e-paper pakistantoday 27th December, 2012

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Power tariffgoes up by91 paisa

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Delimitation unfairwithout consensusamong parties: CEC

Rehman Malik justmight have another

trick up his sleeve

thursday, 27 december, 2012 Safar 13, 1434Rs 15.00 Vol iii no 180 19 pages Karachi edition

QUETTaStAff RePoRt

B AlOCHiSTAN Assembly speakerMohammad Aslam Bhootani was onWednesday ousted through a secret ballotfollowing the initiation of a no-trust motion

against him. Forty-seven members of a total 64 casttheir votes against Bhootani in the provincialassembly session on Wednesday. The assemblysession started with Deputy Speaker Syed MatiullahAgha in the chair with 49 assembly members presentin the House, but only 47 took part in the balloting onthe no-confidence motion against Bhootani. Three ofthem, including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)provincial president and Parliamentary leader MirSadiq Umrani, Minister Jan Ali Changezi andopposition member Nawabzada Tariq Ali Magsi of thePMl-Q staged a walkout in protest against the no-trust motion. A total 47 members from variouspolitical groups of ruling coalition cast their vote infavour of no-trust motion, while one membersupported Bhootani, while one vote was declaredinvalid. These parties include the PPP, PMl-Q, JamiatUlema-e-islam-F, Balochistan National Party-Awamiand independent members. Announcing the results ofthe balloting, Deputy Speaker Matiullah Agha gaveruling that the motion to oust Bhootani from his officewas passed with majority votes and he ceased tofunction as the speaker of Balochistan Assembly. Hesaid Bhootani was terminated from the office of thespeaker as the motion to oust him was passed withmajority. Agha added that all unparliamentarilywords were expunged from the proceedings of theassembly. The House was prorogued after completionof other proceedings. Talking to reporters, oustedspeaker Bhootani announced that he would soonmove the court of law to challenging the move ChiefMinister Aslam Raisani and his supporters made tooust him. He thanked the members who did not cometo the assembly session and abstained from the illegaland unconstitutional measures.

Continued on page 04

LarkanaAPP

The fifth death anniversary of former primeminister Benazir Bhutto will be observed today(Thursday) and the Pakistan People’s Party hasfinalised arrangements in this regard at GarhiKhuda Bakhsh. Senior PPP leaders, membersof the National and provincial assemblies, officebearers and a large number of PPP workersfrom all provinces will attend the event. Over10,000 police and rangers personnel will bepresent during the PPP rally. Walk-throughsecurity gates have also been installed at allentrances to the venue. President Asif AliZardari, who arrived in the Bhutto hometownon Wednesday, is expected to address the rallyalong with PPP Co-chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.Bilawal will make his formal entry into thePakistani politics at the event, a PPP sourcerevealed on Wednesday. “Bilawal will make hisentry into politics during the meeting at GarhiKhuda Bukhsh and will take over PPP’scampaign for the upcoming general election.However, he cannot contest polls until he turns25 in September next year,” the source said. Hesaid Bilawal is also expected to make Benazir’sassassination report public. The source addedthat there had been speculations that Zardarimight announce the date for the next generalelections at tomorrow’s event. “The president isvery secretive about this and he himself willdecide whether or not to announce the date forthe polls,” the source said.

BB’s fifth death anniversary today

KHI 27-12-2012_Layout 1 12/27/2012 2:38 AM Page 1

02News

thursday, 27 December, 2012

Today’s

LookQuick

nEwS

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cartoon

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infotainmEnt

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Quaid-e-Jamhooriat: Shaheed Benazir Bhutto family meals ‘boost child fruit and vegetable intake’

Murder case againstKashmiri woman overstone throwing droppedPolice in indian-held Kashmir have decided to dropattempted murder charges against a young womanaccused of throwing stones at troops during anti-indiaprotests two years ago. The decision, on Wednesday,came amid strong online protests. Police officer ShivMurari Sahai says Zahida Akhtar has been exoneratedof charges of attempted murder and instigatingprotests. Akhtar was arrested last Friday in Anantnagtown and later freed on bail. Her brother denied shethrew stones at government forces during the 2010protests that left 112 people dead, most by troops’gunfire. MoNItoRING DeSk

MQM moves SCover ‘rigging’ inPunjab by-pollsLAHORE: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)on Wednesday submitted a petition in the SupremeCourt challenging the results of by-elections inPunjab. MQM leader Shaheen Anwar Gilani moved theapplication in the Supreme Court’s lahore Registrythat challenges by-elections held on December 4. Heclaimed that the by-polls were rigged by the Punjabgovernment using the state’s resources. The ElectionCommission of Pakistan should ensure fair and freeelections in Punjab during next general elections, italso read. Speaking to reporters, counsel for the MQM,Qazi Mubeen, said that the Punjab government notonly used police as “a terrorist force”, but armedmembers of political parties also roamed freely duringthe by-polls. AGeNCIeS

3 killed in attack on USbase in AfghanistanKABUL: At least three Afghans were killed andseveral others injured when a suicide bomber attackeda US base, Camp Chapman, in Khost, BBC reported onWednesday. The attack, which was claimed by theTaliban, was carried out in an area where the Talibanand the Haqqani network are very active. Earlier inOctober, the Taliban carried out a suicide attackkilling 20 people, including three NATO soldiers. inanother attack in June, a suicide bomber killed 21people in Khost, including three US soldiers and alocal interpreter. oNLINe

Christian girl foundshot in the headQUETTA: A Christian girl was shot dead by unknownpersons in her house on Brewry Road, police officials saidon Wednesday. Brother of the deceased girl, Asif, whobrought her to BMC Hospital, said he found her deadwhen he entered the house. The victim had received abullet shot in the head. The body was handed over to theheirs after legal formalities. Police have registered a caseand started investigation. APP

karaCHIAGeNCIeS

Pakistan Muslim league-Functional (PMl-F) chiefand spiritual leader of Hur community Pir PagaraSibghatullah Rashdi appointed former premier MirZafarullah Jamali the party’s central vice presidentwhereas his son Mir Fareedullah Jamali and Ghu-lam Mustafa Khar have been appointed party pres-idents for Balochistan and Punjab, respectively.

Earlier, all three fresh appointees had called onthe PMl-F chief at his residence. The announce-ment was made later at a press conference by thePMl-F chief which was attended by the three lead-ers. Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim league-Quaid(PMl-Q) senior leader and Deputy Prime MinisterParvez Elahi also met Pir Pagara at Raja House todiscuss the political scenario in light of the upcom-ing general elections. Elahi said the relationship be-

tween the two political forces was an old one, es-tablished by their elders. He hoped that the ties be-tween them will strengthen in times to come andsaid the process of mutual consultation will con-tinue to chalk out a strategy for the future.

Elahi said it had become very difficult for anysingle party to sweep the elections and the politicalsituation demanded formation of alliances, addingthat consultation with Pir Pagara will continue inthis regard. Elahi said he had invited Pir Pagara tolahore on Chaudhry Shujaat’s behalf and hopedthe leader will visit the city and the two parties willbe able to evolve a positive strategy for the upcom-ing elections. Elahi, during his stay in Karachi,also attended a dinner hosted by prominent in-dustrialist Bashir Jan Muhammad and met sev-eral industrialists and members of the KarachiChamber of Commerce and industry and ExportProcessing Zones Authority (EPZA).

Continuous fog blanketshinder travelers

LaHOrEINP

Dense fog in parts of Punjab, for the thirdconsecutive day, prompted the Motorway Policeto suspend traffic from lahore to Pindi Bhatianinterchange till Wednesday noon. National andinternational flights also remained affected atlahore’s Allama iqbal international Airport. Twoflights for Karachi and islamabad were cancelledwhile the Pakistan international Airline (PiA)asked people to confirm their flights beforeleaving their homes for the airport. PiA flightfrom Jeddah to lahore was diverted to Kuwaitdue to the fog cover. According to details, PiAflight PK-760 flew from Jeddah at 4:00AM forlahore but the plane had to land at KuwaitAirport as a result of bad weather and dense fogat lahore. National Assembly (NA) DeputySpeaker Faisal Karim Kundi along with his familywas also on the flight. lahore-FaisalabadMotorway was also closed for traffic. Accordingto a Motorway Police Spokesman, Motorway-iiwas closed for traffic from lahore to PindiBhatian while Motorway-iii was closed fromPindi Bhatian to Faisalabad. The Motorwaypolice have advised motorists to avoid travelingduring fog and use GT Road if travel isunavoidable. Those motorists, who travelfrequently in fog, should use fog lights and mustkeep a safe distance from other vehicles, advisedthe highway police. Visibility on the GT Road wasalso low due to thick fog.

PML-N should end boycottof commission on newprovinces: Mahmud

MULTanoNLINe

Punjab Governor Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmud onWednesday asked PMl-N to end boycott of thecommission formed for the creation of newprovinces. Talking to journalists at the residence ofSenator Malik Salahuddin (late) on Wednesday, hestressed on the importance of making the Seraikiand Bahawalpur province. He added that newprovinces would strengthen the federation. “ThePunjab Assembly has passed a resolution for aSeraiki province but has deliberately avoided oneon the Bahawalpur province,” he said. “Only lahorewas being developed; the Seraiki belt was still themost backward region. The time has come to handover the keys of the Southern Punjab gateway tous”, he said. He also clarified that governorship wasa constitutional post and had nothing to do withany caretaker setup.

g Parvez Elahi holds talk with Pir Pagara, says alliances important for polls

Zafarullah Jamali andMustafa Khar join PML-F

LARKANA: Workers on

Wednesday give final touches

to the stage prepared for the

5th anniversary of Shaheed

Benazir Bhutto at Garhi

Khuda Bakhsh. ONLINE


03News


EDitorialContinuing to bleed

commEnt

articles on Page 10-11

Sectarian violence in Karachi

Dr James J Zogby says;Remembering Bethlehem: Not the way it should be

Malik Muhammad Ashraf says;Murder she wrote herself: Benazir: indeed a symbol of resistanceBashir Riaz says;A beacon of hope she was: Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto — five yearsof martyrdom

artS & EntErtainmEnt

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buSinESS

Story on Page 14

SPortS

Story on Page 15

Noureed says Annie’s accusations baseless Russia eyes $ 600 million trade with Pakistan Hafeez happy with Ashwin omission

ISLaMaBaDkASHIf ABBASI

CHiEF Election CommissionerFakhruddin G Ebrahim onWednesday said delimitation ofconstituencies in Karachi would beunfair without consensus among

political parties.Addressing a press briefing, the CEC told

reporters that existing delimitation of con-stituencies in Karachi was based on censusand the ECP had to accept them.

He put the blame on political parties fordelaying the delimitation process, saying theECP had asked the political parties to givesuggestions about new delimitation inKarachi, but political parties did not come upwith suggestions.

“Delimitation of constituencies should beaccepted in accordance with the census… per-sonally i am against the delimitation beforethe upcoming elections,” said Ebrahim.

The CEC ignored his previous stance,which he took last Thursday during a meetingwith political parties. According to press re-lease, the ECP said that 13 political parties at-tended the meeting and except MQM allparties supported the ECP’s stance. The ECPhad asked the parties to submit their views inwriting within a week.

However, a day before the deadline (De-cember 27), the CEC said that political partiesdid not come up with suggestions.

“Each stakeholder will submit his views inwriting accompanied by the maps showing thedesired changes within a week and they prom-ised to do the same within a week. it may benoticed that except MQM all parties agreed in

principle that the delimitation be done. Thecommission will thereafter proceed with thedelimitation,” said the press release.

When the CEC was asked that whatprompted him to delay the delimitationprocess, ECP Secretary ishtiak Ahmed Khanassisted the CEC and said that there was nofinal decision of delaying delimitation of con-stituencies in Karachi.

“We have invited all political parties forsubmitting their suggestions… so after re-ceiving political parties’ suggestion in nextfew days we will decide the matter,” the sec-retary added. The CEC said that the verifi-cation of voter lists in Karachi would begin

on January 5.Earlier, the CEC and army chief met at

NADRA Headquarters. According to a pressrelease issued by NADRA, the CEC and othermembers of ECP were invited by the NADRAchairman for a detailed briefing on electoralrolls project being jointly carried out by ECPand NADRA.

it said that each stage of the project wasdiscussed in detail. At the end of the meeting,the COAS accompanied with Secretary De-fence Maj Gen (r) Asif Yasin Malik also joinedto discuss the verification of electoral rollspertaining to Karachi in light of the SupremeCourt order.

The delegation was also briefed aboutprogress of amendments and correctionsbeing made in Final Electoral Rolls 2012 afterits publication, in accordance to electoral law.This process is being carried out by districtelection commissioners and until today83,797 modifications have been made underSection 18 of Electoral Rolls Act 1974.

Talking about his meeting with Chief ofArmy Staff General Ashfaq Kayani, the CECsaid that various matters regarding the forth-coming general elections were discussed withthe army chief.

“The army chief has given assurance to ex-tend all possible assistance for holding freeand fair elections,” the CEC said. Dispellingthe impression about any delay in the generalelections, the CEC said these were merely ir-relevant speculations, adding that electionswould be held on time.

He also announced to hold a meeting withhome secretaries, chief secretary and other se-curity officials on December 2 to analyse lawand order situation in the country.

Delimitation unfair without

consensus among parties: CECg Justice (r) Ebrahim says army chief has assured commission of all possible assistance forholding free and fair elections g Says verification of voters’ lists in Karachi will begin on January 5

PTI Tsunami will wipeout corruption fromcountry, says Imran

MIanWaLIoNLINe

Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTi) chief imran Khan said hisparty’s tsunami will wipe out crime and corruption from thecountry, adding that change will begin from Mianwali. “i willbe the first prime minister hailing from Mianwali,” saidKhan. Addressing a public rally on Wednesday, Khan saidcorruption was rampant in the country. PPP and PMl-N, hesaid, had transferred huge amounts of money abroad. Khansaid if he came to power, development funds would bedelivered to representatives at the grass root level instead ofMNAs. He said Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari were “USagents”. The PTi, he said, would build up a new Pakistanafter escaping from the clutches of Unites States (US). ThePTi chief said his party would end the politics of ‘thanakatchehri’ after coming into power. While lashing out onpolitical personalities, Khan said the days of PresidentZardari, Nawaz and Maulana Fazlur Rehman were numberedand even if PMl and PPP got united, his tsunami wouldoverthrow them. He said the iSi had promoted Nawaz Sharifin the past with heavy economic aid which had been exposedin the court. He said if he had an opportunity to come topower, his government would collect taxes from all andsundry without any discrimination. imran urged thegovernment to come out of the so called war on terror,repeating his long standing demand.

JI leader Prof Ghafoorpasses away

karaCHI INP

Jamaat-e-islami leader Professor GhafoorAhmed passed away at the age of 85 in Karachion Wednesday. According to a Ji spokesman,Ahmed had been ill for several months. He wasborn on 26 June 1927 in Barely, British indiaand earned master’s degree in commerce fromlucknow University in 1948. Ahmed latercompleted a course in industrial accounts andwon the fellowship of institute of Cost andManagement Accountants of Pakistan. He joinedJamaat-e-islami in 1950 and held key positions.He served two political alliances of UnitedDemocratic Alliance and Pakistan NationalAlliance as general secretary.

ISLaMaBaDAPP

The Pakistan Muslim league-Quaid (PMl-Q)has finalised its strategy for upcoming electionsunder which it will launch a full-fledged cam-paign within the next few weeks.

“Keeping in view the political activities inthe country, the party has decided to launch itselection campaign in all four provinces andparty chief Chaudhry Shujat Hussain has taskedall provincial presidents to make arrangementsin this regard,” said a PMl-Q leader.

He said under the strategy, which was fi-

nalised in a party meeting recently, ShujaatHussain and secretary-general Mushahid Hus-sain would address public meetings in KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan whileDeputy Prime Minister Parvez Elahi would takecare of Punjab, especially lahore.

The PMl-Q leader said Shujaat had taskedthe party’s Sindh General Secretary and Advisorto Sindh chief minister Haleem Adil Shaikh andAleem Adil Shaikh to arrange a public meetingin Sindh while Federal Minister and party’sBalochistan President Jam Mohammad Yousafhad been asked to arrange public meetings inhis province. When contacted, PMl-Q DeputySecretary information Ghulam Mustafa Malikconfirmed that the party had finalised its cam-paign strategy for the forthcoming elections.Many politicians, who have contacted the partyfor obtaining tickets, have been told to join theparty first and then the parliamentary board willconsider their requests, he added.

He said Shujaat had gone to Saudi Arabia toperform Umrah and the party would start theelection campaign on his return next week.

PMl-Q Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PresidentSyed Qasim Shah has organised three publicmeetings in the province, including Swat, whileparty leaders from Sindh, Aleem Adil Shaikhand Haleem Adil Shaikh, have also invited Shu-jaat and Mushahid Hussain to address publicgatherings there, he said.

He said Parvez Elahi was already addressingpublic gatherings in Punjab while Jam Yousafhad also been asked to revitalise things in his re-cent visit to Sindh.

PML-Q finalises campaign strategy



04

ISLaMaBaDoNLINe

THE Supreme Court(SC) on Wednes-day directed theAttorney General,

Port Qasim Authority (PQA)secretary and SecretaryPorts and Shipping to sub-mit within two weeks thegovernment’s stance over il-legal appointments in thePort Qasim Authority.

A two-member bench ofthe apex court comprising ofacting Chief Justice (CJ) Tas-saduq Hussain Jillani andJustice Nasir-ul-Mulk hearda suo motu case about 686 il-legal appointments fromgrade 2 to 21 made in thePQA by the Ministry of Portsand Shipping and other or-ganizations, and a petition ofsacked secretary of PQAAbdul Jabbar Memon chal-lenging his removal.

No respondents werepresent in the SC except thepetitioner Jabbar.

Petitioner Jabbar told theSC that more than 250 newappointments had been re-cently made in the PQA fromgrade 2 to grade 19, despitethe clear orders of the apexcourt and this matter wasfalling into the category ofcontempt of court.

He added that further ex-tension had been granted tothe Chairman PQA Rear Ad-miral (retired) MuhammadShafi, while his appointmentwas already a dubious matter.

He said that he was trans-ferred to Malir DevelopmentAuthority on the post of di-rector without his consentand the Sindh governmentwas not providing him thedue perks and privileges asso-ciated with the post.

He requested the sittingbench to form a larger benchas the matter was of publicimportance.

The SC stated that the CJhad the jurisdiction regardingformation of a larger benchand the SC would considerthe request after an applica-tion was filed in this regard.

The petitioner told the SCthat Mehmood ZamirFaqooqi who was the brother-in-law of Minister for Com-merce Makhdoom AminFaheem was appointed in thePQA and then transferred tothe Federal investigationAgency (FiA) as Deputy Di-rector. He further said that hewas suspended for opposingMehmood Zameer Farooqi’sselection in breach of rules,adding that this was in viola-tion of the Federal Employ-ment Rules and Regulations.

in its orders, the SC hadalready declared that major-ity of these appointmentswere made from specific con-stituencies and these ap-pointments should bedeclared illegal while a newadvertisement should betaken out in this regard.

Furthermore, the courthad already noted that 90percent of the 686 people ap-pointed in PQA were fromtwo constituencies of Karachiand their appointments wereagainst the provincial and re-gional quota and against thelaw and merit policy.

