricketscene Thursday by appointing a new panel tochoose future players, following the nationalteam's abysmal performance during theircurrent tour of South Africa. Sports ministerMahindananda Aluthgamage named a four-member panel of selectors headed by Asan-tha de Mel, a former national player, andgave them one year to put the team in order,his spokesman said. "The minister made theappointment for a period of one year andthey will be entrusted with selecting the na-tional team and suggesting ways to improveoverall performance," Harsha Abeykoon said.

loNdoN: A Royal Navy lynx helicopter hovers of a passenger ferry on the thames nearwoolwich during a safety and security planning exercise for the london olympic games. afp

Interpol head warns of London Olympic cheats

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:41 AM

Sports20friday, 20 January, 2012

MeLBoUrneAfP

SECOND seed Czech Petra Kvitovabattled her way into the AustralianOpen third round on Thursday as

rivals Serena Williams and Maria Shara-pova steamrolled their opponents. Rus-sia's Vera Zvonareva and Serbian glamourgirl Ana Ivanovic also won in straight setsas the cream continued to rise to the topof the women's draw.

Two-time grand slam winner SvetlanaKuznetsova of Russia was pushed to thelimit by young American Sloane Stephensbefore scraping through 7-6 (8/6), 7-5.France's Marion Bartoli, the ninth seed,ended Australian interest in the women'sdraw, beating Jelena Dokic 6-3, 6-2. How-ever, Wimbledon champion Kvitova had tosurvive a second-set meltdown against CarlaSuarez Navarro, who bundled VenusWilliams from the tournament in 2009.

Kvitova won the first set easily but grewvisibly frustrated as she lost the second andhad to come from a break down in the thirdto win 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. The reigning Wimble-don champion was in great touch in the firstset, serving well and breaking the Spaniardtwice in a commanding display. But at thestart of the second Kvitova seemed to losefocus, missing easy shots and allowingSuarez Navarro to dictate the points. TheSpaniard, one of only seven players in thetop 100 with a one-handed backhand, usedit to devastating effect to move Kvitovaaround the court. Suarez Navarro took the

second and broke to go 2-0 ahead in the de-cider, but Kvitova dug deep and slowlypegged back the gallant Spaniard, eventuallywinning a tense encounter in 1hr 47mins.Earlier, five-time champion Williams

brushed off fears about her injured ankle asshe beat Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova6-0, 6-4 to record her 500th career win.

The American 12th seed, who pulledout of this month's Brisbane International

after rolling her ankle on court, fell awk-wardly in the final game of the match. "It'sfine, I just have really wobbly ankles," shesaid. "I wasn't meant to be a ballerina."Sharapova lost just one game as she dis-

mantled US qualifier Jamie Hampton 6-0, 6-1. Sharapova, 24, dominated Hamp-ton in all areas, hitting 23 winners to sixand making 77 percent of her first servesto her opponent's 50 percent.

Kvitova struggles as Serena, Sharapova cruise

melBoURNe: Petra Kvitova of Czech Republicplays a stroke during her match against CarlaSuarez Navarro of Spain. afp

melBoURNe: Vera zvonareva of Russia watchesthe ball as she plays a stroke during her matchagainst lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic. afp

melBoURNe: maria Sharapova of Russia wavesto celebrate her victory over Jamie Hamptonof the US in their second round match. afp

melBoURNe: Serena williams of the UShits a return against Barbora zahlavovaStrycova of the Czech Republic. afp

MeLBoUrneAfP

NOVAK Djokovic and AndyMurray hit top gear onThursday as warhorseLleyton Hewitt capitalisedon Andy Roddick's retire-

ment to reach the third round. SerenaWilliams was also at her destructivebest with Petra Kvitova the only topseed given trouble on day four. AndHewitt was handed easy passage whenRoddick strained a hamstring, endingthe clash of the old stagers.

"It's a nightmare for both of us,"said Hewitt, who was leading thenight match 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 when Rod-dick called it quits. "He stretchedsomething high in his leg and it washard for me to concentrate at theother end.

"You know Andy is hurting andyou try to block it out of your mindand it's hard to do. Without soundingtoo mean, you try to run him around alot more."

The one-time world number one,still battling on despite five major op-erations in the past four years, now

faces another big server in Canada'sMilos Raonic.

But the despondent Roddick, whotried to play on after injuring his righthamstring tendon in the second set,said he would probably be out forthree weeks.