Petitioner Jabbar alsotold the SC that his wife wassuffering from cancer and herlife was in danger, addingthat she had not been shiftedto the hospital despite the or-ders of the chief secretary.

later, the SC issued no-tices to the Attorney Gen-eral, Secretary PQAEstablishment Division sec-retary and secretary Portsand Shipping and Counsel,the Ministry of Ports andShipping Anwar MansoorKhan to submit within twoweeks a report over the ille-gal appointments made inthe PQA.

Subsequently, the SC ad-journed the hearing of thecase for two weeks.

JOHannESBUrgAGeNCIeS

South Africa’s ailing formerleader Nelson Mandela wasdischarged from hospital onWednesday after spending al-most three weeks beingtreated for a lung infection,the presidency said.

“Former president Nel-son Mandela was dischargedfrom hospital this evening,”said a statement from Presi-dent Jacob Zuma’s office.

“He will undergo home-based high care at hisHoughton (Johannesburg)

home until he fully recovers.”The much-loved 94-year-

old anti-apartheid icon wasadmitted to a hospital in thecapital Pretoria on December8, after being flown from hisrural home in Qunu, in thesouth of the country.

Doctors also discoveredthat he had developed gall-stones and he had surgery tohave them removed.

“We request a continua-tion of the privacy considera-tion in order to allow for thebest possible conditions forfull recovery,” the presidencystatement said.

ISLaMaBaDINP

A high level committeemeeting chaired by PrimeMinister (PM) Raja PervezAshraf at the PM House onWednesday approved thepromotion of 33 officers be-longing to various Occupa-tional Groups to BPS-22.

The promoted officers in-clude Secretary information

Rashid Ahmad and iG SindhFayyaz Ahmad leghari.

Other officers of BPS-21who have been promoted toBPS-22 are Malik AbdusSamad, Ansar Javed, ShahidRahim Shaikh, Arif ikram,Abdul Wadood Shah, AhsanRaja, Abid Saeed, NaveedAkram Cheema, Nasir Hayat,Jamil Amjad, Muhammad AliGardezi, Shahidullah Baig,Agha Nadeem, Sajjad Saleem

Hothiana, Muhammad She-hzad Arbab, Babar YaqoobFateh Muhammad, HasanNawaz Tarar, Seerat AsgharJora, Muhammad ArshadBhatti, Munir Qureshi,Rasheed Ahmad, ManzoorAli Khan, Naveed Salimi,Rukhsana Shah, ShamaEhsan Khan, Ahmad RasoolBangash, Tanvir Ahmad,Tahir Saeed, Abdul Malik Ab-dullah, Syed Hasan Javed,

ikramullah Masood and NoorMuhammad Jadmani.

At the conclusion of themeeting, the PM said the offi-cers have been promotedstrictly on the basis of merit,performance and seniority inline with rules and regula-tions. These officers got theirpromotions after a long waitof almost 9 months. The lastmeeting of the committee washeld on April 12, 2012.

MOnITOrIng DESk

Authorities in the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE) haveannounced the arrests of sev-eral UAE and Saudi Arabiancitizens who are suspected ofplanning terror attacks. SaudiArabian authorities assistedwith the arrests.

Wednesday’s announce-ment from UAE’s officialWAM news agency said thata “cell of deviant peoplefrom both countries” hadbeen arrested.

A “deviant group” is aterm used in Saudi Arabia todescribe people affiliatedwith al Qaeda.

“[The suspects] wereplanning to carry out opera-tions harmful of national se-

curity of the two countriesand some other sisterlystates,” WAM reported. Therewas no mention of how manypeople had been arrested.

The station added thatthe suspects had “importedmaterial and equipmentwith the aim of committingterror acts”.

Prosecutors in the UAEare expected to question thesuspects ahead of a trial.

Unlike many of its Arabneighbours, the UAE hasbeen spared attacks by alQaeda in the past. Earlierthis year, authorities theredetained around 60 ex-tremists who were thoughtto pose a threat to state se-curity and have ties to for-eign groups.

He said the criterion of se-lecting the caretaker set-upwas laid down in the consti-tution which was that theleader of the House andleader of the oppositionwould decide on the head ofthe caretaker government. ifboth fail to evolve a consen-sus, then a committee will fi-nalise the names, he said. incase of the committee’s fail-ure, the election commissionhas the right to take a deci-sion, he added.

Kaira said the PPP be-lieved in the politics of ideol-ogy, not of caste and creed.

About Minjhajul Quranchief Tahirul Qadari, he saidthe government would respecthis viewpoint in accordancewith the constitution.

“Allama Tahirul Qadrishould seek people’s supportthrough popular public voteas no one can be allowed tooppose the constitution,”Kaira said.

He said during PervezMusharraf’s regime, TahirulQadari left the country due tosome reasons, but it was thedemocratic government thatallowed him to come back.

Replying to another ques-tion, he said Punjab ChiefMinister Shahbaz Sharif hadspent a major chunk of theprovincial budget on develop-ment of lahore, deprivingSouth Punjab of its right.

Kaira said Sharif hadraised the slogan of “JaagPunjabi Jaag” but ignored thedevelopment of South Punjab.

Bhootani said the threemembers, including PPP’sMir Sadiq Umrani, and JanAli Changezi and oppositionleader Nawabzada TariqMagsi showed courage tooppose the no-trust motion.He said when he did notaccept the assembly sessionsummoned on the requisitionof a provincial governmentthat had lost its constitutionalvalidity in light of SupremeCourt short order, there wasno moral justification for himto preside over the session.Bhootani said under aconspiracy, the governmentmembers cast a single votein his favour to show that he(Aslam Bhootani) took partin balloting. Meanwhile, Balochistan ChiefMinister Nawab AslamRaisani said a decision aboutthe new speaker and deputyspeaker had been made andthe assembly session wouldbe called in this regard soon.Raisani said a majority in theBalochistan Assembly hadfavoured the motion.Prior to the assembly session,Raisani had said that if votesagainst Bhootani were notenough, “more votes will bebrought from Kandahar”.The motion was moved onDecember 19 against thespeaker after he refused tochair any session of theHouse until the status ofthe provincial governmentwas not cleared by theSupreme Court.On Monday, he threatened tomove the court against votingon the no-trust motionagainst him. He had said theconstitution was violatedwhile presenting the no-confidence resolution.

In Bhootaniwe trust, not

Nelson Mandela

discharged from

hospital: presidency

PM approves promotion of 33 officers in Grade-22 Illegal appointmentsstill continue inPQA, SC told

UAE breaks up alleged terror cell

KP govt to oppose Kalabagh Dam in CCI meeting

Continued fRom page 01

QUettA: Activists of the Baloch Human Rights organisation protest against

the fC operation in Mashkay area of Awaran district on Wednesday. INP

Only parliament totake political andadministrative decisions: Kaira


PESHaWar oNLINe

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government hasissued directives to the inter-provincialCoordination secretary to prepare a caseagainst construction of Kalabagh Dam.Sources said that the case would be presentedin the upcoming meeting of Council of

Common interests (CCi). Advice from seniorlawmakers and constitutional experts is alsobeing sought in this context. The provincialgovernments of Balochistan and Sindh havealso been contacted in this regard and thethree provincial governments have decided totake up a similar stand on the issue in the CCimeeting, sources added. The KhyberPakhtunkhwa Assembly and the provincial

cabinet adopted the motion against the dam’sconstruction thrice in which it had beendeclared that the dam was a matter of life anddeath for the province. Moreover, threeprovincial governments are opposing thedam. The precedents of other democraticcountries where such controversial decisionswere taken in the past are also beingcollected.

Power tariff

goes up by

91 paisaISLaMaBaD

AGeNCIeS

NEPRA approved onWednesday an increase inpower tariff by 91 paisa perunit during a public hearingrelating to power tariff on anapplication of the CentralPower Purchasing Agency inislamabad. Power tariff hasbeen increased all over, ex-cept in KESC, for the monthlyfuel adjustment of all powerdistribution companies.Nepra said in November thatover 30 percent power gener-ation was done by furnace oilworth Rs 33.80 billion andthe cost per unit worked outto Rs 16.15 per unit.



karaCHIINP

AT least five people were in-jured on Wednesday whena bomb apparently fitted ina motorcycle exploded out-side a mosque in Sohrab

Goth area of Karachi, police said.According to reports, a powerful

blast, which could be heard from a greatdistance, triggered an episode of intensefiring in Haji Jannat Gul town area lo-cated near Sohrab Goth’s Al-Asif Square.

Five people were injured in the explo-sion and were moved to a nearby privatehospital.

A contingent of police and Rangerscordoned off the area and the bomb dis-posal squad was called to the scene.

The blast came as the city was par-tially shut down on Wednesday, whichhad been announced as a day of mourn-ing by the religious Ahle Sunnat Wal Ja-maat (ASWJ), believed to be areincarnation of the banned militant out-fit of Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, over an at-tack on one of their central leaders andthe killing of four other men.

Violence erupted in different parts ofthe city Tuesday claiming a total of 16lives after gunmen opened fire on a carcarrying Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqui.

Four other people were reported tohave been injured in different incidentsof aerial firing and ransacking of publicand private properties on Wednesday.

BlASt INjurES fIvE

karaCHI/LarkanaStAff RePoRt

SiNDH Chief Minister,Syed Qaim AliShah,has ordered aninquiry into the re-ports regarding cases

of measles in various districts anddeath of children.

A statement here on Wednes-day said that he has appointedthe Commissioners of Sukkur andMirpurkhas divisions as inquiryofficers to look into the mattersand fix responsibility of thosewho committed dereliction anddid not take effective steps forchecking the spread of disease.

it said that action would beinitiated against those found re-sponsible for any dereliction. Thechief minister directed the twoCommissioners to submit their

report within three days’ time.REVIEWS ARRANGEMENTSIN GARHI KHUDA BUX :Qaim Ali Shah, provincial minis-ters Agha Siraj Khan Durrani,Muhammad Ayaz Soomro onWednesday visited Garhi KhudaBux to review the final arrange-ments in connection with 5thdeath anniversary of ShaheedChairperson of PPP

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.He also visited the site of re-

ception camps set up by PPPWomen Wing and other PPP sis-ter organizations.

The Ex-Ambassador and sen-ior PPP leader Khursheed Ahmed

Junejo briefed the CM aboutthe final arrangements.

The chief minister also di-rected to officials of District ad-ministration and MunicipalAdministration Ratodero to en-

sure proper cleanliness of roadsleading to Garhi Khuda Bux andNaudero and other facilitates forthe public reaching Garhi KhudaBux to pay homage and tribute toShaheed Mohtarma BenazirBhutto on her death anniversary.

The chief minister said thatstrict security measures will betaken to maintain law and ordersituation in larkana district.

He said that all possible fa-cilities will be provided to thepeople he name of Shaheed Zul-fiqar Ali Bhutto and ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhutto is inthe hearts of the people of thecountry. He said that drinkingwater faculties,lighting arrange-ments, parking areas were final-ized, besides the lunger will bedistributed among the peoplewho will participated in the pub-lic meeting.

CM seeks measles reportfrom commissioners

motiwala condemns bilour’sassassination

karaCHIStAff RePoRt

Mohammad Zubair Motiwala, Chair-man Sindh Board of investment/Pres-ident PAJCCi, has expressed sorrowand grief on the tragic incident ofBashir Ahmad Bilour, a slain stalwartand father of Usman Bashir Bilour,PAJCCi vice president.They strongly condemned this atro-cious and violent act committed byunscrupulous elements and extendeddeep condolence to the bereaved fam-ily over the irreparable loss.Mohammad Zubair Motiwala paidtribute to Bashir Ahmad Bilour for hisservices and said he was a courageousperson and sacrificed his life for hisnation and stance against terrorism.He stated Bashir has surely attained“Shahdat (martyrdom)” and our na-tion has lost one of the bravest voicesagainst terrorism. The nation would remember him forhis bravery, conviction and patriot-ism.

‘Pia employees not being sacked’

karaCHIStAff RePoRt

PiA employees are not being termi-nated or sacked as reported in a certainsection of the press, PiA Spokesmansaid here on Wednesday.The news story is totally baseless. Thereare no plans to remove any employeefrom the service as sacking of employ-ees will not be a reformative step andmay add further unemployment in thecountry. No special package has been devised bythe corporation so far, the PiAspokesman added.

5 arrested for attackon maulana farooqui KARACHI: law enforcement agencies onWednesday arrested five suspects from Gulshan-e-iqbal area of the city for their alleged involve-ment in attack on Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat(ASWJ) leader Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqui. Ac-cording to police sources, the agencies conductedraid in Block 6 of the area and arrested five sus-pects. “They also recovered arms from their pos-session.” All the suspects were shifted to anundisclosed place for investigation, policesources added. The sources said the suspects whowere taken into custody include Zulfiqar Taqvi,Altaf Taqvi, Azadar Taqvi, iftikhar Taqvi and Ze-shan Haider. ASWJ leader Maulana Farooquicame under attack and got injured when armedmen opened fire on his vehicle near Moti Mehalarea in Gulshan-e-iqbal town on Tuesday killingsix people including four policemen, his personalguard and a driver. ASWJ central leader AllamaMuhammad ludhianvi called on party workersto remain peaceful and cooperate with local au-thorities in establishing peace. Meanwhile, Pak-istan’s economic hub was partially closed anddaily civic life was affected on Wednesday due toa strike call given by Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat(ASWJ) against attack on its central leader,Maulana Farooqui on Tuesday. Aerial firing andransacking of public and private properties wasreported in many areas as supporters of ASWJburnt tyres on roads and forcibly closed marketsand business activities in various parts. Old cityareas - Sadar, Juriya Bazar, lea Market andEmpress Market - remained completely closedwhile central city areas were partially shut.Public transport remained off the road, leavingcommuters in suffering, with CNG and petrolfilling stations closed across the city. Enragedmobs burned tyres on roads and suspendedtraffic in Shershah, Banaras, lasbela, Gulshan-i-iqbal and Sultanabad. Police said four peoplewere injured in firing incidents at Korangi,Ghas Mandi and Malir. Extra contingents of po-lice and Rangers were deployed in sensitiveareas. Tension gripped Nagin Chowrangi, Naz-imabad, New Karachi, Akhtar Colony, NewTown, Orangi Town and other areas followingthe attack. Protesters staged a sit-in on Shar-e-Faisal and set tyres on fire. The University ofKarachi postponed its papers scheduled to beheld on Wednesday in the wake of uncertainlaw and order situation in the city. The KUspokesman announced to postpone the BA, BScand BCom papers, adding the new date forexams would be announced later. StAff RePoRt



06 Karachi

kARACHI: Activists of Ahl-e-Sunnat Waljamaat carry the coffin of the worker who had been killed during a firing incident in Godhara colony, after the funeral prayer. ONLINE

karaCHIoNLINe

All Pakistan Muslimleague (APMl) hasasked the current rulersto resign and demandedearly caretaker set-up

with consensus of all political parties.in a statement issued here from cen-

tral information secretariat, Aasiaishaque, spokesperson of APMl, said thegovernment had failed to implementgood governance and the bad-governancehad pushed the country 50 years back.She said current rulers had pushed thecountry towards the civil war due to theiranti-country policies. Around 20 peopleare murdering in a day and the govern-ment is not seemed anywhere.

She said that business communitywas facing uncertainty and it was leavingthe country on daily basis but the govern-

ment did not have time to look into thisissue seriously. She said the governmentproved as mark of threat for country itself

and if any system (government) could notsecure its citizens, it should be changed assoon possible for the larger interests ofnation and the country.

APMl leader said that Karachi isunder the blaze of law and order fire, butgovernment is not serous to tackle this bigproblem of the country, adding that allparties should come forward and organ-ize a Goal Mez conference to sort out so-lutions of Karachi.

“This is not the time of chanting slo-gans but it’s a time to save the Pakistanfrom internal and external threats. PervezMushrraf only believes in existence ofcountry not in the holding of reins of gov-ernment” Aasia said.

She said that Pervez Musharraf iscoming back just to serve the people ofcountry as he had given the slogan of “SabSe Pehle Pakistan” and he would againserve the country for the bright future ofmillions of people, she concluded.

APML demands caretaker setup with all parties’ consensus

karaCHIStAff RePoRt

The state of lawlessness in the country,especially in Karachi, is part of a deep-rooted conspiracy of the anti-democraticforces to postpone next general elec-tions.

“The non-democratic elements wantto postpone elections”, Sindh Ministerfor information Sharjeel inam Memontold reporters at the Karachi airportWednesday. He was leaving for larkanato attend the 5thdeath anniversary oflate PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.

Also Central Deputy Secretary infor-mation of the ruling Pakistan People’sParty, Sharjeel, said the people of Pak-istan would spoil the ulterior designs ofall anti-democratic and “disgusting con-spirators”.

Sharjeel said the alliance of non-de-mocratic elements had proved they didnot have roots among the masses.

“These elements grow up in periods ofdictatorship and democracy does not setwell with them,” said the minister.

He said whoever would get indulgedin conspiracies to harm unity of thecountry would not be forgiven by thehistory. The minister said the PPP wouldannounce its future strategy at a grandceremony at Garhi Khuda Bukhsh wherethe party chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari would also address the historicgathering.

The provincial minister said the con-spiracies were fabricated as well as vili-fication was also being done against hisparty by launching a negative propa-ganda. But, the opponent of PPP wouldbe defeated in the next general election,he claimed.

Responding to a question, the infor-mation minister said religious institu-tions were quite different to manage theaffairs of the state.

“Today we are facing all challenges.

These things are products of black erasof dictatorship,” he said.

The provincial minister said whendemocracy would run smoothly all theinstitutions would be able to play theirrole to strengthen integrity and unity ofthe country.

About a large public gathering, the

PMl-Chief Pir Pagara recently held inHyderabad, Sharjeel said he had a greatrespect for the spiritual leader of Hurmovement.

“The Functional league did not holda political public meeting in Hyderabad.it was a spiritual gathering of his follow-ers,” claimed the PPP leader.

Anti-democratic forces want to postpone polls: Sharjeel

‘n’ wants to formanti-PPP alliance’

karaCHINNI

Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PMl-N) leader Ghaus Ali Shah Wednesdaysaid his party wanted to form an anti-PPP alliance in Sindh in the next generalelections. He said this while talking to adelegation of Jamiat Ulema islam whichwas led by Dr Khalid Mahmud. Shahsaid contacts are being made with JUi,Functional league and other politicalparties and hoped that a new alliancewould be formed soon. Speaking on thisoccasion, Dr Khalid Mahmud said thecurrent government had broken all pre-vious records of corruption. PPP alwaysuses different cards to seek votes inSindh, he said, adding the ruling partyhas no more cards to show this time.

bilawal lays floral wreath

naUDErONNI

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bi-lawal Bhutto Zardari laid a floral wreathon the grave of Shaheed Benazir Bhuttoat Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on Wednesdayand offered fathea for the departed soul.Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and AsifaBhutto Zardari were accompanied him.

Sindbad’s launches entertainment centre

karaCHINNI

The king of family entertainment center,Sindbad’s, launched their new familyentertainment center at Dolmen MallClifton. The park caters to needs of kidsas the makers think there are not manyplaces where kids can enjoy to theirfullest. The launch was spectacular in it-self as it was based on under the seatheme and kids performed songs spe-cially made for the new Sindbad’s.The entertainment center has the largestsoft play ever made in Pakistan and aplay area for toddlers. The rides and thegames installed all follow the under thesea theme.Sindbad’s has also evolved from the tra-ditional coin system to card swipe sys-tem to operate rides and video game.The unique system is first of its kind inKarachi. The card system enables kids tocollect points on the number of timesthey use it and kids can use these pointsto attain ViP membership over time.The new Sindbad’s also has a ticketeater that is another one of kind in Pak-istan. The machine sucks in the ticketsthat are fed in by the kids and they re-ceive different gifts.“i felt there was a need for a place wherekids could enjoy themselves in a clean,secure and climatically controlled envi-ronment”, said the Head of MarketingSidra Nadeem.