"You can try to ham and egg itagainst a lot of guys. But he's really in-telligent. He knew what was goingon," said the American.

"Then you're out there and you'rewondering, listen, even if this goesyour way, you're not going to play intwo days. So it's a miserable, terriblething being out there compromisedlike that. It really sucks."

Djokovic has been in commandingform at the year's first major as hebids to repeat last season's astonish-ing haul of three grand slams among10 titles, with a 41-match winningstreak along the way.

And the Serb expended little en-ergy in his 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 hit-out againstColombia's Santiago Giraldo as hespeeds towards an expected semi-finalwith Murray, his victim in last year'stitle match.

"I try to not underestimate any

opponents in early rounds," Djokovicsaid. "Santiago came out early hittingthe ball quite flat. But I knew thatsooner or later he's going to drop therhythm and I just have to hang inthere. I've done a good job," he added.

Two-time finalist Murray, whosenew coach Ivan Lendl sat swathed ina towel against the evening chill, racedthrough the first set in just 23 minutesas he beat France's Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Williams brought up her 500th ca-reer win, against Barbora ZahlavovaStrycova, to keep up her record ofreaching the third round in everygrand slam she has entered apart fromher debut, in Melbourne in 1998.

"It's fine, I just have really wobblyankles," she said, after falling heavilyin the last game. "I wasn't meant to bea ballerina."

Second seed Kvitova had a trickierassignment against Spain's CarlaSuarez Navarro, but she kept her frus-trations in check to survive a mid-match lapse 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

Meanwhile former championMaria Sharapova made it two wins forthe loss of just two games.

Djokovic, Murraystroll as Roddick out

melBoURNe: Novak djokovic of Serbia hits a return against Santiagogiraldo of Colombia in their men's second round match. afp

melBoURNe: Andy murray of Britain plays a stroke during his matchagainst edouard Roger-Vasselin of france. afp

Aisam plays hissecond roundmatch today

MeLBoUrneALI AKBAR

The iconic MCG is only a high lob awayfrom the Rod Laver Arena, the site ofthe Australian Open 2012. The riverYarra separates them, it's claim tofame being the swim Jim Courier exe-cuted in it's silty waters after winningthe Open some years ago. Australia is about the population ofKarachi but is fanatical about sport, it'sathletes punching much above theirweight, winning major titles in almostevery sport. Marcus Baghdatis, the col-orful Cypriot who reached the finalshere a couple of years ago, broke arecord of sorts, destroying four rac-quets in an unprecedented display dur-ing his losing cause against StanWawrinka of Switzerland. Spurred onby his supporters in the crowd, Bagh-datis first smashed the racquet he wasplaying with, then reached into his bagand smashed three more, much to thedelight of the full house. Baghdatis received a stiff fine from thereferee for his troubles. Pakistan'sAisam Qureshi plays his doubles sec-ond round today. His draw looks prom-ising and should he and his partnercombine well, they could more thanjustify their 8th seeding.

Junior NationalHockey semis today

LAHoreSTAff RePoRT

The semi-final of the 31st U-21 NationalJunior Hockey Championship will beplayed today here at the National HockeyStadium. Thursday was the rest day in thechampionship after the league stages ofthe event was completed on Wednesday.The event will resume with the first semi-final between Wapda and SSGC at 9.30am while the second semi-final will beplayed between NBP and Punjab Coloursat 2.30 hours. Iftikhar Ali Malik, Chair-man Guard Group of Companies will bechief guest of the prize distribution cere-mony which will be followed after theconclusion of the second semi-final.