KESc removes1,500 kundas

karaCHINNI

The Karachi Electric Supply Companyconducted anti-theft and recovery oper-ations in various parts of the city duringthe current week and removed around1,500 illegal electricity connections, dis-connected six PMTs and a substation fornon-payment.KESC teams raided the defaulting Moin-abad Godown School area where illegalhooks had been connected to a two-spanlow tension copper wire circuit beingused as parallel supply feeder. Theteams removed 450 kundas and disman-tled the unauthorized circuit.KESC also removed around 800 kundasat Sukhia Goth, Mandra Goth, Khokhra-par and Bachu Bakery, while the 500KVA Bachu Bakery PMT was discon-nected from lT side due to low recoveryratio, being a mere 18 per cent.Also, KESC disconnected five PMTs of250 KVA rating in Gulshan e MazdoorBaldia Town on account of non-paymentof bills and huge outstanding amounts tothe tune of Rs 11.9 million. A total of 805connections including kundas were putoff in the area where paying ratio wasfound to be not more than 20 per cent.The area consumers had earlier providedan undertaking of payment but later theyrefused to pay and insisted upon usingelectricity through illegal means.

President condoles death of malik’s brother

LarkanaNNI

President Asif Ali Zardari has expressedgrief and sorrow over the demise ofAbdul Hayee Malik, younger brother ofZahid Malik, Editor-in-Chief, Daily Pak-istan Observer and Chairman, NazriyaPakistan Council, who expired at Sialkotearly Wednesday morning after pro-tracted illness.in his condolence message, the presi-dent expressed sympathies with the be-reaved family and prayed to Almighty torest the departed soul in eternal peace.He also prayed to Almighty to givecourage to the bereaved family to bearthis loss with fortitude.


low

high

150cfriDay SaturDay SunDay24°c i 07°c 25°c i 09°c 26°c i 09°c

PrayEr timingSfajr Sunrise zuhr asr maghrib isha

06:00 06:10 12:00 15:45 15: 00 18:30

city DirEctory

rEScuE 1122

EDhi control 115, 32310066, 2310077

motorway PolicE 130

PolicE 15

goVErnor’S houSE 136

chiEf miniStEr’S houSE 99202051

firE brigaDE 16, 99215007-8

bomb DiSPoSal 15, 99212667

rED crEScEnt 35833973

KhiDmat-E-Khalq founDation 36333811

EmErgEncy hElP

hoSPitalS

blooD banK

huSSaini 32238405-8

fatimiD 32225284, 32258656

Pwa 99215740, 32735214

comPlaint

KESc 118

Sui gaS 1199, 99231603

Ptcl 1218

KwSb 1339

cDgK 134

railwayS

Enquiry 117, 99213565-6

city Station 99213538

cantt Station 99201118

airPort

flight Enquiry 114

Pia rESErVation 111-786-786

collEgES / uniVErSitiES

Karachi uniVErSity 99261300-06nED uniVErSity 99261261-8fuuaSt 99244141-9DuhS 99215754-7Smic 99217501-3faSt-nu 111128128, 34100541-7SzabiSt 111922478iobm 35090961-7iba 111422422iVS 35861039-40

abbaSi ShahEED 99260400-09

ciVil 99215749, 99215960

Jinnah 99201300-39

nicVD 99201271-6

agha Khan 34930051

tabba 36811841-50

Sunny

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28°c


07

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coffee & allah, fleeting beauty, clean linen: 3 Short films

and conversation with Shuchi Kothari at 7pm at t2f,10-c,

Sunset lane 5, Phase 2 Extension, D.h.a.

emAc - pArAGlIdInG In KArAcHIIn, At And Around - VIsuAl experI-ences of memory And trAVel

´in, at and around´ an exhibition of urban landscapes byPakistani artist, Soraya Sikander on 10 till 17 January 2013 atunicorn gallery, Karachi, creates awareness about eco-diversity,deforstation and rapid urbanisation. the exhibition featuresseventeen exclusive paintings created on-site around areas inlondon and Karachi. the artist traveled around london and trillduring her time at Slade School of fine art, where she producedthese sensitive works as a response to a changing world.

DatE: Jan 10 - 17, 2013 VEnuE: unicorn gallEry Karachi

1) fill and submit the online registration formhttp://form.jotform.me/form/232212320694432) Deposit the total fee into Emac’s account and receive emailconfirmation with more useful information about the day3) Join us for your training on the selected date4) Keep flying with us after training for only rs 1,000Saeed alam :0300-2440066, muhammad rashid :0333-6294687, raza mehdi :0322-2755759

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Karachi

karaCHIINP

GREAT Urdu poet, teacher and acivil servant, Parveen Shakir, wasremembered on her death an-niversary on Wednesday.

Parveen Shakirwas born on 24th No-vember, 1952 inKarachi. She washighly educated hav-ing two masters de-grees, one in Englishliterature and one inlinguistics. She alsoheld a PhD and an-other Masters degreein Bank Administra-tion.

She was a teacherfor nine years beforeshe joined the civilservice and worked inthe customs depart-ment. in 1986, shewas appointed thesecond secretary CBRin islamabad.

A number ofbooks of her poetryhave been published.in chronologicalorder, they areKhushboo (1976),

Sud-Burg (1980), Khud Kalaami (1990), inkaar(1990) and Maah-e-Tamaam (1994). Her firstbook, Khushboo, won the Adamjee award. later,she was awarded with pride of performanceaward, which is the highest award given by thePakistan government.

Parveen Shakir initially wrote under the penname of ‘Beena’. Sheconsidered AhmedNadeem Qasmi her‘ustad’ and used tocalled him ‘Ammu-jaan’.

On Dec 26th,1994, Shakir’s car col-lided with a truckwhile she was on herway to work in islam-abad. The accident re-sulted in her death, agreat loss to the Urdupoetry world.

Another greatUrdu and Punjabipoet Munir Niazi wasalso remembered onhis death anniversaryon Wednesday.

Niazi was born inKhanpur on 19 April1928, a village nearHushiyarpur, india.He was initially edu-cated at Khanpur andafter the partition ofSub-continent he mi-

grated to the newly-independent Pakistan andsettled in Sahiwal where he passed his matricu-lation. He earned an intermediate degree fromSE College Bahawalpur and a BA from DiyalSingh College in lahore.

Munir Ahmad, better known as Munir Niazi,Sitara-e-imtiaz, was one of the best-known andadmired Urdu poets from Pakistan who also pro-duced good poetry in the Panjabi language.

Munir Niazi launched a weekly, Saat Rang,from Sahiwal in 1949. He wrote numerous songsfor films and made his name as the foremostmovie song writer of Pakistan. He also wrote fornewspapers, magazines and radio. in 1960, heestablished a publication institute, Al-Misal.lately, he remained associated with lahore tel-evision and lived in lahore till his death.

Munir Niazi died of respiratory illness on 26December, 2006, in lahore.

Two great poets, Parveen Shakar,Munir Niazi remembered

karachi: While public transport remained off the roads owing to poor law and order, a woman was brave enough to

ride a motorbike on the road. IMraN GILaNI


08


News

DaMaSCUS AGeNCIeS

At least 20 people, including eight children, havebeen killed after Syrian army tanks shelled a vil-lage in the northern province of al-Raqqa, an ac-tivist group has said.

Dozens of other civilians were also injured bythe government’s attacks in the village of Qahta-nia on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights reported.

“At least 20 people, among them eight chil-dren and three women, were killed in shelling byregime forces of farmlands in Kahtaniyeh village,west of the city of Raqqa,” the UK-based groupsaid.

Amateur video posted online by activists and

distributed by the Observatory showed severalbloodied bodies, including at least one of a child,laid out on blankets in a house.

“Dozens of people have been injured in farm-lands of Kahtaniyeh, among them a whole fam-ily,” according to activists in al-Raqqa.

Al-Raqqa has seen an escalation of violencein recent months after rebels have launched anassault to oust regime forces from several areasof the province, strategically located on the Turk-ish border.

Rami Abdel Rahman, The Observatory’shead, said the casualties were caused by tank fireand that the victims were from farming families.

“Just to be clear, there are no Al-Nusra Frontjihadists or any other well-organised rebel groupsthere. The victims were just farmers,” Abdel Rah-

man told the AFP news agency.in a separate development, the head of

Syria’s military police has reportedly defected tothe opposition, becoming one of the country’smost senior security officials to back the 21-month-old uprising.

Abdelaziz Jassim al-Shallal appeared in avideo aired late on Tuesday on al-Arabiya, a pan-Arab TV station, saying that he is joining “thepeople’s revolution”.

Al-Shallal said that the army deviated fromits mission of protecting the nation and became“a gang for killing and destruction”.

He is the latest of string of high-level militaryofficials who have defected and accused the gov-ernment of war crimes in its bid to crush the up-rising.

Children killed among 20 Syrians in al-Raqqa shellings

CaIrOAGeNCIeS

MOHAMED Morsi, the Egyptianpresident, has signed into law anew islamist-drafted constitutionhe said will help end political tur-moil and allow him to focus on fix-

ing the fragile economy even as opposition partiescontinued to protest.

The presidency said Morsi signed a decree en-forcing the charter late on Tuesday after the officialannouncement of the result of a referendum approv-ing the basic law, Egypt’s first constitution since top-pling of former President Hosni Mubarak’soverthrow.

Meanwhile, country’s Shura Council, or upperhouse of parliament, is holding its first session sincethe country approved the new constitution.

Morsi is expected to address the Shura Councilon Saturday, which is is expected to draft a law reg-ulating upcoming parliamentary elections in abouttwo months.

The text of the constitution has sharpenedpainful divisions in the Arab world’s most populous

nation and prompted often violent protests on thestreets of Cairo.

Opposition groups condemn the new basic lawas too islamist and undemocratic, saying it couldallow clerics to intervene in the lawmaking processand leave minority groups without proper legal pro-tection.

Results announced on Tuesday, which followedtwo rounds of votes, showed Egyptians had ap-proved the text with an overwhelming 63.8 percent.

The National Salvation Front (NSF), Egypt’smain opposition coalition, has alleged that there hadbeen incidents of fraud during the vote.

But Judge Samir Abou el-Maati, the head of theelectoral commission, denied allegations that judi-cial supervision was lacking in the vote.

The win gives islamists their third straight elec-toral victory since former President Hosni Mubarakwas toppled in a 2011 revolution, after their earlierwins in parliamentary and presidential elections.

Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Badie,tweeted: “Congratulations to the Egyptian people onapproving the constitution of revolutionary Egypt.let’s start building our country’s rebirth... men andwomen, Muslims and Christians.”

‘Bridge divisions’Morsi, who was catapulted into power by his is-

lamist allies, believes adopting the text is key to end-ing a protracted period of turmoil and uncertaintythat has wrecked the economy.

He has argued that the constitution offersenough protection to all groups, saying many Egyp-tians are fed up with street protests that have pre-vented a return to normality and distracted thegovernment from focusing on the economy.

But the opposition has argued that the MuslimBrotherhood and Salafist groups want to use someof the charter’s ambiguous language to slip insharia-style strict islamic law.

Front leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peacelaureate and former chief of the UN atomic energyagency, has said the new charter should be treatedas an “interim one” until another is written up onthe basis of consensus.

Morsi signs contentious

constitution into lawBagHDaDAGeNCIeS

Thousands of iraqi demonstratorsmassed again in the city of Ramadiin Sunni-dominated province westof the capital on Wednesday.

it was the third major protest inless than a week in iraq’s largestprovince of Anbar, once the heart ofthe deadly Sunni insurgency thaterupted after the US -led invasion in2003. “This sit-in will remain open-ended until the demonstrators’ de-mands are met, and until the injusticeagainst ends,” cleric Hamid al-issawitold The Associated Press at theprotest. He accused Nour al-Maliki,the iraqi prime minister’s govern-ment, of trying to create rifts amongSunnis and Shia’s. “These practicesare aimed at drawing the country intoa sectarian conflict again by creatingcrisis and targeting prominent na-tional figures,” the cleric said.

The demonstrations follow thearrest last week of 10 bodyguards as-signed to Rafia al-issawi, the financeminister, who comes from Anbarand is one of the central govern-ment’s most senior Sunni officials.

The case is exacerbating ten-sions with iraq’s Sunnis, who see thedetentions as politically motivated.

Earlier in the week demonstra-tors gathered along a highway link-ing Baghdad with neighbouringJordan and Syria. They held bannersdemanding that Sunnis’ rights be re-spected and calling for the release ofSunni prisoners in iraqi jails.

“We warn the government notto draw the country into sectarianconflict,” read one. Another de-clared: “We are not a minority.’’iraq’s majority Shia rose to powerfollowing the 2003 US -led invasionthat ousted Saddam Hussein’sSunni-dominated government,though the country’s minority Sunni

Arabs and Kurds do hold some postswithin the government. Tariq al-Hashemi, the iraqi vice president,one of the country’s highest-rankingSunni politicians, is now living inexile in Turkey after being handedmultiple death sentences for al-legedly running death squads, acharge he dismisses as politicallymotivated. Al-Maliki has defendedthe arrests of the finance minister’sguards as legal and based on war-rants issued by judicial authorities.

He also recently warned againsta return to sectarian strife in criticis-ing the responses of prominentSunni officials to the detentions. ina recent statement, the prime min-ister dismissed the rhetoric as polit-ical posturing ahead of provincialelections scheduled for April andwarned his opponents not to forgetthe dark days of sectarian fighting“when we used to collect bodies andchopped heads from the streets.”

India announces inquiry into Delhi gang-rapeNEW DELHI: india’s government has ordered a special inquiry into the gang-rape of a studentwhich sparked mass protests in the heart of the capital, New Delhi, last week. Finance Minister PChidambaram, who is also the government’s top spokesman, said on Wednesday a retired judge,Usha Mehra, had agreed to head a commission of inquiry. The inquiry would “identify the lapses ifany on the part of the police, or another authority or person that contributed to the occurrence, andfix responsibility for the lapses or negligence”, he said. Chidambaram also said a separate panelwould examine existing legislation and “suggest changes in the laws in order to make punishmentfor such horrific crimes stiffer”. The panel will submit its report in 30 days, he added. “Whateverwe do now is intended to demonstrate the government’s serious intent in the matter that we willapprehend and punish the perpetrators, we will try and find out what went wrong... and fixresponsibility and amend the laws.” The gang-rape has sparked huge protests across the country,including New Delhi where thousands, mainly students and youth, gathered in front ofthe presidential palace demanding swift action from the government. The government has has beencriticised for using force against the mostly student protesters many of whom were severely injuredincluding policemen. About 200 people took part in a new demonstration on Wednesday on aboulevard in central Delhi - including women and school children - where they shouted anti-government slogans. The government decision comes amid huge controversy over the death of apolice constable who died after he collapsed during the protest at india Gate monument. Eightpeople have been charged in connection with the death of the policeman, but civil society groupssay the constable died of heart attack even as post-mortem report is yet to be out. AGeNCIeS

Iraqis rally against government

on sectarian policies

Abe formallynamed Japan’sprime ministerTOKyO: Japan’s lower House of parliament has formallyelected Shinzo Abe, leader of the liberal Democratic Party, ascountry’s prime minister after he swept to power on a hawkishplatform of getting tough on diplomacy while fixing theeconomy. The powerful lower House named the 58-year-old asthe country’s next leader on Wednesday after he led hisconservative party to a landslide victory in the general electionsearlier this month. Abe, who previously served as primeminister from 2006 to 2007, is expected to form a new cabinetlater in the day as he rushes to draft an extra budget to spur thenation’s flagging economy. As Japan’s seventh prime minister inless than seven years, Abe will replace outgoing Prime MinisterYoshihiko Noda whose Democratic Party of Japan suffered a

stinging defeat at the polls. The party, which came topower in 2009, was seen as beingpunished for policy flip-flops and itsclumsy handling of last year’snuclear disaster at Fukushima in the

wake of the tsunami. The lDP and itssmall ally, the New Komeito party, won a

two-thirds majority in the 480-seat lowerhouse in the December 16 election. As

expected, Noda’s cabinet resigned onWednesday

morning.AGeNCIeS

NeW DeLHI: Protesters hold placards on Wednesday as they demonstrate against the brutal gang rape of a woman on a bus. aGENcIEs


09


NewsClerics to meet inKabul to declaresuicide attacks ‘un-Islamic’ KABUL: Muslim scholars fromacross the world will meet inAfghanistan next month to condemnsuicide bombings as running counterto the peaceful teachings of islam.“Many times, scholars in Pakistan andAfghanistan have made statements buthad no influence,” Mufti ShamsurRahman Firotan, a cleric in Kabul toldthe Christian Science Monitor. “Thisone will have influence, and will givethe idea to the people that suicideattacks are forbidden.” Muslim scholarsfrom around the world will hold a majorconference in Kabul late January tocondemn suicide bombings used by theTaliban. “The message is for all: in iraq,in Pakistan, all these militant jihadistgroups,” said Firotan. The conferencecomes amid rising civilian casualtiesfrom bombing attacks by the Taliban,which has been engaged in a protractedwarfare against US-led forces. A newUN report this month revealed thatcivilian casualties in Afghanistan roseby 28 percent in the last four months.The report showed that at least 967civilians were killed and 1,590 otherswere injured during the third quarter ofthe year. Around 56 percent of thecasualties were incurred followingroadside explosions and suicide bombblasts. “Practically every family hassuffered some form of attack by thesesuicide bombings or iEDs, and theydon’t look at it very kindly,” saysMassoumeh Torfeh, the director ofstrategic communications for UNAMAin Kabul. Opponents reject the Talibanargument that suicide bombings arebeing used to fight foreign forces inAfghanistan. The holy Quran makesclear that self-defence is acceptableproviding “there is no other way to live,but that is not the situation now”,Firotan said. He opines that there areother methods to fight foreign forces inthe Muslim country. “But this is not theway – to go to mosques, banks, bazaars,or shops. There are 100 percent, someTaliban who are also against theseactions.” Organisers hope that thescholars’ position against suicidebombings would help decrease violencein the country. “Afghanistan is areligious country, and absolutely themajority are listening to their religiousscholars,” Abdul Hakim Mujahid, aformer Taliban ambassador to the UNwho is now a member of High PeaceCouncil tasked by the government withtalking to the Taliban, told TheChristian Science Monitor. INP

Farzana raJa

EVERY moment of incessant struggle of Sha-heed Benazir Bhutto – her speeches as asource of strength for the people, her expres-

sion of sheer courage on the face of every threat anddepiction of the inspiration of people – have alwaysremained a source of strengthen for me. Her greatstruggle and services for her beloved country couldinspire any and individual in the world and her sac-rifice and laying down her life is being termed a guar-antee for the sustainability of democracy in Pakistan.

This great leader of ours who had persuaded thegolden principles of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad AliJinnah and Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfiqar AliBhutto ought to be remembered as Quaid-e-Jamoo-riat (leader of Democracy), as it is merely a result ofher great struggle that democracy in Pakistan is fullyvibrant and functional and striving to improve thelot of the nation with full zest and vigor.

All the spectacular moments i was privileged tospend with Benazir Bhutto are a precious asset forme and their recalling is just not enough for me, nomatter how many times i mention them.

While writing this article, all these momentsstart flashing before my eyes and truly provide thevery basis of my life, as all these moments providedme a great chance to enhance my learning and thiscould be ascribed as a remarkable asset.

The unprecedented leadership and epic struggleof Shaheed Mohtrama would always remain im-printed in my kind. it is a matter of immense honorto me to be able to observe her endeavors. The level

of her commitment and perseverance always provideme a source of continued guidance. The conversa-tions with Shaheed BB during the struggle fordemocracy and her persistent guidance have becomepart of my personality.

The overall welfare of people of Pakistan, empow-erment of women folks of the society and creation ofnew economic opportunities for the youth of thecountry remained her major concerns. Her reason be-hind the decision of coming back to Pakistan was outof deep affection for the people. She was aware of thefact that the rights of the people were not being pro-vided in the absence of genuine democracy and hence,the integrity of federation had become under direjeopardy. The sheer courage and bravery of ShaheedBB could be ascertained from the fact that she hadspent many of precious years of her life either underhouse arrest, in various prisons of the country or inexile, but still kept voicing her truthful stance firmly.

The last return of Shaheed Mohtarma to home-land infused a great spirit in the struggle for estab-lishing a genuine democracy in the country. Whileworking with our great leader, we were enthusedwith great deal of passion and enthusiasm for thepeople by taking great deal of inspiration from hercourage and commitment.

But the barbarians snatched this great gift to thenation from us in the tragic incident of December 27,2007, but she would always remain a beacon of lightfor democracy.

The enemies of the country targeted Shaheed BBto thwart the rule of people of Pakistan while she laidher life to save the federation of Pakistan and to safe-

guard the rights of the people of the country. Thereis no denying of the fact that today, the sun of truthhas pushed aside the darkness of the lies forever.

During her last, historic and heroic speech, Be-nazir expressed her uncompromised stance aboutthe democratic future of Pakistan where there wasno room for the forces representing obscurantistmindset and having anti-people agenda. This was in-deed a commitment with the restoration of truedemocracy in the country and thus creation of a so-cial welfare state where the socio-economic rights ofevery citizen are provided and protected through thehigh values of democracy.

Being a leader of the masses, Shaheed BB wasmost effective and forceful advocate of the demo-cratic and human rights of all citizens of Pakistan,

including vulnerable and marginalised segments ofthe society. Her murderers in fact attempted to ex-terminate the hopes and aspirations of the peoplebut they are bound to fail, as Quaid-e-Jamhooriathas become a symbol of hope and resistance andthus an invigorating factor for them to pursue theirdreams of getting rid poverty.

Thankfully, today, by virtue of the visionary lead-ership of President Asif Ali Zardari, we are on theroad to achieve a preposterous and stronger Pakistanper the aspirations of Shaheed BB.

Benazir income Support Programme (BiSP) canbe termed the practical manifestation of our greatleader’s vision highlighted in slogan of “Roti, Kapraaur Makan – Elm, Roshni, Sab ko kaam”. We canrightly claim that the BiSP is playing a vital role inimproving the socio-economic conditions of under-privileged segment of the country. The trust of thepeople and unprecedented service is a reality has re-ceived the acknowledgment and endorsement fromentire word.

it would be worth mentioning on her Youm-e-Shahadat that democracy in Pakistan is truly a giftof Quaid-e-Jamooriat and it’s a success of the peoplewho have secured democracy from dictatorshipsthrough the vision of our great leader.Pakistan Zindabad!!!

The writer is a federal minister and Chairpersonof the Benazir Income Support Programme. Thearticle has been especially written in connectionwith the 5th Martyrdom Anniversary of ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhutto

Quaid-e-Jamhooriat: Shaheed Benazir Bhutto

MOnITOrIng DESk

PAKiSTAN is genuine aboutbacking the nascent Afghanpeace process and sharesthe Kabul government’sgoal of transforming the

Taliban insurgency into a political move-ment, a senior Afghan government offi-cial said on Wednesday.

“They have told us that they sharethe vision contained in our roadmapwhich is basically to transform the Tal-iban from a military entity into a polit-ical entity to enable them to take part inthe Afghan political process and peace-fully seek power like any other politicalentity in Afghanistan,” he said. “This isthe vision that they share.”

The official, who is closely involvedin reconciliation efforts, said recent face-to-face talks between senior Talibanmembers and Afghan officials in France

were an “enormously helpful” step inbuilding a wider environment for peace.

Until now, the Taliban and Afghanofficials only made indirect contacts.

The official’s remarks signaled un-precedented optimism fromAfghanistan that Pakistan - long ac-cused of backing Afghan insurgentgroups - was now willing to put itsweight behind reconciliation efforts,which are still in early stages and arevulnerable to factionalism.

“We are very optimistic. We believethat they are genuine in this discussionwith us,” said the senior government of-ficial. The senior official cautioned, how-ever, that in order to sustain thatoptimism, Pakistan would need to takefurther concrete steps after releasingsome mid-level Afghan Taliban mem-bers from detention, who may be usefulin promoting peace.

The nuclear-armed South Asian na-

tion, a strategic US ally, is seen as criticalto US and Afghan efforts to stabilise thecountry before most NATO combattroops withdraw by the end of 2014.

The Pakistan Army chief has madereconciling warring factions inAfghanistan a top priority, the PakistanArmy officials and Western diplomatssaid, the clearest signal yet that islam-abad means business in promotingpeace with the Taliban.

General Ashfaq Kayani is backing di-alogue partly due to fears that the end ofthe US combat mission in Afghanistan in2014 could energise a resilient insur-gency straddling the shared frontier, ac-cording to commanders deployed in theregion. The senior Afghan governmentofficial has a similar assessment.

“i think there is a sense that we arealso getting, that cooperation from Pak-istan now is bound to be meaningful,substantive,” he said.

“The reason is frankly, most in Pak-istan, in our view, have reached the con-clusion that time is running out. That itis no longer just about Afghanistan’s in-stability and Afghanistan’s insecurity butit’s very much a question of security forthemselves.”

The Haqqani network — which hasfar more experience in guerrilla warfarethan the Afghan Taliban – would be wel-comed to the peace process as long as itmet certain conditions, said the official.

“From our point of view, the door ofpeace is open to anyone. The Haqqanisare a pretty challenging group of peo-ple,” he said. “But if they choose to comeover to the peace process, then i am surethe peace process will include them.”

Pakistan’s intelligence agency deniesAfghan accusations that it uses theHaqqani network and other militantgroups as proxies to counter the influ-ence of rival india in Afghanistan.

Pakistan, Afghanistan trying to turntaliban into political movement

QUettA: JUI-f’s Parliamentary leader Maulana Abdul Wasay greets Balochistan CM Aslam Raisani after passing a no-confidence motion against BA Speaker Aslam Bhotani on Wednesday. ONLINE


Comment10


Fourteen years ago, i went withthen President Bill Clinton toBethlehem where he partici-pated in the lighting of thetree in Manger Square. As we

looked out from the square we could seeJerusalem and in between a green hillwhich was called Jabal Abul Ghnaim.The israelis had announced plans to con-struct a settlement on that land, and de-spite Clinton's stern protests, the hill wasalready scarred by bulldozer trackspreparing the way for what was to come.

Today, Jabal Abul Ghnaim, formerlya part of Bethlehem, is called Har Homa,an israeli settlement, housing over17,000. it and several other israelicolonies (19 in total) and a nearly 30 footconcrete wall now separates Bethlehemfrom Jerusalem and is strangling the lit-tle town inhibiting its growth and theability of its residents to conduct normalcommerce.

Announcements this week that israelwill build another 6,000 homes in thesesettlements and construct two newcolonies in the area around Jerusalemhave raised grave concerns in Bethlehem.These developments, when completed,will completely cut Bethlehem off, notonly from the Holy City, but from thenorthern part of the West Bank. This willcause irreparable damage to the Palestin-ian inhabitants of the land and to the fu-ture of peace. it is, one might say, a crueland terrible way to commemorate theChristmas season.

The Obama Administration has, ofcourse, protested, calling these israeli ac-tions part of a "pattern of provocation".But we've seen this play out before. israelwill pocket the protests, as they havedone for decades, and continue to build.

Unless the international protests are fol-lowed by some decisive action, by nextChristmas these settlements will be com-pleted, destroying lives and the hopesand the aspirations of so many who yearnfor freedom and justice.

it is a tragic irony that when we, inAmerica, sing this Christmas of "the littletown of Bethlehem", what comes to mindis not the living, breathing, suffering, andreal Palestinian city, rather it is a Bethle-hem that exists only in our imagination.A few years back we conducted somepolling here in the US in an effort to un-derstand what Americans understoodabout Bethlehem. Most, it turned outdidn't know where it was. Six in tenthought it was an israeli city, populatedby Jews. Only one in seven knew it was amixed Palestinian Christian/Muslimtown. Most Americans believed thatBethlehem should be protected by UN-ESCO as a World Heritage Site, but therewas no public outcry when Congress cutUNESCO funds last year as punishmentfor the Palestinian Authority gainingmembership in that world body so thatthey could push, over israeli objections,for this recognition for Bethlehem.

Americans also don't know that thecity is literally corralled by a huge andoppressive concrete wall or that most ofits surrounding lands have been stolenand used for Jewish-only housing proj-

ects. And they don't know that there arein Bethlehem today, hundreds of unem-ployed skilled craftsmen who were onceworld-renowned for their olive woodcarvings and mother of pearl artistic cre-ations. They have been idled by occupa-tion, the blockade of their city, and theirlack of access to export markets.

The lack of understanding in theWest for the plight of Bethlehem and oursilence in the face of its suffering is ametaphor for the entire Palestinian situ-ation. in our mind’s eye we can clearlysee israel and our imagined Bethlehem,but the Palestinian people of today donot exist. They remain an abstraction orsimply a problem to be solved on israel'sterms.

As i have noted before, it might be agood thing for all of us to resolve on thisChristmas to come to know the real Beth-lehem and the real people of that town –Christians, who have been living theresince the time of Jesus, and Muslims –the lives they live and what might bedone to ease their burdens. if we do, wemight be able to join the heavenly hostswhom we are told greeted the birth ofJesus singing "peace on earth, good willto men" and help bring some of each tothe people of the land of Palestine.

The writer is President of the Arab-American Institute.

Arif NizamiEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417

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

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Sectarian violence in karachi

continuing to bleed

The fire ignited by extremists of various types continues to consumeKarachi. The nearly five-year long rule in Sindh by the coalitionwith PPP and MQM as major partners has failed to provide reliefmany had expected. Year after year political activists have fallen to

target killers with each one of the partners blaming the other forlawlessness. Despite being a part of the same administration, none of thecomponents was willing to take responsibility for the happenings. Theneglect on their part encouraged gangs of criminals to become active. Badgovernance allowed extortionists to have a field day. The land mafia tooactively pursued their aims through violent means. Extortionists targetedthe business community, demanding huge sums on a daily or monthly basisand kidnapped or killed those who refused to pay. The coalition governmentfailed to come to the rescue of the trading community.

This encouraged the religious extremists who had meanwhile gotthemselves entrenched in the city to loot banks, kidnap people for ransomand target opponents. Among the first casualties were minority groups.Scores of Shia religious gatherings were attacked, many of their leaderskilled and tens of professionals belonging to the sect eliminated. lastmonth it was the turn of the peaceful Bohra community known for itsphilanthropy. A number of them were shot dead in cold blood in Karachiand Hyderabad. This month the clerics belonging to Ahle Sunnat WalJamaat (ASWJ) were on the hit list of the killers operating from theshadows. Police officials who investigated the crimes by ethnic or sectarianterrorists have been frequently targeted after 2008.

On Tuesday, a leader of the ASWJ survived the attack on his vehiclewhile six people including four policemen deployed for his security died inthe incident. Soon after, unidentified gunmen resorted to indiscriminatefiring and arson. On Wednesday, several trade centres across Karachiremained closed at an appeal for strike by the religious party. A cluelessRehman Malik has attributed the violence in Karachi to a plan by the anti-state elements wanting to destabilise the country. The ASWJ leadershowever had something else to say. Party leader Aurangzeb Farooqui saidthe attack was a planned conspiracy to postpone ASWJ’s long march fromKarachi to islamabad. This is not the first time that leaders of a sectarianoutfit have accused powers other than their religious rivals for killings. Theelections being round the corner, the incidents of the sort could be used bythose who want the elections to be postponed. in case they succeed, anorderly transfer of power required to strengthen democracy may notremain possible. Many will hold the coalition in power responsible for lackof action when required.

Not the way it should be

remembering Bethlehem

Five years ago, Benazir Bhutto, alegendary scion and trustee ofBhutto legacy and universally

known as the Daughter of East embracedmartyrdom at liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi;a martyrdom she wrote herself as is evi-dent from the message that she sent toMark Siegel before her return to Pak-istan. The fact that she knew the risks toher life and yet decided to take themamply confirms her credentials as acourageous leader of the masses, whovalued democracy and service to the peo-ple, more than her own life.

When her father was hanged in 1979by General Zia and the PPP leadership ofthe day deserted their leader and theparty, Benazir took up the mantle of PPPleadership. She exhibited unprecedentedcourage in standing up to the dictator.

She proved to be a real woman by show-ing a remarkable commitment and re-silience in pursuing the unfinishedagenda bequeathed by her father, unruf-fled by the tragedy that had struck thefamily. That agenda was to protect andnourish democracy, ameliorate the lot ofthe poverty stricken masses and makingthem the real masters of their destiny.

The dictator used all resources at hiscommand and the devious machinationsto break the will of the young and frailwoman, but she proved to be steelnerved. Even the incarceration of six anda half years could not make her yield tothe dictates of the regime and dissuadeher from her mission. Having failed toachieve his objective, the dictator finallyallowed her to go in exile in January1984. Meanwhile, the dictator, with thehelp of the reactionary forces, made in-cessant efforts to obliterate PPP as a po-litical force entertaining the hope that bysending Benazir into exile and tamingthe opportunist PPP stalwarts, he wouldsucceed in eliminating the Bhutto legacy.He was terribly wrong as by now Benazirhad emerged as a symbol of resistanceand hope against the dictatorial rule.

Her status as an undisputed leader ofthe masses was confirmed on her returnfrom exile on April 10, 1986, when morethan one million people thronged lahoreairport to greet and celebrate her home-coming. The dictator was shaken by thistumultuous welcome and support for the

young lady, who by now was not knownonly as Bhutto’s daughter but as a leaderin her own right. That popularity wastranslated into political triumph for hertwo years later when PPP emerged as thesingle largest party in the elections, heldafter the death of General Zia.

Benazir created history by becomingthe youngest and the first woman primeminister of a Muslim country. Her elec-tion as Prime Minister of Pakistan sym-bolised great snub for the vested interestsand the reactionary elements. it also senta loud and clear message to the world thatPakistan was the most progressive islamiccountry. But unfortunately, Benazir’s or-deal did not end by becoming the primeminister. The establishment and theforces inimical to democratic norms, whohad made a tactical retreat in the face ofthe prevailing circumstances, reactivatedthemselves and manoeuvred the dis-missal of her government by the military-backed President Ghulam ishaq Khan.She continued to fight the forces oftyranny with exemplary commitment toher cause and made a comeback as primeminister in 1993, only to be dismissed byone of PPP’s own stalwarts at the behestof the establishment.

The circumstances created by herrival Mian Nawaz Sharif who succeededher as prime minister in the ensuing elec-tions, forced her into self-imposed exilein 1998. The successive setbacks in herpolitical career hardly affected her stature

as an unrivalled leader of the masses. in-stead, her popularity among the massesskyrocketed and further strengthened herimage as a torch bearer of democracy. in-ternationally, she was recognised as themost progressive leader of the islamicworld. She was termed as the most popu-lar politician of the world in the NewGuinness Book of World Records in 1996and also included in the list of the hun-dred most powerful women of the worldby the “Australian Magazine”.

The toppling of Nawaz Sharif govern-ment by General Musharraf added a newdimension to her woes. The dictatorthrough a constitutional amendment puta bar on becoming prime minister for thethird time, ostensibly to keep both Be-nazir and Nawaz Sharif out of the politi-cal arena. He also started vigorouslypursuing the politically motivated falsecases of corruption instituted by NawazSharif against her and her husband in theSwiss Courts. However, undeterred bythese developments she kept lobbyingthe world governments, especially the USto exert pressure on Musharraf to restoredemocracy in the country.

Finally she returned to Pakistan onOctober 18, 2007, as a result of USbacked rapprochement with Musharrafin the backdrop of the lawyers’ move-ment which had considerably weakenedMusharraf’s hold on power. Her secondhomecoming was a much bigger eventthan her return during Zia regime. Mil-

lions turned up to greet her. As predictedby her, an attempt was made to kill herthrough a bomb blast at her rally. Shewas lucky to escape the attack but about140 people lost their lives. Even this closeshave with death could not keep heraway from the masses and she made aconscious decision to continue her elec-tion campaign, showing unmatchedbravery and dedication to her ideals. Butunfortunately, her epic struggle fordemocracy and the cause of poor endedwith her martyrdom that nonetheless putthe country back on the path of democ-racy and a representative rule.

As is evident, her political career wasbeset with severe trials and tribulationsbut she never faltered in her resolve tofight the anti-people entities. it was astory of unparalleled valour and sacrifice.She may have been eliminated physicallybut she has left an indelible mark on thepolitical canvass of Pakistan which willforever continue to haunt the forces op-posed to democracy and ascendancy ofthe masses besides acting as a beacon oflight for the down-trodden masses yearn-ing to see Pakistan marching on a sustain-able path to popular rule that rewritestheir destinies in conformity with the vi-sion of Quaid-e-Azam. She was indeed asymbol of resistance against the forces ofdarkness, who sacrificed her life to keepthe flame of democracy burning.

The writer is an academic.

Murder she wrote herself

By Malik Muhammad ashraf

Washington WatchBy Dr James J zogby

Benazir: indeed a symbol of resistance


Comment 11


Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto — five years of martyrdom

a beacon ofhope she was

quaid’s visionEvery year on 25 December, we

celebrate Quaid-e-Azam’s birth an-niversary, but our political leadersdon’t learn any lesson from the life offounding father of Pakistan. Even allhis adversaries admit that M A Jin-nah was highly honest, incorruptible,brilliant lawyer, and a politician. Hehad the courage to call a spade aspade, especially while addressingthe people; Jinnah was a visionaryleader and statesman. He always ledby example. As a Governor General,he cancelled the orders for a car andaircraft because the national excheq-uer could not afford them.

Jinnah had a clear vision for Pak-istan: a democratic, progressive,modern, and secular country whereevery citizen had equal rights, per-sonal liberty and social justice. Everycitizen was a proud Pakistani and thestate had nothing to do with the reli-gious beliefs of citizens. Unfortu-nately, those responsible toimplement the Quaid-e-Azam’s vi-sion after his death joined hands withsmall religious ideologue groups thatwere in the forefront in opposing thevery idea of Pakistan’s creation as anindependent state. later, they raisedthe slogan of “Pakistan ka matlub kyala illahha illallah” for political pur-poses.