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:42 AM

Sports 21friday, 20 January, 2012

wAtch It LIve

ESPNBarclays Premier League:Norwich City vs Chelsea06:10PM

STAR SPORTS AustralianOpen Tennis05:30AM

Pff d CertificateCoaching Coursebegins in islamabad


The Pakistan Football Federation in linewith its emphasis on Vision Plan 2020and Youth Development Program ishosting the PFF ‘D’ Certificate CoachingCourse for Region-2012 at Jinnah Sta-dium, Pakistan Sports Board, Islamabadon Thursday. The six-day course is being conductedby Shehzad Anwar as instructor and willconclude on January 24. Sajjad Mahmood will act as assistant in-structor while Salah-ud-Din Awan, ref-eree instructor and course coordinatorwill be Muhammad Zaman Khan.Lt Col ® Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi, Gen-eral Secretary PFF, inaugurated thecourse as chief guest and said: “PFF iscommitted to provide coaches, from be-ginner to most advance, with up-to-datetheoretical, physical and practicalknowledge for coaches from all regionsi.e. Islamabad, Gilgit Baltistan, AzadJammu & Kashmir (AJK) and FederallyAdministrated Tribal Areas (FATA) canensure that players develop their skill tofull potential.”“There is so much happening in modernfootball and this course where videoanalysis and practical lessons are in-volved, helps to get an insight into thegame,” added Shahzad Anwar.The course will enable the 26 participantsto take this challenge. The participants are:Matti-ur-Rehman (Huma FC), Ali Agha(Islamabad Academy FC), VaqasAhmed (Islamabad Academy FC),Shafqat Ali Khan (Gilgit Baltistan FC),Muhammad Arslan Qureshi (GhauriFC), Qaiser Ali (Quaid-e- Azam FC),Ghulam Fareed (Al-Qaim FC), ShafqatMunir Ahmed (Alfaisal FC), Misbah Ali(Baltistan FC), Mujahid Ghouri (Ever-green FC), M. Arslan Bin Zahoor (Is-lamabad FC), Shifat Ullah (Kiran FC),Naveed-ul-Hassan (Mehran FC), NasirAli (Youth Power FC), M. Abdullah Ab-basi (Poona FC), Mumtaz Hussain(Millat FC), Shah Khalid (Mehran FC),Asjid Raza Mir (Falcon FC), AshrafAlam (Gilgit Baltistan FA), MuhammadAshraf Iqbal (Gilgit Baltistan FA), EjazKhan (AJK FA), Zeeshan Bashir (AJKFA), Sarfraz Haider (AJK FA), Muham-mad Awais (AJK FA), Niaz Muhammad(FATA) and Wajid Ali (FATA).

MeLBoUrneAfP

RISING Japanese star KeiNishikori fought back from twosets down to stay alive in the

Australian Open Thursday, as China'sZheng Jie joined Roland Garros cham-pion Li Na in the third round.

Nishikori, the highest-rankedJapanese men's player ever, at 26, wonjust four games in the first two sets asAustralian Matthew Ebden threatenedto run away with the match on Mar-garet Court Arena.

But the 22-year-old dug deep toturn the match around and droppedjust two games in the final two sets torun out a 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 winneragainst the home favourite.

"He started really well. I was miss-ing at the same time but he was makinga lot of balls and in the third set andfourth set I was trying to be more ag-gressive and trying not to make basicmistakes," said Nishikori.

"Finally I ended up winning,"added the Japanese player, who saidtreatment he had received during thematch was only for a tight muscle.

Tatsuma Ito, given a wildcard tocompete in Melbourne, could notmatch his compatriot, crashing out infour sets to France's Nicolas Mahut, 6-1, 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 2-6.

The last time there was more thanone Japanese man in the second round

of a grand slam event with a draw of128 players was the French Open in1974, when there were three.

And the win for Nishikori meansthe 24th seed has matched his best re-sult in Melbourne, which he achieved

last year.Ranked as low as 98th at the end of

2010, the Japanese player enjoyed abreakthrough year in 2011, beatingworld number one Novak Djokovic andreaching two tour finals.

Nishikori is aiming to top his bestever grand slam performance, the USOpen fourth round in 2008, by makingthe quarter-finals in Melbourne.

But there were no problems forChina's Zheng, who missed last year'sOpen with a wrist injury, as she joinedcompatriot Li in the third round with aconvincing 6-4, 6-2 win over ItalianRoberta Vinci, seeded 23rd.

Zheng, unbeaten this year afterwinning the Auckland Classic, brokeher opponent five times in an impres-sive performance.

"It's given me confidence becauseshe played so special, backhand slicethen big spin on the forehand," shesaid. "It was tough playing against herbut I'm happy I beat her in two sets."

When asked whether she and Licould match their showing two yearsago, when both reached the semi-fi-nals, Zheng said: "I'm not thinking toofar ahead but it's a new year and Ihaven't lost a match yet, so I'm full ofconfidence."

Fifth seed Li, who reached the finalof last year's Australian Open beforebecoming Asia's first ever singles grandslam winner when she won the FrenchOpen, plays Spain's Anabel MedinaGarrigues on Friday.