Unfortunately, today we Muslimsare praying in our mosques underheavy police security and are afraidof being bombed by fellow Muslimsuicide bombers. instead of compet-ing on the basis of political and eco-nomic front with other nations, weare declared by the world a danger-ous country. All those who have beenruling the land of the pure have be-trayed the Quaid by projecting reli-gious identities that have degradedour global status.

S T HUSSAINLahore

meanwhile, in EgyptMuslim Brotherhood's leader

Mohammedun Badie has congratu-lated his countrymen on the adoptionof a constitution and urged them to'begin building our country's rebirthwith free will -- men, women, Mus-lims and Christians'. Sadly, this is ex-actly which is not going to happen.Yes, it's a rebirth but of a divided anddisunited Egypt. Constitution is thefundamental document which cankeep a country united provided it hasgot backing of all the quarters of thesociety. Unfortunately, the draft con-stitution which was first hastilypushed through the Constituent As-

sembly without much debate in pub-lic domain and then through a con-troversial referendum, negates thecongratulatory words by Badie.

Given results show the deep fis-sure in Egyptian society -- turnoutwas only 32.9 percent of 52 millionvoters, out of which around 63 per-cent voted 'yes', means only 20 per-cent of registered voters haveapproved the document. Now therevolution which brought down a dic-tator faces negation of its own build-ing blocks --empowerment of youth,women and religious minorities, andunconditional guarantee of humanrights for all. As is said 'revolutioneats its own children' -- in Egypt rev-olution has started eating itself.

We see emergence of a new dicta-torship using religion to perpetuateits stay and grip on power. it's hightime for Brotherhood and Salafists toreconsider the path to which they arethe taking the country to. it's a pathto disillusionment to the extent whenordinary Egyptians would start ask-ing why they struggled to overthrow adictator.

MASOOD KHANJubail, Saudi Arabia

another strange moveThe dust has not settled yet on

the appointment of people with weirdbackground and capabilities in NiCl,OGDC, PiA, Steel Mill, DG Hajj etcwhen comes another strange news.One retired major, supposedly fromPresident’s Secretariat, has beennominated as Chairman of FPSC. ihave no idea about the calibre of thisgentleman but he must be some mili-tary official inducted into civil serv-ice. Heading FPSC, replacing a highprofile Justice (retd) BhaganwdasDas as Chairman FPSC, is a positionwhere a person with clear intelligenceand wisdom and experience isneeded. Major sahib can best be agood police or civil administrator inany capacity or he could be still amuch better man for PresidentialSecretariat but heading FPSC issurely not his piece of cake. This ap-pointment notification should be re-viewed and reconsidered. i canunderstand the paucity of calibre ofmen in the country or their loyaltylevel, but i am positive that somemay still be available in private sec-tor, if not in public sector. After all,we did find someone goof for ECP;some such person can be found forthis job as well. if my suggestion mat-ters, Tasneem Noorani, retired inte-rior secretary, is not a bad choice?

AMJAD H MIRZALahore

Editor’s mailSend your letters to: Letters to

Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-ShaareyFatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: [email protected].

Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

resurrecting PiaThe billions of rupees of funding or

credits provided to PiA on sovereignguarantees by federal government willgo down the drain if corrupt mediocritythat dominates its executive corridors isnot purged. it has to be restored to sta-tus of service oriented industry, insteadof an organization burdened to provideemployment to unqualified children ofruling elite, airline employees or thekhaki bureaucracy, while its GSAs,routes, fleet induction plans traded aspolitical bribes by every successive gov-ernment for decades.

PiA, inspite of an assured clienteleof ethnic Pakistanis, has incurred mas-sive losses of over Rs100 billion in pastfour years. The unfortunate reality isthat PiA’s vast potential for revenuegeneration, high salaried employmentbenefits and growth factor, became itsbiggest liability, for these very benefitsenticed corrupt civil and military gov-ernments to stuff this airline with cor-rupt mediocrity and pilfer its abundantrevenues. it is an airline where choice ofaircrafts bought, or fleet requirementsare not dictated by commercial and fi-nancial factors, but massive kickbackswhich such deals offer. This is an air-line, whose management’s priority isthat it does not have millions to buyspares, but can seek billions to buy newaircrafts, pay millions of dollars to hireDMDs, consultants etc.

its sole surviving assets, namelyhuman resources and routes, have nowbeen compromised by surplus recruit-ments in violation of merit and loot saleof routes in violation of all bilateralagreement norms. While airlines all overthe world have raised their minimal in-duction requirement for pilots, engi-neers, sales executives, cabin crew or iTprofessionals, PiA has either maintainedthem at the level which existed in 60s or70s, or even given waivers to suit individ-uals. Airlines all over the world hire 14 to16 pilots per aircraft, while PiA has over26 for its fleet of 40 aircraft, with morethan 200 surplus fresh recruits waitingfor years to be operational, inspite of thefact that only 30 aircrafts are serviceable.

SHAHZAD KHALILSialkot

“Mohtarma Benazir BhuttoShaheed personified thepleasant image of Pak-

istan. For her, Pakistan was her life;and for this she gave away that verylife. Her larger than life political pro-file, graceful personality and interna-tional stature will echo as long asPakistan lives. Her views and ideologywill continue to influence the world likea fragrant flower in the times to come.”

“Mohtarma Benazir was a beaconof hope for the hapless people of Pak-istan. She represented the materialisa-tion of their dreams. in her face thedowntrodden could see the eventualrestoration of their rights and respect.She kept the light of their ultimaterise aflame. A lot has been lost by hermartyrdom but her revolution andlegacy is alive in the shape of PPPworkers.”

i wrote this eulogy at the time ofher first death anniversary. it was aheartfelt expression of our pain andemotions over her loss. She remainsalive in the hearts of her people. itwas true then and remains true afterfive years. And it will remain so in thecoming years and decades.

it is strange that the five years ofher martyrdom coincide with the nearcompletion of the PPP’s five-year rule.it is even stranger and painful that themystery of her assassination remainsunresolved despite the passing of ourparty’s five-year rule. The assassinswho also killed the hopes of the peoplethat she represented remain scot free.Her followers will not sleep peacefullyuntil the culprits are brought to justice.

Mohtarma Shaheed’s bond with themasses got established in 1977 whenshe stood up against the martial law ofdictator Zia-ul-Haq. She activated themovement against her father ShaheedZulfikar Ali Bhutto’s arrest in a fakemurder case. She endured the tortureand long imprisonments with graceand patience. She raised the issue ofher father’s predicament worldwideand exposed the evil dictatorship andits satanic designs. She was subjected

to worse torture during over five yearsof house arrest and imprisonment.This raised her stature worldwide. Shewas finally allowed to leave abroad on11 January, 1984, for medical treat-ment. This marked the end of her jailtime and the beginning of her freedom.After five years of imprisonment, shewas received by the party workers andleaders at london’s Heathrow Airportwith immense excitement. This wasalso the recognition of her leadershipand bravery. She was given coverage bythe British and the world media as anicon of human rights and democracy.This also exposed the evilness of thedictatorial regime.

Mohtarma Shaheed launched hermovement after a brief ear operation.She activated PPP workers not only inBritain but Europe and Americas. Sheproved her political mettle and becamea bane for the dictator back home.This was the phase when she groomedherself from a young brave leader toan international stateswoman—astature that few in the world couldmatch in those heady 1980s.

She endured extreme hardshipwith unmatched perseverance. Shewould do her own shopping, cook andwash clothes her self—a princess wholived like a pauper for the sake of herdemocratic values. She would travel inlondon underground rail like ordi-nary people, disregarding all securityconcerns. This was what bonded herwith ordinary people. They couldidentify with her—the graceful wayshe lived her Shakespearian tragedy.This is why she lives in the heart andminds of the impoverished masses.

And it is because of her that thePPP is close to completing its fiveyears. The credit for implementing herdreams and ideology definitely goes toPPP’s Co-Chairperson and PresidentAsif Zardari. May Mohtarma’s soulrest in peace!

The writer is Chairman, BhuttoLegacy Foundation and former foreignpolicy spokesman to Shaheed Mo-htarma Benazir Bhutto. Email:[email protected]

By Bashir riaz


12


ACTress katrina kaif has topped the list of

perfect matches for Bollywood’s famous bachelor,

and her former beau, salman khan, according to

a survey by a matrimonial site. The survey covered

21,000 respondents, and 69.84 percent believed that

katrina, 28, would make an ideal wife for salman, 47.

another interesting survey around the Dabangg star

reveals that 62 percent of indian men don’t want the

actor to get married at all while 60.37 percent women

want him to settle down as soon as possible. in the

survey, several fans from the south would like to see

salman’s Dabangg co-star sonakshi sinha as his off-

screen life partner too while north indians won’t mind

seeing southern actress asin as his better half in real life.

“Most individuals associate themselves with a celebrity at

some point in their life. NeWS DeSk

Katrina most ideal wife forsalman: survey

Actor Charles Durning is dead

Charles Durning, a decorated World War ii

veteran and multifaceted actor who was twice

nominated for the Oscar, died of natural causes

at his home in New York City, his agent told People

magazine Tuesday. he was 89. appearing in more

than 100 films and scores of television shows,

Durning established a reputation as a first-class

character actor with a knack for comedy. Durning,

who saw action in the Normandy invasion and the

Battle of the Bulge, received a silver star and three

Purple hearts for his World War ii service. his

professional acting career started when producer

Joseph Papp hired him for the New York shakespeare

Festival. The highland Falls, New York native got his

first big film role in 1973, playing a crooked policeman

pursuing Paul Newman and robert redford in “The

sting”. he portrayed the suitor of a cross-dressing

Dustin hoffman in “Tootsie” before picking up an

Oscar nomination in 1983 as a corrupt governor in

“The Best little Whorehouse in Texas”. NeWS DeSk

Malik Noureed, the husband of singer annie

khalid, termed the allegations levelled

against him as baseless. During a news

conference, Noureed said his marriage with annie was

not forced and if the singer had differences with him,

she should not have gotten married. Noureed asked

that if he had abused annie, why she did not

approach the police. annie does not bear any marks

of abuse, he said. Malik Noureed accused annie of

fleeing from their residence in the middle of the night

with money and his passport. in an interview to Geo

News, annie alleged that her husband physically

abused her and she fled to london from Dubai fearing

for her life. NeWS DeSk

nEWS DESk

EVEN in an age of instant internetsinging sensations, MuhammadShahid Nazir’s tale might seem fishy.After all, it’s not every day that an un-sung immigrant from Pakistan makes

a respectable challenge to the top of Britain’sChristmas pop chart with a ditty about the “very,very good” fish he hawks on the streets of lon-don. But the millions who have heard Nazircrooning on YouTube can understand: it’s easyto get hooked on his song “One Pound Fish,”named not after the weight of the day’s catch butits cost in British currency.

“i never thought my song would become fa-mous,” the 31-year-old newly minted recordingartist said. “My real name is Muhammad Shahid,but the people call me the ‘One Pound Fish Man,’and i’m so happy.”

Nazir, a father of four who hails from the lit-tle-known Punjab town of Pattoki, set out forBritain on a student visa a year and a half ago,hopeful, like many Pakistanis, of forging a betterfuture for his family. He landed a job as a fishmonger but says he soon knew he would not be avery competitive salesman. He didn’t like to

shout about his wares, as many fish sellers do toattract customers.

But through a stroke of divine intervention, anew approach to advertising his fish came intobeing. “On the spot, God put the song in mymind,” he said.

The simple sales ditty goes: “Come on ladies,come on ladies! One pound fish. . . . Very, verygood and very, very cheap. One pound fish!”

That’s pretty much it. But a large part ofNazir’s charm lies in the sheer earnestness withwhich he belts out the tune to the female shop-pers within earshot at Queens Market in london,entreating them to “have a, have a look” at hiswares.

Soon enough, somebody made an amateurvideo of his jingle and posted it on YouTube. Asthe views mounted to 6 million, Nazir joined thelikes of Rebecca Black of hyper-annoying “Fri-day” fame and Psy, the South Korean pop starwhose “Gangnam Style” video had millionsaround the world dancing as if they were ridingimaginary horses.

An enterprising producer decided to polishand expand “One Pound Fish.” The latest rendi-tion took on added zest in a music video that fea-tures sexy dancers in Bollywood-inspired outfits,

flying fish and, of course, a splash of Autotune.That version had nearly 7 million views as ofMonday.

Nazir’s song made it into the U.K. Top 40after just two weeks on the charts. That gave it ashot at joining the ranks of fabled No. 1 Christ-mas singles — those songs that top the charts inthe week that the holiday falls.

Past Christmas singles have included the pre-dictable and improbable. The Beatles’ “i Want toHold Your Hand” was No. 1 in 1963 (one of thegroup’s four Christmas chart-toppers); Queen’s“Bohemian Rhapsody” succeeded twice, in 1975and 1991; Band Aid’s “Do They Know it’s Christ-mas,” also twice, in 1984 and 2004. Then thereare only-in-England novelties like comedianBenny Hill’s 1971 “Ernie (The Fastest Milkman inthe West)” and Mr. Blobby’s “Mr. Blobby” in1993.

This year, Nazir’s novelty number facedtough competition against stars such as Rihannaand Justin Bieber. The top tune was announcedSunday: A version of the Hollies’ “He Ain’tHeavy, He’s My Brother” by the Justice Collec-tive, a group of stars who recorded the charitysingle for victims of a 1989 soccer-stadium stam-pede that claimed 96 lives.

Period of struggleover, real journey hasbegun: Kangana

nEWS DESk

it has been six years since KanganaRanaut made her Bollywood debut

and the actress, who hassuccessfully made a mark despitebeing an outsider in the

industry, says her struggle-freejourney has just begun.Kangana, 25, made her dream

debut with Anurag Basu’sGangster in 2006. “My

journey has been great. it is amix of struggle and

appreciation. But it is onlynow that i can say i am

enjoying my work. initially,there was lot of struggle butnow am getting the kind of

roles that i want to do. i nowhave a say,” Kangana told inan interview. The actress,

who is currently in theCapital to shoot directorVikas Bahl’s Queen, saysshe never had dearth ofroles but her strugglestory had more to do withnot getting desired roles in

films and gettingtypecast.

“Everybody hasdifferent kind of

struggle. Forsome it is lackof work butfor me it wasnot getting

the right kindof films. After

Gangster i wasbeing typecast,be it life in a...Metro,Fashion orothers.

nEWS DESk

Strange are the ways of love. One day you fall in it, the next day you’re out ofit. Sometimes, you’re hooked for months, years even. in other cases, you partways only to get back together...

‘ONE POUND FIsh’ sINGER wElCOMED BACK tO PAKIstAN

2012’sromantic patch-ups

KATRINA AND RANBIR KAPOOREarlier this year, we reported that Katand Ranbir were in a relationship.They have chosen not to comment.However, Ranbir was clickedvisiting Kat’s building a fewmonths ago and the couple wasalso spotted at theatres. They willalso ring in the New Yeartogether. Destination? That’s aclosely guarded secret.STATUS: Rediscovering oneanother

TAyLOR SWIfT AND

HARRy STyLES

They went on a ski triptogether, but later, Taylorheaded to Australia on workcommitments while Harry wentoff to the UK to spend time withfamily. it appears that they love eachother’s company and intend to spendmore time together.STATUS: Madly in love

KRISTEN STEWART AND

ROBERT PATTINSON

This Twilight couple was the twinkle inthe eyes of their fans. it took a scandalthat had pictures of Kristen canoodlingwith married director Rupert Sanders toseparate them. After weeks ofseparation, the actress got back togetherwith R-Patz, claiming they were strongerthan ever.STATUS: Engagement rumours

Noureed says Annie’saccusations baseless


13


nEWS DESk

it was nothing short of a farcicalfaux pas when clothes meant forEmraan Hashmi in Mumbaiwere carried to imran Khanin Chandigarh leaving thetwo stars amused and theproduction house commonto both the projects, a littlered-faced. There is imranKhan. And there is EmraanHashmi. And the two shallnever meet. Or at least one cansafely say they lead verydifferent personal andprofessional lives. Until nowwhen they are both part of twodifferent films produced by VishalBharadwaj. And now we hear therewas a massive confusion over theiridentical names, thought speltdifferently within Vishal Bharadwaj’sproduction team eventuating inoutrageous miscommunicationregarding the requirements of the twoactors. Says a source from Vishal’steam, “Though Emran wasshooting for Ek Thi Daayan inFilm City, Mumbai and imran wason location in Chandigarh forMatru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola, clothesmeant for Emraan in Film Citywere transported to imran inChandigarh. “ it was left to thetwo stars to see the lighter side ofthe confusion created by theirsimilar-sounding names. We hearthe imran and Emraan werehighly amused when theproduction team insisted onsending shooting-material to thewrong imran/Emraan. Says theteam member, “We were evenable to joke about it. Some of ussuggested that perhaps wearingEmraan’s clothes would makeimraan a terrific kisser. luckilyEmraan and imraan saw thelighter side of the mix-up.”

nEWS DESk

Padma Shri Kamal Haasan doesn’t always talkabout the choices he’s made. But on his recentvisit to lucknow to promote his film, the actorvoiced his opinions.

A non-conformist who likes to have his way inhis movies, the maverick actor-director says, “it’sthis unconquerable urge in me that makes memake films that i do. i’m an audience. The pri-mary thing is that i love cinema. i love to watchcinema. i emulate the audience. They don’t wantto watch the same things. They are more adven-turous and probably the biggest power in the filmindustry is the audience. And they are maverick.So, i emulate them,” says he, “i love to surprisethem. See, no one wants to wear the same designeveryday, unless you’re a Congressman wearingthe same white clothes everyday! So why watchthe same stories rehashed? And art is more com-plicated. it’s all about change and i’m conformingto that change, constantly.”

Often labelled self-indulgent for following hisown rules in the industry, Kamaal doesn’t takenthat at face value. “i have learnt dancing - Bharat-natyam, Kuchipudi and now Kathak, i haveplayed 10 characters (in a single movie), i per-form stunts and remake films from other lan-guages too. For what? For the love of cinema. isthat being self-indulgent? No,” he asserts.

Perhaps then, it would be more apt to say thatHaasan’s films are usually ahead of times,whether it is his silent film Pushpak, or AppuRaja, in which he played a dwarf or Nayakanwhere he played 10 characters. “i don’t know whypeople say i’m ahead of times. i’m in fact runningbehind time! i am limited by my comprehension.i may be ahead of a few of my peers, but notahead of times. See, given an opportunity, i’d loveto create new horizons, but creating new horizons

is a very lonely business. i did make these films,maybe a few people didn’t like them. Maybe theyweren’t ready. it took some time. But i didn’t takethat as failure. it gave me an impetus to test evenmore new waters. All i’m trying to be is excellent.Not perfect, because no one can be perfect,” saysHassan, who has quite a way with words, “Film-making is not an isolated endeavour; it’s likefighting a war. You may win the war or you maylose. Your partners may abandon you and youmay have to beat a hasty retreat or maybe yourcourage fails you.”

And how about casting daughter Shruti in anyof his films? “Yes, as a producer i know now thatshe has had a major Hindi hit, her one hit. Onemore in Hindi and that will really make her a na-tional star, so yes, she’s a saleable actor and i willsurely work with her. i’d like to pay her more andwould like to have two stars under one banner,”says the proud dad. And does Shruti seek his ad-vice in films? “Advice. That’s one word i don’tlike. As a kid i used to have massive argumentswith my dad because he would suggest somethingand i would suggest something entirely opposite.So, we used to have these sometimes angry dis-cussions. Similarly, Shruti and i do discuss herfilms, my films, but ultimately it’s her choice.She’s not me and i’m not her. We have differentchoices and i want her to make her own choices,like i have made mine, always.”

Which brings him to talk about his youngerdaughter Akshara. “She’s into music and is learn-ing dance also. She wants to study music like herelder sis, so if she requires any help to studyabroad, i am always there to extend that help.They are both very talented girls and they makeme proud,” says he.

And as we pass through a multinational retailoutlet in the city, Haasan vents his anger againstsuch establishments. “i wonder why the govern-

ment wastes precious money on such ven-tures. instead, they should spend onmaking cleaner toilets for the public,provide better housing, educa-tion to the people.” Whichbrings up the obvious query,is Kamal Haasan ever goingto be in active politics? “No,i am into active politics likeany other citizen. Probably alittle more angry. i don’ tqualify to be a neta becausei’m honestly into politics. idon’t stand on a podium andmake false promises. i’m notqualified to be there in thegreen well of the Parliament.i’ll have to lose most of myideology to be in there. imight as well work formy country in my ca-pacity as an actor andas a citizen. i’d ratherbe a pedestrian anddo more for mycountry. And mostof the heroes, thegreat guys andthe mahatmasthat we findtoday, arepedestriansand not inthe Par-l i a -ment.”

I’m trying to be excellent, not perfect: Kamal Haasan

IMRAN KHANmistakenly receivesEmraan’s clothes

Jessica Chastainarrives at the WalterKerr Theatre in NYCfor a performance ofThe Heiress.


14Infotainmentsmartphones wipe out sales of MP3 players

ACCORDiNG to analysis byMintel, theresearch

company, sales ofMP3 players fell byalmost £110 million– or 22 per cent – to£381 million thisyear compared to2011. Mintel predictsthat sales will halveagain by 2017. in its“worst case” scenario, thegroup forecasts that sales of MP3 players could dropto just £25 million within five years. MP3 players – orPortable Media Players (PMP) as they are also known– are rechargeable pocket-sized devices that playdigital music and videos. However they have beenusurped by smartphones, which carry out the samefunctions but also allow users to make telephone callsand connect to the internet. When Apple launched itsiPod in 2001 it changed the way that people listenedto music. Using its own ‘digital jukebox’ software, thedevice – which was the same size and weight as apacket of playing cards - could hold 1,000 songs incompressed digital files. Prior to the iPod, music fanshad to rely on cumbersome portable CD players,short-lived mini-disc players or even cassette playerslike the Sony Walkman to listen to music on themove. Within a year of the iPod launching Applereleased a version capable of carrying 4,000 songs. Bythe autumn of 2010, around 275 million iPods hadbeen sold around the world. NeWS DeSk


A ‘dad’ tenth most popular onChristmas request list

A‘dad’ is tenth most popular Christmas listrequest for children with youngsters happy toforgo the latest iPad, toy or new pet, a survey

has found. When it comes to Christmas, it might be safeto assume children will ask Santa for an extensive list oftoys, games and treats. But a survey of their typicallists for Father Christmas has shown many have moreserious concerns, requesting “a dad” instead. A study of2,000 British parents found most children will put anew baby brother or sister at the top of their Christmaslist, closely followed by a request for a real-life reindeer.A “pet horse” was the third most popular choice, with a“car” making a bizarre entry at number four. Despitetheir material requests, the tenth most popularChristmas wish on the list was a “Dad”. The survey, ofconsumers at Westfield london and Westfield StratfordCity, found children aged three to 12 years also wanteda dog, chocolate and a stick of rock. Traditional hopesfor a white Christmas were represented by a wish for“snow” in ninth place, with sensible youngsters alsorequesting a “house”. Of the top 50 festive requests, 17related to pets and animals, with some imaginativechildren hoping for a donkey, chicken and elephant. iPhones and iPads also appeared on the list, with somequirky children asking for the moon, a time machine, apond cover and beetroot. One child asked for Evalongoria and another wanted Harry Styles from OneDirection. A request for a “mum” reachednumber 23 on the list.NeWS DeSk

NAsA to turn asteroid intospace station to orbit the moon

National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (Nasa) scientists areplanning to capture a 500,000 kg

asteroid, relocate it and transform it into a spacestation for astronauts to refuel at on their way toMars. This will be the first time a celestial objecthas ever been moved by humans, the Daily Mailreported. The White House’s office of science andtechnology will consider the $2.6 billion plan inthe coming weeks as it prepares to set its spaceexploration agenda for the next decade. Afeasibility report prepared by Nasa and Californiainstitute of Technology scientists outlined howthey would go about capturing the asteroid. An‘asteroid capture capsule´ will be attached to anold Atlas V rocket and directed to the asteroidbetween the Earth and the Moon. NeWS DeSk

Black holes bigger, more terrifyingthan previously thought

STANFORD University astrophysicist JulieHlavacek-larrondo led a team that useddata from NASA’s Chandra X-ray

Observatory to analyze 18 of the universe’sbrightest galaxy clusters, thought to be home to thebiggest black holes. They found black holes largerthan any discovered before: Ultramassive blackholes with a mass 10-40 billion times the mass ofour own sun. And those estimates might be on thesmall side. Says Hlavacek-larrondo, “Some of ourblack hole mass predictions are just lower limits,so they could be higher… Just how big do i thinkthey can get? i would bet that a least one 100-billion-solar-mass black hole exists among ourobjects, which really is ultra-big.” Hlavacek-larrondo and company estimated the size of theseultramassive black holes by analyzing the X-raysand radio waves generated by black holes whenthey destroy the gas, dust, and stars that have thebad luck to come near them. NeWS DeSk

WE all blink. A lot. The averageperson blinks some 15-20times per minute—so fre-

quently that our eyes are closed forroughly 10% of our waking hours overall.

Although some of this blinking has aclear purpose—mostly to lubricate the eye-balls, and occasionally protect them fromdust or other debris—scientists say that weblink far more often than necessary forthese functions alone. Thus, blinking isphysiological riddle. Why do we do it sodarn often? in a paper published today inthe Proceedings of the National Academyof Sciences, a group of scientists fromJapan offers up a surprising new answer—that briefly closing our eyes might actuallyhelp us to gather our thoughts and focusattention on the world around us.

The researchers came to the hypothe-sis after noting an interesting fact revealedby previous research on blinking: that theexact moments when we blink aren’t actu-ally random. Although seemingly sponta-neous, studies have revealed that peopletend to blink at predictable moments. Forsomeone reading, blinking often occursafter each sentence is finished, while for aperson listening to a speech, it frequentlycomes when the speaker pauses betweenstatements. A group of people all watchingthe same video tend to blink around thesame time, too, when action briefly lags.

As a result, the researchers guessedthat we might subconsciously use blinksas a sort of mental resting point, to brieflyshut off visual stimuli and allow us tofocus our attention. To test the idea,they put 10 different volunteers in anfMRi machine and had them watch theTV show “Mr. Bean” (they had used thesame show in their previous work onblinking, showing that it came at implicitbreak points in the video). They thenmonitored which areas of the brainshowed increased or decreased activitywhen the study participants blinked.

Their analysis showed that when theBean-watchers blinked, mental activitybriefly spiked in areas related to the de-fault network, areas of the brain that op-erate when the mind is in a state ofwakeful rest, rather than focusing on theoutside world. Momentary activation ofthis alternate network, they theorize,could serve as a mental break, allowingfor increased attention capacity when theeyes are opened again.

To test whether this mental break wassimply a result of the participants’ visualinputs being blocked, rather than a sub-conscious effort to clear their minds, theresearchers also manually inserted“blackouts” into the video at random in-tervals that lasted roughly as long as ablink. NeWS DeSk

EATiNG meals as a family improveschildren’s eating habits - even if itonly happens once or twice a week,UK researchers suggest. it is recom-mended children eat five portions of

fruit and vegetables per day - about 400g.The Journal of Epidemiology and Community

Health study found those who always ate togetherachieved this - but those who only did sometimescame close. Watching parents and siblings eatteaches good habits, experts said.PARENTAL EXAMPLE: This study looked atjust under 2,400 children at 52 primary schools

in south london.Parents and fieldworkers compiled food di-

aries at school and at home, ticking off all thefoods and drinks a child had in one 24-hour pe-riod. Eating at a table with the family instead ofin front of the TV helps reduce chances of mind-less eating”.

Parents were also asked questions about theirattitudes to fruit and vegetables, such as “On av-erage, how many nights a week does your familyeat at a table?” and “Do you cut up fruit and veg-etables for your child to eat?”

The study found 656 families said they always

ate meals together at a table, 768 sometimes did,while 92 families never did so.

Children in the “always” group ate five por-tions of fruit and vegetables, compared with 4.6in the “sometimes” group and 3.3 in the “never”.

That equates to the always group eating 125gmore fruit and veg, and the sometimes group eat-ing 95g more a day than the never group. Seeingparents eat fruit and vegetables - and cutting upportions for children both boosted their intake.‘fUTURE HABITS’: The researchers say that,while this study gives a picture of eating habits onone day, it was able to investigate the diets of alarge, diverse population.

Meaghan Christian, who conducted the studyas part of her PhD, said: “Modern life often pre-vents the whole family from sitting round the din-ner table, but this research shows that even justSunday lunch round the table can help improvethe diets of our families.”

She added: “We spend a lot of time looking atinterventions at school. But this is showing howimportant parents are in terms of fruit and veg-etable consumption.”

And Prof Janet Cade, of the University ofleeds’ school of food science and nutrition, whosupervised the study, said: “Watching the waytheir parents or siblings eat and the different typesof food they eat is pivotal in creating children’sown food habits and preferences.”

She added: “Since dietary habits are estab-lished in childhood, the importance of promotingthe family meal needs to be more prominent inpublic health campaigns.”

Azmina Govindji, of the British Dietetic Asso-ciation, said: “Eating habits developed in child-hood die hard, and eating at a table with thefamily instead of in front of the TV helps reducechances of mindless eating, which can increase thelikelihood of obesity.

“This study reinforces the view that childrenlearn more from what we do than what we say,so it’s the role modelling that helps shape theirfuture habits.”

Ms Govindji, a practising dietitian, added: “ifchildren are eating better in childhood, they aremore likely to make healthier choices in adult life- and since food directly impacts risks of condi-tions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, eatingtogether as a family seems like a small price topay.” NeWS DeSk

Why do we blink sofrequently?

Family meals ‘boost child fruit andvegetable intake’



BangaLOrEAGeNCIeS

MOHAMMAD Hafeez hassuggested that the decisionto leave out R Ashwin,india's leading limited-

overs spinner, for the first Twenty20 helpedPakistan. india opted to go in with left-armspinner Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Ashwinfor the match in Bangalore, which Pakistanwon by five wickets. "This is the combina-tion, they knew very well what they(wanted), Ashwin was not there in thisteam," Hafeez said. "So our plan was that ifwe play out the new ball, then their spinnersare not world-class; i know Yuvraj is ingreat form, but when you don't have aworld-class spinner then we can dominate."

Jadeja bowled 2.4 overs, including thefinal one of the game, and was taken for 29runs, and he contributed only two runswith the bat. "it was a surprise for us thatthey didn't play [Ashwin], at the end we arehappy that we won the game."

Dhoni, though, defended the decisionsaying Ashwin was more of a threat withthe new ball. "Ashwin has been one of ourmain bowlers, he had to bowl in the first sixovers a lot," Dhoni said. "Once we hadthree seamers, we wanted to give Jadeja achance also, and once the field has openedup in the last two games Ashwin has alsogone for runs, [though] he has bowledbeautifully in the first six overs."

Only one of Pakistan's top seven bats-men was a left-hander, another reasonDhoni provided for the decision to leaveout the offspinner Ashwin. Ashwin him-self was philosophical about his omis-sion: "Even Fernando Torres has to sitout for Chelsea."

Hafeez happy with Ashwin omission bcb likely to launchnew probe intoumpire corruption

nEWSDESk

Bangladeshi umpires Nadir Shah andSharfuddoula ibne Shahid Saikat will gothrough fresh investigations after the pre-vious committee did not submit a reportto the BCB within the stipulated time. Thepair was investigated for allegations of"corrupt conduct" levied by an indiannews channel that conducted a sting oper-ation and was shown on TV last October."As the earlier committee did not provideus with any report, we are thinking oflaunching a new investigation," BCB CEONizamuddin Chowdhury told Dhaka-based newspaper New Age. "'All i can sayis that we will do everything according tothe iCC's Anti-Corruption guideline."Nadir and Sharfuddoula will now beprobed by a new committee though atimeframe has not been announced. Theprevious one led by Sirajuddin Alamgirhad to be disbanded as the BCB's board ofdirectors made way for an ad hoc body inNovember after its term ended.

Sl batsmen defeatedby indiscipline

SPOrTSDESk

On the eve of the fixture, MahelaJayawardene was asked to recall thebiggest Test crowd his side had everplayed for. "lord's," he offered, "andmaybe Mumbai and Madras. Tomorrowmight be a special day." None of those sta-dia can even seat the number that steppedthrough turnstiles on Boxing Day in Mel-bourne. in Sri lanka's 30-year Test his-tory, they have never had a greater crowdthan the 67,138 that saw them stripped oftheir fight and bullied out of their sensesat the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

MELBOUrnEAGeNCIeS

Kumar Sangakkara became the secondSri lankan to reach the 10,000-runmilestone in Tests but there was littleelse for Sri lanka to celebrate on theirfirst Boxing Day at the MCG since 1995.A day that began with Mahela Jayawar-dene winning the toss and choosing tobat ended with Australia at the creaseand having already nearly passed Srilanka's 156, an awfully disappointingtotal brought about by some disap-pointingly awful shot selections fromthe Sri lankan batsmen.

Mitchell Johnson was awkward toface, collecting three wickets and break-ing the thumb of Prasanna Jayawar-dene; Jackson Bird was impressivelyconsistent in his first day of Test cricketand picked up two wickets; and PeterSiddle and Nathan lyon also collectedtwo each. Australia's selectors musthave breathed a sigh of relief at the ef-fectiveness of the attack, after their de-cision to rest the Hobart match-winner

Mitchell Starc due to concerns over hisworkload. Not that Australia did every-thing right. After a strong opening part-nership of 95 between David Warnerand Ed Cowan, both openers and PhillipHughes fell within the space of sevenovers late in the day, leaving Sri lanka

a sliver of hope if their bowlers can dosome damage on the second morning.At stumps, Australia were 3 for 150,trailing by six runs, and they had theirin-form captain Michael Clarke at thecrease on 20, alongside the vice-captainShane Watson on 13. Clarke had been

passed fit in the morning, ending spec-ulation that the hamstring injury hepicked up in Hobart would allow Wat-son to become Australia's 44th Test cap-tain, and he showed no real signs ofdiscomfort while batting late in the day.Both men had been given lives though:Clarke put down by Tillakaratne Dilshanat silly mid-on when he chipped Ran-gana Herath to the leg side and Watsonby the acting wicketkeeper Kumara San-gakkara, who dived to his right andgrassed an edge off ChanakaWelegedara.

Sangakkara was wearing the glovesdue to a hairline fracture PrasannaJayawardene suffered while batting,and although he dropped that chancehe was part of one dismissal, whippingthe bails off at the striker's end to runPhillip Hughes out for 10. Ed Cowanhad worked the ball to the leg side andcalled Hughes through for a single, butthe non-striker's hesitation led to hisdemise; Dilshan misfielded andHughes could comfortably have madethe run had he set off immediately.

Johnson and friends make it Australia’s day

SRI LANkA 1St INNINGSfDM karunaratne c †Wade b Bird 5tM Dilshan b Johnson 11kC Sangakkara c †Wade b Johnson 58DPMD Jayawardene* c †Wade b Siddle 3tt Samaraweera c Warner b Bird 10AD Mathews c Hussey b Siddle 15HAPW Jayawardene† c Hughes b Johnson 24ktGD Prasad c †Wade b Johnson 0HMRkB Herath c Cowan b Lyon 14RMS eranga not out 4UWMBCA Welegedara c Hussey b Lyon 0eXtRAS (lb 5, nb 7) 12totAL 156fALL of WICketS 1-13 (karunaratne, 3.4 ov), 2-19(Dilshan, 6.3 ov), 3-37 (DPMD Jayawardene, 12.3 ov), 4-79 (Samaraweera, 25.3 ov), 5-99 (Mathews, 30.4 ov),6-134 (HAPW Jayawardene, 38.1 ov), 7-134 (Prasad, 38.2ov), 8-147 (Sangakkara, 40.3 ov), 9-156 (Herath, 43.2 ov),10-156 (Welegedara, 43.4 ov)BoWLINGMG Johnson 14-2-63-4, JM Bird 13-5-32-2, PM Siddle 8-1-

30-2, SR Watson 3-2-3-0, NM Lyon 5.4-0-23-2AUStRALIA 1St INNINGSeJM Cowan c DPMD Jayawardene b Prasad 36DA Warner c Prasad b Mathews 62PJ Hughes run out (Dilshan/Sangakkara) 10SR Watson not out 13MJ Clarke* not out 20eXtRAS(b 2, w 5, nb 2) 9totAL 150to BAt Mek Hussey, MS Wade†, MG Johnson, PM Siddle,NM Lyon, JM BirdfALL of WICketS 1-95 (Warner, 17.3 ov), 2-117 (Hughes,22.6 ov), 3-117 (Cowan, 23.6 ov)BoWLINGUWMBCA Welegedara 11-4-36-0, RMS eranga 10-2-53-0,ktGD Prasad 8-1-39-1, AD Mathews 4-2-9-1, HMRkBHerath 6-1-11-0Match details, toss Sri Lanka, who chose to bat, testdebut JM Bird (Australia), Player of the match tba,Umpires Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and NJ Llong (england),tV umpire AL Hill (New Zealand), Match referee BCBroad (england), Reserve umpire JD Ward

SCoReBoARD

BANGALORE: india were 10 to 15 runs shortof a "safe" total against Pakistan in the firstTwenty20 international, according to their cap-tain MS Dhoni. india's openers put on 77 runsinside 11 overs to give the hosts a solid base butPakistan struck regularly after that, as indiacollapsed to finish on 133 for 9. "We shouldhave got more runs," Dhoni said. "We got a fan-tastic start from the openers but we couldn'tcapitalise. We lost regular wickets and that hurtus. We should have got 10-15 runs more, 145would have been a safe score." india began su-perbly with the ball as the debutant Bhuvnesh-war Kumar picked up three wickets but fiftiesfrom the Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeezand Shoaib Malik set the platform for the visitors' five-wicket win. india's quickbowlers picked up all five Pakistan wickets to fall, but the part-time bowlersconceded 75 runs in 7.4 overs as Malik's six off Ravindra Jadeja in the finalover ended the game. Dhoni used up his fast bowlers by the 19th over, and hadto bring on Jadeja for the 20th. "it was a gamble to finish the pacers early,"Dhoni said. "Malik and Hafeez were going well so we needed wickets. Theywere also going at a very fast pace so we had to take a gamble. The pacers didwell, they left 10 runs for the last over which i thought was good." AGeNCIeS

We were 10-15 runs short: dhoniLAHORE: india bowler ishant Sharma and Pak-istan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were fined afterbeing found guilty of level 1 breaches of the iCCCode of Code following an altercation between thetwo players in the opening Twenty20 internationalwhich Pakistan won by five wickets in Bengaluruon 25 December 2012. Akmal was fined five percent by Roshan Mahanama, of the Emirates ElitePanel of iCC Match Referees, after he pleadedguilty to breaches of Article 2.1.8 of the iCC Codeof Conduct of ‘conduct contrary to the spirit of thegame’ in the 18th over of the Pakistan reply.Sharma also pleaded guilty to the offence and ac-cepted the same charge. However, Sharma ap-pealed the penalty and a hearing was held. Afterreviewing the evidence and the video footage, Mr Mahamana re-confirmed his viewthat Sharma initiated this incident which was reported by all four umpires – on-field S Ravi and C Shamsuddin, TV umpire VA Kulkarni and fourth official K Sri-nath. Therefore a penalty of 15 per cent of the match fee was imposed. Mahanamasaid: “This is clearly a high profile and high intensity series and the players on bothsides have been reminded of their responsibility. Both players recognised their dutyto set the right type of example through their on-field behaviour and they have ac-cepted that they fell short of the level of conduct required. StAff RePoRt

Akmal and sharma fined


Sports 16


BangaLOrEAGeNCIeS

Resumption of the much-hyped bi-lateral series for the shorter versionof the game brought an upbeat Pak-istan team to india after a gap offive years, but not hundreds of fansfrom across the border, as theycould not get tickets for this matchin time to secure visas and maketravel arrangements.