The only other Asian player left atthe Australian Open is Taiwan's LuYen-hsun, who faces a daunting taskagainst Argentine 11th seed Juan Mar-tin del Potro on Friday.

melBoURNe: marion Bartoli of francecelebrates winning a point against Jelenadokic of Australia. afp

ViCtoRiA: Sabine lisicki of germanycelebrates her victory over Shahar Peer inthe Australian open tennis tournament. afp melBoURNe: zheng zie of China plays a stroke during her match against Roberta Vinci of italy. afp

Nishikori fights back as Zheng cruises

melBoURNe: maria Kirilenko of Russia plays a stroke during her match againstAleksandra wozniak of Canada. afp

Hamza in race for Asiantour Qualification?

LAHoreSTAff RePoRT

In the race for Asian Tour qualification forthe 2012 Asian Golf Tour, a total of 240 topprofessional golf players from all over Asiaand Europe converged to Thailand wherethe four days Final Qualification stage is inprogress. Amongst these 240 competitors,four are from Pakistan including Mo-hammed Munir, Hamza Amin, MatloobAhmed and Aadil Jehangir. After comple-tion of two rounds, with two remaining, 151participating professionals failed to makethe cut and stood weeded out, and that in-cludes Matloob and Aadil from Pakistan.Only 89 professionals will be contestingover the remaining two rounds and at theend of the final Qualification stage, 40 topperformers will stand eligible for the AsianTour 2012. Mohammed Munir and HamzaAmin are strong contenders for selectionand in particular Hamza Amin is also afrontrunner. With excellent scores of 69 and66 and an overall aggregate of 135, Hamzais placed third behind Guy woodman (Eng-land) 133,and Yosuka (Japan) 134. Bunchedwith Hamza Amin at 135 are Sushi Ihigaki(Japan) and Martin Rominger (SUI).

DUBAI: Pakistan’s Adnan Akmal(L) and Umar Gul (2nd L) andteammates appeal for thedismissal of England’s captainAndrew Strauss (3rd L). REUtERS

ISB 20-01-2012_Layout 1 1/20/2012 12:42 AM

Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd. Printed by Ghulam Akbar, AA & NHT Group, Plot 24, Shalimar Road, Lilly Market, Soan Garden, Islamabad.

friday, 20 January, 2012 22

isLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR

It was none other than a firm Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani who vetoed the presidentialdecision to reappoint Dr Babar Awan law minis-ter when he told President Asif Ali Zardari thathe would not approve the resignation of Law Min-ister Maula Bux Chandio and - even if Awan wasappointed law minister against - he would not at-tend the oath-taking ceremony.

A well-placed source told Pakistan Today thatfollowing the apex court decision to temporarilysuspend Awan’s licence and after engaging Bar-rister Aitzaz Ahsen to represent the prime min-ister in a contempt of court case in the SupremeCourt, when Gilani learnt of the president’s de-cision, he sent a ministerial delegation led by

Khursheed Shah to convince him not to reap-point Awan law minister.

Gilani’s opinion was that Awan’s appointmentwould send a negative message to the SupremeCourt at a time when the executive and the judici-ary were facing off. However, the source said,when the president did not budge, the prime min-ister called him and conveyed his unwillingness.“On this, it was agreed not to administer oath toAwan and it was also decided that he would begiven some other ministerial slot and not the port-folio of law minister,” the source added.

Another source told Pakistan Today thatAwan would not be given any portfolio butwould be accommodated in the Senate by gettinghim re-elected upon his retirement in March.“There is a lot of resentment in the cabinet andthe PPP (Pakistan People’s Party) over Awan’s

reckless legal advice, which is being considereda main cause of the situation the government isfaced with,” the source said.

It was learnt that after his licence was sus-pended, Awan went to the president and con-vinced him to reappoint him law minister becausehe could no longer represent the federation in thepresidential reference to revisit the Zulfikar AliBhutto case. The president had agreed and Chan-dio was asked to resign.

However, in the Senate, when Leader of theHouse Nayyar Bukhari, in the presence ofChandio, told the chairman to defer a bill asthe law minister had resigned, the prime min-ister sprang into action, called Chandio to hisparliament chambers and asked him to imme-diately dispel the impression before mediathat he had resigned.