"Though we were told initiallythat about 500 visas were ear-marked for the Bangalore match,tickets for our fans did not come intime to apply for visas and travel allthe way to south india. The indianHigh Commission insisted on pro-ducing tickets and hotel reserva-tions for granting visas. As it takesat least seven working days for com-pleting the formalities, many fanskept away," a Pakistan official ac-companying the team said.

Barring the 16-member Pak-istan squad and a dozen officials,absence of Pakistani fans in the sta-dium was conspicuous though theKarnataka State Cricket Association

(KSCA) allotted a separate stand inthe pavilion for a ring side view ofthe match on a green turf.

"We hope some of our fans willbe able to make it to the three ODis

(one-day internationals) series afterthe second T20 in Ahmedabad Dec28. We are expecting a large turnout of our fans for the ODi in NewDelhi Jan 6," the official quipped.

POrT ELIzaBETHAGeNCIeS

SOUTH Africa won the first tro-phy available to them in theirhome summer with victory inthe three-match Twenty20 se-

ries. After piling on the fifth highest scoreposted in the shortest format (at both in-ternational and domestic level) at StGeorge's Park, thanks largely to an 89-run third wicket stand between HenryDavids and Justin Ontong, AaronPhangiso and Ryan Mclaren ensuredSouth Africa defended it comfortably.

All of New Zealand's bowlers save forMitchell McClenaghan and Ronnie Hirafailed to read the pace of the Port Eliza-beth pitch. Against the aggression ofDavids and Ontong they gave away toomany runs which allowed the pair to laythe launch-pad for take-off.

New Zealand did not have the bats-men to do the same. With Martin Guptilland Brendon McCullum at the crease,there was some hope. Once the dominoesbegan to fall, there was no stopping theslide. Still, New Zealand competed withthe hosts with more heart than was ex-pected of them to set the tone ahead forthe Test matches.

As an example of their ability to rufflefeathers, New Zealand had the hosts inearly trouble, even in the absence ofRichard levi. South Africa's openingpartnership stuttered again when duPlessis, who was promoted to bat in hispreferred top-two spot, was bowled byRonnie Hira as he attempted to hitthrough mid-wicket. levi's omission alsomeant Quinton de Kock was given more

responsibility at No. 3 but his inexperi-ence showed. instead of rotating strikewhile Davids kept going, de Kock tried toloft McClenaghan over long-on and got aleading edge. Corey Anderson ran frommid-off to take the catch at mid-on andde Kock's series with the bat ended with-out him living up to the hype.

Davids had none of the same expec-tation but exceeded all hopes. He dis-played a range of classical shots, tingedonly with some extra intent. The drive offthe back foot and the pull shot were hishallmarks but more notable than that wasthat he scored off almost every ball hefaced. Both he and Ontong pushed eachother between the wickets and put pres-sure on the New Zealand fielders.

The only chance they offered waswhen Davids went aerial against DougBracewell and lobbed the ball to MartinGuptill at short extra cover. Guptillseemed to lose the ball in the backgroundand although he got fingers to it, spilt thechance. Davids was on 32 and went on tomore than double his score.

As Davids grew in confidence, so didOntong, whose assurance swelled againstJames Franklin. Ontong hit him for backto back sixes: down the ground and thento deep mid-wicket but Franklin won themini-battle when Ontong was caught try-ing to send another slower ball over theleg-side boundary. Still, he had taken 16runs off the five balls he faced in that overand South Africa had 116 runs and seven

wickets in hand as they approached thelast five overs.

Those turned out to the most prof-itable, even though Davids departed mid-way through. South Africa added 63 runsin the final quarter of their innings,thanks to their big-hitters. Farhaan Be-hardien and David Miller both struck theball cleanly against New Zealand's clue-less death bowlers.

Contrastingly, South Africa's attackhad a firm grip on what was required.Ryan McClaren had Rob Nicol lbw in thefirst over when he was struck in line ofmiddle and offstump. Guptill showedglimpses of the form he displayed threedays ago when his 101 took New Zealandto victory. He drove with power and wasassisted by McCullum, who seemed to fi-nally find his placement.

Just as the two settled, Guptill triedto paddle Phangiso over short fine-leg butwas caught by Robin Peterson. Phangisoclaimed another big scalp in his next overwhen McCullum thought he had got himover long-off but was caught on theboundary. New Zealand remained in thehunt and after 11 overs had the samescore South Africa had posted - 71 - buthad lost two more wickets. Colin Munroedged a Mclaren short ball and JamesFranklin swung to long-on to givePhangiso his third. The point of no returnwas reached when Morne Morkel leapt tohis left at short third man to send JimmyNeesham on his way.

The required run rate climbed to over14 to an over with six to go and only lastrites were left to be performed. RoryKleinveldt took the ninth wicket butMorne Morkel finished without reward as

a new South African era made itselfknown. For New Zealand, there remainsmuch to work on. They were suspected tohave bled 20 runs too many but in theend, were almost double that short.

Davids, Phangiso down NZ, sA take series

malik is my Playerof the match:father-in-law

MUMBaIBIPIN DANI

india's other cricketing son-in-law,Muthiah Muralidharan (married toChennai-based Madhi Mallar) had notbeen as instrumental as Shoaib Malik inthe crucial bilateral match againstindia. Sadly, Sania was not at the Ban-galore's Chinnaswamy Stadium to cheerfor her husband on Tuesday night. "Sheis in Hyderabad and watched the matchon TV," her father, imran Mirza said ex-clusively over telephone from Banga-lore, where he keenly witnessed theproceedings yesterday. "She didn't want to come here and keepShoaib tensed for this importantmatch," he added. Sania's mother,Naseema too remained at home in Hy-derabad. "The family is happy forShoaib's knock but disappointed overindia's loss in the match.""Even my daughter supports Teamindia, but not when Shoaib Malik is amember of the Pakistan team."Pakistan's five-wicket win over indiawas possible only when Shoaib Malik inthe last over hit a six off RavinderJadeja. "My Man-of the Match isShoaib Malik. His 57 runs came at thecrucial moments and he remained atthe crease even after another half-cen-turion and captain Mohammad Hafeezwas out (on 61 runs), if i were the adju-dicator, would have announced Malik asthe Player of the Match", the father-in-law explained. indian tennis star SaniaMirza married to former Pakistani cap-tain, Malik in April 2010. The weddingwas held in india (Hyderabad), and itwas followed by a Walima and receptionceremonies in Sialkot, and lahore inPakistan. The publicity and the onlineattention the wedding received madeSania the most searched woman tennisplayer and most searched indiansportsperson in the year 2010 accordingto Google Trends. Malik’s family hasbeen staying in Pakistan, but the couplehas been staying in Dubai. “Sania hadalso been to Pakistan once after that”,the father added. “There was no tennistournament in Pakistan but once i ac-compoanied her when Shoaib was play-ing in Pakistan”, the father added.Malik has been regularly attending thecamps in Pakistan whenever arrangedby the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

SoUtH AfRICAH Davids c Anderson b McClenaghan 68f du Plessis* b Hira 15Q de kock† c Anderson b McClenaghan 2JL ontong c Anderson b franklin 48DA Miller c Anderson b Bracewell 28f Behardien c McClenaghan b Bracewell 22Rk kleinveldt not out 0eXtRAS (lb 4, w 6) 10totAL 179DID Not BAt RJ Peterson, R McLaren, AM Phangiso, M MorkelfALL of WICketS 1-2 (du Plessis, 1.5 ov), 2-26 (de kock, 4.4ov), 3-115 (ontong, 14.5 ov), 4-135 (Davids, 16.3 ov), 5-179 (Miller,19.5 ov), 6-179 (Behardien, 19.6 ov)BoWLINGMJ McClenaghan 4-0-24-2, RM Hira 4-1-24-1, NL McCullum 3-0-27-0, JeC franklin 3-0-30-1, DAJ Bracewell 3-0-35-2. JDSNeesham 3-0-35-0NeW ZeALANDRJ Nicol lbw b McLaren 5MJ Guptill c Peterson b Phangiso 24BB McCullum*† c ontong b Phangiso 25C Munro c †de kock b McLaren 3JeC franklin c ontong b Phangiso 16JDS Neesham c Morkel b Peterson 12NL McCullum c Peterson b McLaren 17Corey J Anderson run out (McLaren) 12DAJ Bracewell not out 15RM Hira c ontong b kleinveldt 12MJ McClenaghan not out 1eXtRAS 4totAL 146fALL of WICketS 1-6 (Nicol, 0.4 ov), 2-53 (Guptill, 6.6 ov), 3-56 (BB McCullum, 8.3 ov), 4-60 (Munro, 9.4 ov), 5-84 (franklin,12.3 ov), 6-87 (Neesham, 13.1 ov), 7-116 (Anderson, 16.4 ov), 8-116 (NL McCullum, 16.5 ov), 9-137 (Hira, 19.2 ov)BoWLINGR McLaren 4-0-25-3, RJ Peterson 3-0-24-1, M Morkel 4-0-37-0,Rk kleinveldt 4-0-25-1, AM Phangiso4-0-25-3, JL ontong 1-0-9-0Match details: toss South Africa, who chose to bat, SeriesSouth Africa won the 3-match series 2-1, Player of the matchH Davids (South Africa), Umpires JD Cloete and At Holdstock, tV umpire S George, Match referee AJ Pycroft (Zimbabwe),Reserve umpire BG Jerling

SCoReBoARD

bopanna to pairwith ram atchennai open

SPOrTSDESk

Ace india doubles player Rohan Bopannais all set to partner US-based Rajeev Ramat the Aircel Chennai Open tennis tourna-ment to be held here from December 31to January 6. Bopanna and Ram had ear-lier appeared as a team at the AustralianOpen in 2008, where they proceeded tothe pre-quarters defeating higher rankedteams along the way. The organisers hadearlier announced that the country’s topdoubles specialist, Mahesh Bhupathiwould be teaming up with World No. 5doubles player, Daniel Nestor of Canada.The indian combo of Bhupathi andBopanna, who had won two titles atDubai and Paris and a runner-up finish atthe just-concluded season-ending lon-don Masters, had recently announcedtheir decision to play with different part-ners in 2013. Bopanna, along with Bhu-pathi, had compiled an impressive 34-22match record and 2-3 in finals, and in thepast also collaborated with players likePakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi andAmerican player Eric Butorac. Bopannaand Ram, given their complementarystyles of playing and strengths in criticalareas of the sport, are sure to make agreat doubles pair in the season beginner.Bopanna is considered one of the bestdoubles players in the world and attainedhis career—best ranking of eight in March2012. The 6 feet 4 inch Ram, on the otherhand, captured his first ATP World Tourdoubles title in Chennai in 2009, andlater in Bangkok with partner Butorac.He is a talented singles and doublesplayer, and won the St Petersburg Openalong with Nenad Zimonjic earlier thisyear. “Rohan and Rajeev have the poten-tial to be one of the top doubles teams inthe world. They have played together be-fore and know each other’s game well. Weexpect them to be a formidable threat atthis year’s event,” Tournament Director,Tom Annear, said.

Absence of Pakistani fans robs

series of bipartisan support, colour

Doha: Pakistan defeated Japan 5-2 in the last group match and qualify for the final of asian champions trophy 2012.


ihc rejectsappeal onholding of 32ndnational gamesLAHORE: All the efforts made by therival group for the postponement of the32nd National Games have failed to de-ceive the court in obtaining injunctiveorder regarding 32nd National Games,said Khawaja idris in an email messageon Wednesday. The islamabad SportsAssociation of Badminton, Basketball,Judo and Netball went to the court oflaw and filed an appeal in the Honor-able islamabad High Court to cancel orpostpone the 32nd National Games2012. The islamabad High Court re-jected their appeal, he added. He fur-ther said that the detailed decision ofthe Court will communicate in a shortspan of time. StAff RePoRt

greens win innational womenselection match LAHORE: Pakistan greens beat Pak-istan Blues in the national womenteams selection match for iCCWomen’s World Cup to beheld in india2013. Playing at the Bagh-E-JinnahGround here, Blues gathered 152 runsafter winning the toss. in the processthey lost four wickets. But in reply,Greens got a revised target and over-hauled the score of 121 runs in 25 overslosing six wickets. SCoReS: Pakistan blues 152-4 in 30 overs: (nahidaKhan 9, 3x4s, 72 balls, Sana mir 34, 4x4s, 48 balls,Javeria wadood 30*, 4x4s, 24 balls, Sadia yousaf 3-17). Pakistan green 127-6 in 25 overs: (mareena iqbal31, 4x4s, 47 balls, nida rashid 18, 24 balls, Sana mir3-15). result: Pakistan green won by 4 wickets onrevised target 121 in 25 overs. toss: Pakistan blues.umpires: riffat mustafa & Shakeela rafiq. Scorer: za-hoor alam. StAff RePoRt

mtfc winagainst touringflame clubLAHORE: Flame Football Clubtoured the Model Town Football Club(MTFC) from December 24 and 25. the tour included two matches mtfc won the se-ries after whitewashing flame football club by a 2–0 margin. in the first match played on 24 December2012, mtfc won over fame f.c by 3-0. mtfc tookthe lead in the 5th min when Sabahat scored fromclose range. fahad doubled the lead 10 min laterwith a low left-footed shot. at interval the hostslead 2-0. in the 2nd half mtfc added anotherthrough fahad, who scored from 25 m after findingthe rival goal-keeper out of position. there was nofurther scoring & mtfc won the match 3-0 whilethe second match was played also won by mtfc 2-1.MtfC SQUAD: habeel, zain Kazmi, zain-ul-abideen, uneeb asim, abdur-rehman, affan, talib,raja hasan, nauman, m.uneeb, Saad, musab,Kiberia, muazan, tehvar, abdullah, fahad, ali, hasan,Sabahat, momin.. StAff RePoRt

Sports17


San FranCISCOAGeNCIeS

Tennis great Rafael Nadal is ready for his comeback. Since a kneeinjury sidelined him after this year's Wimbledon, he's been outof action. But he'll be back at the Australian Open next month,and with a new iPhone app. The new Rafael Nadal Tennis Acad-emy App, developed with video-analysis firm Vstrator, will beavailable within the next few days on iTunes. it offers in-depthtennis tutorials of Nadal's strokes, along with Vstrator's easy-to-use video coaching tools. "This helps you visualize how to be-come a better player," Nadal, the world's No. 4-ranked player,told USA Today in a phone interview. The app(www.vstrator.com/rafanadal) lets consumers capture and an-alyze video of athletic motions such as ground strokes andserves. Video can be recorded or imported from a smartphonecamera into the app. So-called "Vstrate" technology lets usershighlight video to zero in on any part of their game. Users of theapp can frame video forward and back to compare their tech-nique with Nadal and other players. Vstrator video can be sharedvia Facebook, Twitter, e-mail or text message. The normally low-key Nadal, 26, rarely does interviews or endorsements. But hemade an exception with Vstrator to reach out to fans, he says.NADAL’S RETURN TO TENNIS PUT ON HOLD BySTOMACH ILLNESS: Rafael Nadal’s comeback from a long-term knee injury has been put on hold by an illness that has ruledhim out of an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi in the UnitedArab Emirates. “Rafael Nadal has been forced to make a lastminute withdrawal from the 2012 event due to a stomach virus,”organizers said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“Nadal, who has competed in all four previous tournaments,was advised by doctors not to travel or compete due to the illness.”The 26-year-old Spaniard has not played since June when he suf-

fered a shock defeat in the second round of Wimbledon by Czechlukas Rosol. The tournament in Abu Dhabi, which he won twicein 2010 and 2011, was to be his return to action after missing theOlympics, the U.S. Open and the Davis Cup final, which Spain lostto the Czech Republic. “i am very disappointed that i will not beable to compete this year in Abu Dhabi,” world No. 4 Nadal saidin a statement. “i was really excited about returning to play and ialways have a wonderful experience at the event and this is thefirst time i will miss the tournament. ”My rehab has gone well, myknee feels good and i was looking forward to competing. Unfor-tunately doctors have informed me that my body needs to rest inorder to fight this stomach virus. i would like to say sorry to all myfans in the United Arab Emirates and around the world, but i hopeto play and win in Abu Dhabi again next year.”

Tennis great rafael Nadalhas a new iPhone app

LaHOrEStAff RePoRt

Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan President and chief pa-tron Pakistan Cricket Board inaugurates thenewly-build Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhuttointernational Cricket Stadium at Garhi KhudaBakhsh on Wednesday.

PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf alsong with sev-eral other dignitaries were also present on theoccasion.

The PCB specially arranged an exhibitioncricket match to mark the opening of the Sha-heed Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto internationalCricket Stadium.

in the match, Chairman's Xi made 18-1 infive overs with intikhab Alam making five runs,ijaz Ahmed 10* and Mansoor Rana 0*. )

in reply, Presidents Xi got the score of 19 foeno loss in 3.1 overs. Javed Miandad made 10runs and Awais Zia 6.

Chairman's Xi won the toss and the Presi-dent’s Xi won by 10 wickets. Umpires for thematch were Rafiq Ahmed and Rasheed Memon.

President XI win exhibition match at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh

Serena is undisputedworld no 1 tennisplayer, says Stosur

SPOrTSDESk

SERENA Williams sits third on the worldrankings, but Australia's world No 9Samantha Stosur believes the American su-perstar is without doubt the best tennisplayer in the world at the moment.Williams has lost just one match since afirst-round shocker at the French Open lastMay, sweeping titles at Wimbledon, the USOpen, the Olympics and the WTA Champi-onships on her way to a stunning seasonfinish. But the 31-year-old's lack of tourna-ments in 2012 left Williams with 9400ranking points, behind world No.1 VictoriaAzarenka (10,595) and No 2 Maria Shara-pova (10,045). Williams must win the Aus-tralian Open next month to absolutelyguarantee a return to the world No 1 rank-ing -- a feat which would make her the old-est player ever to hold the top ranking.

murray ‘workingharder than before’

SPOrTSDESk

Andy Murray's mother Judy believes ivanlendl is the perfect match for the British No.1 and says the eight-time major championwas central to the Scot's US Open triumph.Murray celebrated the most successful yearof his career in 2012, reaching his first Wim-bledon final before winning Olympic goldand landing his first grand slam title in NewYork. Judy Murray, who is Britain's Fed Cupcoach, believes Murray's decision to recruitthe former world No. 1 a year ago was one ofthe best moves of his career.

garhi KhuDa baKhSh: asif ali zardari, Pakistan President and chief patron Pakistan cricket board inaugurate the newly-builtShaheed mohtarma benazir bhutto international cricket Stadium at garhi Khuda bakhsh.


32nd nAtIonAl GAmes

Sports 18


watch it LiveESPNSports Center07:30PM

SPOrTSDESk

Martin Skrtel is expecting a battle againstStoke. liverpool defender Martin Skrtel be-lieves Stoke take their penalty area grap-pling to the extreme and admits the Reds'St Stephen's Day trip will be more about thefight than football. The Potters have longbeen criticised for their physical approachbut their methods at set-pieces have comein for scrutiny in recent weeks.

Everton midfielder Marouane Fellainiwas sent off for headbutting Ryan Shawcrossafter becoming frustrated with the constantholding and shoving during their 1-1 draw atthe Britannia Stadium 10 days ago.

Skrtel accepts it is part of the game youhave to deal with, even if Stoke sometimesgo too far. "The game against Stoke is notabout the football, it is about the fight andthe tackles," said the Slovakia interna-tional. "The fighting in the box at throws,

corners and free-kicks was always part ofthe game but it can be too much.

"What they do is sometimes too muchbut they are doing well this season, keepingclean sheets. "We have to deal with it andthat is the key for us as defenders, to fightagainst them and then our creative playerscan play our game and try to score goals."it is always difficult to play against them,especially away from home but we know ifwe play our game it can be good.

"We will just try to beat them and get thethree points because that is very importantfor us. "i hope and believe we can score goalsand win there. With three games in a fewdays that will be key."

At the weekend Skrtel proved he canbe a threat in the penalty area with a bril-liant volley to open the scoring in the 4-0victory over Fulham. it was his secondstrike of the season and only the ninth in196 matches for the Reds but one which

will live long in the memory. "i think itwas the best goal i have ever scored. i justtook my time, tried to hit the goal and itwas nice," the 28-year-old added. "i think

it was a great performance from everyoneagainst Fulham and we did well: wescored four goals and that showed ourquality. "We need to carry on, try to climb

the table and finish in the top four as thatis our target. "This season there have beenplenty of games we've done well but havenot been able to take them and score goalsand win the games. "The way we playedagainst Fulham was brilliant and a greatperformance and if we carry on this way itwill be a nice future for us."

Winger Stewart Downing, whose goalagainst Fulham was his first in the Pre-mier league goal for the club since join-ing 17 months ago, believes the weekendvictory has given them the boost theyneeded before they head off to the Britan-nia. "We can go to Stoke with confi-dence," said the England international. "ithink we can go and beat them and QPR(on December 30) as well and with thestrength in depth we have - and we canadd in January - i think we can kick on."We certainly have quality, we just needto put back-to-back wins together."

ukraine pickfomenko overEriksson as manager

SPOrTSDESk

Ukraine have named Mykhailo Fomenkoas national team coach, picking him overSwede Sven-Goran Eriksson in a unani-mous vote, according to the country's foot-ball federation. Fomenko, 64, played forDynamo Kiev as defender in the 1970s andhas managed a number of Ukrainian clubsincluding Metalist Kharkiv, as well theGuinea national team in 1994. FormerEngland manager Eriksson, who visitedKiev last week with his agent and laid outthe terms of a potential contract, was notpresent at the meeting on Wednesday.Ukraine's previous manager Oleg Blokhinresigned in late September after failing tolead the team out of the group stages at theEuropean Championship, which Ukraineco-hosted this year, and accepted the job ofhead coach at Dynamo Kiev. Ukraine ap-proached Englishman Harry Redknappabout the job but he decided to join Pre-mier league club Queens Park Rangers.

liverpool’s Sterlingcommits himselfto England

LOnDOnAGeNCIeS

liverpool's teenage winger Raheem Ster-ling has pledged his international futureto England, thereby calming fears he wasconsidering a switch of allegiance to Ja-maica. The 18-year-old holds dual-nation-ality as he was born in Jamaica toJamaican parents, but he has representedEngland at every level from under-16 up-wards and made his senior debut in the 4-2 friendly loss to Sweden in November.The fact that the game in Stockholm wasnon-competitive means that Sterlingcould still opt to play for Jamaica, but hetold several British newspapers onWednesday that he was committed toplaying for England. "it was a dreamcome true (to play against Sweden)," hesaid. "As a 15-year-old, i can remembersitting at home and praying to get anunder-16 call-up, so to be getting a seniorcall-up a few years later was one of thebest things that ever happened to me.

Stoke as much about fighting as football: Martin Skrtel

lahorE: (left) Punjab’s

efforts went in vain in tug

of war during the 32nd

national games. (right)

Punjab and Sindh women

fighting hard in the squash

event. MurTaZa aLI

LaHOrE StAff RePoRt

WAPDA continued medalwinning spree by grab-bing 28 more goldmedals while HEC re-

placed Sindh for the second position onthe fifth day of the 32nd National Gameswhich are in full swing here at the variousvenues of the city.

At the end of the fifth day, Wapda wasleading with 76 gold medal, 31 silver, and25 bronze while HEC replaced Sindh atmedal table by clinching 14 gold medals,16 silver, and 25 bronze as Sindh camedown to third by bagging same number ofgold medals but the difference betweenthe two was silver and bronze medals (10and 13) which were less than HEC. Punjabwas on fourth position by getting 13 gold,19 silver and 10 bronze medals.

in the shooting events held at Gun &Country Club, Akhter and Arif of Wapdaclaimed gold and silver medals with 984and 954 points respectively while Shahzadof HEC scored 910 points to win bronze.

in men cycling road race 80km event,Nisar Ahmad of Wapda covered the dis-tance in 1:57:32 to win gold medal whileSameer Ahmad of Railway won silver and

Sabir of Wapda bronze. in the womencycling 30km race, Raheel Bano ofWapda reached the finish line in 45minutes and 52 seconds to clinch goldmedal, Rashida Munir won silver andMisbah Mushtaq bronze. in boxingevent, Wapda notched up overallseven gold medals one silver andtwo bronze, HEC grabbed onegold, 3 silver and two bronze whileSindh bagged one gold, 3 silverand one bronze. Railways alsoearned one gold, one silver andfour bronze while Balochistangot two silver and Punjab fourbronze medals. in gymnas-tic individual event, MAfzal of Wapda claimedgold in floor exercise, MYasir won silver andAyub Faisal of Sindhand Khalil Mir of HECwon bronze. The goldmedal in pommelhorse event was won byBakhtawar of Wapda,silver by Abdul Haq ofRailways and bonze byAnsar of Punjab. The ring eventgold medal went to Khurram Shahzad ofWapda, silver to M Afzal of Wapda while

bronze to Javed Murad of Railways. inwall competitions, M Yasir of Wapda

won gold, M Nawaz of Railways silverwhile Abdul Qadir of Punjab bronze.The parallel bars event gold medal

was won by M Afzal of Wapda, sil-ver by Afaan Khan of HEC and

bronze by Ghulam Hoor of Pun-jab. in high bar competitions,

Khurram Shahzad of Wapda scoredgold, M Yasir of Wapda silver andKhalil Mir of HEC bronze. Punjabdowned Wapda to clinch goldmedal in the women footballevent with Zara iqbal scoring

only goal. in wushu competi-tions, Punjab managed twogold medals as ShahmsurRehman won gold in 52kg weight category afterdefeating Adnan ofWapda while in 75 kgweight category, Kam-ran Khalid of Punjabdowned Asmat Ullah ofBalochistan to claim

gold. in women handballevent, Wapda earned gold,

HEC silver and Punjab bronze.The taekwondo fun male event gold medalwent to Shahbaz Ahmad of Railway, silver

to M Waqas of HEC and bronze to Tahirof Balochistan. in team event, HECgrabbed gold, Wapda silver and Railwaysbronze. in light male competitions,Naveed Khan of Wapda managed goldmedal, Hassan of Sindh silver andJamshed of Fata bronze. Middle maleevent gold went to Mubashar Nawaz ofWapda, silver to Adil Bakhsh of KPK andbronze to Jamshed of Fata. in fly femaletaekwondo, Ayesha Noor of Sindh earnedgold, Sonia of Wapda silver and Rafiya ofPolice bronze. Feather female taekwondogold was won by Wapda’s Tayyaba Khan,silver by Railways’ Zaiba Riaz and bronzeby Punjab’s Suneta. in walter femaleevent, Hina Khan of HEC won gold, Mah-noor of Punjab silver and Shahid of Rail-ways bronze. in heavy femalecompetitions, gold medal was bagged byWapda’s Saira, silver by Punjab’s Sughraand bronze by Sindh’s Sehrish.

Meanwhile, wrestling event beganhere and in all, 45 matches were decided.Wapda’s wrestlers were on top by win-ning almost all of their bouts while Pun-jab’s five wrestlers qualified for the finalround. The tug-of-war competitions alsocommenced with seven matches wereheld. Wapda was on top while Railwayson second.

WAPDA continues to lead bywinning another 28 gold medals


thursday, 27 December, 2012Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 79, Sector 24, Korangi Industrial Area Karachi. Editor: Arif Nizami

ISLaMaBaDAGeNCIeS

The subcommittee of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) chaired bylaw Minister Farooq H Naek discussedthe CNG price formula presented by Oiland Gas Regulation Authority (OGRA)and was unable to find a consensus be-tween all stakeholders.

Members of the committee includedrepresentatives from OGRA, All PakistanCNG Association (APCNGA) and the pe-troleum ministry.

Speaking to media personnel follow-

ing the meeting, Naek said several otherpricing formulas had been presentedduring the meeting, all of which wouldbe evaluated before coming to a final de-cision. Naek further said that he, alongwith Advisor to prime minister on petro-leum Dr Asim Hussain, cabinet secretaryand the petroleum secretary will give thefinal policy guidelines on the matter.

During the meeting, APCNGA Presi-dent Ghayas Paracha presented a pricingformula that included the productioncosts of CNG stations. Paracha presentedoperational costs and details of expensesand demanded the government to con-

sider these costs before finalising the re-tail price saying that this was an interna-tional practice backed by laws ofaccounting. He said the urea sector wasgetting gas much cheaper than the CNGsector and the same leverage was grantedto independent power producers.

Paracha further said the average costof establishing a CNG filling stationstood at Rs 51.8 million while averagesale was 54,868 kg per month- figureswhich must be considered while fixingprices. He demanded that CNG stationsbe treated at par with gas companies sothat the business remained viable.

karaCHIAAMIR MAJeeD

KARACHi is crawling back tonormalcy after a day-long closureon Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat’s(ASWJ) wheel-jam strike call in

Sindh following the attack on ASWJ leaderAurangzeb Farooqui. Shops, market,business centres and fuel stations werereopened on Wednesday evening. Thevehicular traffic was restored and publictransport also plied roads.in the morning, the city was closed for all typeof routine activities. The people remainedindoors to avoid any mishap. Shops andmarkets in many areas remained close. Publictransport was seen off-road in the day whichcreated difficulties for those who were willingto go to offices. However, ii Chundrigar Road,known as Wall Street of Pakistan, remainedopened all day. The educational boardscancelled exams scheduled on Wednesdaydue to closure of public transport. TheUniversity of Karachi (KU) and the FederalUrdu University of Arts Science andTechnology (FUUAST) also postponed allexams due to the ASWJ strike.in Nagan Chowrangi, Paposh Nagar, Malir,Gulshan-e-iqbal, landhi, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Keamari, Saddar, Old City, OrangiTown and North Nazimabad ASWJ workersforcibly closed shops and markets. As many as five people were injured duringclosure of shops and markets. Two peoplewere injured when unidentified armed menopened fire on them near Nala Stop. A manwas injured during a bid to close shops inMalir. Separately, two people got bulletwounds when armed men wearing masks

opened fire on them in Nagan Chowrangiand Paposh Nagar areas. Someunidentified armed men fired at animambargah in Shah Faisal Colony No 4,but no causality was reported. Rangers arrested over a dozen people forforcing shopkeepers to close shops andmarkets in the metropolis. The people arebeing interrogated. The retailers opened theirbusinesses after the ASWJ announced to endthe wheel-jam strike in the evening, butwholesalers could not resume theirbusinesses due to prevailing fear in the city.All Karachi Tajir ittehad (AKTi) PresidentAtiq Mir told Pakistan Today, “A delegationof AKTi met injured ASWJ central leader inliaquat National Hospital (lNH) andinquired after him.” AKTi chairman added,“The closure of city caused Rs 3 billion lossesto traders on Wednesday,” he said. “Tradershave already suffered losses of worth millionof rupees due to strikes and weekly holidays.Therefore traders of Karachi have decided tokeep businesses open on the eve of deathanniversary of the Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) leader Benazir Bhutto and urs of ShahAbdul latif Bhittai (December 27-28) despitepublic holidays announced by the Sindhgovernment,” he added. “industriesremained shut and industrial productionhalted due to unavailability of manpowerdue to closure of public transport in thecity,” Karachi Chamber of Commerce andindustries (KCCi) President Haroon Agartold Pakistan Today. Suspension ofindustrial production caused Rs 2.5 billionlosses to industrialists, KCCi president said,adding that the industrialists alreadysuffered losses worth billions of rupees dueto non-stop strikes in Karachi in December.

ISLaMaBaDtAyyAB HUSSAIN

With interior Minister Rehman Malik’slanding at Karachi airport and contactingthe leadership of Mutahidda QaumiMovement (MQM) requesting them toreview their support to the call extendedby Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran (TMQ)Chief Dr Tahirul Qadri’s for the longmarch, the MQM is all set to re-examineits previous stance and anyannouncement in this regard will bemade public today (Thursday) or onFriday, Pakistan Today has learnt.Well-placed sources in the PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) and the MQM whiletalking to this scribe, gave off strong hintsabout the possible backtracking of MQMChief Altaf Hussain from his previousannouncement to support Dr Qadri’s long

march scheduled to start from January10. On Tuesday night, the MQM chief hadannounced to support Dr Qadri’s longmarch and had also called him andexchanged greetings for a successful showof power at Minar-e-Pakistan.On the occasion, Altaf had stated that hestood together with Dr Qadri until theend of the corrupt medieval feudal andfamilial political system while promisingfull support to his revolutionary struggle.He called upon the youth of Pakistan,particularly of Punjab, to strengthentheir arms and bodies for the call ofJanuary 14. He informed them to wait forthe final call of the MQM RabitaCommittee, according to a press releaseissued by the MQM on Tuesday.“Yes, initial contacts have remainedsuccessful and we hope to get a positiveresponse,” said a PPP leader requesting

anonymity. The PPP leader added thatthe party believed that interior ministerRehman would pull another surprise inthis regard and the MQM’s RabitaCommittee might overturn the decisionannounced by Altaf earlier.Sources in the MQM also confirmed that areview to Altaf’s previous decision was onthe cards. “in principle, we have fullagreement with the agenda set by DrQadri. However, some of our membershave reservations over the modusoperandi of the demands to be met. Sinceall the members of the Rabita Committeewere here in Hyderabad to attend thefuneral of party’s senior leader AneesAhmed Khan Advocate’s father, we willmeet tomorrow (Thursday) in Karachi tostart discussions over the issue,” a MQMleader and a member of the RabitaCommittee told this scribe.

He said that Altaf had not yet announceda final decision in this regard and hisstatement should be taken as a principledecision to support the agenda set by DrQadri. “Despite agreeing to his agenda,we will ask Dr Qadri as to how he wantsto achieve his objective. Consultationswithin the party are on and we are also intouch with Dr Qadri to evaluate hisprocedure. We will announce ourdecision soon,” said the MQM leader.When contacted, MQM spokesmanWasay Jalil said that the RabitaCommittee would meet on Thursday totake a final decision in this regard.“Though Quaid-e-Tehreek Altaf Hussainhas announced to support Dr Qadri’smove, there is still no word about themodus operandi. We want to know howhe will implement his strategy to get thejob done,” he concluded.

SUkkUrAGeNCIeS

Minister for information and Broadcast-ing Qamar Zaman Kaira on Wednesdaysaid only the Parliament and politicalforces had powers to take political andadministrative decisions.

Addressing a press conference, Kairasaid, “We welcome all parties, who wantto do politics according to the constitu-tion. We will not support those, who wantto impose their agenda through force”. Hesaid President Asif Ali Zardari strength-ened democracy by transferring all hispowers to the prime minister and the Par-liament. He said during the last four anda half years, the PPP-led government hadfaced many internal and external chal-lenges, including terrorism, law and orderin Swat and Malakand, energy crisis,threat of being isolated internationally,economic recession, food crisis and

floods. About his government’s achieve-ments, the information minister said thePakistan People’s Party (PPP) hadbrought all political forces of the countryunder one platform and freed Swat andMalakand from the clutches of terrorists.

He said the government brought Pak-istan out of international isolation. “Thegovernment managed to get assistanceform the Friends of Democratic Pakistan

Forum through coordinated efforts,” saidKaira. He said the government had madethe country self-sufficient in wheat.“Today the country is exporting wheatand sugar while it had to import wheat inthe past,” he added.

He said the government granted au-tonomy to the provinces through the NFCAward under which 70 percent resourceswere being transferred to the federatingunits. An equitable system of resourcedistribution has been devised, underwhich the provinces got an additionalamount of Rs 1,000 billion, he added.

Replying to a question, Kaira saidthere were no obstacles in holding ofgeneral elections on time. The caretakergovernment will be set up till March 16after the dissolution of assemblies andconsultation in this regard will be startedsoon, he added.

QUETTaAGeNCIeS

At least 18 militants were killed andthree Frontier Corps officials have beenreportedly martyred during securityforces’ action against extremists inMashkay sub-division of Awaran districtin the last 24 hours.The operation began last night on orderof the provincial government after theBaloch liberation Front killed two FCmen. According to details, the securitypersonnel engaged terrorist with heavyartillery fire, destroying five of theircamps and killing 18 among them. ThreeFC men were also martyred in firing by

the militants.A spokesman for the Frontier Corps saidthe terrorists opened indiscriminate fireon a FC convoy heading to Mashkayfrom Khuzdar, killing two FC soldiers.later, the FC troops launched a counter-attack on terrorists in Mashkay and itssurrounding areas. Many terrorists werekilled and their two camps devastatedin the counter operation. “Thesecriminals were involved in targetedkillings‚ bomb blasts and kidnappingfor ransom in Khuzdar‚ Mashkay andother areas of Awaran. The FC said theywere also involved in anti-stateactivities in Balochistan at the behest offoreign enemies.

ECC body on CNG unable to form consensus

Only parliament to take politicaland administrative decisions: Kaira

Karachi crawlsback to normalcy

18 militants, three fC menkilled in Awaran operation

g six injured during forceful closure of shops,markets g rangers arrest 12 people

rehman Malik just might have another trick up his sleeveg MQM may backtrack from its support to Dr Qadri’s Long March g rabita committee meets today to discuss future strategy


kARACHI: the streets wear a deserted look on Wednesday following the strike called

by Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat to protest tuesday’s attack on Aurangzeb farooqui. ONLINE

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