Gilani vetoed Awan’s reappointment as law minister


Issuing a stay order against the upcoming by-elections on existing electoral rolls containingbogus voters, the Supreme Court on Thursdaydirected the Election Commission of Pakistanto first prepare verified voter lists and thenhold elections in vacant constituencies.

A three-member bench headed by ChiefJustice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry or-dered this while hearing petitions moved byPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khanand PPP’s late chairperson Benazir Bhutto forthe preparation of transparent voter lists.

The court, however, accepted a plea byNaseem Chaudhry, chairperson of the Na-tional Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law

and Justice, to give time for the validation ofthe status of 24 parliamentarians who wereelected through by-elections after the passageof 18th Amendment, at a time the ECP was in-complete under the provisions of this amend-ment. During the hearing, the court was toldthat the bill for 20th Amendment was movedin the parliament about the matter, therefore,time may be granted in this regard. The chiefjustice said they would not allow the ECP tohold elections on bogus voter lists because con-stitution demanded transparency in the elec-tions. He said the court in its July 30, 2009,decision had buried the doctrine of necessityand if the court stopped these 24 parliamentar-ians, the system would be affected. He saidthere was no martial law in India because theydid not back out from the constitution.

isLAMABAD STAff RePoRT

Astable democracy is a cher-ished dream of the PPP-ledcoalition government and thisobjective will remain on top ofthe government’s agenda,

President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday. Addressing a meeting of parliamentari-

ans of the PPP and its allies, held at the Pres-idency, Zardari congratulated PrimeMinister Yousaf Raza Gilani for appearingbefore the Supreme Court in a dignified andrespectful manner.

Besides Prime Minister Gilani, NationalAssembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza and headsof allied parities were also present at themeeting which was held to express gratitudeto the coalition parties in difficult times.

Recounting various achievements of thecoalition government during its tenure, thepresident said, “We have done a lot andwould continue to do much more for the wel-fare of the people of the country, especiallythe poor and the marginalised.”

Asfandyar Wali Khan, Shujaat Hussain,

Munir Khan Orakzai, Pervez Elahi, AbbasHaider Rizvi and Senator Kalsum Perveenalso spoke on the occasion and said theyhad always stood by the government andwould continue to support it.

The meeting reposed full confidence inthe government and the leadership ofZardari and Gilani.

Gilani, Asifa Bhutto Zardari and FederalMinister for Religious Affairs KhursheedShah also addressed the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Gilani thankedthe coalition leaders for the support ex-tended to the government for the strength ofdemocracy and for accompanying him to theSupreme Court, and reinforcing the govern-ment’s commitment to ensure rule of lawand strengthening of institutions.

He described it as a historic and un-precedented occasion in the history of Pak-istan where the chief executive of the countrysubmitted before the Supreme Court to up-hold law of the land. He said the governmentwas trying to overcome gas and power is-sues, adding that he had already directed thefinance minister to step up efforts to over-come the current power crisis.

Stable democracycherished dreamof govt: Zardari

SC stays by-polls on existing electoral rolls

NA unanimously

passes landmark

women

empowerment billisLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR

The National Assembly onThursday made a landmarkachievement by unani-mously passing an impor-tant legislation to ensurefurther empowerment ofwomen with most of themale and female parlia-mentarians contributing tothe legislation to make itmeaningful and effective.Unprecedented interest,commitment, cooperationand dedication were ex-pressed by around half adozen women parliamen-tarians along with two malemembers who introducedaround 40 amendmentsinto the bill which had al-ready been improved by therespective standing com-mittee. National AssemblySpeaker Dr Fehmida Mirzaplayed a pivotal role in im-provement of the bill andheld a special session withmale and female MPs fromvarious political parties,who wanted to presenttheir amendments into thebill. A detailed session washeld at the speaker’s cham-bers on Wednesday nightand all necessary amend-ments were accommodatedinto the bill, which wasunanimously passed by theHouse. Solidarity was alsoexpressed by the membersof the House as PML-Nlawmaker Zahid Hamidpointed out to the speakerthat some amendments inclause 3 of the bill had beenleft out due to misunder-standing and they shouldagain be amended even ifthe bill had been passed bythe House.

ISLAMABAD: Lawyers shout slogans against Aitzaz Ahsen outside the Supreme Court on Thursday. Sajjad QUREShI

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E-paper Pakistantoday ISB 20th January, 2012

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Transcript of E-paper Pakistantoday ISB 20th January, 2012